The Painter Mage: Books 1-3

by D. K. Holmberg

  I jumped to my feet. I was bone weary and weakened, but the sound of the howling sent adrenaline rushing through my veins, if not strengthening me, at least waking me up.

  Reaching the window, I pulled back the blanket covering the glass. The blanket did nothing but block light coming through. Right now, I wanted to see what might be out there.

  The lanterns around my house glowed with a soft light. Not like the last time Jakes had been here at night and he’d shorted them out. This time, they hummed with soft energy, pulsing out with the charged pattern I’d added around the house. What my father had placed here long ago should hold, but then again, I had thought that nothing could really damage the house. All it took was one shifter and one powerful painter to prove me wrong.

  A flash of fur streaked across my yard.

  Devan stood next to me, body tensed. Power pulled through her, leaving the amulet cool against my chest.

  “Do you think he needs help?” she asked.

  I cast a sideways glance at her. Devan was always trying to keep me safe, but now here she was wanting to throw me into danger. “After what we saw last night? I’m not sure anything can hurt him.”

  “Everything has a weakness, Ollie. You should know that.”

  Jakes prowled just beyond the light, nothing more than flashes of fur. “I’m not sure he does. Look at him—”

  A roar, like rumbling thunder, cut me off.

  Power built, leaving my hair standing on end. Jakes snarled but it trailed off to something akin to a whimper.

  Shit.

  I reached toward my belt and checked my ink. I had three: red, brown, and—if everything really went sideways—black. Red gave pure destructive power. I’d used that a lot in the time since leaving Arcanus. Brown connected me to the earth, increasing strength, among other things. There was little else black ink was good for except causing pain and death. I didn’t love using it, but there were times. This was one of them.

  “Keep the door closed. Don’t let her outside.”

  Devan’s grim expression was answer enough.

  “You’re not even an artist! What makes you think you can do anything against it?” Taylor said.

  I hesitated with my hand on the door. “You said you left Arcanus a year ago? Well, I’ve been gone for ten. None of it was spent on this side.”

  I’d gone against some nightmares before, but part of me recognized there had been nothing like this. Most things I’d faced wanted to kill those with me, not quite as concerned about me. What was out there would want me.

  Beyond the reach of the lanterns, inky darkness surrounded the house. Shifters might be able to see well enough in the darkness, but painters didn’t have that ability. Human eyesight limited them. Thankfully, I had ways around it. Reaching into my pocket, I palmed one of Devan’s charms as I started outside. With a click as I triggered it, I tossed it into the air. This charm was different than many of the others she’d made but was perfect for nights like this. A spray of yellow ink spread in a wide arc overhead. With a touch of power, I infused it. Thin light, little more than what an average nightlight would make, pierced the darkness. Enough for me to see.

  Immediately, I wished I couldn’t.

  Wolf Jakes fought something. I couldn’t tell what it was. The creature looked like night folded against itself, like black bent upon black, and nebulous like a cloud. At least to me.

  Jakes seemed to know where to attack. He snarled and twisted, his head shifting, growing longer then shorter as he attacked. Claws ripped at the night. The creature howled, but I couldn’t tell where any sound came from.

  There wasn’t anything I could do to help. I’m not sure I wanted to even if I could. Whatever Jakes fought came straight out of horror stories, like tales of darkness attacking, leaving nothing but memories of the vanished. This was the reason people feared the dark without reason or explanation, the reason man has striven for fire and light during its entire existence.

  Then the creature saw me.

  It slipped away from Jakes, shifting on the wind and coming straight toward me. I felt it, though I had no idea what it was.

  Jakes roared.

  There wasn’t time for me to reach for my satchel, not time to grab anything other than one of Devan’s charms. I prayed I grabbed the right one and stretched high overhead, squeezing it. As soon as the ink was free, I sent a force of energy and will through it.

  An explosion of light radiated from me.

  It was nothing like the Agony-shaped charm could create. Man, I wished I had that one with me. But this had its own sort of dangerous power.

  Wind whistled, sending the creature tumbling before being suddenly drawn back and toward me. This was the reason the pattern was so dangerous. Done wrong, I could be sucked in by its force. Done right, and whatever I used it on would be drawn into a sort of holding place.

  Jakes seemed to know what I was doing. With a powerful lunge from his back legs, he leapt over me and collided with the darkness, tearing it with claws and fangs, faster than I could see. A terrible cry worked from the creature, but Jakes did not relent, slashing and tearing while making sounds I knew I’d never forget.

  Then it stopped. Night pressed back, darkness again fading behind the lanterns ringing the house and the yellow ink still lingering in the air.

  Jakes shifted back to his human shape. A long gash worked across his stomach.

  “Can’t you shift that away?”

  He fixed me with a hard glare. “I can be harmed like anything else.”

  Probably not quite like anything else, but it worried me that a single one of those creatures took so much force to bring down. “So. That’s a hunter?”

  “We have a different name for them, but yes. That is what you call a hunter. You see now why the gate must be sealed?”

  I hadn’t disagreed before. Now I felt even more certain he was right.

  Another howl pierced the night, this one low and haunting. A second followed it.

  Jakes shifted into wolf form and turned toward the sound in the same motion.

  I reached for him, touching his fur. It felt sharp and painful. He jerked his head back, fangs bared. “You nearly couldn’t handle one,” I said. “There’s at least two more out there.”

  “And you think you can stop them, Morris?” he snarled.

  I had no misconception about my capacity to stop that. “You need help.”

  “And I’ll have it. As I said, I’m not the only Guardian in Conlin,” he answered. “Morris, I will contain the hunters, but you need to bury the gate.” He tipped his head toward the sky and howled, long and loud. Then he loped off toward the woods.

  I watched him for a moment before turning back to the house. Before I reached the porch, the door opened and Devan grabbed me and pulled me back inside. She gave me a quick hug before releasing me and pushing me away with a punch on my shoulder for good measure.

  “I thought you…”

  “Yeah. I thought the same,” I said.

  No way I could have survived what was outside without Jakes’s help. And he might feel confident that he could stop another hunter or two, but I saw how difficult it had been. Now I understood the fear the Masters felt when it came to the hunters.

  I turned to Taylor. She sat on the floor, legs crossed while she looked up at me with an unreadable expression. Her arms hung at her sides.

  “Listen,” I said to Taylor. “Jakes is right. The gate needs to be buried. You saw how hard one was to stop. Now there are at least two more that have come through.”

  She tensed. “If we do, then we’ll never—”

  “You think that’s the only crossing?” I turned to Devan. “And you think I’m the idiot?” I shifted my gaze back to Taylor. “There are others. Had you only thought to ask, you might have gotten help. Now we need to help Jakes seal the gate. If we don’t, everything you know will be destroyed.”

  She closed her eyes. “If we do, then he’ll be trapped.”

  I resisted the
urge to tell her that he was probably already dead. If he’d crossed the Threshold outside of the Te’alan realm, then Hard wouldn’t have had much of a chance. Ash either. Especially if there were hunters.

  “There are other crossings,” I said.

  Tear-stained eyes opened. “You’ll help me?”

  “I—”

  Damn it, but Devan was right. Why did beautiful women keep sucking me in?

  “I’ll do what I can, but for now, you need to help us. I need to know what you did to reveal the gate. How did you find it in the first place?”

  “The book,” she started. “There are a series of symbols in the book that matched those on the sculptures. I used those and the gate appeared.”

  At least now I knew why the sculptures were scattered around the park. “When?”

  “The night you found me.”

  “After the attack?”

  She shook her head. “I’d already come to the house. I didn’t know you were here, only that this was the Elder’s house.”

  And now I knew how I’d felt the summons. “Thanks for noticing,” I said to Devan.

  “Hey, for all I knew, there was only one painter in Conlin.”

  “Can you do it again?” I asked. “Can you close the doorway?”

  “I don’t know. There weren’t other patterns in the book that I could use.”

  “We have to try. And we need to move quickly. If we don’t, then Jakes will fall. Once he does, there’s nothing between us and them.”

  Devan squared her shoulders. “I’ll keep watch,” she said, heading for the stairs where the view was better.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “You’ve got no dog in the race. You stay here. I think the house will keep you safe. If it goes wrong, you stay here as long as you need to. Stay safe.” We both knew what would happen to her if she crossed the Threshold again.

  “No dog in the race? What do you think you are, Ollie?”

  I smiled and took her by the shoulders. “You know I can’t let you do that. It’s too dangerous.”

  “You really are an idiot.”

  “I know.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “You really think you get to tell me what I get to do? Has that ever worked for you?”

  “Well, no. I thought maybe this once it might. You know, when nightmare invisible Hell creatures who want to suck our magical power attacked. That sort of thing.”

  Devan punched me. “They might be invisible to you, but they’re not to me. You need me. I can’t seal the gate and you can’t see the nightmare Hell creatures.”

  “Invisible nightmare Hell creatures,” I corrected.

  Devan snorted. “Whatever.”

  I lowered my voice and leaned in toward her. “I’m not sure I can seal the gate.” I nodded slightly toward Taylor. “If she can’t determine the containment my father used, then we’re probably fucked.”

  “You don’t think you could figure it out?”

  “This is the Elder we’re talking about. One of the greatest of the Arcanus Masters.”

  “And you’re his son.”

  “His tagger son,” I said. “Not the same.”

  “You’re an idiot.”

  I smiled. “And what does that make you for wanting to come along?”

  She looked me in the eyes. When a creature like Devan does that, there’s a certain power and connection that draws you together. I couldn’t look away if I wanted to. Within that stare, there was warmth and affection and closeness and frustration and annoyance and love. Everything we’d been through over the years.

  “Someone who cares about that idiot,” she said.

  I took a deep breath. “Thank you.” I held her gaze for a moment longer, letting her drop it. Then I turned my attention to Taylor. “Are you ready?”

  She pulled herself to her feet, studying me and Devan, but I wasn’t sure what clues we were giving her. “I’m not sure we can do this,” she said. “Without knowing what the Elder did, we won’t be able to bury the gate.”

  A long howl erupted. It was close.

  I shot Taylor a glare. “Maybe not. But it’s the only plan we’ve got.”

  I pulled the door open and headed into the night. Devan followed behind me. Taylor lagged, moving more slowly than she should. “You know they sense your power. The one that attacked here noticed me pretty quickly. Imagine how long it’ll take them to sense you,” I said.

  That did the trick.

  Devan elbowed me. “That was surprisingly cruel of you. I thought you liked this one.”

  I fixed my eyes straight ahead as we ran. Devan’s soft glow lit the way. “That’s the problem. I think I’m liking the wrong ones.”

  “You mean the women who need help?”

  I snorted, turning toward the nearest sculpture. At the back edge of the park, toward the north, was the Claw. Why did it have to be the Claw first?

  “I mean women who can get me killed.”

  Devan barked out a laugh before catching herself and clamping a hand over her mouth.

  We ran, trees streaking past. No other sounds of the hunters followed, but I had little doubt that they’d pick up on either Taylor’s magic or mine. I didn’t know if they’d pick Devan out the same way. Hopefully, having her with us presented the advantage she expected.

  By the time we reached the first sculpture, my heart was racing. It could have been the pace or the fact that I’d just battled a creature from my childhood fears, or the steady, low, rolling howls that seemed to fill the park. Either way, when we stopped, I leaned forward on my knees and panted.

  Devan looked at me with amusement. The run hadn’t tired her one bit. Not that I expected it to. She could run for hours, and in fact, I’d seen her do that. It was Taylor who surprisingly managed to keep up . She breathed heavy, but not quite so heavy as me.

  I needed to pull it together. “Can’t all be Officer Jakes,” I muttered to myself.

  Devan’s twisted smile told me she’d heard.

  “You don’t have to act like you enjoy it.”

  She shrugged. “What can I say? I like watching him shift.”

  I ignored her and turned to the sculpture. Taylor said she’d triggered symbols on it, and that had revealed the gate. But there were no symbols on it. At least, none that I could see. I’d looked at it long enough in my time since returning to Conlin. The sculpture, like the others around here, was nothing but smooth stone.

  “Taylor,” I said. “I don’t see any patterns here.”

  She crouched next to me. I was immediately aware of the mixture of her perfume and sweat and her magical presence. I forced those thoughts away. They were nothing but distracting right now. Besides, she was Hard’s daughter. If we ever found him, he’d kill me.

  Her long fingers ran over the top of the sculpture. “See the way the fingers form this shape? It was like this when I found it. All I had to do was press through it like a painting.”

  I tipped my head until I saw it. There, between the fingers that pointed down, was the distinct shape of a triangle pointing toward the sky. Not just any triangle, but an equilateral triangle. It was a shape that carried with it power, and with the right touch, would be able to instigate many different intents.

  Reaching past her, I traced my finger around the triangle. My fingers brushed Taylor’s and I imagined I felt a tingle before she pulled her hand back. At least she didn’t jerk it away. My father had made this. My father had known about the gate, had known about the shifters, and had buried it in the park. And here I’d been thinking I barely knew him. Turns out I knew even less about him than I imagined.

  “There needs to be a different way to trigger this,” I said. “An opposite. Otherwise, all this will do is summon the gate.”

  Taylor shifted next to me. “There aren’t any other shapes on this, Escher.”

  “Oliver,” I corrected again.

  But she was right. There weren’t any other shapes we could trigger. If we couldn’t find any, then w
e would have no way of burying the gate.

  11

  There had to be another answer. With my father, there was always another answer, if only I could look hard enough—and smart enough—to find it. Closing my eyes, I created an image of the Claw in my head and placed it in the center. Then I stepped back, like a camera going out for a wide-angle view. In my mind, I circled around the sculpture, looking for any other patterns I could detect, but found none.

  Another low howl caused me to snap my eyes open. The hunter was nearer this time.

  “Where’s Jakes?” I asked Devan.

  She stared into the darkness for a moment before shaking her head. “I don’t see him.”

  “Do you see anything?”

  She turned back to me. “Nothing to worry about.”

  “Yet.”

  She shrugged. “Yet.”

  “Come on,” I said, standing and moving away from the Claw. “Let’s come back to this one. Maybe the other sculptures will be more helpful.”

  I stretched out my hand to help Taylor to her feet. She took it and wiped her hands across her pants. “I should have asked first. I’m sorry. And then when you helped… all I could think of was catching the shifter. Saving Hard.”

  Devan grunted and I shot her a hard look. “Listen. I know what it’s like when your father disappears. I know the urge to do whatever you can—whatever it takes—to get him back. I get that. And now we’re all in this together. If what Jakes says about the gate is right, then if we fail, everyone with our ability is in danger. I’m not going to stand by and wait for that to happen.”

  Taylor studied me with an odd expression before nodding.

  Devan walked past me and elbowed me in the stomach as she did. “Are you done? Because we’ve got a gate to hide and your nightmare Hell creatures are out there.”

  “Invisible nightmare Hell creatures,” I corrected.

  “Whatever.”

  I pulled Taylor along with me as I ran. I’d like to say I kept up with Devan, but she’s nearly immortal and has the speed of a racehorse, so that would just be lying. I did manage to keep from panting like some out-of-shape schlub as we hurried toward the front side of the park.