Ascendancy Origins Trilogy

by Bradford Bates

  Tony slid an ace of spades playing card across the table to me. I pocketed it quickly. “Ok last question. We have someone that has been working undercover trying to get into Cane’s operation. Any other news floating around about one of the Gifted getting captured or killed?”

  “Man, what makes you think I would know anything about something like that? I’m not a big enough player to get involved in anything that crazy. You want to know about some fairy shit, give me a call, otherwise I think it’s time for you to go.”

  “Thanks for your help, Tony. I’ll make sure and get this card back to you.”

  “You know what, just keep it, and stay the hell away from here.”

  “You got it.”

  I slid out of the booth. Sarah followed right behind me. Tony must have slid out too because the next thing I knew Sarah had thrown him against the back wall. Everyone in the diner stopped to watch as she shouldered past me and headed towards the door. I gave her a curious look.

  “What, he pinched my ass!”

  I looked back at Tony, torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to kick his teeth in. I gave him a wink and turned to follow Sarah out. Making sure everyone could hear me I said, “Make sure to keep your nose clean, Tony, I don’t want to have to come back here again.”

  “I hate you gifted bastards,” Tony shouted as the door closed.

  I always liked to leave making sure Tony stayed above suspicion. If people ever thought he was selling information to the Ascendancy he would no longer be a resource for us. Or even worse, they could kill him and we would be out one of our best informants. Now that we had a direction to go in, it was time to scope this place out and see if our missing student was there. I really hoped that he hadn’t started working for Cane in earnest but if he had, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he was the assassin we were looking for.

  10

  Edward

  November 1923

  The wound in my shoulder continued to burn as if it were on fire. Despite my repeated attempts to heal the wound dealt by John’s sword, it would not close. The pain was like nothing I had ever felt before. It was a slow throbbing burn that wouldn’t quit. Every step, every movement made it burn anew. The only good news was that John had fled to try and save the wolf. As if one of us could ever truly be in love with such a creature. I decided this time that discretion was going to be the better part of valor and I made a run for it. The sisters should be able to handle a couple of young upstarts and they would be able to find me later. We were bound together by the same master. He could lead them to me anywhere without fail. Now if only there was something I could do about this shoulder.

  I called on my gift to try and heal the wound again, and again there was nothing. The bleeding stopped momentarily but the wound never closed and before long it was bleeding again. There wasn’t going to be much else I could do until I reached our hideout and could get a proper look at it. Maybe Dimitre would know something useful. If not I would call on the Demon Corson to help. Something would work, with enough patience and persistence magic could fix just about anything.

  The blood loss and fighting must have left me weaker than I imagined. I found myself barely able to stand, and weaving around like a drunkard through the city would surely bring me the kind of attention that I did not wish to have. Trying to pull myself together wasn’t working; I needed to get off the street and quickly. A car pulled up next to me and the door slid open.

  A voice drifted from the inside, “Get in.”

  What other choice did I have, there was no way for me to last on the streets. I slid into the back of the car and the door slammed shut behind me. Before I had time to settle into my seat the car was moving quickly through the city. A portly man with white hair was sitting across from me. “Thank you for the ride, can you just drop me at the nearest hotel?”

  “It seems as if you have gotten yourself into a spot of trouble, Edward.”

  The blood in my veins turned to ice. Who was this man and how could he possibly know who I was? I looked at him questioningly but refused to respond to his quizzical glare. Instead I leaned forward and growled, “The nearest hotel, now!”

  The man before me did something unexpected, he started to laugh, and his hand came to rest on his belly as he responded, “Oh my, my. Aren’t you a fierce one? You are going to need to do better than a hotel to escape the watch of the Ascendancy. This is their city, and they know every nook and cranny. I’ll offer you something even better than a hotel; I have a house you can use. It will provide you complete anonymity during your stay. The wound you have there is going to need more than magic to fix it.”

  A little huff escaped my lips before I could stop it. “I appreciate your offer but I will be fine. You can let me out here and I will just be on my way.”

  The man’s smile persisted but the look in his eyes was pure murder. ”That won’t do at all; you see I have orders that I cannot ignore. You are to be given a house and whatever else you may need until you live up to your end of the bargain.”

  “My end of the bargain? I haven’t made any deals with you.”

  “Oh, but you have made deals with someone, and my Demon just happens to owe him a favor. It seems they are tired of waiting on what you promised them, and they want to collect.”

  “Corson.” The name escaped from me as a whisper.

  “Ah, so you do remember. I have been called on to provide for you until your bargain can be sealed. Also, when we get to our destination there is a room ready for you, so you may speak with him directly.”

  “This isn’t possible.” The voice in my head had been silent for so long I had almost forgotten he was a part of me.

  “I assure you, this is possible, and that bargains with hell are often lifelong commitments. As for the terms of your arrangement, that remains between you and Corson.”

  Silence clouded the rest of our journey, it seemed outside of doing what he had been requested to my new host didn’t have much interest in me. He never once asked why I made a deal, or what the terms of the deal were. I thought back to the night I made my deal just over five hundred years ago. Only one person stood between me and the completion of that contract, Adam. My hatred for him still burned and the thought of him finally paying for not helping me all those years ago still sounded sweet, but the price I promised was too high.

  The white haired man made a tutting sound next to me and handed me his handkerchief. While I had been lost in my own thoughts the wound in my shoulder had started bleeding again. This was going to be a bigger problem than I had anticipated. Something about the wound wasn’t right. There was no reason that I should not be able to heal it using my gift. Over the centuries I had healed worse wounds and lived. The pain had not subsided at all, making me wonder if his blade had been tainted by some kind of poison. Damn you, John Blackthorn. His was a name I would love to add to my list, but there was only enough time left for me to kill one more man. Adam would die before this was over, I could see it as clearly as the sun.

  The car came to a stop and the door opened of its own accord. The little man sitting to my left leaned forward and handed me a card and a key. I flipped the card over to see the name Elijah Cane and a phone number. So this pudgy little thing next to me was the most powerful Warlock in San Francisco, funny how appearances could be deceiving. He also handed me a billfold stuffed with enough money to last me a great while.

  I started to move towards the door and his hand gripped my arm like a steel vice. “I have several servants in the house, they are there to cater to your every desire. Until you are healed and ready to carry out your bargain it is best that you stay inside. If you need anything that they cannot provide my number is on the card.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “It is something that was requested of me, and is of little enough consequence to be a burden. Stay safe, stay hidden, and for god’s sakes try not to take your anger out on my girls.” The iron grip he had on my arm released and I slid
out of the car.

  The house before me was a large Victorian row house. I could only assume Cane owned the homes to either side as well. I was sure he would have people watching me to make sure I did what had been asked of me. There was nothing left to think about. With a sigh I walked towards the front door, and to my fate. I always knew this day would come, it just seemed as if there would always be more time. Why was there never enough time?

  As I started climbing the stairs towards the front door, it swung open. Waiting inside was an exotic looking woman. Her skin was tan and her hair was black. Her black eyes held me in place for a moment; they burned with a fiery passion. She smiled and it was as if the room around her became dull by comparison. My bloodlust had not been sated in battle but it was possible that I had just found another outlet for that release. Her eyes never left mine, but I had a hard time maintaining that same kind of contact. My eyes darted around her body taking in the natural beauty of her curves.

  The sight of her was intoxicating. As I drew closer I could smell her perfume; it was like rain mixed with a gentle breeze from the ocean. Something inside of me cried out to be free as I looked down on her delicate features. She turned away from me and started up the stairs. I felt my legs wobble just a little as I saw her for the first time from behind. Maybe it was just the blood loss, but her body seemed to speak to me as it moved. One step after the other I followed, keeping my lust just far enough back that it wouldn’t rule my actions. She smiled when we reached the top of the stairs and my heart skipped a beat when she took my hand.

  The bedroom she led me into was large; it had to have taken up most of the second story of the home. She led me into the room and stopped in front of a large mirror. She moved around me with such grace that I almost felt as if we were dancing. With careful and practiced movements she started to undress me. I hadn’t realized just how filthy I had become until I grew concerned that she had seen me in such a state. My jacket was covered in blood; my pants were dotted with mud. Somewhere along the way my hair had become completely disheveled.

  Here I was thinking about how beautiful this woman was and I looked like a train wreck. I started to see more of myself with each item of clothing she removed and outside of the shoulder and some bruising I still looked good. Maybe not the hardened appearance that I once had after leaving the mines, but it was damn close. Looking in the mirror now, I felt as if I still had a shot to win her over. That hunt would have been so much better if she hadn’t already been told to cater to my desires.

  The tub had already been filled with water, and steam rose from the surface. It reminded me of a bath that I had taken with a beautiful woman named Emma oh so long ago. That had worked out incredibly well in my favor. Even when she found out what happened to the rest of the people that she worked with, she stayed by my side until the day she died some fifty years later. She hadn’t replaced my wife, and bore me no children, but she still held a special place in my heart.

  The water turned dirty as soon as I entered the tub. The woman reached between my legs and pulled the plug and tap. She washed most of the dirt from my body and let the dirty water drain away before replacing the plug. I slid back into the clean, clear water until my shoulder went under. A hiss escaped from my lips involuntarily. I rose just enough so the wound wasn’t in the warm water and my body finally started to relax.

  The woman who had escorted me in finally spoke. “Now that won’t do at all. I’m sure I have something to clean that wound, and then I can stitch it closed for you.”

  She walked out of the room and I couldn’t take my eyes away from her. Even in the oversized dress that was common today I could tell her figure was exquisite. I told myself that I needed to be careful. Being in Cane’s house meant lust could get me killed just as fast as my rage. I didn’t trust the man and that meant I couldn’t trust the women that worked for him either. The warm water was already doing enough to relax me; I could find a way to pull myself together.

  The only thing that would make this better was a glass of whiskey and a way to get that woman in the tub with me. Damn, I did it again. There had to be a way for me to get that woman’s curves out of my head. I splashed some water into the wound on my shoulder and the sharp pain brought me what I needed to stop thinking of her. At least for now.

  Sooner than I expected she returned carrying a bottle of whiskey and a small black doctor’s bag. It was as if she had read my mind. When she spoke her words dripped with honey, “A little something to take the edge off.”

  “Tell me your name?”

  “Names can hold great power.”

  “I must know before you work on my shoulder. There is something about you that fills me with a sense of serenity.”

  “My name is Maria, and you are?”

  “Edward.”

  “Edward is a fine name, an English name.”

  “Thank you for saying so, Maria. I find that I like the taste of your name on the tip of my tongue as well.”

  Maria pulled the cork from the top of the whiskey bottle and handed it to me. I took a couple of large drinks before handing it back to her. She did the same before popping the cork back in it and setting the bottle on the ground by the tub. I watched as she pulled a needle and thread from the bag, along with a bandage and some kind of cleaning solution.

  “Are you sure that you don’t want another drink to steel your nerves? From the look of that shoulder this won’t be pleasant.”

  “I’ve suffered worse over the years.”

  “Funny, I hadn’t noticed any other scars except for your back.”

  “Let’s just say, I keep the majority of them inside.”

  She gave me a sideways glance, and then seemed to steady herself for the work she was about to undertake. I focused on what I needed to do to make sure that the pain was manageable. Long ago I had learned how to turn off the pain receptors to certain parts of my body. More than once it had kept me alive, by keeping me moving when I should have fallen to the ground and faded into death’s embrace. Unfortunately, this time the spell didn’t work. As the liquid from her bag poured onto my shoulder a small scream escaped. Maria made a small tutting noise as if she had seen men deal with worse. Something was different about this wound, and if my magic wasn’t working, something was seriously wrong with me.

  My beautiful caretaker showed no mercy and continued to clean the wound. Once she had finished with that she started to stitch the wound closed. While she was busy doing that I tried to finish cleaning the rest of myself. It helped to take my mind off of the thread pulling my flesh back together. When she finished and tied the final knot in my stitches, she moved away from the tub, only to return a short time later with a towel.

  Getting out of the tub with the use of only one arm was tricky business but once I had managed it Maria rushed in and started to dry me off. It seemed to me that she spent a few extra moments making sure that my groin was dry. Her touch was delicate and I almost lost myself in it. The towel moving back up towards my shoulder quickly snapped me out of those pleasant thoughts. Once I was dry, Maria dropped the towel to the floor and finished wrapping my shoulder in a clean bandage. She led me back into the bedroom where a brand new suit was waiting for me on the bed.

  “When you are done dressing meet me on the first floor. There is a summoning room prepared for you to use.”

  “Thank you, Maria, for all of your kindness.”

  “It was my pleasure,” she said as she walked out of the room closing the door behind her.

  Getting dressed was easier now that my shoulder had stopped throbbing, but I could still feel a slight burning sensation in the wound. Surprisingly the suit fit me perfectly, a quick look in the mirror and a few small adjustments and I was ready to go. Opening the door, I headed back down the stairs and found Maria in the kitchen with another woman. They seemed to be chatting and smiling about something. As soon as I walked into the room their conversation stopped. Yep, they had to have been talking about me. With the sheepish look
the other woman gave me, my suspicions were confirmed.

  Maria walked towards me, taking my hand in hers, and led me back into the house. The look on her face was anything but sheepish. She continued to walk just in front of me eventually leading me to a set of stairs going down. She smiled and said, “The room you are looking for is the first door on your right.”

  She turned and started to walk away. I stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Will I see you again?”

  “I guess that depends on how your meeting goes. If you are around for dinner I will bring it to your room.”

  “Could I interest you in joining me for dinner, maybe even sharing a drink afterwards?”

  “Edward, you don’t have to try so hard. I was told to provide you with whatever you desire, even if that was me. If you want anything from me all you have to do is ask. Your heart’s desire is my fondest wish.”

  “So you will join me for dinner and a drink tonight?”

  “You only had to ask.”

  She turned and headed back towards the kitchen. It was probably my imagination but I could have sworn I caught a hint of a smile on her face. Just because I knew what she was, did not mean I had to treat her without the respect she deserved. Turning away with a small smile of my own I headed down the stairs. It was time to summon the Demon Corson and find out just what had gone wrong.

  The summoning room was smaller than I was used to, but should function just as well. I could see that a man had been tied and was ready for the sacrifice. His throat was exposed over the basin, when his blood was shed it would be used to fill the pentagram I would be sitting in. It should be enough to let me bridge the gaps between the planes of existence and speak with Corson. There was no time to waste; I had a dinner date to get to. Not to mention Demons were known to get pissy when kept waiting.