The Cardkeeper Chronicles: Books 1-5 (Complete Collection)

by A. C. Nicholls

  Not all mages were bad, however. In fact, most of them started off their training at one of the many Vaults. If they weren’t from Chicago, they would attend one in New York or Philadelphia or wherever the hell they were from. Years of strict schedules and steady lessons took them from their otherwise normal lives, and slowly moved them across into the darker world as they learned how to correctly wield their magic. Some would go on to become Cardkeepers, and the rest would remain as guardians of their designated vaults. But a third kind existed – the ones who had stood up to the Elders and demanded that they live their lives how they wanted. After the Great War of the Magicka in the early twentieth century, a small group of mages birthed a rebellion and fled from the Vault. Those who survived the war ended up in this church, where they would live out the rest of their days. It wasn’t ideal for the Elders to lose sight of them like that, and even less so for the Cardkeepers, who spent their lives on the frontline. But for the most part, we left each other alone.

  Tonight, that would change.

  Jason took the lead, marching up the steep hill with me puffing and wheezing a few steps behind. I kept my eye on the medallion, waiting for a sudden change – waiting for a fresh new light to emanate from it, excusing us from our necessity to make contact with the mages. But no such thing happened. It remained dull and still, inanimate and useless.

  As we approached the path that led up to the doors of the great church, Jason stopped and let me catch my breath. While I buckled over to collect myself, I stared up at the guild in front of me. Tall and intimidating, the thought of having to go inside the structure made me sick with worry.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” I asked Jason, hoping he would think twice.

  “Do we have much of a choice?”

  “I guess not. But maybe we should sneak in and have a little snoop around before we make contact. The last thing I want is to turn up unprepared and fall straight into trouble.”

  “What about the questions we have to ask?”

  I shrugged. “Easy. We just sneak back out and then try the door.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “Trust me, it’s safer this way.”

  After taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I hopped the fence and led Jason around to the back of the church. There were enough jutting bricks and stone statues embedded in the wall to scale the side of the building. I made it up to a balcony, helped Jason climb over the rail, and then tried the only wooden door that led inside.

  The knob rattled in my hand.

  Locked.

  Jason pushed softly past me, tried the door for himself, and rammed his shoulder into it. The wood splintered inward, a hole opening up in the center with a loud smashing sound.

  “Ssh!” I hissed.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Jason said sarcastically, reaching an arm inside to turn the key. “Do you see any other way inside?”

  “Perhaps not.”

  The door popped open then, leading onto a dark balcony with only two rows of pews, overlooking the altar down below. Soft humming echoed up between the stony walls, giving away the fact that the mages were home.

  I followed Jason inside, pushed the mangled door shut to block out any light, and sneaked along the upper floor to investigate. All the while, I kept an eye out to make sure that we hadn’t been seen or heard. That, I knew, would be the end of us, as the mages would not take this intrusion lightly.

  Down below, where candles and sconces lined the walls and the altar glowed from the open flames, upward of twenty mages stood by the front pews, chanting in their Vault-like robes. Their hoods were up and their sashes were bronze in color – a declaration of disassociation from R’hen. I leaned further over the balcony, eager to find out what they were up to. It wasn’t unlike the mages to be making some sort of sacrifice – I only hoped I wouldn’t have to witness the macabre death of a vestal virgin or a pygmy goat.

  “Keira,” Jason whispered from beside me. “We should just try the front door now.”

  “No,” I said without taking my eyes off the ritual. “I want to see what’s going on.” I kept low, following the rail around to the side of the balcony to get a better look. I was vaguely aware of Jason calling my name but tried to ignore it. After the effort he’d put in to persuade me to come here, he could button it and let me explore.

  I peered over the edge, now seeing a single mage walk up the aisle as the singing and chanting abruptly stopped. All eyes were on him, as if in wait to see him make some great spell to blow their minds. I must admit, it even had me intrigued.

  The mage approached the altar, bowing to each of his kind in turn, before swiping the hood off his head and continuing to bow. When he turned in my direction, looking up, the mages surrounding him followed suit, until each and every pair of eyes in the church pierced me with their death glares. But my horror didn’t end there – no, I knew the face of the young man down below. As I stared, twisting my head to one side and squinting my eyes, I confirmed that it was him. My heartbeat doubled in speed, my hands growing clammy and tight.

  Scott O’Hare.

  What the hell was he doing here? Had he sought counsel from the mages after his master had died? I wouldn’t have blamed him for trying to find his tribe. Mages only belonged in one of two places, and although this wasn’t the better of the options, it was a far sight better than the streets.

  What a shame. I had started to like him.

  Some of the mages raised their arms, pointing their questioning fingers at me. Caught in the act, I turned to Jason. In my mind, I had prepared to ask him to get out of here – to head back downstairs and act as though we had only turned up for the advice. But as I laid eyes on him, surrounded by mages and frozen in place by a violently flashing spell, words failed me. Only a fearful gasp escaped my mouth now, as one of the mages stormed toward me with a strong light glowing from the tip of his staff.

  “Keira Poe,” he said, his voice dominating and strong. “You’re coming with us.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The mages dragged me down the stone, spiraling staircase and out onto the bottom floor. I lost sight of Jason as they escorted him behind me while I was taken to the altar with my head down. It was like my own personal walk of shame, but somehow, I doubted I would find redemption at the end. The cold reception spoke volumes.

  A massive shove hurled me up the five steps that led to the altar, and I stood to one side as the others pulled Jason up the aisle. A green glow surrounded his body as he tried to shift, but the magic swallowed his curse and kept him frozen, refusing his attempts at transformation.

  Should have given the medallion to him.

  One of the mages knocked me aside, nudging me further around the altar as the group of fierce spell-casters prodded Jason like he was some kind of animal. I wanted to call to him, to tell him that it would be okay, but I didn’t want to lie to him. For all I knew, neither of us would make it out of here alive, and filling him with false hope only seemed cruel.

  And that wasn’t me.

  Once Jason climbed the steps, they released the spell on him. The green light vanished into thin air and he dropped to the ground, wheezing. Sweat matted the black hair to his forehead, and he tilted his neck to look at me with deep, pleading eyes.

  There’s nothing I can do. I’m sorry.

  From amid the crowd of hostile mages, Scott stepped out and whispered into the ear of another. This mage listened silently, nodding as Scott spoke, absorbing the information fed to him. When they were finished, the unfamiliar mage – presumably the leader of this small cult – removed his hood and aimed his stare at me, those blue eyes burning like crystals in a dark rock, his aged forehead creased.

  “Cardkeeper of Chicago,” he said, with Jason panting by his feet. “You have broken our arrangement by making an appearance here. Tell me, what would cause you to do something so remarkably stupid?”

  A small laugh came from the crowd.

  I ignored it in my first show of s
ilent defiance. “I seek advice, nothing more.”

  The mage took long, powerful strides toward me, until his breath poisoned my aura. It was the awful stench of peppermint, far too strong for me to bear. His hand snapped out, seizing my arm before he shook it. “What would a Keeper ask of a mage?”

  With the medallion pressed against my chest, I leaned back ever so slightly. I didn’t want him to know that I had it on me, should he want to take it for himself. I knew the value of the medallion, and if this stubborn mage refused it, it would surely come as a surprise to me. I kept it hidden, taking my chances. “There is a medallion…”

  “A medallion, she says!” The mage turned to his group of underlings, laughter erupting all around the confines of the great church. It was clear to me immediately that this man cared more for drama than for reason. “And what is this medallion you speak of?”

  All eyes landed on me as I carefully chose my words. “It belonged to one of you. Don’t ask me how, but it’s cursed to disrupt the magic of those around it. I took it from a creeper not so long ago, and now I want to return it to–”

  “Silence!”

  My body shook at the man’s deep bellow.

  “I care not for your petty jewelry. Do you think I’m stupid, girl? I bet it was Dalton who sent you here to spy on us, wasn’t it? Did you think you could get out of here without us knowing about it?” The mage swept around the altar, picking Jason up by his hair and throwing him onto the sacrificial table before me. “I’m going to ask you again, and believe me, this will be the last time.”

  My eyes darted to Scott O’Hare, pleading that he speak up – stand up – to his new companions. Was he really so selfish that he would let us die, only to preserve his good name? It wasn’t like I could do anything to protect Jason. Not without giving up the medallion. And if the mages wanted it for themselves, there would be nothing I could do to stop them.

  I was completely out of tricks.

  Jason, weakened from the recent spell cast upon him, didn’t struggle when the mage pinned him down by his throat. Staring up at me with impatient longing, the mage continued his brief and intense interrogation. “Why. Are. You. Here?”

  “To…” I glanced at Scott again. No sign of assistance there. “I told you. I just need some advice and then we’ll be on our way. Honestly, Dalton doesn’t have any business with you. If you could just–”

  “Enough!” The mage ripped an enchanted dagger from within his robes, slicing through the air as he raised it high above his head. It gleamed with an ocean-blue light – likely the kind of enchantment that could kill a werewolf in seconds. In a strong, fast stabbing motion, he brought it down to Jason’s chest, ready to pierce his flesh like butter.

  My instincts took over. My hands went to the medallion. In a flash, I tore it from my neck and tossed it across the room, watching as time seemed to slow down, while sweat dripped from my temple. The medallion landed on the altar beside Jason, and in less than a second, the dagger was dispelled as a wave of energy sent it shooting across the room.

  Gasps surrounded me. The mage, now empty-handed and open-mouthed, stared up at me with offended disbelief. “You,” he spat, storming toward me while Jason remained alive behind him. His hands clenched around my arms as he shook me, grilling me like a schoolgirl. “You meant the Goldate Mandarium. You’re the one who has it!”

  I couldn’t tell if it was a question or a statement, so I only nodded.

  “Dalton really didn’t send you here?”

  “No.”

  The mage’s eyes rolled over me, assessing. “You want to return the medallion?”

  “That’s all I ever wanted.”

  “Then take it away from here.”

  Like a man packing his suitcase in a hurry, the mage took to the table and scooped up the medallion. He held it out like it was toxic to him, and then tossed it over to me.

  I caught it just as it hit my stomach. “You’re letting us go?”

  “I’m not letting you go,” the mage said, stepping away from the altar. “I’m imploring you to leave. Take that cursed thing and put it back where it belongs. In fact, I will even help you along your journey; it belongs to Damien Louse’s father.”

  The mage’s actions were awfully questionable. As I moved forward to help Jason down off the altar, I shot a suspicious look at Scott, who retreated back into the group of mages, before I returned my gaze to the chief mage. “Why are you helping us? Five seconds ago you wanted us dead.”

  The mage nodded, wringing his hands. “Five seconds ago I thought you were lying. Now that I’ve seen the medallion, I would rather you take it back. We don’t need any dispelling magic here. This is a place of the uncontainable – the uncontrollable. We gather here to declare our independence in the use of magic, not to have it restricted yet again.” The mage circled around the altar – the sacrificial table – and raised the hood back over his balding head. “The Louse family are traitors to our cause, and such an artifact does not belong here.”

  I suddenly understood why Scott hadn’t said anything to protest Jason’s murder. As he had once served Damien Louse, backing up my story about the medallion would raise a lot of questions, and admitting his allegiance to Damien would only bring him punishment. I yearned to speak up and drop him in it, to serve justice for nearly letting Jason die. Lucky for him, I had other things to worry about. Bigger things.

  “Louse’s father doesn’t want it,” I told the mage. “He told me to get rid of it.”

  “Then try his son. The last time we saw him was when he attacked one of his own kind in the parking lot of Redwire Security. When our mages retaliated, he fled into the building. Go there, and you may find a clue to his whereabouts.”

  I lifted Jason’s arm over my shoulder, hauling him to his feet. I had seen this spell used on people before. They always recovered, and this time shouldn’t be different. He just needed time and rest, with plenty of fluids. “I don’t trust you.”

  The mage cocked his head.

  “Why tell me where Louse’s son is? Why not just kill me and hide the medallion?” As soon as I spoke those words, I hated myself. Inviting my own death wasn’t exactly my brightest move. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to see it that way.

  “If the boy owns that medallion, he would no longer be able to wield magic. It is of every benefit to us, for the safety of our own kind, to ensure that he has it returned to him.” The mage snapped his fingers then, and two robed men appeared at my flanks, grabbing Jason and me by the arms and dragging us toward the exit. “Now go, Cardkeeper. Take your friend and bestow the medallion upon Mr. Louse.”

  The men opened the door and hauled us outside. We tumbled to the ground, and I smashed my elbow on the concrete. A tingling pain shot through my arm, reaching my pinkie finger and numbing it. When I scowled up at the mages, the chief stood in front of them.

  “Come by here again,” he said, his voice filled with hate, “and we will kill you.”

  I believed him.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Stumbling home with Jason wasn’t exactly the easiest thing I’d ever done. In fact, as his condition worsened, the citizens of Chicago were quick to judge, mumbling comments about alcoholism as the love of my life dangled lifelessly in my arms.

  By the time I got him back to the apartment, I was ready for a snooze of my own. Unfortunately, there was no time for me to stop and rest just yet – I needed to get my butt over to Redwire Security, with or without the werewolf at my side.

  I shuffled across the living room and lowered Jason to the couch. Carefully, I eased him down, slipping off his boots and laying him flat, and then propped his head up on a pillow. As he groaned and stirred, grumbling something about mages while his eyes began to open, I ran the tap and filled a glass to the brim, then brought it back to him. I was almost impressed with myself – I was becoming a regular Nightingale.

  “The mages... Hurts…” Jason raised his head and tried to find me, his eyes going from left to right, as
if he were looking for me but I wasn’t in the room. He needed good, solid rest, but if he stayed stubborn, I wouldn’t make it five feet before he struggled to his feet and declared his wellbeing.

  “Ssh,” I said, patting his head. “Just rest.”

  I sat there for a half-hour, nursing him with one hand and Googling the location of Redwire Security on my phone in the other. I knew that I’d heard of the place before – it was the company that had installed the alarm system in my apartment building – but I still needed to locate their base of operations.

  When I was ready to go, I began to get up off the floor. All sorts of things flew through my head, most of all how I’d get into the building, but something stopped me from standing. Jason’s hand gripped my arm, only a fragment of strength returning to his weak body.

  “Wait,” he said.

  I stopped, turned and felt for his temperature once more. No way was I letting him leave this couch. “What do you want, Jason? You’re supposed to be resting. Getting well.”

  “Want… to come with.” His slurred his speech, like a drunk hanging off the end of a bar, begging the bartender for one last drink before he hits the road. Not on my watch. The only thing Jason was hitting was the sack.

  “No.”

  “Please…”

  I lowered myself to his side, cupping his hands in mine and looking deeply into those beautiful brown eyes. Guilt tugged at my heartstrings for leaving him behind, making him miss out on all the action. Then again, fear had its own part to play, subconsciously making me think twice about heading out the door. Only I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Magic or no magic, I was still a Cardkeeper, and I had to keep on acting like one.

  “Take me with you,” Jason said, the words barely forming in his open mouth.

  “I can’t.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’ll get hurt. You’re not in a good way.”

  “Then… stay. Wait.”

  As Jason turned his head to one side and began to snore lightly, a soft glow lit up the smooth contours of his face. I glanced down at the medallion by my chest, only to see it flickering with the same needle light that had guided me once before. It seemed as though the mages’ magic was wearing off, and now it was returning to life. I was willing to bet that if I got to the Redwire building, the compass would guide me the rest of the way.