The Devil You Know (Jacob Graves Book 3)

by Sean Stone

  ‘May I ask something?’ Jeremy said. The three of us were sitting on the sofas in my living room. I had resisted the urge to get the rum out and instead we all had coffee. Except Jeremy, he only drank tea.

  ‘Go for it,’ I replied.

  ‘Why did Dorian ask you to kill Magraval? Surely he has people more capable of such things in his employ?’ Jeremy did not know that I was an assassin, let alone that I was one of the best killers in the country.

  ‘He knows that Magraval has been coming after Jacob. None of his Orchids have the same kind of motivation,’ Drew explained for me. ‘But we have another matter to discuss and Jeremy your expertise might be very useful. Jacob was attacked by a… well, it’s best if he describes it to you. Jacob.’

  Drew was right to bring this to Jeremy. He’d read pretty much every book inside the Hall and knew more about the supernatural than anybody else. I finished off my second drink and then told Jeremy all about the headless horseman. He nodded along as I told him my story, his brow furrowing in certain places. His eyes shone when I mentioned the spinal column and a small smile came to his face.

  ‘Dullahan,’ he said simply when I was finished. ‘Though they are rarely seen outside Ireland. For one to be on your tail it means either you crossed it at some point or somebody has set it after you.’

  ‘Since the boy hasn’t been anywhere near Ireland, or even out of this city for weeks, my bet is someone set it on him. Hell, he’s got enough enemies,’ said Drew.

  ‘Haven’t we all these days?’ Jeremy added glumly.

  ‘How do I kill it? My spells were worthless against it. They slowed it down at best.’

  ‘That I don’t know. I’d need access to my library. I think I can have my books brought to me. The ones I need for this. But until then, here’s what I do know. Dullahans don’t like gold. I don’t know why, but you can wield it against them and use it as a shield. Also, if somebody has sent it after you, killing them will call it off. If the creature has already said your name, and you’ve already said that it has, then it won’t stop until it’s killed you.’

  ‘So killing the summoner might not even work?’ asked Drew.

  ‘I cannot say either way.’

  ‘I’m going to kill the summoner regardless,’ I told them both. There was no way I was going to let whoever it was get away with setting a deadly creature on me without paying with their life.

  ‘One final warning, if that spinal column so much as touches you, you’re doomed. As far as I can remember, not a person who was touched by the spine ever survived.’

  ‘Terrific,’ I said. Maybe I would have that rum after all.

  Chapter Eight

  Jeremy left shortly after. Drew kindly invited him to stay in my apartment until the danger passed, but Jeremy declined. He said he’d feel safer in his own place, especially since I seemed to have enough enemies of my own.

  ‘It’s okay, my wife and I have a lovely little cottage in a secluded part of town. Nobody knows about it. I’m more than capable of fortifying the place against any attackers,’ Jeremy explained, though there was fear in his expression. ‘I’ll reach out to a loyal apprentice of mine. She’ll be able to sneak some books out of the Hall for me. Until we know more about dullahans, try to avoid it. And remember it doesn’t like gold.’

  As soon as the door was shut behind the Library Keeper, I began searching my apartment for any and all gold.

  ‘Let’s brainstorm potential people who might have sent this creature after you,’ Drew said from the sofa. He wasn’t going to help me find gold, and frankly I was grateful. The last thing I wanted was my uncle ransacking my apartment even if it was for my own good.

  ‘No need. I think it’s fairly obvious who’s behind this,’ I said. I found an old gold chain that a girlfriend had bought me when I was about seventeen. I’d worn it for about a week and then thrown it in a drawer. It was far too garish and heavy. Looking at it now, I wondered why I had even bothered to bring it with me when I moved out of my uncle’s home. I slipped the hideous piece of jewellery over my neck and continued my search.

  ‘Do tell.’

  ‘I don’t actually have that many enemies. Remember that most of the people who don’t like me ended up dying by my hand. That’s why they didn’t like me.’

  ‘That doesn’t even make any sense,’ my uncle replied.

  ‘You know what I mean. I don’t have that many living enemies. And the person other than Magraval with the most reason to come after me is Marcus.’ I’d seen his loathing for me first hand. He hadn’t liked me very much before I’d possessed him. Now he abhorred me with a passion few others possessed.

  ‘Hmm. It’s not really his style. I agree he hates you, but if he wanted you dead he’d challenge you to a fair fight. He might be nasty, but he’s also honourable.’

  ‘True,’ I agreed. I moved into my bedroom and had to shout to my uncle. ‘But what if Magraval has forbidden it. Magraval wants to deal with me himself, he won’t let Marcus do the deed.’

  My uncle had no response. It seemed that I was making sense. If only I could get him to listen to my suspicions about Sam. But until I had further evidence I wasn’t even going to try and bring that up again.

  I found a box of old trophies I’d earned in my schooldays. They were all from the Hall for outstanding achievement in spell craft. I didn’t have any for anything else. All Hall trophies were made of either bronze, silver, or gold. No imitations. The majority of mine were gold. I tossed aside the two silver ones and left only the gold trophies in the box.

  ‘If it’s Marcus then we need to kill him to call the dullahan off,’ Drew said at last.

  ‘Or convince him to call it off. Actually, killing him will be easier. How do we get him to come out of the Hall.’ I was starting to notice that people hiding inside the Hall was a common theme. Knowing my bad luck I’d end up drawing all of my enemies out at the same time and they could all kill me together.

  ‘Easy. Challenge him to a duel. He’ll be honour-bound to accept. All Elders would be, but especially him. He’s a proud man, and he’s the best fighter the Hall has.’

  ‘Do you think I can take him?’ I finished up in the bedroom and carried my haul into the living room. I dropped the box on the dining table. I had trophies, an old plate that had belonged to my grandmother, and an ornamental dagger. I’d also found the heavy chain, a bracelet and two rings; all of which I was wearing. I wasn’t one for jewellery usually, but under the circumstances I was happy to look like a pasty Mr T.

  ‘You can forget any ideas of using my mother’s plate as a weapon,’ Drew said, pulling the golden wall decoration out of my box and putting it to the side. He wasn’t usually the sentimental sort, but I suppose all boys get a little feely when it came to their mothers.

  ‘Can I beat Marcus?’ I repeated. The plate didn’t matter. I had enough gold without it and I could always buy more. I was pretty rich.

  ‘In a fair fight? I doubt it. You still haven’t mastered drawing energy from nature to convert into magic. All he’d have to do is lead you away from the main city to beat you.’

  ‘I did do something new today though.’ He looked up at me with interest and I told him about how I’d cast a spell without actually saying the right word.

  ‘What word did you say?

  ‘I just sort of screamed.’ I shrugged.

  Drew nodded thoughtfully. ‘You accidentally took a step toward silent spellcasting.’

  ‘Really?’ Casting spells without using the magical words was one of the rarest talents in the wizarding community. Drew had always believed I was capable of it, but he thought I wasted my potential.

  ‘Really. It seems that whenever you get too emotional you can tap into these higher talents. We need to find a way to harness that. It is the only way you’ll be able to beat Magraval. He’s too strong. You need to employ skill.’

  ‘Surely there’s a way I could consume enough energy to match him?’

  Drew shook his head. ‘N
o. You’d kill yourself if you tried. Wizards have died from wielding too much magic. The human body isn’t strong enough. That’s why Magraval has transformed into something else. His body has adapted to be able to hold that much power. And that is a change that took years to achieve. Even if I was willing to let you transform yourself into a monster, you don’t have that much time. Dorian won’t wait for a few years whilst you become his next big threat. He’s already wary of you as it is.’

  ‘Do you really think so?’ Dorian was surrounded by powerful people. He hardly needed to worry about me.

  ‘Jacob, you broke into his most secure locations and helped destroy his most valuable resource.’ Drew was talking about the mirror. Dorian used the mirror to gain leverage over the people of Sangford. It was one of the ways he’d risen to power in the first place. ‘And of all the people who work for him, Simon and Monroe are the only ones who could survive taking you on. Dorian knows you are a viable threat. That’s why he wants you working for him. He wants you wearing that orchid the same as everyone else. Trust me on this Jacob, once we’ve dealt with Magraval, we may very well have a Dorian problem to deal with.’

  I looked into my uncle’s eyes and saw that this was not just paranoia. He was certain that Dorian was going to turn on me when he no longer needed my services. But I could see that he was holding something back. ‘What are you not telling me?’

  ‘What? Nothing.’ He shook his head. I wasn’t convinced but there were more pressing issues than whatever it was about Dorian that Drew was keeping from me.

  ‘What do we do if he does turn on me then?’ I asked.

  ‘We pour petrol on a very expensive piece artwork and we light a match. For now, let’s deal with the more achievable targets. We need to melt this gold and fix it to every wall of this apartment. I don’t know if your horse riding foe will try coming in here, but gold on all the walls should deter him.’

  We got to work melting my childhood trophies and fixing the cooled remains to the walls. The whole time we worked I couldn’t stop thinking about what Drew had said. Killing Magraval was a hard enough job, and yet once that was done he believed we’d have to kill Dorian too. Forget my other enemies, I was starting to think my uncle was trying to get me killed.

  Chapter Nine

  After fortifying the apartment and myself, Drew and I took a little trip into town to see our favourite armourer. Her real name was Natalie Morgan — Drew did his due diligence before we started buying from her. She supplied weapons to the shadiest people the city housed. She had out of town clients too, she was one of the best at what she did. If I ever needed a weapon she was my first port of call. She didn’t know I was the Wraith. She knew I was some kind of criminal, but any one of her clients could be the Wraith and she had no way of finding out which. It wouldn’t matter if she did know, in her line of business discretion was everything. If it got out that she’d outed a client she wouldn’t have many clients thereafter.

  Her shop was right in the middle of town, pretty much on the line that divided the North and South. The shop had no name. There was no sign above the door and the front window was covered with so much grime it was pretty impossible to see through. Even if you could see through it you wouldn’t see much of interest. It’s cover was a second-hand junk shop.

  Drew pushed open the door and the little bell rang as we entered the shop. Old wooden tables stood around the cramped shop, their tops covered with used books, toys, and various household items. If customers came in they could buy the items but everything about the place was designed to deter customers from even entering the building.

  I approached the counter, Drew by my side. Natalie was sitting behind it, her feet atop the polished wooden surface, her head buried in a worn Orlando Sanchez novel. She didn’t even glance up. I smirked at her lack of customer service, it had grown on me over the years. Drew did not find it quite so endearing. He mustered a dramatic sigh and slammed his palm on the little silver bell on the counter.

  Natalie looked up in surprise as if she hadn’t even seen us come in. ‘Oh, hello there,’ she said charmingly, putting her book down and brushing a strand of dark hair from her face. ‘Jacob and Drew, I haven’t seen either of you for some time. Been making your own weapons?’ Natalie was somewhere around the age of thirty but could easily pass for early twenties.

  ‘I wish that I could,’ I replied. ‘We just haven’t needed your services lately.’

  ‘And what do you need of me on this fine morning?

  ‘He needs gold weapons,’ Drew said. Apparently I could no longer speak for myself.

  ‘Gold weapons. Any particular kind? Stabby, shooty, magic, explosive?’

  ’Stabby and shooty should work,’ I said.

  ‘Just plain old gold then? No sparkly additions?’

  ‘Simple enchantments might be useful but nothing too fancy,’ I said. A little magic wouldn’t be a bad thing.

  Natalie ran her fingers through her hair as she thought about our requirements. It didn’t take long for her to present her package. ‘So, a simple handgun loaded with golden bullets. Two guns to be on the safe side. Plenty of ammo. A set of golden shurikens. And three golden knives; one for the boot, one for the belt, and one up the sleeve. How does that sound?’

  ‘Expensive,’ I replied, smiling nonetheless.

  ‘You get what you pay for,’ she said with a cheeky wink. ‘Do you want gold plated or solid gold?’

  ‘Better go for solid,’ Drew advised. ‘Be on the safe side.’

  ‘Solid it is,’ I confirmed.

  ‘Okay, so for all of that, you are looking at…’ she pulled out a biro and scrawled a number on a scrap of paper. She slid it over the counter to me.

  ‘Eeesh, good thing I’m loaded,’ I said, as I stared at the weighty number before me.

  ‘Cash up front.’

  One of the best things about having to pay in cash was that her business was as dirty as mine, so I didn’t have to worry about giving her clean money. She could take my filthy unlaundered notes and clean them herself. I dumped my holdall bag on the counter and pushed it toward her. There was more money than she’d asked for in there but that was fine, she could consider the excess a nice bonus.

  ‘How much is here?’ she asked.

  ‘What you asked plus an extra twenty-five percent, give or take. Call it a speed bonus. I need this fast.’

  ‘Come back in twenty-four hours.’ She swiped the bag off counter before I could blink and the transaction was done. There were no receipts, no proof of payment, no records whatsoever. This whole business ran on trust.

  I nodded my head and left the shop without another word. I’d just have to hope that the dullahan didn’t attack before I had my full arsenal. I had my jewellery and the one knife I’d found in my apartment, but that wasn’t ideal. To use the knife I’d have to get within whipping distance.

  My phone rang pretty much as soon as the door closed behind me. I pulled it out and groaned. It was Simon Delacrue. Could I just have one day without having to talk to that cretin.

  ‘Hello, Simon,’ I said without bothering to hide my displeasure.

  ‘Where are you?’ he said impatiently.

  ‘In town, why?’

  ‘Watch the news that just broke. Call me back when you’ve seen it.’

  He hung up and I followed his instructions immediately. There was none of his usual snideness, he actually sounded panicked. I opened the news app and saw a video at the top of the page that said BREAKING NEWS: HOAX OR HORROR? beneath it. The frozen image was one of Neil Garland, Magraval’s puppet.

  ‘Oh, shit,’ I mumbled and then pressed play.

  The video filled my phone screen. Neil was sitting in a nondescript room. Plain walls, no decorations — nothing to give away his location. I suspected wherever he was, Magraval was there with him. His face was serious, like a politician about to give a grim press briefing.

  ‘Good afternoon people of Sangford,’ he said, affecting a voice that sounded far
older than the one I’d heard when I’d met him at the Hall. ‘My name is Neil and I have lived in this city my whole life, like many of you. And like many of you I have noticed the poison that runs through the very veins of this beautiful city. It infiltrates and corrupts its every aspect. I may be young, but I am not blind. And, I am sure, neither are you. I am not alone in my displeasure, but I am the first to take a stand.’ On cue, Neil stood up and stepped forward. The camera rose to accommodate his new stance. For a fleeting moment the boy’s eyes darted to whoever was behind the camera and I saw a touch of fear. Magraval was there in the room. These were his words, not Neil’s. The boy was following a script.

  ‘Dorian Gray claims to have made this city what it is today. But is that true? I ask you, would this city not be greater without his malignant influence hanging over every part of it? Would we not all sleep a little more soundly if we didn’t see the Gray Orchid plastered across the place we call home?

  ‘But Dorian Gray only has the power that we have given him. He has no official power. He is not the mayor. He is not the chief constable. He does not serve on the City Council. He has no official standing in this city at all. If Dorian were to disappear we would need no replacement. He is a parasite, feeding on all of us. And it is time for us to take back the power we have granted him.’ Neil paused and took a deep breath, puffing his chest out like one of those little birds.

  ‘I implore the acting-mayor to stop taking orders from Dorian Gray. I implore the chief constable of the police to stop ignoring evidence that incriminates Dorian Gray and his subordinates. And I implore you the people to stop allowing the thugs who wear Dorian’s badge to run roughshod through this city. If you see somebody wearing that emblem, do not give them whatever they demand. You should strike them down on sight. Tear the badge from their clothing and force it down their throats. It is the responsibility of everybody in this city to end Dorian Gray’s reign.’