Chapter 73

Kadeem

Kadeem was up until the wee hours of the morning. He and Miles took the solemn duty of informing Theo's family of his passing, and Kadeem did his best to console them.

After finally departing, he trudged wearily back to the gym parking lot. Head still pounding, he fumbled for his key in its hiding spot beneath the wheel arch. Opening the trunk, he retrieved his phone and wallet before collapsing against the tail of the car in despondency.

He steadied himself for a few minutes, trying to figure out his next move, amidst the blinding headache and mental fog from his knock to the skull.

With Riley hopefully sleeping off her injury, he dialed for Jason who picked up right away despite the loud noises of a busy bar behind him.

"See if you can get intel on Pack X," he said into the receiver. "I want to know how they factor into all this."

"Yes, Alpha," Jason said, with more than a slight slur. "We had to blow off some steam after everything that happened today, but I'll close out my tab, and I'll pull Lee and James on it as well."

"Just get on it first thing in the morning," Kadeem said. "And be careful," he added quietly, grief for Theo washing over him again.

"Oh, hang on," Jason said. "What do you want us to do now about this Rayburn fellow? Put him back under surveillance? Or maybe go on the offensive" Kadeem could practically hear Jason salivating down the line at the thought.

"No, stay clear of him," Kadeem said, firmly. "That's an order." Clicking off before Jason could respond, he sat for a while in the darkness before heading home.

The bell on the door chimed as Kadeem pulled it open, the scents of sage and the perfumed smoke of incense filling his nose immediately. He'd caught a few hours of fitful rest before getting up to prepare for tonight's council meeting, but still restless afterwards, he'd decided to dig for answers on the strange runes etched across the oak trees last night.

A shuffling sound came from the back of the occult shop. Suddenly, the door creaked open and an aged figure stepped through.

"Oh, welcome back," the shopkeeper said, stroking his beard with an amused twinkle in his eye.

Kadeem approached the counter. "You remember me?"

The shopkeeper cackled in delight. "I've got a keen memory for faces. Are you looking for anything particular today?"

"Actually," Kadeem said, "I'm here to get some information, if that's alright?"

The old man lowered himself on a creaky stool and propped his bony elbow onto the surface of the counter, with a light sigh. "Ask away, kid."

Kadeem pursed his lips. “I know this may come across as an odd question, but - do you know anything about a healing stone with runes on it - maybe a ruby?"

The shopkeeper paused for a moment, then abruptly stood up from the chair, surprisingly agile for such an old age. He waved Kadeem over to a table filled with crystals and stones.

"I've got just the thing," he whispered. He pointed to a box of polished amethyst stones studded with glittering golden marks.

"A ruby is a fine gemstone, and we don't carry those, but these," the man said, selecting one to place in Kadeem's hand, "These are rune stones. They’re more for divination, traditionally, but the ones I carry are made of amethyst, which opens up your crown chakra and will ease your headache."

Startled, Kadeem paused and glanced at him in shock. The man was pointing directly at Kadeem's aching head, and Kadeem couldn't help but laugh.

"How did you know I have a headache?"

The old man shrugged and grinned slyly before cackling again. "Who doesn't? It was a fifty-fifty."

Kadeem liked him more by the second. "I'll take the stone," he said.

The old man's face lit up with excitement, and he hustled off to place it on the counter near the cash register.

"So, different stones heal different things," Kadeem asked, returning his attention back to inspect the piles of rocks on the table.

"That's right," said the shopkeeper. "What's ailing you?"

"If we're getting that personal, I should know your name, maybe," Kadeem said, smiling.

"Bernard," the shopkeeper laughed. "And you?"

"Kadeem."

He stroked his beard thoughtfully and shook his head, "Doesn't ring any bells. Ah well. I'm less good with names."

He started guiding Kadeem through the plethora of crystals and their many varied abilities and benefits, both physical and psychological.

"It's all really interesting," Kadeem commented, not taking his eyes off the gems before him, "but is there one that could heal all ailments? Any powerful or rare ones in particular?"

A far-off look entered Bernard's gaze as he pondered. "Mmm," he mused, "Only in legend. They say there are healing stones of Kapaemahu and some say Stonehenge was a site of healing."

Kadeem picked up a shiny black stone, feeling the cool weight of the obsidian in his hand. "Ok," he said, "And maybe there is something else I'm looking for.”

Kadeem set the polished rock back onto the table. "Do you have anything that would tell me about the meaning of different runes? Druidic or otherwise?"

Bernard gave him a crooked smile before disappearing behind the front counter to retrieve an ancient leather-bound book. He opened it with a creak, revealing pages yellowed with age and crammed with symbols of every kind.

"This should help you," Bernard said, waving him over. "A guide to what's known of the Druidic runes, the Norse, and so on." He pushed the book across the counter towards Kadeem.

Kadeem nodded in approval and Bernard smiled and began ringing up the items on the old cash register.

"You'll be able to make your own carvings to cast powerful spells and manipulate energy," Bernard said, while he wrapped up the book and slid it into a paper bag.

Kadeem chuckled and took the bag from Bernard’s outstretched arm. "I'll let you know if I have any luck."

"I won't bag this one up," Bernard said, placing the amethyst into Kadeem’s palm, "So you can put it right to work."

"I'd be willing to tape it straight to my forehead if it would help." Kadeem pocketed it immediately, hoping it might actually do some good.

He stepped out onto the busy sidewalk. The shadows stretched long in the late afternoon sun.

Taking in a breath of the fresh air, Kadeem’s tired brain was already hard at work, a worn-out hamster back on the wheel.

Had Bob just been lying about the healing stone?

Probably.

But if Bob had just pulled the idea out of thin air, it was certainly a funny coincidence he’d described an object with runes, just before Kadeem stumbled across the fiery runes - or something resembling them - in the trees last night.

And how the hell did vampires connect to any of it? Vampires that didn’t burn up in the sunlight.

Kadeem climbed into his car and drove around for a while, trying to put it all together. Eventually, he gave up and pulled into a rare open parking spot downtown. He opened up the book he’d bought at Elder’s Corner, carefully thumbing through its weathered pages. The musty “book smell” filled his car and the dust from the cover tickled his nose.

As hard as he tried, he couldn’t match the markings he saw last night with the runes in the book. He remembered them in a general sense, but everything happened too fast to memorize them in a detailed sense. Getting whacked on the head probably didn’t help either. He flipped through page after page, but nothing stood out.

He doubted Riley remembered any better than him, but he decided to show her later in case she could pick out something she saw.

Kadeem closed the book and got out of the car to walk down to the gym. He had a couple of hours to kill before his meeting tonight and not enough time to unravel this mystery. Although he didn’t feel much like it, there were things in his office that needed catching up on, and he was eager for a distraction.

As he made his way toward the gym, he realized for the first time that the hammering pain in his head had gradually eased since he’d left the store, and was now gone completely.

He took the stone out of his pocket and rubbed his thumb over the edges of it.

“Whaddaya know,” he muttered, smiling to himself before he tucked it away again.

When he looked back up, his stomach dropped to his feet.

There was Rayburn, hand-in-hand with Ardal.

Fueled by pure instinct, a dark rumble rose from his throat and his fingers gave way to claws.