“Like who?”

  “Descendants of the Founding Fathers, mostly. And the wizards of the Elder Council, of course.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A council made up of thirteen wizards who oversee pretty much everything in the Tri-Worlds.” Elwood slowed to turn a corner onto a street so narrow there was barely an inch between the car and the brick walls on either side. “But, mostly, they concern themselves with magical affairs. Their headquarters in Skyefall are based here, in the Old Quarter. The wizards are the only ones who can communicate with the Archaons. So the rumors say, anyway.”

  “Wizards, huh? Do they have beards and pointy hats?”

  “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen them. Hardly anyone has.”

  “How do you know they exist then?”

  “If they’re talked about, they exist.”

  “Okay.” The street we were scraping through had become so dark now, Elwood had to turn on the headlights just to see. “What dark dimension are you taking me to, Elwood?”

  “We’re going to see an artifact dealer named Leopold Fischer. His shop is just up here.”

  “Why?”

  “Because there’s a very good chance he knows where to find Kazimir Kane in this place.” Elwood stared off to his right. “And because he owes me a favor. Here we are…”

  When Elwood stopped the car, I looked out the side window to see a dark recess set into the brick wall. “In there? There’s not even a sign.”

  Elwood smiled. “I know. Folks round here aren’t big on signs. If you live here, you know where to go and where to find things.”

  “So, how do you know?”

  “I do some work for Leopold now and again, tracking down artifacts.” Elwood turned off the engine. “We’ll both have to slide out your side. These streets weren’t built for cars.”

  Thanks to the recess, I was able to open the door on my side so we could both climb out, coming to stand in front of a wooden door with black iron bars on it.

  “I feel like I’m about to enter a dark dungeon,” I said, only half-kidding.

  “Well, now that you mention it, this place is kinda dungeon-like. Just don’t wander off. It’s easy to get lost in here.”

  “Lost? How big is this place?”

  Elwood smiled as he opened the door. “You’ll see.”

  Unsure of what to expect, I half-gasped as I walked into the gas lamp-lit shop. The place was voluminous as Elwood had said, though not at all spacious, for there was stuff everywhere. The shop was packed floor-to-ceiling with books, trinkets, archaeological artifacts, jars full of strange ingredients, and crumbling scrolls. I had never seen anything like it, and I could only stare in wonder as Elwood wandered off to find the owner of the place, the man we had come to see.

  “So much stuff,” I whispered as I picked up a gold dagger to examine it, which was being displayed on a shelf full of other unrelated things.

  “Don’t touch that!” a voice suddenly shouted, causing me to almost drop the dagger. “One prick from that blade and you will find yourself in a dark dimension you may never escape from.”

  “Oh.” I put the dagger carefully back on the shelf, turning around to see an aged man in a tweed vest and red tie. “Sorry.”

  The man in the tweed vest, who I assumed was Leopold Fischer, was standing beside Elwood. After a second, the two started laughing.

  “I’m just kidding, young man,” Leopold said. “That dagger does no such thing.”

  “Right,” I said, nodding. Ha-ha. “So, what does it do?”

  “It merely cuts your soul as it cuts your flesh, irreparably wounding your very being.” He finished with an odd smile. “And what is your name, young man?”

  “Zack,” I said. “Zack Schade. You must be Leopold.”

  “Yes, I am. I’m sure Elwood here has told you all about me.”

  “Actually, no, he hasn’t.”

  Miffed, Leopold glanced at Elwood, who looked innocently away. “Well, I am the owner of Oddities and Curiosities, the very place you are now in. What do you think of my little treasure trove?”

  “Very impressive,” I said, making a show of looking around. “Not so little, though.”

  “Yes, I suppose not. But when you’ve been here as long as I have, it doesn’t seem so big anymore.”

  “This is just the front of the shop,” Elwood said. “Down those hallways, there are dozens of other rooms. I doubt I’ve even discovered half of them, and I’ve been coming here for years.”

  Leopold smiled. “What is a place without secrets, eh? Anyway, what brings you here today, Elwood? Have you come seeking work? I have some, if you are interested.”

  “Not right now,” Elwood said. “I’m kinda busy. Keep it on ice for me, though. Anything interesting?”

  “When is it ever not interesting? When you’re ready, I’ll tell you.” He turned to look at me once more. “And who is this young man to you, Elwood? Nephew?”

  “My neighbor,” Elwood said. “I’m just helping him out with something.”

  “I see. And you felt the need to come here?”

  “Yes. I need some information, and given that you still owe me, I thought you’d be happy to oblige.”

  “Hmm. That depends on the information. The favor I owe you isn’t that big, Elwood.”

  “The hell it isn’t,” Elwood huffed as Leopold walked around a counter to stand behind it, as if he felt the need to put a barrier between himself and Elwood. “I almost died getting you that last book. You said there’d be no goblins in those catacombs. The little fuckers nearly cut me to shreds. If it wasn’t for that serpent demon coming outta nowhere and distracting them, I would’ve never gotten away.”

  “They were just goblins, Elwood. You would’ve handled them, I’m sure.”

  “Just goblins?” Elwood shook his head. “Have you ever fought a goblin, Leopold?”

  “No, of course not, but I’ve read plenty about them, and by all accounts, their small stature makes them easy to overwhelm.”

  “Yeah, maybe just one, Leopold, but not a whole fucking gang of them!”

  “Elwood,” Leopold said. “What have I told you about your language in here?”

  Elwood looked at me as I smiled, and then he shook his head as he looked at Leopold again. “I just need an address, Leopold, that’s all. An address for me almost dying at the hands of goblins. It’s more than a fair trade.”

  Leopold considered for a second. “Whose address?”

  “Kazimir Kane’s.”

  Pressing his lips together, Leopold slowly shook his head. “Nope. I can’t give you that.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “You have no idea what you’re asking, do you? If you did, you wouldn’t have come here.”

  “It’s just an address, Leopold. What’s the big deal?”

  “What’s the big deal? Are you really that stupid, Elwood? I know you’re not a stupid man, so why are you asking me to forfeit my life by giving you information on—” He stopped and shook his head. “I can’t even say his name.”

  “Why? Are you really that afraid?”

  “Afraid? Elwood, for God’s sake. Everyone here knows you don’t do anything to upset Kazimir Kane. You may think me telling you his address is a small thing, but I can assure you, he has killed plenty of people for doing much less. Why do you even need it, anyway?”

  “We’re going to kill him,” I said, walking toward the desk now.

  “What?” Leopold gasped, looking at Elwood for confirmation. Once he realized we were serious, he seemed like he wanted to laugh but was too afraid to. “Elwood, have you gone insane since I last saw you? The fact that you’re even mentioning such a thing in here makes me uncomfortable. In fact, I think you should go now.” He looked at me, the joviality gone from his eyes. “Both of you.”

  “Look,” Elwood said, his hands on the edge of the counter now. “Kane killed Zack here and turned his best friend.”

  “Killed? He looks alive to me. Unless… I see. You signed a contract, didn’t you?”

  I said nothing, preferring to let Elwood do the talking for now.

  “We just need his address, Leopold,” Elwood pressed. “That’s all. Hell, I’ll even owe you now if that’s what it takes.”

  Leopold stared at Elwood. “You are really going to try and kill him, aren’t you?”

  “I wouldn’t be here otherwise. Come on, Leopold. Who’s gonna miss him, anyway? He’s a ruthless bloodsucker who has probably terrorized the people of this town for God knows how long. We’d be doing the Old Quarter a favor by getting rid of him.”

  “You think it will be that easy?”

  “We have a plan,” I said.

  “A plan?” He laughed. “A plan. You are both insane.”

  “Maybe so,” Elwood said. “But we still need that address.”

  Leopold sighed as he stared down at the countertop for a moment. Then he reached under the counter and took something out—a rolled-up map of the Old Quarter that he placed on the counter. “I’m sorry,” he said when he looked up again. “But I really can’t help you. If you want another job, however, you would do well to start your search here.” On the map, he made a small X with a red, felt-tipped pen.

  Elwood, confused for a moment, stared down at the map. Then his frown disappeared as he nodded. “I’ll do that,” he said, smiling at Leopold. “I’ll, eh, let you know when I find… the thing.”

  “No hurry,” Leopold said as he quickly put away the map. “Take your time.”

  “Thanks, Leopold. Let’s go, Zack.”

  I was a little behind Elwood in understanding what Leopold had just done. As far as I could tell, he had marked on the map the location of Kazimir Kane’s home here in the Old Quarter.

  “Thank you,” I said as I walked toward the front door.

  “Elwood?” Leopold said as we were about to leave, making Elwood turn around. “The thing you are setting out to find is in a place of high security. There are eyes everywhere, and wards as well.” He paused. “Please be careful, eh?”

  “I’ll do my best,” Elwood said as we left the shop.

  Once we left and Elwood had gotten us out of the ridiculously narrow street, I asked him about what had happened inside the shop. “Did Leopold just give you Kazimir Kane’s address?”

  “He did,” Elwood said as he drove deeper into the Old Quarter. “We’re going there now.”

  “To do what?”

  “Just to check the place out and see what kind of security there is.”

  “Okay,” I said, relieved, half-thinking that we were going to Kane’s place to kill him. “Because we’re obviously not ready to take Kane on yet, right?”

  “No, of course not. Not unless you want to knock on his door and try your luck, that is.”

  “Obviously not. That would be—”

  “Suicide?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Don’t worry. We’re not doing that. We just need to find the best spot to snipe Kane from.”

  We drove through the center of the Old Quarter, which was busier than the streets we had come through. Statues of people I didn’t recognize were dotted around the square, and there seemed to be a market going on, with stalls circling the clock tower. As Elwood drove by, I looked at the stalls to see mostly food items. The food seemed exotic, but nothing out of the ordinary, which was a little disappointing. Despite the banality of the food, the people buying it freaked me out a little. Most had a peculiar sort of look in their eyes, as if they were detached from the rest of the world somehow, and as if they knew things that no one else knew. Dark, eldritch things.

  “The people here are weird,” I said as we drove out of the square. “Almost as weird as the Mysterians.”

  “It’s the Old Quarter,” Elwood said. “They have their own ways here. Old ways. You get used to it.”

  “Somehow, I doubt that.”

  Elwood smiled. “Yeah, they’re a weird bunch.”

  After leaving the square, we drove for another twenty minutes through twisty streets, going under exquisitely built bridges that were only just wide enough for one car, the fog a constant, shrouding everything.

  “Is it always foggy here?”

  “I’ve been coming here for years. It’s never any different.”

  “Why, though?”

  “Adds to the mystery, I guess,” Elwood said.

  After a while, the buildings came fewer and farther between, until eventually, all I saw were trees on either side of me, and then mountains in the distance that we appeared to be heading toward.

  “I’m guessing Kane lives out of town?”

  “Along this road somewhere, according to Leopold.” Elwood slowed the car as the surrounding fog seemed to thicken. Then he stopped when he came across a road that turned off into the forest. “I think the place we’re looking for is up that road. We should probably walk from here and use the trees as cover.”

  “In case someone spots the car?”

  “Exactly. They’ll clock us right away, and then we’ll probably get a nighttime visit later.”

  “One nighttime visit was enough for me.”

  Elwood pulled the car up on the side of the road, and we both got out into the damp fog, heading into the forest in the direction the road was leading.

  “Do you think Kane has wolves or something roaming the woods?” I asked as I looked around, faintly unsettled by the eerie atmosphere of the place.

  “I hope not,” Elwood said. “Be on your guard, just in case.” Elwood stopped and moved his hands in front of him after uttering a few words. “No sign of any wards yet. They probably won’t appear until we get nearer the house.”

  “What wards?” I asked as we continued walking, the forest strangely silent. There wasn’t even any bird song or the sound of buzzing insects. It was like the place was dead, apart from the trees, but even they seemed oddly motionless.

  “Wards that will warn Kane of any intruders near his property. Possibly wards that will kill said intruders on the spot.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, that’s why we need to be careful and keep a distance from the house until we know what we’re dealing with.”

  As we carried on, Elwood would stop every few minutes to cast the same spell again, hoping to reveal any magical wards that lay ahead. It wasn’t until the house finally came into focus through the fog that the wards revealed themselves, thanks to Elwood’s working. In the distance, I saw a massive Gothic mansion surrounded by a high, wrought-iron fence. And surrounding the entire house was a network of red and green energy lines, some of which formed themselves into symbols. The same energy lines were also present outside the fence, extending to about fifty feet, crisscrossing through the trees.

  “So, that’s like a high-end laser security system?” I guessed, thinking the light show actually looked quite cool.

  “Yeah, more or less,” Elwood said. “The symbols you see are for keeping out other supernatural creatures.”

  “Does that include us?”

  “Of course.”

  “Will we get fried if we make contact with those lines?”

  “Possibly. It’s hard to know what would happen. One thing’s for sure, though—Kane would know we were here.”

  “But it’s daytime. Wouldn’t he be sleeping?”

  “He probably has security that aren’t vampires.”

  “Like humans?”

  “Yeah. Maybe dogs as well. Who knows?”

  “Amy is probably in that house,” I said, staring at the Gothic splendor of it. “Sleeping in a coffin.” I frowned for a second. “Do vampires sleep in coffins?”

  “I’m sure some do. She’s more likely sleeping in a hole or darkened room.”

  “Like an animal,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Like a vampire.”

  “Same thing.”

  Elwood nodded. “Come on. Let’s get a closer look at the house.”

  When we crept closer to the enormous house, I reflected it was exactly the kind of house I would’ve expected Kazimir Kane to live in. Slick condos with the steel and glass were not for him. No, Kane was old school, from a much different time. He was more comfortable surrounded by wood and old plaster, and soil that was older than he was. Soil that was probably soaked in blood, home to a million worms who had feasted upon the untold amount of bodies Kane had buried in these woods, or had simply left to rot amongst the leaves.

  Staring at the Victorian Gothic house, I took in its aged exterior and overall ominous presence. Did Amy feel at home here? Did she have her own room? Or did she sleep alongside Kane each day, cuddling up to her master just as the sun was rising outside?

  An image of Amy having sex with Kane and his ancient body made my eye twitch, and I gritted my teeth, snorting like an angry bull.

  Bastard. He stole her from me, corrupted her pure soul. Made her just like him. A fucking bloodsucking animal…

  No, not Amy. She wasn’t an animal. Could never be—

  But I’d seen her. At the window last night. Snarling, raging like a wild thing. Like an animal…

  “Did you hear what I just said?”

  I turned to stare at Elwood. “What?”

  Elwood sighed irritably. “I said, getting a straight shot at Kane from this forest will be difficult. Too many trees. Not to mention the wards, which will probably stop any bullet before it can even get past the fence.”

  “Okay. What do we do then?”

  “We’ll have to use a magic bullet,” Elwood said.

  For a second, I thought he was kidding. “Are you being serious?”

  “Yes. You really need to stop thinking in terms of normal reality, Zack. That doesn’t exist for you anymore. You literally have the power to bend reality to your will now, which includes making magic bullets. If you knew how, that is.”

  “I take it you do?”