Reunion

by Sean Stone

  “Yes. But only him. Only Kayla can break the curse fully.”

  On top of Nick’s pedestal was a magnificent red fire. It wasn’t orange at all, it was pure red. There was no kindling, nothing keeping the fire burning. It just was. Nick realised that Kayla had lied. All the time Nick had been in this temple there had been a means to give him magic without hurting anybody and Kayla had refused to give it to him. Now was not the time for figuring out why, though. Out of the corner of his eye Nick saw Set reach for the bottle.

  “You were wrong,” Nick said and Set stopped.

  “About?”

  “The Promethean Flame. It was never extinguished. It was given to the rebels to keep safe. Kayla kept it safe.” Set wheeled around and his eyes found the flame.

  “How did you…”

  “Your seer sent me a message. Even though you killed her she still found a way to give me the information I needed. Visited a boy in his dream. She really hated me. But I suppose she hated you more,” Nick said. “I hate you too. I thought that with the power I took from Osiris combined with the power I took from Aniketos that I would be able to take you down. And maybe I could have done. But maybe you would have found a way out of it. You’re good at that. Like a cockroach. You just keep surviving. Keep ruining peoples lives.”

  “So what are you going to do, Nick? Nicky, Nick Nick. Are you going to take a bit more power from the flame? Try and kill me with that? Think about it. You don’t really want to kill me. I never did anything to you. It isn’t my fault that nobody loves you. It isn’t my fault that you turn everyone against you. It isn’t my fault that you’re not good enough. For anyone. A poor prince. A poor son. A poor lover. And you will not be able to kill me even with a bit of power from the Promethean Flame,” Set said. He smiled infuriatingly as he spoke. Nick placed the ambrotos dagger on the metal tray next to the flame.

  “Maybe you’re right. Perhaps I was a poor son and a poor lover. Perhaps I was bad at almost everything. But there is one thing I am good at. One thing that you taught me. And that’s how to get revenge.” Nick smiled back at his tormentor and then plunged his hand into the flame. Set’s jaw dropped. “I’m not going to take a little power. I’m taking it all.” He plunged his fingers into the flame and the heat shot straight up his arm. Nick screamed. It wasn’t a normal scream of pain. It was a scream of excruciating, maddening agony. It made the ritual which had made him immortal seem like a scrape on the knee. The flame danced up his arm, spreading over his entire body. He felt the power ripping through his insides like a combination of fire and electricity. It was like all his innards were melting and frying. It wasn’t just adding to his power, it was change him, transforming him into something else. His scream turned to a screech. He wished that he had not put his hand into the flame for any moment now he was surely going to explode. The flame was no longer on the tray it was now on him. His entire body was on fire. Not metaphorically but literally. He could feel his body absorbing it. The ambrotos dagger started glow with red light. It rose into the air and then rotated quickly before Nick’s eyes. The crevices etched into the golden blade seemed to shimmer and then they filled with black, like bile running through a canal. The eagle and the ankh disappeared from either side of the blade and the little black rivers flooded to take their places. The fire went out. The dagger stopped glowing and all at once the pain was gone. But the power was still inside him. It was without a doubt the most exhilarating feeling he had ever experienced. He felt like he could fly into the sun and come out the other side unscathed.

  His skin healed from the burns in seconds. He looked down at his dagger. The grooves were still filled with black. Like him, the dagger was permanently changed. He picked it up and slid it back into his pocket. When he looked back up he saw Set frozen in place. Jaw open, eyes wide. Petrified. Nick had never seen him scared before. He’d seen him annoyed, furious, even a little saddened but never afraid. He went for the jinn bottle and his fingers touched the lid but with a simple eye movement Nick sent the bottle across the room. It hit the floor and rolled away into the shadows.

  “You didn’t really think I was going to let you have that, did you?” he asked. His voice came out in a weird low growl. He sounded utterly demonic. The power had effected everything it seemed. When he spoke again he managed to return it to normal. “You took everything from me. I intend to do the same to you.”

  “It was foreseen,” Set said sheepishly.

  “That I would get you in here. There was no mention of you getting Apophis. Or of you leaving again.”

  Set open this mouth and let out a furious scream as he charged at Nick. Oddly he didn’t attempt to use magic but came at Nick with his fists. Nick blocked his first swung and his second. He caught his fist the third time and smashed it into Set’s own face. Set staggered back. His face reddened. He ran at Nick again and this time Nick took him by the throat and launched him into he wall. The stone cracked and fragments fell off. Nick stepped forwards, took his throat again and pinned him against the stone.

  “I might have been a poor prince but that’s because of my low birth. Being a bastard I was never even recognised as a prince. Nobody even knew who my father was. You on the other hand, had the right birth. You had the right upbringing. And you still turn out to be a poor prince and a substandard king. Because of your stupidity your entire people ended up cursed. Statues around the world for thousands of years and in all this time you haven’t saved one of them. You failed as prince. You failed as king. You failed as a brother, a father and even a son. You did manage to teach me a thing or two though.”

  Set screamed again and let out a burst of magic that made Nick stagger into the black pedestal behind him. The pedestal smashed and fell to pieces. Set came at him again. He cast some sort of spell but Nick batted it away with ease. Set’s magic felt like a fly buzzing around him. Nick laughed. “You really are nothing now.” Nick flicked his wrist and Set fell down, writhing in pain. “Your blood is boiling. That’s just an iota of the pain you have inflicted on everybody you’ve ever encountered.”

  Set reached out with one hand and Nick realised what he was doing too late. The shelving unit behind him came thundering down. Its entire weight landed on Nick and he fell beneath it. It barely felt the pain. With his own power he threw it off him. The bottle of ambrosia was still intact. Good. Nothing could happen to that. Nick picked it up and then conjured it away somewhere safe. Right now, he needed to kill Set. Nick looked over at Set but he was gone.

  “Really? The mighty Set running from me?” he shouted as he went after him. He didn’t run. He didn’t need to. Set had nowhere to go. Even if he managed to leave Elysium there was nowhere he could go where he would be safe. Nick would find him. Wherever he went. The world was not that big that Set could hide in it for eternity. But Nick did not feel like chasing his enemy across the earth. He had other things to do. By simply thinking about it Nick willed the doors of the temple to close and he locked them with his magic. Set was going nowhere. Nick reached the entrance hall and stopped. He closed his eyes and listened. He used his magic to enhance his hearing so he could hear every part of the temple. Set was upstairs. Nick began climbing.

  “How does it feel, Set? Knowing that any moment now your life is going to be snuffed out. Just like all those insignificant people who you’ve stepped on to get what you want.”

  Nick turned into the room that had once been Kayla’s and saw Set rooting through her cupboards. No doubt looking for something he could use on Nick. “You know. The Egyptians worshipped you as a god. Not a particularly nice god but a god nonetheless. If someone as feeble as you was thought of as a god then what does that make me?” Nick asked gleefully as he closed the distance between them.

  “An abomination,” Set spat furiously.

  Nick chuckled. Then threw Set through the brick wall. Once the dust had cleared he followed him through the jagged hole. Set tried to fight him but Nick blocked every attack and met it with one five times as strong. He laun
ched him through the next wall, and the next and the next. By the time he was finished Set was a broken heap in a pile of dusty brick. His face was a bloody mess. His bones were broken and crushed. His magic was spent. He had no fight left. Even though he was starting to heal he did not attempt another attack.

  “Have you given up so soon? I had hoped for a better fight. But the memory of this will keep me amused for years to come,” Nick said.

  Set mumbled something unintelligible.

  “What was that?” Nick asked.

  Set crawled across the floor and propped himself up against the wall. “Look at where we are,” he said, panting heavily. Nick looked around and his heart jolted. How could he not have noticed that he had returned to his old room. The room that he and Olivia had shared. Everything was exactly the way he’d left it., Kayla hadn’t changed a thing. Olivia’s jewellery was still positioned on the dresser. Nick’s hunting bow was still hanging in the corner. “Is this supposed to soften me? Are you hoping I’ll forgive you in Olivia’s name?”

  “No,” Set said shaking his head. “I’ve accepted my fate. I am going to die now. I just wanted to remind you of everything you’ve lost. Because of me. I made you murder the love of your life. The only woman who loved you unconditionally. I made you turn yourself into a warlock. I made you turn Kayla, the closest thing to a mother, against you. Even this new abomination you’ve become is because of me. And though I die now you will live forever knowing that I made you what you are.” Set smiled and laughed. He laughed and he laughed and he laughed. Nick knew he was trying to anger him and it almost worked. But then Nick held his anger back and smiled calmly at Set.

  “I’ve pondered this over the years. What I would do when I finally had you in this position. Powerless to fight back. Would I kill you, or would I just trap you. Leave you to rot like you left me to rot for fifty-four years. Like your people have and the jinn have for thousands of years. Now the decision comes easily.” Nick knelt before Set and pulled out the ambrotos dagger. He pinned Set to the wall with his power so he could not resist as Nick sliced open his chest and then reached inside. Set grunted and screamed as Nick broke every vein and artery connected to his heart. Tore away anything holding it and pulled the organ out. He held it in his hand, looking down at it ponderously. Set stopped screaming but his breath did not slow. Removing an ancients heart would not kill him, they could survive amazing things. But if he destroyed the organ then Set would perish. Even ancients needed hearts.

  “Look at how it still beats in my hand. It’s amazing what you can live through. You really are like a cockroach,” Nick said.

  “Just get on with it,” Set muttered. His chest was starting to heal already, oblivious to the fact that there was a vital piece missing.

  “You’re right. Everything that I’ve become is because of you, Set. And that means that what’s happening right now is also because of you. I learned a valuable lesson from you. Don’t treat everybody like dirt. You need to have at least a few friends. That’s why I was nice to my disciples. So that I didn’t end up relying on enemies. For someone who’s lived for so long you really are quite dense.” With Nick’s free hand he grabbed Set by the neck and pulled him to his feet.

  “What are you waiting for, boy?” he said, seething.

  “I’m going to give you a chance. A chance to take the first step of redemption.” Set looked him dubiously. Nick grinned. He was enjoying himself. “Apologise for what you did and I’ll let you live.”

  Set narrowed his eyes. “No,” he said, but Nick heard the desire. The desire to swallow his pride and do it.

  “Alright then,” Nick said. A small flame flickered to life at the base of Set’s heart. It was enough to make him scream again.

  “Stop!” he shouted. A single tear rolled from his eye. From pain or humiliation? Nick did not know. He hoped the latter. Nick raised his eyebrows expectantly. “I’m… sorry.”

  “For?”

  “For manipulating you into killing Olivia.”

  “This is your punishment: you will leave Elysium and never even think about returning. But I will keep your heart and every second that you live you will know it is because I allow you to do so. And you will know that at any second you could die and it would be because of me,” Nick said, enjoying the feel of each word on his tongue. Enjoying the look of fury and desperation on Set’s face even more.

  “Will you at least allow me to take Apophis?” he asked quietly. His head was lowered in submission.

  Nick shrugged. “Sure. I’ve had my revenge and I’m going to get Olivia back very soon. It seems heartless to deny you yours.”

  Set nodded in forced gratitude and then turned for the door.

  “Oh, Set,” Nick said and he turned back. “Only kidding.” Set’s heart burst into flames and the ancient screamed as he fell to his knees. “Did you really think I was going to let you leave? I would not allow you a single second longer on this earth and I would never allow you to achieve your revenge. You go to your grave knowing that you failed.”

  Set stopped screaming and fell silent. His face began to melt and Nick took a step back in revulsion. It didn’t just melt, it morphed into someone’s face. First, he became Alistair again. Then a different man. His face changed so many times, going through each of the identities that Set had taken. There were too many to count. Finally, his face melted into nothing. His nose and mouth were covered with skin and eradicated. His eyes remained; void of colour but filled with despair. If it had been anyone else then Nick might have pitied him. Set blinked one final time and once again a tear fell down his face. Then he fell forward, face down on the stone. Dead.

  14

  “How are the interrogations going?” Sidney asked. Once again Clara was sitting in Phil’s office reporting her progress on the investigation. Thankfully, Phil was not here this time. He’d been getting exponentially more snide towards her ever since she’d taken the promotion.

  “Not well. I still haven’t been able to learn anything,” said Clara. She’d interrogated over half of them now but she might as well have been asking the wall questions. None of them were willing to talk to her. “Their loyalty to Nick is unshakeable.”

  “I admire loyalty. It is a noble trait but it can be broken. You simply need to employ more forceful interrogation techniques,” Sidney said casually. He laced his fingers together and looked over his hands at her.

  “I’m not torturing anybody,” Clara said. She’d already tried attacking Kristen and it had backfired. She wasn’t going to try again.

  Sidney took a deep breath in and exhaled loudly. “Deputy Director Winters, I gave you this position because I believed you had the tenacity to get the job done. Are you now telling me you cannot?”

  “This particular task isn’t suited to me. Give me a different assignment. Let someone else try this. I could look in to the missing deputy mayor,” she suggested. Bradley had reported that Frederik Montford hadn’t been seen for over twenty-four hours. Clara could get to the bottom of that far quicker than she could get the disciples to start giving up their secrets.

  Sidney waved her suggestion away. “That case is beneath this entire team and it’s certainly beneath the deputy director. I’ve referred it back to the regular police,” he said.

  “What about the clan civil war? I have a rapport with Richie,” said Clara. Sidney shook his head.

  “No, Deputy Director Winters. I want you on this. Allow me to speak plainly. I will not force you to employ any tactics that you do not wish to. However, if you fail in this assignment then your employment with SIT and MI5 will be terminated.” He stared eerily into her eyes when he said that and she understood his meaning. Being terminated from MI5 meant more than handshake and a reference. She got the impression that she would be literally terminated. He wasn’t trying to threaten her, she could she that in his eyes. She was pretty sure that all this instructions were coming from higher up. He was warning her to protect her.

  “I’m going off you,
” Clara said, only half joking. Sidney allowed himself a small smile.

  “You would like my replacement less,” he said softly.

  “They already have your replacement lined up?” asked Clara. MI5 were nothing if not efficient.

  “Quite. She was prepared a long time ago. She was placed in the town over forty years ago. One of our first moles.”

  “One of?” Clara had only been aware of Jeremy, the spy in the vampire clan.

  “Well we weren’t just spying on the vampires. We had a spy in every faction. Vampires, werewolves, sorcerers and humans. Unfortunately they’re all gone now.”

  “Who were they?” she asked knowing that he would not tell her.

  “That’s classified,” he said predictably.

  “Why would you need one on the council? The humans were already working for you,”

  “No. The humans were working with us and Jonathan Langford was very stubborn on occasion.”

  “Who was the one on the council?”

  “That’s classified, Winters. All you need to know is that she loathes the supernatural and if she takes my place in town then she will initiate the extermination protocol,” he warned.

  “Kill everyone?” Clara clarified.

  Sidney nodded. “But as long as I am alive and the situation here is under control she will not come back to Cedarstone. So, go and get me some answers from our prisoners.”

  Clara sat opposite Casper in the interrogation room. The only bit of useful information Clara had got from James had been everyone’s names. Not that knowing their names had helped in anyway. Casper was a youngish looking man; not that that meant anything on account of him being immortal. His expression was blank and he sat silently. He hadn’t resisted Clara in anyway on their way to the interrogation room and he hadn’t attempted to escape or even moved at all for that matter. If she were to stand him next to Kayla in the park she’d have a hard time telling which one was the statue.