I remembered what Pestone had done to Maggie under similar circumstances, and that got my blood boiling. “HOLARTHON, ASSOMME!”
My stunning spell took down his ward, so now we were equally defenseless. I threw myself at him, fists flying. He used his forearms to block my first few blows, but I kept punching the way Dan had shown me.
He stepped back and tried to knock me down with his staff. I grabbed the knob at the end of it and yanked it out of his hands, then tossed it behind me.
He turned and ran through the living room to the back patio door and outside.
While I was chasing him, I launched my own lightning bolt, but it missed him.
Forsberg’s house backed up to a steep mountainside, and he ran for a mine portal. He fumbled with the metal door’s lock for a few seconds but got it open before I could grab him.
He tried to pull the door closed behind him, but I was strong enough to yank it out of his hands. He dashed inside, disappearing into a black passageway.
Outside, it had been bright and clear, and the sunlight reflected off the snow covering most of the property. The contrast with the dark tunnel made it impossible for me to see a thing underground. I left the door open behind me, but the light didn’t reach very far into the mine.
Up ahead, Forsberg’s shoes crunched against the gravel on the ground, but I remained blind.
After a moment, though, my eyes adjusted. The corridor happened to be dimly lit by lights hanging from the ceiling every twenty feet or so. The long, narrow passageway penetrated deep into the mountain. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all rough and covered with soot. Twin steel rails on the floor led back into the gloom.
Fear radiated out from some small animal in front of me. A moment later, a mouse scurried past me, heading toward the door. There was no sign of the sorcerer.
Then the dim lights in the passageway went out, and total darkness surrounded me. Behind me, the partially open door gleamed like a beacon. Everywhere else was black.
My cell phone was in my shirt pocket, and it had a flashlight app, but turning it on would highlight my position.
I shuffled forward, running my fingers against the wall to my left. Forsberg’s footsteps continued to sound out far in front of me. The corridor turned slightly to the left, and the light behind me disappeared.
This was darker than anywhere I’d ever been.
The sounds the sorcerer had been making in front of me stopped. He’d either quit moving or had entered some side passage and closed a door. I continued to shuffle forward, staying as silent as possible. Every so often, though, my feet scraped on scree or kicked a rock.
Whoever stood still in this dark tunnel had the advantage, so I stopped, too.
Stalemate.
I needed help.
Great Mystery Spirit, Thank You for your many blessings. Please open my mind further in this dangerous world so that I can better find my enemy.
Every object around me seemed to glow dimly. That wasn’t precisely true, though, because after I closed my eyes, everything remained visible. Wakonda was helping me with an illusion, casting objects in shades of gray.
Now I could avoid most of the loose rocks and gravel scattered across the ground. That meant I could move forward silently, stepping deeper into the mountain.
Another mouse walked past me, this one less frightened for some reason.
The bastard had to be waiting up ahead somewhere, and I hoped the medallion would warn me before I got too close.
I advanced steadily, rarely making any noise. On my right, I found a small room filled with mining equipment. Forsberg wasn’t inside, so I kept following the main haulage route.
Hours seemed to pass, but it could’ve been minutes instead. Finally, the medallion blasted me in the chest. Forsberg had to be about fifty yards away.
As I closed in on him, I moved even more carefully.
When I noticed his dim outline about five yards ahead, he was leaning against the right-hand side of the tunnel. I stopped and picked up a loose stone that I tossed straight down the corridor. It landed well past him and clattered against the ground, hitting one of the rails. Forsberg must’ve thought I’d slipped past him, because he ran toward me with his hands stretched out, waving them back and forth like a blind man.
He came at me quickly, and when he drew close, I swung my staff like a baseball bat and hit him square in the chest. He dropped to the ground.
I jumped on top of him and pounded him, with my fists moving as fast as they could. I didn’t have time to remember what Don had taught me. I just punched Forsberg with all my might.
He fought back like a wounded bear, hitting me hard on the forehead with a fist.
Then, the asshole caught me with his elbow hard against my cheek. Damn, that hurt even more! My mind fogged for a moment, but I kept hitting back.
Stay in the game, idiot, or you’ll be wiping his ass soon. Anita deserves better.
That thought focused my mind, and I punched with all my remaining strength.
One of his blows cut my lower lip open. That stung, but I put the pain out of mind. Then some part of his face crunched under my right fist, and he screamed. I’d probably broken his nose. Some wet and sticky liquid covered my hand. I hoped it was blood and not snot.
That punch took most of the fight out of him. His blows didn’t hurt as much anymore, and I kept pounding him until his body went limp.
The buzzing stopped in my ears. An ugly victory, but I’ll take it.
-o-o-o-
FOR A FEW MINUTES, I sat on the floor next to Forsberg and caught my breath. Using my flashlight app, I checked to see whether the blood from my lip had ruined another shirt. It had, but that seemed to be the only major damage this time. One of my cheekbones didn’t feel quite right, but nothing moved around underneath my fingers. Unfortunately, Laura was hours away, so I wouldn’t get any help anytime soon, and neither would Forsberg.
He looked much worse than I did. His nose resembled raw hamburger, and he’d bled much more freely over himself. His eyes were glazed, but he remained conscious.
“I claim the spoils of victory.” I sat there, bathing in soothing warmth as his magic flowed into mine. It felt like the rush from a really good Irish whiskey hitting my empty stomach.
We both walked out of the mine under our own power and headed for the house. The bright sunlight illuminating the snow was blinding, and I had to cover my eyes with my hands, peering through cracks between my fingers.
As we stepped in through the patio door, Juan yelled, “Ian, I’m upstairs. I was beginning to worry about you, but there was no way I was going into that mine to find you.”
Forsberg and I stumbled up the fancy mahogany staircase to an office on the second floor. Juan was sitting in front of a desktop computer.”
“After I saw you two head underground,” Juan said, “I decided to search the house. I found this computer already on and signed into the sorcerers’ network. That was a chance I couldn’t pass up.”
I asked Forsberg, “Is he right?”
“Yes, Master,” he said. “I was checking my messages when you rang the doorbell.”
“What’s your user name and password?” I asked.
Before Forsberg could respond, Juan said, “Got it already. The idiot writes all his usernames and passwords down in an address book.” Juan lifted it to show me.
“Perfect,” I said. “What have you learned?”
Juan leaned back in the fancy swivel chair and patted his stomach as though he had just eaten a big meal. “Lots of gossip. Hudson’s been catching tons of shit for your victories, except they think Diana is doing most of the damage.”
I was more than happy to let them to keep thinking that. I’d already gone through enough trouble from being hunted. “We can sort it out with her and decide whether to set Hudson straight. In the meantime, let’s lock this place up and head for home.”
We stopped by the liquo
r store again to let Anita know that her troubles were over, at least as long as no other sorcerers discovered her secret. I also offered her Forsberg’s house. It wasn’t fully paid for, but he had over a hundred grand in equity. At a minimum, that would compensate her for the suffering she’d experienced. He also owned a money market account with sixty thousand dollars that Juan, Diana and I would split. All in all, it had been a productive day.
-o-o-o-
Brigid’s Community Ranch, Boulder County, Colorado
BY THE TIME JUAN dropped me off at the ranch with Forsberg, it was late afternoon. I headed to Diana’s office, and she turned my new slave over to her assistant. Amber led him off to a much better life than I would have experienced if he’d beaten me.
“What’s this about access to the sorcerers’ network?” Diana asked.
I told her what Juan had explained to me, then I showed her the address book filled with passwords.
“This process of eliminating problem sorcerers is turning out to be much more lucrative than I’d expected,” she said.
When I told her how I had given Forsberg’s house to Anita, Diana frowned. “She took no risk in this matter, whereas you, Juan, and I could be subject to retaliation.”
“That’s true,” I replied. “But now Anita has all the headaches associated with the land transaction. You and I are plenty busy with other matters, and it’s not like we’re scrounging around behind sofa cushions looking for funds to support the clan.”
She shrugged. “In the future, when you’re tempted to pass out gifts that don’t belong to you alone, please restrain yourself.”
I couldn’t help but grin. The woman had never been much for praise, but this was a new low. “If you don’t like how I’m handling these rescue operations, find somebody else.”
She glowered for a moment and then said, “We’ll do it your way.”
“Aw, shucks, ma’am. You know how it goes to my head whenever you say sweet things like that. I’m sure you’re gonna read all kinds of juicy gossip from that sorcerers’ chat room thingy. And now there’s going to be another party? I just don’t know how I’m gonna stand all the adulation.”
Then I walked out of her office to the lounge, where the festivities had already begun.
Chapter 14
Tuesday, December 17th
Brigid’s Community Ranch, Boulder County, Colorado
THE NEXT MORNING, OUT of the blue, I got a call from Dr. Fred at CU.
“Ian, I just hired a graduate student from Québec named Benoît to help on the book.”
“You think he’ll figure it out?” I asked.
“I hope so. He’s fluent in modern Breton. His parents were both born in Brittany and raised there. Plus, his language skills are fantastic. For his dissertation, he’s researching Celtic French from before the time of the Roman Empire.”
He sounded promising. “What do you think the odds are that he’ll unravel the code?”
“He’s amazingly good at word puzzles. We’ll see if he’s up to the task, but I have high hopes. He has no magical powers, but I don’t think they’d help with this kind of problem.”
After the call, I emailed Gill to let him know about our progress. He emailed me back saying that he had been trying to contact some of Marie’s distant relatives to see if they knew anything about the book. No luck so far.
I had hardly finished with Gill when Diana barged into the apartment without knocking. “Where’s Laura?”
“Upstairs. Why?”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Pretty sure. I saw her there ten minutes ago. I came down to take a phone call.”
“Laura!” Diana called out in a loud voice.
My girlfriend stood at the top of the stairs with only a towel wrapped around her. “Yes, my liege?”
Diana said, “You’re restricted to the ranch until further notice. No exceptions.”
“Come on! I was going shopping for a new dress for Christina for the solstice party.”
“Absolutely not!” Diana said.
“May we ask why?” I asked.
“Not here,” she replied. “Come to my office, both of you. And don’t mention the network you discovered yesterday to anyone.”
“It’s a little late for that. I told several people who asked at the party yesterday.”
Our Supreme Leader scowled. “Give me their names.”
I did, and she scurried away.
-o-o-o-
TEN MINUTES LATER, LAURA and I showed up in Diana’s office. Tess was already there with Katie and Crystal.
Diana beckoned us in. “Enter and close the door.”
We did that and sat with them on the corner sofa.
Without any introduction, our Grand Poobah said, “I’ve spoken to everyone who knows about the sorcerers’ network, including Juan and Forsberg. We must keep our access to it absolutely secret.”
“So…it’s much more than gossip,” I said.
She grimaced. “You and Juan gave us remarkable access to their thoughts and plans. Excellent work.”
I savored the praise, knowing how hard it had been for her to say that. “What did you learn?”
“Many things,” she said. “But, most important, they’ve begun to realize Ian is much more powerful than they thought. I believe they discovered that fact through Oran, who’s selling information to the sorcerers at the same time he’s bleeding us.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear that bit of news. He was the kind of jerk who’d take the best deal from both sides. “Okay, what’s next?”
“Actually, I’m most worried about Crystal, Laura, and Katie. The sorcerers want to punish Ian by hurting his friends. Everyone is restricted to the ranch until further notice. If I had known this last night, we could’ve protected Crystal with the Warrior’s Kiss—”
I put my hand up. “Stop right there. I’m not doing it. It’s degrading to me and to the woman involved. My sole relationship is with Laura. We’re going to be handfasted soon.”
That produced a huge uproar. Katie and Tess offered congratulations, and Crystal and Diana whined. Laura sat calmly, as though she’d expected this to happen.
After a moment, Diana said, “I will decide who benefits from the Warrior’s Kiss and when. That is my right as the high priestess.”
“To my surprise, Tess’s mom shook her head. “Ian is too valuable a resource to risk alienating.”
That was the first time I’d ever seen Katie directly cross our bitchy boss. I glanced at Tess, who was fighting to hide a smile.
Diana’s brow furrowed. “We’ll sort that out in due course. For the moment, the most urgent matter is to protect everyone close to Ian from the attacks that are currently being planned.”
“That should be easy,” I said. “As long as they stay here, they’re safe. I can give up some of my power to strengthen the wards.”
Diana strode to her desk and pulled out the gold case that held her athamé. I knelt before her, and she sliced my neck deep enough to make a stream of blood run down both sides. For the first time, she took a lot of power from me, either out of spite or to be sure the wards would be strong enough to hold off any attack.
-o-o-o-
THAT SAME AFTERNOON, WHILE I was working at the animal hospital, I got a call from Diana.
“I just saw something alarming,” she said. “I can’t discuss it over the phone.”
It wasn’t like her to hit the panic button. “I’ll come to your office now,” I replied.
I met her in the parking lot outside of city hall, and we walked together along nearby Boulder Creek. The rushing of the water helped to mask our voices from anyone who happened to be hidden nearby.
When no one was visible along the trail, she said, “According to your wonderful new source, Hudson plans an attack on Katie.”
I couldn’t let anyone hurt sweet Katie. “Tell me more about the danger.”
“I couldn�
�t find out much, but Hudson intends to have Katie attacked in a few days. The hitman is a gladiator named Stan Rogers. He’s about six feet tall, weighs about two hundred pounds, and has short, light brown hair. His arms are tattooed with red dragons.”
“Why go after her? She’s harmless.”
“She’s part of the clan’s leadership. And it may be a way to punish us both, given how much we each love her. Hudson has learned from Katie’s hairdresser that she has an appointment on Thursday.”
That was much more detailed information than what we knew before, and it seemed plausible. “That’s very helpful. I’ll go with her to fight Rogers.”
-o-o-o-
Wednesday, December 18th
IN THE MORNING, I spent an hour with Dan Blake. I was embarrassed to describe my fight with Forsberg, and Don chewed me out for forgetting what he’d taught me about punching.
So, we spent most of the hour on refreshing my recollection. Near the end of the session, he showed me how to perform the basic front kick.
“Our leg muscles are much stronger than our arms,” Don said, “and any kick is going to have a more powerful impact on an opponent. Learn this, and your fights will end much faster.”
While I was practicing, I could hardly wait to try the moves out in the heat of battle.
-o-o-o-
Thursday, December 19th
THE NEXT MORNING, I hid in the back of Katie’s car as she drove to her hair appointment. I knelt on the floor of the back seat with a blanket over me.
When we arrived, Katie said, “I see Rogers sitting in a pickup, pretending to be waiting for someone.”
“Park in the back of the lot so we’ll have some privacy after I hopefully kick his ass,” I said. “Pretend to look for something in your trunk until he shows and freezes. Then I’ll pop out, and you drive to the other end of the lot. If I lose, you take off straight for home.”
“Okay.” She parked. “He’s already walking over.”
Sanctuary: The Sorcerers' Scourge: Book Two Page 16
