Balance of Power: An Alastair Stone Urban Fantasy Novel (Alastair Stone Chronicles Book 25)

by R. L. King

  “That right?” Both of them leaned in now, interested. “’Ow?”

  “Kolinsky is a very secretive bloke. He doesn’t tell me everything—not even close. But he’s also reliable. If he says he knows about something, he does. And he told me what makes them work.”

  Eddie’s gaze was laser-sharp now. “And what’s that?”

  “A substance. A very rare extradimensional one that, as far as he knows, doesn’t exist on Earth anymore. He said the reference he’d heard to the devices was very old, and he was as surprised as you were to find out there might be one existing in modern times.”

  “Bloody ’ell, mate—not somethin’ to be leavin’ out of the story,” Eddie grumbled.

  “Sorry. Like I said, I was planning to tell you, but a lot’s been going on lately. But it doesn’t matter, because if we don’t have it, there’s no way we’ll have a chance at recreating the original base.”

  “Damn.” Eddie opened the folder and fanned out the photos he’d taken of the pyramid from all its sides. “And ’ere was me ’opin’ if we could suss out these markings, maybe we could get somewhere.”

  “Sorry, Eddie. Believe me, I wish you were right.”

  “And you’re certain there’s no other place to find this substance?” Ward asked.

  Stone shrugged. “I don’t know where it would be. The only place that might be possible is in the room under my house that has the same symbols, but that’s buried. Even if the room itself is still intact down there, there’s no way to get to it, without—”

  He jerked his head up.

  Eddie and Ward both stared at him, startled.

  “Y’okay, mate?” Eddie ventured.

  Stone didn’t answer. Something had taken hold of him—a crazy idea that for a moment he couldn’t even articulate.

  No…that’s insane.

  Even if you could manage it, it’s too dangerous.

  But what if it worked?

  But what if it didn’t?

  “Stone?”

  He snapped out of his thoughts. They were still looking at him. “Er…never mind. It was nothing.”

  “It was not nothin’.” Eddie glared at him. “Come on, don’t insult us—out wi’ it. What are you cookin’ up in that mad brain of yours?”

  He couldn’t lie to them—why bother trying? He sighed. “I was just thinking…I still can’t give you all the details, but…it might be possible for me to get inside that room.”

  “What?” Ward’s eyes widened. “How? That whole catacomb was buried during the cave-in. We saw it.”

  “It is…but it’s possible the chamber didn’t cave in. If it was that magically potent, it was probably heavily reinforced. And if there’s anywhere on Earth we might have a chance of finding some of that substance, it’s there.”

  “Wait.” Eddie gripped the table, never taking his eyes off Stone. “Are you sayin’ this…new travel thing you’ve got that you won’t tell us about…might let you pop into that room?”

  Stone inclined his head. “Possibly. I don’t know for sure.” True, the whole house was at the confluence of three ley lines, so if there was any chance, that might be the best place to do it. And Kolinsky had told him that it was impossible to pop into solid rock, so if the chamber was buried, the attempt simply wouldn’t work.

  But if he did manage to travel into the room and something went wrong, he’d be trapped. There was no chance anyone else could get in there to rescue him. Even if his growing suspicion that it was impossible to kill him was true, it would take days to dig down to him—assuming his friends could convince anyone to do it.

  Eddie seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He shook his head emphatically. “No. It’s too risky. You could get stuck down there, and then what would we do? Tell Aubrey we’ve got to dig up ’alf the house to get to you?”

  Stone got up and paced. “You’ve got a point…but bloody hell, what if it is there? What if we can get hold of it? We might not need to find the other piece.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Ward said. He looked unusually sober, even for him. “I think we’re caught up in our zeal to solve this problem. But we don’t need this thing. What would we do with it if we had it? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with it existing in the world at all, if I’m being completely honest.”

  “Still…” Eddie rubbed his chin. “It would’ve been nice to find out if we could manage it. Ah, well. You’re right, of course.” He slid the photos of the pyramid back into the folder and closed it with an emphatic thump. “That’s that, then. Unless you get a new lead on the platform, we’ll have to chalk this one up to ‘insufficient resources’ or summat.”

  Stone nodded slowly. “I suppose so…” he murmured, but his thoughts were whirling again.

  “Stone…” Eddie’s voice held a warning tone.

  He didn’t answer.

  “You’re gonna do it, aren’t you? You’re not foolin’ anybody. You’re gonna leave here, pop down to Surrey, and do it.”

  Was he? His friends were right—it was too risky.

  But would he let himself rest if he didn’t know?

  “I’m afraid so,” he said.

  “Stone—” Ward began.

  He snapped back to reality with a decisive jerk of his head. “Yes. I’m going to do it. I know it’s dangerous, but I’ve got to know. Are you coming with me? You don’t have to come inside—in fact you can’t, because I’ve got no way to bring you along. But I’d feel safer knowing someone was there besides Aubrey.”

  “Right now?” Eddie and Ward exchanged glances.

  “Have you got a better time? It’s not like we need any preparation.”

  They didn’t like it—he could tell. He felt guilty asking them to be party to this. But he could also tell by their troubled expressions that part of them wanted to see if they could make this work too.

  “Fine,” Eddie said with a sigh. “No talkin’ you out of it, so somebody’s gotta be there to keep watch over your reckless arse.” He shoved the folder aside. “Let’s do it, then, before I get some sense and change my mind.”

  Aubrey didn’t come out to greet them when Stone, Eddie, and Ward came through the portal to the mausoleum outside the Surrey house. A quick glance at the garage on the way past showed no lights on in his apartment, and his old pickup truck missing from its usual spot.

  “Probably down the pub with Susan, his lady friend,” Stone said, smiling fondly. “I’m so glad he’s finally met someone.”

  “Yeah, ’bout time,” Eddie said. “Selby here?”

  “It’s his day off, so probably not. We’ve got the place to ourselves.”

  “Brilliant.” He didn’t sound pleased about it. Stone wondered if he’d hoped the caretaker would talk him out of his plan.

  “Okay,” Stone said when they got inside the house. “Give me a moment—I need to work out exactly where the chamber is from up here.”

  “That’s easy,” Eddie said immediately, pointing. “The room where we initially went down is at the far end of the east wing.” He set off at a fast stride down the hall until he found the room. The floor and collapsed wall had long since been repaired. He faced outward, toward the grounds to the side of the house. “The big chamber with the altar where we found Brathwaite should be about fifteen feet out from ’ere, so it’s gotta be buried. Same with the catacombs further out.” He turned and pointed the opposite direction, back toward the interior of the house. “But the rest of the catacombs, includin’ the one with the chamber at the end, are gonna be this way, and this part didn’t collapse. You’ve got a good shot, Stone. I still don’t like it, though. The air down there isn’t gonna be great.”

  “You should at least wear some kind of safety equipment,” Ward said. “Eye protection and a dust mask at minimum.”

  “I’d be more comf’table with full oxygen, like a bleedin’ scuba tank,” Eddie muttered. “But Stone’s not gonna sit still that long.”

  “I swear, you two are like a couple of
old women,” Stone grumbled. “Fine. Stay here.”

  He jogged out to Aubrey’s garage workshop and retrieved a mask, safety glasses, and a Maglite. When he returned, he found Eddie and Ward talking softly in the corner. They both looked somber. “Something wrong?”

  “Nah,” Eddie said, waving him off. “Just talkin’ about how barmy you are. Nothin’ new. Come on—if we’re gonna do this, let’s get on wi’ it. Then we can pop up to the Dragon and ’ave a laugh about the whole thing afterward. You’re buyin’, so make sure you don’t get stuck in there to get out of it.”

  Stone shivered a little at the word “Dragon.” This chamber had been built to contain one. The ley-line travel was a draconic technique. What if he got down there and something was still operational, preventing him from returning?

  You can still back out, he told himself. We don’t need this. We probably can’t re-create the thing even if we had it.

  He took a deep breath and shook his head. They were here now, and he had to know. And besides, Aldwyn had gotten out once he awakened, which meant the earthquake must have disrupted the room’s magic enough for his abilities to work.

  But he’s an actual dragon, and you’re not.

  Eddie and Ward were watching him with nervous expectation.

  “Okay,” he said. “Just be quiet and let me concentrate.”

  “Quiet as church mice, mate,” Eddie murmured. He didn’t sound flippant now.

  Stone turned away from them, closing his eyes and letting his breathing settle to a soft, even cadence. The ley-line technique was a bit more difficult when shooting for a specific spot instead of just a point roughly in the desired location. It got much easier the more familiar he was with the spot, so he could pop into the Encantada, Surrey, and London houses with ease, along with Caventhorne. But he’d only seen this chamber briefly, over a year ago. He pictured it in his mind’s eye, gritted his teeth, and released the magical energy.

  Nothing happened.

  Damn. Missed the mark. Still, it was good that nothing had happened, if the alternative was materializing in the middle of solid rock.

  He gathered himself, focused harder, and tried again.

  Nothing.

  “All right, Stone?” Ward called softly.

  “Yes. Just…let me do this.”

  He tried twice more, and twice more nothing happened. He felt a faint resistance, but nothing else. Could it be that he was getting it right, but something inside the chamber was pushing back? The technique didn’t work against wards, but as far as he knew, the wards around the chamber had been broken. The house wards shouldn’t be an issue—not merely because they were inside them already, but because they were his.

  He let his breath out, and his shoulders slumped. “It’s not working.”

  “Eh.” Eddie sounded relieved. “That’s all right. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Let’s just—”

  “Hush. One more try.”

  This would have to be the last try. He could already feel his body’s fatigue from the previous attempts, and didn’t think it would be safe to keep pushing. If this didn’t work, he’d admit his friends were right and accompany them to the Dancing Dragon. He could use a pint or two—or three—about now.

  Focus.

  He visualized the inside of the chamber, tightened his grip on the Maglite, and released the energy.

  Instantly, he knew he’d been successful this time. Even with his eyes still closed, he could feel and smell the difference in the air.

  He snapped on the flashlight and opened his eyes.

  The chamber appeared just as he’d remembered it, with the pedestal and the blasted box in the middle and the broken door on one side. Every one of the walls, the ceiling, and the floor were covered with intricate carved symbols. The dry, dusty air smelled dank and seemed to press in on Stone from every side. When he pointed the flashlight out through the door, he saw that rubble had come down to fill most of the hallway leading out. Nobody was getting out there without a lot of effort.

  He pulled out his phone and tried to get a signal. He didn’t expect to, and wasn’t surprised to see no bars. Stuffing it back in his pocket, he moved to the pedestal.

  Don’t have long. I’ll need to do this fast.

  He shifted to magical sight, looking for any sign of leftover energy, but found none. With a sudden sense of panic, he wondered if that was because there wasn’t any to find, or if somehow the chamber was still functioning to block his power. A quick glance at his hand dispelled that fear, though: his aura shone as bright as ever. He let out his breath in relief.

  Already, the air felt wrong. He wasn’t experiencing any lightheadedness or any other indication he wasn’t getting enough oxygen, but he knew better than to waste time down here.

  Moving fast but methodically, he directed the flashlight beam to first the box, then each of the walls in turn. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for: was it something in the carved symbols? A hidden alcove in one of the walls? Something about the box or embedded in the pedestal it rested on?

  After ten minutes, he was breathing hard. Sweat beads had broken out on his forehead and more were creeping down the back of his neck. He knew it wasn’t because he was physically tired—he hadn’t expended enough effort for that—but even more than before, he felt the oppressive air pushing against him.

  He couldn’t stay down here much longer. He wasn’t sure if most of the problem was in his head or if the air really was getting bad, but he couldn’t risk waiting around to find out. Already, the swimmy feeling in his brain was growing noticeable. He couldn’t afford to pass out.

  Damn it. He spun in place, pointing the flashlight in every direction, shifting once again to magical sight, but nothing new presented itself. Maybe, possibly, he could come back down here with better gear and spend more time looking, but right now, he had to get out.

  Bugger it. Give it up. There’s nothing here. Stop chasing ghosts before you get yourself killed—or worse.

  He closed his eyes and reluctantly concentrated on the pattern, hoping it wouldn’t take as many attempts as it had to get down here.

  An instant later, he reappeared in the same room where he’d left, looking straight into Eddie’s and Ward’s worried faces. He staggered forward, letting his breath out in a rush of relief and frustration.

  His friends surged forward and caught him, hustling him to a chair.

  “Y’all right, mate?” There was still no sign of humor in Eddie’s voice.

  Stone nodded. “Yes, I’ll…be fine in a moment.”

  “Did you find it?” Ward asked. “Did you make it to the room?”

  He nodded again, wearily. The lightheadedness was already lifting with the influx of fresh air, but he felt as tired as he did after a long run. He suspected his disappointment was part of it.

  “I’m guessin’ you didn’t find anything, though,” Eddie said.

  “No. Not a damned thing. If it’s in there, it’s well hidden.”

  “Or it got ruined when the enchantment broke,” Ward said.

  “Or it was never there in the first place, and they did it some other way.” Eddie sighed. “I ’ate to say it—you know ’ow I feel about givin’ up on a juicy problem like this—but it might just be worth puttin’ this one on the shelf, this time. We can examine that pyramid some more if you want, but other than that, I don’t see where else we can go.”

  Stone sighed and lowered his head. “I don’t want to admit it either,” he said, his tone thick with dejection. “But you might be right.” He looked up. “Anyway, thanks for coming with me. I appreciate your putting up with my mad schemes, even when you don’t approve.”

  Eddie shrugged. “It was a good idea. But sometimes even good ideas don’t pan out.” He brightened. “So, you up for a few pints, or are we gonna ’ave to take you upstairs and put you to bed wi’ some warm milk and yer teddy bear before Aubrey gets ’ome?”

  Stone flashed a faint, tired grin. “I’ll never turn down a few pints.
Even if I am buying.”

  33

  After a few more days had passed with no further developments on any of the fronts Stone was keeping watch on, he became increasingly convinced that perhaps no developments were coming.

  Blum had reported that even Chaz DaCosta’s offered reward hadn’t brought any takers out of the woodwork with information about the pyramid. As far as Stone could tell, neither the Ordo, Portas, nor the nameless government organization had made any efforts to break into his home or bother any of his friends, and he was sure none of them had tried contacting him. The original thief was still listed as a John Doe, and Brandon Greene had returned to work without any apparent long-term ill effects from getting his bell rung.

  In fact, everything had grown so quiet it was almost unsettling.

  Had whoever had stolen the pyramid from DaCosta decided they’d been wrong about it being magical in the first place, and directed their search elsewhere? It seemed unlikely, but Stone supposed it was possible. Not everybody was as curious as he was.

  Even Eleanor didn’t think things were going anywhere.

  “They’re not bugging me about when you’re going to take me to England anymore,” she told him one night while they were at his house on one of their less frequent sham dates. “They told me I could keep on watching you if I wanted, and they’ll pay me if I report back with anything interesting, but I don’t think their heart’s in it anymore.” She gave him a rueful smile and leaned in to kiss him. “This has been fun, but I think it might be time to move on.”

  He was surprised at his disappointment. “I suppose it was inevitable at some point. Where will you go?”

  She shrugged. “Wherever the jobs take me. But hey, you’ve got my number. If you ever need my services again, give me a call.”

  “You’ll stay tonight, though, right?”

  Her smile grew less rueful and more sly. “Try to send me away.”

  Later that week, a couple days after Stone had awakened in the morning to find Eleanor gone, Jason called him as he was leaving his afternoon class.