Heart of Gold: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Clans of Shadow Book 1)

by J. A. Cipriano

  “Doc!” I shouted, dropping low and rushing forward. I snagged the strap of my rifle with my free hand, and to my surprise, I almost ran face-first into Gabriela in the doorway. Her fingers were already starting to twist in that witchy-woman spell-caster way I had seen back at the clinic.

  “Frank! Black vans downstairs!” she said, strain evident under the forced calm of her voice.

  “Sniper up here!” I replied as a strange sense of calm settled over me, just like it had all those years ago on the battlefield.

  We both hit the deck, the Doc just a hair slower than me. The loud crack of a high-powered rifle was followed by the sound of shattering glass as the round blasted right into my science-fiction shelf, blowing a hole in my copy of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Really, the sniper had saved me the trouble. Thank God he hadn’t been a hair off and wrecked my original editions of the first trilogy!

  “Shit! Doc, can’t you magic us out of here? Fuck, I’d take a flying tablecloth right now.” It wouldn’t be long before footsteps would be thumping up the stairs toward us. “Also, what is it with the guns? You’d think it’d be thunderbolts and lightning.”

  “First, no, even if I had those spells woven, you’re a magic nullifier, remember?” Gabriela rolled onto her back to give her arms the freedom to move and began to weave intricate motions through the air. If that was how magic worked, I could see why she used the word woven. “Second, see how long this is taking? Big offensive spells are great, but they take time. Guns are quicker. Expect both though because your house will still burn, and sorry to say, you’re not fireproof.”

  I had finished a quick check of the rifle and loaded it while she finished her explanation. Just fucking great! Whoever heard of pragmatic wizards? Where’s the flights of fancy and rainbow-shitting unicorns?

  “So what are you doing then, Doc?” I got to my knees, careful to stay below the sniper’s aim while I put the front door in my sights.

  “I’m almost tapped out, but I have one last solid shield, which I’ve got about ready.” She sat up as the hallway outside echoed with booted feet. “If we can get to the car, it’s got plenty of juice to get us out of here.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said, putting my ticker onto getting our asses out of here alive.

  Considering the Doc didn’t tell me otherwise, I had to assume even magical guys were susceptible to lead poisoning, if you know what I mean. Still, a straight-up fight was probably a bad idea. She’d said “vans” plural and who knew how many of these assholes they’d clown-car’d in. Besides, if we could get out quick enough, maybe most of “The Collection” would make it through intact.

  Gabriella’s Taurus was parked in the side alley, right next to the fire escape. From the stampede I heard outside of the front door, they had a lot of dudes on the porch, which meant there was probably only one or two guys watching the fire escape. I just had to take out the sniper or at least panic him enough for us to exit through the window. After that, it would be up to Gabriela to keep us safe with her magic shield until we got to the car.

  “Okay, here’s the plan.” I pointed to the far window as my front door rattled from a solid kick. It probably would have buckled and torn from the frame if I hadn’t reinforced the jam. It’d seemed silly at the time, but after thugs kicked in my mom’s door and stole all her stuff, I’d upgraded both of our door jams to prevent it from happening again. Still, anyone determined to get through the door would get in soon enough. “Get ready by the window. As soon as I pop up, you open that window and put the shield up. Make for the car.”

  “What about you?” she asked while doing exactly as I directed. If I didn’t know better (and truth be told, I didn’t), I would have guessed she was a combat medic, not a civvie practitioner.

  “Something stupid, but we don’t have another choice—” The door splintered inward with enough force to tear the two-and-a-half-inch screws holding the hinges in place from the doorframe.

  Without thinking, I sighted and fired at the dark shapes on the other side of the door. I’d forgotten how loud a rifle could be when it went off in an enclosed space. As my ears started to ring, I wished I’d had the foresight to grab some earplugs out of the safe, but then again, I was in a hurry.

  Now I may not have been the most ideal soldier given my problem with authority (in general, they’re all idiots and I’m not, which yes, made my tenure in the Armed Service difficult), but I did master two things: a cool head under fire and a very steady aim.

  My first shot was dead on target. It tore a nice, bloody hole in the lead paramilitary cultist. Unfortunately, there were more where he came from. Behind him was a sea of black I wanted no part of.

  As their newly-dead friend tumbled backward into them in a bloody spray, the Doc slid the window up. I spun back into the bedroom and took a deep breath. The moment I got into clear view of the sniper, it would only take him a split second to catch a bead on me. I wasn’t sure if he was a pro or not, but even a pro could get thrown off. As I rose, I did two things at once while praying to a selection of divine beings I wasn’t being a total idiot.

  I took aim with my Glock in my good right hand as I dropped my rifle, allowing it to catch on its strap because only a total badass or a cocksure idiot would consider facing down a rifleman with a pistol. To help the sniper realize which of those I was, I presented a glorious middle finger with my left hand and made a rather handsome kiss-kiss face in his (or her, I’m equal opportunity with my bad guys) direction.

  Either way, the sniper did exactly what I hoped he’d do. He ducked away from my return fire, which I purposefully aimed at the window panes right above him, showering the gunman with shards of razor-sharp glass. With any luck, the guy would get sliced open and not be able to get back up.

  “That’s what I thought! Don’t go shooting up a guy’s house, asshole!” I quipped as I fired a few blind shots back into the living room. I snatched my gym bag and shotgun in one big scoop and turned toward Gabriela.

  She hadn’t strayed from the plan one bit. Trying to ignore the gunfire behind us, I focused on the window she’d opened.

  “Ready?” she asked, and as I nodded, she muttered something in Latin. The air surrounding her filled with a hazy bubble of force. It offered exactly zero resistance as I stepped through it, which seemed somewhat odd considering what I had seen it do to bullets. Maybe I really was magic-proof.

  As the air behind us filled with the sound of bullets ricocheting off the protective dome, we hopped out of the window as quickly as we could. From there, it was three flights of fire escape to freedom. Well, that and getting past a somewhat overweight Ender. He had been leaning on his staff, looking bored despite the firefight.

  “Ezekiel,” the Doc said, concern filling her voice as we started clambering down the steps toward him. “He’s one of the best combat mages in the Northern Hemisphere.”

  As if on cue, Ezekiel began to chant while pointing his staff upward. Dazzling blue energy began to collect around it while his chants grew louder and louder as if projected by something beyond his normal voice.

  Confidence crept back into Gabriela’s voice as she glanced from him to me and back to him again. “Frank, he’s shit at anything else. Get him while I hold off the rest.”

  A shit-eating grin spread across my face. “All right, time to kick some ass and chew bubblegum!”

  As I bolted down the steps, I took a potshot at the chubby wizard, glad I had one of the pre-ban thirteen round magazines for my Glock. Ezekiel ducked his head down as I leapt the last few steps and unlocked the final ladder extension. I rode it down like I did when I was but a wee child.

  The sounds of the crowd above were suddenly muffled, but the sounds where Ezekiel had taken cover behind the Taurus amplified as I was backlit by some freakish green energy. The tremendous sound of roaring air hit my ears as the distinct smell of burning ozone filled my nose. A split second later, it was all over. Whatever death-dealing Bolt of Doom old Zeke had thrown felt like a f
aint wind. Didn’t even muss my hair.

  Needless to say, the big boy was quivering in his little cultist booties when I turned around, totally unscathed and aimed my Glock at his head. He understandably dropped the staff and raised his hands. Shit, of course he’d have to ruin the moment by surrendering.

  The Doc, panting from maintaining her shield in a wall that blocked off the fire escape, leaned over the edge. “Frank, don’t–”

  I had already motioned at Zeke to run with the barrel of my pistol. Giving the Doc a smile and a wink, I said, somewhat horrified she’d think I’d kill someone who couldn’t even defend himself. “You should know better, Gabby. Who the fuck shoots an unarmed man? Come on. Let’s get the fuck out of here!”

  Gabriela’s eyes narrowed, but as much as she wanted to be pissed off from the Gabby crack, there was still a faint smile of relief on her lips as she slid down the ladder. Her feet hit the floor at the same time an ominous CRACK-THOOM echoed above, shaking the side of the building. The Doc’s shield shattered as the wall around the window burst outward in a hail of shrapnel.

  “There goes my security deposit! Fuck!” I growled, shooting at the bastards as they came out, causing them to duck back inside before they could pump us full of lead. Still, I’d have liked to hit one or two of them as payback for costing me my deposit. I could have really used that money. At least I didn’t have any of the really rare movies in my bedroom.

  “Frank, keys,” she cried, tossing me her car keys as she opened the passenger door. “You drive, I magic.”

  Snatching the car keys out of the air, I did that cool-ass “slide-across-the-car-hood” thing and ducked into the driver’s side door as the first bullets rained down around us.

  As I leapt inside the car and gunned the engine, Gabriela clambered into the passenger seat and slammed her door.

  “Did you see that T.J. Hooker shit there?” I smirked at Gabriela in an effort to keep the tiny fact we’d just been involved in a gun battle from making me freak out. If I did, we’d be screwed. No, when this was over, I could freak out. For now, well, I was going to be one cocky mama jama.

  “What the fuck are you doing!?” she cried, glaring at me as a bullet took off the passenger side mirror. “Great Mother above, just drive!”

  5

  I was surprised by the power of the Taurus as we swerved out of the alley, but not as surprised as when Gabriela popped open the glove box. A freaky, steampunk monstrosity of brass, wood, and crystal flipped out with the compartment door. The roar of engines behind me brought my attention away from whatever crazy shit the Doc was about to do and back to the road.

  “We’ve got one of those black vans on our tail,” I announced, glancing in the rearview mirror.

  “Okay,” she said as crystals clinked against metal. “I’ve got it.”

  “Good,” I said, trying to decide whether I should drive straight to the Pendleton Building, an old office building in an industrial park across town or lead these bastards on a wild goose chase and lose them, assuming I could. Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure which plan to go with because for all I knew, the Doc’s crystals would vaporize them or teleport us. I mean, magic. The sky’s the limit right? “So how’s that thing work?”

  “The defensive spells woven into the frame and glass are already up.” She didn’t even flinch when gunfire ricocheted off the back of the car. “I’m trying to work on something offensive, but you need to give me time.”

  “I’ll do my best but, to be fair, this is a family car, not a hot-rod!” My foot was lead, and we weren’t breaking away. It was less “high-speed pursuit” and more “cranky grandpa racing.” If we had any chance at getting these asses off our tail, I’d have to do something tricky and stupid.

  I risked a glance at Gabriela. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration while her lips were drawn into a frustrated grimace. Her fingers never stopped moving as she fiddled with bronze knobs and crystal settings. “I’m sorry, Frank, it’s just–”

  “Don’t sweat it, Doc.”

  Driving right into danger seemed like a bad idea, so I broke hard and skidded into a tight turn down a side street. The Taurus responded with all the grace of a lead turkey. At least the seatbelts and shocks both seemed to be of the best quality!

  My foot slid off the brake and pressed back down on the accelerator, shooting the car jerkily forward in a cloud of smoke just before the van behind us skidded through the spot we had occupied. As we started to break away, a flash of purple light flared over the back windows of our car, shaking the entire vehicle violently.

  “The fuck was that?” I shouted, louder than I’d intended while trying to even out the fishtailing Taurus. I had no idea what they’d hit us with, but something about the way the car was listing told me we probably wouldn’t last much longer if we kept taking damage. If we didn’t do something quick, we were gonna be toast.

  “Disjunction ball,” Gabriela answered. It was Greek to me, but she followed with, “It ate most of the protective wards we had.”

  “At least we’ve gotten ahead of them!” I said, confident I could lose them with just a few more turns. After all, the plus of being a APD driver in his own delivery area was the intimate knowledge of the roads on my route.

  A roar of engines announced our pursuer’s sudden return to mere feet behind us. One day, I’ll learn not to open my big mouth. We should have had at least a few car lengths on the cult wagon, so how were they so close?

  A fiery orange glow flared from the edges of the van’s hood, making it hard to keep an eye on it through the mirrors, so I gave up and drove like I was about to make a late delivery across town five minutes before closing.

  “Doc, please tell me you’ve got something for me!” Whatever juju they had under the hood was enough to keep them lumbering down on us, and with the narrow confines of the side-street, we were fucked. If they didn’t ram us into twisted metal, any gunman worth his salt would turn us into Swiss cheese.

  “I’m an idiot! It’s so obvious!” She slammed a crystal home into an empty socket causing the entire doohickey to glow bright pink. “Hold on and listen!” The Doc spun a dial as the Black Van of Doom made a last lurch toward us.

  “Listen to – SHIT!”

  We were both shoved violently into the rather comfortable seats as the Taurus rocketed forward like a drag racer. Only instinct kept my arms locked and the wheel straight ahead. The buildings streaked by on either side in a blurry mishmash of color. Honestly, it was a minor miracle we didn’t immediately get splattered by either a passing car or a random pedestrian.

  The Doc didn’t seem quite as panicked as I thought she should be. Not that I was panicking, no, just a little concerned, ya know? “The enchantment will only last for a few moments and… Frank! Look at me!”

  “We’re dead if I do!” Wow, I was a damned good driver, managing to move the wheel with almost prescient knowledge of what was ahead.

  “Frank, the car is driving itself.” The amusement in the voice nearly made me blush.

  “Oh…” I didn’t let go of the wheel, still clinging onto it like a safety blanket, but I did glance over at the Doc. Even though I believed her, it was still hard for me to trust her enough to look over at her, and the g-force pushing me against the seat didn’t make it any easier.

  “They almost certainly have a seeker spell on the car and the moment we slow down, they’ll be on us, but you can stop them dead!” She tipped her head at my chest. “I didn’t have the chance in your apartment, but you need to know how to use la Corazon.”

  I’ll be honest. I had hoped against hope I’d never actually have to use the gold-and-turquoise lump keeping me alive. Look, it was one thing to have to face down all this crazy magic shit, but the thought of actually using it myself, even if it was a magic-eating artifact, made my skin crawl. Like doing it myself was giving in full force to all the insanity around me. Still, I saw her point. If I could just turn off their demon van, we could get away easily enough.

&nbs
p; “Okay, Doc, I’ll try.” I took a deep breath. “Um… so what do I do?”

  “To put it in a way I know you’ll understand, Frank, ‘do or do not, there is no try’.” Gabriela flashed a quick smirk at me. “Which is more true in regards to the heart than you might think. La Corazon is a part of you. It feels your intent and your feelings. In the simplest terms, all you have to do is want it really bad.”

  That sort of made sense. I mean, okay it didn’t make a lick of sense. It was like when Obi-Wan put that helmet on Luke Skywalker and told him to feel the lasers being shot at him. This was like that, only I didn’t have a lightsaber.

  Before I could tell her how ridiculous that sounded, the Taurus lurched of its own accord, rocketing through another turn. It was a rib-buster, and I’ll be honest, a very manly cry escaped my lips. How Gabriela took this without yelping in pain was a mystery, probably more magic crap that didn’t affect me anymore.

  “You don’t have anything else for me, Doc?” I asked, hoping she did because if I was just supposed to shut my eyes and concentrate on life, the universe, and everything, well, I didn’t exactly have a lot of faith in that working out well.

  “I could teach you an incantation to use, but that isn’t important, not to the heart. It’s your intent, your attitude, and your focus that will make it work for you.” She eyed the crystal console as we burned down the road. The crystals’ glow was fading fast. “Just visualize what you want to happen in a way that works for you. Whatever it is though, you have to want it to happen.” She quirked a smile at me. “Use the Force, Frank.”

  “I can think of some really engaging ways of visualization, Doc, don’t worry.” If all it took was a heartfelt desire to stop this endless cycle of crazy from happening, well, to say I was already plenty done with all this bullshit was a massive understatement.

  The car started to slow, and as the steering wheel loosened back into a manner I could control, Gabriela laid a hand on my shoulder. “Just… be careful. La Corazon can theoretically destroy any magic we know of, maybe even itself. Theoretically, if your desire is to stop magic is too strong, la Corazon could destroy itself too.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t put it in you for you to die, okay?”