I am not a good flier. I don't panic or run around screaming, but I do get very tense and drink far too much alcohol. So it was probably for the best that the flight attendant who had kissed me earlier placed an eighteen-year-old bottle of Japanese goodness in front of me with a crystal tumbler. I knew it was crystal simply because no one who owns a jet as expensive as the one I was in supplies anything but the best in tableware.
So, as we banked left, and I caught a glimpse of the ground, several thousand feet below me, I knocked back my third glass and poured another.
"Flying is the safest form of travel, you know," Kasey said as she stared out the window.
"So people tell me," I replied. "It doesn't make me any less thrilled about having to be up here."
"Who are we going to see?" she asked with a smile on her face that I was certain was meant to melt my heart.
"Does that work on your parents?"
"Daddy," she said in a needy voice.
"Yes, it works," Tommy said. "I'm going to sleep, so you're on your own, Kase." He glanced at me. "Good luck."
Kasey made a humph-like noise, and crossed the aisle, taking a seat opposite me. She placed her notebook and pen on the table between us, opening it to the first page. "You said you would," she reminded me when she saw the trepidation on my face.
"Okay, hit me with your best shot."
"What attacked my mum?"
"A ghoul," I said.
"Is that what murdered those women?"
I shook my head. "No, ghouls are… primal. But they're also intelligent and maintain their human brain power. It's just that now, they're more interested in causing pain and suffering."
"Is my mum safe?"
"She's surrounded by her agents; she's safer than we are up here."
Kasey chuckled. "So, what's the difference between ghouls and zombies?"
"Have you ever seen a zombie movie? The zombies either run or shamble slowly, but the main part is that they eat people, and those who have been bitten turn into zombies themselves."
Kasey glanced over to Tommy, checking that he was asleep. "Yeah," she whispered.
"Well, those movie zombies are a combination of two different species. Firstly, you've got zombies themselves. They're created when someone who has died forcefully has their soul shoved back inside them. Zombies do shamble, because their bodies don't work properly, but they couldn't eat anyone if they tried. They basically have the ability to move very slowly and talk. That's it."
"They're not dangerous?"
"Only to themselves. The process of raising a zombie is painful for the soul of the person being reanimated. It's frowned upon because it's a bit too close to torture for many in Avalon's liking. And in truth, very few people even bother, unless they're truly desperate for answers, because once you've forced a soul back into its body, the only way to send it back is to kill the person again."
"And the second species?"
"The second are called the barren. They used to be humans, before they were bitten by a ghoul."
"Does that mean my mum…?"
"No," I assured her quickly. "They only turn humans. In your mum's case the venom simply acted as a powerful paralysing agent. But in a human, it kills within a few minutes. And they come back… empty." I tried to think of the right way to explain it. "Humans who are turned this way only want to kill. That's it. In that respect, they're a lot like the zombies in the movies, the ones that can run. All they do is kill and feed. A bite won't turn you into a barren, but it will draw blood, which will let every single barren within a mile know that you're alive and bleeding."
"And how are ghouls created?" Kasey asked, without looking up from her furious note taking.
"Two ways. Either through very powerful blood magic, where you kill someone and then force the soul to stay inside the corpse, corrupting it until it changes into something malignant."
"Or?"
"Or you get a lich to do it."
She looked up at that. "What's a… Lich?"
For a second, I thought about brushing the question off, or lying to her, but I knew neither of those things would help. "They're monsters. Sorcerers who had themselves killed in a violent way, so that they could come back as something twisted and wrong."
"Why would they do that?"
"Some people use blood magic too much-the really vile stuff, sacrifices and really horrific curses. Dark magic that strong corrupts them, makes them paranoid. It drives them mad with anger against a perceived threat. These are people who are already insane before the magic does its work. Once that sort of power gets into your head, it's difficult to shake free. Someone with a lot of hatred and some power at their disposal comes across the ability to turn into a near un-killable monster. Some of them jump at the opportunity."
"You think one of them is involved in these murders?" The scribbling in her notebook had long since ceased, replaced with a quiet silence as she paid utmost attention to my words.
"I really hope not. But it's a possibility, and that's why we're flying across an ocean."
Kasey didn't reply for a while. The flight attendant brought out a cheeseburger and fries for her, which allowed me to doze before I was woken by a jab in the arm.
"I thought we'd finished," I said with a glance at my phone to check the time. We had a few hours left before landing in Toronto. I got the impression that Kasey knew exactly how to fill that time.
"There are other things I want to know."
I glanced at Tommy who was still asleep. The bastard.
"If you're going to work with my dad, I need to know more about you," she continued.
"Okay, go nuts."
"Have you ever met anyone famous?"
I raised an eyebrow. "You mean like actors and actresses? Because I have no idea."
"No, I mean famous people in history. Have you met any?"
"A few kings and queens of various countries, alongside a few popes, emperors and people of varying levels of influence. I've met Leonardo Da' Vinci a few times-nice guy, if a little skittish."
"Skittish?"
"His brain is always working three or four sentences ahead of everyone else. It makes him difficult to talk to for any length of time, as he'll often say something and then run off to get some paper and a pencil to draw or write."
"Was he human?"
"Leonardo? No, not human. He was, sorry is, an alchemist."
"He's alive?"
"Was last time I saw him a few years ago."
Kasey wrote something in her book. "Anyone else?"
"I've met most of the Olympians. A few Titans, too."
"What happened to Zeus?"
The question surprised me, not least because it wasn't a conversation I'd had with too many people. "Don't know," I said. "No one has seen him for about three hundred years. Most assume he's dead, but no one is really sure. Why do you ask?"
"Someone at school said that he was murdered by Hera so that she could let Ares take over his businesses."
"That might be true, but tell your friend never to say such things in public. People who have voiced their discontent with the official version of Zeus's disappearance have sometimes vanished themselves."
"You think those responsible would go after children?" Kasey asked, clearly shocked.
"I think at least a few of the parents at your school probably work for Hera or her cronies. These things have a way of getting back to them, and eventually to Hera, too."
"The mythology shows Hera as a jealous, but mostly fair, matriarch."
"Mythology and truth are far apart in most cases. You'll learn that for yourself soon enough."
Kasey flipped through a few more pages of her notebook, but closed it without asking another question. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing," she said too quickly.
"Kasey, you're as bad a liar as your dad. Is that what all of these questions were about? Because you have something you really do want to talk about, and you were easing me into it?"
The barest of smiles crossed Kasey's lips. "My dad taught me to do that. Ease people into a conversation with easy questions, before asking the hard ones."
"Smart girl."
"Can I hire you?"
I didn't even try to hide my shock. "What? Why?"
"My mum got hurt. I know that she can take care of herself, but before I left I saw her. She was crying. I've never seen her cry. Not once. Agent Greaves told me that she's getting no back-up from Avalon. That someone has refused to send help. They told her that if she was unable to do it herself, that they would remove her. She's in danger. And dad will try to help her, and he'll get hurt. I can't have them hurt. I… I don't want-"
"They will be fine," I said, as Kasey wiped tears from her cheeks.
"You don't know that," she whispered with a lot of anger. "I need you to take care of them. I want to hire you to look after them. To make sure they don't get hurt."
Tommy was up from his seat and across the aisle to his daughter in a second, holding her against him as she burst into tears. "Kase, mum's fine," Tommy said softly, as he stroked his daughter’s hair. "And I'll be fine, too."
"No," she snapped, pushing away from him. "You don't know that. But you told me that Nate helps people, that he's good at it. I need him to keep you two safe. Jess lost her stepdad a few months back. Her mum's fallen to pieces, and Jess is a mess. I… I can't lose you, Daddy. I can't."
I stood and went to the rear of the jet, leaving father and daughter to have some alone time. I walked down a short aisle and opened a door to reveal a small bedroom. The double bed looked inviting. I lay down and discovered that the dark red duvet was as comfortable as it had appeared. I figured I'd wait until Tommy or Kasey came and found me, or until we stopped moving. I discovered a selection of books in a bedside cabinet, and selected the one that sounded the most interesting. It was about assassins, and I settled down to read, trying not to think about how upset my best friend and his daughter were.
I must have dozed off, because the next time I opened my eyes was in response to a soft knock on the bedroom's door. The blond flight attendant opened the door and told me that we were landing and that I needed to get back into my seat and fasten my seatbelt.
I thanked her and pushed myself up to a sitting position, stretching my arms before making my way back to Tommy and Kasey who were still deep in conversation.
Ten minutes later, we touched down with a slight bump and came to a stop shortly after.
The two flight attendants opened the jet's door, allowing freezing cold air to flow into the fuselage uninterrupted. "Your bags will be taken up to the house," the blonde one said with a smile.
"Cheers," I said, returning her smile and using a small measure of fire magic to warm my bare hands. I was grateful that I'd brought a large, thick coat with me, as the wind picked up the loose snow littering the airfield, and flung it around like children having a snowball fight.
Kasey, Tommy and I made our way across the tarmac toward a large building, the only one on the airfield. Just as we'd reached our destination, and the promise of a windless few moments, the door burst open and a man stepped out. He wore a long, black coat, but didn't bother to cover his bald head with a hat. He was over six and a half feet tall and while he was lean in build, he was still broad across the shoulders. Back when he was born, he'd have been considered a giant of a man. He walked toward us with no evidence that the cold was anything more than a slight inconvenience.
"Nathan," he shouted, wrapping his arms around me in a hug, before doing the same to Tommy. "And, this must be Kasey," he said with enthusiasm. "Come with me; let's get back to the house."
He led us into the building, which was basically one large room containing armed security who checked our bags and made us walk through a metal detector before letting us leave through the door on the opposite side. "Sorry about that," the man said. "If I don't let them do it, they get very whiney about the whole thing."
He let us toward a small motorcade of cars- three black, four-wheel drive Mercedes. We climbed into the middle one, the seats inside had been arranged so that the front passenger could swivel around to talk to those in the rear.
He swivelled round once the car started. "It's good to see you all. I'm glad you called Nathan. It sounds like we have much to discuss."
Kasey raised a hand.
"You don't need to do that," the man said warmly. "Just ask away."
She lowered her hand, but stared intently at the man in front of us. "Who are you?"
"Nate and Tommy didn't tell you who you were visiting? My manners must seem horrific." He straightened himself in his chair and readjusted his collar, before extending his hand to Kasey. "Hello, Kasey, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've gone by a few names over the years, but you can call me Hades."