J.L. Doty - Dead Among Us 01 - When Dead Ain’t Dead Enough Read Online Free PDF Page A

and topaz and lapis lazuli, with masked helms that hid their faces completely, swords made of the finest silver strapped to their sides. They had competed for the honor to stand guard at the Summer Queen’s residence.
    Cadilus stopped between them, facing the tall doors to the residence. There was no need to knock, for Magreth and her attendants would know he awaited admittance. After only a heartbeat the doors opened slowly to reveal one of Magreth’s ladies-in-waiting, a pretty, young thing, probably no more than a hundred years old. Cadilus nodded politely and said, “Please tell Her Majesty I have news regarding developments on the Mortal Plane.”
    She smiled warmly, was still too young to have acquired the cold and hardened exterior of the more experienced Seelie. “She is already aware of your desire for audience. You may enter.”
    The walls of the palace began to dissolve, to shift and shimmer, to change and realign in a different form. Beneath his feet he stood on a path of crushed, white gravel in a sumptuous garden of spring blossoms. He was now walking, and beside him walked Magreth.
    “You have news?”
    “Yes, Your Majesty, though no developments of great import. Merely bits of information that begin to form a picture, though, as yet, an incomplete one.”
    “And?” she asked impatiently, her tone flat and hard.
    “The Old Wizard is involved in some way, along with some of his colleagues. And it appears the unpleasant Russians are putting their fingers in the pie as well. They’re looking for someone, some sort of young wizard, and I think that when they find him they’re going to kill him.”
    “Should we intervene?”
    “I think not, Your Majesty. It’s a wholly mortal affair, probably only loosely connected to our concerns regarding the uneasiness in the Three Realms. And what’s one dead mortal wizard to us?”
    As they strolled down the gravel strewn path she looked his way and flames danced in her eyes again. “Perhaps we should take this young wizard captive before they kill him. We might learn something.”
    “That’s an option, Your Majesty. But first we must locate him, and I’m afraid the Old Wizard and those Russians are ahead of us there. It’s probably impossible to get to him before they kill him. They are, after all, more powerful in their own Realm, while we are weaker there.”
    She stopped and turned to face him. “I understand. But see what you can do.”
    He bowed lightly. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
    The walls of the garden dissolved and he was now strolling away from the queen’s apartments.
    Paul paused for a moment in the lobby of the office building on Market Street, looked at his reflection in one of the floor-to-ceiling windows separating him from the sidewalk outside. His tie was straight, suit neatly pressed; appropriate for an interview, though perhaps a bit more formal than day-to-day attire. But he didn’t know this Dayandalous fellow so he wanted to ere on the side of proper and conservative. He headed for the elevators, got one right away and pressed the button for the forty-fourth floor.
    Dayandalous had called him yesterday, said he’d spoken with Strath, said Strath had given Paul an excellent recommendation. Paul had called Strath, and at first Strath claimed to have no knowledge of any Dayandalous, didn’t recall having had such a conversation.
    “That’s odd,” Paul said. “I’m sure I got the name right: Dayandalous. Fellow said he spoke with you yesterday, spoke at some length.”
    “Oh, yes, yes!” Strath said. “That’s right. We did talk. I just forgot, one of those senior moments. You know?”
    What Paul knew was that Strath didn’t have senior moments. The old fellow was as sharp as a tack. Paul chalked it up to the fact that Strath was quite busy, and Paul’s job search wasn’t the highest priority on his list.
    Like Paul, Strath had not previously heard of this Dayandalous fellow. He clearly wasn’t part of the local