Chase considered it then shook his head. “I think I’ll stay behind you if you don’t mind.”
I turned my attention back to the door and prepared the next spell.
“Uh, Alex?” asked Chase, breaking my concentration. “Do you have, like, some holy water or a wooden stake I could hold onto for a bit?”
“Sorry, bud, I don’t exactly walk around with those things in my pocket. Believe it or not, most vampires are pretty cool. Killing them isn’t something I normally do.”
“But you’re going to now?”
“Only if we’re lucky,” I muttered as I unleashed the ball of raw magical energy I’d been summoning.
The blast took the door clean out of its frame. It flew backwards into the cluster of angry vampires waiting for us in what looked like a mix of sterile laboratory and nightclub private lounge. Large refrigeration units took up most of one wall, and several glasses sat on the bar, some of them still full of blood that had just been poured from one of the custom taps set into the counter.
The vampires hesitated, coiled and ready to either fight or run. As much power as they held over the average human, they had nothing on even a minor mage like me when I was in full effect. My entrance had sent exactly the message I’d hoped for, and although I could see the flicker of impulse eating away at one or two of them, not one of the vampires dared challenge me.
“What do you want?” asked a calm vampire standing behind the bar.
“You know who I am?” I asked.
He nodded once.
“Then you know what I did to your boss.” I let that sink in for a second, and I was happy to see several of the vampires shift uneasily. “I’m guessing this place has another door, and I suggest anyone who doesn’t want to see how fireproof they are use that exit right now.”
All but three of the vampires scurried for an opening at the back of the room. The bartender was one of those who held his ground, and he glared at me with undisguised disdain.
“This establishment is protected by the Conclave,” he snarled. “A move against us is a move against them. Think before you act, girl.”
“Oh, I’ve thought long and hard about what I’m about to do,” I said with a grin. “And now I’m going to enjoy watching you burn.”
Mage fire sprouted from my outstretched hands, igniting everything from the entrance all the way back to the bar in one magnificent gout of magic fire. Acting as part liquid and part flame, the mage fire clung to every surface, shattering the glass on the refrigeration units, and melting bags of blood in an instant. The two vampires who’d held their ground disappeared in a blur before the fire could reach them, but the bartender wasn’t so lucky. His clothing burst into flames before he could make it to the back exit.
The fire melted and incinerated everything in its path, sparing not even metal or concrete. If left unchecked, it would burn the whole block down before spreading throughout the city. I’d learned my lesson back at Xiang Wei’s office, and rather than leaving a flaming mess for some other mage to clean up, I cast a quick containment spell around the building as I followed Chase back up the stairs and out of the building. It took a considerable amount of energy to maintain, but it was well worth the effort.
We retreated to the sidewalk opposite the Golden Phoenix where we turned back and watched it burn to the ground.
“Did you do that for me?” asked Chase after the roof collapsed in on itself.
“In part,” I said. “But mostly it was to send a signal to the Conclave. Tonight I learned Eskola went to them for help coming after me, and that they’ve been tracking me by my use of magic. I wanted to send them a clear message that I’m not going to let them push me around.”
Chase squinted against the brilliance of the blazing inferno. Orange white light flickered across his features. “I’d say mission accomplished then.”
“Yeah, we should actually get the hell out of here.”
Chase was only too happy to follow when I led him away from the smoldering remains of the restaurant and down the first side street. I didn’t understand exactly how the Conclave was locating me based on my use of magic, but I had to hope they couldn’t track me after the fact. I’d need to put an immediate halt to any further use of my power if I was to have any chance of keeping them off my back long enough to deal with Eddie.
I also had to protect us from any vampires out looking to avenge their boss. If it had been safe for me to use my magic, I might have used a masking spell to hide us from fae who would be looking to cash in on a reward for reporting our whereabouts, but that would only allow the Conclave to home in on my exact location.
“We need to keep an eye out for vampires,” I told Chase. “I don’t think any of them stuck around after what I did there, but we can’t be too careful.”
“Where are we going?” asked Chase. “Should we call a cab or something?”
“No, we’re within walking distance of our next stop,” I said as I turned off into a residential neighborhood. “This is going to bring up some tough memories, but we have to go to Jessica’s place.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“This might go faster if you told me what we’re looking for,” Chase said as he scanned through Jessica’s computer files. “It’s creepy enough going through her emails and personal documents. I don’t understand why this has to be such a big secret.”
“Just look for encrypted or hidden files,” I called from the bedroom. “I’d explain if I could, but it’s super complicated.”
“You could have explained it by now with all the time you’ve spent telling me why you can’t tell me anything.”
My head ached from the effort of entering and attacking the blood bank, and the sour aftertaste of magic lingered in my throat despite having gone through half a pack of gum on the walk to Jessica’s house. The very fact that Chase couldn’t accept that there were things he’d never know was reason enough for me not to tell him about the Chroniclers. It didn’t make it any easier to keep hiding the truth from him, but the more he bugged me for answers, the more I was reminded of how impossible it was for him to ignore information best left un-pursued. Even the hint of a secret society that monitored magic users and creatures would be enough to send him down the wrong path, tripping flags that would have a Chronicler hunting him down in no time.
Chase was my friend, probably the closest I had, but there were lines that had to be drawn. As much as I cared for him, he could never be fully part of my world. There were reasons mages rarely associated with the ungifted. I was beginning to understand just how difficult it was to maintain a friendship amidst so many lies and half truths.
And in regards to what we were looking for, I could hardly tell Chase we were tearing through Jessica’s personal effects in search of whatever notes she might have kept on Eddie. I knew where Eddie supposedly lived, but there was no possible way a Dark mage that powerful would be trying to unlock the power of such an ancient artifact in the dingy one bedroom apartment I’d once helped him stumble home to after he’d had too much to drink. Even though most mages didn’t care about money, it simply wasn’t practical to work complex magic in a space that wasn’t private and large enough to maintain secrecy when a spell eventually backfired or had unexpected side effects.
It was why most mages were drawn to castles and huge Victorian mansions with hidden passageways. I didn’t believe for a second that anyone would answer the door if we went to his apartment.
Jessica had said her place was warded for protection, and I wondered if those wards extended to detection of magic the same way Dante had told me The Bolt-Hole was protected. If that was the case, I could cast a few spells and most likely narrow the search down dramatically. It was a big risk for something that might not even work.
Instead, I continued sifting through boxes in her closet before moving on to the drawer of her nightstand. The handcuffs, lube, and a long purple vibrator weren’t surprising; but what lay beneath them in relative plain sight was.
I opened the book to the first blank page, and I watched as inked text appeared before my eyes.
Alex,
If you’re reading this, it most likely means I’m dead. I’m writing this while you’re with Chase in the other room, and all I can say is that I’m sorry you were both caught up in this mess. I assume you know of my involvement with the Chroniclers by now, and that you must have a lot of unanswered questions. Please know that I would have told you everything if only my oath allowed it.
This book is protected so it can only be read by members of my order or specific people to whom I’ve granted permission. Please pass this on to my successor if you’re able, as there is much I haven’t had time to properly submit to our records.
I’d caution you against going after Eddie, but from what I’ve seen of your stubbornness, I doubt you’d listen anyways. Be safe, and be strong.
- Jessica
Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them away and flipped through blank pages until I found the sections she’d made visible for me. There were years worth of notes written in dense script, and it took me a while to make sense of everything. Anxiety flared when I read her concerns that Eddie was far more powerful than she’d first imagined him to be, and I felt sick to my stomach at the detailed description of the spells he’d been using to control the kryte right before my eyes.
Notes at the back of the section went into further detail, outlining the repetitive hand movements required to maintain constant control over such a powerful fae creature. Only a mage of great skill could keep hold of a beast in such a manner, and yet Eddie had developed a spell that made it look like nothing more than a series of obsessive compulsive tics. Not only had he been masking his magical abilities this whole time, but he’d actually been casting spells under the nose of a mage and a Chronicler with neither of us having a clue what he was doing until it had been much too late to stop him.
The second last page of notes contained an address with three question marks scrawled next to it. I recognized the area as a neighborhood known for its ostentatiously large houses, and I knew immediately that it was where I’d find Eddie. Half the houses in that part of the city screamed Insane Black Mage Hideout, and now I had the address where I’d hopefully find the one I was looking for.
“You can stop searching,” I told Chase when I came back into the room.
“Found what you were after?”
“Yeah.”
I sat down opposite him and set the book down on the table.
“Is that it?”
“It is.”
Chase picked it up and tried to open the small metal lock. As flimsy as it looked, it didn’t budge at his attempts to dislodge it. I didn’t say anything when he swept aside a few old magazines and picked up a folding knife. He wedged the tip of the blade under the lock and twisted as hard as he could. There was a snap of metal, and Chase held the blade up for me to see.
The tip had snapped clean off.
“Sorry,” he said as he handed the book back. “I have no idea how to get into it.”
“I already read it,” I told him. “We need to have a little talk first though.”
He leaned forward and eyed me warily. “Okay. Am I in trouble?”
“No, it’s nothing like that.” For the tenth time that night, I considered telling him everything. Of all the people I’d ever known, surely Chase could handle the truth. “If you’re going to continue being my friend, we have to establish some boundaries. You’re going to have a lot more questions than I can answer, but you’re going to have to start respecting my right to keep secrets from you.”
“Seriously? What kind of lame arrangement is that?”
“One that will keep you alive,” I said, interrupting him before he could protest any further. “I know that sounds dramatic, and I know I’ve been trying to keep you away from danger until now, but this is different.”
“I don’t understand why you can’t trust me with this, Alex. You know I’m not going to tell anyone. For fuck’s sake, I almost became a vampire trying to save you, and you can’t tell me your bullshit magic secrets?”
“This isn’t about me trusting you,” I said. “This is about what other parties might do to you if they ever found out you knew about them. It’s bad enough I told you about the Conclave. I need you to understand that the smart play on my part is to wipe your memory and walk away from you. It’s only because of everything you’ve done that you’re even sitting on that couch about to come with me to face off against the most dangerous Black mage this city has probably ever seen.”
“Okay,” Chase said softly. “I’ll respect your need for secrets.”
“No, Chase, I don’t want to hear it — wait, did you say okay?”
Chase grinned and I wanted to punch the bastard for being such an impossibly good guy. Instead, I got up and went over to him, leaning down to wrap my arms around his shoulders while mumbling my thanks into his jacket.
“I get it,” he said. “I’m sorry for being such a pain in the ass, but I get it. I’m not like you, and I can’t expect to know all the secrets of your world.”
I sat next to him and leaned on his shoulder. It felt good to have this small moment of normal friendship. Don’t judge. This was about as normal as things ever got for me.
“Did you learn what you needed to know?” asked Chase.
“I did.”
“And are we going to go fuck up this Eddie guy before he can kill every human in a thousand miles?”
“I hope so, Chase. I sure as hell hope so.”
He stood up and offered his hand to me.
“Then let’s do this if we’re going to do it,” he said as he pulled me up to my feet. “The fate of the world rests in our hands, Alex. How fucking cool is that?”
I wanted to run to the toilet to puke my guts out. Instead I put on my best fake smile, wondering if I’d even be alive when the sun came up again.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Before we left, Chase plugged a flash drive into Jessica’s computer. Using a VOIP program run through several proxy servers, he placed a relatively untraceable call for a taxi to pick us up at an address a few blocks away. He then used the last of his cash to pay the fare. Unspoken between us was that it wouldn’t matter that we couldn’t afford a ride back home if we didn’t figure out a way to stop Eddie. It was do or die time, and I tried not to think of what hung in the balance.
“Why aren’t you this rich?” asked Chase when we approached Eddie’s house.
We’d told the driver to drop us off nearby, walking the last bit of the way so as not to alert anyone to our arrival. In the end, we need not have worried, since the house was so fully concealed behind massive hedges that no one inside would have been able to see us coming. It was only after walking to the edge of the block and ducking into the forested land bordering the property that we were able to sneak around the high brick wall separating the grounds from the street out front.
“Eddie has probably been alive for centuries, and he’s a Dark mage without a lot of qualms about doing some pretty questionable things in the name of personal advancement,” I explained. “Those of us with more clearly defined moral values tend to frown on using our arts for things like gambling or manipulating the stock market in our favor.”
“I dunno,” said Chase. “You could probably stand to charge a lot more at least. How much is that Weathersby lady paying you to solve her husband’s murder?”
“A thousand,” I said.
It had seemed like a lot at the time. Given all that I’d been through, and all that I’d lost along the way, it seemed impossible that I’d jumped so willingly into this mess.
“Here’s hoping you get a bonus,” said Chase.
Kneeling in the damp gra
ss, I squinted into the darkness and scanned the large yard. If Eddie was performing the kind of magic necessary to unlock the power of the Duan Marbhaidh, it was safe to assume he’d have powerful wards in place to protect him from drawing the attention of other mages — or worse, the Conclave. If that was true, there was a very good chance I could use magic again now that we were safely inside the boundary of his property.
With my mage sight active, the mansion looked exactly as I’d expect the home of any powerful mage to appear. Powerful protection spells arched up over the property like a geodesic dome constructed of sunbeams and stardust. They were so artfully woven that their power was obvious. Still, it was near impossible to discern what they actually did.
Too late to do anything about it, I realized there had most likely been an intruder detection spell, and that we’d probably walked right through it on our way into the back yard. Sure enough, when I turned to look behind us, the magic barrier had been marked with an outline of our entry point, resealing itself while leaving the exact location of the breach visible to anyone with the sight coming to check on it.
“Shit,” I said under my breath as I motioned for Chase to hug the ground.
The sound of Chase’s breathing beside me seemed to echo across the yard. I lay as still and quiet as I possibly could, listening for even the slightest movement. No one seemed to be coming out to look for us, and I wondered if Eddie had been so bold as to not leave anyone in place to guard his home. When it came to protecting themselves, mages who’d attained great power and lived a long as long as Eddie tended to fall on either end of a scale that stretched from extreme paranoia to wild overconfidence that their magic would keep them safe.
It seemed luck favored us that night, and that we’d have a clear path to the house. Maybe Eddie’s psychological problems weren’t entirely disguise after all. He’d have to be a little off kilter to think no one would try to stop him. Then again, he’d already proven that when he’d set out to unlock the power of the Duan Marbhaidh.
Black Magic (Black Records Book 1) Page 25
