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

by J. A. Cipriano

  She let out a snicker. “That’s a new one, but I see what you’re getting at.” The levity only lasted a second before she was dragged back into pure seriousness. “I’m sorry for getting you into this, Frank.” She swallowed hard, and as she did, I knew we were about to have a moment. So what did I do? The only thing I could, given the stakes involved.

  “Don’t make a broken record out of it.” I kept my focus on the skies as I jutted out my chin. “I mean, I’m appreciative of the fact you realize you screwed up my life, but that’s water under the bridge.” See, I’m very magnanimous!

  “I know you’re just snarking, Frank, but all I can really say in my defense is I had no idea things were so far gone,” she paused for a moment as thoughts seemed to whir through her head. “That they’d take Max, that they’d actually go this far…”

  Managing to pull away from the swirl of magic all around me, I shot Gabriela a glance. Her eyes were locked on the road, but I could see from the extra lines in her face that hadn’t been there just a day before she was far from okay.

  “Please don’t start this martyr shit. I know why you did what you did, and I can’t fault you for it, and you sure as hell didn’t start this stupid war.” I sucked in a breath and let it out through my teeth as I neglected to say the rest of my sentence out loud. “But I’m damned sure gonna finish it.” She flashed me a quick smile, and that made the next thing I wanted to say all the easier. “Look, I’ll say this and be done: I’m with you until the end. We’ll get Max back, and we’ll find a way to get you out from under everyone’s thumbs.”

  “Deal,” she said, and the smile I got made my heart thump, and my voice catch in my throat.

  So what did I do? I gave her a thumbs up because I was as smooth as butter and twice as salty. Then I refocused my attention to the magical aurora the Enders had left in the sky while trying to figure out exactly how to assault Marcus Drakos.

  The fact of the matter was Marcus Drakos wasn’t just a big deal among the wizard folks. He was a multi-billionaire owner of a big conglomerate with enough fingers in enough pies he could call up the president and demand he invade a small country over a badly brewed latte. EnderTech was the face of the hydra, a big defense contractor and weapon designer. Real philanthropist shit there, like the second coming of pre-Iron Man Tony Stark.

  So if you were that guy, why would you do your super-nifty, not-at-all-world-threatening ritual anywhere other than your company’s home base in the city? Hell, I was sure he had enough goons with enough cutting-edge military-spec hardware to hold off an actual contingent of Marines. This day was just getting better and better. Hooah!

  To be honest, I was a little disappointed when the EnderTech building came into view. Common wisdom (or overplayed tropes) would have required the structure to be a monolithic, Gothic spire of black stone and polished glass, like something out of Tim Burton’s deepest fever dreams.

  You know, grotesque gargoyles, arches for the sake of having arches, spindly towers like fingers clutching at the sky. Oh, and don’t forget the hordes of the damned peeking through the glass or keeping a dread vigil at the parapets because of course it would have those!

  Instead, it was a stylish, if rather mundane, affair. A marble façade complimented the ordered lines of office windows. It was of a modest size, totally not compensating for their C.E.O.’s dick size.

  That last thing wasn’t even a joke on my part. In fact, if to sum up the feel of the EnderTech offices, I could only term it as “fucking ordinary.” That scared me a little bit. Normally bad guys liked to show how fucking powerful they were. Marcus didn’t. It meant he was confident in himself and his actions. Why was that bad? Because it meant we’d be way more likely to meet with a bullet to the back of a skull in a small, windowless room than be dangled over a pit of sharks in some James Bondian supervillianesque death.

  Then again, since I didn’t want to die in either fashion, it was time to focus the fuck up, clear my mind, and use the goddamned Force.

  Despite the utter boringness of the building’s appearance, seeing the weave of magic like I was, I could tell it was the epicenter of the pulsing web in the sky. It tied together into a massive twisting thread over the structure’s peak before arrowing straight down into it like a line being pulled into a massive fishing reel. With so many threads woven together, the pulses of pure white light took on an almost blinding radiance. It was a not-so-literal flashing neon arrow of magic pointing at the heart of the problem.

  “As if there was any question about our destination,” I half-laughed as I pointed out the window. It was so obvious, how could we go anywhere else? Then again, I didn’t know how Gabriela saw the world. Maybe she wouldn’t have been able to tell? Somehow, I doubted it though. “I don’t know why Clayface was so insistent only my special magic vision could lead the way. Honestly, I think Abbie was being a bit too over-dramatic with this Bearer bullshit, don’t you?”

  “Well, golems being what they are, I think they get a bit deep into the ideas of theology and philosophy,” Gabriela said with that academic tone of hers. “Literally owing their existence to a greater power, they put a lot of stock into prophecy and fate.” She popped the turn signal and steered off of our straight-line course to the skyscraper.

  “Are we getting a bite to eat before storming the gates?” I asked, and while I hadn’t been hungry when I’d said it, the sudden thought of food made my stomach long for a double cheese, steak quesadilla with extra guac.

  “No, but we’re supposed to meet Roland and hopefully get some help, right? They won’t be lounging around in the waiting room of Drakos’s office, especially since they don’t have such a convincing disguise available.” She tilted her head toward me. “Not everyone looks quite as natural as you do in those tan shorts.”

  I shook my head, pulling myself out of the trippy haze of la Corazon’s vision. She was totally right. I made these shorts look awesome. “Yeah, well, guess I was still hoping to avoid your boss.” I rubbed my temples. “So with multiple folks pulling this Bearer shit, are there any prophecies or anything I need to know about?”

  The Doc rolled the Taurus down the side street toward the back of a small building, more specifically the back door of a dry cleaner’s.

  “No, not at all.” She parked at the back door and turned toward me. “I’ve been so caught up in my worry about Max I didn’t take the time earlier to tell you about this, but let me be totally clear. There is no great prophecy, no big purpose, no deep dark secret about the heart or whoever it chooses to bond to.” Then she hedged, “At least as far as I know.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel very secure, Doc.” I sighed, feeling like an asshole for doubting her. “But let’s be real here. It isn’t like you’re up on whatever Voldemort has been cooking.”

  “I’m actually quite certain of this. I’ve studied la Corazon for years.” She pursed her lips, and I got the impression she was replaying something in her mind. “It is the power of la Corazon that makes people want there to be a purpose for it, that make them invent prophecies and destinies and all of that. I already told you there were many stories about the artifact’s origins, and they were just as much crafted by the people who want to believe in them as drawn from actual research.”

  I’m not sure why, but hearing her say that made me feel better. I mean, there was a huge difference between pulling Excalibur from the stone and getting bitten by a radioactive spider, right? Both brought great power and with it responsibility, but one was fated, while the other wasn’t. Hey, it wasn’t like I had a problem with fate, but I had way too much free will for that noise. Besides, it was good to know the universe wouldn’t crumble if I fucked up. Still, if I could have my way, Uncle Ben wouldn’t die either.

  “Well, I don’t know whether to thank you for taking a weight off my shoulders or be pissed you knocked the knees out of my potential savior-dom!” I made a half-smirk. “I mean, I can see the portraits they’d paint. I’d be standing atop my van with a p
ackage tucked under my arm and an American flag in my other hand while explosions went off behind me. I’ll be honest, I feel sort of robbed.”

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t be riding a shark?” She laughed, always a pleasant tune to my ears. “I think I know you decently by now, Frank, and if I didn’t let the air out of your ego just now, you’d be floating away from the planet once Roland had his way with you.” Those green eyes hardened again. “More importantly, anyone can get taken for a ride when they are made to feel important. I hate to say it, but now that you have la Corazon, many people are going to try to butter you up and make it seem like you’re destined for some great purpose, but–”

  “They’ll just be trying to turn me to the Dark side so I’ll go all Vader and do their bullshit for them.” I put a hand on Gabriela’s shoulder. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “Oh?” she asked, quirking a shapely eyebrow at me. “Why are you immune to Palpatine’s charms?”

  “Because I’m an asshole, ya know? It gives me innate asshole radar.” I shrugged. “What I’m trying to say is I pretty much expected as much, but thank you for laying it all out for me, for being straight with me.” I chuckled. “With most people in the world being grade-A jerks, it’s always nice to know there’s someone out there who’s a straight shooter.”

  She laid her hand over my own and the temperature rose a few degrees. “John always said the best path in life was the honest one. I’d dishonor his memory if I did anything less, not to mention how could I look Max in the eye once we get him back?” She smiled, and I thought I was having a fever flash, but I played it off as cool as I always did. “Are you ready to do this?”

  Being super-cool, I stared at those flashing eyes and full lips like an idiot.

  After an appropriately long and uncomfortable silence, the Doc took her hand off mine and gently poked me in the chest with her index finger. “Frank, you still in there?”

  Yeah, that was a real shining moment. I pulled my hand back and shut my gob. “Oh, yeah, right.” I turned away to take a look at the dry cleaning place in the strip mall next to us. “So, uh, your high and mighty chief hangs out at a dry cleaner’s?” It looked normal enough on the surface, but I was in tune to this shit enough to feel the magic in the air.

  “You should know by now looks don’t mean anything to magicians.” She smirked.

  We hopped out of the Taurus and stepped up to the back door, the Doc with her tablet and me with my work-out bag full of firearms and ammo. To each their own, I guess.

  As the Doc turned the doorknob in an intricate series of backs-and-forths, I put my hand on the Mossberg resting peacefully in its canvas hammock and felt reassured by its presence. A moment more of manipulation, and the door swung in without a sound.

  The room that opened before us was probably bigger than the entire ground floor of the actual dry cleaner’s. An arched ceiling soared over our heads as we stepped in. The perimeter of the circular chamber was marked with jade pillars, each circled by a golden dragon. The crimson walls were engraved with sigils and runes, while the air was heavy with incense.

  Naturally, to break the whole mystique of the setting, a cluster of heavily-armed men and women lounged around the center of the chamber, substituting a few weapon and ammo crates for a campfire. Some leaned on boxes while others sat on the floor, but they all gave off the unmistakable aura of career soldiers.

  These were some mean motor scooters, born drinking diesel fuel and chewing nails. Just to add to the kick-assness quotient, stitches of magic blazed around each one, both spells waiting to be unleashed and enchantments dripping off weapons and flak vests. Well, if we were going to be walking into the lion’s den, we looked to be doing it with some stone cold badasses. Score.

  Of course, the picture wasn’t complete without Obi-Wan Rollie being his creepy ghost self at the edge of their circle. I still didn’t know if he was a ghost or a spirit or just too cagey to let himself go out into the danger zone. Probably the latter because both he and Marcus struck me as the sleazy political types. Highly judgmental, seeing as I had barely known either of them, but I have to be me, ya know?

  Roland Lambert smiled at me and spread his arms wide as we entered the room. “Welcome, Bearer, and thank you, Gabriela, for guiding our wayward friend here back to us.”

  Yeah, I wanted to punch him already.

  14

  I bit back on the desire to poke Roland’s spirit form and make him dissolve again as he stood there before me like a magnanimous douchebag. Barely.

  “Right, let’s just dispense with the bullshit and the rigamarole. Play-Doh got me here, made your offer, and I accepted.” I crossed my arms and squared my chin. “So you’ve got me. What exactly do you want?”

  Roland kept the pretentious smile plastered on his mug. “I believe Abner should have thoroughly explained my offer. However, it is simple enough to reiterate.” He gestured off-handedly behind him at the combat squad. “With the Ender’s ritual being imminent, you will join our elite agents in their effort to stop Marcus Drakos. With the power of la Corazon, you may be our last hope for the survival of magic. Surely, Mr. Butcher, you have seen first-hand the effect the Enders are having on our world.”

  Before I could open my trap, Gabriela butted in, stepping in front of me. “What about Max, Roland? Why did they take him and what are you going to do about it?” She pointed a finger upward, literally a cough from Lambert’s nose. “You know what’s going on, you have to, so don’t lie.”

  “Please, Dr. Perez, your son is one of our top priorities.” He put his hands out over her shoulders in a mime of an actual, comforting embrace without ever quite making contact. “We don’t know exactly why they took him, but the Enders know our philosophy toward saving our own, and you are one of our own, aren’t you?”

  “You’re dancing around things.” Gabby took a deep breath before continuing. “I know Abner said you want to save Max, but with what we’ve heard from the Enders–”

  Lambert raised his hands solemnly. “For one with my particular curse, you can understand why I don’t wish to say things without factual confirmation.”

  “Don’t hide behind your curse. My son is at stake here!” Gabriela actually growled the words, and from the look of things, she was only going to get more hostile.

  I figured it was time to step back in. Hearing all the dodgy political talk was getting under my skin. “Come on now, stop wasting our time and spit it out!” I thumbed out the back door-slash-portal. “I’ll happily take me and my wonder heart back out the way we came if you don’t tell the good doctor what she’d like to know.”

  “Bearer, you have no idea what the consequences are for breaking a curse such as mine, even by accident or misadventure.” Roland glanced up into the mist-shrouded rafters. “Not even you totally understand the extent of the chains with which I am bound, Gabriela. I cannot tell you that which I suspect.” Without moving his gaze, he motioned to the squad, a hard-faced older woman in particular. “Ms. Luddell, please explain your conjecture on the matter.”

  On first glance, I’d have mistaken the lady for someone’s stern-faced grandmother, but her grey hair was chopped into a short bob and her gear was as properly decked out and as battle-worn as the rest of her comrades.

  Her steely grey eyes were hard, but she had as many smile lines as frown wrinkles. The M4 carbine slung over Grandma’s shoulder meant business, but the two rosewood rods, one topped with a carved emerald and the other with a ruby, threw me off a little.

  “Luna Luddell, at your collective services.” She had a faint British accent, Estuary I think (yeah, I know what that is!) and nodded to us in a friendly enough manner. “I understand you’ve seen proper service, Frank, something I’m certainly glad to hear.”

  The Doc’s face tightened. “Let’s get past the introductions and focus on my son.”

  Luna nodded as the rest of the hardened soldier disappeared into a grandmotherly look of concern. “You’re right, of c
ourse.” She glanced between the two of us. “Using Abner’s intelligence, we’ve been trying to decipher the exact components of the Ender’s final ritual. To be quite honest, their work is surprisingly similar to our own.” If I didn’t know better, I would have suspected this lady and Gabby were related because the gun-toting grandma fell into a similar academic tone. “It’s rather fascinating once you dissect the patterns involved and–”

  Roland cleared his throat with a ghostly echo. “Luna, time is growing short. Please focus on the task at hand.”

  I nodded my unexpected agreement. “Yeah, no offense, but get on with it.” Gabriela simply added a desperate look to the general pile-on.

  “Bloody hell, I’m so sorry.” Luna ran a hand through her short, white hair and focused on the Doc. “The critical point is your son might fulfill several necessary components for their final ritual.”

  There was a moment of tense silence. Gabriela gave a little half-shake of her head and rubbed her eyes. “Right, okay. So when you say component, do you mean as a focus, a sympathetic link, or a sacrifice?” Panic edged into her voice as she spoke, and before I knew what I was doing, I put a hand on her shoulder. “Be straight with me.”

  “We don’t know.” Grandma raised a finger, cutting off objection before it began. “I’m not joshing you around. I’ve looked over the weaves and the patterns we’ve recovered and it’s truly inconclusive.” She turned back to her comrades and snapped her fingers. “Richter, bring over the parchments so the doctor can take a look herself.” She glanced back at us. “I know, my dear, in a situation like this seeing is believing.”

  All of this was over my head, but I understood the gist of it. Giving Gabby’s shoulder a squeeze, I decided to try to push this train on. “Look, I personally don’t know or don’t care about that. However you slice it, the kid’s important to them and he’s really important to us.” I looked around the room. “The big question is what the fuck are we going to do about it?”