“Yeah, I think we’re past that now,” I said. “We know she’s the witch.”
“I know that,” Axel said. “What I want to know is if her toosh actually glows.”
“Where is the child?” she repeated.
I was about to reply when something else disturbing occurred to me.
“Umm, Axel,” I said, glancing around the room at the other guests. “You notice how no one in this room seems surprised by the fact she just revealed herself as a witch?”
Axel looked around at the other guests as well. They were just watching us, most with amused looks.
“Why should they be?” Director Allen asked. “As she said, we’re among friends.”
“Fuck,” I said, turning to face him. “And you’re in on it, too.”
Director Allen shrugged, his demeanor calm once more. “I tried to warn you off just now, but you wouldn’t go. Thought it’d be a nice favor for my son, letting you live, but you just wouldn’t listen. Stubborn, just like my boy.”
“You knew who killed Kyle the whole time,” I said, staring at him in disbelief. “You…were in on it.”
“Kyle left me no choice,” he said, shrugging. He motioned toward Axel. “Your idiot friend had learned too much. He was closing in and asked Kyle to help. Naturally, my son came to me. It was the perfect time to bring him into the fold. I told him the truth. I wanted my son by my side. I wanted him to be a part of my plans, but he wouldn’t be swayed. He wouldn’t join me. So, I did what I had to do.”
“You killed your own son,” I said, finding my own words hard to believe. “How could you?”
Director Allen shrugged, though the pain in his eyes was evident. “As I said, he wouldn’t do as I commanded him. He left me little choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” I replied. “You chose wrong, and I hope it haunts your soul.”
“Meaningless words, coming from you,” he replied, scoffing. “What would your father think of you, Wyatt? Such a disappointment.”
“And what would he think of you?”
He shrugged again. “I have little concern. He was always an annoying windbag. Always humble and friendly, but deep down I know he looked down on all of us.”
“You didn’t know him very well, then,” I said. “He was a good man. To his core, he deserved to be the Blade Mage.”
“Of that, I have little doubt,” Director Allen replied, sneering. “And that’s why I hated him. He was everything he was supposed to be and then some. He wasn’t human like the rest of us. He always knew the right thing to do. The right thing to say. I despised him.”
“So, what you’re saying…” Axel said, pausing as though he were really thinking it through. “Is that Connor Draven was the type of guy who wouldn’t have murdered his own son, and that’s why you hated him? Makes sense.”
Director Allen was about to speak when the witch cut him off. “That’s enough about that. I have questions.”
“So do I,” Axel replied, then motioned around the room. “Like who the hell are all these people?”
“Ah, how rude of us,” the old woman said. “I didn’t make proper introductions… These are our guests.” She made a sweeping motion around the room. “Allies, if you will.”
“Nice to meet you, allies,” Axel said, waving at everyone like a child.
“And this,” the old woman said while pointing a long bony finger in my direction, “is the Cabal’s current Blade Mage.”
I couldn’t help but notice the hostile looks this garnered me. Whoever they were, they didn’t seem to like Blade Mages much.
“While most of you might not recognize him,” she continued, turning to make eye contact with her audience, “I’m sure you are all familiar with his father. This young man is the offspring of none other than Connor Draven, the Cabal’s previous Blade Mage.”
This time there were actual snarls and a hiss or two. I didn’t know whether they were vampires, were-critters, or other mages, but just the same, it was clear they weren’t fans of my father’s work.
“He shouldn’t be here,” said a calm male voice from the crowd. I saw it belonged to a man in a sharp pinstripe suit and a fedora. At first, I’d put him at middle-aged, but then I thought maybe he was older, then younger, and I realized I couldn’t quite see his face. Even though it was plainly in the light. It was as though his features were constantly shifting, so you couldn’t quite latch on to them. “This isn’t what we agreed to. You’re playing it a little loose.”
“Relax, dear,” the old woman said, her eyes shooting daggers at the man. “The Blade Mage was dead the moment he stepped onto this estate. Your precious anonymity is still intact.”
The man crossed his arms over his chest, but didn’t speak.
“Really, you should be thanking me,” the witch replied. “Who else has delivered you a Blade Mage to play with?”
“He still lives,” the man said simply. “You’ve not delivered anything yet.”
The old woman smiled, but I could see the fire in her eyes. She turned back to me and said, “Tell me where the child is and I’ll make sure that your death is painless.”
“Where’s Faith?” I replied, asking a question of my own. “I know she came looking for you.”
“Is that what she calls herself, now?” the old woman asked, cackling. “She’s here. A lot of potential in that one. Such a shame she put it all to waste, don’t you agree?”
I didn’t reply.
“I really wanted more for her,” the thing pretending to be an old woman said. “If I can’t have the child, then I suppose I’ll have to consume her. I am so famished, after all. I had big plans for her, you know? Kids these days. You raise them up and offer them a bright future, but they just spit in your face. If she had but listened…”
“Maybe she’d heard enough,” I said.
“I know I have,” Axel replied, pulling his drumsticks from his back pocket. “Getting bored. Are you going to show us your anus, or what?”
The witch’s eyes narrowed. “Fine then, we’ll do this the hard way. I can promise you one thing, boys. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll beg for mercy, but I assure you, you will find none.”
As the circle tightened around us, Axel put his back to mine. Over his shoulder he said, “You know, Wyatt, this plan could’ve been better.”
Chapter 31
I closed my eyes just a moment before the blast lit up everyone else’s world.
I also managed to put my hands over my ears, blocking out the deafening roar. Instinct prevailed, but it took a few moments for my brain to catch up with what had just happened.
I’d been facing the horde gathered around us in Director Allen’s mansion. Just waiting for one of them to kill us.
Then I’d heard a crash as the large window behind them shattered. I saw what had come through, and some part of my mind recognized it for what it was, and kicked my motor skills into action before the rest of my brain had a clue what happened.
It was a flash bang.
Despite my quick reaction, my ears were still ringing and there was a bright purple spot in my vision. Still, it was the closest thing to a chance we had. I grabbed Axel by the shirt and half dragged him toward the large double doors.
As we closed on the doors I risked a glance back, expecting some vile creature would be boring down on us, or perhaps the witch would be casting some spell at my back. Just as I started to turn, I heard a metallic thump and the room behind me exploded. Bodies flew in every direction.
I felt the pressure of the blast blow past me and we were showered in smoldering debris, but we were clear of the direct danger. Our guardian angel had a 40mm grenade launcher mounted on his M4, and his accuracy was second to none.
I kept moving and pulled my friend along until we were in the hall. Several of Director Allen’s armed security guards were running toward us, weapons at the ready. For a moment, I thought they might assume we were guests. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy.
&nb
sp; As the first of them raised his gun, I shoved Axel aside and dropped into a roll, coming up with my staff in one hand and my sword in the other. I fired a simple force spell, knocking the first security guard back into the others. They all went down.
“Axel, move!” I screamed, pushing him along.
“Wyatt?” Axel said, moving his head from side to side like he was blind. “I hope that’s you! I think I’m deaf now! And blind!”
I grabbed a hold of him again and we started down the hall.
“I don’t know what’s happening!” Axel said, yelling. “I’m not even really sure I’m talking right now! If you can hear me tap my shoulder!”
I ignored him as two more security guards came around the corner. How many of these dicks did Director Allen have? My guess was a lot. And since his son had just been murdered by an ‘unknown’ suspect, no one in the Cabal would’ve questioned his new private army. Asshole.
I fired a force spell at them and they dove for cover, unsure what I was slinging at them. As a rule, when you aren’t a mage, and you don’t know what a mage is casting in your direction, it’s always best to seek cover or run. These guys were experienced enough to know that much.
I shoved Axel again and the guards fired at our backsides as we rounded the corner down another long hallway. I wasn’t sure, but I felt somewhat confident I was leading us back the way we’d come.
“Wyatt, I think I can see a little bit,” Axel said. “There’s, like, a hazy red instead of solid red. I wonder if this is what a bull sees. Oh, hey, I can kind of hear myself again. I’m very quiet, though!”
“Stop yelling!” I said.
“What?!” he yelled back.
I cursed and kept moving.
“Did you say something?!” he asked.
“I said you’re an asshole.”
“You shaved a mole?” he replied. “What did it look like?”
“Are you fucking with me?”
“It looked like bald knee?” he asked, nodding slowly. “Sort of a weird way to describe it, but I can see it.”
I shook my head and continued onward. His hearing might’ve still been shot, but at least he seemed to be able to see. When the next guard rounded the corner and pointed his gun at us, Axel raised one of his drumsticks and fired a small blue lightning bolt that stunned the man in place. I followed his attack with a force spell that sent guard crashing into the wall.
We came into a wide open area, with the front door in view. Unfortunately, a small group of Director Allen’s men stood guard in front of it. Others were pouring in from different areas and we were getting surrounded.
“My eyesight still isn’t perfect,” Axel said, glancing over at me, “but I think we’re screwed.”
“It’s looking that way,” I replied, summoning my magic shield. Any hope we’d had of escaping disintegrated. When the chaos began, I thought maybe we could slip away and phone Parker. Now my only hope was that Stone had.
But Faith was still captive somewhere anyway, and I wasn’t keen on leaving her behind.
Maybe if we ran back the way we’d come, we could lose them and to try to find her. The house was certainly big enough to get lost in. Even as I had this thought, more guards appeared from behind us.
We were surrounded.
I glanced at Axel and we went back to back. We were about to die, but we weren’t going down without a fight. At least I’d die alongside my best friend, even if he was an obnoxious ass.
Axel was powerful enough to shield us from his side, but was I strong enough to protect the front? That was my real fear. Despite everything, I didn’t want to let him down.
Then more windows exploded inward and the front door blew off its hinges. Gun fire erupted from every direction.
Shain Stone strolled through the front door with his rifle at his shoulder. Behind him, a gaggle of rifle-toting men and women in farm clothes followed. They poured through the broken windows as well. Our backup had arrived.
The Patterson family reunion was about to begin.
When the guards nearest us turned to see this new threat, Axel and I both charged forward. One took a blue bolt from Axel and I charged the other as he raised his gun. I struck out with my sword, splitting the firearm in half, then jabbed my staff into his throat. His eyes went wide as the air ejected from his lungs, and I lowered my shoulder and rammed him, knocking him back into his fellows.
The whole room fell into a mass of chaos as more Pattersons and security guards entered the fray.
Axel and I ran toward Stone, who’d found a nice wall to hide behind while he laid down cover fire. As soon as we rounded the corner, I said, “Glad to see the Pattersons could make it!”
“Yeah, they loved your stupid-ass plan,” Stone said.
“Yoseph was in the reception room,” I said. “You might’ve turned him to toast already.”
“I don’t think so,” he replied, nodding toward the far side of the room.
Sure enough, there was Yoseph Patterson, along with several guards, Director Allen, and the sweet old grandmotherly witch, who was apparently running the whole show.
“Damn,” I said. “I’d hoped you’d smoked them all.”
“Might have if I didn’t have to save your asses,” he said, then squeezed off a few more rounds. “I caught them off guard with the flash bang, but that old woman was ready for the next shot. It looked like I took out a few people, though. They were all bad guys, right?”
“As far as I could tell.”
“Good,” he said, then tucked back into cover to load a fresh magazine. “But now what’s your plan?”
“Did you call Parker, too?”
“Of course,” Shain said, grinning. “He was really excited when I told him where we were. How long do you think it’ll take him to get here?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Faith is here, too. The witch has her held captive somewhere. Sounds like she’s planning on doing something to her.”
“Any idea what?”
“I doubt anything good. Sounds like bad magic.”
He turned and looked directly at me for the first time. “So, what are you going to do?”
“I think we have to stop her from doing whatever the hell she’s planning on doing.”
“This about stopping the witch or saving the girl?”
His eyes were still glued on mine, practically burning right through my skull. There was no point in lying to him. “Bit of both, I guess.”
“Director Allen was complicit in his son’s murder?” Stone asked.
“Yeah.”
“Then he has to die,” Stone said. “These assholes seem more like the merc types to me. My money says if we take out Allen, they’ll give up. And if we take out the witch, your girl will be safe.”
“That’s a simple enough plan,” I said.
“Yeah, well, I don’t know if it’s any less idiotic than the one you came up with, but it’ll have to do.”
“The Obayifo is the bigger problem. Plus, I haven’t seen her two minions yet.”
“I’m sure they’re around,” Stone said. “I imagine they’ll make an appearance any time now.”
“We need to figure out what they’re planning.”
“Oh, that’s easy enough,” Axel said. He’d been unusually quiet throughout the conversation. I looked up and realized he stood beside me with one of his drumsticks poking out of his ear hole. The end glowed with a white light and pointed toward the other side of the room, where Director Allen and the Obayifo stood. “She’s saying something about moving forward with a spell. She asked him if his worthless security force could hold us long enough for them to go the library and perform the working, or if she needed to handle all of us first herself. She seems a bit pissed. Oh, they’re going.”
“You could hear all of that?” I asked, staring at him in disbelief. I had no idea there was a spell that could allow you to hear across a room in the middle of a gun fight. Of course Axel would’ve invested the time into learning some
thing like that.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “We’ve got to follow them to the library.”
“Our path is a little blocked at the moment,” I said, trying to remember the layout of the house. I’d only been a here a few times when I was younger. As I recalled, Director Allen’s library was ginormous. The pride of the whole estate. But it was on the other side of the house, and I wasn’t even sure how to get there. “I suppose we could bum-rush the mercs with magic and give the Pattersons a chance to kill them while we chase Director Allen.”
“Or we could just go around,” Axel said. “Don’t you remember how to get to the library?”
“I haven’t been inside this house since we were teenagers.”
“How did you two manage anything without me?” Axel said, sighing. “Follow me. We’ll go upstairs and sneak in through the top entrance. Might give us a chance to get a jump on them.”
“That easy?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, I mean, we might have to kill a few assholes along the way, but yeah, there’s a second-floor entrance.”
I glanced at Stone, who shrugged. “I’ll let Hamish know the plan.”
“All right, then,” I said. “Axel, lead the way.”
***
There are places I visited as a child that seemed so large and grand, but when I’ve returned to them years later, they felt much smaller. This was not the case with Director Allen’s library. It was every bit as magnificent as I’d remembered. In fact, it might have been more so. I had the impression he’d expanded.
As promised, Axel managed to get us to the second-floor entrance without trouble. We found ourselves on a wide balcony covered with bookshelves. Below us, the room was half the size of a football field and lined with rows and rows of wooden bookshelves.
There was a wide staircase to the right that led to the first floor, but the three of us crept further along the balcony, hoping we might spy our enemies. We were not disappointed.
Below us, in the center of the library, were a number of old leather-bound chairs amidst a sea of mahogany tables, each equipped with antique lamps. Like Director Allen had set out to create a proper gentleman’s study in the middle of his library. Rich people.
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