Erin drove a white BMW and she drove it in a much saner way than Hawkins had the big truck. Dev felt quite safe as she took them to this Dutton Park Cemetery. At least, as safe as he could feel with a proven mad sorcerer in the city.
As the night time city bled past the windows of the car in shades of bright white, yellow and red, he considered contacting the Council. Chasing someone down on a personal vendetta was one thing and none of the Council’s business. Theodore Aurum’s call to Hawkins had been a favour, nothing professional. But this was different now. The sorcerer had shown a keen sense of the gruesome at Friedrich’s, but because there had already been a contract out on the fire sorcerer, the Council had no need to want his killer brought in. As far as they were concerned, the job was done and they didn’t have to fork out money for it.
So, Dev had come to Australia on his own. No contract, no back up, no official channel to the Council. Just Aurum’s good word about Matt Hawkins, which might actually be proving correct. Not that he should doubt Aurum’s credibility, just that when the Gold Primal did something, it usually went further than apparent at first. Putting Dev into touch with Hawkins had, at first, felt pointless. Dev believed he could be forgiven for thinking there was something beyond the immediate in Aurum’s actions. Now, with Hawkins actually being a help, he wondered if that was all Aurum had intended.
Either way, Hawkins wasn’t the point for Dev. He had come here for his spell, first and foremost.
That, however, might not be so true anymore.
The earth sorcerer had gone too far. His mind had become so warped by the number of spells imprinted on it he was becoming unstable. An unstable sorcerer was a dangerous one, and that was in the Council’s purview.
He should call the Council. Tell Aurum and have him send a team.
“So,” Erin said, “apart from being chased by football stars, being attacked by ROUSs and experiencing Matt’s driving, how are you liking Australia?”
Dev didn’t think she’d appreciate hearing an honest answer, so he went with a frown and, “ROUSs?”
She gave him a horrified look. “You don’t know ROUSs?”
“I pretty much know every type of Old World critter and I’ve never heard of them. Are they something unique to Australia, like kangaroos or koala bears?”
“Firstly, they’re just koalas, not koala bears, and secondly, really? You don’t know ROUSs?”
He held his hands up in surrender.
“The Princess Bride? The fire swamp? Rodents of unusual size? This means nothing to you?”
“Sorry. Is it a… book?”
“Yes, and a movie. Both are great.”
“I’ll be sure to check it out.”
Her eyes narrowed as she turned them off the freeway. “I know a lie when I hear one.”
Dev chuckled. “Honestly, I don’t have much time for reading or movies.” At least, not lately. He’d spent those weeks in hospital poring over every inch of information the Council had on Friedrich, planning his revenge.
“Do you work somewhere? Like Matt does, helping people with their weird problems?”
“Not exactly like Hawkins, but similar, I guess. I usually contract with the Council, doing jobs for them. Chasing down whatever’s overstepped their bounds and hauling them in for punishment or death.”
“So, you’re a bounty hunter.”
“In a sense.” He frowned at her. “Isn’t that what you do?”
Erin laughed, though it was a dry one. “Me? No. I help Matt occasionally, and he helps me sometimes, but that’s it. My usual cases are just back ground checks, chasing down cheating spouses, finding lost will benefactors, that sort of stuff. Boring old PI work.”
Dev let that go by. If she wanted to be cagey about it, he didn’t mind. She wasn’t why he was here, either.
“Do you know many ghouls?” she asked as they wound through narrow side streets, past older houses spaced out on a series of rolling ups and downs.
“Unfortunately.”
“Right,” she said wholeheartedly. “Still, Kermit seems okay. And here we are.”
They slowed and rolled by the cemetery. A brick wall surrounded the grounds, a wrought iron gate across the entrance.
“The gates are locked,” Dev pointed out.
“We can get in around the side.”
Contrary to the wall and gates at the top of the cemetery, the sides were open and Erin parked a short distance away. She brought a flashlight and led the way. As they moved between the listing headstones, she pulled out her phone.
Dev looked around while she made her call.
It was an old cemetery, the age of the earth seeping up through his bones with a weighty sense. The headstones were weathered and cracked, some broken and lying across the graves they marked. Trees grew out of some of the plots. A breeze of cool air wafted in off the river, which was at the base of the cemetery. The trees shushed gently, the area protected by the surrounding hills so it was eerily quiet. A shiver rolled down Dev’s spine.
Under the age of the earth, he felt the definite presence of a ghoul. The foul threads of its subterranean burrowing twisted through the natural flow of energy, concentrating around the small grove of trees Erin was aiming for.
“Kermit,” she was saying into the phone. “It’s Erin McRea, Matt Hawkins’ friend. Answer your phone.” She waited. “Come on, Kermit. Matt sent me here. Answer!”
“The ghoul has a phone?” Dev gaped at her.
“Yeah. Matt got it for him. Said it was easier than knocking, whatever that means.” Erin hung up with a sigh. “Maybe we’re going to find out. This way.”
In the grove, there was a single grave marked by a stone cross.
“Patrick Kenniff,” Erin told him. “The last bush ranger. Outlaw,” she clarified for him. “He was hanged at Boggo Road prison, along with about forty others, all buried here.”
Dev’s lips turned down in distaste. “No wonder the ghoul lives here.”
“Yeah,” a rasping voice said from behind them. “Because it’s tasty.”
Erin spun as Dev did. She had a gun up so fast Dev didn’t even see her draw it. Dev’s hands were ready, even though the thought of another trick made his brain cringe.
A ghoul peeled itself out of the shadows of the trees. It had a stick and picked its teeth with it. Looking them both over, it disregarded Dev with a curled lip of disgust, then turned to Erin.
“Wench.”
“Foul beast,” she returned, but put her gun away in an underarm holster. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
The ghoul spread its arms, displaying a tall, skinny body nude of hair and clothes. “No pockets. It’s in the lair.”
Carefully not looking further south than its plug-ugly face, Erin asked, “Why are you naked?”
“Went for a swim. To cool off.” It jammed a thumb in Dev’s direction. “What’s this thing doing here?”
Dev sneered. “Good question.” To Erin, he said, “I really don’t think this creature can help me. They’re known liars and betrayers.”
“Oh, oh, oh,” the ghoul, presumably Kermit, cut Erin off. “Like sorcerers are any better. You’re a bunch of amoral, self-righteous, fuck-hole slavers!”
Erin gaped. “Kermit, where did you learn that word?”
“Amoral?” Dev questioned at the same time Kermit asked, “Fuck-hole?”
The ghoul flipped Dev off, then said to Erin, “From the Night Caller.”
Shaking her head, Erin muttered, “Trust Matt.”
“Why bring this prick here?” Kermit asked again.
“Matt asked me to. He thought you might be able to help him.”
Dev snorted at the same time Kermit did.
He really should have protested coming, but after getting so close that afternoon and losing the rogue, he’d thought anything might be useful. Now, here, smelling the putrid rot coming off the repulsive creature, he was willing to admit he was wrong.
“The Night Caller’s learning,” Kermit said, stalking around the edge of the clearing, “but he doesn’t know everything. So here’s his next lesson. Please deliver it post haste. Ghouls and sorcerers do not work together. They don’t help each other. They don’t even like breathing the same air. So, piss off.”
Dev leaned in close to Erin. “Told you.”
She scowled at him, then at Kermit. “Can’t you just do this as a favour for Matt?”
“Ghouls don’t do favours,” Dev muttered and began to walk off.
“And sorcerers don’t do nice,” Kermit called after him.
“Dev!” Erin called.
“Dev?” Kermit repeated. “As in Devantier?”
Stalled in mid storm out, Dev spun around. “How do you know my name?”
Kermit snarled. “I know more than you could ever dream about knowing. In fact, my brain just gets better with age. All that marrow. How’s yours doing, sorcerer?”
The sly taunt had Dev’s hackles bristling.
“You must be the boy one,” Kermit continued, his tone thoughtful now. “What was that unfortunate name your parents saddled you with? Randy?”
“Don’t you fucking talk about my parents.” The words ground out between his clenched teeth. His hands itched to blast this repugnant creature with shards of ice.
Erin, either boldly or stupidly, stepped between them. “Now wait up. I didn’t agree to referee a boxing match, guys. How about you both calm down?”
“Why? It’s a sorry piece of soulless slime that should never have crawled out of the dirt of its mother’s diseased body.”
The ghoul drew itself up to its full height, towering over even Dev. “No one speaks of my old ma like that.”
“Stop it!” Erin’s gun was out again, held upright between them, making sure they knew it could go either way. “You two don’t even know each other so I don’t know what you’re fighting about. It’s bloody ridiculous. Now, you.” She glared at Dev. “You stay back there and keep your mouth shut.” To Kermit, “You will answer some questions or I’ll shoot you in the dick.”
Kermit crouched and covered its privates so fast Dev almost laughed. If he wasn’t burning up with anger, he would have.
“Next time, let Hawkins do the negotiating,” Kermit muttered into the new silence. “At least when he shoots me it’s nowhere vital.”
“Next time, wear clothes,” Erin said heartlessly. “Okay. So Dev is in town looking for a sorcerer. What sort of sorcerer?” she asked Dev calmly.
“Earth.”
Beyond Erin, the ghoul was nodding. “Yeah, yeah. I know the one you mean. Crazy as bat shit.” It pulled a face at Dev. “Like most of your sort.”
Erin gave it a cautioning look. “Can you pinpoint this person’s location?”
“No.”
Dev snorted.
“Are you sure?” Erin asked Kermit.
“I can tell you where it’s spilled its crazy, sure, but that doesn’t mean the sick bastard is there.” Hunching its shoulders, the ghoul muttered, “Damn sorcerers going around making the natural unnatural. Fucking wankers. Some of us have to live in the results, you realise.”
Erin glared at Dev until he shut his mouth.
“Kermit, could you show me where you’ve felt the sorcerer?”
“That’s not going to help,” Dev said quickly. “I can do that myself.”
“Only if you’re pointed in the right direction to start with,” Erin reasoned. “Kermit?”
The ghoul grumbled but agreed. “Give me a day to put the feelers out to get specific points. Don’t come back with that.” He sneered at Dev. “I won’t give you anything if you do.”
“No problem,” Erin said. “It’ll either be me or Matt. This time tomorrow night okay?”
“Yeah, I should have something by then. Give me another couple of days and I could go further afield than the city.”
“The city should be fine for now.”
“Good. Now get lost before that bloody ghost tour comes through. I want to be finished dinner before they get here.”
Not bothering with a farewell, Dev turned to leave.
“Thanks, Afzal,” Erin said. “I might see you tomorrow night.”
Afzal?
Dev spun back around. “Afzal?”
Erin and the ghoul both looked at him. Erin frowned and Afzal’s eyes went wide.
“Oh, shit,” the ghoul said.