Blood Mage (Dark Impulse Book 1)

by Edmund Hughes

  “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now,” said Louise. She took her spectacles off and took a slow, shaky breath. “Peter was a close friend of mine. Though I’m sure almost everyone here on the island would probably say the same thing.”

  Jack didn’t know what to say, so he opted to stay silent and give her a second to compose herself.

  “Some people… you just really feel their loss, once they’re gone,” she said, as she swallowed hard. “Death can be such a cruel thing.”

  “Yeah,” said Jack.

  “Oh, look at me, making such a pointless fuss!” Louise sighed and set a manila folder down on the couch next to her. “Let’s get to it, then. Your grandfather’s will.”

  Jack nodded, watching as she pulled a yellowed page of paper loose from the folder.

  “To Jeff and Patricia Douglas…” she said in a questioning tone.

  “That’s my aunt and uncle,” said Jack. “They couldn’t make the trip themselves.”

  Or rather, they hadn’t felt the need to, he thought. Jack’s aunt was technically his father’s cousin and he wasn’t sure if she’d met his grandfather more than once or twice over the course of her life.

  “Well, your grandfather left them a sizeable sum of money,” said Louise. “Close to a hundred thousand dollars. They’ll have to get in touch with me to claim it, however, as they aren’t listed as the primary beneficiary.”

  Jack raised an eyebrow at that. Louise smiled at him.

  “To my grandson, Jack Masterson, who I love and miss every day,” continued Louise. “I leave half of the mansion, along with the rest of my remaining assets.”

  Jack stared at her, dumbfounded to the point of speechlessness. Had he just heard that correctly?

  “I’ve been over his financials,” said Louise. “The mansion itself is worth somewhere in the range of five to six million. The assets are a mixture of stocks, bonds, and liquid funds, and they total a little over 13.4 million. He was a wealthy man in both spirit and money.”

  “Thirteen… million?” Jack ran his hands through his hair. His aunt and uncle had led him to believe that his grandfather was broke and basically on the cusp of bankruptcy. He’d been expecting to spend a few days on the island settling outstanding debts and cleaning up the financial aftermath of a man who’d been living far beyond his means.

  And now he was a millionaire.

  “Thirteen point four million, and half the mansion,” said Louise, emphasizing the second part.

  “Right,” said Jack. “Wait. Half the mansion? Who gets the other half?”

  “He left it to both you and Katherine White,” said Louise. “The two of you will be co-owners, unless one of you buys the other out. It’s a curious choice, I have to say. I warned Peter against it when he first drafted his will, as it seemed like it would only complicate this process.”

  Jack nodded, feeling confused and strangely, a little excited by the situation. What had been his grandfather’s hope in doing that? He could have just left Katie some of his money, if he’d wanted to. Was this what she’d been upset about before?

  “The information for your grandfather’s bank and brokerage accounts is on the second sheet,” said Louise. “Ms. White implied that the two of you would be in touch to talk about selling the mansion shortly. There’s already a contract drawn up for you to transfer ownership in the event of a sale.”

  Jack nodded, feeling too overwhelmed to say goodbye to the woman properly. He’d been a broke, aimless post-grad at the start of the day. What was he now? And what was he supposed to do now?

  He heard Louise leaving through the front entrance and slowly made his way back into the foyer. Katie stood next to the door with her arms folded across her chest. She didn’t look at him as he approached, even though Jack knew she could hear his footsteps.

  “Ryoko made dinner for you and put it in the small fridge in the kitchen before she left,” said Katie.

  “All right,” said Jack.

  “The contract Louise gave you is pretty straightforward,” said Katie. “Just fill in your bank info, sign it, and the money will be wired to you once the sale is complete.”

  Her tone was straightforward and firm, and it made Jack feel so sad and confused. Where was the peppy girl full of warmth and openness he remembered from his childhood? Where was Katie, and who was he talking to instead?

  “Can we slow things down a little bit?” asked Jack. “I haven’t had any time to think about this.”

  “There isn’t much to think about,” said Katie. “Neither of us need this mansion.”

  “I don’t just mean the sale,” he said. “Jesus, it’s been twelve years, Katie. Katherine. I was hoping that we could catch up.”

  Katie finally looked at him, and again, it was with those intense eyes.

  “It’s like you said, Jack. It’s been twelve years. Where would we even start?”

  “Anywhere you want,” he said. “I’ve missed you, Katie. So much.”

  He held her gaze. There was something intimate about even just making eye contact with her, even through the coldness of her demeanor.

  “All right then,” said Katie. “Let’s start with a question. Why?”

  “Why, what?”

  “Why should we even bother catching up?” asked Katie. “Or, better yet, why didn’t I ever hear from you?”

  Jack shook his head, frowning a little.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I was messed up after the car accident. I was just a kid, and suddenly having my parents die, and being with my aunt and uncle… I barely even spoke for months.”

  Katie smiled, but it wasn’t a pleasant expression.

  “You really don’t remember, do you?” she said. “Jack, you weren’t the only one affected by the accident. And I gave you time. Months, years. You never wrote. You never called.”

  “You didn’t call me, either,” said Jack.

  “I didn’t have your number!” snapped Katie. “But you had mine. How could you not? It was the mansion’s phone number, same as it ever was.”

  “I…”

  “We sent letters,” said Katie. “Your grandfather would write one of his own and let me put one of mine in the same envelope. Cards for your birthday and Christmas. And it was like throwing them into the fireplace, for all we heard back.”

  Jack could only stare at her, stunned by the revelation.

  “I never got them,” said Jack. “My aunt… she never told me about any letters. She mentioned the cards my grandfather would send, but I was always away at boarding school. I never saw any of them.”

  Katie closed her eyes, looking as though the knowledge of him never having read her letters hurt as much, if not more, than thinking she’d been ignored. She shook her head, her expression growing distant and cold again.

  “It’s been too long, Jack,” she said, slowly. “And I mean that when I say it. It’s been too long for us to be able to just pick up where we left off.”

  “Then let’s pick up somewhere else,” said Jack. “Come on. We can eat, hang out in the mansion. Spend tonight talking about what our lives are like now.”

  Katie shook her head. “I’m meeting my fiancé for dinner.”

  The remaining vestiges of Jack’s imagined reunion with Katie finally evaporated. He felt betrayed, even though he knew it was a ridiculous reaction to have after more than a decade of being out of touch. What had he expected? That she’d be here waiting for him, holding to their silly childhood promise as though it had been anything more than playful words?

  “Oh,” he said, simply.

  Katie’s expression finally softened, though the pitying look she gave him hurt even more than her coldness. She glanced around, as though searching for a distraction.

  “Be sure to lock the door once I leave,” said Katie. “Including the deadbolt. Ryoko and I have our own keys and I left yours on the counter in the kitchen. The code for the gate’s control panel is on the tag.”

  Jack nodded, not
trusting himself to talk past the painful lump in his throat.

  “The island is far more dangerous than it seems,” said Katie. “Trust me when I say that, Jack. Even if things were different, we wouldn’t want to be staying here. It’s time for both of us to move on.”

  She waited, but Jack couldn’t think of anything else to say to her. He watched as she left through the front door. Then, as instructed, he locked it and secured the deadbolt.

  CHAPTER 4

  It felt strange for Jack to be alone in the mansion. It had always been bustling with activity during his childhood. Now, it was empty, and the silence was almost deafening, broken only by the occasional purr of the central air conditioning.

  His grandfather, or more likely Katie, had probably let most of the staff go in anticipation of the mansion being sold. It made Jack’s heart hurt a little to come back to his childhood home with the knowledge that it might be the last time he’d ever see it.

  Jack gave himself a tour, walking through the rooms on the ground floor and comparing the mansion to his memories. He was surprised by how easy it was to spot the changes, given how much trouble he’d had remembering the mansion before his return.

  The activity room, in particular, had been completely overhauled. Jack remembered it as more of a playroom for children, with toys, picture books, and a thick carpet. The room was now a home gym, complete with weights, a heavy bag that looked like it had seen a good amount of use, and a treadmill.

  He went upstairs next, taking his time moving from room to room. All of the guest rooms were clean, with made beds and spotless carpets, except for one. His old room was, as far as he could tell, exactly as he had left it. He picked up an old Batman action figure from the night stand and felt a rush of nostalgia.

  He wouldn’t stay in the mansion for longer than a night or two. How could he? Katie was right. It was his grandfather’s home, not his, and even his old childhood room didn’t feel like it belonged to him anymore.

  Jack made his way back downstairs and found the sandwich and chips that Ryoko had left for him in the kitchen. He understood why Katie had given her the night off, but still would have gladly accepted her quiet company over being on his own.

  He ate slowly, appreciating the distraction of the food. When he finished, he left his plate in the sink and headed for the door. It was early evening, and he hoped that watching the sunset might help clear his head.

  Jack unlatched the deadbolt and headed outside. The weather was nice, and there was a warm, sleepy breeze that made the overgrown grass sway from side to side. He walked over to one of the cherry trees and sat down underneath it.

  The mansion was high enough up the slope for him to have a view out over the ocean. The sun was setting on the other side of Lesser Town, and it left a brilliant streak of red and orange across the water as it sank below the horizon.

  Thirteen point four million dollars. And probably a good deal more if he went along with Katie’s plan to sell the mansion. It was more money than Jack could understand the effect of. Would he ever even have to work a normal job again?

  Probably not. Somehow, the realization still wasn’t enough to lift his mood. Why hadn’t his aunt and uncle told him about the letters Katie and his grandfather had sent? They’d mentioned the Christmas and birthday cards, but only in passing, when he’d talked to them over the phone from boarding school. He’d never actually seen any of them, but the fact that his aunt and uncle had received them meant that Katie and his grandfather had been sending the letters to the right address.

  More importantly, why had he been sent away from the island in the first place? Jack had never stopped to consider it before. After his parents had died, the next closest family member by blood and by relationship had been his grandfather. He’d already been an old man back then, but he’d been kind and loving, and he could have easily done the job of raising Jack with the help of maids and nannies.

  Jack was still pondering the question when he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. There was someone standing on the road a short distance from the mansion’s gate. A woman with a long blonde ponytail, dressed in a white sweater, purple skirt, and black leggings.

  She was standing with the sun at her back, which made her look almost like she had an aura of fire around her shoulders. She was attractive, with a pale face that had pronounced, elegant cheekbones. Her breasts were large enough to give form to the otherwise baggy sweater, and the tight leggings showed off the curves of her hips and an impressive butt.

  “Hi,” called out Jack. “Are you looking for someone?”

  The woman had been staring at the mansion’s door through the bars of the wrought iron gate, and only slowly turned her gaze to meet Jack’s. Her eyes were pale blue, with flecks of brown in them. He’d never seen irises like that before.

  “Yes and no,” said the woman, smiling a little. “To tell you the truth, I don’t really know why I’m here.”

  Jack chuckled.

  “Yeah, I know that feeling all too well,” he said.

  The woman didn’t reply. She slowly looked up and down, her eyes appraising him as though he was an item at an auction. Jack couldn’t decide whether it made him feel uncomfortable or flattered.

  “Were you here to see my grandfather?” asked Jack. “I’m assuming you know already, but he passed on recently.”

  “I know.” A hint of sadness entered the woman’s expression. “I knew Peter quite well. We had an… unorthodox friendship. I held him in high regard.”

  “That’s interesting to hear,” said Jack, raising an eyebrow. The woman appeared to be around thirty, but she had an ageless look to her and could have easily been five or ten years younger or older. It seemed a little strange to think about his elderly grandfather befriending a gorgeous young blonde.

  “Your grandfather was one of a kind,” said the woman. “This island will feel his loss through its bones.”

  Jack nodded, though her words sent a shiver down the back of his neck.

  “I’m Mira, by the way,” said the woman. “I’d shake your hand, but…”

  She let her knuckles tap against one of the gate’s iron bars.

  “Oh!” Jack hurried over to the gate’s electronic panel and started to tap in the code on the keys Katie had left for him. “Sorry about that. Bad manners on my part. My name’s Jack.”

  He gestured for her to come into the mansion’s courtyard and shook her hand. Her fingers felt ice-cold.

  CHAPTER 5

  Jack led Mira into the mansion, feeling a slight sense of hesitation as he fumbled for a light switch he’d forgotten the location of in the foyer. She seemed friendly enough, but she was still basically a random stranger. Still, she’d known his grandfather, and he felt like he could use the company. Mira politely took her shoes off and glanced around, looking for something.

  “You have the place to yourself?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” Jack grinned, feeling oddly proud of the fact. “For now, at least. I’m probably not going to be staying on the island for long. The mansion is more than likely going to end up being sold.”

  “That’s unfortunate,” said Mira. “I suspect there is more to this place than meets the eye.”

  Jack couldn’t help but think that there was also more to her than met the eye. He watched as she took slow steps across the floor, like a cat in a new environment.

  “Uh…” He felt suddenly awkward. “Do you want to sit down in the lounge, and talk some more?”

  “Is that what you want, Jack?” asked Mira. There was a teasing and suggestive edge to her tone, as though she was giving him a subtle test. Jack smiled and glanced up at the chandelier overhead.

  “Come on,” he said. “I think I saw a bottle of wine in the kitchen, if you want something to drink. Or water, of course.”

  “Wine sounds wonderful,” replied Mira.

  She smirked at him and followed along as he led her into the lounge. As strange as the situation was, and as strange a
s Mira was, it felt right. He’d spent enough time feeling lonely in the recent months and was still emotionally bruised by the way his reunion with Katie had gone. Why should he have to spend the evening alone while she was off having a date night with her fiancé?

  He found the wine in the kitchen along with two glasses and returned to the lounge. Mira was sitting on one of the couches with her hands folded and legs crossed. She’d sat down directly in the middle of it, meaning the only way for Jack to join her was to sit with their bodies in direct contact. The mischievous smile on her face made him think she’d done it intentionally.

  “I only arrived back on the island this afternoon,” said Jack. “I’m still getting used to being in the mansion. And I’m also a little jet lagged.”

  “You don’t have to make excuses for yourself,” said Mira. “It’s quite all right.”

  She took a slow sip of her wine and stared at him. Jack found it hard to rise to her intensity. She was weird, but he found himself liking her more and more by the second.

  “You look so much like Peter did when he was younger,” said Mira.

  Jack smiled, then frowned a little as he considered what she’d said.

  “That’s an interesting compliment,” said Jack. “You’ve seen pictures of him from when he was my age?”

  Mira took another sip of her wine instead of answering.

  “Your grandfather had an outsized shadow,” she said. “The people of the island counted on him for more than I think they realized. I know you mentioned selling the mansion earlier, but I suspect that the mayor will attempt to court you into remaining here.”

  Jack slowly shook his head. It felt like she was talking past him, like they were having two separate conversations that just happened to be aimed in each other’s direction.

  “Are you from the island?” asked Jack. “You sound like you’re familiar with the community here.”

  “Familiar…” echoed Mira. “Yes. Perhaps that’s really why I needed to come back here. To see what would happen in the coming months.”