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

by A. C. Nicholls

  I waited a couple of hours before noticing even a slight bit of movement in the darkness. I squinted my eyes and placed a hand above them like a salute, staring into the distance. When I saw a young couple walking past, drunkenly stumbling down the path and yelling at each other about who could sink more Alabama Slammers, I relaxed a little. The vampires were coming – I felt it in my bones – I just had to be patient.

  In the meantime, I had my new life to reevaluate. Had I done the right thing by taking over from Keira? As much as I hated to admit it, she was a much better person than I was, probably because she’s a woman and more in touch with her sensitive side. Only a few weeks ago I’d been responsible for the slaying of countless imps. It was one of those memories that came back to haunt me every time I closed my eyes. How could I have been so reckless, tearing apart a mostly peaceful species? I remember being blinded by hatred for the Demon King Zorin, but that was only an excuse and not a reason. I supposed that was why I was doing this; to atone for my sins. I just hoped the Gods of R’hen would forgive me.

  The snapping of a twig alerted me. I sat up straight, listening intently for a repeat of the sound. It came again, this time heavier, as a dark, ghostly figure glided across the grass with all the grace of a ballerina. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that this was a vampire, so I clambered to my feet and reached for my sword, shooting the glowing blade out of the grip and hiding it behind me. I waited patiently for the sound of a snapping trap, and when it finally came, I dismounted the halfpipe and made my way between the trees, where the vampire had hopefully been subdued.

  I wanted an easy kill. Perhaps just a little bit of pushing the creature around and pressing on its wound to make it talk. Just a little bit of information would take me a long way. In times like this, I wished Keira was around to guide me, but I was my own man now, and it was time to put on my big boy pants.

  Within a minute I was stood between the trees, staring into the darkness with my sword drawn. I looked harder, stepping slowly toward the trap and ready to attack. My prey had sucked down the milk and, although the bear trap had been set off, it was empty.

  “Shit,” I mumbled, lowering my weapon. I knelt by the trap and pried it open, peeling off the small, torn piece of black fabric. I held it close to my sword, the glow illuminating it so I could see a little better. It was black denim. Straight from a pair of jeans, no doubt. That only meant that the vampire must have stood on the plate, leaping out of its jaws at the last moment. And if that was true, then I wasn’t alone.

  I dropped the fabric and shot to my feet, spinning around with my sword raised. The vampire lunged at me from nowhere, leaping out of the darkness as its long, curved fingernails lashed out and attempted to claw out my eyeballs. I lost my balance and fell to the ground, the creature weighing down on me as I wrestled with it. I could probably take it, I thought, but when I saw the creature’s companions approach from either side, I knew that I was in trouble. One vampire I could take – maybe even two. But three? Not a chance.

  I should have come more prepared. Lesson learned.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  So far, so bad. I had already been up against the werewolves, and now here I was, crushed under the weight of a wriggling, writhing vampire while its asshole friends came at me from both sides. I wrapped my hands around its wrists, but that was the only thing keeping the tips of its sharp fingernails away from my face.

  The other vampires drew closer now, closing the gap between life and death. Although I wanted to keep at least one of them alive for interrogation, I had no choice but to fight, and I had to do it fast. I quickly brought my knees to my chest and stored up strength, before shoving my heels into my attacker’s chest, knocking it into a nearby tree.

  I climbed to my feet, my foes becoming a blur as they ran around me at blinding speed. I gripped the Sword of Lucada tight, staying light on my feet as I circled around and placed my back to a tree trunk. Now they could only come at me from the front, and when they did, I would sever their limbs and send them flying into the halfpipe like a Yoyo Plant.

  “All I want is to know where your master is,” I said. “Give me that and I’ll let you live, but if you take one more step…” I wiggled the tip of my red, glowing sword. “Well, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what will happen.”

  The vampires didn’t respond. All they did was pull together, all three of them with their shoulders touching as they crept toward me on their toes, light and nimble. Within seconds they would all be upon me, and then I’d be completely screwed.

  They’d removed all my options with their abstinence so I moved to defend myself and take them all down.

  Stealing their opportunity to dodge out of the way, I raised the sword to my shoulder with lightning speed and then threw it like a spear into one of their chests. While the blade tore through the pale flesh and the vampire reeled back, I advanced on another, slamming my elbow into its jaw and hearing it crack. Before I knew it, the third was on top of me, riding me like a horse as it dug its fingers into my eyes. I screamed in pain, pushed back toward the tree and slammed it once, twice, three times into the trunk until I heard it whine and felt the weight drop from my shoulders. My eyes stung like a motherfucker, but at least now I could see again.

  The first vampire had now turned to ash, leaving the Sword of Lucada laying on top of its incinerated body. It glowed from the ground, illuminating its surroundings. When the son of a bitch I’d elbowed followed my line of sight, sudden understanding lit up its monstrous features. I knew exactly where its thoughts were headed; it was about to go for the sword.

  My sword.

  While it had its back turned, I spun around to the one who’d jumped on me and snapped its neck. It made a satisfying crunching sound before its body became loose, slumping to the ground like a bag of rocks. By the time I returned to my final enemy, it had reached the sword and was straining to pick it up. Little did it know, I’d developed a relationship with the weapon, and now only I could lift it.

  “Having trouble getting it up?” I said in my most smarmy tone.

  I marched toward my foe, watching it give up on its struggle to pick up my sword before it fled into the darkness. I quickly bent down, arming myself with ease, and then peered into the darkness where the vampire had escaped.

  “Oh, no you don’t.”

  Arcing my arm, I flung the sword into the distance, watching it rip through the air at breakneck speed, whistling as it chased my enemy with its blade spinning. It eventually became a small, red blinking light in the blackness of the night, and I waited quietly until I heard it slice through something solid. The scream that followed would haunt my dreams for nights to come, but right now, I had business to attend to.

  I followed the trail of my sword until I found it laying flat on the ground, its healthy magic glow lending light to the wounded vampire beside it. The first thing I noticed was that Count Assula’s leg had been taken clean off by my blade. The wounded beast lay beside its limb with tears streaming down its lily-white cheeks, hissing as I approached.

  “I did try to warn you,” I said, picking the Sword of Lucada up off the ground. Since he’d just tried to end me, my heart pumped piss for him.

  The vampire only hissed again like a cat with a firecracker shoved up its ass.

  Feeling a cold sweat break out across my brow, I stepped closer to the creature, letting it feel my presence lurk over it as it struggled to crawl back. I wanted it to know that it had lost, and that I could cause it even more damage if it refused to help me. I let the sword hang from my right hand, in plain sight.

  “You going to tell me where your master hangs out?”

  The vampire’s face shriveled slowly, revealing relatively human eyes. Its fangs shrank too, but the veins and ripples of thick flesh remained on its chest. “Why would I tell you?” it asked. Its voice was full of spite, and I still couldn’t identify its gender. “You’ll only kill me after, no matter what I do.”

  “Well,” I said, �
��you never know.”

  “I want you to promise me.”

  This sounded like I might be getting somewhere. Okay, I could throw it a bone. “Fine. I promise.”

  “Say it. Say it as a whole.”

  “I promise that if you tell me where to find your master, no more harm will come to you.”

  The vampire finally sat up, swaying as it reached for its leg and tried to push it back onto its stump. When it didn’t stick, it tossed the limb aside, cursed, and fell onto its back. “His name is Edgar George. He runs a nightclub in West Loop.”

  “Which club?”

  “Dante’s.”

  As it happened, I knew the place. I just had no idea that it was a vampire den. I made a mental note to check it out, but I would have to wait until daytime before I did so. The last thing I needed was for Edgar George’s entire army to surround me.

  The vampire sniffled, missing its leg already. “Now go.”

  “Oh, I’m not finished.” I raised the sword high into the air, leaned over and grabbed the vampire by the throat. I squeezed hard, staring into its wide eyes and recognizing the look of surprise immediately.

  “But…” It gargled beneath my vice-like grip. “You said–”

  “I said no more harm will come to you. Meaning I’ll make this swift and harmless.” I heard only the beginning of an aggressive hiss as I jolted the sword forward, sliding it into the vampire’s chest and piercing its cold heart. Its body burned to ashes in my hand, sprinkling into the air and leaving me in deadly silence.

  “Edgar George,” I whispered to myself, alone in this park now. I said it again, letting the sound of his name fall from my lips, adjusting to the sound of it. He sounded like some uptight history professor with corduroys and a bow tie. It was a ridiculous name, one that sounded like nothing I’d heard before, but somehow, was strangely familiar. I’d probably heard it in folklore, I accepted, sheathing my sword and heading back the way I came.

  Tomorrow, I would put a face to the name.

  CHAPTER SIX

  It had been a long night of the weirdest dreams; dreams of vampires burning like firewood, dreams of Keira Poe leading me into the light. Hell, I even had a brief nightmare of Lena, setting her wolves on me while I ran through the sewage plant like a terrified rabbit at a dog track. I don’t think I’d ever run so fast. I’d run until I felt like the fires of hell had risen just to lick at my lungs.

  Awaking in a cold sweat in the Vault’s chambers, I washed and threw on some clean clothes, then got out of there before Dalton could stop me to ask any questions. As much as I wanted to indulge – to feel like I at least had one friend in this pitiful existence – I had other plans for the day. Plans that might lead to ending the war.

  Two buses and a cab later, I found myself standing on the sidewalk of a particularly quiet neighborhood, staring up at Edgar George’s building and wondering just what he was up to in there. I’d heard rumors that head vampires didn’t tend to sleep at all, so it could be that he was running his business or eating his breakfast or doing some normal, everyday activity. The brief image of fangs meeting the neck of a human entered my mind for only an instant, but I shook it off quickly and returned my gaze to street level.

  The club was closed, as had been expected, but I couldn’t help noticing a delivery van poking its nose out from the alley alongside the building. I glanced both ways and headed across the street, sneaking inside the van where it stank of damp. I ducked behind a stack of beer crates and concealed myself until the driver returned, climbing into the back of the van and walking my way. I got ready, already hating myself for what I was about to do.

  “What the–”

  It was all the driver could get out before I wrapped my arm around his neck, applying pressure to his carotid until his legs stopped kicking and his hands stopped reaching up toward my face. His body finally went limp, and I lowered him gently to the ground before pulling off his coat and holding it up to the light.

  Gerpie’s Light, it read across the back. I’d tasted the beer before – it was basically just watered-down piss. Worthless. Nonetheless, I pulled the coat over my own, grabbed a crate of beer and stepped out of the van, checking for any witnesses before I entered the building.

  I got a horrible sense of dread as I went inside. I was on my own in a vampire den, and vampires hated Cardkeepers at the best of times. I trod with caution as I explored the place, finding the door that led down into the drinks cellar, and called down the stairs. When no reply came, I set down the crate, slipped off the coat and ventured deeper into the building.

  The next set of stairs only went up. I passed a great number of open doors, some showing rooms that had wide windows overlooking the club, while others had only large beds – for vampire orgies, I figured. God knew that vampires loved sex. The only thing they loved more than kissing someone’s neck was biting it. I wouldn’t be heading into the sack with one of them anytime soon. Not if I could help it.

  The rest of the rooms turned up nothing. I did happen upon one locked door; it was heavy and oaken and perfectly varnished with painted gold patterns surrounding a sign that said: MANAGER. If Edgar George was inside this building, I suspected it would be on the other side of this door, and although I wanted to burst inside and catch him unaware, I had to play it safe. He was clearly a man of business, after all, and I was on his turf. It was unlikely that he would want to strike any kind of deal after catching me sneaking into his club.

  Screw this, I thought, spinning on my heel and heading back for the exit. I would have to come back at night, consequences be damned. There was no way I was going to meet the head vampire today, and even if I did, I wouldn’t get what I wanted – I’d already breached his trust by knocking out his delivery driver. There was nothing left to do but escape.

  I made it down the stairs and almost got as far as the door leading onto the alley, when a large figure stepped in my way. His hulking body was dressed in a rich blue suit that was too nice even for my taste. The collar shaped a strong jaw with pale flesh and deep, captivating eyes. Above that, he had thick, black hair pulled taut and tied into a ponytail.

  “Going somewhere?” he asked, as if he already knew the answer along with my identity.

  I searched the banks of my brain for some kind of excuse, finding nothing but empty holes. No matter what I said now, I’d landed in deep shit. All I could do was tell the truth, or at least a portion of it. “I’m looking for a man named Edgar George.”

  The man’s eyes met mine, holding a serious, accusing gaze. This time when he spoke, his tone told me everything; how much he knew, what he thought of me, and just how pissed off I’d made him by my mere existance. “You’ve found him,” he finally said. “And moreover, I can smell the magic on you. Now, Cardkeeper, what the fuck are you doing in my club?”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Well?”

  The looming figure of this enormous man stood before me, casting a great shadow over my own body and blocking out the light. I could see only a fraction of the open door now, and although my gut told me to make a run for it, I knew a little more about head vampires than your average guy. For starters, they were much, much faster than their lessers. I wasn’t likely to make it three feet before this guy had his jaws around my neck. And then there was the fact that they were very territorial. Their private space was supposed to be just that – private. I had no right to be here and we both knew it.

  My only viable option was the truth.

  “Sneaking was my only way in,” I confessed. “The front door was locked and there was no chance I could have arranged a meeting with you. Not without walking right into a pre-made trap, at least. I had to take out your delivery driver to get in here.”

  Edgar George glanced over his shoulder only briefly before turning back to me. “You mean to tell me you took out Phil?”

  “Well, I… He’s only unconscious.”

  What happened next was the biggest relief of my life – the most assuring thing I�
��d ever been fortunate enough to witness, especially in the presence of such a dangerous creature.

  Edgar smiled.

  “Next time, knock him around a bit,” he said. “The brother-in-law.”

  I nodded, smiling with him, but doing it so cautiously as if I may have been led into a trap. It would be nothing more than insulting to have knocked out this guy’s extended family, and then stand here grinning about it like an idiot.

  “Come, Keeper. You wanted to talk, so let’s talk.”

  Edgar George led me down the corridor and used a key to open up a set of double doors. The room opened out onto a brightly lit dance floor, which felt surreal with no music to go with it. We walked around the perimeter, up a small set of stairs and arrived at one of the longest bars I’d ever seen in my life. Edgar motioned toward a stool, which I took up while he stalked around the bar, removed his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

  “Cocktail?” he said.

  I shook my head.

  “Something harder, then?”

  “As long as you don’t poison it.”

  Edgar laughed at that. “Very good. We both know that your body is immune to such chemicals. Besides, poison is a coward’s weapon. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Yeah.” I watched the head vampire reach for a glass from somewhere above us, and then snatch a bottle of bourbon from the side. The way he moved was so slick that he didn’t stop for even a moment, spilling the drink into the glass with one fluid motion. When he slid it over to me, I took it and swilled it around before taking a sip. “Perfect.”

  “I’m glad you think so.” Edgar leaned into the bar. “So, why are you here?”

  I sipped the bourbon, letting it fall down my throat in one delicious gulp. Wiping my lips with the sleeve of my coat, I set the glass down and slid it back and forth between my fingers, fidgeting nervously. “I want you to revoke your claim over the city.”