by Al K. Line
"Damn, forgot that was in there. Oh well. And I was talking to Wand. Wand, you ready?"
"Sure am," he said, sounding way too excited. Guess it was all new to him and he was eager for the experience. Magic was brimming with such potency I felt like he could go off at any moment, so it was now or never.
"Give it all you've got," I whispered, crouching low so nobody at the other end of the warehouse, where there was still one hell of a commotion, would see. I could already hear jackboots marching though the warehouse, Carmichael obviously having had the presence of mind to get the place secured as fast as possible.
But not fast enough.
I tapped Wand on the open lip of the bag and the air shimmered above it. Then I turned to the closest rack, held Wand loosely, and said, "Get 'em in quick."
Energy surged and Wand went to work.
Crates small and large flew through the air, aiming right at the bag. Just before they reached it they wobbled as though in a mirage and shrank so they'd fit through the mouth. In they went, one after the other, faster and faster as Wand got into his stride, using the most efficient route possible to get the artifacts stashed.
I began to sweat as the magic drained out of me, until my whole body was shaking and my teeth chattered. This was a massive outpouring of energy and magic always has to come from somewhere. Wand was using amplified air currents and any residual energy he could draw on to power his work, and although lights were dimming and the room hummed with the thievery of energy, I was also using a lot of my own.
Things worsened rapidly and I had to sit down, letting Wand take over, move my hand to point at a crate and drag it through the vibrating air then release it above the bag. But the work continued unabated, so fast everything was a blur.
There were shouts and loud footsteps; time was almost up. Wand went into overdrive, emptying racks in seconds, and with a final surge of magic I pushed out the bubble of protection until it took in maybe a third of the warehouse itself, right up to the fast-approaching Hounds.
I grimaced, but waved at the men as they came up hard against the barrier. Then I spied Carmichael pushing through the Hounds, looking severely pissed off.
"I told you not to fuck with me. You broke the Code," I shouted, but I don't know if he heard me or not. He shouted at his men as crates flew overhead then disappeared into the bag. But Wand was slowing, I was close to unconscious, and my arm began to drop.
"That's enough, time to go," I whispered.
"We got 'em, we got 'em good."
"Sure did."
I twisted the Teleron and a portal appeared in front of us. Carefully, I got to my feet, lowered the protective barrier, and as Hounds rushed forward I locked eyes with Carmichael and said, "You really screwed up. Nobody fucks with The Hat."
I picked up the infinite bag and stepped through the portal.
One More Go
I was pushing my luck, and to be honest was amazed I'd managed to jump to Carmichael, let alone managed another to the warehouse, but I was in the zone and so determined, so focused, that I got the feeling I could have gone to the moon if I'd wanted. I probably would have tried it too, but my spacesuit was at the dry cleaners.
Weak of knee, yet strong of heart, I shoved the infinite bag into my locker, checked I had the other item I had yet to use, slammed the door shut, put up my wards as this was too precious a haul to trust my fellow wizards with, and activated the Teleron once again.
I stepped through and grabbed Carmichael around the neck, inches away from an alarming number of Hounds. What worried me most was that Wand was in my pocket and out of reach as I held the Teleron in my left hand and had Carmichael head-locked in my right with a knife at his throat. If this went wrong I was screwed, but I had a bargaining chip now, or a third of a warehouse full of bargaining chips.
"Tell them to back off," I whispered intimately into Carmichael's ear. "I won't count to five. You've got one second." I wasn't joking, I would have slit his throat so deep his head would fall off in a heartbeat, and I'd like to see him come back from that, vampire or not.
"Move away," ordered Carmichael, the words coming out raspy as his body recovered from the fire damage.
The Hounds obeyed instantly, fanning out and forming a circle around us a few steps distant.
"Tell them to move away from the wall," I ordered.
"Move away from the wall," said Carmichael.
After the Hounds had moved, I walked forward with Carmichael still held fast. Close to the wall, I turned to face into the room and backed up until I felt brick against my heels.
"Now, everyone take five steps away. We wouldn't want any accidents, now would we? Oh, and as a friendly reminder, if anyone tries anything, I'll kill Carmichael immediately. And if you kill me, you'll never get the artifacts back. Understand?" They glared at me. "Understand?" I shouted.
There were nods and grunts. If looks could kill, I'd have definitely used up my remaining lives, however many there were.
"What do you want?" croaked Carmichael, who was being sensible and moving as little as possible.
"What I want is to set the record straight. You willing to do that, give me a minute of your time?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Sure you do," I said without malice. "You can agree, or we can carry on like this for a while. I can come back any time I want and you'll never see me coming. You want to play dirty then so be it. This is playing dirty. You overstepped the line, now I want this finished."
"You tricked us, you had it coming."
"I was going to steal some books, Mikalus' books, and sure, I knew that would piss you off. But I got played. Mikalus used me as a decoy. He betrayed me, betrayed Ivan, and my guess is he took a lot more than just a few books?"
Carmichael nodded.
"Right, so he beat us both, got you to move the warehouse so he could grab what he wanted. Leaving me to get slaughtered. But guess what? I'm still alive, even after you dropped a fucking bomb on my daughter. And then you tried to assassinate Vicky. Have you no shame?"
Carmichael tried to turn but I increased the pressure on the knife. He groaned but stopped moving. "Vicky? I had nothing to do with that. She's got young children, and much as I'd like her out of the picture I swear I ordered no such thing. Unless my boss did, then it wasn't us. We aren't monsters."
I believed him. What would be the point in lying about it?
"Do not move," I ordered. Carefully, I pocketed the Teleron and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I called Vicky and she answered. "Hello?"
"Have you got it?" I asked.
"Easy peasy. I've got your exact location. You're a few hours away, but I know exactly where you are."
"Good. Call Ivan, tell him I'm on my way." I hung up.
"So you know where you are, so what?"
"So it means that if you try to move the rest of the warehouse, I'll know, and I'll tell every fucking wizard in the country that you're on the move with trucks full of magical artifacts. How d'you think that will go down? This may have all gone to shit, but I can come here any time now, and if you move it then you're gonna lose what little you have left. You were safe in the city, we couldn't get in easily, could never get away with so much, plus I didn't want to, knew it would cause too much trouble, but now..."
"Now what?"
"Now I'm pissed off. Now we can keep an eye on you, and if you move the artifacts I swear you'll be finished. And if you come after me again, you'll never get back what I took. But mostly, I just want to know George and Vicky and her kids will be safe."
"We'll find what you took, you know we will."
"Maybe, but it won't be easy. Vicky's already set things up so if anything happens to me this location gets sent to every magic user in the country. Nobody believed you lot would be stupid enough to keep everything in one place like you do, but once they know they'll be all over you. You had to push too far, didn't you?"
"We thought you'd tricked us. We don't like being tricked. We lost a lot."<
br />
"Not my problem. Now, say goodbye."
I felt Carmichael stiffen, ready himself for death, but he didn't know the half of it. I twisted the Teleron, felt the energy change as a portal opened behind us, and stepped back not against the wall, but through space-time itself.
This was getting tiring, but I couldn't stop, not now.
Bit Spooky
We fell back through the portal and I watched, squinting in the weak light as it contracted to a single point of emptiness then popped out of existence. Although I was falling, and my instinct was to reach behind to cushion the blow, I didn't. I kept a firm hand on the Teleron, knowing it would be very bad to lose it, and with the other I maintained my tight grip on Carmichael, the knife dangerously close to his throat as we toppled. He'd just have to deal with a slight nick if it came to that.
I hit with a thud, and it hurt like hell, but Carmichael was wriggling a little so he wasn't dead. I was a little disappointed but knew I had to stick to the plan, not succumb to my darker side. If Carmichael croaked it, he'd only be replaced, and I'd be right back at square one. Much as it went against my few principles and better judgment, as revenge is sweet, I knew I had to forge a relationship with this man, get order to my life, and Cerberus constantly at my back wasn't going to let that happen.
Plus, and I smiled in the half-light at the thought, I had a very special meeting arranged for my vampire friend here.
Speaking of which.
The lights flicked on and standing over us, naked, and looking all kinds of awesome, was Mikalus.
"Guess it worked then," I said, groaning as my knees grated while I got awkwardly to my feet, still holding on to Carmichael. His neck was bloodied, and he had a few gashes from the knife, but nothing too deep. The wounds were already healing.
"You are intruding," said Mikalus, looking weak and sleepy, hair tousled but still shining and salon fresh. He visibly powered-up as he came around from the sleep he'd obviously been deeply in. His muscles filled out, he seemed to grow leaner and more defined, and took on a vitality that was a little unnerving.
Plus he was naked, and two naked men in a room, plus me, made me feel uncomfortable. Especially when they both wanted me dead and were vampires.
Funny what can stress a guy out.
"And you're going to go get some clothes on. You too," I said, pushing Carmichael away from me, keeping a firm grip on the Teleron. I thought better of it, so swapped it to my left, pocketed the knife, and grabbed Wand.
He gave a cheery, "This is exciting," as I pulled him out. I got the weirdest sensation, like he was taking a look around the room, but surely he could see wherever he was, if he could see at all? I'd have to ask. Another time, maybe?
Mikalus was cool and relaxed, did nothing but raise an eyebrow at the state of Carmichael, then wandered off and returned a moment later with two silk dressing gowns. Black, obviously. I couldn't imagine them wearing white fluffy numbers with matching slippers.
Carmichael took the dressing gown and both men covered themselves up. Then we did a bit of staring at each other, waiting for the other to say something first. I took the opportunity to check out the penthouse suite at vampire headquarters, and to say it was odd is an understatement. The room was almost empty.
There was an antique table with heavy wooden chairs, and a large TV on the wall. The only other feature was a series of dark oak bookcases along the opposite wall, easily fifty feet in length, crammed with books. More were piled up on the floor. Several crates from the warehouse were stacked on top of each other, presumably housing the rest, or maybe other items taken from Cerberus.
Finally, I turned back to the vampires, each at opposite poles of the magical community, and I said, "Here's how this is going to work."
"You don't give me orders," said Carmichael, looking almost, but not quite, taken aback.
"Or me."
"Today I do. Today I make the rules, and if either of you don't like them then you can pay the consequences."
"And what would they be?" asked Mikalus, amused.
Carmichael already knew, and I was pretty sure he'd leave me alone for a while, but he'd be after me eventually, same as always, so this had to work. Mikalus had no reason not to just kill me now, so I'd better give him one, and fast.
This was where the plan let me down. I was surprised I'd got this far, and had decided to wing it from here on.
Sometimes I curse my impulsive nature.
Laying Down the Law
"I want what you took from Cerberus." I stared hard at Mikalus, showing him my resolve, that I wasn't kidding. In fact, I didn't merely stare hard, I glared—super intimidating. He was quaking on the spot. I wasn't scared of him, not at this moment. I was all out of options, all out of energy. All I had left was hope and the need for this to be over.
"Haha, Arthur, you are a determined young man, but I don't answer to you, or him." Mikalus scowled at Carmichael who was looking at a bit of a loss in the middle of the room, clearly thinking what to do.
"Here's what will happen. I already have plenty of artifacts from the warehouse. Carmichael," I turned to him as I spoke his name, "you get them back eventually, a few here and there. That way you will keep out of my business and leave me and mine alone. A truce. No more interfering in each other's affairs. Agreed?"
Carmichael took a moment to mull it over, but he knew I had him beat, knew I was serious. Was killing me worth the risk? He'd had his revenge, or as close to it as he was going to get. It was time to draw a line under all of this.
"Well? I don't have all day."
"Agreed. If you give us the artifacts back at an arranged time each month, then we have a truce. I won't interfere in your business if you don't interfere in ours."
"It's a deal. And Mikalus, you have a lot to answer for. They almost killed my daughter. They shot Vicky! They dropped a bomb on my fucking house!" My anger was returning, rising like a dark tide, and Wand crackled with menace as magic readied to blast the hell out of this traitor.
"It was business," said Mikalus, showing just how cold a creature he was. Had he always been like this? Or was it the vampire nature that had made him become such an abomination?
"Business!? You cheated me, broke the Code."
"You refused to work for me any longer. This was my way of getting more use out of you. I knew the debt you owed Ivan, but I also knew you wouldn't be able to resist such a job. Your own greed got you involved in this. You could have said no."
"You're wrong. Unlike you, I'm a man of honor. I owed Ivan a debt and repaid it. You took advantage. You cheated me and you betrayed Ivan. You dishonored him."
There was a peculiar, extended knock at the door, a special combination prearranged. Without asking permission, I wandered over, acting casual even as my heart beat fast, and unlocked the door. Ivan nodded grimly at me and I glanced left then right in the hall, saw the dead goons, and raised an eyebrow.
"I dealt with most of the ones I could find in the building that were awake," whispered Ivan, then he strode past me.
This wasn't part of the plan, although we didn't have much of one to begin with. He was supposed to come, but not kill a load of Mikalus' goons. With a sigh, I closed the door behind us.
"What's the meaning of this?" asked Mikalus, indignant at the intrusion.
"This is me helping a friend who you betrayed. You have shamed me, I am no longer beholden to you."
"I am your maker. You belong to me."
"I belong to nobody. I did once, but never again. I loved you, you were my family. You used me to get what you wanted and didn't care about the consequences. You made me break my word, my honor." Ivan turned away from Mikalus and faced Carmichael. "And you, you tried to kill my friends and family. I understand your reason, but Vicky? Why did you attack my sister?" Ivan practically bristled with uncaged menace as he stepped toward Carmichael.
"I already told Arthur, we had nothing to do with Vicky. Not as far as I know, anyway. We attacked Arthur, he had it co
ming, regardless of if he'd been cheated or not, but Vicky? No."
Ivan paused, stared at Carmichael for the longest time, then whirled on Mikalus, enraged.
This wouldn't be pretty. Ivan was strong, but this was the original vampire. We had to follow what we'd discussed, which was to somehow take Mikalus' books and artifacts and make him behave, leave us alone. But Ivan wasn't in the mood for me to remind him about that.
And besides, it was his sister, and Mikalus had it coming.
Ivan stormed over and asked, "You? You had my sister targeted? Why?"
"Because she works for Arthur. We have to eliminate her, she is too capable. Her skills put us at risk. I knew she'd find a way to do us harm. This digital age is an annoyance." Mikalus scratched at his stubble like this was merely a slight interruption to his sleep. It drove Ivan wild.
He reached out and grabbed for Mikalus but Mikalus swatted him away like a fly. Backhanded him, sending Ivan flying across the room and smashing into the wall.
"Goddammit, I had a plan." I shouted as Wand spasmed and my arm lifted.
Sometimes I even lie to myself.
Vampire Melee
"No," I ordered Wand when sigils flared and my arm vibrated as magic surged even though I hadn't willed it.
"Why not? He just whacked your buddy."
"Because if I, or you, do anything too stupid, we'll never have peace."
I felt rather than heard Wand sigh with disappointment, but I knew I was right. That going after Mikalus physically wouldn't do me much good. Maybe I could beat him, maybe I couldn't, and that was the problem. I didn't know what he was capable of. Even if I destroyed him, I couldn't see it panning out well in the future. If I killed him then what? If I tried, and failed, then obviously I'd be in serious trouble as he didn't seem like the type of immortal vampire to take kindly to physical attacks.
No, better to just take what he'd stolen and make him promise to behave, leave me alone like Carmichael had vowed. I'd have his books, and would make a similar deal. He could have them back over time, if he kept his word.
