The Devil You Know (Jacob Graves Book 3)

by Sean Stone

  He walked back to the three small steps and lowered himself onto the top one. Before resting his buttocks on the concrete, he slid out a dagger from his waistband and placed it threateningly on the step by his side. The blade had a wicked green gleam to it. Poison.

  Sam stood with his hands balled into fists staring at his father petulantly. ‘I met Roland at the Hall,’ he said sullenly.

  ‘When?’ asked Drew.

  ‘I don’t know. Not long after my Clausateum diagnosis.’

  ‘So much for being banished.’

  ‘I hadn’t been banished then.’

  ‘I meant Roland, plonker,’ Drew said with an air of exasperation.

  ‘Oh,’ said Sam. ‘Well, anyway, he looked at the research I was doing, a cure obviously, and said he could help me. He taught me…’ he trailed off.

  ‘The ritual that transformed you into a wraith,’ I finished for him. His dull silver eyes shot pins at me. Drew’s eyes wandered up to his son’s face and I saw the momentary recoil. So did Sam and the hurt on his face was as plain as day.

  I pushed my palms into the floor and managed to fully straighten my back against the pillar. I glanced down at my hand and saw that the god ring had regained some of its shine. Not enough to use yet, but I’d be back on my feet soon enough.

  ‘Anyway,’ Sam said, ‘Roland said he saw something in me when I did the ritual the first time. He wanted me to be his apprentice. Then you went and found out what I’d done and marched me straight to Dorian who banished me.’ I was still having a hard time getting my head around the fact that Drew had done that even though I understood his reasoning.

  ‘I did it because if he’d found out himself he’d have killed us all.’ Despite his motive, it still seemed like a pretty massive betrayal.

  ‘He didn’t kill Roland,’ Sam said quickly, making a pretty excellent point.

  ‘Because he made a deal with Roland,’ I said, remembering what I’d learned about that little matter.

  ‘Yes,’ Sam said, elongating the s into a hiss. ‘Roland told me all about his little deal with Dorian. Dorian wanted him to break some kind of fairy magic or something. Roland was never going to do it, he just agreed so he could get out of the city. Each time he came back he made up some bullshit to placate Dorian and then he’d leave again and never bother to even consider Dorian’s fairy problem.’

  ‘Interesting,’ Drew and I said in unison. Mistake. Sam’s face turned into a full glower and his fingers twitched, itching to cast some magic my way. But he resisted the urge.

  ‘So what happened to him?’ Drew said impatiently.

  ‘He got annoying so I killed him and glamoured him to look like me,’ Sam said. I met my uncle’s gaze and saw the shame. He couldn’t bring himself to accept that he’d been wrong about everything and I had been right. There was a first time for everything.

  ‘And this conversation is getting annoying now. Let’s get to the real reason we’re here,’ said Sam.

  ‘We’ll move on when I say so,’ Drew snapped standing up. Sam’s pale face reddened but he stayed silent and still. ‘How did you kill him?’

  ‘In a duel,’ he said brashly, his temper was wearing thin. When we were kids, Sam always had a fiery temper, if he was anything like that now then an explosion was coming. ‘He wouldn’t let me plan my revenge so I challenged him. We fought privately away from prying eyes and I…’

  ‘But I spoke to a bloke who witnessed it.’

  Sam waved his hand dismissively through the air. ‘Oh please, that was me in a glamour. You’d think you’d be able to pick on some of the signs it was your son you was talking to.’

  Drew looked about himself in horror and confusion. He agreed with Sam, a father should’ve picked up on signals that he was talking to his son in disguise. But Drew knew as well as I did that a well-executed glamour was nigh on undetectable.

  ‘Anyway, I astral projected to fool Roland and then stabbed him in the back.’

  ‘So full of honour,’ I muttered.

  ‘You cheated,’ Drew said flatly.

  ‘I won by any means necessary. You taught me that.’ Sam puffed his chest out with pride.

  ‘Hmm, think that might have been Roland actually,’ said Drew.

  ‘Well, he was always more of a father to me than you were, Dad. You were always too busy doting on Jacob. Oh, Jacob come and learn a new spell. Jacob, come and practice potions with me. Jacob—’

  ‘Enough!’ Drew shouted, his eyes flying open. I did not come here to listen to your childish complaints about imagined things from years ago.’

  ‘No,’ Sam said viciously. ‘You came here to die. So let’s get on with it.’

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Sam took a step back, and flourished his hand, inviting Drew to join him in the centre of the room. He could not seriously be expecting his magicless father to fight him armed with a few magic rings and a dagger. It was insane and I was not going to sit by and let it happen. I tried to rise but my legs still wouldn’t hold me. I made it a couple of inches off the floor before they trembled and gave up on me.

  I tried to siphon more energy from around me but there was nothing left. I’d drained every source in range. There was only one other option. I had to draw power from nature. I closed my eyes and tried to replicate what had happened when Jasmine had guided me. I remembered how the air had felt so thick and hot right before the energy had flooded into me. This time nothing happened. I heard movement and opened my eyes. I needed to find whatever motivation I needed to draw from nature, but it was hard to concentrate when my uncle was literally at risk of being killed in front of me.

  Drew wrapped his fingers around the dagger and pulled himself to his feet with a groan. All eight of his fingers sported one of the rings I’d charged for him. He knew how dangerous it was to attempt to use that many at once and yet he was going to try it anyway. I didn’t blame him. He needed all the power he could get his hands on, but even if he put a ring on each toe it still wouldn’t be enough. I’d thrown more power than I could physically hold at Sam and he was still standing. Drew didn’t stand a chance.

  I looked at my own ring and saw that the light had increased a fraction. It would have to do, I could no longer afford to wait. I pulled on the power of the ring and felt its warmth as it flowed into my body and healed my tired muscles. I just had to hope it would be enough to get me back on my feet. There was still the problem of power. The ring would heal me but there would be no magic left in it with which to fight and there was still nothing in range for me to siphon. Fighting Sam hand-to-hand wasn’t going to happen.

  ‘Did you really come back here to kill your own father? Do you really think you can do it?’ Drew asked, keeping his hands up and ready.

  Sam tilted his head on its side as he considered Drew. ‘I know I can,’ he said in an affirming growl that sounded eerily like Drew, only younger. ‘Like you said, I’m not your son. He died fifteen years ago and so did any love I felt for you.’

  Drew raised the dagger and pointed its sharpened tip at Sam. My uncle was about to get himself killed. I didn’t have the energy for any spells, but I could finally get up off the floor. I pushed both palms into the grubby concrete and lunged at my cousin. He turned, eyes wide in surprise, and then threw his hand up, muttering a spell as quickly as he could. I tried to erect a shield instinctively, but I had no power with which to conjure anything, and Sam’s spell tore into me and sent me crashing back down to the ground.

  Drew swirled his free hand through the air and a glowing ball of violent gold light appeared in his palm. Sam turned back to his father and actually smiled at the sight of the golden ball of magic. Then he snapped his fingers together and the ball exploded in my uncle’s hand. Drew’s head whipped back from the force of the explosion, blood flew from his mouth and nose, and he staggered back into one of the building’s six pillars.

  ‘That might’ve been a deadly spell if you actually had enough power to cast it properly,’ Sam mocked. He mutter
ed several unfamiliar words and wisps of black floated out from the pillar. Drew made toward Sam but the inky tendrils grabbed his arms and legs and pulled him in tight, holding him against the pillar. Even though he was restrained, Drew’s grip on his dagger never faltered.

  ‘Stop this stupidity, Samuel!’ Drew snarled, struggling against the restraints. He tried performing counter spells but he didn’t have the magic to overpower Sam.

  ‘No,’ said Sam, a cruel smile twisting his lips. ‘You can stay right there for the rest of this.’

  ‘Sam,’ I said as I slowly pulled myself to one knee. A warning glare from Sam stopped me from rising any further. One wrong move and Drew was a dead man. Those rings wouldn’t defend him. That was why I’d left him behind. ‘This is about me. Only me. I’m the one you hate. I stole your father. Let him go and we can finish this together. Just the two of us.’

  ‘Don’t be stupid, Jacob,’ said Drew.

  ‘What’s wrong, Dad? Don’t want your precious favourite to put himself in danger.’ That petulant tone was returning to his voice.

  ‘Oh please,’ I snapped. ‘He sends me out to kill people, he trained me to be an assassin. He puts me in danger day in day out.’

  ‘No! He taught you everything you needed to know before you went out killing. He trained you. He protected you. He made sure you were fully equipped to get the get job done. What preparation did I get when he sent me to Hereford?’

  ‘I didn’t you send you anywhere. You ran away!’

  Sam snorted and looked at his father over his shoulder. ‘Just admit that he was always your favourite.’

  ‘I never had a favourite.’

  ‘You did. You always preferred him to me. Now tell me why or I will kill him in front of you!’

  ‘I didn’t prefer him,’ Drew insisted. ‘We were supposed to leave as a family but you ran away.’

  ‘Say it!’ Sam screamed. The redness of his face was nothing compared to the bulging vein that had taken residence on his forehead. ‘Say you loved him more than me! Admit it! He was the son you always wanted! Admit it! Admit it and tell me why. Tell me why you loved him more than me. What was so wrong with me?’ As Sam shouted the last of his questions tears started to etch down his cheeks.

  I knew what it was like to feel so inadequate. For years I’d wondered why people always left me. My dad, my mum, Sam. Sooner or later they always left. But never had I thought that Sam had been feeling something so similar.

  Drew was equally silenced by his son’s outburst. He looked on Sam, not with anger, or irritation, but with genuine sorrow. Slowly he began to shake his head.

  ‘Don’t deny it, please. Just be honest. You owe me that. Admit that you loved him more,’ Sam said softly, desperate for the truth after so many years.

  Drew looked down at his feet and that small movement was all the confirmation Sam needed. I felt my heart plummet as I realised that there would be no talking Sam down now. ‘I did,’ Drew confessed hoarsely.

  I closed my eyes in despair as my uncle said the words that nobody wanted to hear.

  Sam turned completely away from me, giving his full attention to Drew. I took the opportunity to pull myself to my feet but dared not do anything else just yet.

  ‘Why?’ asked Sam, his voice a tired whisper.

  ‘What does it matter?’

  ‘I said why?!’ Sam screamed, throwing spit all over his father.

  ‘I don’t know!’ Drew shouted back. ‘I don’t know, okay. I just did!’

  ‘No,’ Sam said snarling. ‘I will not accept that answer. How could you just love someone more than your own son? You tell me why right now or I will kill everyone you’ve ever laid eyes on!’

  Silence followed Sam’s demand. Father and son stared vindictively into one another’s eyes until finally Drew spoke. ‘You want to know why? I’ll tell you why. Because even when you was just a little boy I could see the monster lurking inside you. I knew that you were always just one bad day away from becoming… this.’ Drew nodded his head toward Sam. The monster in the room.

  Sam raised his head defiantly, not attempting to stop the fresh tears that tumbled from his eyes. This whole time Magraval had seemed like some kind of unfeeling psychopath who just loved to terrorise people. But it was an all an act. Sam’s glamour had been more than skin deep. Now that he was confronted by the people who’d hurt him most all of his bluster had fallen away to reveal a snivelling little boy in a man’s body.

  ‘You could have stopped that. You could have nurtured me into something better. But instead you cast me aside for somebody else’s son. All you had to do was love me the way a father should.’ Sam’s voice cracked and broke on the last words he spoke and he was truly a little boy again. A little boy who wanted his dad’s love and approval. It was impossible not to pity him after Drew’s confession.

  Drew raised his shame-filled face to meet Sam’s eyes once more. ‘I’m sorry. I failed you as a father and I am so sorry. It’s not too late to fix this. Nothing is irreversible. Come with me. Just the two of us. Forget him.’ Drew waved a hand dismissively in my direction. We’ll leave this city. We’ll travel the world until we find a way to undo what you’ve done to yourself. Let me make things right, son.’

  Sam took a step toward his dad. ‘Really? You would do that?’

  ‘For you I would.’

  Sam continued walking until he was right in front of Drew. The misty black restraints released Drew and receded back into the pillar. ‘But you came here to kill me.’ Sam flicked his eyes at the dagger that Drew still clutched.

  ‘This?’ Drew raised the weapon. ‘Is to defend myself.’ He dropped the dagger and it clattered noisily to the floor.

  ‘The thing is… you’re only doing this to protect him, aren’t you? You want me out of the city so Jacob can live without any threat from me.’

  ‘That’s not true. I want to help you. I want to help my son.’

  Sam leaned in close and said quietly, ‘But the man who you consider your son is the one standing behind me.’

  Drew shook his head trying to quell another outburst. ‘No, no, Sam. You are my one and only son.’

  ‘So tell me you love me more than anything.’

  ‘Of course I do. You’re my flesh and blood. I created you. I watched you grow from a baby and it kills me that I didn’t see you transition from a boy into a man. Of course I love you more than anyone or anything.’

  ‘That’s all I ever wanted to hear from you,’ Sam said softly. His hand shot open, the dagger soared up into his palm and before either of us had time to react, Sam plunged the blade straight into Drew’s stomach.

  ‘No!’ I screamed, frozen in shock. Drew made an oofing noise and his eyes flew wide in shock. His lips moved but he couldn’t make any real words. Pained grunts escaped from him.

  ‘Your mother… would be ashamed,’ he panted at last. Sam twisted the knife, opening the wound further. Drew screamed in anguish and then Sam stepped back, tearing the blade from his father’s flesh. Still staring into Sam’s eyes, Drew slid down the pillar, blood pouring from his stomach and soaking his shirt and jeans.

  I looked on in horror as a strange emptiness crept over me. Any eerie and somehow furious calm took me. Sam turned, smirking like an idiot, to face me. ‘I said I could do it,’ he told me. The hint of pride that appeared in his eyes was all the motivation I needed. Without even trying I felt the energy flow into me. It came from everywhere. The ground, the river, the trees, the very air that surrounded me. I pulled energy from the soil. I pulled it from the sky. I pulled it from any place I could find it. It rushed into me where it was immediately converted into magic more potent than I had ever felt.

  And there was something else. Something I couldn’t explain. Some other kind of power. One that I had felt before on a couple of occasions. It felt icy and sharp. Not the dense heaviness that regular magic felt like. Sam could see none of this happening inside of me, but I wondered if he could feel it.

  We stared at one a
nother through the silence. The calm before the storm. The silence broke when I opened my mouth and unleashed a scream that was completely drowned out by the thunder that boomed out of me. With the thunder came the lightning. Not just a few bolts this time, but several. Forks of lethal electricity flew in all directions of the old factory. Bricks were eviscerated to dust and my despicable cousin was flung away from me. He let out a satisfying yelp as he hurtled across the factory, his blond hair shooting upwards from his head.

  The lightning vanished and silence returned. My vision darkened and flashes of light dotted about in all directions. Then came the familiar feeling of emptiness I’d felt not so long before. My legs lost their substance and I hit the concrete hard, unable to get back up. Once again, my limbs were no longer my own, they shook and spasmed. I looked over at Drew who was lying on the floor, his head against the pillar. He was breathing in short fast breaths, holding on to whatever life he had left. I tried to go to him. There had to be something I could do to save my uncle. It was only a stab wound after all. It was healable. But I could not move even a finger.

  ‘Ouch,’ Sam groaned in a pathetic attempt at humour from across the room. He was lying face down on the ground, but he wasn’t as drained as I was. He’d just been blasted by the lightning whereas I’d had it coursing through me. He was already pushing himself back up.

  ‘I do like that little trick,’ he said, though he was panting as he pushed himself up. He was wobbly on his feet and his eyes were almost grey now. His power was pretty much spent. ‘It has left me… a little drained though. I am sorry you’ll have to see this side of me again, Jakey, but I am famished.’ The last word was a hissing growl. His eyes glowed like stars and his mouth opened unnaturally wide to reveal too many razor-sharp teeth. My cousin was about to feed on me and there was nothing I could do about it. Of all the things I’d imagined he might do to me if I lost, I never anticipated this. I don’t why, I just didn’t think he’d do it to his own family. It seemed almost incestuous.