by Andy Hyland
‘To what end?’ I asked. ‘It’d only weaken their position in the Fades and the hell territories.’
‘Temporarily, yes,’ he acknowledged. ‘But if you’re powerful enough, the loss would be negligible. And you’d make that sacrifice if the gain was significant enough. Perhaps if that gift came with a spark of suggestion.’
‘Malware,’ said Zack. ‘Sorry,’ he added, seeing the confusion on Simeon’s face. ‘A bug, a worm, in software. Hides under the surface and does naughty stuff behind the scenes. You think you’re getting something useful, but you end up contaminated without knowing it. Over time – and we’re talking generations with Carafax – they’d have their own field office up and running.’
Simeon nodded. ‘Add that to the general truth that power corrupts, and you may well be right. A gift that comes with a worm, and the worm twists thought and motivation. Okay, so let us say the Aleph are hellkind. Deep in. Major powers. They transfer power, they establish their field office, as you call it, in Ascension House. They do all this for – what? What would they want?’
We chewed it over, literally, grabbing some hotdogs from Late-night Lou, the insomniac vendor of choice for those who work the night-shifts.
‘Access,’ I said, clicking my fingers. ‘Access. That’s what’s bugging Sitri. He’s the one with the fortress on the borders of the Fades. He’s the one running operations earthside. What if someone bigger came along and trod on his toes? It fits.’
‘Net theory,’ said Becky, ignoring Zack’s groans. ‘Net theory. Something that big coming from that deep couldn’t cross without sacrificing all its power. It’d be nothing more than Sitri by the time it – or they – got here. And he’s got the experience. Transferring power from where they are to some humans – not the same.’
‘No, they’re not after having some human representatives,’ I agreed. ‘But they’ve established a beachhead. They’ve got their power in hell. They’ve transferred some pretty strong stuff over here – at the price of who knows how many innocent kids. So they’ve got the power available and controllable at both ends.’ I paused. ‘Now what are they going to do?’
‘Whatever they damn well want,’ said someone behind us. A hand clamped over my mouth, an arm snaked around my neck, and I was yanked backwards, sent spinning into a wall. Immediately I called up a ward, fingers twitching, muscle memory kicking in, but a boot landed in my stomach. I gasped for breath and looked up. Big guy. Crew cut. Lining me up for another kick.
Zack appeared out of nowhere and blindsided him, giving me enough time to get to my feet. Arabella was taking punches to the gut from another guy who looked like a clone of the one that attacked me. Becky was hurt over the other side of her, down on one knee, clutching her head. Out of commission in this scrap.
The real fight was going on around Simeon. He was a blur, a whirlwind, leaping to attack and then back again before the assailants could land a blow. And there were four of them, taking his blows but bouncing back. They had him blocked in. I looked over at Zack on the floor who was now engaged in a no-holds barred wrestling match – gouges, biting, anything goes.
Simeon was the target, the rest of us were being kept out of the way. I readied my ward, calling up everything I could to send it his way, give him the protection he needed. Seconds too late.
He leapt back from a kick from the guy to the left, but the guy behind launched forward and shoulder-charged him, sending him sprawling into the arms of the attacker directly in front of him.
Time slowed. Simeon shuddered. The attacker stepped back, let him drop. ‘That’s it,’ he called. ‘Fall back. The rest of you bastards can count yourselves lucky.’
‘Simeon!’ Arabella screamed. We rushed to him as the attacking group fled. A thick wooden spike jutted from his chest. What they’d failed to do in Battery Park they’d done here and now, with the rest of us helpless. I had no idea what to do – would pulling it out do more damage? Was he going to turn to ash? Explode? I looked up but nobody else looked like they had any ideas either.
‘We need to get him home,’ I said.
‘Then what?’ Zack asked, throwing his hands in the air. ‘Then what?’
Chapter twenty
‘You need to leave us now,’ said Grace, standing over Simeon, a tender hand on his forehead. ‘There’s nothing more that can be done, save what must happen.’ We were in a side-room somewhere in Simeon’s underground maze, a few turns away from his library. I stood with Becky and Arabella, dazed and confused.
‘That is making no sense,’ I nearly shouted. ‘He’s not gone yet.’
‘But he will be very soon,’ she said calmly. ‘And there are matters that must be taken care of. Matters of ritual and tradition and passing. He is aware of this.’
‘He can’t die,’ I insisted.
‘Don’t be foolish,’ Grace said, her voice kind. ‘He is not the first of his kind or his line. Such days always come, sometimes by choice, sometimes by circumstance. But come they always do, and now he passes. He has served well.’
‘He was murdered.’
She nodded. ‘The world is turning too quickly. The Union has broken, the library fallen, and the Aleph have joined with Carafax to who knows what end.’
‘What do we do?’ Becky asked.
‘Whatever you have to do. Whatever you find to do.’ She smiled sympathetically. ‘Death is behind us and before us and around us. It is inevitable. All we can do is grasp the moment that we have. Now please, leave us. This isn’t for public viewing.’
The three of us headed back to the library, Arabella muttering curses about Grace, Carafax and anyone else that sprang to mind. Zack was next to Julie on a sofa. Her head was in her hands. Melanie stood back a bit from them. Nodded to me as we entered. ‘This the bitch you replaced me with? Looks like little miss fragile managed to snap out of it. Finally.’
I count that moment as the closest I’ve come to date to hitting a woman. Arabella, reliable as always, did it for me.
Julie looked up and rose as I jogged over and met her in a tight embrace. ‘Is it real?’ she asked. ‘Did it actually happen?’
‘I’m afraid so.’ I’d already worked out the quickest and easiest thing to tell her, given the circumstances. I could always drip-feed the truth in later. ‘It was the bank. He worked out they were an evil bunch of bastards and they killed him for it.’
‘How could they do that?’
‘Edwin Monk. He’s making some power play. Something really big and dangerous. Your Dad wasn’t going to play along. He told me to get you somewhere safe, but I promise I didn’t know that was going to happen to him. He was a good man. Come on, sit down.’
We sat there for an hour or more. She spoke for a bit. Wept. Thought in silence. Then spoke some more. She needed time to digest everything, process it. But time was something we didn’t have. Arabella took my place next to Julie, comforting her while I walked over to Zack and Becky.
‘Ideas?’ asked Becky.
‘Only one at the moment. We need to get into Ascension House. It’s Carafax home turf. Anything they’re hiding, anything they’re planning, we’ll find it all there. It’s all in the basement.’
‘I’m not disagreeing with you,’ said Zack, ‘but how exactly are you going to manage this?’
I shrugged. ‘I need a walk.’
I was expecting an argument, but Becky and Zack nodded. ‘We’ve got her,’ said Becky. ‘I’ll give her another sleeping draught. There’s no short way through what she’s having to face.’
‘Keep your head down,’ said Zack. ‘Don’t wander too far.’
‘It’s a big city,’ I said. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘Three snipers have their sights trained on you,’ the voice from behind mentioned politely. Strange accent. Familiar. Hint of Welsh.
I was on a bench looking out over the Brooklyn bridge, the site of one of my more recent catastrophic failures. Normally I prefer wandering through Central Park or down on Battery Park, overlooking the s
ea, but Central Park was too recent, too painful, and Battery Park…well, perhaps not. This location had seemed safer. Apparently Malachi got it wrong yet again. ‘What do you want?’ I asked. He sat down. Brown coat. Brown hat pulled down low, rusty hair escaping round the edges. Squinting against the sun, his face was haggard and carried a patchy stubble. A few scars hid amongst the wrinkled lines.
‘Don’t think we’ve met,’ I said, ‘but I saw you in Simeon’s library that time. You with Carafax? They usually dress better.’
‘No, not me. I’m with the Union. You heard of us?’
I nodded. ‘Simeon’s outfit. The one that betrayed him. The Union’s broken and the Great Library fallen. So I’m told. Got to be honest, that doesn’t mean a whole lot.’
‘I understand you may want to kill me. I’d caution against it. In fact, don’t move quickly at all. Tell you what, to be safe, don’t move, period.’
‘You going to finish me as well now? You had your chance yesterday when they took out Simeon.’
He hung his head. ‘You won’t want to believe this, but it could have been a lot worse. They wanted a quick, immediate death, an end to him. Feisty bugger was a bit more than they could handle in the end. This way he’s got a chance to do what needs to be done. He was – is – my friend.’
‘I’d like to never be friends with you. Hope that’s okay.’
‘He helped me out more times than I can remember. He was more than you knew him to be. The Lord Keeper.’
‘So I heard,’ I said. ‘The Many who are One. I’m alive today because of him. He does –did – that for people. And you ended it.’
‘Not me. I’d have tried to stop it if I’d known, but I didn’t. And if I did, well, I’d be dead as well. Anyway, the first time he was jumped – that was the Union, my lot. This second time, the time they got the job done – I’ve dug around. It wasn’t us that sold him out. You need to look elsewhere.’
‘I’ll be looking, trust me. So is this where you get to tell me what it’s all about?’
He smirked. ‘Wish I could, boyo. Wish I could. But who knows, really? Monk, he’s got his plans, the Union, they’ve got theirs. Sometimes they talk, sometimes they fight. Small people like us, we wander round trying to stop or stall the worst of it, but what do we achieve? Squat.’
‘I disagree.’
‘And so you should,’ he said forcefully, slapping his hand down on my thigh. Ow. ‘You’re young. You go ahead and have ideals. Maybe being jaded isn’t all that good for you. I’m near the end, so whatever’s coming won’t bother me too much.’
‘So what are you here for?’
‘The usual, like I said. Trying to stop or stall the worst of it. You want to play heroics, that suits me fine. Here.’ He tossed a small brown package onto my lap. ‘Don’t open it yet. Wait till you’re safely below ground, if you know what I mean. That’s me done, for my part. If we both get through this, I might see you again.’
‘You trust me with this?’
‘Simeon trusted you. He spoke very highly of you. So, yes, I trust you with that. You might screw up and everything’ll go to hell anyway, but you’ll do your best.’
‘How come,’ I asked, ‘how come I’ve not heard of the Union before? How can I wander round this place for ten years, and Carafax are working away, nobody knowing? How did that happen?’
‘You’re young, lad. That’s how it is. You’re young and small, and the world is big and old. The Union’s been around since not long after this nation was founded. Carafax – who knows with that lot? But longer than you and me together have walked the earth. Why would you know all the answers? Hey, I know you’re beaten down. But get up. Get up until you can’t anymore. Then, when you go, you go knowing you gave it all.’
‘Great speech.’
‘Thanking you. It’s the one I’ve given to myself every day for over forty years now. And here I still am, so I figure there must be something in it, eh?’
‘Do you have a name?’
‘Liberty.’
‘That’s not your name.’
‘It’s as much my name as Malachi is yours. And it’s the only one you’re getting. Keep it to yourself, though. Quiet like.’
‘You going to call off the snipers?’
He laughed. ‘You soft git. Where am I going to get snipers from? You need to wise up a bit. You’re far too easy to play. Come on, let’s walk. I like it down this way.’
I followed his lead, down to the East River Bikeway, walking north. He walked in silence, hands stuffed in his pockets, striding along at a fast pace.
‘We headed anywhere?’ I asked.
He shook his head. ‘No, I needed to know if that bloke sat along from us was a tail or not. He’s twenty meters back from us now, closing fast, so either he’s the worst tail ever or he’s after a bit more than watching us.’
‘I’ll take him.’
‘No you won’t. I’ve got this worked out. Get away from me a bit, few paces over to the left. I want to see who he goes for.’
‘Couldn’t we ask him?’
‘Who’s in charge here, me or you? Do it. Now.’
I nodded and distanced myself. I stretched out with my mind. If the guy was coming up on us, he didn’t have a magically aware bone in his body. First I knew he was on us, he was sidled up to Liberty and punching him hard in the side. Liberty simply leaned into it, grabbed his arm and gave a quick punch of his own. The guy sank to the floor as I moved over. Blood coming from his side. He’d been carrying a knife, one that Liberty had turned round and used against him.
‘Recognize him?’ Liberty asked.
‘No. He’s not Aware. Don’t think I’ve seen the face before. He’s bleeding out – are we going to stop that?’
‘Let him bleed. He tried to do the same to me. Thank God for Kevlar, that’s what I say. At a guess I’d say he’s one of mine.’
‘Union?’
‘Yeah. Was one of mine, I should probably say now. They’ve got me busted. Time to split. You’ll get no more help from me, so I suggest you act quickly. Tomorrow they’ll know for sure I’ve turned from them, and you’ll find your options closed off again. See you around, chum.’
I had plenty to go over with Grace when I got back, but she’d locked herself away with Simeon and wasn’t talking to anyone. We crowded round the package Liberty gave me as I tore it open. A folded note tumbled out, along with a plastic keycard. If it got us into Ascension House I’d have been very impressed, but it turned out that it did the next best thing.
‘His apartment?’ Zack asked, incredulous. ‘Edwin Monk’s personal apartment?’
‘That’s what it says. Full entry, and the card’s configured to disable the alarm system, which also – get this – is tied into the rune protection. All off in one fell swoop.’
‘And this is legit? This guy’s from the same outfit that took a swipe at Simeon, remember.’
‘I know, but nothing’s as straightforward as it seems. Damn, I can’t believe I said that. Look, I know he’s not someone we should trust but…I trust him on this. Gut instinct. Don’t know why.’
‘Well if it’s a choice between this little shindig and trying to break into Ascension House, then the apartment gets my vote every time. Who’s coming?’
‘Not a great idea for us all to head out,’ said Becky. ‘We’ve got Julie here, Simeon and Grace holed up, and I don’t trust Melanie as far as I can throw her. I’ll stay. Call me if you need backup.’
‘I want to stay as well,’ said Arabella. ‘In case there’s any news on Simeon. You know.’
‘I’ll call you if anything happens,’ Becky said, patting her shoulder. ‘Go on, go with them.’
‘No, I’m staying. Sorry, I can’t say why. It feels right.’
‘Understood,’ I said. ‘It’s a boys’ night out then. We’ve got a few hours to kill until the sun goes down. I’d rather do this under cover of darkness. Let’s all grab some rest while we can.’
It doesn’t matter how ba
d things get, or how stressed I should be. For some reason I’ve never had any problems sleeping. Grief, anxiety and loss don’t knock me off my stride. The only thing that’s known to keep me awake is toothache, and that’s before I became Aware and was able to banish it for hours with a simple cast. Magic – you’ve gotta love it. So as soon as I hit the sofa horizontal, I was out like a light.
I woke up to candlelight and the usual steady dripping. Becky was prowling around the cavern, letting her hands run along the shelves, caressing the books.
‘You okay?’ I asked her.
She looked startled at my voice, then relaxed. ‘Hmmm. Just looking round. Getting the feel of the place. Couldn’t sleep.’
‘Lucky for me, that wasn’t a problem.’ I shook Zack awake and we were ready to go in minutes. We left the others sleeping, all apart from Becky, who continued her wandering.
Chapter twenty-one
A few corridors down, halfway to the nearest exit point from Simeon’s warren, the walls started shaking. A gust of hot wind rumbled through the air, sending our coats billowing, pulling at our exposed skin. I swear it was as if the whole place sighed, before lapsing into silence. I looked at Zack, who clearly had no more idea of what happened than I did. I nodded forward and we moved on.
Up in the city the night was clear and cool. It was early enough to still be busy. We strode anonymously between the groups of friends and home-bound commuters, heading south to the opposite side of Battery Park to Ascension House. There, at the bottom of Little West Street, with great views across the bay, was the Kreslaw Building. A striking contrast to the Carafax headquarters, it was as bland in its modernity as Ascension House was bold in its gothic charm.
A doorman stood at the entrance. It doesn’t matter how good your security is, if you don’t pay the doormen well, they’ll always be susceptible to someone who’s prepared to throw really good money at a bribe. Like me. ‘Edwin Monk in?’ I asked. He shook his head. ‘Which way?’ He paused, then nodded to the elevator on the far side of the lobby. ‘We weren’t here,’ I said, pushing yet more notes into his palm.
