Wicked Magic
Page 34
“No, thanks,” Nathan said boldly. No more hiding, no more secrets. His parents had said they were going to accept his way of doing things… no time like the present to put that to the test. “I’ve been meaning to head over to the Vampire Council. I need to speak to Jeremiah about whether Kseniya can stay in town.”
Dad frowned. “That’s good of you,” he said slowly. “Mind you don’t promise Jeremiah anything, though.”
“I know that, Dad.”
Mum and Dad walked him all the way to the castle. At the doors, Mum hugged him.
“Keep safe.”
“And keep us updated,” Dad added.
“We’ll be back in town in about three weeks,” Mum said. “I think we’re going to be working out of the prison for a while. From what your dad has said, we’ve quite a bit of cleaning up to do there, too.”
“I bet.” Nathan grimaced. He held out a hand, which Dad shook firmly.
“Good luck, son.”
“Thanks, Dad. You too.”
Mum and Dad watched him through the doors. Nathan turned back once to wave and grin at them, before telling the receptionist, “Hi. Permittitis intrare?”
“Ah, welcome,” she said. “I’ve been asked to pass this on to you.” She handed Nathan a brown envelope. “It’s your season ticket.”
Nathan opened the envelope and found a plastic ID card. Nathan Delacroix, Hunter Council Liaison. It had a photo of him, even though he wasn’t aware that anyone from the Vampire Council had ever photographed him. Vampires, honestly.
“Thank you,” he said, trying not to sound as blindsided as he felt. Even Adrian didn’t have a Vampire Council ID. He used Damien’s.
The cashier printed a premium tour ticket and handed it over. “Tour starts in five minutes.”
“Thanks.”
A robed guide brought Nathan to Jeremiah’s office. A big wooden desk filled most of the room, and the walls were obscured by bookshelves. This trip hadn’t been planned, but Jeremiah didn’t look surprised.
“Ah, Mr Delacroix,” he said, “I had been expecting to see you.”
“Nathan,” Nathan corrected.
“Very well.” Jeremiah nodded. “What can I help you with, Nathan?”
Nathan had been considering this conversation for a while. The first thing he did was take out the Sihr knife, still in the box Monica had made for it.
“I thought you might want this.” He opened the box and handed the knife to Jeremiah. “I figured you’d be the best choice to get it destroyed?”
“That would be wise,” Jeremiah agreed, taking the knife and laying it delicately on a side table. He clasped his hands beneath his chin and regarded Nathan.
“I would like to know how my debts stand,” Nathan said nervously. Being indebted to a vampire was not a comfortable situation to be in, but Jeremiah had sent help when they’d needed it, and not acknowledging that debt wouldn’t make it go away.
“Monica has already expressed a willingness to pay off your debts on your behalf,” Jeremiah said.
“No,” Nathan replied firmly. “I don’t want Monica to do that. I can take responsibility for my own debts.”
“Very well,” Jeremiah said neutrally.
“And whilst we’re on the topic,” Nathan added, “I’d like to petition on behalf of Kseniya. Like Monica, she doesn’t have a coven to stay in. The witches want her to leave the city.” They’d sent three missives already. “She doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“You want me to take her in as I did Monica?” Jeremiah asked. “Monica’s parents called in a debt long owed to their family, that I would care for their daughter.”
“I just want her to be allowed to stay until she’s healthy and can arrange her own affairs. I have guardianship over her. She’d be my responsibility.”
Jeremiah considered that. “I can liaise with the witches. What would you be willing to offer me in return?”
“Don’t I already owe you a million unclaimed favours?” Nathan asked. “Maybe you should tell me what you want.”
Jeremiah smiled, the smile of the cat which had the mouse in its sights. Nathan had the distinct feeling he’d just walked into some kind of trap.
“It seems to me,” Jeremiah said, “that the Council is an inefficient, antiquated beast which struggles to withstand the demands of the citizens it is responsible for. None of the three branches of the triumvirate wish to work together. We seem to be missing a crucial part… someone who is independent of all three Councils, or perhaps loyal to all three Councils, who could act as a go-between.”
Nathan stared at Jeremiah, his mind racing. “You want me to be a… liaison?” he asked at last, wondering if he was misunderstanding.
“Indeed.”
“That’s it?” Nathan asked. “For how long? What’s the catch?”
“You seem to be under the impression that I am given to taking advantage of my people, Nathan,” Jeremiah said. “This is not the case. We would draw up a contract. It would be mutually advantageous. The main drawback is that I could not allow you to become a marked hunter during the period of your employment, not unless it were agreed upon that your employment to the Council would supersede your hunter responsibilities.”
Nathan’s heart was beating a frantic, excited rhythm in his chest. “Would that really wipe my debts clean?”
“You are not as indebted as you seem to believe. You helped rid the city of the threat of the Sahir. We consider that to be a not insignificant favour to the Council.”
Wow.
“I want to see the contract first,” Nathan said. “Before I agree. And I want to know that Kseniya will be able to stay for as long as she needs.”
“You will have that,” Jeremiah said. “I will contact you shortly. I know that modern humans are quite attached to their mobile phones. If it would be acceptable, you could give me your number.”
An ancient vampire on speed dial? Nathan had to suppress a smirk. “Sure.”
Aodhán walked him out. Unlike the other guides, who all kept their hoods up, he always wore his down, showing off his tattoos. Lost in thought, Nathan toyed with the ward amulet around his neck. He needed to return it to Monica. An idea blossomed in his mind.
“Do you have time for a quick chat, Aodhán?”
“Of course, Mr Delacroix.”
Another vampire he was going to have to train not to be so damn formal. Nathan smiled to himself.
They entered a small antechamber and Nathan shut the door behind them.
“How can I help you?” Aodhán asked.
Nathan leant against the wall beside the door and considered for a moment how to frame his request. “A couple of months ago,” he started, “remember, you spoke to me on the Mound? You said there were… things you could teach me.”
“I recall.”
“I take it that’s things like… like seeing energy, like I did that day when we found the druid site?”
“That is only one small part of druidic practices,” Aodhán explained. “Druids believe in the interconnectivity of all life on the planet. Once you have learnt to see that energy, you can progress to accessing it, persuading it to your will.”
“I thought that you disapproved of that,” Nathan said.
“I disapprove of the practices of witches,” Aodhán explained. “They drain the energy out of living things and twist it to their own ends. Druids ask the earth to help us, and it delivers as it sees fit. We never take the energy, at least not without giving back in equal amounts.”
Nathan wasn’t sure he understood the difference, but he was fairly hopeful that he could figure it out.
“If your offer was still on the table… I think I’d like to learn,” he said hesitantly.
Aodhán smiled. “Very well. We will work out a schedule. But in return you must assist me with a task.”
“That seems fair,” Nathan agreed cautiously.
“I would like you to purge the evil from the druids’ sacrificial site,” Aodhán s
aid. “I expect that the night of the spring equinox will be the right moment. This will also give me enough time to teach you how.”
“It’s not going to involve any human sacrifice, right?” Nathan said.
“Contrary to what you appear to believe, druid magic is rooted in life, not in death,” Aodhán said, his tone a mixture of patronising and amused. “I will not ask you to kill.”
“I had to make sure,” Nathan said. “Will you call me?”
Aodhán made a face. It made him look about ten years younger. How old had he been when he was turned? Nathan would have placed him at thirty-five, maybe thirty at the youngest, but when he wrinkled his nose like that, he could have passed for only a couple of years older than Nathan.
“I will contact you,” Aodhán said, “shortly. I must first arrange my own schedule.”
No phones, then. Nathan nodded. “I look forward to hearing from you.”
“Will you find your own way out from here?”
“Yes, thanks,” Nathan said. “No need for you to lead me in circles every time.”
Aodhán nodded. “Good day to you, Nathan Delacroix.” He vanished from one second to the next.
“Bye,” Nathan said to the empty room.
Nathan had one last task for the day. After leaving the Vampire Council, he took the bus up to Headington and walked to the Rymes residence. Cynthia opened the door for him. Instead of stepping back to let Nathan in, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.
“Hey,” Nathan said when they separated for air, “you sure know how to stoke a guy’s ego.”
Cynthia beamed. “I was looking forward to seeing you. Come in.”
Nathan kicked his shoes off and followed her through to the kitchen. “So, I think I’m going to be working for the Council next year,” he said. “Oh, hi Ms Rymes.” Cathy Rymes was at the stove. “Mmm, spaghetti?”
“Hello, Nathan of the bottomless stomach,” Ms Rymes said. “I’m making extra. Will you stay for dinner?”
“I’d love to.” Nathan ruffled Emma’s hair in greeting, making her squeal, and took a seat at the table. Cynthia sat beside him.
“Working for the Council?” she asked. “So you’re not going to initiate as a hunter?”
“I might,” Nathan said. “But Jeremiah offered me a job and it seems like a good opportunity. Besides, I’m pretty attached to Oxford. If I initiated as a hunter, they’d probably move me to London. That’s where most of the new hunters end up.”
“Well,” Cynthia said, “what a coincidence. As it so happens, we have news too.”
“Go on.”
Cynthia glanced at her mother. Ms Rymes nodded.
“We’ve decided to stay in Oxford for the time being,” Cynthia said. “I mean, we’re registered with the Council now, and the vampires have been… pretty okay with it, and we have friends here, so… we’re going to stay, at least until I’m done with school.”
“That’s great!”
“Mm-hmm.” Cynthia reached over and laced her fingers with his. “We should celebrate.”
Nathan grinned. “We should. You know, we’ve been dating since September, but we still haven’t gone on a proper date?”
“We should rectify that,” Cynthia agreed. She leaned in.
“We should,” Nathan repeated, but he was quite distracted. Cynthia’s lips were close to his, then they were on his, and her tongue was in his mouth, and then she’d crawled onto his lap.
“EW! Mum, Cynthia’s kissing Nathan!” Emma cried.
Cynthia and Nathan separated. Cynthia was giggling wildly.
“You two!” Ms Rymes groaned. “Not in the kitchen.”
“You’re the one who won’t let me have him in my room, Mum,” Cynthia said.
“Oh, for the love of—” Ms Rymes flicked her oven mitts at them. “Out! Off you go! But the door stays open, you hear me, Cynthia? Don’t make me come up and check on you!”
“Thanks, Mum!”
Cynthia grabbed Nathan’s hand and dragged him out of the kitchen. They ascended the stairs, both laughing.
Nathan grinned to himself as Cynthia pushed her door half closed. Life was looking up.
Cynthia crawled onto her bed and smiled at him. “Come on. Let’s celebrate.”
02-OCT-2016
ALL ABOARD?” KURT CALLED out in his best English. “Please stay seated and keep your seatbelts fastened. It will be a twenty-minute drive to the hotel.”
He manoeuvred the bus out of the usual queue of traffic around Berlin-Hauptbahnhof and headed for Invalidenstraße. Another day, another busload of tourists. Screaming kids, people standing up in the middle of the motorway, empty crisp packets, and orange juice spills. Just another day in his life.
He tapped the mic to check it was working. “Shortly up ahead, we will be crossing the point where the Berlin Wall used to separate East and West Berlin. If you look closely at the ground, you will see the marker.” A pause. “If the lady in back could please be seated…”
Several passengers tittered. Others craned their necks, trying to see out the bus. A boy switched on his music; some kind of alt metal poured out of the speakers, loud enough that the boy would be deaf by the time he was thirty.
Kurt slowed the bus a little to accommodate traffic. His mic buzzed, like it always did when he received an SMS. He flicked his gaze to his phone, reading the notification. Just the weekly schedule coordination update. He looked back at the road.
And slammed his foot on the brakes.
There was a man standing in the road.
“AUS DEM WEG! VERDAMMT—”
It all happened very quickly. The brakes squealed in protest. Kurt clutched the wheel, but there was nowhere to go except into traffic. They collided with a thud, and an almighty groan of bending metal rent the air. The windscreen shattered, and Kurt threw his arms up to shield his face. When he lowered them, the bus was stationary, the engine cut, and the man was gone.
Alarmed, he undid his seatbelt and leaned forwards. A human-shaped lump lay on the tarmac.
“Scheiße, scheiße, scheiße!”
He pulled himself out of his seat on shaky legs, already operating the door mechanism. It was jammed, but with a groan and a hiss it eventually engaged. Air whooshed past him as it opened.
Someone screamed. Kurt jumped and spun back towards the bus. Nothing amiss.
“Please remain seated!” he called. “I will make sure it’s safe to evacuate—”
Another scream.
Thud!
Someone collapsed into the aisle in a dead faint. A shiver ran down Kurt’s spine. He turned back to the road.
Empty.
The body was gone.
Was zum Teufel…?
Behind him, all hell broke loose. Several people were screaming at once. He heard, “SHE’S DEAD! SHE’S DEAD!” and “RUN!”. A woman was praying in Mandarin. A man jumped up, sprinting towards Kurt. Before Kurt’s eyes, he watched a figure come out of nowhere—a flash of blond hair and terrifyingly long teeth—the figure latched onto the man’s neck. After that, Kurt stopped understanding. He watched in horror as the man went pale and limp, and sank to the floor.
The figure dropped the body and sauntered towards Kurt. Kurt took a step backwards.
“I—ich—Sie—bitte—ich habe Kinder—”
“Close the door,” it said. It was a man, and yet not. Its eyes were red. A monster in human form.
With shaking hands, Kurt reached out and pressed the button. The door slid closed.
TO BE CONTINUED 02-OCT-2022
AFTERWORD
I hope you enjoyed reading Nathan’s adventures as much as I enjoyed writing them. If you are interested in discovering the next tale in this series or hearing about my other projects, do join my mailing list. I don’t spam you, but I do occasionally give away freebies.
If you have time, please also consider leaving a review on the retailer where you purchased the book and on my Goodreads page. Reviews are the best reward an author can recei
ve.
I hope to see you again when the next book launches.
Sincerely,
Margot de Klerk
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book would not exist without the small, but dedicated team who helped me pull everything together. I’d like to express my sincerest gratitude to each of them:
To Debra, my beta-reader and cheerleader, who was the first person to read my writing and tell me to go for it.
To Pierre, my proof-reader, who helped me fix my silly little plot holes and corral randomly disappearing characters.
To Joshua, who created the artwork for my website and the inside cover of the book.
To the team at E-book Launch, who created the gorgeous cover.
And lastly, to my mother: beta-reader, formatter, accountant, cheerleader, emotional support, researcher, and proof-reader all rolled into one. Without her, there would simply be no book. There aren’t enough words in the English language to express how I grateful I am for her support. I couldn’t have done it without her.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2021 Margot de Klerk
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The right of Margot de Klerk to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN: 978-1-9196213-0-2
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR