by Andy Hyland
‘He knows you’re here, of course. You’ve pushed your luck too far this time, son. You’ve walked into his house.’
The game was up so I didn’t see any need to keep up the pretense if he wasn’t going to. ‘Last time I checked, he came to my house. And he didn’t even have an invite.’
‘He came to your house and left a warning. To steer clear and leave us alone. Instead, you’ve killed his men and taken down one of his buildings. And he blames you for making him lose his knife, which you didn’t give back. That really pissed him off. And then that hellspawn Sitri stole the artifact. Not your fault, that one, but it didn’t improve the boss’ mood any.’
‘Small statue of an angel?’ I guessed.
He shot me a glance but ignored the comment and pressed on. ‘But yes, you have come here by invitation. Oddly, a courtesy that affords you a certain degree of protection. The old magic.’
‘I’m not a vampire. Being invited in doesn’t really affect the situation.’
Frank sighed. ‘Of course it does, you fool. You people know so little. It’s a wonder you manage to stay alive out there. Anyway, it helps that he now thinks that I’m dealing with you.’ Monk looked down, catching our eyes and nodding. Frank nodded back.
‘Shall we?’ he asked. ‘Let’s continue the grand tour in a less public setting.’
‘I think I like public,’ I said. ‘With all the people and now the invitation that you mentioned, I think I’m quite happy out here.’
‘In about an hour,’ he answered through gritted teeth, ‘Julie’s world is going to change forever. I am going to put you in a position to help her. This involves you coming with me now. If I have to make that happen, then I can. Do not try my patience.’
‘Fine, but remember that I can hold my own.’
‘Oh, I’m sure you can, most places. But you’re out of your depth here. Way out of it. Please.’ He took my elbow and guided me away from the crowds and behind the staircases. The rooms back here stood in darkness. ‘This will do.’ He opened a door and pushed me in.
We stood in a conference room. Everything you’d expect from a high-end bank: the leather chairs, a long walnut table with leather placeholders and pens, and a giant flat-screen monitor at the far end which was silently scrolling red numbers across the bottom even now. The door clicked shut and Frank turned the lock.
‘You ever seen these?’ he asked, picking up a triangular gadget from the middle of the table.
‘Sure. It’s for conference calls. But I’m guessing in this place they’re all bugged.’
‘Quite the opposite actually. With so much magic in this building it’s necessary to artificially create a little privacy. For those without magic, the sheer amount of energy flowing round can actually cause nausea and illness if they’re exposed for too long. So virtually every room in this tower has a concealed charm churning out a psychic version of white noise. You’ve not noticed?’
‘That background hum.’
‘Exactly. Has its disadvantages, but we live with it.’
‘And that’s all it it does?’
He hesitated. ‘That is all you need to know. It’s not something you’re to get involved in.’ He sighed. ‘So much of what we do is founded on unwavering trust and uncompromised loyalty. It’s an enterprise I have gladly given my life to. And which I am now turning against.’
‘This isn’t exactly the interrogation I was expecting.’
‘It’s not an interrogation, Malachi English, or whatever your real name is. It’s a confession. Shall we sit?’
He settled back and looked round, drawing in and then letting out a deep breath. ‘I’d hoped for someone better than you,’ he said eventually. ‘Kept hoping. But they were all dipshits and playboys. Nothing of substance. You’re a different thing entirely, but still unwelcome.’ He paused again. ‘But now, at the end of things, we’re out of time, and it falls on you.’
‘You’re really crap at these welcome-to-the-family speeches, aren’t you?’
‘Please, drop the levity. I know you’re aware of some of the elements at play now. Carafax of course, the society that the bank exists to finance, resource and protect. And the Aleph. Compton got you started on the whole thing.’
‘The child sacrifice,’ I added.
He nodded. ‘So many years, and yet it all seems to have happened so quickly. Four generations in, my family and this place. To look at us you’d think we’d done well out of it. But we’ve paid. By God, we paid.’
‘You paid in children,’ I guessed, the room suddenly feeling very cold.
He nodded. ‘My grandfather’s brother. My father’s sister. My…my brother. I never knew him. He was gone before I was born.’
‘And yet Julie’s alive.’
He shot a hard look at me. ‘At the particular time when a payment was due, she was very ill. Unsuitable. Less than the perfection that should be given freely.’
‘Freely offered and freely taken.’
‘Quite. I see you’re no stranger to it. She was passed over. Another sacrifice was made. It wasn’t long after that…it was discovered by Monk that my wife Alexandra had consulted a doctor friend, got a syringe, brought on the illness. A genius of a woman. Far, far better than I ever deserved.’
‘They killed her,’ I said. The only, the inevitable outcome.
‘And the doctor friend who helped. Julie doesn’t know, never has. The time might come when I’d like her to appreciate what fine stock she comes from.’ He paused and looked at me expectantly.
Damn it, I was slow. It all clicked. ‘Compton’s child is missing – his wife managed to get him away before she was caught. And there’s a sacrifice that still needs to be made.’
‘The sacrifice that still needs to be made. The last one. And of all the options, Julie has been deemed most suitable – actually the only one that can be switched in at such short notice. It was always a possibility, albeit a remote one. She’s no longer a child, but she was chosen, prepared, consecrated under the black rites – it holds, and apparently it’s enough. There will be another time of re-consecration, another ceremony, but then they’ll use her. I’ve been making provision against this for years, getting ready to act if I needed to.’
‘You could have run.’
‘I could not!’ he exploded, slamming his hand down on the table. His head dropped. ‘I apologise. I am in too deep. I have been for too many years now. Their claws are sunk into my soul. Wherever I run, I will be found. But Julie needs to run, and I cannot take her.’
‘You’re asking me?’
‘I’d prefer not to. I’d prefer a white knight on a charger, a pure unsullied soul of power who can whisk her away. But here you are. Returned from the dead and rejected by the world. A weak, runaway slave. A criminal of little power.’
‘There must be other options,’ I said, ignoring the jabs, which were all technically true anyway. Julie was the priority.
‘I don’t believe so. All the cogs are turning now. At the right time, you walk into the picture. And maybe, against all my instincts, you’re the one to pull it off. Maybe I didn’t need a white knight, but a wily knave.’
‘Tell me about the Aleph,’ I said, taking my chance.
‘No,’ he said. ‘You don’t need to know about them.’
‘I really do. It’s the missing piece. If we can put it all together -’
‘No. Anything I give you, you’ll use and try to do something stupid and heroic. Look, It’s inevitable. If not Julie, then someone else, eventually. You can’t stop the coming storm.’
‘Does the storm have anything to do with what’s rumbling away in the basement?’
‘But my little girl will not pay for my stupidity any more than she has done already,’ he said, talking over my question. ‘Here.’ He took out a brown envelope from his jacket pocket and slid it across the table. ‘My last will and testament. It won’t be of use for a long time I’d imagine, if ever, but if the situation arises where it can safely be used, the
n do so. She gets everything, naturally. Also, of more immediate value, bank details with sufficient funds to tide you both over. The name and contact details for an acquaintance I trust who can sort you out with whatever documentation you need for a new life. And finally, the address of somewhere you can hole up with her and ride out whatever comes.’
‘A safe house.’
‘More like a bunker. There’s enough there to keep you comfortable for several years. Don’t underestimate what you’ve wandered into here.’
‘You want me to run away.’
‘It’s not cowardice. It’s wisdom. It’s the only thing that can be done.’
‘They’ll chase hard.’
‘I think not. Not after tonight. You’ll see. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for all this. One day, maybe she’ll be able to understand all this without hating me. I’d like to think so. I know you have questions, I know you think there are solutions. But there are not solutions, and I won’t give you answers. I want you to take her and run. That is your only job.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘Everything. One day, God willing, if you have a daughter, you will understand. But your future is not mine to know or tell. Put that envelope away. Let’s go find your girlfriend.’
‘Couple of final questions,’ I said as we left the meeting room. ‘Nothing major, just stuff that’s been nagging at me.’
‘Shoot.’
‘Someone removed surveillance devices from Julie’s shop.’
‘That was me. I put them in there for security reasons. Didn’t want anyone finding them after she went missing and digging too deep. All very standard stuff.’
‘Is the apartment bugged?’
‘Bug my daughter’s apartment? That would be grossly inappropriate. Other measures are in place, for her protection of course.’
‘The gargoyles.’
‘Yes, I heard you met them.’ He grinned. ‘Gary and Kevin. Try to look in on them from time to time, if you find yourself able to. Good lads. They seem to like you.’
‘It talks,’ I said. ‘How did you get that one to talk?’
He tapped his nose. ‘Trade secret.’
We found Julie surrounded by a gang of young guys, all with on-trend hair and sparkling teeth, laughing too hard and getting too close. ‘Wankers,’ Frank muttered as we approached. I suppressed a smile. I could have liked him. I think we’d have got on well, given time.
But time was up.
Chapter eighteen
‘There you are,’ Julie beamed as we approached. The guys took their cue from Frank’s face and left sharpish.
‘I said talk to the widow Compton, not chat up half the junior staff,’ he smiled. ‘May I borrow you a second? There’s a little something that I wanted you to have.’
We headed over to a secluded area behind some statues. ‘A small gift,’ he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a slim black box.
‘Daddy, you already got me the dress,’ Julie chided.
‘Oh, it’s nothing much. Something of your mother’s that I thought it was time you had. Here,’ he opened the box with a click revealing a silver chain, a bright blue sapphire dangling from it, ‘it was her favourite necklace. I think it will look good on you tonight.’ He put it around her neck and pulled her into a tight hug.
‘You’re…squeezing too hard,’ she gasped, smiling.
‘No such thing as squeezing too hard when you’re hugging someone you love,’ he replied, and pulled away, looking into her eyes. ‘Now I have to get on with some important business.’
‘Tonight?’
‘Afraid so. Enjoy yourself. Be wonderful.’ With a nod at me he turned his back and headed back across the room.
‘I think he might like you,’ she said, giving me a nudge with her shoulder. ‘He’s practically gushing over everyone tonight.’
‘He’s a good bloke,’ I said. ‘I like him. I mean, obviously he’s obliged to hate me, what with us dating, but I think we could rub along okay.’
‘Good to hear,’ she said. ‘Come on, I need another drink.’
We floated round for the next half hour or so, staying on the fringes of groups, throwing the odd line into a conversation. Nobody really acknowledged us or gave Julie any special treatment as Frank’s daughter, which was a bit odd considering how they’d welcomed her earlier. Still, maybe that’s how these parties work. What do I know?
It was when we were with one such group, near the stairs, that I looked up to see Frank with his coat on near the front door. I checked my watch. Not even close to being time to make an exit. Not for one of the senior staff. He looked straight at me and gave another curt nod. Then he put his hand out and…took Julie’s. I glanced to my left. Yes, there was Julie, right where she’d been standing seconds before, still smiling, still chatting. But when I looked back to Frank he also had a Julie, identically dressed, hair the same, same smile, same…same Julie.
Frank waved up at the mezzanine floor. I turned to see Edwin Monk return the gesture. Frank and Julie Two then simply turned and walked out. Julie One remained right where she was supposed to be.
‘Hey,’ I said, taking her hand, ‘can I borrow you for a second?’
We walked away from the group. I increased our pace, practically dragging her towards the door. The security staff let us past without a second glance.
‘What’s going on? You okay? Slow down.’
‘Need some air, that’s all. Getting a bit hot in there. Let’s go for a walk for a bit.’
‘Sure, whatever you want,’ she said, her brow furrowing.
I was blowing the whole be-a-great-date thing, but something was going down soon and Frank was clearly going to be at the center of it. A long set of stone steps led down, fanning out from the wide glass doors to the street below. Frank and Julie Two were already at the bottom of these, him holding a door while she climbed into the back seat of a black limo. He joined her quickly, slammed the door and the car pulled away.
‘Was that Daddy?’ Julie asked, arriving a few steps behind me. ‘Who was that with him?’
‘Not sure. Let’s check he’s okay. Are there any cabs around here?’
The limo was a hundred meters away when the blast came. Out of nowhere the car leapt ten feet in the air, the windows shattering, the doors flying off sideways, the bonnet and engine tearing apart, flames erupting. A moment of silence, then the shockwave knocked us back off our feet and the sound crashed into us.
Standard training in the world where I live: you get knocked down, you get the hell back up as soon as you can. My ears were ringing. Security staff were pouring out of the door, running past us, heading for the wreck. For the moment, at least, we were background noise.
‘Come on,’ I said, pulling Julie towards the road but away from the wreck. Her eyes were glazed and darting. A streak of blood ran across her cheek and it looked like she had some shrapnel in her arm, but we couldn’t stop for that right at this moment. Her mouth moved but no words were coming out. It was terrible to see her this way, but easier to manage than if she’d been flat out hysterical.
‘Nearly there, nearly there,’ I said, with no idea what I meant. We were stumbling away at an average pace with no particular place to go.
‘Sir!’ came a shout from behind us. One of the security guys had noticed us and was moving our way. ‘Sir, you need to stop. We need everyone to remain right here.’
I wasn’t in the mood to argue. I flung out my arm and let rip with a standard blowback cast. It hit him right in the chest and he flew backwards, tumbling head over heels. Unfortunately such a dramatic attack caught the attention of three other suited heavies. One pressed a finger to his ear and spoke into a mike. The other two jogged over towards us. Their fingers moved as they drew near, and I guessed they were throwing up wards against whatever I might try next. Great. So they were bigger than me, faster than me, stronger than me, probably armed, and they knew enough magic to make life difficult.
‘Julie,
I know this is tough, but I really need you to move faster.’
I don’t even know if she heard me. Her face was one big blank. Somewhere in there her mind had retreated to a safe distance and was busy pulling itself together. She couldn’t focus enough to run, and I couldn’t carry her, and I wasn’t going to leave her. We were screwed.
The first guy was only five meters away from us when the cab screamed out of nowhere and ploughed right into him. He flew off to the left, bounced off a wall and skidded across the ground. The bounce was interesting – whatever ward he’d thrown up had been strong enough to absorb the shock of hitting the car and the brickwork. He’d live, but wouldn’t be going anywhere near the gym for a while.
‘Get in,’ Zack screamed from the driver’s seat. On the far side Arabella was firing a pistol at the two remaining guards, forcing them to retreat to cover. None of the shots hit home, but that wasn’t for lack of trying – she was a crap shot. They were lucky she wasn’t throwing knives.
I pulled the rear door open and threw Julie in across the back seat, jumping straight in after, lying on top of her. Zack hit the gas and the tyres span and threw up smoke before shooting us forward and round the corner. I grabbed the seat to stop myself sliding right back out, and somehow managed to pull the door shot.
‘What the hell?’ shouted Araballa. ‘Was that you?’
‘Nothing to do with me. Sort of.’
‘Please tell me that was the bastard from your apartment in that car.’
‘No. That was Julie’s Dad.’
Arabella turned round in surprise, looking at Julie lying motionless on the back seat. ‘And who the hell’s that? You left Julie back at that place?’
I did a double take. Yes, that was Julie on the seat. Arabella hadn’t seen her in a dress before with her hair all done up, but she had seen her. I couldn’t deal with this at the moment. ‘Just drive,’ I said. ‘Get us somewhere safe. Drive.’
