The tall guy, Ryan, gave a tight smile that turned his lips bloodless and said: “Quick version. The world’s going to shit. Have you seen the news?”
I glared, saying nothing.
“The disasters you’ve heard about so far?” his voice was pitched deliberately low. “They’re nothing compared to what’s coming. May I?” he gestured at my forgotten slice of garlic bread.
I blinked, thrown by his cheek. He took my silence as agreement and bit off a large piece. “Right,” he mumbled. “Where was I?”
“World’s going to hell, gonna get much worse, yada yada yada, ooh I’m so hungry,” Lucy summed up.
Ryan narrowed his eyes. “Thanks. Which brings me to you, Mr. Logan?”
I wondered if Holly had hired these two clowns as a joke.
“Look-” I said. “The circus left town a while back, and-”
“Dean Logan,” Ryan said quickly. “Owner of a new business venture called Logan’s Tours. Your best friend is Holly Green. Wife, Raychel, disappeared without trace back in ‘05. Daughter here is called Lucy. School, City, and County squash champion.”
Giles said. “We represent an organization called Aegis. Please give us the chance to explain things to you. A lot has happened in the last few days, Logan, and our people are still playing catch up.”
“So, what has happened?” Lucy asked. “Don’t tell me Britney’s pregnant again.”
“Madison Square Garden,” Ryan almost hissed in his frustration. “The woman thrown out of the hotel window opposite. The roller-coaster collapse at Sea World-”
“I watch the news,” I said shortly. “Christ, even Lucy watches the news.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
Now Giles stepped forward, all but shouldering his partner aside. “The incidents are all linked. I will explain, but you must believe me when I say that Aegis have identified you as one of the eight living people who can save our planet.”
With that, both men stopped to gauge my reaction. I stared back in disbelief, then rolled my eyes at Lucy and watched her face go through a dozen comical changes, from amazed, to scared, to downright curious.
I threw up my hands in despair. “Alright! That’s it! Who hired you two fucking clowns?”
***
Lucy’s eyes were dinner plates. I paused, taking a deep breath to stay calm. “Look,” I spread my hands. “Joke failed. It backfired. Never mind, at least you tried. Now run along.”
And yet why would a practical joker mention Raychel in front of Lucy?
Ryan stepped forward and bent down until his lips were level with my ear. “You’ve felt the darkness, haven’t you?” he whispered. “By watching TV. You’ve seen just a few of thousands of fragile areas around the world where evil is leaking through,” his voice lowered still further. “this evil is rising, Logan, in response to an approaching cataclysmic event.”
I flashed back to witnesses speaking and crying with an intense, unfathomable fear in their voices.
Ryan continued. “Something is forcing its way up from below, Mr. Logan. It is evil rising to meet its maker. We need only an hour of your time to prove all this.”
My heart was beating fast. Those words: ‘Something is forcing its way up from below struck an ominous chord. I suddenly had no doubt that, however mad they were, these men believed their words. I recalled Lucy’s scared question earlier tonight: Dad, are we safe?
I spoke succinctly, each word a sentence. “What. Do. You. Want?”
“One hour,” Ryan said, straightening up. “We’ll tell you everything.”
I handed them my take-away bill.
“You’re paying,” I said to Giles, ever money-conscious.
***
We followed Ryan and Giles patiently down Parliament Street. The May weather was balmy, attracting both tourists and locals into town. The pavement cafés were full.
At length we entered an upscale area where each home was large and close enough to the city centre to be worth upwards of a million pounds apiece. Our two guides stopped by a discreet doorway marked only by an unassuming brass plate that read: AEGIS. Giles punched a code into a keypad and opened the door. A dark exterior passage widened out into a pleasant inner garden paved with random Indian stone. Lucy shuffled next to me. I laid a protective arm around her shoulders, which she promptly shrugged off.
“Through there,” Ryan gestured towards an archway ahead.
What was I getting us into?
5
MAUI, HAWAII, U.S.A.
The man named Loki, leader of Gorgoth’s armies, exited a taxi in a busy part of Lahaina, Maui’s most popular tourist town. He paused to get his bearings, shading his storm-cloud eyes.
The Hawaiian heat tempered by a cool sea breeze hit him immediately. He set off down the high street, past busy shops, blending with and laughing at the oh-so-happy tourists who wandered around like lost sheep awaiting the slaughter. They had no inkling that the whirlwind already moved among them.
He laughed aloud when he spotted a small church and noticed a couple of locals walking in. What the hell was the Big Kahuna going to do for them? Their God was a lazy God, a fat walrus grown complacent whilst feeding off the uncontested worship of two thousand years.
Things are gonna change. Believe me…
Loki walked into a coffee shop opposite the art gallery where his target worked and ordered a cappuccino. And a muffin. If there was one thing this world did right, it was these skinny orange and lemon muffins. The downside was that they were fast becoming Vice Number Two. His lip curled. He’d only been in America for two weeks and already the vices were starting to mount. He looked around. Maybe they’d let Starbucks stay open when this world went to hell.
Seated by the window he turned his attention to an art gallery across the busy road. Devon Summers worked there, a local woman ignorant of her potential. She was one of the Chosen – a group of eight humans who possessed enough untapped ability to rip Gorgoth’s plan apart. But they could only do that if those abilities were nurtured by the Aegis organization in the appropriate manner. Loki’s job was to see that never happened.
Two minutes later his quarry exited the art gallery and headed home. Loki rammed down his muffin- temporarily assuaging Vice Number Two- and started after her. He knew her address already, but kept following for this woman was the epitome of Vice Number One – his insatiable lust for beautiful women.
He shadowed her until she vanished into her house. He waited three minutes and then pounded on the door.
Flustered, she answered immediately, as he’d gambled she would. “Yes?”
Tall, athletic, stunning, purring with a dormant ability that she would never fulfill, Devon Summers was a sight to behold. Red hair flowed in waves over her shoulders to the middle of her back. Striking green eyes, bright with intelligence, studied him with an unsettling innocence and curiosity.
“Are you Devon Summers?” Loki settled into a strike position.
Look at her, he thought. She senses nothing. Suspects nothing.
And she is one of the chosen eight?
The people of this world would succumb like fields of grass mown down by a master’s blood-coated scythe.
“Yes, who-?”
Eight seconds. A lot can happen in eight seconds. You would never imagine that a man at your door could force his way inside and kick and punch you in vital areas, rendering you helpless and all but dead on the hallway floor, your body a world of hurt and your limbs unresponsive, in just eight seconds.
But it can. And when Loki paused one second after that to close the door behind him he was pleased to see the only response Devon Summers could manage was to roll her terrified, gloriously green eyes.
“You don’t know me,” he said with a snarl as his self-control began to slip. “So I have you at a great disadvantage, Devon Summers of 311 Lahaina Garden Court, Maui, Hawaii. Devon has a hidden ability that could save the planet. She likes to dine out regularly around the eastern shore where it’s less touristy.
She likes to surf at the weekend. Oh, and she likes to leave work early,” he sneered. “And as for dislikes? Well, let’s see, shall we?”
6
YORK, ENGLAND
We entered a spacious room dominated by an oak table. Around the table were at least thirty people. The noise and aggression levels were tremendous. I winced in shock, unprepared for this.
I tried to take it all in. Demanding the most attention was a slim woman dressed in a crisp business suit. She was on her feet, gesturing angrily. When Giles cleared his throat, she looked straight at me.
Giles said, “Ah. Myleene, excuse me. This is Dean Logan. And his daughter, Lucy.”
There was a sudden silence that gave both Lucy and I a moment to adjust. I put a hand on Lucy’s shoulder. An impression of intelligent exasperation dominated the room.
Surreal? I could have had a field day photographing all the contrasting expressions.
“Mr. Logan,” Myleene said. “Welcome to Aegis.”
“Cheers,” I said dryly.
Shaking my head, I noticed a dozen seats to our right arrayed in cinema-like rows. I counted ten more people, including an oriental guy and a striking blonde in leather trousers. She caught my eye and held it. Her gaze seemed sharper than the rest, glinting with secret appraisal. Eyes like that would look stunning in portrait. They might even make the front cover of Photographer’s Monthly. Or Vogue. I glanced away, but her face stayed in my mind’s eye like a lingering flash image.
I couldn’t help myself. I looked back again. Now her expression was slightly mischievous. She wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the legend: I’ll be nicer if you give me chocolate. The sheer force of her gaze made me want to offer her a Kit Kat Chunky or something.
Myleene offered a strained smile. “Try to keep up, Logan. You know, you shouldn’t have brought your daughter into this.”
I put a protective arm firmly around Lucy’s shoulders. “She stays with me.”
Myleene nodded as if to say your funeral, and then looked to my left. “You may be our fucking leader, Giles, but-” Myleene brought her fist down on the table hard enough to rattle the ice in the water pitchers. “All this bloody bickering won’t help! It’s all we ever do. It’s why we sectored the organization around the world in the first bloody place. Just remember this-” Myleene took a deep breath. “while we fight, our enemies grow stronger. They pick off our hopes one by one.”
Squeezing Lucy’s shoulder for moral support I said, “Will someone just tell us what the hell’s going on here so we can get back to our rudely interrupted father-daughter evening?”
Blank looks greeted my request. I was about three seconds from walking out.
Then an American-accented voice said, “You guys are unbelievable.”
I turned as the blonde girl strode to the centre of the room. My interest was piqued. She stood five-six and tanned, with eyes like blue lasers and a poise that came over as both elegant and lethal. Her muscles were clearly defined but not bulging. Straight blonde hair framed her face and brushed over her shoulders. She stood out as the most positive and capable person in the room.
“These guys have no manners,” she said. “They forget themselves in their anxiety. Hi, I’m Belinda.” she held a hand out.
I shook it, feeling her smooth, warm skin. “Dean Logan. My daughter, Lucy.”
“Cool,” she held my gaze and said, “So what do you know about Vampires?”
My eyes narrowed. “Bill Compton from True Blood’s good,” I started, but the intensity of her stare turned saliva to ashes in my mouth.
“Let me guess,” I said. “They’re all real?”
“All as real as I am,” she put her hands on her hips.
I said, “Ummm-” Classic male recovery.
Beside me, Lucy coughed and giggled at the same time.
Shit.
“Fine,” I said, reddening. “I believe you. Can we go now?”
Belinda relented. “We’ll tell you everything you need to see, Logan. And what you don’t believe, I’ll prove to you later,” she gave me a slow wink.
I knew this act. She projected a playful exterior, designed to shield the person within. She was a mini dynamo, brimming with boundless energy, sexually charged and exuding a sparkle and confidence that perked up the entire room. For that, at least, she deserved my respect.
I said, “You’ve got five minutes.”
“Cool,” she winked. “Aegis has discovered there are eight people capable of saving the world, and that six so-called ‘Destroyers’ will be sent against them. You, Logan, are one of the Eight, one of the Chosen.”
I stared at her, struggling to believe. I took a deep breath. “And you can prove that to me? How”
Belinda shook her blonde hair in a spray of pale gold and grinned. “Tonight, I’ll take you to meet some of them.”
7
YORK, ENGLAND
One minute I was this cash-strapped guy trying to kick off a brand-new tourist business, striving to make greater efforts with his heartbroken fifteen year old daughter and to ignore the aching absence of her mother, the next I’m listening to Myleene haranguing Giles. “Let’s agree on this then. We call a one-time crisis meeting. Everyone involved. We give them the make-or-break scenario. Let them decide, what do you say?”
“Everyone involved? Don’t be stupid, Myleene.” Giles said. “Ubers as well? At this stage?”
“They have to be involved. Vampires practically rule this world. And as for the easily pleased Lycans and the few Elves that are left. . .well, it’s their world too.”
Giles was again tugging at his collar. I found myself wishing he’d just take the bloody tie off. “We don’t know anything yet. About our enemy, I mean.”
Myleene kept her cool. “I know that, but the text will convince them.”
At this, all conversation died. I took the opportunity to raise my hand. Well, I raised Lucy’s hand since she was the youngest.
“What text?” I asked.
Lucy made a face beside me. “And what’s an Uber?”
Belinda shifted in her chair, leather pants creaking. “Uber is short for Uberhuman. It’s what we collectively call the ‘alternate’ species’.”
I got it. “And the text?”
Myleene said, “The text. Well, the text is what started-”
“The latest crisis?” Belinda finished for her.
“Latest,” Giles sighed. “And most bloody awful.”
I scratched my nose. “I guess someone found out something they weren’t supposed to?”
Myleene nodded. “Isn’t that always the way? You’ve heard of the Library of Alexandria?”
“Yes,” I said. “Old place, destroyed ages ago.”
“A place where all the wisdom of the world was once collected. Well, at the time of Alexandria, our library- the Library of Aegis- rivaled if not exceeded that one. Only a handful of people around the world know it exists, and even less its location. Now if you imagine how much was lost at Alexandria- add another seven hundred years of learning to that, and then add the countless volumes added by our Uberhuman friends, you might guess at what we have.”
I was genuinely shocked. “Sounds…cool.”
Belinda laughed. “That’s what I said.”
“It is the seat of learning and knowledge and absolute power. It is the very axis of the world.”
I took the rebuke with a humble nod. “Go on.”
“So, we knew our enemy was planning a raid on the library,” Giles prompted.
“Right,” Myleene nodded. “First, our enemy should not know the Library’s location. Second, why a small raid?” Myleene said around a sip of water. “Why not an all-out assault? Why now? And more importantly- what were they bloody-well after?”
Eyes twinkling, Belinda said, “In a nutshell. I watched the Library. I followed the raiders. I caught them red-handed. I slapped their arses.”
I grinned.
Myleene gave a short laugh. “Yes, well, luckily our enemy
miscalculated and sent humans to carry out the raid. Belinda directed the questioning of the thieves and we learned they’d come to find and destroy a certain document. The Text of Arcadia.”
An air of silence and wonder had fallen over the room that set my heart racing. Lucy, I noticed, was enthralled, not even rubbing the bandages that covered her wounds.
“The Text of Arcadia,” Myleene continued. “Has been translated and reviewed by some of the most learned people on the planet.”
“What does it say?” Lucy asked.
Myleene took a breath.
“And such a time shall come to pass when dark shadows drive through the very crust of the Earth where it has grown weak,” Myleene spoke in a voice force without inflection or emotion and purely from memory. “Earth and Air, Fire and Water- it will all warp. Disaster shall be visited upon the innocents, and they shall no longer remain innocent. Gorgoth will send Trickster, Spirit, Malevolence, Eradicator, Warrior, Conjuror and Sorcerer, the six Destroyers- precursors to the coming of his armies- and these six Lieutenants shall wreak havoc upon the world as they seek out and destroy the eight chosen souls. The Eight are powerful alone, but forged together and standing side-by-side at the site of the Last Battle their powers will save the world. Protect the Eight, for if they do not stand together against the coming of Gorgoth at the end, at New Babylon, our fair earth will be lost.”
8
MAUI, HAWAII, U.S.A.
About three minutes before Devon Summers died the man called Loki stopped hurting her and stepped back to admire his handiwork. For two hours his pleasure and her hell had mounted in unison. Now it was all about to come to a frenzied end.
Devon stared up at her murderer through the pain. Her body felt like it had been run over by a steam roller from the neck down. How had things come to this senseless end?
Who was he? This killer? A jilted lover? An unhappy customer? An irate pedestrian? It didn’t take much these days to commit an act of violence. The killer stood over her, eyes locked with hers, reveling in her final moments.
The Chosen Trilogy Boxset Page 3
