Warlock For Hire: Arcane Inc. Book 1

by Sean Stone

  “Got everything you need now?”

  “Almost.” I took the bowl over to the river and scooped some of the murky water into it. I smiled knowing that Killian would soon be drinking the contents of the bowl. Small pleasures. “Are you ready?” I asked Ashley. Her eyes were wide with fear and she looked like she might collapse at any moment, but she nodded. She pulled the instructions out of her pocket and unfolded it. “You know the words?” I asked. Complicated incantations were never written in English. For some reason, they had to be written in old dead languages like Ancient Egyptian, Greek, or Latin. There was power in ancient languages. The downside was they were tricky to pronounce.

  Ashley nodded. “I’ve been practising.”

  “Try to relax. You’re too valuable to kill remember. And once we’re done we’ll be free of him,” I said, not bothering to whisper. Who cared if Killian heard? She gave me a small smile and then turned to the bowl. I picked up the dirt and dropped it into the water. Ashley moved her hand over the bowl and the contents began to mix together.

  “Fascinating,” Killian said. He’d joined us at the table and was peering over my shoulder. “I’ve never seen real magic up close before.”

  “You probably wanna give us some space,” I said. I can’t stand people looking over my shoulder.

  “No, I don’t,” he replied and remained there.

  I looked at my watch. Four minutes to noon. “Start the incantation,” I said.

  Ashley started chanting the foreign words under her breath and the contents of the bowl began to swirl faster. After a minute or so of mixing the contents fell still and then began to bubble. After another minute, I carefully placed the diamond in the centre. Then I removed the cap from the vampire blood and poured it directly onto the diamond. The jewel turned completely red and the blood that didn’t stick to it ran off and mingled with the muddy water.

  “Grubby,” Killian remarked. He was still oblivious to the fact that he was going to drink it.

  The next part was the hardest. We needed to melt the diamond to liquid form so that it could fuse with the other ingredients. I don’t know how savvy you are when it comes to physics, but melting a diamond is nigh on impossible. Even with magic. Heating a diamond under ordinary circumstances would just result in it burning up, turning to vapour — I can’t remember which. The only way to liquefy it is to heat it in a vacuum using an extraordinary amount of heat. I placed my hands around the bowl and concentrated on creating said vacuum. I felt an odd sensation and took it to mean that the vacuum was in place. The vacuum alone still wasn’t enough. To melt a diamond you need to heat it to 4,726.85 degrees celsius — I googled it. That’s almost the temperature of the sun. As far as I know nobody has ever melted an entire diamond before, not that we could publish our results in any scientific journal. To achieve the heat we were going to focus the sun directly at the diamond. That’s why we were doing the ritual at noon. Obviously, focusing the rays of the sun would not achieve the same heat as the surface of the sun so Ashley was going to be using magic to amplify the heat. That’s one of the reasons we needed so much power. The other will come up later. I gave Ashley the nod and she began focusing. The ray of light from the sun was visible straight away and I could feel the heat coming off it. The bowl bubbled and fizzed furiously. Killian had the good sense to back away.

  “I can’t do it,” Ashley said, her expression strained. “I don’t have the power.”

  “You sure?” I asked. I wouldn’t be able to hold the vacuum for long if I was giving her power as well.

  “Positive.”

  “Channel me,” I said. She nodded and closed her eyes. I felt her magic probing me and I answered the call, letting her tap into my own magic. I felt her syphoning my power into her and at the same time I could feel the heat in the palms of my hands. It burned like no heat I’d felt before and I’ve stood on the edge of an active volcano. It felt like the spell was going to melt me as well. The heat built and built getting hotter and hotter. The bowl bubbled and spat and each little bit of spray that escaped burned too. My strength was fading. If Ashley didn’t hurry up then I wouldn’t be able to keep the vacuum in place and I had no idea what would happen then. I looked into the bowl and saw the diamond melt before my eyes. At first it just sort of sagged, and then in one motion it ran out to join the rest of the globular contents. Ashley relaxed and the beam of power coming from the sun vanished. I released the vacuum and breathed out, feeling my power restore itself slowly.

  “So much for diamonds being forever,” Killian muttered. Neither of us replied. We were both recuperating. There was a brief moment of calm and then the bowl erupted into flame. Ashley and I were both blasted back onto our arses. I didn’t feel any pain, my adrenaline had kicked in. I looked up as a great cylinder of fire shot up, seventy feet or higher into the sky People would be able to see that for miles across town. Suddenly clearing the area seemed rather redundant. The heat was blasting me full in the face and I could feel the sweat dripping off me. I could smell my hair burning as the fire singed it. Ashley was on the other side of the cylinder and I couldn’t see her. I could see Killian though. He was staring on with wonder, one hand shielding his eyes. His mouth was stretched in a massive smile as he realised his dream and prophecy was coming true. Jeffery had appeared on the bridge, obviously concerned for his master’s safety. He looked on with his usual blank expression. What would it take to impress that man? Then in an instant, the fire was gone. The formula was ready.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Despite the circumstances, I couldn’t help feeling proud of myself. I’d just achieved something few other warlocks could claim. I’d devised one of the most powerful rituals in the world and had a hand in pulling it off. I hadn’t just liquefied a diamond, which was an achievement enough on its own, I’d created invincibility. At least, I think I had. We still needed to test it out on Killian. But thanks to his visions I knew that it would work. I just needed to create immortality and I was pretty much a god.

  “Is it done?” Killian asked, looking at me for confirmation.

  “Half,” I replied. I got up and went to check on Ashley. She had a scrape on her elbow but was otherwise fine. “You okay?” I asked just to be sure.

  “Yeah. Just a bit bruised,” she replied. I took her arm and helped her up. I could’ve healed her but I was going to need every ounce power for the next part of the ritual and although healing a little scrap wouldn’t sacrifice much you never know when a minute amount might make a big difference.

  “We’re almost done,” I said.

  “Indeed. What’s next?” Killian asked. I could see he was eager to get it over with. Like an impatient child.

  “Next?” I grabbed the bowl which was still hot from the table and poured the contents into the container that had formally held the vampire blood. There was still plenty left in the bowl. Maybe I could take some back to my storage unit after. Sell it on to those who could afford it. Maybe even take some myself. Of course, alone it was useless. Power was needed to activate it, as you are about to see. I handed the container to Killian. “Bottoms up,” I said.

  He wrinkled his nose. “You are joking?” he said with disdain.

  “Not even a little.”

  He eyed me suspiciously and then seemed to accept his fate. He took the container and peered at the deep red fluid. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t taste as bad as it looks or smells,” he said and then tipped it into his mouth. I could see that he was fighting the urge to spit it all back out. His entire body seemed to be trying to chuck it up again. But to his credit he swallowed it all in one gulp and then threw the container aside letting out a horrible retching sound. “It burns!” he yelled, clutching his throat.

  “Obviously,” I replied. It had been on fire just minutes ago. He shot me a glare that said if I was any closer he would’ve hit me. “I don’t feel any different,” he said, still rubbing his chest to relieve the burning.

  “That’s because you’re not any diff
erent. Not yet. We need to bind it to you,” Ashley explained. It was the first time she’d spoken without being prompted.

  “What do you mean bind it to me? I drank it didn’t I?” He said furiously as if this was somehow our fault.

  “Yes, and soon you will piss it out again unless we bind it to you. Only then will you become invincible. At the moment you just have a load of nasty shit sitting inside you,” I explained, not bothering to guard my tongue. I was growing rapidly tired of the man.

  “What’s next then? How do we bind it to me?” He was barely containing his temper. It was clear he was not relishing the fact that he was not in control. At least for the time being he had to do as I said. I was loving it.

  “Get in the river,” I said.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “You need to be in the river for the final part of the ritual. We’ll use the natural power of the water to bind it to you. The bit directly under the bridge is fairly shallow. Here, let me help.” I knelt at the edge of the river and concentrated. It took a few minutes but I managed to lower the level of the water so Killian would be able to stand in it without it rising above his knees. In hindsight, it was a foolish waste of power just to make him more comfortable. I should have made him tread water.

  “How good of you,” he grumbled. “You could have cleared a dry patch for me.”

  “I’m not Moses,” I retorted. He seemed to miss the point about him needing to be in the water.

  He came to the edge of the river but was still reluctant to get in. “Do you know how much this suit cost?”

  “You’re the one who wanted this,” I said roughly, standing up to meet his gaze. He grabbed me by the collar and pulled me closer, baring his teeth like an animal.

  “Just because you are currently useful does not mean I won’t hurt you. I’m Killian fucking Myers, show some respect.” He pushed me away and I just managed to avoid stumbling into the river myself. I was going to enjoy killing him. His head snapped round to look at me again and for a moment, I thought he’d heard my thoughts. He didn’t say anything though and I relaxed.

  He took off his jacket and laid it on the table before he climbed into the river and waded out into the middle. It turned out I was wrong and the water rose all the way to his waist. Killian said nothing, but I could see the annoyance on his face. I suppressed a laugh and looked at Ashley.

  “I’ll need to channel you again,” she said.

  “Go for it, darling,” I said and smiled. She smiled meekly back and closed her eyes.

  “Once it’s done take the necklace off,” I whispered to her. She gave me a puzzled look. “Trust me.” She nodded and then closed her eyes. Once it was removed Killian would die.

  She latched onto my power and began chanting. This was the second part that would take the most power. Unfortunately, for Killian, we didn’t have enough to bind the formula to him permanently. Just until that necklace came off Ashley’s body. Until then it would be draining her power to keep him invincible. Which meant if she left it on for too long then she would die. Once this was done we needed to act fast.

  As she chanted the river began to move. The water swirled around Killian, its speed matching the speed with which Ashley chanted. I could feel her sapping the power out of me and I worried that if she took too much then I would be too weak to do anything once it was done. I grabbed hold of the table to steady myself as I grew weaker.

  “I can feel it happening!” Killian roared over the wind that was picking up all around us. The trees shook angrily overhead, scattering leaves in all directions. Nature always seemed to react badly to the major spells. “I can actually feel myself toughening up! It’s like I’m turning into stone!” his voice was filled with all the glee of a child on Christmas morning.

  Jets of water shot up into the sky in great plumes, like a giant majestic fountain. The spell was finalising. It was now or never. I tapped into my own power and concentrated on Killian. I sent my magic after the little cuts of lapis lazuli that he had all over his person. Willing them to be no more. I felt a weird popping in my head like something had short circuited and I saw the stone on his tie explode, but with all the commotion he didn’t notice. I felt the others go too. Then I realised what the popping was. My power was sapped. Between myself and Ashley we’d drained me. The connection between myself and her was broken. I was about to worry when I saw that it wasn’t needed any longer anyway. The entire river shot up into the sky all at once. A great wall of water separated us from Killian. Ashley was blasted back from the river. She hit the wall like a rag doll and crumpled to the floor. The wall of the river continued to flow up into the air for over a minute. I watched in awe, thinking about Killian who was in the middle of it all. There was no way he could survive that. The spell would never have time to take effect before the water drowned him. The water fell down and the river was calm once again. Killian was gone.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  I waited for something to happen. Anything. But nothing did. The air was totally still now. No wind, not even a breeze. The river was still too. Ashley was laying unconscious on the pavement. I went to go to her when something caught my attention. A hand shot out of the river and grabbed the edge of the pavement. Then another. Killian’s head rose up and he dragged himself out of the water. He was soaking wet, drenched from head to toe, but he was smiling maniacally. The look in his eyes told me the ritual had worked perfectly.

  “You really have excelled yourself with this one, Mister Lancaster,” he said jovially. I looked over at Ashley. The necklace was still hanging around her neck. There was no way I could get over to her before he reached me, but I needed to get that necklace off of her. There was no way she was going to wake up whilst he was draining her power.

  “We’re done now. We did what you asked. Let us go,” I said. It was our only hope.

  “You did do what I asked. And I wish I could let you go. But I know a little bit about magic, and all the time you’re alive there’s a risk that you might find a way to undo the spell. So I can’t let you walk away.” I saw Jeffrey and the guards approaching from the bridge. Guns out. “If it’s any consolation you have achieved true greatness today and I for one will never forget. You shouldn’t worry, though. Even if you lived for a thousand more years, you would never do better than what you have done today.” He smiled sickeningly. I wanted to kill him so badly. I didn’t hide my homicidal thoughts and he didn’t react to it proving that I had destroyed the power enhancing stones he wore. “Before you go, we should test your work. I feel unbreakable, but I’d really hate it if I killed you and then found out you’d tricked me.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small dagger. He chucked it through the air and I caught it easily in the palm of my hand. “Hit me with your best shot.” Jeffrey and the guards stopped a metre or so away, awaiting further instructions.

  I already knew what the outcome would be, but I wanted to stab him all the same. I aimed the dagger and threw it at him. It spun through the air and hit him in the left thigh. The blade bounced off him like he was made of titanium. The bastard really was invincible. I felt no pride because I knew the game was up. He’d betrayed us and I was going to die. My greatest achievement was going to be my undoing.

  “Just like I envisioned,” he said under his breath. Then he looked back at me. “Don’t worry, Eddie. Your little friend will live. As per our arrangement,” he said and I remembered what Matt had told me last night.

  “So you’re going to murder me, just like you murdered your parents.” My words wiped the smile straight off his face. At least I would have some small satisfaction before I went.

  “What?” he hissed.

  “Oh yeah, I know all about your past. You were the first seer in your family weren’t you? And your parents hated it. They called you names. Freak. Abomination. Devil-worshipper.”

  “You shut your mouth,” he warned, but he made no move to shut me up. Just stood there with that stupid expression on his face. He wasn’t used
to people knowing things that he didn’t want them to know. All these years he’d held the monopoly on information and now I’d managed to steal some.

  “They decided to send you away. They gave you to an abbey where the monks could raise you. They thought maybe the monks could turn you into a good little Christian. But even they couldn’t turn you into a good person. You came out of that abbey more rotten than when you went in. You tracked your parents down, and you killed them. Murdered them. And then you covered it up. That’s why you are the way you are, isn’t it? Because mummy and daddy didn’t love you. Poor little Killian. Nobody loves him.”

  He looked about ready to attack me and then he composed himself. Just like that. He even smiled. “And what about you Eddie? Your mummy and daddy did love you didn’t they, but that didn’t stop you from killing them.”

  “I didn’t kill them,” I said. I should’ve seen this coming. I’d already seen the book with my entire past written in it.

  “Might as well have done. It was your choice. All you had to do was say yes to her. What was her name? Oh yes, Rachel something or other. The warlock. She came to you, didn’t she, Eddie?”

  “Shut up,” I said. Tears were already rising in my eyes. I did not want to relive this. I’d spent years burying this away in my subconscious. Running and hiding.

  “Don’t dish it if you can’t take it,” he said, gloatingly. “Rachel just wanted you to go with her. To work for her. To put your unique abilities to good use.”

  “Providing her with power was not a good use,” I argued, but he ignored me and carried on.

  “But you said no. Even managed to hold her off with your own magic. Stolen magic might I add. You are a warlock after all. No better than any other.”