A Mage's Gambit: New York Falling (A Malachi English book)

by Andy Hyland

  I stepped forward, ready to move into the center of the room and get this over with, but Simeon put his hand on my shoulder and shook his head. ‘He’s going to make us wait. We’ll have to watch him deal with matters of state. Nothing interesting or important, merely a way of making us appreciate how busy and special he is.’

  ‘Great,’ I replied through gritted teeth.

  ‘Politics,’ said Simeon. ‘What can you do?’

  A tall demon, skinless and leaving bloody footprints on the ground when he moved, entered the room. Two Jorogumo skittered in at his side, bodies low to the floor in supplication. He was naked apart from some pelts slung over his shoulder which fanned open across his back.

  ‘What are those skins?’ Zack whispered. ‘Look familiar. Goat?’

  ‘Goats don’t have noses. Or earrings, for that matter,’ Simeon answered. ‘There’s only one pelt that carries any kind of status around here.’

  Sitri’s general looked over and beckoned him forward. ‘Lashark, scout of the plague deserts. What report do you bring to the court?’

  Lashark bowed low. His voice was mellow and honeyed. ‘The Fades are in motion. The ratten horde is moving for the first time in centuries. The scattered tribes are unifying and passing into hell.’

  Sitri leaned forward, interested, one eye on me.

  ‘Ratten horde,’ Arabella said in a low voice. ‘That’s Molech’s outfit, isn’t it?’

  ‘Certainly is,’ I said. ‘Ten bucks said that Sitri knew what that report was going to be and made damn sure I was in the room to hear it. Bastard.’

  ‘Don’t knock information,’ said a new voice on my shoulder. ‘Nobody’s going to give it in a spirit of friendship around here, so take it when it comes and make some use of it. Follow me. We need to speak.’

  The voice belonged to a human, taller than me by a couple of inches, clad in leather trousers and waistcoat, with a wide-brimmed hat. Runic tattoos stretched up his bare arms, the signs active and pulsing. What really struck me, though, were the knives. Curved, hooked, straight, black, silver – twenty or more were strategically strapped around his torso, ready for use at a moment’s notice. If you went in for a hug with this guy, you’d come out lacerated.

  ‘Please.’ He gestured to a side hall, currently empty apart from a group of diplomats huddled in the far corner, and a couple of messengers hunched down and getting what rest they could. Sitri was questioning Lashark about some far regions I had no knowledge of or interest in, so I nodded and discreetly stepped back, following this new arrival.

  ‘Name’s Caleb,’ he said, offering his hand. ‘Used to have a last name. Don’t see a point in it anymore. Nobody alive who knows it anymore, anyway.’

  ‘Malachi,’ I said. I attempted to give a firm handshake, but his grip was like a steel vice.

  ‘True you got that name from a…you know?’ His voice dropped, wisely. You didn’t want to get heard saying that stuff around here.

  ‘All true,’ I confirmed, but didn’t go into any details. Wasn’t something I spoke about with strangers.

  Seeing he wasn’t getting anything more in that direction, he nodded and let it go. ‘I’m a tracker for Sitri,’ he continued. ‘Wondering if you -’

  ‘You’re a what?’ I broke in. ‘But you’re human, right?’ I double-checked, reaching out my my senses, but first impressions were correct. There was nothing obviously demonic about him, apart from the psychic stench that would come from spending too long around this place.

  ‘Tracker,’ he repeated, with a wry smile. ‘Yeah, sounds wrong, doesn’t it? But I got to living over here permanently a while ago. Stopped going back earthside after everyone I knew had passed over in one way or another. Needed to make a living somehow, you know? And it’s good work. I like travelling, and you get less hassle when you’re working for the court. Sitri’s still a joke in some regions, but nobody’ll openly insult him. Yet.’

  ‘Never heard of Sitri working with humans before.’

  ‘He’s pragmatic about things. If you’re good enough, he’ll use you. Every now and then some dick comes along who wants to prove himself by taking me out. It ends badly for them, builds my reputation.’

  ‘You don’t find the work…distasteful?’ I said, choosing my words carefully. I didn’t want to offend him, and with some of the stuff I’d done for money I was skating on the thin ice over the lake of hypocrisy.

  ‘No more so than any other kind of work,’ Caleb replied. ‘I used to be an accountant, once upon a time. Saving tax for corrupt leeches who still bitched about the bill. In some ways the work here is more honest. And you’d be surprised what you find. Few years ago, I came across some slaves lost in the Magevven hills. Gave Benny a heads-up.’

  ‘That was you?’ He nodded. ‘Guess I owe you then. What do you need help with?’

  ‘I’ve been trying to get a fix on a small demon. Major pain in the ass. Goes by several names. Mah’Dinna. Sklorech. The one he’s using round on the borders lately is Eliajel.’

  ‘The collector,’ I nodded.

  ‘Oh, he paints himself all sorts of ways. You have something he wants, and he finds you out by yourself, he’ll cut your throat and flay you as soon as look at you. Call that collecting if you want. I can think of better words.’

  ‘He found us in Benny’s,’ I confirmed. ‘No chance of getting away with that sort of thing in there. He offered us some information – turned out to be good. In return he was after a knife that had come into our possession.’

  ‘Knife?’ That had his interest. ‘Describe it.’ I gave him the run-down, while he nodded slowly. ‘Yeah, that’s all making sense. He’s been running that thing down for twenty years or more now. Got it cheaply in the end, it sounds like. I’ve no idea what he’s up to, and that worries me more than anything.’

  ‘Not just a collector then?’

  ‘Not just a collector. Toxic. Leaves damage of one kind or another everywhere he shows up. About time I headed off and tracked that snake down, I reckon. Thanks for the help. If I can pay you back any time, you let me know. Won’t be around for a while, but I drop by Benny’s often enough. Leave word with him.’

  ‘Figure I still owe you a few yet.’

  ‘You may be right there. Still, good to meet you. One day we’re going to have to sit down and talk about that name of yours.’

  ‘One day. Not round here, perhaps.’

  He chuckled. ‘No, not round here. You got that right. Hey, speaking of names, sounded like yours got shouted out. Let’s go get your first court appearance up and rolling.’

  Finally the tedious waiting games had run their course and we were deemed fit to take our place center stage. Our escorts flung themselves face first onto the marbled floor, and Sitri turned his cold eyes upon us.

  ‘You are either bearing great gifts, or you are all profoundly stupid,’ he said, talking to us but staring only at me. He had shed his human guise. Proud curling horns jutted from the sides of his smooth red skull. A long face led to a low jaw, and thin lips pulled away from a mouth full of shark’s teeth. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. He was every artistic depiction of a classic demon come to life. Given his close relationship with the Earth plane, he was probably the inspiration behind half of them.

  ‘My Lord Sitri,’ said Simeon, drawing Sitri’s gaze and then, amazingly, a nod of his head.

  ‘My Lord Simeon,’ Sitri growled. ‘You and I are bound by the accords in this meeting. These,’ he gestured at the rest of us, ‘are not.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ Zack hissed. ‘We really are all going to die here.’

  ‘This is outrageous,’ a corpulent demon with hanging jowls shouted, stepping forward into the center. ‘We do not welcome -’

  The katana flashed once, and the demon’s head slid slowly to the side. Simeon cut a slice of its robe and used that to mop the black blood from the blade.

  ‘Such rudeness. I beg your indulgence,’ Simeon said, bowing his own head. ‘As for our appearance together
before you, I trust there are no further objections?’ He looked around but nobody met his eyes. ‘What we offer, we offer together, and the accords state that all parties must be present when the deal is made.’

  ‘Freely offered, and freely accepted,’ conceded Sitri. ‘You have my interest, Many who are One. What do you bring to the table, and what do you ask in return?’

  ‘Our offer and our ask is the same, Lord of Sixty Legions. We would join with you against Carafax and the Aleph.’

  Sitri snorted. ‘And what do you know of either? We have the situation in hand and do not require help from you or from these pets that tail behind you.’

  ‘Strange you should mention tail,’ I butted in, drawing a warning glance from Simeon. If anyone was going to provoke him to violent anger, it was me. On the flip side, he’d listen much closer to me than to anyone else. Again, all tied up with the night we faced off and he swore unrelenting vengeance and the most painful of all deaths upon my pitiful human hide. Remind me to tell you about it some time.

  ‘Tail,’ I repeated. ‘You were tailing a girl. You know the one. Following her for days. Did you know that while you were doing that, Carafax were fully aware of you, and your own guys were being tailed? They had you pegged. Bit embarrassing, right?’

  Sitri said nothing but glared at the general standing to the right of the throne. Another one bites the dust.

  ‘And that whole hotel meeting, the one where your guys came whimpering back after getting hammered by Edwin Monk.’ Bit of a guess there on my part, but it was an informed, educated guess. Sitri’s glare told me that I’d hit home. ‘Thing is, we’re on the inside now. We can infiltrate Carafax. We’ve already taken down one of their bases – literally, demolished it. We can give you all the information you need about them to blow everything sky high. Must be as puzzling for you as it is for us,’ I continued, ‘how a human can wield that much power Earth-side.’

  At that, a smile crept across Sitri’s wide mouth, and his eyebrows raised. Damn. I’d overstepped on the guessing. Talk too much, and sooner or later you put your foot in it. He chuckled slowly to himself. ‘On the contrary, small little man, we know far more about this Edwin Monk than you are aware. You are, I think, betraying your own ignorance when you throw these accusations at me.’ He sat there, drumming his long, clawed fingers against the white arm of the throne. ‘But this tail you speak of, this knowledge of my plans and activities, I admit I am surprised. And angered.’ Another glance at the general, who seemed to be looking around for a convenient exit. ‘And so, I place before you a trade, a deal. Your offer does not interest me, so I make another. To be witnessed and bound by the accords.’

  ‘Careful,’ muttered Becky. ‘Take this and he’ll have you right where he wants you.’

  ‘Name your terms,’ I said, trying not to sound anywhere near as nervous as I was. Simeon was looking daggers at me, warning me off.

  ‘My terms are these,’ said Sitri, standing. ‘For my part, you are to be given free and safe passage back to the borders. You will be given such information as I have available regarding the Aleph. You will not be obstructed here nor on the human plane by anyone under my control. Such is my offer.’

  ‘And in return?’ Simeon demanded.

  ‘In return,’ said Sitri, leaning forward and pointing at me, ‘you, and you personally, will bring to me the head of Edwin Monk.’

  ‘Screw that,’ said Becky, before Simeon motioned to her to shut up.

  ‘I would remind you,’ Sitri said, now speaking to Simeon, ‘and of course this is not intended to force your hand, but merely for information, that while you are guaranteed safe conduct from here by the accords, without a deal that includes them, these humans are not.’

  ‘So it’s agree or die?’ I said flatly.

  Sitri smiled. ‘Should I fail in my obligations under this pact, I grant to you, you who carry the name Malachi, my kingdom of Rarkshah. Should you fail in your part, you are mine. Permanently. None of this escaping and running off that you are so prone to. You’re not such a grand prize of course. I’d much rather, actually, that you succeed. But in the event of your failure I will at least have some consolation.’

  He motioned to the side, and a chained woman stepped forward, carrying a box bound in a leather hide. She knelt before us and raised it to me. ‘Get up,’ I said, but she refused, and stayed there, trembling. I inspected the box. Ancient, though it was hard to judge age in the Fades. Intricate gold and silver designs around the edging. A single silver clasp on the front. I flicked it and the top sprang open. Inside sat a small stone statue of an angel. Very traditional – feathered wings spread wide, arms held, all joyful-looking. On the base at the front, in the centre, was a simple mark, in gold:א

  ‘This is what you seek, little man,’ said Sitri, gesturing casually at the statue. ‘It holds what you need. Why are you so slow to agree?’ He leered at us. ‘Do you imagine you have a choice?’

  ‘If you agree to this,’ Simeon said quietly. ‘I would remind you that you are bound.’

  ‘And if he doesn’t,’ Zack muttered back, ‘we all die, right here, right now. Apart from you, of course. You just get to regret the lack of conversation on the way back.’

  ‘I call on those here present,’ I said loudly, ‘as witnesses of our pact under the accords. Your offer is freely given, and I freely accept it. The terms bind us.’

  ‘Excellent,’ said Sitri, jumping to his feet and clapping his hands. ‘I meant what I said, mind. I would really much prefer that you succeed than fail. Failing would be…a great inconvenience to us. We know a great deal about those you seek, but as for their plans…only that they are encroaching on territory we claim. Now take the trinket and go. I have…matters to discuss.’ He eyed his general again. Time to leave.

  ‘Quick question,’ Zack asked in a low voice as we left Rarkshah. ‘These accords. What exactly are they?’

  I shrugged. ‘Damned if I know.’

  Chapter seventeen

  ‘You’re sharp. I like it,’ said Zack, looking me up and down.

  Becky stood next to him, running her own appraisal. ‘You’ll do,’ she said almost grudgingly. ‘I’m not convinced about the rest of the plan, but you look the part.’

  Personally I felt like a penguin. I’d got to my mid-twenties without ever having had to wear a tux and bow tie. Did people really enjoy dressing up like this? ‘Plan is putting it a bit strongly. It’s not like I’m going in to grab Ed’s head tonight. I want to see the lie of the land.’

  ‘They’ll get a good look at you too, you know that?’

  ‘I’m counting on them not making a fuss. It’s a big event. There’ll be the press, other banks, and Julie mentioned the mayor might show up. Why create a scene over little old me? They still don’t know for sure that we took down that building and grabbed Melanie back from them. Anyway,’ I said, waving the invitation that Becky had passed on to me from Julie, the contents of that formal cream envelope. ‘I’m a plus one.’

  ‘It’s an invite, not a major ward,’ said Becky, her fingers twitching. ‘You sure you don’t want some protection? I’ll keep it as subtle as possible.’

  I shook my head. ‘I go in there with any active magic and I’m guessing they’ll have alarms going off all over the place. Might even get chucked out. Don’t want that, after I’ve got all dressed up and everything.’

  Zack eyed the invitation. ‘And so when you dragged us off to see Sitri, that thing was all we had to bargain with.’

  ‘We found out that Julie’s Dad is a big player in the same bank that’s up to its eyeballs in whatever Carafax is. He knows Edwin Monk personally. It’s a way in,’ I said, repeating the argument that we’d had more than once already today. ‘It’s more than we’ve had so far, and we can get in where Sitri and his K’Tai can’t. Leverage. Look, what else did we have to play with?’

  ‘Hell of a gamble,’ he muttered, but let it go.

  ‘I think we need to do this,’ I persevered one last time.
‘Something big is going down. Big and organised. If it was only Carafax then I could let it slide. Maybe go on holiday till it calmed down. Hell, maybe I’ll still do that. But we’ve got to know how the Aleph fit in. Until we see how it fits together, we’re all potential targets with no idea why. Still no word from Simeon?’

  ‘He reckons he’ll have the basics by tomorrow. The statue’s some kind of storage device – like a mystical USB memory stick. It’s going to take time.’

  ‘Should have known Sitri wouldn’t make it easy.’

  ‘He still came through on his part. Now you have to find out how to get the senior partner’s head. Don’t get too close tonight. You won’t miss him – he’ll be schmoozing with every dignitary that’s there.’

  The phone rang. It was the driver. Time to go.

  Hey, a nice night out with a great girl. Some wine, maybe some dancing. What could go wrong?

  ‘Evening sir,’ the driver said as he held the door of the limo open. I simply nodded. Chances are, the limo was wired and the driver would be reporting everything I said and did. Why hand them material when I didn’t have to?

  A short trip later we pulled up outside the Emporium. Julie was adamant that she wanted picking up from here. The staff and customers had made a guard of honor, lining the sidewalk from the store entrance to the road, whooping and cheering as she made her way out towards the car.

  I stood there, mouth hanging open. She’d always been cute, pretty, goofy, wonderful. With a long black dress and her hair swept around and hanging long in waves, she’d upgraded so easily to stunning.

  ‘Gonna say hi, then?’ she asked.

  ‘Sorry. Wow. Just wow.’

  ‘Excellent. I’ll take that to mean I’m presentable. You also look quite wow. Come on, let’s get a cab.’

  ‘Cab? You know I pulled up over there in a perfectly good limo, right?’