“That was an inspiring little pep talk,” I said. “But it doesn’t explain why you are here.”
“Before I continue,” said Corvus, “I wish to propose a pact.”
I blinked. “A pact? Like, a suicide pact? I’ll have to decline.”
Corvus raised an eyebrow. “If you want to kill yourself, do not let me stop you. Just let me get to a safe distance. This tuxedo is rented, and I don’t want to get any blood on it.”
I laughed at that.
“Before I agree to anything,” I said, “why are you here? Are you here to steal stuff, too?”
“No,” said Corvus. He considered for a moment. “I am working for the Duke Tamirlas of Milwaukee.”
“You’re one of the Duke’s men-at-arms, then,” I said. I suppose that explained some of the peculiar things about Corvus. Perhaps the Duke had taught him magic the way that Morvilind had taught me.
“I am not,” said Corvus. “Let us say instead that I was hired by the Duke. Or, rather, my family was hired by him.”
“Your family?” I said.
“Mr. McCade no longer has the Duke’s complete confidence,” said Corvus. “The Duke hired my family to look into the matter, and the task was given to me.”
“And what task is that?” I said.
He gestured at the curtain. “This entire section of the mansion is its own little fortress. McCade only permitted his trusted guests this far, and the corridors beyond are guarded in some fashion. I am going to see if McCade has been engaged in a…specific activity. If he has not, then I will depart without further trouble. If he has, then I will take action.”
“That’s very vague,” I said.
“It is all that is safe to tell you,” said Corvus. “I assume you are here to steal a specific item? If you were simply after money, you could have taken the valuable books from the library or stolen jewelry from the guests.”
“Yes,” I said. I considered what to tell him. “All right. You’ve given me a little of the truth, and I’ll repay you in kind. McCade has a tablet, and I’m here to steal it.”
Corvus blinked. “A tablet? Like a handheld computer?”
I shook my head. “No. An ancient stone tablet. It was Assyrian or something. It has a magical aura around it.”
His frown sharpened. “I see. Old magic from ancient Earth? That is telling. McCade should not possess such an item.”
“My employer agrees,” I said, “so I was hired to steal it from him.”
Though “hired” sounded much more friendly than “coerced”.
“Such a valuable item will be in McCade’s inner sanctum,” said Corvus. “The answer to my question will lie there as well.”
“Seems likely,” I said.
“Our goals are complimentary, not contradictory,” said Corvus. “Therefore I propose a pact. You have skills that will be useful to me, and I suspect my abilities will help you as well. We can then help each other fulfill our missions, and then go our separate ways.”
I mulled that over. “Or you could be here to take the tablet for yourself, and leave me to take the blame while you escape.”
“A reasonable possibility,” said Corvus. “But I have no interest in money.”
“Everyone has an interest in money,” I said. “No one likes starving to death.”
“My family provides for my needs, which are simple enough,” said Corvus. “And I have no wish to acquire an artifact of dark magic.”
I blinked. “Wait. What? Dark magic?”
Corvus frowned. “You didn’t know?”
“Know what?” I said.
“Magic was practiced on Earth before the Conquest,” said Corvus. “Thought it was exceedingly rare, and almost vanished entirely after the fall of the Roman Empire. Yet any pre-Conquest human magic was almost exclusively dark magic. Several ancient empires made use of it. The Assyrians were one of them.”
“I see,” I said, a cold chill going through me.
Morvilind had sent me to steal a relic of ancient dark magic?
Why would Morvilind want an ancient relic of human dark magic? I could think of several reasons, and none of them were good. I thought his interests had always been in artwork, in old relics and sculptures he could acquire without spending any money.
But if he wanted me to steal a relic of dark magic…
There were many different kinds of magic. Humans in the Wizards’ Legion were allowed to learn elemental spells, fire and earth and wind and water. The Elven mages had many kinds of spells they kept to themselves, spells of illusion and mind magic and summoning creatures from the Shadowlands. Yet the High Queen forbade the Elves from wielding the darker powers – spells of necromancy and entropy, spells to call creatures from the Void beyond the Shadowlands. The Inquisition’s main mission was to make sure both Elves and humans remained loyal to the High Queen, but if the Inquisition discovered any Elf wielding dark magic, they killed him.
Was that the reason Morvilind had trained me? It made a grim amount of sense. If he was interested in dark magic, if he wanted to acquire relics of dark magic, he could use me to obtain them without risking himself. If I was captured, or if I tried to surrender to the Inquisition, he could simply use the vial of heart’s blood to kill me and destroy any evidence of his misdeeds.
“You really didn’t know, did you,” said Corvus.
“No,” I said. “Let’s just say my employer is not always forthcoming with information I might need. Information that might be really goddamned useful. He ought to…” I bit my tongue before the anger got carried away and I said too much.
“Yes.” His thin smile held no humor. “I was once a man-at-arms. I understand the feeling.”
“All right,” I said, calming down. “This pact. What did you have in mind?”
He shrugged. “We help each other accomplish our missions. I care nothing for your employer or this Assyrian tablet. I simply wish to see if McCade possesses a specific item or not.”
“Not the tablet,” I said.
“No.”
“What kind of item?” I said.
He thought for a moment. “A book.”
I jerked my head toward the wall. “Library’s that way.”
“It is not the kind of book that he would leave lying around,” said Corvus. “It would get him in a lot of trouble, even with his closest friends.”
I snorted. “What, some kind of Rebel manifesto?”
“Something like that,” said Corvus.
I thought about that. It seemed unlikely that a man like McCade was a Rebel, but then it also seemed unlikely that a man like McCade would build a secret orgy room behind his library. Morvilind didn’t care about the Rebels, and neither did I. If the Duke had hired Corvus and his family to expose McCade as a Rebel, then all the better for me. In the chaos, it would be easy to get away with the tablet.
“Why would you want my help?” I said at last.
Corvus raised his eyebrows. “You do not seem like a woman who is lacking in self-confidence.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I also think I am a woman who would be a convenient scapegoat for whatever you plan to do.”
“Confident and paranoid,” said Corvus. “A dangerous combination.”
“When you’re breaking into a mansion,” I said, “there’s no such thing as paranoia.”
“True,” said Corvus. “For you to have come this far is impressive. Your skills would be useful in achieving my mission. For that matter, my skills would be useful in accomplishing yours.”
“You can call lightning,” I said. “I saw that in the alley. What else can you do?”
“You don’t have any weapons,” said Corvus. “If you need to fight your way out, you’ll need help.”
“And you would do that for me?” I said.
“If you agree to help me,” said Corvus.
I blew out a long breath. I suspected Corvus knew how to handle himself. If it came to a fight with McCade’s security or a cell of damned Rebels, I didn’t
have any choice. I would have to run and Mask myself, or Cloak and hide until I could escape. In a fight, a capable ally would be welcome. Of course, it was possible this was some kind of trap, that Corvus really was an Inquisitor or a Homeland Security thug, and he was setting me up. Or he really was a thief, and planned to use me as a fall woman.
Trusting him was risky.
On the other hand, everything I had done since Morvilind had told me to steal the tablet had been a risk. And I had to succeed. If I did not retrieve that tablet, Morvilind would not continue the annual cure spells, and Russell was going to die in a lot of pain.
If working with Corvus gave me a greater chance of success, then I would work with Corvus.
“Okay,” I said. “Guess we’re allies. You ever break into a place like this before?”
“Once or twice,” said Corvus.
“Do what I say,” I said. “One wrong move and we’ll bring McCade’s security down on our heads. I don’t care how much lightning you can call, you can’t fight through all of them.”
“I will follow your lead,” said Corvus. I had the feeling he was patronizing me, but I decided not to push it. “What did you have in mind?”
“I stole some blueprints for this place,” I said. “Behind the library is a big blank space. I thought it was just a vault, but there’s more to it than that.”
“Obviously,” said Corvus.
“My tablet and your book, if they’re illegal artifacts, are probably in the blank space,” I said. “We’ll have a look around, find them, and then get the hell out of here.”
“A solid plan,” said Corvus.
“Hope so,” I said. “Let’s slip away from the party and have a look around.” I went to the curtain and pushed it aside an inch, peering into the blue-lit gloom of the main room. The low bass beat of the music continued, and maybe fifty more guests had filtered into the room, sprawled on the couches or dancing in the corners. I saw more guests take slaves and vanish into the alcoves, and…
I blinked and jerked back.
Three of McCade’s security men moved from alcove to alcove, twitching aside the curtains and looking inside. They seemed calm and collected, but I suspected they were looking for someone or something in particular. Maybe they were looking for Corvus.
Maybe they were looking for me.
“Hell,” I whispered, getting back into the alcove and letting the curtain fall back.
“What is it?” said Corvus.
“McCade’s security,” I said. “Checking the alcoves. Might be looking for us.”
“They’re probably checking to make sure no one’s had a stroke or swallowed their own tongue,” said Corvus. “Always embarrassing when that happens at this kind of party.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Maybe. But if they’re looking for us…”
I had thirty seconds before they looked in our alcove. I could Mask myself, or I could Cloak myself, but I wasn’t sure I could do the same for Corvus. I did not also want to reveal the full extent of my abilities to Corvus, either. He had been surprised that I could cast the spell to detect magic. How would he react if he knew I could use illusion magic?
Best not to find out.
But how to avoid suspicion?
The idea burst into my mind.
“Kiss me,” I said.
Corvus looked nonplussed. “What?”
“Kiss me,” I said. “Right now.”
“You cannot be serious,” he said.
“What do people use these alcoves for?” I snapped. “The guards come in, see us kissing, and then move on to the next one. We…”
Corvus let out a sharp, irritated sigh. “Fine.”
Before I could say anything else, before I could even react, he seized my upper arms, yanked me close, and kissed me long and hard upon the lips, and…and…
As it turned out, he was really good at it.
I had my arms around him a few heartbeats later. That was part of the disguise. It wasn’t because I was really enjoying the kiss or anything like that. Or so I tried to tell myself. He hadn’t been the first man I had ever kissed. There had been a fairly serious relationship when I had been eighteen that I had kept secret from both Morvilind and Russell, a relationship that had ended badly. From time to time I flirted as part of my tasks from Morvilind, and that occasionally had led to a kiss (though, thank God, I’d never had to seduce anyone). So I wasn’t a stranger to this.
Corvus was just really good at it.
The curtain twitched open, and I opened one eye to see three hard-faced men in suits scowling at me. They glanced at us, looked around the alcove, and then let the curtain fall back into place as they continued their rounds. Corvus had been right. The security men were checking to make sure none of the guests had overdosed, and had thought that Corvus and I were a pair of guests who had slipped away for some casual fun.
So I could stop kissing him now.
Except…I really didn’t want to.
Then I felt a presence in my mind, thoughts that murmured of hunger and need. Morvilind had taught me the rudiments of mind magic, so I knew how to recognize an intrusion in my thoughts.
Corvus was reaching into my mind.
For a long, tantalizing moment, the hunger and need seeped into me, and I wanted nothing more than to press myself against him, to rip away the coat and shirt that prevented me from touching him, to pull my dress over my head and then…
I wasn’t going to let anyone have power over me ever again.
I pushed back, breathing hard, and Corvus flinched.
“Stop,” I stammered. “Whatever you’re doing, just…just stop.”
He stared down at me, and with a shock I realized that his eyes had turned solid black, almost as if they had filled with shadows. Corvus stepped back, his breathing hard and fast, and closed his eyes. Bit by bit he slowed his breathing, the intensity fading from his expression. He braced himself against the wall with his right hand.
“What were you doing to me?” I said. “I could…feel you in my head. And your eyes…”
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “When it starts…it’s hard to stop.”
“Said every man ever,” I said.
He barked out a hoarse little laugh and opened his eyes. They had returned to their normal brown color. “I apologize. It…has been a long time since I’ve done that, and I got carried away in the moment.”
“Um,” I said, fighting off a wave of embarrassment. He might have projected something into my thoughts, but there had been something in my head eager to receive it. “It’s…been a while for me, too.”
Corvus closed his eyes, nodded, and opened them again.
“What happened to your eyes?” I said. “It was like they were full of shadows.”
He said nothing.
“The shadows,” I said. “There are shadows in your eyes, and you don’t cast a shadow. Then you projected lust or whatever into my thoughts. Just…what are you?”
“I am,” said Corvus, “a man on a mission. Just as you are a woman on mission. I suggest we attend to our tasks.”
I nodded and got control of my emotions. “Yes. Right. Well. Shall we?”
Chapter 7: Rift Way
I held out my left arm. Corvus stared at for a moment, the sighed and threaded his arm through mine. His forearm felt strong and firm through the sleeve of his coat.
“Care to escort a lady for a stroll?” I said.
Corvus sighed. “Don’t flirt.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Clearly I’m much too good at it. I made your eyes turn solid black, and while I don’t know what you are, I suspect it’s a sign of intense arousal and…”
The sound Corvus made was somewhere between an irritated sigh and a laugh. “Has anyone ever told you that you have a smart mouth?”
“Frequently,” I said. “And often.”
“That’s redundant,” said Corvus. “Let’s go.”
He pushed aside the curtain, and we walked arm-in-arm into the main room. The ai
r had taken on a noticeable chemical reek, and more guests lay sprawled on the couches, smoking and drinking as the red-clad slaves circulated with food and drink and recreational poisons. The three security men were on the far end of the room, but they did not look our way as we wove our way past the couches and the gleaming steel tables. We reached the far doorway and slipped into the hallway beyond.
The corridor did not look nearly as elaborate as the main room. The floor was polished concrete, the walls unadorned cinder blocks. Metal conduits and pipes ran along the ceiling in orange-painted racks. Every few feet a single blue light bulb burned in a metal cage, filling the corridor in long, gloomy shadows.
“Surprised you didn’t draw more attention,” said Corvus.
“Why’s that?” I said, looking back and forth. The distant bass thrum of the music still vibrated through the concrete floor.
“You were the only one in there wearing cargo pants and running shoes,” said Corvus.
“Considering some of the hallucinogenic drugs the guests have taken,” I said, looking at the pipes, “cargo pants are probably the least strange thing they’ve seen today.”
Corvus snorted. “True.”
“Look,” I said, pointing at the ceiling. “We won’t have to worry about security cameras.”
“No network conduit,” Corvus said.
“Too much concrete and steel in here for wireless,” I said. I reached into my pack and drew out my burner phone to check. It wasn’t getting any signal, and it didn’t detect any local wireless networks. “Nice and private. No cameras, no Internet, no way for anyone to call out.”
“Indeed,” said Corvus, his tone grim. “Quite a lot of water, though.” He pointed. “Pipes for hot and cold water, and they’re not part of the air conditioning system.”
I scowled at the pipes. “You think he keeps prisoners back here?”
“Perhaps,” said Corvus. “Though one wonders why a manufacturer of badly-flavored meat products would acquire prisoners.”
“Not a fan of McCade Foods canned meat products?” I said.
Corvus frowned. “I have experienced near-starvation, so while I would prefer McCade’s food products to starving again…”
Cloak Games: Omnibus One Page 9
