A Glimmer of Hope

by Steve McHugh

  “So, Elias had an Avalon office wiped out?” Diana asked.

  “My guess is yes. He vanished soon after, and didn’t reappear for another hundred years, working for Nergal.”

  “So, Elias was born in Dorset, that’s what you’re saying?” Chloe said.

  “Yep.”

  “Dorset is a big place,” Kasey said. “We’d never find him in time.”

  Harry raised his hand again, immediately putting it down when he caught himself doing it. “Like I said earlier, I may have found him.”

  “How?” Tommy asked.

  “Redcaps murder their families. Anyone in the family home on the night they take the ritual is killed. Now, Avalon doesn’t care about human murders for the most part, so none of you would ever have seen this, but I checked out all local murders at the time. It was hard work, but I found something.”

  A picture of a manor house alongside a painting of a man and woman arrived on the screen. “This is Elias’s mum and dad. I checked murders from the early eighteen hundreds, and from the notes you made when you interviewed Layla about what had happened to her, I found that Elias mentioned he’d murdered his parents.”

  “Yes, he did say that.” Layla said. “I’d almost forgotten.”

  “Well, at the time double murders of middle-aged people weren’t exactly common in the area. There was more crime, and certainly more murders, but double murders of wealthy landowners were always going to get someone’s attention. And they did. A local wrote about the crime and passed the information on to whoever investigated. Over the years the information was logged into the bowels of whatever government building it now sits in, but there’s been a big leap in putting these old documents online for people to read. And people love a good murder mystery, so these went online about two years ago. There are whole websites dedicated to murders in various time periods.

  “On the fourteenth of May, 1839, Mr. and Mrs. Wells were murdered in their homes. Their throats were slit and each was stabbed exactly twelve times in the chest. There’s not a lot more to go on, but three months later the deeds of the house were passed on to one Elias Wells.”

  “Where’s the house?” Tommy asked, eagerness in his voice.

  Another picture arrived on screen. “This is Google Earth. This is Elias’s manor house. It’s not too far from Dorchester. The site is well maintained, and yet no one is ever spotted going in or out. I called the local newspaper and spoke to a helpful woman about it; it’s known as the murder house, even after all these years. She said that it was apparently sold to a business a decade ago, but no one has ever come to work on it. They think it’s being kept while the land’s price increases.”

  “It looks in good keeping.”

  “Yeah, that’s the thing about the curse on a redcap: it means they age slowly. The property they do the ritual in also ages slowly. The grass almost never grows, there’s no dust or cobwebs. The reporter said that there’s a rumor in town that it’s cursed, as no birds fly over it.”

  “You could have just told us this to begin with,” Diana said.

  “Always show your work. No one would believe me if I just put that picture up and said it’s where Elias was. You’d have wanted proof. Now you have it.”

  “I could kiss you,” Remy said. “I won’t, but the feeling is there.”

  People filed out of the room in quick succession, leaving Layla behind. “You did good, Harry. Thank you.”

  “I like it here. I like the people; I like feeling like I’m helping. I might ask if I can stay on. I think I can make a difference.”

  “I think you’re right.” Layla walked around the table and hugged her friend. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re not hurt, and I’m really glad you’re my friend. Thank you. For everything.”

  Harry winked. “Go help them kick the shit out of Elias. He deserves it. Then you can buy me a bottle of wine as thanks. Expensive red wine.”

  “Deal.” Layla ran off, almost bumping into Tommy, which was useful because that was who she was looking for.

  “I want to go with you,” she told him.

  “I figured you might. You shouldn’t. You’re not a member of the team, but you’ve proved yourself over and over, so I’m willing to change my own rules. When this is done, would you consider working for me?”

  “I don’t know. Ask me when it’s over.”

  Tommy nodded that he understood. “Harry has a job here if he wants it, by the way. Human or not, his brain scares me.”

  “It scares everyone, but he’ll like that.”

  “I’ll talk to him. Let’s not start celebrating until Elias is done. One way or another.”

  Layla nodded and ran off to get ready. This was going to be the last time she had to deal with Elias Wells. Like Tommy had said, one way or another.

  36

  It had taken several hours for an injured Elias to reach his home, even with Reyes’s help. They’d wanted to make sure they weren’t being followed, and so switched cars three times and drove through Wiltshire to get to Elias’s manor.

  After that, an exhausted Elias just wanted to complete the ritual, and imbue himself with all of the power from the spirits he’d taken over the last few years. He’d stashed his hat at the manor a few days earlier, just in case plans went awry and Tommy’s people found it. The sight of it on the dining-room table had made his heart soar.

  The ritual was complicated and took a day to complete, something he hadn’t the time to do while dealing with Layla and Chloe; rushing such an important thing was unwise. But now they were no longer in his custody, he wanted to get the ritual done as soon as possible. Retiring to his bedroom, he drew the necessary glyphs on the walls and floor, taking his time to get them correct, as he muttered the incantation over and over. During that time the ritual was in effect, he was completely helpless as the spirits he’d taken flooded his body. Once it was done, Elias slept for nearly twenty hours, and woke feeling refreshed and ready to fight an army.

  Now that he was back to full strength, Elias was stronger, faster, and considerably more resistant to harm than he had been before. He pulled at his fingers, making each of them crack in turn.

  Reyes politely coughed from Elias’s bedroom door. “Nergal wants you.”

  “Excellent.” Elias followed his companion to the drawing room, to find Nergal’s face on the laptop screen.

  “Elias, I assume you’re feeling well.”

  “Better than I have in a long time.”

  “You have failed me, Elias. Masako is in enemy hands, as is Shane. I have my own spies within Avalon; they are saying that Tommy will not allow Avalon access to them. Unfortunately, his wife is doing a good job of ensuring that doesn’t change.”

  “You want me to go after Olivia Carpenter?”

  “No, I’m just telling you exactly where you stand right now. As of this moment, you no longer work for me. You’ve failed to bring me the girl Layla, and frankly I believe that it would be easier for me to find another way to get to her father, or indeed spend time and effort in creating someone who has the same power. You’ve failed to do anything but fail. You even got Dara killed. You were a great asset to my team for a long time, Elias, but that time has come to an end.”

  Rage bubbled up inside of Elias as he watched Nergal’s lips move.

  “So, for those reasons, I think I need to cut you loose. If you manage to get out of the mess you’ve made, feel free to come back and beg for your job, but otherwise you’re either going to be dead or arrested. And if you get arrested, well, we’ll just have to make sure you keep quiet. I’m sorry it’s come to this.”

  “You think I’d rat you out? You think that after all these decades of doing your shitty dirty work that I’d rat you out like some common punk thug? How dare you question me, Nergal, how dare you imply that I would be anything but loyal to you and the cause? You want to disavow me, fine, do it, but I’m not getting captured, and I’m sure as hell not getting arrested.

  “Here’s
what I’m going to do. I’m going to kill Layla and Chloe and the rest of those assholes who just don’t know when to quit. And when they’re all dead, I’m coming for you. I’m going to tear you apart, Nergal. You think you can threaten and betray me like this? You think I’m going to rat you out? I’m going to take your secrets to the grave, but you’re going there first.”

  Nergal’s eyes narrowed. “You would do well not to threaten me, Elias.”

  “Shove it firmly up your arse, or ass depending on which word you prefer. You’re thousands of miles away, hiding in a bunker so that people like Tommy don’t find you. You’re a coward, and frankly I’m not sure if you’re still capable of being in control. Maybe I should go to your bosses and let them know how you’ve failed. Perhaps that would be a better use of my time.”

  “Reyes, kill Elias.”

  “No, I don’t think I will. I’m not a big fan of Elias, I think he’s a pompous dick, but you just cast him away after a hundred years of service. I think he—I think anyone—deserves better than that. So I’m with him to the end. And if he decides to go after you, then I’ll rethink my position, but right now he’s the one I’m loyal to.”

  “I will have your eyes torn out,” Nergal shouted at the screen.

  “How?” she asked. “Unless you have the power to come through the screen like that girl out of The Ring? Can you do that? Can you crawl out of a laptop screen? No? Well, blow me, then.” She turned and marched out of the room.

  “If you survive the onslaught, I will hunt you down, Elias. I will carve my name into your soul.”

  “You’ve been watching too many eighties action films if you think that’s an effective threat. I’ll be seeing you real soon, Nergal. Probably down the barrel of a high-powered rifle.” Elias switched the laptop off and stared at the black screen. He grabbed the computer and smashed it over and over again onto the table, showering the whole area in pieces of glass and electronics.

  “So, I assume you have a plan?” Reyes asked from the doorway.

  “Thank you for staying with me.”

  “Don’t tell me it means something to you. You paid me, not Nergal. I’m part of your team until the end, so let’s get this done. I’m not planning on dying here, Elias. Don’t think you’ve earned that level of loyalty.”

  “Even so, thank you. We have a lot to do to prepare for the inevitable attack.”

  “How do you know they’ll even come here? No one knows you have this place; no one even knows it exists. So how do you go about getting Tommy and his people to come for you?”

  “Leave an anonymous tip. Tell them that someone matching my description is here. Or just tell them that I’m actually here. I don’t really care. This place should suffice to keep us safe when they come.”

  “So, it’s just the two of us against an army?”

  “No. I have some plans for them when they get here. You’ll find everything you need in the basement. The door to it is in the kitchen. I’m going to get the backup we’ll need.”

  “Backup?”

  “Trust me.”

  Elias left the house and walked through the field behind it until he reached a large pile of stones that had probably been there for a thousand years. The pile was twenty feet high and sat at the bottom of a steep hill. He had no idea who’d put it there. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was what was underneath. He walked around to the side of the pile where there was a large gap between the stone and the hill. He stepped into the mouth of the cave, peering deeper into the darkness inside.

  “It’s me,” he shouted, taking a step into the huge cave.

  “It has been a long time,” something called from the depths, the voice reverberating off the walls.

  “I know, but I need you. They killed Brako.”

  There was a low rumble from down in the darkness. “He was always too keen to fight. Always too inexperienced to follow through.”

  “Will you help me?”

  The laughter that followed sent a shiver up Elias’s back. It was a laughter filled with evil intent. “Will I get to kill people from Avalon?”

  “Yes.” It was a slight lie, but one that he told easily. These people might not work for Avalon, but they were allied with his enemies inside the organization. They were all the same thing as far as he was concerned. “As many as you can.”

  The laughter sounded again. “Things have changed since you last came for me, Elias. My appetites have grown.”

  “Feast. Feast on your enemies and grow stronger for it.”

  “I will help you, Elias. But I hope you’re prepared for what will happen. Innocent lives might be lost.”

  “No life is innocent.”

  “How true. I will prepare. We will be ready.”

  “Thank you.” Elias left the cave and paused as he realized that the creature in the cave had said we. There should only be the one female down there. Which left an excellent question: just how many creatures of pure evil was he about to unleash on an unsuspecting countryside? Elias shrugged. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he won. And he’d just made sure that he would.

  He looked over past the dozen different rocky formations that littered his property toward the trees a few hundred feet away that signaled the end of his land. The birds diverted so as not to fly over it. The dark magic he’d used here had seeped into the land, tainting everything. The animals knew. They always knew. And soon enough, Tommy and his people would know too. Elias smiled. It was going to be a good day.

  37

  Six armored BMWs arrived outside of the mansion early in the morning, the noise of them waking Layla up. She quickly showered and got dressed, then ran downstairs, to be greeted by Tommy, who passed her some black body armor that covered most of her torso, along with pads for her elbows and knees.

  They would be leaving Masako at the mansion, with several agents to keep an eye on her. Tommy was certain that, even if she did escape, she wouldn’t hurt any of his people. Layla didn’t believe it for a second, but as Tommy knew her better, she deferred to him.

  “Not a request,” he told her, and she didn’t argue, instead walking off to get changed. Today would be the day her life became free of Elias. She would make sure of that. But Elias would be ready, she was sure of that too.

  “It’s possible that these people will have guns,” Remy told Layla as she entered the living room after getting ready. Also in the room were Jared and Chloe, and all of them wore the same armor that she had been handed. “This armor is rune scribed. It’ll stop a few bullets and make sure that magic doesn’t tear you apart. We have a dwarf on staff who makes them.”

  “You have a dwarf?”

  “Yeah, a dwarf. As in Norse dwarf. They’re alchemists. It’s a long story, I’ll explain later. Anyway, he makes these things.”

  “They’re life-savers,” Jared said. “Literally, in my case.”

  “You got a minute?” Chloe asked. Layla nodded and the pair left the room, walking to the kitchen. “I just want to say that I know you said you were going to try to forget about what happened, but if anything goes south today, I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you.”

  Layla grabbed her friend and hugged her. “Let’s just move forward. And nothing is going south, Chloe. We’re going to get Elias and drag his sorry, no-good, murdering ass back here.”

  An hour later, Layla was in one of the armored vehicles with several of Tommy’s people. They were all silent as they contemplated what would happen next.

  The tension and anticipation was almost too much to bear, and Layla wondered how people did this on a regular basis. The idea of driving toward what was sure to be a battleground wasn’t something she’d ever thought she’d entertain.

  After driving into a section of woods bordering Elias’s property, the BMWs all stopped. Everyone got out, and Tommy beckoned them over.

  “Right, this isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Elias is going to fight, as is Reyes, but they don’t have anyone else. Look ou
t for traps and mines, and stay away from open spaces. We’re going to split into three groups, and each will take one side. Chloe, Layla, Remy, you’re with Kase and me. We’re going the shortest distance from trees to buildings. There are a few small rock formations that should give us cover if we need it, but don’t go crazy.

  “From what we can ascertain the house has two floors, but there’s also a basement, so when you get in make sure you take the time to do a room by room search. Try to leave the basement for last; I don’t want anyone getting trapped down there.”

  “Any info on fighting a fully powered redcap?” Chloe asked. “I fought him when he was seriously underpowered last time.”

  “Yeah, he’ll be much stronger, faster, more able to heal. My advice is don’t get anywhere near him, at least not alone. He’ll be as strong and fast as I am. If he engages any of you, run. Trying to be a hero will get you dead.”

  He took a moment to look at each and every person there. “Take it slow and steady. There’s no rush. These assholes aren’t going anywhere. You’ve all got five minutes to get into position, then we go together.”

  The three groups moved off toward their assigned areas, while Tommy took a moment to talk to everyone who remained. “We’re going to move up toward the rocks over there. Layla, you’re going to have to get Elias’s attention. I need him focused on us, not on those people about to rush the house. There’s no way both of them can focus on all three groups.”

  Layla nodded and the group set off toward the side of the manor house, pausing momentarily at the edge of the tree line, before sprinting across the grass toward the first rock formation. They jutted up from the ground every few dozen feet, but that still left several feet of exposed ground to cover. Layla knew that if Elias or Reyes were using any kind of rifle, it wouldn’t be a difficult shot for someone to make.