Phoenix Born

by Sean Stone

  Drew drove the van in through the loading door and brought it crashing down after us. No sooner than we’d dragged Kagen out of the van did his body spontaneously catch fire.

  ‘Jesus!’ I shouted as I snatched my hand away from the burning corpse. I’d felt enough phoenix fire to last me a lifetime. I was already covered in wounds I’d need Drew to heal for me. My chest was radiating fire as were both of my hands. It was nothing compared to the burn that had covered my entire arm but they were still pretty bad. The adrenaline coursing through me was doing a good job of sparing from the pain but each passing minute the adrenaline faded and the pain increased.

  The body burned to ashes in less than a minute. It was impressive. I needed to find a way to use phoenix fire when I was destroying evidence after a job. Normal fire was slow.

  ‘Quick,’ Drew said as he tossed one of the lead boxes to me. It was about ten inches wide and six inches deep. I looked at it in silence thinking it was too small. ‘What are you waiting for boy? You want another fight?’

  I knelt down and began scooping ashes into the box. I didn’t know how long it took for a Phoenix-Born to begin regeneration but I didn’t want to hang about to find out. After about ten minutes we scooped the last of the ashes into our respective boxes and I looked down at it with pleasant satisfaction. It had been big enough. Just. The ashes came right up to the rim. I closed the lid carefully being sure not to spill any. I fixed the tiny padlock through the loop and sealed Kagen away forever. Or until we found a way to kill him permanently. But for now at least, Kagen Payne was dead and dealt with.

  In the morning Kagen was still dead. The two plain lead boxes were still unmoved on my dining table. I know, bringing the ashes into my home was risky, but where else could I leave them? My apartment is spelled up to the wazoo with protection so as soon as those boxes started to move I would’ve been alerted. The risk was minimal.

  Drew was already sitting at the table with a cup of coffee watching the boxes with interest. He’d stayed over last night in case Kagen had come back. He’d applied the salve to my chest and hands and then sent me to bed. I was too tired to argue with him and frankly I didn’t want to.

  ‘Morning,’ he said when he saw me.

  ‘Morning.’ I dragged my feet across the floor and crashed into one of the dining chairs to join Drew at the table. I needed more sleep but I’d come in to check on the boxes and now I was up I might as well stay that way. I had a lot of work to do today. Police and the press would want statements about what had gone down at Monkeys. I could leave the press to Leah but the police would only settle for me.

  ‘You’ve got lazy,’ Drew said out of nowhere. He moved his steely eyes from the boxes to me.

  ‘Excuse me?’ I said in surprise. My slovenly posture only supported his comment so I sat up a little straighter.

  ‘You’re too confident in your abilities which obviously aren’t as good as you think they are. Kagen nearly beat you last night. He had you dead up in the sky. And if it hadn’t been for me you would’ve been bird food on the floor of your own club. How embarrassing would that be? Getting killed on your own property?’

  ‘Well, I’d be dead so the embarrassment would be minimal.’

  He shook his head disapprovingly. ‘For me, I meant. How could I look people in the eye and tell them that I’d trained you so badly?’

  ‘I’m so sorry my almost death almost embarrassed you. You do realise I didn’t die, and I did win, right?’

  ‘Because of me,’ he said in a growl. Growling was his default setting. ‘Kagen had you beat. You got lucky to get out of his grip and I stopped you from splatting all over the floor. You were sloppy and reckless.’

  I sat up fully erect now. My body was erect, I mean, nothing else. I was in utter astonishment. I wasn’t accustomed to getting scolded after a successful operation. ‘Maybe I underestimated Kagen a bit…’

  ‘Yes, you did. You’ve been doing that a lot lately. You underestimated Ethan Spriggs as well. Walked right into his trap like a moron. You need to wake up and realise you’re not the best in the universe. Far from it.’

  Maybe it was because I’d only just woken up or maybe I just didn’t appreciate being told off for a successful job, but something inside me snapped. ‘You need to wake up and realise that I’m a thirty-year-old man and not a bloody child! Yes, Ethan and Kagen have managed to surprise me recently but I still made it out on top, didn’t I? I’m not the one incinerated in two halves, am I?’

  He held my gaze for a heartbeat before looking away in frustration. ‘True,’ he said, begrudgingly. ‘I’m sorry. I’m being an arse.’ That took me by surprise more than anything that had happened lately, including Kagen turning up alive after I’d killed him. I’d grown accustomed to Drew’s harsh nature but apologizing was not in his skill set. ‘I’m only so hard on you because I know you can do better.’

  ‘I know,’ I mumbled. His niceness was making me feel awkward. I’d rather he went back to being horrible to me.

  ‘So, how did you get out of his grip then? What spell did you use?’

  ‘Didn’t you see?’ I was having a hard time believing that he somehow missed the massive bolt of lightning that blasted Kagen in midair.

  ’Obviously not. I was trying to help Kagen’s other victims. It was one of them who told me he’d carried you off into the sky. Now, what spell did you use?’

  ‘None,’ I said. I relaxed back onto the sofa.

  ‘What do you mean none?’

  ‘I did what you always wanted me to do,’ I replied. It was the first time since last night that I’d realised what I’d done. Drew’s eyes widened in anticipation. His golden goose was finally coming to roost. ‘I tapped into the elements and used them against him.’

  ‘Tell me exactly what happened,’ he instructed.

  And I did. I told him how I felt a different kind of energy inside me and I’d used it to control the lightning. I hadn’t really done anything. I hadn’t drawn in the energy from anything, it was just there already inside me.

  ‘No,’ he said simply when I was done. Then he got up and took his mug to the kitchen and began rinsing it in the sink.

  ‘Care to elaborate?’ I said, going after him. Whilst I was up I grabbed a mug and began pouring myself a cup of coffee.

  ‘That isn’t how it works. When you take energy directly from the elements you still have to absorb the energy just like when you draw it from anywhere else. It isn’t already inside you. And you cannot use any kind of energy to directly control the elements.’ He had his back to me so I couldn’t see what he was thinking but judging by his tone he was wary of what I was telling him. Suspicious and maybe even a little concerned.

  ‘I’ve seen wizards conjure lightning before,’ I argued. It wasn’t that uncommon.

  ‘Yes, and that lightning comes from their magic. It comes out of them. You didn’t produce that lightning from magic. You summoned it directly from the sky. I have never heard of any wizard doing that.’

  ‘Well I cannot be the first…’ I mumbled as I brought my mug to my lips.

  ‘No. You’re not that exceptional,’ he agreed.

  ‘Just had to get a dig in, right?’

  ‘I’m going to do some research.’ Of course he was. That was his bloody catchphrase. ‘I’ll find out if there’s any record of this kind of… power.’

  ‘I’ll come too.’

  He snorted. ‘This is the first time you’ve ever been willing to do any research.’

  ‘Well, it is about me,’ I said with a smirk.

  ‘You are coming to the Hall, but not with me and not to do research. You’ve been summoned. They called this morning. The Elders want you there in one hour to answer questions about last night.’ He could see I was about to argue and he cut me off before I could. ‘You need to go. Last night was a fiasco and you need to be diplomatic now. You need to play nice and smooth things over. The Prime already dislikes us. Don’t let him dislike us more. Leah is working on spinning i
t with the media and you’ll need to go and see her later as well. If only to make sure you both have your story straight.’

  ‘What do you mean if only?’

  ‘She’s pissed with you right now, boy. You let her sister drag her away and she didn’t appreciate it.’ He clamped his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Word of advice, never take away a woman’s autonomy. It can only ever end badly.’

  His advice went in one ear and right out the other because my mind was focused on something else. What was Leah?

  ‘Did you see what she did last night?’ I asked him. Maybe he had some idea of what she was based on what she’d done to fight the fire.

  ‘No, I was too busy looking for Kagen,’ he said. I went to tell him but he shook his head. ‘We don’t have time for more games. You’ve got enough on your plate. Get dressed and get to the Hall.’

  Then he walked right past me and headed for the door. ‘Oh, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you to stay the hell away from Ethan Spriggs.’

  That reminded me of the other question that had been on my mind. ‘Can you use magic to doctor video footage?’ I asked.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You know, like could I add myself to footage using magic?’

  He looked at me like he thought I was batshit crazy. ‘No. The most you could do is use magic to destroy the tape. Wipe certain parts of the footage. You can’t magic up your own video, Jacob. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if you learned anything I ever tried to teach you.’ Having delivered one final insult he opened the door and was gone.

  I got dressed trying to figure out how Ethan had faked the camera. Maybe it was from a different night and he’d changed the dates on the files. Or maybe he had used a kind of magic Drew didn’t know about. After all, he’d never heard of wizards controlling lightning like I had.

  Once I was dressed, I headed out to meet the Elders but I didn’t get any further than two steps out of my own building. Two police officers were waiting for me. Not Decker and Mitchell, but two uniformed coppers.

  ‘Mister Graves, we need you to come with us.’

  Chapter Twenty

  They weren’t regular cops. I could tell by the purple stars on their lapels. The stars meant they were magical beings and they had more magical weaponry than a Nocult cop was authorised to use. They wouldn’t be as easy to brush aside as Nocult police officers.

  I remembered what Drew had said about diplomacy and decided not to make things difficult. Maybe this could be resolved with a nice and simple conversation.

  ‘What is this about, officers? Am I under arrest because I have a very important appointment to make?’ I said in my politest voice.

  ‘The only appointment you’ve got is the one with the mayor,’ the lady cop said. Although she left no room for argument she was still polite about it. I appreciated that.

  ‘He’d like to speak with you about the incident at your fundraiser last night,’ said the man next to her.

  ‘He’s not the only one. The Prime Wizard has summoned me to appear before the Elders about the same matter,’ I told them, hoping they’d be reasonable and let me go to the Hall first.

  ‘The Prime Wizard,’ the bloke said in disgust. ‘He has no authority in this matter.’

  ‘He is in charge of all wizards and I am a wizard,’ I pointed out.

  ‘The mayor’s authority supersedes the Prime Wizard’s,’ he said. ‘He is in charge in this city.’

  ‘Is he?’ I spoke before I could stop myself and instantly regretted it. Luckily the mayor wasn’t here to get offended by my tactless comment.

  ‘Get in the car,’ said the woman.

  Realising that I wasn’t going to be able to talk my way out of it, and not wanting to attack two purple-starred police officers, I complied and hopped in the back of their car. I was sure that sending a police car to pick me up was supposed to humiliate me but luckily nobody was around to see it.

  Ten minutes later I was standing in the mayor’s office. Mayor Percival Harper sat behind his obscenely large mahogany desk. Four private security guards in plain black suits were littered around the room, two of them were very close to his desk as if he was expecting me to attack him right here in his own office. The police officers remained in the room guarding the door. I got the impression that the mayor thought I was in some way a danger to him.

  ‘Tell me everything about your pathetic little assassination attempt right now. Give me something I can use against Dorian Gray and I’ll go easy on you,’ he demanded.

  I was too stunned to speak for a good minute or so. I’d always known that Harper was a bit dense but for him to think that I had tried to have him killed was just absurd.

  ‘Good morning to you too,’ I said with faux offence at his poor manners.

  ‘Cut the bullshit, Graves. Start talking.’

  I grabbed the chair in front of his desk and pulled it out. One of his guards stepped forwards to stop me and we both stopped still, looking at one another in a stalemate.

  ‘You can stand,’ said Harper.

  ‘I guess chivalry really is dead,’ I said as I let go of the chair. ‘I did not try to have you killed last night. I don’t know if you noticed but I was the one who was nearly killed by the attacker.’

  ‘No, I didn’t notice because I was too busy trying to survive.’

  ‘Yes, you did look like you were in a lot of danger cowering behind the bar whilst the people who were giving money to your campaign were getting burned alive. True leadership right there,’ I shot with a sardonic grin.

  ‘How dare you…’ he whispered. His whole face turned purple. ‘You and Dorian conspired to kill me to stop me from taking over the city.’

  At that I openly laughed. ‘Oh please, as if there’s any danger of you taking over the city. And Dorian and I don’t conspire to do anything.’

  ‘Of course you do. You’ve been seen visiting his house and he has saved you from the police twice. You’re far too chummy with him.’ Harper had both hands planted on his desk and was leaning forwards at me, a vein in his forehead was throbbing dangerously.

  ‘Dorian and I have been discussing the Ruby Hassell murder. He’s taken an interest in it. Neither one of us is interested in you.’ I didn’t even care if I was insulting him. In fact that would be a bonus. I had enough to deal with without his melodramatic paranoia to add to it.

  ‘Why would he be interested in that nonsense?’

  I narrowed my eyes at him and fought to resist the urge to slap him across his face. Despite my best efforts to have an attachment free life it seemed that Ruby had managed to break at least one of my barriers. ‘That’s a question he has been unwilling to answer,’ I replied through gritted teeth.

  ‘The news is reporting that the attacker was from the Dregs. Some chump who doesn’t want us improving the area. I’ll never understand poor people.’ He sighed and relaxed into his high-backed leather chair. ‘Maybe that is all it was. Maybe you weren’t involved but I don’t believe for a second that Dorian wasn’t involved. That creepy weirdo would love to see me dead.’

  It was a special kind of delusion to believe that somebody who had more power than you could ever have found you at all threatening and yet here was the mayor believing just that. He was nothing more than a puppet to Dorian and he really did see himself as an opponent. If Dorian wanted Harper dead then Harper would be dead. End of.

  ‘I assure you that I was not involved at all. If it helps matters the attacker is dead. He burned in the fire.’

  Harper’s eyebrows nearly lifted right off his head as he sat up straight again. ‘Dead? There was no report of his body being found. All the dead have been identified.’

  All the dead. I wondered how many exactly that was. Even one person dying at one of my venues was a serious hit to business. Hopefully Leah was on top of things. Even if she was mad at me.

  ‘His body burned to ashes so they wouldn’t have found him. You won’t be seeing him again. That’s the important thing,’
I said.

  ‘No. The important thing is appearing to have retaliated. With no arrest and no body the public won’t believe that we’ve handled this,’ he muttered dismissively.

  ‘With all due respect you haven’t handled this. I did,’ I told him. Once again, I should have kept my mouth shut. If only I had as much control in my everyday life as I did when I was on a job. But when I was the Wraith everything was planned. I rarely had to improvise. Well, until Kagen. This whole thing had turned into one massive improvisation.

  ‘Times are changing, Graves. I’ve got a new backer. Dorian’s time is nearly up. He won’t be in charge of this city for much longer. You might want to reconsider your allegiance,’ Harper said. His words echoed what the Prime Wizard had said to me last night. Times are changing. Reconsider your allegiance.

  I gave him what I realised afterwards was a patronising nod. ‘Well, good luck with that. My allegiance is to myself.’ There was no way he had a backer powerful enough to take down Dorian. Dorian had every powerful person in the city in his pocket. Still, if I warned Dorian about this then maybe I could accrue some credit with the immortal. Maybe he’d tell me why he was really interested in Ruby. Maybe he’d even leave me to investigate it myself. That was doubtful but it was well worth a try.

  The mayor let me leave and I got a taxi to the Hall of Wizardry. I was only twenty minutes late to my hearing. To be fair, if they’d wanted me to arrive on time they should have given more than an hour’s notice.

  I was escorted to the room of hearings which was basically a big old court room. A few rows of wooden benches stood at the front of the room for the audience to watch. There were only a few wizards in the pews, obviously word hadn’t got out about my hearing. Beyond a small railing was the main floor. A small podium table with a microphone sticking out of it stood in the centre of the floor. That was for me. At the head of the room on a raised platform was a long, ancient wooden table behind which sat the five Elders. The tallest chair was in the centre of the table and in it sat the Prime Wizard in magnificent purple robes. To his right sat the Spells Master in rich red robes. To the right of him sat the Library Keeper in his green robes. To the Prime Wizard’s left sat the Potion’s Mistress in shimmering yellow robes, and to her left sat the Explorations Master in sea blue robes. They were the five Elders of the Hall of Wizardry. I had always found it unfair that the head of the library was the only one not to have been granted the title master. It seemed almost as if they undervalued his position. Drew had always said that the Keeper held the books that contained the knowledge all the other Elders needed, therefore he was the most important of any of them.