Abomination

by Sean Stone

  Abomination

  The Cedarstone Chronicles Book 5

  Sean Stone

  Contents

  1. Subscribe

  Also by Sean Stone

  2. Prologue

  3. Chapter 1

  4. Chapter 2

  5. Chapter 3

  6. Chapter 4

  7. Chapter 5

  8. Chapter 6

  9. Chapter 7

  10. Chapter 8

  11. Chapter 9

  12. Chapter 10

  13. Chapter 11

  14. Chapter 12

  15. Chapter 13

  16. Chapter 14

  17. Chapter 15

  18. Chapter 16

  19. Chapter 17

  20. Chapter 18

  21. Chapter 19

  22. Chapter 20

  23. Chapter 21

  24. Chapter 22

  25. Chapter 23

  26. Chapter 24

  27. Chapter 25

  28. Chapter 26

  29. Chapter 27

  30. Chapter 28

  31. Chapter 29

  32. Chapter 30

  33. Chapter 31

  34. Chapter 32

  35. Chapter 33

  36. Chapter 34

  37. Chapter 35

  38. Chapter 36

  39. Chapter 37

  40. Chapter 38

  41. Chapter 39

  42. Chapter 40

  43. Author’s Note

  44. Epilogue

  Also by Sean Stone

  45. Warlock for Hire

  46. Subscribe

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  Also by Sean Stone

  The Cedarstone Chronicles

  Cursed

  The Cult of Osiris

  The Ancients

  Reunion

  Abomination

  Arcane Inc.

  Warlock for Hire

  Warlock Wanted

  Dark Warlock

  Warlock At War

  Short Story Collections

  Horrors from Cedarstone

  Horrors from Cedarstone II

  Horrors from Cedarstone III

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  Prologue

  Naomi stared dumbfounded at the bottle in Joanne’s hand. The plain yet beautiful glass bottle was designed to imprison the most deadly jinni on the planet — possibly the most deadly being on the planet. Looking at the thin black neck leading down to the bulbous bottom of the bottle, Naomi could not believe that the monster it was supposed to hold was free. Naomi had been trained by Kayla herself to ensure that this never happened.

  Naomi took the bottle from Joanne’s extended hand. Her team watched her silently, waiting for her reaction, her instructions. The bottle was cold and light to hold. It was hard to imagine that a jinni had ever managed to squeeze inside, but of course the jinn were made of smoke and could fit in to any space no matter how small. Even for a smoke being it must have been uncomfortable. She didn’t want to imagine how furious Apophis would be after being barricaded in a bottle for ten-thousand-years or more. She didn’t want to imagine the destruction he would cause. And she certainly did not want to imagine the monumental task of stopping him. The bottle slipped from her hand and smashed on the stone floor. Shards of black glass scattered across the floor. It didn’t matter, the bottle was useless now. There was no chance of forcing Apophis back inside. They had to enact the back-up protocol. The only way to stop him now was with death.

  “We need the Spear and the Flame,” Naomi said. They had to retrieve the Spear of Ra, imbibe it with the Promethean Flame and then use it to kill Apophis.

  “So, we’re going to Cairo?” asked Joanne. Her voice was faint, she was no more pleased about their new mission than Naomi.

  “Yes. We’ll take the flame with us,” Naomi said.

  “No, we won’t,” said Sam meekly.

  “Why not?” Naomi snapped. Not willing to hear any more bad news.

  Sam was pointing at an empty pedestal on the other side of the chamber. “The Flame’s gone too,” he said.

  Once again Naomi was stunned to silence. The Promethean Flame was pure magic. Combined with the Spear it was the one thing that could end Apophis. “He must have taken it,” Naomi said, her voice trembling.

  “Why would Kayla keep them in the same room?” Sam said. Naomi ignored the question, now was not the time for dishing out blame. All that mattered was taking control of the situation.

  “Joanne, locate Kayla. Sam locate the Flame.” Joanne strode from the room to find something of Kayla’s which they could use to locate her. Sam bowed his head over the empty pedestal and began searching for answers. Naomi bowed her own head as she left the room, thinking about what steps she should take next.

  She walked through the semi-destroyed temple, heading back upstairs. The destruction could only mean one thing: Apophis had got out and gone on a rampage. Yet there was only one body in the temple and it was clearly male. Naomi reached the body and knelt beside it. There were no features on the melted white face. The man had either been bald or else his hair had been removed. His clothing was modern and casual. She placed her hand on his chest and felt for some sort of sign. Kayla had not given any of the Apophis Guard magic, but she had taught them divination. As Naomi concentrated on the body beneath her palm several images flooded her mind. A man. This man. His form was changing. First, he was a grey-haired old man, then a young girl, then a tall blonde man.

  Set. This man was Set. Enemy of Apophis. Had he finally been able to enter the chamber after all these centuries? Had he released Apophis in an attempt to kill him and had his plan backfired on him? No. Naomi saw the man who had killed Set and it was not a jinni. Tall, dark haired with handsome features and yet… something terrible. His eyes were the colour of fire. Black veins showed through his skin, running down his face and neck, disappearing beneath his clothes. This man had done the unthinkable — he had consumed the Promethean Flame. Who was he? In one hand he held a heart. In the other a dagger. Solid gold. A ruby encrusted hilt. It was the Ambrotos Dagger. This man was immortal. There were only 4 immortals created by Kayla left in the world and three of them were standing in this temple. There was only one immortal left who’d been created using the Ambrotos Dagger. Nickolas Blackwood.

  Even in the remote village the Apophis Guard had been living in for the last several centuries, they had heard of Nickolas Blackwood. The most notorious warlock in history. The boy Kayla had raised as a son. The boy she had banished after he had been corrupted by Set. Had he released Apophis? No. Another image to Naomi’s mind. Set holding the bottle in the chamber. Nickolas attacked him and the bottle fell. The stopper had come loose when Set dropped it. Apophis being released by accident seemed even worse than it happening on purpose. But still there was no vision of Kayla.

  Naomi withdrew her hand and walked away from Set’s body. Somebody should clean up the temple, it should not be left in this state. But she had no time for such duties. Her concern was Apophis.

  Joanne and Sam were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. “Did you locate Kayla and the Flame?” she asked. She knew that Nickolas had the flame but not where he had taken it.

  “Both in the same place,” replied Sam.

  “A town called Cedarstone,” Joanne added. “I did another check on jinn magic.”

  “And?”

  “There’s an awful lot of that in Cedarstone too.”

  Naomi nodded. “First we retrieve the Spear from Cairo and then we visit Cedarstone. And we’d better be quick because if Apophis has gone there then that town is in a lot of trouble.”

  Chapter 1

  Clara and her father looked up at the house.
Number 13 Bartholomew Road. The home of Nickolas Blackwood and his newly resurrected lover, Olivia. Previously the house had also housed his disciples, twelve of the world’s deadliest warlocks. As far as Clara knew, they had all moved on now. Only two remained in Cedarstone, but not in this house. Thankfully.

  “Is this really a good idea, Dad?” Clara asked, sceptical of her father’s plans. Perhaps his time in the land of the dead had deluded his mind. Or perhaps not; not all his plans had been perfectly sound before his death at the hands of Nick. Waking Nick from a fifty-year sleep had not been one of his best schemes. Though it had enabled him to defeat the council and break the curse on the Coven.

  “I learned something since waking Nickolas up. You cannot be afraid to stand strong. I let the council walk all over me for years. Only when I started standing up for myself properly did I start to achieve something,” he said emphatically.

  “I learned something since you woke Nick up too. Going near Nick gets you killed,” she shot back. Nick had murdered both her and her father in the past. Thankfully, Jamal — Clara’s former lover — had convinced Nick to resurrect her. Jamal, heartbroken as he was, had given Clara the means to resurrect her father, giving up his own life in the process.

  “Clara, sweetie, I know you’re scared. Truthfully, I am too. The man in that house is a monster. There’s no other way to describe him. But we have got to go in there and face him now. He gave you your life back which means he must not hold a grudge against you. Me on the other hand… well, he doesn’t know I’m back yet. He might not be so happy to see me. Either way, we both must go in there and be sure that all scores are settled. Then we can get on with more important things without having to worry about Nick Blackwood,” he said. He made perfect sense, but that did not change the fact that Clara still woke up after having nightmares about having her heart ripped out. She doubted those nightmares would ever stop.

  “Alright,” she said, taking a deep breath. “You’re right. He has no reason to want us dead now anyway. He’s got what he always wanted and we’re no threat to him.”

  “That’s right. And remember, I’m right here with you,” said Arthur, gripping her hand in his. She gave him a weak smile. He’d never know how much his being here meant to her. Finally, she had someone to guide her through the mess that her life now was.

  Side by side they walked up to the door and then he knocked three times. Each second they waited increased Clara’s anxiety. The more they stood there, the more certain she became that death was coming for a second time and this time it would be more permanent.

  It had been a week since their resurrections. The town had been quiet and they’d seized the opportunity to stay inside their homes and catch up after all the months they’d been apart. But they knew that the peacefulness would not last. Cedarstone was not a peaceful town and chaos was coming. MI5 must already be putting plans into action after the destruction of their team who had been sent to town to control the supernatural population. Nick and his disciples had not much cared for them, especially after being imprisoned. The entire team had been reduced to a pile of bloody limbs. Clara had already been warned of the backup plan MI5 had in place: wipe everyone in Cedarstone out. She wondered why it hadn’t happened yet.

  The door opened and a small man in a grey suit stood before them. He raised one eyebrow quizzically. “Yes?” he asked in a posh accent that had no place in Cedarstone.

  “Who are you?” The words tumbled rudely from Clara’s mouth before she could stop them. Both his eyebrows now rose up his forehead.

  “I am Alexander, the butler of this household,” he said, clearly offended.

  “Butler?” she repeated in surprise.

  “You did not expect the master of the house to answer his own door?” said Alexander, looking at her as if she was a slug who had slithered into the dining room.

  “I am Arthur Winters and this is my daughter Clara,” Arthur interrupted before Clara could cause any further offence. “We’re here to speak to Nick.”

  “I don’t believe that Mr Blackwood is expecting anybody,” Alexander said, not moving.

  “Be that as it may, I think he’ll want to see us,” said Arthur. There was no way Nick wouldn’t want to come and see the man he’d thrown off a balcony now returned from the dead, if only to confirm it was true.

  Alexander considered them for several seconds. “Very well,” he said, and then, “Follow me.” He led them through the lavishly decorated house until they came to a set of double doors. Alexander pushed one open and then held it for Clara and her father. The room was rather bare. A few red velvet chairs were against the walls, a single bookcase stood in the corner and one table was placed next to the door at the far end of the room.

  “I shall alert Mr Blackwood to your arrival,” Alexander said before he left, closing the doors behind him.

  “Snooty prick,” Clara said after he was gone. Arthur chuckled.

  “I never took Nick for the sort to have a butler,” he said. Nick had always been more hands on. And with all the magic he had what use was there for a butler?

  “Probably wants to enjoy eternity with his lover in style,” muttered Clara. He no longer had any minions to answer the door for him.

  She walked over to the bookcase to examine the books but none of them were English. “This house seems much larger on the inside. Is that possible? Could he have made it bigger on the inside than on the outside?” she asked. It was nice to be able to have someone to ask these questions. Jamal had been her mentor a long time ago but then she’d discovered that he was a mole for Nick and he hadn’t really been training her properly at all. Arthur was someone she could trust and he had a lot of magical knowledge, despite being without magic for most of his life due to the curse.

  “Normally no. I’ve never heard of a sorcerer defying the laws of physics in such a way. But with all the power Nick has… who knows?”

  Without warning Nick suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. He was one of the few who could teleport silently. Before either of them could react, Clara was flung up against the walls with enough force to knock the air from her. Arthur was sliding across the floor on his backside, an almost comical expression of surprise on his face. Clara struggled against Nick’s magic but he was far too strong. She could feel electrifying pain buzzing through her, sending every nerve haywire. Arthur began to climb to his feet but another burst of magic from Nick sent him back down again. Nick’s face was twisted with loathing. Hatred burning into Clara.

  “Nick… please…” Arthur stammered through Nick’s spell which he was using a lot of energy to try and fight.

  Nick ignored him, his deep blue eyes staring straight into Clara’s. “You. Killed. Jamal,” he said, each word sending an increased wave of pain through her. Blood dripped from her nose. At any moment, she was sure her head would explode.

  “I didn’t,” she gasped, struggling to breath.

  “He was my closest friend for half a millennium and you took him from me,” Nick accused. Through his anger, Clara could see his pain and she understood it. After all, she’d lost her father. Thanks to Nick. The thought sent a wave of anger through her and for a split second, Nick’s spell weakened. Then it came back with increased force. The wallpaper around her started to crumble away.

  “You can’t fight me, Clara. Nobody can,” he spat.

  “She didn’t take anyone from you!” Arthur screamed. He managed to get to his feet and he ran at Nick. Without looking, Nick pointed at Arthur who froze on the spot, unable to move even his eyes. He’d never felt magic as strong as this, even though he was terrified he couldn’t not be impressed by the sheer undeniable power. No curse would be able to suppress this.

  “I loved him,” Nick said, his voice cracking. “It only pains me that you will see him in the afterlife in just a few short minutes and I’ll never see him again.”

  Clara’s eyes bulged as Nick raised his other hand to send her to her death.

  “Nickolas no!”
screamed Olivia as she burst into the room. Nick froze, the furious snarl stuck on his lips. “Don’t. You. Dare,” said Olivia. If anybody else had taken that tone with Nick they would’ve been dead already, but Nick stood as still as Arthur.

  “She killed Jamal,” he said in a low growl.

  “Jamal chose to die,” Olivia said quietly. “That was his choice and you know it. His last request was that you give Clara life. Do you really want to deny him that by taking it away now?”

  “He was my friend,” argued Nick, still not taking his eyes from Clara, but his gaze had softened.

  “I know. But it wasn’t her fault. You cannot blame other people for a choice that he made. You dishonour his memory by killing in his name. Especially by killing her.”

  Nick took a sharp intake of breath and then changed tact. “Then I’ll kill in my name. She imprisoned me in a sarcophagus. Dropped me to the bottom of an ocean. Stabbed me in the heart with my own dagger.”

  “You murdered her father. Sent a spy to her bed. And ripped out her heart. I’d say you’re more than even,” said Olivia quickly. She began walking towards Nick. “These are the sorts of acts that I forgave before but cannot forgive again. You have no reason to be so treacherous anymore, Nickolas. You don’t need to be the villain. Show me the boy I fell in love with. That sweet and wonderful boy who would never murder in cold blood.” She stopped next to him and placed her hand tenderly on his shoulder. Nick sighed aggressively and dropped both hands to his sides, realising Clara and Arthur from his spells. Clara fell to her feet and straightened out her coat, still too afraid to look away from Nick.