Chloe had dismissed the fact that Jane Kryskill had been at Sandcastle hours after Boo and Joey Shoji vanished. Tristan didn’t believe in coincidence. That Jane interacted with the female tengu searching for Joey was too much for him to overlook.
Tristan’s best bet was to infiltrate the family. Normally this would be difficult but once the main attack started, the city would be filled with chaos. He could show up, pretend to be separated from his own family, and stay close. The Kryskills probably would be touching base with one another as they were currently scattered through the city. At some point, someone would probably mention Boo if she had rejoined her family.
Lucien wouldn’t have told Boo about his family on Earth, so she wouldn’t know about Tristan, Yves, or their father. Boo might have warned her family about “teenage Kajo” but couldn’t have warned them about an even younger brother.
Tristan considered making contact with Boo’s youngest male cousin, Andy Roach. Lucien’s notes indicated that the boy was known to be naïve, trusting, and the worst person to keep a secret. There was a possibility, though, that the Kryskills hadn’t trusted the boy with the truth.
Boo’s mother was another possible entry into the family. She was downtown at the coffee shop, making her easy to find. A mother who lost one of her children would probably have a weak spot for a child in distress. It would be tricky to put together a solid backstory on such short notice, but he’d dealt with worse conditions.
24: HIDE
Geoffrey Kryskill’s workshop was in McKees Rocks Bottoms, not far from Tinker’s junkyard. Geoffrey was worried about thieves breaking in and stealing his stockpile of kiln-dried ironwood lumber, his extensive collection of power tools, and his handmade furniture, so he kept a low profile. The old warehouse was a massive block-long structure that at first glance seemed abandoned.
Oilcan’s heart sunk as he pulled into the parking lot. There was no sign of the kids. Where had they gone? Directly to John Montana’s gas station? Or had they been stopped before reaching McKees Rocks?
He sat idling in the muddy parking lot, trying to decide what to do. He hadn’t circled back to the South Side, since Rebecca said that there had been dozens of oni on foot behind the hornet swarm. Oilcan had cut over to the North Side instead and headed up to the McKees Rocks Bridge.
Rebecca looked horrible. The hornet had stung her twice in the left thigh. The entire leg was swelling up and she was having trouble breathing. Should he trust that the kids were safe…someplace and go…somewhere to get Rebecca’s wounds treated? She was tengu — could Mercy Hospital even help her? He couldn’t drive to Haven, there were no roads between Pittsburgh and the tengu village.
“Oilcan!” Blue Sky called from one of the upper windows that overlooked the parking lot. “Hey! We pulled inside. Hold on, we’ll open the door.”
The big doors rattled open, letting out a flood of cooler air heavily scented with sawdust. Oilcan pulled the flatbed into the huge dim warehouse that was Geoffrey’s woodshop. The pickups were parked where stacks of rough-cut and kiln-dried lumber usually sat.
The kids gathered around the truck, all asking questions at once. Guy opened the passenger door and lifted Rebecca out. The three big elfhounds gathered around Andy, snuffling and grumbling about Rebecca’s scent.
“Stop.” Andy waved his hand flat with floor. “Down.”
The dogs grumbled but settled by the flatbed.
“She has been stung twice by a death hornet.” Thorne pointed Guy toward a worktable. “Its venom is brutally painful but not deadly. We need to get her pants and fighting spurs off. The poison makes her limbs swell and tight clothing can restrict her blood flow.”
Guy had been acting very adult. After this announcement, though, he put Rebecca down on the worktable and backed away, hands raised, very much a teenage boy.
Cattail Reeds and Barley leapt to undress the girl in a quick and careful manner. Cattail dressed people for a living, but normally they were healthy and upright. Judging by the murmured instructions from Barley, stripping sick and drunk customers of their clothes was something enclave elves learned young.
Thorne pulled out a small handbound book and flipped through it. “I have a spell that can neutralize the poison. The wound should be washed. Ice would be helpful to reduce the swelling if there is a means to make water frozen. We also need to control the bleeding; put pressure on the wounds.”
“I can do ice!” Andy dashed off to the workshop’s makeshift kitchen, which was a collection of random appliances clumped together next to a big stainless steel bar sink.
“Burn her clothes,” Moon Dog added. “The Skin Clan used to use scent markers to indicate a target for a swarm. It will make any hornet in the area attack.”
Spot nodded solemnly, wrinkling his nose. It explained the elfhounds’ reaction.
“I can burn them.” Merry held out her hands for the offending clothing.
Trusting that the kids and the sekasha could care for Rebecca better than he could hope to, Oilcan turned to Blue Sky.
“Blue, can you make sure that the casting circle is clean and ready?”
“We can help,” Baby Duck said for her and Spot.
As they hurried off, Oilcan turned to Guy. “I know Geoffrey has printers for printing out spells. It would be really useful if I can use them.”
“Yeah, sure.” Guy led the way to his older brother’s printing area. Oilcan and Tinker had helped Geoffrey set up his original system since they were the only ones in the city who understood the mix of spellcasting and technology. The computer workstation had shifted locations and expanded greatly since Oilcan last worked with it.
“I might have to hack his system,” Oilcan said when the computer powered on to a login screen.
“Wait.” Guy entered a password. “He’s been swamped since last year. I come down after school to help Geoffrey out, so I have an account that can access the printers.”
Oilcan nodded. Geoffrey had cleared his schedule to make the gates for Sacred Heart. Geoffrey had said that the security of the enclaves trumped all the other projects he had outstanding.
Guy got Oilcan into the computer system and then stood back as he copied the images on his tablet. As the spells printed out, Oilcan glanced around. Andy was carrying a cooking pot full of ice and some clean dishtowels to Rebecca. Thorne and Moon Dog were prepping the tengu girl for a healing spell. All of his kids were accounted for. Someone was missing. It took him a moment to figure out who.
“What happened to the girls from the ice cream shop?” Oilcan said.
Guy pointed up hill toward McKees Rocks proper. “They live over on Church Avenue, across from Saint John’s, so we dropped them off. John Montana wasn’t home or I would have tried talking Blue Sky into staying there with the little kids. I figured they’d be better off with John than with…” He paused to put his hand to his earbud and listened intently. “They’re blasting general quarters. Oakland.”
The printer spat out the spell. Oilcan felt a moment of relief. He and Tinker had the spell. They were out of harm’s way. Then he realized that Forge and Geoffrey were still at Sacred Heart.
“I should make a second copy and see if I can get it to Oakland somehow,” Oilcan said despite not being sure how. He didn’t want Blue Sky taking it despite the fact that the half-elf was the most logical choice.
“I could take it,” Guy volunteered.
Oilcan shook his head. Guy was technically younger than Blue Sky and didn’t have his sekasha immunity with the royal marines. Andy was older than his cousin but lacked all common sense in the face of danger. Thorne wouldn’t leave Oilcan. Moon Dog didn’t know his way around…