Sapphire Nights (Crystal Magic Book 1)(8)

Walker rolled his eyes as the crowd gave way so he could see into the clearing. Daisy seldom spoke in anything except circles and never with such venom, so he knew it wasn’t Daisy speaking, but Valdis. Her real name was Valerie Ingersson. But half the people up here invented their own names. Valdis called herself after the Norse goddess of death. Tall, skeletal, usually garbed in flowing black rags, and a veil concealing her face and black hair, she played the part well.

He’d seen her once without all the gear. Her black hair had blond roots, and her chin was marred by an angry scar. Everyone up here had a story.

From the steps of the resort, Kurt Kennedy glared at the show with disapproval. Walker caught his eye and quirked a questioning eyebrow. Kurt nodded without a smile.

Not much older than Walker, the wealthy, uptight resort manager had no sense of humor on a good day, if he ever had good days.

Walker entered the clearing and caught Valdis by her bony elbow. Daisy made an awkward curtsy in her billowing purple skirt. He bowed his head in acknowledgment of her wordless greeting.

Valdis continued screeching, but at him now. “Save the earth goddess or she will die as the other did!”

“I don’t think the guests can help,” he said, applying the respectful tone he used on his mother when she raged. “Why don’t we go somewhere quiet and discuss this?” He steered Valdis toward the side of the sprawling lodge and offered his arm to Daisy.

“You have kept your crystals safe?” Daisy asked beneath her friend’s shouting. “You are walking a dark path, and you will need them to light the way.”

Daisy had built him a clever stone man of wire, rocks, and shiny crystals when he’d first arrived. He kept the sculpture on a window sill in his Baskerville apartment because he admired both the stones and the art. “Rocky is doing just fine. What’s the shouting about?”

“We don’t know for certain,” Daisy whispered. “But the prophesies have been proven. More deaths will follow.”

Sometimes Daisy made good sense, if one weeded out references to paths future and past.

Walker nodded at the security captain opening his office door for them. “Juan, good to see you.”

The older, stouter man nodded unsmilingly as he gestured for them to enter. Walker got the impression that Juan disliked Walker’s Chinese heritage, or maybe just his city background. Since he had more important goals here, Walker preferred to ignore any implied slight and use the guard’s authority for his own purposes. The resort was private property, after all.

Juan’s crew would break up the crowd now that the troublemakers were out of sight. Walker could just leave the two women here and let them calm down, but generally, they didn’t create trouble without reason, however weird their purpose might be. So he pushed them inside, where he perched on the edge of the desk and crossed his arms. “All right, ladies, who will die? Is there something I can do?”

Valdis paced jerkily. Daisy drifted off in her own world, staring at a photograph of an owl.

“It is as Cassandra predicted—” With a dramatic gesture pointing up the mountain, Valdis glared. “The earth mother will die unless we act now. Her gatekeeper is already dead.” She stalked out, as if expecting him to follow.

“There are four black crows on the gravestone,” Crazy Daisy said sadly. “The Morrigan has arrived.”

She used a tone that might as well have said “The end is nigh” and followed the Norse death goddess.

Since they went up the mountain and not back to the parking lot, Walker debated whether to go after them. You’re a crazy magnet his inner demon complained. Walker ignored the warning and sent a wordless question to the older man.

“They been gathering up on Menendez land all morning,” Juan reported. “Might want to take a look. They could be having a ritual sacrifice for all I know. They’re off our grounds, so I haven’t checked it out.”

“They?” Walker stood up and led the way out, the shorter man on his heels. He pretty much already knew the answer to his question, but he’d rather avoid surprises.

“The usual bunch,” the guard confirmed. “We let them park here when we don’t have a lot of guests. Monty says encouraging the locals is good for business.”

Walker snorted at the mayor’s peacemaking efforts. Monty and Kurt jointly owned the lodge with their mother. He was glad he didn’t have to keep the family peace. “What does Kurt say?”

“It’s a load of hokum,” Juan said in a tone indicating his agreement with his boss.

“Some of the ladies are pretty influential. The mayor could be right.” Walker followed the mulch path the resort optimistically called a woodland walk. The uneven ground exacerbated his limp, but he’d deal. Up ahead, he could catch glimpses of the flowing drapery of Valdis and Daisy. He didn’t know why all that fabric didn’t catch on the prickly pear cactus growing all through here.

Before long, they veered off the mulch path and followed a rockier one. Sand slid from beneath his boots, loosening the stones they walked on. Layers of shale, sandstone, and volcanic rock from the tectonic shifts of the San Andreas fault formed these unstable mountains. In spring, mud slides shifted the geology with enough energy to take out a town.

In place of worrying about mudslides, he probably ought to worry that it had been a relatively dry spring. People weren’t as cautious with their campfires here as they were further south in the more arid hills.