The Corvin Chance Chronicles Complete Box Set

by N. P. Martin

  I looked through the window to see a black Jag with tinted windows parked outside in the dull, gray afternoon. "I can’t start yet," I told him. "There’s things I have to do first."

  Benedict took a deep breath as he stared at me, before taking a few more steps forward, his hands now out of his pockets, his smooth, tanned face set into a serious look. "Corvin, Corvin, Corvin," he said looking down on me. "I think you misunderstand the nature of our agreement. Let me remind you that you don’t have a choice here. One phone call is all it will take to put your friend Monty behind bars. And if perchance your friend means little to you—even though I know he does—then I have other means of persuasion at my disposal, should you continue to insist that you have more pressing concerns than honoring our agreement."

  "Other means? What means?"

  His dark eyes narrowed slightly as he continued to stare at me. "I can make life very difficult for everyone you know, Corvin. Amelia Tasar is running a crime syndicate. Davey Carvell does illegal autopsies in his basement, helped by your little Demifay friend. All of these people can be criminals—threats to the status quo—if I want them to be, making all of their actions severely punishable."

  I shook my head slowly as I stared back a him. "You really are a piece of work, you know that?"

  "I’m just doing my job, Corvin. Now its time for you to do yours."

  Not having much of a choice in the matter, I had to accompany Benedict to the Council offices on Dame Street. I spent the ride over squirming in my seat, knowing I had to deal with this Council bullshit now on top of everything else. Which was ridiculous, because if Benedict knew what was really going on, he wouldn’t be forcing me into being a bureaucrat. Or maybe he would, knowing him, being a company man to the bitter end and all. Either way, the bastard seemed to be enjoying my discomfort, perhaps thinking he now had full control over me, like he clearly had control of everything else in his life. Of course, it would’ve been easier just to tell him about Erebus and the Disciples, but Mirahorn’s instructions were clear: don’t tell anyone. Which was fair enough, I suppose. I doubted Benedict had anything to do with the other side, but you never know with people.

  We went inside the 18th century Council building, which had a staid, deadish sort of atmosphere to it. It was like walking into another realm, where everyone was just drifting about trying to get through the day in Bureaucratic Hell. I literally felt my soul recoil from the sucking emptiness of the place as I walked in with Benedict, who looked like he was completely comfortable in such stiff surroundings. "We’re on the top floor," he said as we walked inside the elevator.

  "What do you expect me to do here today?" I asked him as he stood looking pleased with himself, as if getting me here was one more problem he had so expertly solved.

  "I expect you to settle in, get your bearings." He smiled. "To meet the team."

  "The team? I thought there were no other members."

  "There isn’t exactly. That’s something you’ll have to sort out yourself. Whoever you recruit will have to be fully vetted by us, of course."

  "And in the meantime?"

  "In the meantime, I brought two of my finest administrators over from London to help run things for a while."

  As the elevator doors opened and we walked out into a long corridor with plush red carpet and wood panelling, I shook my head slightly, wondering what kind of people these "administrators" were. Knowing Benedict, they were probably more like minders, brought here to make sure I fulfill my duties. Duties, by the way, that I wasn’t especially clear on, nor even interested in, come to think of it. I know I agreed to the job to save Monty from being locked up, but at the same time I had no interest in spending the rest of my days inside this stuffy building, doing nothing more exciting than shuffling papers and hearing everyone else’s problems.

  We went through a door at the end of the corridor, stepping inside what appeared to be a medium-sized conference room containing a large window that had a pretty impressive view of the city, as dull as it was today. In the center of the room was a sizable oblong table with various files and folders scattered across it. As I walked in, a man and a woman both dressed in dark suits got up from the table as if to stand to attention in their bosses presence, which was Benedict, by the way, not me.

  "Afternoon, sir," the woman said, smiling at Benedict like she wanted nothing more than to crawl up his ass. She was pear-shaped, with a slightly severe looking bobbed haircut. Her eyes went to me, but she didn’t speak. Neither did her colleague, a slightly overweight black man with a boyish face. Neither of them particularly looked like minders of any kind. I didn’t get the impression they were Touched in any way either. Perhaps they were just pencil pushers after all.

  "This is Corvin," Benedict said as he strode to the table, standing by the head of it as if naturally gravitating there. "The new Head of Council here in Ireland. He doesn’t have much experience, but I trust you two will keep him right and help him find his feet in his new position."

  "Of course, sir," the black guy said, then came around to offer me his hand, smiling as he introduced himself. "I’m Jordan Wilkes. Nice to meet you, Corvin. Mr. Bonneville has told us a lot about you."

  "I’m sure Mr. Bonneville has," I said, glancing at Benedict, who appeared to be reveling in the authority he commanded.

  The woman approached next, her grip surprisingly strong as she shook my hand. Going by her stern expression and serious dark eyes, she appeared to be the no-bullshit one of the two. "Susan Chambers," she said. "We have a lot to get through. I suggest we get started right away."

  "Splendid idea," Benedict said, rubbing his hands together. "I think you’ll find these two whizzes will make your job a lot easier, Corvin…or harder, depending on how you approach things."

  Chambers smiled slightly at that, as if she wanted me to make things hard, just so she could light on me with her bureaucratic wrath, which I had no doubt was considerable.

  "I’ll keep that in mind," I said as I went and hovered by the table, glancing at all the files there, having little interest in what was in them. The only thing I saw was roadblocks to my real mission at the moment.

  "Splendid," Benedict said, seeming happy as he moved toward the door. "I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Susan and Jordan then. I don’t anticipate there being any problems, but if there is, give me a call and I’ll be happy to help."

  As I smiled stiffly, I once again wished I could tell Benedict what was going on, and sighed when I realized I couldn’t take the chance. Like it or not, I was now doomed to Bureaucratic Hell.

  When Benedict left, I hovered awkwardly for a moment before moving to the table and taking a seat opposite the other two. As they each stared at me like eager dogs awaiting their commands, I said without much enthusiasm, "So, what’s our first order of business then?"

  "We’re glad you asked," Wilkes said as he looked at his partner in penpushing. "The stack of folders nearest to you are the filed disputes that have yet to be looked at."

  "Disputes?" I said, hating the connotations of the word as I stared at the tower of folders.

  "Petty grievances mostly," Chambers said. "Though there are more serious issues amongst them."

  I lifted the top folder and opened it to find a report outlining a dispute over land between two goblins. Apparently one had built a fence that intruded on the other’s land by a few inches. "You have to be kidding," I said. "Shouldn’t Dublin City Council be handling land disputes of this type?"

  "Not if the people involved are creatures or Touched," Chambers said. "All such business falls under our Council jurisdiction."

  I replaced the folder atop the file and lifted the one underneath, reading over the report for a moment. "An elf wants permission to open a casino. How do these things usually get handled?"

  "Normally, the Head of Council—that’s you—reviews the case first," Wilkes said. "They then delegate the case to someone else, who will investigate before recommending a course of action. If you ag
ree with said course of action, you then sign off on it."

  "And if I don’t agree?"

  "Then further investigation and discussion is needed," Chambers said. "Depending on the case, it can be a lengthy process."

  "I’ve no doubt," I said, turning my attention to a different pile of folders. "What are these?"

  "Cases that deal with more criminal matters," Chambers said.

  As I scanned the first report, I found it outlined a situation that recently developed between the orcs and goblins in the south side of the city. The orcs were apparently infringing upon established goblin territory in order to expand their criminal enterprises. "What are we supposed to do about this?" I asked.

  "Diplomacy is the first course of action," Wilkes said. "Someone has to mediate between the two gangs to try and find a solution."

  "And if talking doesn’t work?"

  "Then harsher tactics are employed," Chambers said, seeming to relish the idea of taking a firmer hand.

  "Such as?"

  "A solution will be forced upon both parties, whether they like it or not."

  "I see. And if they don’t like it?"

  "Heads will roll," Chambers said smiling, sounding like she had plenty of experience in such matters. She was beginning to strike me as a bit of a sadist, in fact. She looked the type to enjoy edgy role-play in a home dungeon, complete with leather outfits and all manner of "toys", probably not content until she had her "victim" screaming in pain.

  "Sometimes even literally," Wilkes said helpfully with a smile on his face.

  I nodded slowly. "So basically, the Council has the authority to do whatever it wants."

  "We do what has to be done, nothing more," Chambers said.

  "You sound like your boss, Benedict," I told her.

  She smiled slightly, seeming pleased by this. "We all strive to be as competent as Mr. Bonneville."

  "Indeed," Wilkes said with a fawning smile. "He’s a great man."

  "A real superhero, no doubt," I said, my insides twisting up at having to sit and listen to all this. I might not have been fully certain of my demigod status yet, but I was certain about Erebus and the pressing need to find and stop him. Said need was burning a hole in my gut, especially knowing Adrina Ó Duinn was probably waiting on me right now. I was surprised she hadn’t tried to call me yet.

  "Forgive me," Wilkes said. "But you don’t seem to be too enthused by any of this."

  "Well," I said, suddenly standing up as a decision formed in my mind. "That’s because I’m not."

  The two of them looked shocked, as though I had spouted some form of blasphemy in their presence. Chambers stood up as well. "I hope you’re not thinking of leaving," she said, a sinister tone to her voice now.

  I stared at her. "What if I am?"

  Wilkes rose from his seat now as well. "We really wouldn’t advise that, Mr. Chance."

  "Five minutes ago it was Corvin," I said. "Now it’s Mr. Chance. You offend me."

  The fact is, I had made up my mind to leave. I just couldn’t sit around here with these two soul-suckers when I was needed elsewhere. Of course, I knew the consequences of leaving. But if my friends ended up in jail for a while, so be it. There wasn’t much I could do about that. Benedict would understand anyway, once he finally found out what was going on.

  "You can’t just leave," Chambers said, seeming horrified by the thought. "We’re under explicit instructions to keep you here."

  "By any means," Wilkes said, his face suddenly serious as he reached inside his jacket and pulled a gun out, which he casually pointed at me.

  Really? I thought. Benedict wants me here that badly that he instructed Pinky and Perky to hold me at gunpoint if necessary? Why is it so important to him that I take this stupid job? It’s just not me, which he must know by now.

  Unless there was more to this situation than I initially thought. For the first time, I began to wonder if Benedict was who he said he was, and if perhaps he had been playing me this whole time. Was it possible that he knew of my supposed true nature? That I was apparently the son of Cernunnos? If the Disciples of Apep were really all powerful and had insinuated their dark influence everywhere as Mirahorn had stated, what was to stop them infiltrating the Council as well? If I was a part of Apep’s Order, the Council would certainly be on my list of institutions to infiltrate. It would be at the top of the fucking list, in fact. But if the Disciples knew who I was—or thought I was—why hadn’t they tried to kill me yet? Surely it would be easier to kill than me than to keep me around under false pretenses? I couldn’t be sure if I was right on any of this, but I had a gut feeling that I was nonetheless. "I don’t appreciate having a gun pointed at me," I told Wilkes, making it clear by my tone that if he didn’t put it away, I would make him do so.

  "How about two guns then?" Chambers said, pulling her own smaller weapon out now and pointing it at me with a sneer on her face.

  I stared hard at them both. "How long have you been disciples?" I asked them, carefully watching their reactions to my question. Wilkes looked away for a second, which while not proof, was still nonetheless telling. Chambers’ smile disappeared.

  "I don’t know what you’re talking about," she said. "Sit down."

  Taking a step back, I turned and began to slowly walk around the table. "I don’t think I will," I said. "I also think you know exactly what I’m talking about. How long has Benedict been a Disciple of Apep?"

  The very mention of Apep’s name caused them both to look at each other for a second. "Don’t take another step or we’ll kill you," Chambers’ said.

  I smiled slightly as I shook my head. "I can’t believe Benedict has played me this whole time," I said, half to myself. "I actually liked the guy, more or less."

  "Please sit down again," Wilkes said. "There’s no need for this to get ugly."

  Anger stirred in me. "Why I am I not already dead?"

  They both looked at each other again, before Chambers’ turned to me. "We don’t know. We’ve just been ordered to keep you here."

  "For how long?"

  "For as long as we are told to," Wilkes said. "We planned on drugging you later."

  "Instead we’ll do it now," Chambers’ said, taking a syringe out of her pocket with her free hand, using her teeth to pull off the protective covering from the needle. "Don’t make us shoot you."

  Motherfuckers, I thought shaking my head in disgust, pissed off now that I knew I had been played by Benedict this whole time. Was it just him or the whole Council that was complicit in this apocalyptic madness, this Lovecraftian nightmare? At that point, it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered now was getting away from Pinky and Perky so I could warn my friends that they need to go into hiding for a while, lest the Disciples punish them for my actions. I don’t why, but I happened to glance at the ceiling for a second, noticing there was a small hole in the tile right above Chambers’ head. Next to the hole was a large spider, just sitting there, perhaps waiting for some prey to come along. At that point, a curious sense arose in me that I had never felt before, accompanied by a mild tingling feeling in my belly, and I suddenly knew that on the hidden side of the ceiling tiles, hundreds of spiders had made their home in the dry, humid conditions of the old building, which was also just full of food for the spiders. As I looked at Chambers, I intuited she was arachnophobic, which was all the information I needed. Hardly knowing what I was doing, I began to reach out with my consciousness, calling the spiders under the ceiling to me, asking them to gather around the hole in the tile. Then I sent a thought to them: Now drop.

  And they did. Dozens of spiders, some as big as my hand, began to pour down through the hole in the ceiling at my command, dropping onto Chambers like special forces soldiers parachuting to their drop point, immediately beginning to crawl all over her, biting into her flesh. Once she felt them, and then saw them, the blood drained from Chambers’ face and she began to scream, the gun dropping from her hand onto the floor as she tried in vain to get the spiders o
ff her, more of which were still dropping down from above, until she was literally covered in them. It was an amazing sight, I have to say, and very satisfying to see that bitch scream and squirm as she did. Wilkes’ face was a picture as he watched in horror while Chambers ran around the room like a crazy person, still screaming like a banshee as she tried to get her worst nightmare of off her. Taking advantage of Wilkes’ distractedness, I muttered the words, "Ventum exquiris!" which allowed me to create a gust of wind that not only sent the folders and papers on the table flying into the air and around the room, but also lifted Wilkes off his feet, sending him sailing back until he thudded against the wall, before crashing down to the floor with a loud grunt, the gun leaving his hand and sliding across the floor. Before he could recover, I ran over and picked up the gun, and then used it to pistol-whip him across his skull, a spray of blood splatting against the white wall as he fell over, now unconscious.

  After I tossed the gun away, I turned to look at Chambers, who was rolling around the floor now as if trying to squash the spiders crawling all over her. "Get them off me!" she screamed. "Get them off me!"

  I thought for a second about commanding the spiders to retreat, but then decided not to. The bitch was going to drug me after all, plus she was a Disciple of Apep, which made her part of the larger problem. Fuck her. She could suffer for another while. I also didn’t want her coming after me, or alerting Benedict that I had gone, not until I got a chance to warn my friends against them.

  "Bye now," I said, turning to walk away.

  Chambers stretched her hand out toward me as spiders crawled all over her face. "Don’t leave me like this…please!"

  I spotted the syringe she had held earlier lying on the floor, and I went over and picked it up. Then I carried it over and placed it on the floor beside her. "There," I said. "Put yourself to sleep. You won’t feel anything then."

  A scream of rage left her. "You’re dead! Erebus will kill you!" She began to laugh manically then, not seeming to care about the spiders covering her anymore as she got to her knees. "He will kill everybody!"