by Andy Hyland
A clamor of voices broke out, and every door opened as the Host rose and moved. I looked at Liberty and smiled. “Think you can handle it?” I asked him. “The whole Library?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I reckon you got the tough end of the bargain. Looks like someone wants a word with you.”
Adnarel was pushing her way through a throng of bodies, eyes fixed on me. She reached us and stood with a leg cocked, hands on her hips. “I owe you an apology.”
“Pretty sure we’ve not met. Anyway, you’ve just said sorry. Let’s leave it at that.”
“I argued with him,” she continued, ignoring my words. “Told him he was foolish. That whatever he saw simply wasn’t there.” She smiled and shook her head. “I should have known, after all this time, that he wouldn’t be wrong about such a thing. He wins again.”
With that, she winked and left, losing herself among a hundred other bodies heading for the doors.
“Well,” said Liberty, looking around. “I’ve had enough of this place for a while. Let’s go home.”
“Not a bad idea,” I said, thinking about what that was going to involve. “The holiday’s over. Time to get back to work.”
I was back a whole three days before Julie called. That in itself didn’t bode well. Neither did the location - two blocks from the Outworld Emporium, in a small coffee shop. Very open. Very public. I walked in with a heavy heart, knowing what was coming, and I wasn’t surprised. After all this time, she’d finally seen me as I really was. A stone-cold killer. Not some great hero leading the charge against demons, but instead someone fully prepared to drive a knife into the heart of a fellow human being, to get the job done. I couldn’t blame her for what she thought of me now. Quite frankly, I didn’t like myself much half the time either.
She was there waiting when I arrived. Table in the center, nicely surrounded by other couples and groups, all talking, all smiling. She had her head down, flicking through something on her phone. Something tugged at my heart. She was concentrating, her face puckered in an adorably cute way, and her blonde hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail. She had one of her Emporium staff T-shirts on, loose and casual. She truly was gorgeous. And she was good. Too good.
“Hi,” I said, sitting down, determined to make it as easy as possible for her. I’d nod, and agree, and my chin would not wobble, and I Would. Not. Cry. If I could face demon lords trafficking children without blubbing, I could sure do this. Probably.
“Hi,” she said, glancing up and smiling. “Good to see you.”
“Yeah, you too.”
“I’m sorry it took so long to get in touch, but you know, you had to stay there longer than we did, and I didn’t know if you needed some time to decompress, or whatever, when you got back. And you didn’t call…so.”
“I was waiting for you to call.”
“Ah.” She put the phone down. “How are you? Really?”
“Really? I’m recovering. I’m slowly unwinding. Decompressing, as you put it. You’ve heard about the Host leaving?”
“Arabella filled me in on everything.” Was that a hint of disappointment in her voice? That I’d clearly spoken to Arabella before her? Well if it was, I deserved it.
“Still, they weren’t exactly getting their hands dirty anyway,” I continued.
“You,” Julie cut in. “I want to know about you.”
I sighed and thought before answering. “I don’t know. I’ve been through worse before, but back then I always knew what the sides were. This time round I killed people. And they weren’t evil. We’d had drinks with most of them at one time or another in the past six months. They were misled and manipulated, just like the Aware were.”
“You didn’t have a choice.”
“I know. But that doesn’t make it any easier.”
We sat in silence for a while.
“Look,” I said finally, “I understand why I’m here. And I don’t hold any grudges, and I’m not going to make it hard for you. I wish you all the best. And I hope you find someone you can be truly happy with. Goodbye, Julie.”
With that I stood up to leave, but she reached across quickly and put her hand on mine. “Please, Malachi, sit down. You don’t get it.”
Hope exploded like a bubble of sherbet in my soul, and I stuck my ass firmly back in the chair.
“I want to be with you, Malachi. Really. I love you. But -”
“Always a but,” I muttered, and she raised her eyebrows. “Sorry, go on.”
“But I don’t want to be part of your world anymore. Or the world of the Mage-born. I was dragged in - and that’s no fault of yours - and the past year’s been like a roller coaster. It’s been exhilarating, but it’s just too much. I’ve had enough. I want my comic shop back. I want to haggle with the staff over holidays. I want to rant at the landlord over the rent increase, and then laugh because he doesn’t know I could buy up half the block with the spare change in my checking account. That’s what I want. I want date nights. I want fun. I don’t want people trying to murder me on a daily basis. I don’t think any of that is unreasonable.” She touched her neck instinctively and I noticed for the first time that the feather charm on the silver chain was missing. “I resigned,” she said, seeing me looking. “I’ll miss Benny and Bud terribly, but having that round my neck, knowing what she did, what she became…no thanks.”
“I get what you’re saying, and I don’t blame you for wanting that kind of life” I said. “But I don’t see how I can be a part of it.”
“We made it work once. Not that long ago. I didn’t know then what I know now but…I’d like to try again. So you’re still my boyfriend, if that’s okay with you. You’re not being dismissed. You’re being relegated. Let’s take it down a notch, slow it up, and see what happens. How does that sound?”
“I’m still me, whatever the rest of your life looks like.”
She nodded. “And I understand that. I may not like everything you do, but in the cold light of day I know why you did it. You’re not a bad person, Malachi. You just live in a shitty world. All of us do. But you do something about it.” She leaned across and kissed me, letting her lips linger as she looked me in the eyes. “You’re my hero, whatever anyone else thinks. Now get out there and do what needs to be done.”
One last difficult conversation to have, but Zack was cool and willing to cut me a break. “I’ve been an ass,” he said bluntly as we finished our final tidy-up of the Mal-Cave. “You’ve done nothing bad by me ever, Malachi, and what did I do? I shut you out, I kept this place from you - and it’s yours for pity’s sake. And all the other stuff lately. What was I thinking?”
“You were looking after yourself and the Aware,” I told him. “Doing what I should have done. Stepping in while I took my eye off the ball.”
“No, it’s unforgivable.”
“And yet I’ve forgiven you. Five times already this morning. Can we let it drop now?”
He grinned and nodded.
“Man, that was a wild ride back there. Give me demons and hellkind any day. At least you know what the score is with them. What I’m thinking,” he said, running his hand across his stubble, “is that Eliajel is going to be a massive problem for us.”
“You’re not wrong.” I packed the last few vials of a green potion I didn’t recognize into a small brown box and stowed it on a shelf. “He admitted as much. Whatever he’s got planned, I still don’t like Max and Tabbris’ solution any better.”
“Better to be free and in the shit,” Zack agreed enthusiastically. “You ever wonder why she did it? Why she turned?”
“Every waking minute. And in the end I think she lost hope. She looked around and couldn’t see a way forward. Thought that any change was better than carrying on the way things were. What’s screwing with my mind is we still don’t know what Eliajel offered her, what convinced her that betraying the Host and killing Kushiel could give her what she wanted. I know she backpedalled and tried to screw him over, but still…it must have been somethi
ng to tempt her so strongly.”
“We’ll never know,” said Zack, jumping up on a table and letting his legs swing.
“On the contrary, I think we will, and soon. But I don’t intend to stand around waiting for it to happen. Being on the back foot sucks. It’s about time we tried to get ahead of the game.” I reached into my coat pocket and took out the package that Liberty had given me. “And if I’ve guessed at the intentions of my mysterious benefactor correctly, this is the way forward.” I waved a small box at him. Small and rectangular, ornately crafted from gold, with wisps of silver running through it like fine twirling hairs. Set into the top, in clear cut ruby, was a roughly drawn circle, with a jagged line crossing it, from top right to bottom left. The same symbol that Eliajel had been so anxious to know if I’d seen. At that point, not having unwrapped my gift from on high, I could honestly answer that I hadn’t.
“What’s in it?” Zack asked.
“Good question. It doesn’t appear to open. Could take some figuring out.”
“Well, thanks to our carefree and self-employed existence, I think we can carve out some time from somewhere. You want to get a drink?”
“Sure. You finished with the runes?”
Zack’s face fell slightly, but he nodded grudgingly. “I still think it’s a mistake. Eliajel’s coming. And who knows what else will be as well? We’ve had little to no demonic activity ever since all this shit kicked off. They’ve been sitting back, waiting for the humans to have their stupid fight. Now we’re weak - and don’t tell me we’re not, because we are - it’s going to be a power grab. And Manhattan is some pretty tempting territory. Add to that the fact that Hostly interference is now out of the question, and -” he mimed an explosion with his hands – “kaboom.”
I looked around at the boxes and crates on the shelves. He wasn’t wrong, but we’d gone through every inch of this place carefully, and it scared me. There was too much we didn’t know. “You saw what happened to Ollie. That came from here - from what Becky was doing. Cadence was right, our old friend needed a slap. She overstepped the mark. Too much in here could be even worse that those bloody worms. Besides, I made a deal with Cadence. She helped us take down Patrick, and this was what she wanted in return. Time to pay up.”
Zack knew he wasn’t going to win, and took a final loving gaze at the place as we left, taking care not to look at the stairs down to the basement. That was where we’d put all the bodies. “You do the honors,” he said. “I coded it to you.”
I nodded and placed my palm on a rune by the door as we stepped out. Streaks of green raced along the walls, and the whole area started to glow. I locked the door, and we made our leisurely way south. I knew we’d left enough time on the fuse, but it took a huge amount of willpower not to break into a run.
“Heard from Larry Dialgo?” Zack asked by way of conversation.
“Yeah. Not bad but not great. He’s in the clear since Patrick confessed and I was deemed not so wanted after all. But it was gently suggested to him that his career was finished. Consorting with undesirables, or however they phrase that kind of thing. He’s gone independent. Wants to know if we can throw any work his way.”
“He’s not exactly cut out for our line of work.”
“I know, but I figure we owe him. He stood by us. I’ll find him something on the gentler side.”
Four blocks down and we heard the explosion. The emergency services could comb through those collapsed derelict shops as long as they wanted, but they’d find nothing. A cleansing fire had taken it all away.
“That was that then,” said Zack. “We’re back to where we started, and the shit is coming.”
“Yeah,” I said with a smile, “but what the shit doesn’t know is, so are we.”
EPILOGUE
Finally, he’d tracked it down to some god-forsaken back street, and with every step, every breath, he remembered why he so seldom came Earth-side these days. After the first rush of familiarity, it was all downhill. The air was foul, the noise relentless, and even the darkness couldn’t help but be polluted by the flashing lights of passing cars. Still, he went where the job and the quarry took him, and now, surprisingly, it had led him here.
Caleb was in the right place, and he knew it. The electric lights stopped half a block back. Someone had carefully gone and sabotaged every one of them. This close to his prey, the lights would flicker, pointing the way as surely as if someone had chalked an arrow on the wall. And the smell - not sulfurous, not quite. Some chemical agent, or solid fuel, had been burnt in a nearby alley, and the fumes were overwhelming whatever odor lay beneath.
Such precautions were difficult to maintain, and would inevitably draw unwanted attention from all quarters, some easier to deal with than others. But, for now, the demon was here, and so was Caleb, and it was time, as the kids said, to get it on. He reached down and flicked open the buttons of his long leather coat. Beneath it, strapped carefully to his vest so they were firm but easy to free and wield, were his knives. Every one of them had proved itself in combat, and as he stepped forward he felt like he was leading his own army. A silly idea, but one that gave him comfort going into the darkness.
The lock took less than a minute to negotiate with his picks, and the door opened smoothly, easily, without noise or complaint. Inside was a small room with a box for mail nailed clumsily to the wall. Stairs led up to his left and down to his right. No contest. Right it was.
He freed the first knife as he edged down, holding it in his right hand and presenting himself side-on, lessening the risk of his adversary landing a critical blow on the first strike. Something his mentor had taught him all those years ago in the hellplains. He hadn’t seen Jack for years now, and sometimes wondered how he was. Maybe…but no, he flicked his attention back to the present, refusing to be drawn into memories. Only the now counted. Only in the now could he kill or be killed.
A second door presented itself at the bottom of the steps. A heavier lock on this one, and after working solidly for over two minutes he lost patience and, with a curse and a prayer, put his shoulder to use. The lock held, but the door was old and weak, and gave way with a crunch.
Darkness beyond. He called up a wisp-light and sent it bobbing into the room. Empty, but something was in the corner. An altar? It seemed more like a nest from a distance. He edged closer, sensing widely but finding nothing. Not yet. With luck he could hide here and surprise it when it returned. But first, that gathering of objects in the corner intrigued him.
After crossing the room carefully, checking for runes and tripwires all the while, he crouched before an old and tattered brown briefcase. Inside it sat something that resembled a child’s attempt at a chemistry experiment. A tapered beaker stood at the center, and around it lay scattered and cracked vials. The beaker itself was filled half-full with a dark silver liquid, and something bobbed just below the surface. Caleb sniffed carefully. It wasn’t acid. Carefully he tipped the beaker and reached inside, gently pulling out a small white egg. Something was sticking out - a feather. Half black, half white. This could be of significance. Perhaps Benny would know -
He heard the footstep a fraction too late. An arm snaked around his neck while another reached under his arm and extracted a knife, pressing it against a gap in his ribs. “You should have said you were coming,” Eliajel said amiably. “I’d have prepared some food, some drink, maybe cleaned up a bit. You can’t imagine how embarrassed I am having you see the place like this. Now, very gently, put that back. Immediately, if you please, before I get all jittery.” To make his point, the knife edged into Caleb’s flesh.
Caleb slowly and carefully put the egg back in the beaker, and stood it up in its original position. Then he held both hands up, open in surrender. The best that he could hope for now was a careless mistake on Eliajel’s part. Which he doubted would happen, but he’d need to be prepared just in case.
“What to do now?” Eliajel wondered. “Much is done, but I still have a long path ahead, and if you coul
d find me once you could find me again. Are you working alone?” Caleb nodded. “Yes, I believe you. You’ve never been one for working with others for too long. Such skill. Such determination. It seems a shame to have it all go to waste. Fortunately for you, I have a position that has recently opened. We are expecting guests, and when they come I will require an ambassador. Would you be interested?”
“I could say yes, but we both know I’d be lying.”
“Your honesty is appreciated. I mean that most sincerely. But for what I had in mind, neither your permission nor your free will are required. Now hold still. You may find this a little uncomfortable.”
Without further warning the knife left his ribs and traveled to Caleb’s throat. He let out a curse as he realized too late that his chance, his opening, had come and gone in less than a second. The blade bit deeply into his throat and the word died half-born. Warm blood started to pour down his neck and chest. Stars danced before his eyes. Behind him Eliajel, still gripping firmly, began an incantation. Pain blossomed in Caleb’s chest, reaching along his veins to every extremity. Unable to scream, he waited for the coldness of death. But it didn’t come. The cold and the darkness did not come.
So What Happens Next?
Well, together we’ve made it through book three. Two more to go, to see exactly what that rascal Eliajel’s got planned, and who, if anyone, is going to walk away on the other side of it.
Book 4 in the series, A Mage’s Quest: Plague Town, is well underway, and depending when you read this, may well already be out. If so, please feel free to check it out. In the meantime, keep up to date with news, events and freebies at www.andyhyland.net.
Outside of the novels, other important events in the world of the story are made available as free short stories, in a wide variety of electronic files to suite whatever reading device you’re currently using. All you need to do is to join the Aware, a Malachi English universe mailing list. If you haven’t already done so, then head over there right now and grab some good stuff: www.andyhyland.net/aware
