Asher kept pace with me excitedly, jabbing his finger into my shoulder to enunciate his words. “I told you we were going to see her again.”
“Right,” Gil said. “Except that I wasn’t quite expecting to see her again so soon.”
I shook my head, grudgingly impressed by the Lorica’s consistent hyper-efficiency. Bastion wasted no time telling us that they’d caught the witch of the woods. He bragged about it over the phone shortly before dropping the call, and then he crowed about it outside the Twilight Tavern, where he waited for us to pull up, him and his stupid tanned legs.
“This was the perfect place to take her, too,” I said. “The nullification field means she can’t pull her ninja tricks on us.”
Bastion slowed down by a step, his ears pricking up. “The what, now?”
“It’s nothing. Long story.”
“Ah. If you say so. We’ve only had her here for less than an hour, just questioning her, you see. Nothing nefarious.”
I squinted at the back of his neck. That was probably true. Not even the most powerful Mouth could get past the Twilight Tavern’s enchantments, and I hadn’t really heard that the Lorica liked to resort to torture. Still, it’s probably no surprise by now that I’m no big fan of authority.
“Again, it’s interesting that you found her so quickly,” Gil said. “Was it the Eyes? Are they really that good?”
“Well, yes, and no,” Bastion said, grinning over his shoulder. “The Twilight Tavern’s a big reason for that. You don’t see much magic being worked in Silveropolis, so when something does happen, it sends up a beacon on the map, if you know what I mean. And last night, our good friend Tabitha was sending up signal flares all over the place.”
“Right,” Gil said. “All those spells.”
“Tabitha,” Asher said, repeating the witch’s name.
“Bastion,” I barked. “When you cast spells, you don’t call out their names, do you?”
He furrowed his forehead, confused. “Of course not. Remember when I dropped that hatchback on you? You didn’t hear me naming th
e spell, did you?”
I glowered at him. “Of course I didn’t. Because a whole car was falling on top of me.”
“Right, right. In some traditions, magic words are almost necessary for casting spells. Naming them, though? That’s new to me. It couldn’t hurt, I suppose. It’s called kiai in Japanese martial arts, vocalizing when you deliver an attack. It’s supposed to make you more intimidating, or help you startle your opponent.”
Well, that made sense. I don’t know about intimidating, but Tabitha shouting “Smoke bomb!” definitely startled me long enough for her smoke screen to take effect.
“Ah,” Bastion said. “Here we are, finally.”
Based on how far we’d walked, I would gauge that the trip through the Twilight Tavern could have either taken us to the top, or to the heart of the nearby mountains. You could never tell with entities and their structures. These beings didn’t pay attention to earthly laws, so why would they adhere to petty little things like logic, or physics?
This hallway smelled like spiced vanilla. It ended in a single wooden door, and in front of that door, standing like a sentinel, was all seven feet of Helga, the receptionist valkyrie.
“Helga,” I said, nodding in greeting. “Not manning the front desk today?”
“No,” she said. “One of my sisters is womanning reception tonight. Mr. Brandt here got in touch with us, and I felt that I would be most useful for this task instead.”
Bastion smiled up at her, his arrogance melted away, replaced by perfumed charm. “The Lorica really does appreciate all that you do for us, Helga.”
Helga stamped her foot once, standing to attention. “Think nothing of it, Mr. Brandt. We are happy to help maintain peace in these parts. These killings cannot continue.” She nudged her head towards the door. “Our guest has been very personable. I have accompanied her to the restroom once, but otherwise, she has not made any attempts to flee.”
I looked Helga up and down, assessing her. Those legs had a massive stride. And couldn’t valkyrie fly, too, or did they have winged horses? Either way, only someone with a death wish would try to outrun a valkyrie.
Helga stepped aside, nodding. “At your leisure.”
Bastion thanked her, turning the doorknob, ushering the others inside. I took a moment to sidle up to Helga.
“Those scented candles are a disaster.”
That broke the stern stoniness of her face. She rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. I told him that we could come up with our own signature fragrance, something that our guests would remember for all time, even take home to enjoy. But no, the All-father said. Variety is the spice of life.”