Liz moved forward through the debris and approached the confrontation in the middle of the room.
‘You leave this city today, and if Mary has a problem with me, you tell her to come here herself and not send more feckin’ idiots like you. Got it?’ Amanda said.
The man barely managed to nod, but it was clear he agreed.
Her magic let go of him and he dropped to the floor and ended up on all fours. He started to get up as Amanda looked down at him.
‘And take your dead and wounded with you,’ the man nodded and hobbled out of the room towards the waiting cars. Liz stood with Stella and they watched in silence as the men left alive helped remove the bodies from the building under the watchful eye of Amanda. Twenty minutes later they left, Amanda’s Magic working overtime to spin a Glamour that hid the goings on at the Jade Palace from casual view. No police came, no one saw the events that night, and within moments of the Inquisition leaving, between them all they had cleared up the mess, fixed the furniture and décor and made the place look as good as new with their Magic.
Liz helped, but as they finished off she had to leave the others to it and wandered out into the Japanese Rock Garden in the centre of the building. She needed some time alone.
She sat upon one of the small stone benches and looked at the floor. She felt exhausted and mentally drained from the fight.
Amanda had been right, the Inquisition were back and they didn’t seem to like Amanda and her Coven.
Liz looked at her hands and turned them palms up. She realised they were shaking a bit. Maybe the Adrenalin in her system caused it, but looking at her dirty battered hands, she couldn’t help but think back to the events surrounding the deaths of her friends and family. Both the Nomads and the Inquisition were to blame, but Liz felt the Inquisition were the most at fault. The Nomads were unapologetic in their approach, they were evil incarnate and made no bones about it. The Inquisition, however, should really be the good guys. The way Vito had been friendly at first had put them off guard, and then when Mary killed her Sister and Stephan right there in front of her, it just made her feel incredibly angry.
She knew now that she hated these Inquisitors just as much, if not more than the Nomads and felt a burning need to make them pay. Mary Damask especially.
-The Dark Side of the Moon Nightclub, New York.
Tabitha embraced Toni and gave her a lingering kiss on the lips.
‘We’ve bought it. I can’t believe it. We’re the owners of a Night Club!’ Said Tabitha.
‘I’m so glad you’re happy, I know you’ve been thinking of getting a club for a long time.’
‘Looks like we’re staying in New York then.’ Tabitha said.
‘Looks that way,’ I hope Melissa doesn’t mind.
‘She’ll be fine. I think she’ll fall in love with this place as much as we have.’
‘Toni and Tabby’s The Dark Side of the Moon Nightclub, it’s got a good ring to it.’
‘Tabby and Toni’s I think you’ll find,’ Tabitha said, teasing her girlfriend.
The sudden whip crack of air and the powerful Magical presence brought Tabitha up short as she looked to see who had Ported into the room while she brought her Aegis up to strength in an Automatic reaction. Toni had a similar reaction as they looked at the man stood nearby.
‘Who are you?’ Tabitha asked.
‘My names Trevelyan, and I’m a member of the Magi Council, much like your Coven mate Jonas was before he passed.’
‘Jonas was a member of the council?’ Tabitha said incredulously.
‘He never mentioned it,’ Toni said.
‘Hmmm, he did like to keep things quiet. Can you tell me what happened to him?’
Both girls looked at each other, the memories of their friend's deaths were still very raw.
Holy Plans
The Vatican
Nov 16th
Mary strode down the corridor, walking with purpose and approached a door part way down. She had someone she wanted to see and she despised waiting. The fact that he had returned to the Vatican and had come here rather than straight to see her had just served to annoy her enough that she felt that Marco needed to be reminded about how things worked in these offices.
The door she walked up to had a simple figure of a man and said “Changing Room” on it. She didn’t wait, she didn’t knock, she walked straight through the first and then the second inner door and into the changing room and scanned up the first aisle. Three or four men stood along this aisle, each in some state of undress and they talked like men do, in that macho way that Mary disliked. One of the men saw Mary and did a double take before snapping to attention. None of these were Marco though, so she walked on as the others down that first row turned to look at who had walked in, their talking quickly stopping as they also came to attention. As she moved along the end of the rows of benches that the men stood within, the realisation that someone of rank had walked in spread fairly quickly and they all started to come to attention, no matter their current level of dress. Three rows in Mary spotted Marco with his back to her, chatting with one of his team. Mary walked right to him and saw when the man he spoke too noticed her. He went silent and saluted her.
His sharp movements surprised Marco, but he’d been surprised by officers before and he wasted no time in turning and coming to attention himself.
‘Miss Damask, I apologise, I did not see you…’
Mary didn’t have time for this, so she punched him in the gut with a fist filled with Divine energy and doubled him over. ‘That’s for coming here and relaxing before coming to see me and being debriefed.’
‘Ma’am,’ Marco said, his voice struggling through the pain of the punch.
‘Get your clothes on and get yourself up to my office,’ Mary said to him. He pulled himself up to full height and did his best salute given the circumstances. Marco was a big man, well built, powerfully muscled with a military style haircut and powerful chin. He stood before Mary butt naked, holding his towel in his hand. But Mary didn’t care, she hated this lazy attitude and he needed teaching a lesson.
‘Now!’ Mary shouted at him, and he quickly started to dress.
Mary turned around and left the room feeling furious and a little frustrated by Marco’s actions. He’d only been working for her for a little while, but he should have known better than that.
She marched back up to her office, a few floors up in the same huge building, ignoring everyone she passed. People she knew looked up and saw her, but no one really made any concerted effort to speak with her. They could see the look on her face and they knew that she wanted nothing more than to be left alone.
She’d sent Marco over to New York to stir up some trouble, to cause Amanda some problems, and within just a few days he had returned. She’d seen the bruises and grazes that covered his torso during the confrontation in the changing room, he’d no doubt been in a fight. Maybe he had confronted Amanda directly, she wanted to know, she needed to know. That flame-haired witch had killed her most promising apprentice and she wanted nothing more than to cause her some pain in return.
Within five minutes of reaching her office, Marco had walked in. He wore a utilitarian outfit, combat trousers, fitted top, military boots, all in black, but all of it hastily put on. Even his hair still looked wet.
He stood before Mary’s desk in an at-ease position. Mary finished what she was doing and looked up at the man.
‘If you return here from a mission while I’m available in my office and don’t bother to come and see me immediately again, being embarrassed in the shower room will be the least of your problems. Now give me your report.’
‘We arrived in New York as planned and followed the Intel we already had from our agents within the city. The first Coven we cleansed fell easily, although one of their number escaped.’
‘Excuse me?’ Mary interrupted.
Marco gulped. ‘One of their number escaped my men, she fled the scene and we believe reported back to the Pri
mary target.’
‘You mean Amanda.’ Mary Sighed. ‘Go on.’
‘During our interrogation of the other three Witches, we discovered that a place of business called The Jade Palace was being used by Amanda to meet with new Magi as they arrived in the city. So we made our plans to assault the target.’
‘Let me guess, judging by the number of men in that changing room, you lost some of them during that operation?’
‘That is correct.’
‘What happened?’ Mary asked as she sank into her seat. She had already guessed what she thought had probably happened. A full on assault by Marco’s team, who were not amongst the blessed and could not call on the power of the divine, probably didn’t go well.
‘We used our highest calibre weapons and used the element of surprise to carry out the operation. But we must have underestimated them and we lost a number of good men. Amanda herself confronted me and asked me to deliver a message.’
‘Please do enlighten me,’ Mary said, feeling deflated by the apparent failure of this Squad.
‘She said you should go to New York yourself rather than send us.
‘I’m sure she did. Anything else?’
‘No Ma’am, we returned here after that defeat.’
‘Tail between your legs.’ she said.
‘Pardon me?’
She wasn’t sure if he either didn’t hear her or didn’t understand her and also didn’t really care either.
‘So, you let one Magi escape and then screwed up your second mission. Correct?’
He went to say something but didn’t and nodded his head instead, letting his eyes fall to the floor.
‘Get out, and I want your full report on my desk in an hour.’
Marco turned and walked from the office, leaving Mary alone. She slammed her fist down onto the table in frustration. She’d been reliably informed that Marco and his team were some of the best, according to who assigned them to her, but they’d just been made a fool of by some Americans. What was the world coming too?
His report ended up on her desk in under forty-five minutes, during which time she went back through her records and pulled out Marco’s file. He was a capable agent on paper, but she felt he lacked experience in the field against actual Magi and that he would benefit from some further and more intense training. She made a note to inform the relevant people.
Right now though she had another worry, a Conclave meeting this afternoon, during which she would certainly be asked about the mission in New York. She wasn’t looking forward to that.
Mary walked along the corridor, her secretary at her heels carrying her bag that was bursting at the seams with files and reports. She made her way along the ornate corridors of this stunning building, admiring the beauty of God’s creation both inside and outside of these walls. The statues that lined this main corridor along with the paintings and murals were breathtaking. She marvelled at the imagery and wondered how the spirit of God Most Holy must have filled the artists and inspired them to create the finest works of art the world had ever seen, in her humble opinion.
The meeting room she made her way to was located on one of the lower levels, and had been the main meeting room for the Conclave of Grand Inquisitors for decades now. Their work was vital, and they were occasionally graced with the presence of the Pope himself, who the Witch Finder General, the leader of the Disciples of the Cross, reported to. Few knew that the Pope wasn’t the true leader of the Catholic Church, however, that honour went to Simeon Cephas, better known as Simon Peter, one of the original Disciples of Jesus who through the Grace of God, still lived within the walls of the Vatican. Mary had met Simeon a couple of times, he even once attended one of these meetings while Mary had been a member.
He was an old man, infirm and weak, but his mind had remained active and sharp, and his Divine power radiated from him, setting him apart from all other blessed.
Simeon was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Holy Curia, only the Conclave, the Pope and a handful of the most senior Cardinals knew he even existed. These days he didn’t take a hand in the day to day running of the Disciples, instead, he acted as an advisor and guide to the Witch Finder General and the Pope.
But the threat of him attending a meeting always made sure you went to these meetings looking your best and wanting to impress.
Mary approached the room and saw a few of the other Grand Inquisitors stood around outside. There were twelve Grand Inquisitors in total and although officially they each took responsibility for a part of the globe, in reality, they never really stuck to operating within that area. Mary’s assigned area of influence was Western Europe, but she operated globally, going where ever her work took her.
She saw Francesco Acardi walk in, the man who had been the original mentor to Vito before he had graduated to the level of Inquisitor and been assigned to Mary, whereupon she had taken over his training. He had not really spoken to her since Vito’s death and she suspected he felt it as keenly as she did.
Marcus was there as well, the oldest Inquisitor she knew, apart from Simeon, at nearly two thousand years old. He had always turned down the role of Witch Finder General, preferring to be out there and fighting the good fight.
She always marvelled at how the Grace of God granted such miracles as long life to those most devout.
She walked in nodding to some of the men she passed and settled into her seat, while her secretary prepared her notes before leaving the room.
Only the Grand Inquisitors were allowed in these meetings. Aids and secretaries had to wait outside.
Valerio Rossi, the current leader of the Disciples of the Cross, the Witch Finder General of the Inquisition, sat down at the head of the long table. Each time she saw Valerio he looked more and more infirm and moved slowly with a walking stick these days. Taking the gavel that sat on the table before him, he banged it on the table and brought the meeting to order.
Mary sat listening to the other reports from the other Grand Inquisitors who sat at the table. Each talked about their own efforts against the Witches and Warlocks of the world, the missions they had won or lost and strategy for future operations was discussed in detail. Mary enjoyed listening to these reports and always felt she got a clearer understanding of the world at large and where the current battles in the war were being fought.
Soon Valerio reached Mary and rested his gaze upon her. ‘Mary, please update us on your current work.’
Mary looked up at Valerio, he had always supported her in her bid to join the Conclave amidst a lot of objection from the other members who disliked the idea of a female Grand Inquisitor. The Inquisition had remained a mainly male domain, with very few women advancing to the level of Inquisitor. And to date, only Mary had reached the level of Grand Inquisitor, although there had been other women in the past who were more than qualified for the role.
It didn’t help that Simeon seemed to be a bit of a Misogynist and didn’t seem to approve of Mary being on the Conclave.
But the support of Valerio had been enough to sway the vote. Since then Mary had been careful to become useful and valuable to a majority of the Grand Inquisitors, she needed to have the support of as many as possible should the role of Witch Finder General become vacant.
Mary had always had lofty goals, and being a Grand Inquisitor was never enough for her. She had always wanted more and had her sights set firmly on the role of High Inquisitor & Witch Finder General.
Valerio might have taken her under his wing and supported her, she suspected he even liked her, but he had never shown real affection for her and had been a tough task master. For Mary’s part, she had no real love for him. Valerio was just another step on the ladder, another obstacle that she needed to surpass.
‘Of course General. As you know New York had been under the control of the Warlock known as Lucian for many years and had resisted any attempt to be liberated from him. Recently however it came to light that a Witch called Amanda had moved to the city and around the s
ame time it was made public that Lucian had been killed. This Witch had then opened up the City to other Satanists and there has been something of an influx of Witches since then. It was decided that we should send in a squad to test her defences.’
At least, that was the official line. For many, the attack on New York, and specifically Amanda had a more personal angle.
‘The mission in New York has been a partial success, as we have discovered the location of the main meeting point for new Witches entering the city,’ she said.
‘You mean it’s been a partial failure as well?’
‘Unfortunately yes. Marcos’ team under their own initiative chose to strike at the Witch Amanda and her Coven. They underestimated them and suffered a number of losses before retreating with a message from her.’
‘What message?’ Valerio asked.
‘According to Marco’s report, she told him that I should go to New York rather than send another squad in.’
‘Well, she can say what she likes, our choices are our own.’
‘Of course General,’ Mary replied.
‘Suggestions please?’ Valerio said, opening the issue to the table.
‘If she’s willing, Mary should take the Witch up on her offer and go to New York with a show of force,’ Francesco said without looking at her. This made Mary both smile and feel a little suspicious of Francesco. She agreed with his suggestion as she wanted to go to New York and to show Amanda the true might of the Inquisition, but at the same time, she wondered what his motives were, did Francesco hold a grudge against her for the death of Vito and want her dead after all? Was he gambling on Amanda killing her? She had no way of telling, but chose to watch Francesco a little closer to judge his opinion of her.
‘I volunteer to go to New York, this Witch needs to understand that we won’t take such threats lying down,’ said Nico Orsini, a large man and the youngest of the Conclave, he had a hot headed attitude and always volunteered for any operation that looked like it might end in a fight.
Black Dawn (The Magi Saga Book 3) Page 7
