Agent Rose stood there, an odd-looking crossbow in her hands.
“You might want to move, Louvel,” she said, wagging a finger at the vampires.
I looked around me to see the fiends clutching stakes, which were protruding from their chests.
“Oh, damn,” I said then rushed away, taking cover in an alcove close by a moment before the vampires exploded. Strange, wet, popping sounds filled the tunnel, echoing all around.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
When it was over, I joined Agent Rose. “And where were you all this time?” I asked, holstering my pistol.
“In the tunnels under the museum, thanks to Harper,” she said, motioning to her boots which were covered in grime. “But all the fun was happening up top. Sorry they got in the way,” she said, motioning to the heaps of what had once been vampires.
“No, not in the way, just an annoyance, like flies. I lost my mark all on my own.”
She motioned toward the tunnel. “So, what was he?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.” I pulled the unknown assailant’s dagger from my belt. “Left this behind.”
Agent Rose looked at the blade, her eyes narrowing. “It’s glowing.”
I nodded.
Rose extended her gloved hand and took the dagger from me. When I passed the weapon to her, the glow faded.
Rose raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s interesting. Did it glow when he had it too?”
“I…yeah. It did.”
Rose weighed the weapon in her hand. She turned it over, looking at it carefully. “Strange markings. I’ve never seen anything like them before. Not silver. Not steel, either.”
I frowned. “The museum…what did you see back there? This creature wasn’t working alone.”
“There were boggarts. I saw one, for just a moment, before it slipped away.”
“Boggarts,” I said then frowned. Boggarts were dark spirits, shape-shifting creatures who never aligned themselves with anything good. For the most part, they stayed out of the way of the Red Cape Society. They worked jobs as hired men, assassins, and thieves. They were bloody hard to catch, always shifting form. The only way to catch them was to bind them in silver so they couldn’t shift. “Wonderful. So we have a mystery man threatening the apocalypse, a glowing blue dagger—”
“Which only glows when you touch it.”
I frowned at her.
She shrugged. “Just saying.”
“—a glowing blue dagger and boggarts.”
“Victoria still alive?”
“I think so. She and Harper went speeding off in my auto.”
“Well, the day isn’t a total loss then. I guess.
“You guess? We saved the Queen.”
Agent Rose smirked to herself. “I heard.”
I gave her a questioning look which she promptly ignored. “Shall we head back to headquarters before something else tries to kill us?” Agent Rose offered.
I shook my head. Whatever Rose’s story was, I wasn’t getting it out of her today. “Lead the way.”
* * *
Agent Rose and I took an underground tram back to headquarters. The moment we exited the lift, we could see the place in complete chaos. Everywhere I looked, agents from every division were scurrying around.
“Quite the kerfuffle,” Agent Rose observed, her arms across her chest.
“Let’s see if Harper is back,” I said.
Not finding her at her desk, we headed toward Edwin’s office. Along the way, however, we passed Agent Keung.
“He’s not there,” the agent told me.
“Where is he?”
“Artifacts and Archives. With Harper and Her Majesty.”
“Victoria is here?” Agent Rose asked.
Keung laughed. “Couldn’t you tell?” he said, motioning to the agents scurrying like rats. “A preternatural just tried to kill her, and we don’t know which one. All hands on deck,” he said with a chuckle then headed back to the main room.
Rose motioned to me, and we headed down a side hallway. There, we took a lift down to Artifacts and Archives.
As we went, Agent Rose studied the dagger on my belt, her pretty face scrunched up as she mulled something over.
“What is it?” I asked.
She carefully removed the dagger, studied it once more, then handed it to me.
Again, it glowed blue.
“Put on your gloves,” she told me, taking the dagger.
I did as I suggested.
She returned the knife to me.
Once more, it glowed.
Frowning, she took the knife and stuck it in her own belt. “Don’t touch it when we’re down there. Don’t let them see,” she said.
I stared at her. I knew what she was implying, but I asked anyway. “Why not?”
“Do you know why it glows blue?” she asked.
“Not really. Do you?” I replied, hoping she would have some hint.
“I have a guess. Nothing specific, but don’t let them see until you know why.”
“Rose…” I said.
She winked at me. “Whatever it is that makes that thing glow blue, you’d better find out what it is. Soon.”
The bell on the lift dinged.
Rose and I exited into the hall leading to Artifacts and Archives. Here, deep under London, a massive library and museum of curiosities were stored out of sight. We didn’t get far when we heard Her Majesty’s voice echoing down the hallway.
“It was all for nothing. No answers, just chaos,” Her Majesty was saying.
Agent Rose and I exchanged a glance then went to the meeting room. There, Edwin, Harper, Archibald Boatswain IV, Agent Greystock, and an agent wearing Indian garb stood looking at the Queen, all of them with pained expressions on their faces.
When I entered, I caught Harper’s eye.
She widened her eyes then shook her head, letting me know things were not going well.
That was obvious.
Queen Victoria looked up.
“Ah, Louvel,” she said. A momentary look of relief crossed her face, but then her glance went to Agent Rose. “And Aurora Rose,” she added with a half-frown. She looked away from Rose. “Well, Louvel, give me some good news.”
“Good news,” I said, struggling to figure out a way to spin the fact that I had lost the preternatural. “The good news is that I managed to waylay whatever preternatural was trying to murder you. I tracked him to the unfinished Brunswick tunnel at the end of the Dark District. Somehow, he opened a doorway into the Otherworld before I could arrest him.”
“And she disarmed him and retrieved this,” Agent Rose said, cutting in.
Rose set the dagger on the table in front of us.
Agent Greystock and the Queen went to the table to investigate. Agent Greystock picked up the weapon—it didn’t glow—adjusted her spectacles, then studied it carefully. She frowned hard then handed the weapon to the Queen—it didn’t glow in her grasp either.
Greystock then crossed the room and activated the intercom there.
“This is Greystock. Ask Albertus Stone to join us, please.”
“Well, Eliza? Is it what we feared?” the Queen asked Agent Greystock as she looked over the dagger.
“I hesitate to say either way. Let’s consult Agent Stone first.”
Victoria sighed heavily then turned to the stranger. “And your division? What news?” she asked the Indian agent.
The gentleman shook his head. “Your Majesty, the artifact you inquired about is gone. And we are down five agents, including our director and his deputy.”
“Wonderful. Just wonderful. Were any other artifacts taken?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“I finally get the common people in order, and now the preternatural society is imploding.” She turned to Archibald Boatswain IV. “How did a creature get into your automaton?” she snapped. But before he had a chance to answer, the Queen turned to Harper. “And how did it get past security?”