Stepping forward, I slit the man’s throat and stepped into the center of the pentagram. Chanting the incantation would facilitate the meeting with the Demon I had bound my soul to. I had once been a defender of the light; I liked to continue to remind myself of that fact. Knowing the things I had done since I had made my deal with Corson, it was the only way I could stay sane. I had let the darkness fester for too long when I was imprisoned at New Ashton and it lead me to make a deal that I could never change. The demon had made making the wrong choice so easy, and in that moment of weakness my new life had begun. I begged him to let the darkness fill me, to give me the power to strike out at those who wronged me, and for this I would gladly pay whatever he asked.
The words flowed from my mouth over and over. The blood finally finished dripping from the sacrifice’s throat and the room grew silent except for my words. I could feel the heat building outside of my circle, something was drawing closer. The heat became stifling; the sweat was drying on my skin before it could even drip to the floor. The room started to spin; a white fog filled the air. Out of the fog stepped a man, with the lower half of a goat. His cloven hoofs clicked gently against the tile. Seeing where he was, the Demon cast a spell creating human legs and clothing. The fog slowly filtered back into the ground.
“Thank you for calling me back to this plane, Edward. Are you ready to fulfill your promise to me?”
“That day has not come yet, my revenge is still unsatisfied. Adam still lives.”
“I have waited many long years to hear from you, and given you more than enough time to complete your goal. Do not think that I will wait forever to claim what is mine.”
“The deal we struck was for my revenge, the man at the center of it still lives. Until he is dead I will not give you what you request.”
“The fact that he lives is through no fault of mine, you have failed to kill him at every opportunity. Even now the Demon that I sent to free you from your prison has been vanquished back to hell. The Sisters are no longer an available resource, now you must take the fight to him or die trying. Either way you belong to me.”
“The Sisters were but a mere amusement to me, at best I hoped that they could keep Adam’s new killers at bay, but they failed even in that.”
A scream filled the small chamber; the force of it dropped me to my knees. Corson spoke again, this time his anger was evident. “Your soul belongs to me, Edward, I have lent you my power for all of these years and still you have failed to kill one man. I am starting to think that maybe you are stalling. If you kill Adam you realize that you truly belong to me.”
“I assure you my soul still belongs to you, the moment of my triumph is at hand. There is one last thing I request of you. The wound on my shoulder seems to be beyond my capabilities to heal.”
“I am no healer, and I will not trade with you again. Already you owe me more than your soul seems to be worth.”
“Our business is done then.”
“Our business is done when I say that it is. You have a debt that needs to be paid and until that is done you will be watched. I have something grand in store for you. I will give you a little more time to complete your quest. If you are not done soon I will reap your soul early.”
With that a foul wind tinted with a hint of brimstone swept through the room blowing all of the candles out. I knelt in the darkness until I felt the Demon’s presence leave. Calling on my gift I relit the candles and made my way out of the room. I was surprised to find Maria just outside of the door waiting for me.
“I’ll clean this up and then meet you in your chambers for dinner.”
“Have someone else clean it up; I desire your company sooner rather than later.”
I pulled her towards me and tossed her over my good shoulder, slapping my hand down on her ass. In my excitement I ran up the stairs using magic to enhance my strength and speed. My magic seemed to be working fine unless it was directed at the wound. The trip up the stairs was a little showy but I wanted to impress her. When we reached my chambers I tossed her on the bed, and she landed with a squeal.
“Oh my, aren’t you big and strong.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
With that we fell upon each other, and with a few simple tugs our clothes fell away. Maria’s screams of delight only served to push me further into my own ecstasy. Her gentle breath on my neck, and the way she whispered my name fueled my passion to untold heights. She screamed out one final time and we fell apart, our breath coming in ragged gasps. She moved to leave and I placed a hand on her arm.
“I was serious about dinner. I would still like for you to join me.”
“There are a few things I need to take care of in the house first. Would you like me to send Cathy up to bathe you before our meal?”
“I think I will be able to bathe myself. I will await your return as if I am holding my breath.”
“Then I shall try and work fast, least I find you gasping for air.”
Maria gathered up her clothes, quickly dressing, and headed out of the room. If there was one nice thing to say about Cane he simply spared no expense. His servants were well trained and well spoken. A life like this was something I could get used to. I wondered just how long this free hospitality would last, and what would I do when it was gone.
Walking into the bathroom, I filled up the tub with water and turned towards the mirror, pulling the bandage off my wounded shoulder. I was surprised to see that the stitches still held. Maria had done a wonderful job. Underneath her handy work the wound continued to burn. Just what kind of weapon had John struck me with? I wondered, not for the first time, if maybe this wound was in part because of my deal with Corson. When I had accepted some of his essence inside of myself, had I unknowingly exposed myself to harm. If it had something to do with his essence then this was going to require a much more intricate solution. I would have to find a way to get it fixed before I fought with Adam, or else I would lose to him again.
11
John
April 1924
Our visit with Tony had given us a couple different directions to go in. First I thought we should check and see if we could find anything out about Mathew. He was one of our own and if anything happened to him we needed to know about it. The last place Adam had contacted him was at the Palace Hotel so we headed there now. That had been almost four months ago, since then Adam had received only a few letters but all communication with Mathew had stopped just over two months ago.
The Palace Hotel was a unique place in San Francisco. It had been rebuilt after the fire and now towered above almost everything around it. While the building itself was a large ugly square, the inside had the most luxurious accommodations in town. If Mathew had been staying here he not only had some money behind him, he had good taste. Too many of our agents would have tried to infiltrate Cane’s operation working from the ground floor; it seemed Mathew had come up with a different strategy.
The valet took our car and Sarah and I headed inside. We were going to ask some questions but it wouldn’t pay to do it right away. There was a time and a place for questions, and it wasn’t as soon as you walked in the door. As we approached the desk I noticed a few people were staring at us. Well, more specifically, they were staring at Sarah. Her Native American features received a lot of double takes, not only for her beauty but because some of these men were still living in the past. Sarah avoided the confrontations by not making eye contact. We had a job to do and she put that above herself. I, on the other hand, made eye contact with each and every one of those bastards, letting them know if they wanted to challenge me they better be ready for a fight.
We made it to the desk and the man behind the counter had no such problems. He smiled warmly at both of us. “Welcome to the Palace, how can I help you?”
Sarah answered before I could. “We would like a room, preferably one with a decent view and some space to move around.”
“I have just the thing, one of our suites should do. How
long will you be staying?”
“Let’s book the room for three nights, does that sound good, dear?”
I wasn’t paying attention and earned an elbow to my side as a gentle reminder to speak. “Yes, three nights sounds perfect.”
“Do you have any bags?”
Sarah smiled at the man and I watched as he melted under her gaze. “Not at the moment. See this is a shopping trip for us, my husband here,” She pointed towards me, “said that when we got married we could stay at the Palace and he would take me shopping until my heart’s content.”
“He sounds like a brave man.”
“Well he surely must be, I plan on putting a major dent in his pocketbook.”
“Ah that brings us back to the room, sir; it will be fifteen dollars now and the balance due on checkout.”
I absently handed him three five dollar bills. My attention was focused on the entrance to the bar, and on the opposite side of the huge lobby, the garden court. I wondered if Mathew had frequented any of those places. I could see him out for the first time with a little extra money in his pocket enjoying being a little frivolous.
Sarah snapped me back into the moment with another elbow into my side. “Honey, this wonderful man asked if we needed any help finding our way to the room.”
I smiled and waved my hand around the lobby. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I haven’t seen anything so grand for some time.”
“That’s quite all right, sir. Would you like me to have a valet show you to your room?”
“I think we will be able to manage on our own. Thank you so much for your help.”
“If there is anything else that you need, the number for the front desk is listed on the phone. Do not hesitate to call us with any concerns you may have.”
“Thank you again.”
I held out my arm and Sarah effortlessly entwined hers with mine and we walked towards the elevators. Once we arrived on our floor and found ourselves in the room she dropped the act. It felt good to have my warrior woman back; it reminded me just how much I would be missing if I was with anyone else.
“Well I am off to do some shopping; we have to keep up appearances.”
“Wait, what am I supposed to do?”
“I guess you could go to the bar and have a few drinks; it would be an easy cover.”
“We will meet up for dinner and in the morning maybe start asking a few questions.”
“Sounds good to me, time to spend a little bit of this money Adam gave us.”
“Try and put it to good use.”
“You know me, I always do.” With a swirl of her dress she was out of the room leaving only the faint scent of flowers in her wake.
I was tempted to kick back in the room and take a nap. I had the feeling we would be making a stop by Cane’s place tonight and I would need to be rested if it all went to hell. I pushed the thought of a nap aside and headed back to the lobby in search of a cold drink. Who knows, maybe after a couple I could inquire about Mathew without looking too obvious. If I could find out anything about him here on our first day it would be a rather large bonus.
The Pied Piper bar was one of the most famous attractions at the Palace; it was named after a painting that hung behind the bar. It was a huge rendition of the famous Pied Piper story and was over sixteen feet long. I had heard stories about it but had never taken the time to see it in person. The stories didn’t do the gruesome nature of the painting justice. It was one of the darkest fairy tales ever told, and here it was memorialized for everyone to see.
I sat down at the bar and ordered a whiskey; the barman brought it to me quickly and then left me alone. Something I appreciated. I hated when you went somewhere to have a quiet drink and the help wouldn’t quit chatting you up. It was nice to sit in the quiet of the dark bar. It wouldn’t be too long now until men started getting off work and coming in for drinks. I placed three five dollar bills and a picture of Mathew on the bar. This would be easier to do without everyone watching.
I called the barkeep over by holding up my empty glass. He glanced briefly at the money and the picture but didn’t say a word. He filled the glass and started to walk away. “Excuse me, but do you have a moment to spare?”
“Something else I can do for you, sir?”
“You can take one of those bills if you can tell me that you recognize the man in the picture.”
He pocketed one of the bills. “Of course I recognize him. His name is Mathew, used to be quite the regular. He was a great tipper.”
“You can take another one of those bills if you can remember the last time you saw him?”
He made the bill disappear faster than I would have thought possible before he answered. “It’s been about three months now since he has been regularly, I miss the extra money he always tossed around. He might have been in once or twice since then but not when I was working the bar.”
It was a good day for the bartender, he probably just made more than he usually would in a month in the space of five minutes. I had one last question to ask. “If you can tell me anything about who he liked to drink with, that last bill is yours as well.”
The barman rubbed his chin and made a little face that said screw it. He grabbed the money off of the table before saying, “He likes to drink with this short bloke with white hair. I think his name is Cane. I never knew what they talked about but they always looked to be having a good time.”
“Thank you for your help.” I knocked back my second drink and decided I had earned that nap after all. I placed another five on the table to cover the drinks and an extra tip. The information he had given me was more than I had hoped for. I looked back at the bartender. “This conversation never happened.”
“What conversation?”
“Good man.” I got up and headed out of the bar and back to my room. Paying someone almost twenty dollars for ten minutes of their time normally ensures they stay quiet in hopes that you would come back for information again. I hoped that I wouldn’t have to return here to ask more questions but if I did I wanted to make sure he looked on me favorably.
The bed in the room was as comfortable as it looked. I slipped off my shoes and crawled on top. Sarah would wake me up when she returned, if nothing else to help her with all of her purchases. I thought about her flaunting through the town on a spending spree. It put a smile on my lips as I fell asleep.
I woke up when I hit the ground. Looking up I saw Sarah perched on the end of the bed looking down at me with a wolfish grin. Her grin only made her more beautiful which was good when you were trying to rein in your anger. “What in the heck, Sarah.”
“I just jumped on the bed, I didn’t know it would send you sprawling.”
“Next time try something a little more subtle.”
“Oh, like what?”
“Something like this.” I moved onto my knees and leaned in for a kiss. “See that was much more pleasant.”
“I don’t know, I kind of liked the look of surprise you made when you hit the ground.”
I gave her another kiss as I got to my feet and surveyed the room. There weren’t as many bags as I thought so she must have spent most of the afternoon checking out San Francisco’s delicious array of seafood. I couldn’t blame her really, with the metabolism of a shifter she needed to eat almost constantly. It was a good thing my magic burned just as many calories or I might never see her.
A pillow hit me in the back as I walked towards the center of the room. I ignored it and peeked into a few of the bags, hoping to find something for me. Not seeing anything right away I turned back to see Sarah glaring at me. “What?”
“So I come back and find you here sleeping instead of getting information, and then the first thing you do is look through my bags to see if I got you anything.”
“Pretty much.” This time I was able to dodge the pillow. Picking the pillow up from the ground I tossed it back on the bed. “Except for the information part. I got some, and since it might be a late night I thought a good n
ap was in order.”
“Wait, you actually found something out?”
“Why do you sound so surprised?”
“Well subtlety isn’t exactly your strong suit.”
“I just asked the bartender a few questions. He knows Cane and Mathew. He said Mathew stopped coming here a few months ago, after meeting with Cane. He seemed to think maybe they knew each other.”
“That seems like a pretty good lead, so why the late night?”
“I think it’s time we put that card Tony gave us to use. The only way we are going to find out more about Mathew or Cane is if we go to his speakeasy.”
“Won’t it look weird if we both go, isn’t the other half of his business a cathouse?”
“I’m sure plenty of couples go for drinks and dancing, but maybe if we could separate one of the girls from the others we could find out what we need to know.”
“I’m more than willing to give it a shot.”
“It’s four o’clock now, how about we leave at nine.”
“Well what are we going to do until then?” Sarah said with her devilish grin back in place.
“That depends. Did you really not get me anything?”
“Oh, I did.”
She stood up from the bed and her dress hit the floor revealing a black bra and panties. Her look was completed with a set of thigh high stockings held in place by a garter belt. I could feel the smile spreading on my face. “Yes, yes you did.”
The building Cane used to house his speakeasy was only a few blocks from the wharf. On one hand, it probably made moving his alcohol unnoticed easier. On the other hand, a business like this was sure to raise more than a few eyebrows. I wondered just how he kept it a secret for so long. Our cab dropped us a block away, and as we walked forward it finally registered how he hid his business.
Ascendancy Origins Trilogy Page 37
