“No,” I said under my breath. “No, he may be psycho-batshit crazy right now, but that would be wrong. Even if he did threaten Peaches and try to blast me to bits.”
“Good choice,” Dex said, clapping me on the shoulder as he stood next to me, nearly startling me into a heart attack. “That’s all I needed to know.”
“I just nearly shot you,” I said, keeping my voice calm despite the fact that my heart was stomping out a sprint in my chest. “How is that possible?”
I looked over and saw the Dex at the gate disappear. The damaged gate shimmered for a few seconds and settled into solidity. The damage from my blast was nowhere to be seen on the gate.
Next to me, stood Dex.
I reached out slowly and poked him in the chest.
“Aye,” Dex said, slowly pushing my poking finger away. “It’s me.”
“You…are a dangerous, old man,” I said. “This was all an illusion?”
“Not everything,” Dex said, looking at my arm. “You did real damage to yourself.”
“The beam?” I said, looking at my burned arm. “Are you saying it wasn’t…?”
“It was real,” Dex said, shaking his head. “In a few more centuries, you may actually be dangerous.”
“How did you get over here so fast without a teleportation circle?” I asked, looking over from the gate to where Dex now stood beside me. “You were over there. I saw you over there.”
“By now, you should know enough to see with your proper eye,” he said, tapping my forehead. “You saw what I needed you to see.”
“It was an illusion?”
“A third-order simulacrum,” Dex said. “Let’s just say, I refracted light to create a likeness of myself. A quite handsome likeness, if I have to be honest.”
“But it looked, no…it felt real.”
“Because you’re using the wrong sense to see,” Dex answered. “The illusion precedes and informs reality. I’d explain it to you, but then, frankly, most of it would be beyond you, at your current level of understanding.”
“Are you saying I wouldn’t understand you?” I asked, not understanding what he was saying. “I may not be a mage, but I can grasp some of the concepts.”
“I’m saying that delicate structure you call a brain would snap,” he answered. “I need you firing on all cylinders.” He gave me a look. “Well, as many as possible, considering the circumstances.”
“You deflected my beam from here?”
“Actually from over there,” he said, pointing several yards away, across the courtyard. “Like I said, with a few centuries of training, you will be a minor threat. Except, we don’t—”
“Have a few centuries to train me?”
“Not even a few hours,” Dex said, shaking his head. “Time still flows for my nephew. Every second he is in the Sanctuary, he’s one second closer to discovering my ruse. Once he does, he will begin to unravel and grow stronger.”
“When did you create the simulacrum?” I asked, still shocked by how real it felt. “I didn’t see you…”
“When you saw me gesture,” Dex said. “Right before your blast.”
It took a few seconds for my brain to catch up.
“What the hell, Dex?” I asked, raising my voice. “What was the mind-game for?”
“Tell me why you didn’t take the opportunity,” Dex asked, his voice stern. “I was open and I had tried to kill you. I even threatened your hellhound.”
“I know. Trust me, it was tempting,” I said. “I thought you were lying, until I saw the gate.”
“It could have been a ruse to get your guard down,” he answered. “Get you to stop attacking, then end you.”
“Yes, true,” I said, “I may have pushed it, if you hadn’t been deflecting my magic missile of might with one hand.”
“That, and your ‘magic missile’ was mightily melting your arm off,” Dex added with a glance at my destroyed jacket. “Is that why you stopped? Fear I was too powerful?”
“It was wrong,” I said after a moment of thought. “I wanted to, but it was wrong.”
“You wanted to?” he asked, narrowing his gaze. “Was it you, or the power?”
“More like the power made it easier to consider obliterating you,” I said. “Would it have worked?”
“Your magic missile feeds off your life-force, which is limited in this place,” he answered. “What do you think?”
“I think you lost your damn mind,” I said. “Why the theatrics?”
“That choice you just made…it’s what every mage in a schism faces,” Dex said, gazing into the gate. “Control the power or surrender to it.”
“Monty told me once: power isn’t good or evil,” I said. “He said that it all comes down to how it’s wielded.”
“My nephew is young, stubborn, and ill-informed,” Dex said, his voice low. “Make no mistake about it: some power, some sources, are evil, corrupting influences.”
“So you’re saying some power is evil?”
“Aye, lad,” Dex said with a nod. “Unless you can think like evil, really understand it, then you’re defenseless. Evil will go and do things that seem unimaginable. If you can’t meet it and stop it…it will win.”
“Is that what he’s going through right now?” I asked. “That power tugging at him to surrender?”
“On a massive scale—which is why I’m keeping him hidden,” Dex said. “He couldn’t mask himself now, even if he wanted to.”
“Evers would find him if he were out in the open?”
“With ease,” Dex said with a nod. “The same way you should be able to.”
“Through there?” I asked, pointing at the gate. “This is the doorway?”
“Aye, through that gate you’ll find my nephew,” Dex said, his expression hard. “He will try to harm you if he crosses over to the dark. He was right about one thing, though.”
“What?”
“The power he is facing is not good or evil.”
“You just said…”
“We are the sources, boy. Every single one of us has darkness within,” Dex answered. “Even him…especially him.”
“That sounds about as clear as fog,” I answered, exasperated. “How do I bring him back?”
“Right now, he’s walking the razor,” Dex said, looking at the gate runes. “You need to bring him back the same way you resisted the impulse to attack me.”
“Great idea,” I said, frustrated and still upset at the deception. Truthfully, I was more upset by the fact that I had fallen for it. The simulacrum had me totally fooled. “How do I do that?”
He looked down at my hand and pointed at Ebonsoul.
“You need to use your weapon.”
“What? Are you sure you didn’t hit your head somewhere?”
“You are his shieldbearer. That, along with your totem and the siphon, should work.”
“Should work?”
“Wielding energy is an…imprecise exercise at the best of times,” Dex said. “Mages risk unleashing chaos every time we cast.”
“Then why take the risk, if it’s so dangerous?”
He gave me a slow smile.
“Because it’s bloody fun,” he said, growing serious. “That combination you have may be the only thing that works on him at this point.”
“Great, I have the tools; that doesn’t tell me how to use them to help Monty.”
“No one can tell you how to do that,” Dex said. “All anyone can do is give you the tools and help you understand how they work. Ultimately, you have to use them to truly understand them.”
“I still don’t understand how any of this works.”
“Rubbish, boy,” Dex said, waving my words away and walking toward the gate. “If you paid attention, you’d realize you know more than you think. Stop diminishing your ability because”—he wiggled his fingers in the air—“you aren’t a mage.”
“But I’m not,” I said. “I don’t do any of those things you and Monty can do.”
; “So what? You think being a mage just means being able to wield power?”
“No,” I said slowly as I recalled the pull, the allure of the power. “It means knowing when to use the power as well.”
He tapped the center of his forehead and pointed at me.
“You’re starting to see…finally. There’s some hope for you after all.”
“I’m not seeing much clearly,” I said slowly, feeling the jumble of thoughts bounce around my head like so many puzzle pieces trying to fit together. “Mages choose to use the power they have. The power that is around us. Its expression depends on the mage.”
“Good to see something stuck in that thick skull of yours,” Dex said with a nod. “Remember, mages use the power…not the other way around. That is where my nephew is right now. That’s what it means to walk the razor of a shift. If he steps into darkness, the power will corrupt and use him. Ultimately…”
“Destroying him.”
“Aye,” Dex said. “I won’t let it get that far. If you fail…I won’t.”
I didn’t have to ask what he meant by that. We stopped in front of the gate.
“What about Peaches?”
“He can’t go with you on this one,” Dex said, glancing over at my peacefully sleeping hellhound. “I’ll keep him safe.”
“You said you’d…”
“No,” Dex said. “No harm will befall your bondmate. If you fall, I will keep him in stasis and return him to Hades if need be.”
“Cerberus will kill him if you do that.”
Dex gave me a long stare.
“Then don’t fail,” Dex said. “I’m not here to paint a pretty picture for you, boy. Tristan will try his best to undo you, unless you can get through to him. The Golden Circle is hidden, but not in stasis. My nephew just doesn’t know it’s hidden.”
“How could he not know?”
Dex raised an eyebrow.
“I do have some skill,” he said. “You thought I was over here, repairing the gate, while I stood next to you. Letting him believe he is at the deserted Golden Circle, while difficult, is not impossible. The fact that he’s not in his proper mind helps, but it won’t last. As he grows in power, he will see through my deception.”
“Was there any moment I was a threat?”
“To whom?”
“To you,” I said. “Was there any moment I had a chance against you?”
Dex smiled and then grew serious. He gestured over my charred arm, causing golden runes to fall on the burned skin. My skin began repairing itself immediately. Once my skin healed, my jacket sleeve reappeared, as if I hadn’t tried to barbecue my arm off.
“Thank you,” I said, looking at my new sleeve. “I was in real danger here?”
“Mortal, even. Immortality can create a false sense of security,” Dex said as he finished gesturing over my arm. “I needed to see how you would act with the knowledge of real death being possible.”
“There was no way I could’ve faced you and won?”
“You weren’t here to face me.”
“It sure felt like I was facing you, especially when you were bouncing me around this place,” I said. “By the way, the insults? Not cool and not appreciated.”
“I know the truth stings,” Dex said, “It was necessary, but we both know, it’s no longer your truth—it’s your past. You’ll face worse soon. You didn’t let me get in your head; don’t let anyone else in either.”
I nodded at the implication.
“You never answered my question: Was I ever a threat?”
“You mean besides that mouth of yours?” he said with a small smile. “Why bother asking questions you know the answer to?”
“I guess I do know,” I said. “Thank you for not smushing me all over the stones.”
“There’s still hope for you. Not much, but there’s a sliver.”
“Your compliments need work, old man.”
“Just so you know—because my nephew isn’t exactly the forthcoming type,” Dex said after a pause, “he was never abandoned, even when he was sent away. I always made sure he was cared for, even though his training was rigorous and harsh.”
“Maybe he never wanted to be sent away,” I said. “Could be all he ever wanted was a normal life.”
“For a Montague?” Dex said, with a hint of sadness. “No such thing…ever. Battlemages are trained to stand and die. We’ve never had a choice in that. It is what we are called to do.”
“That calling sucks.”
He nodded and gestured, turning the center of the gate into a blur, showing an image of the Sanctuary I remembered from my last visit to the Golden Circle. It shimmered and vibrated with power as the runes in the stone shone with a golden light.
“Ready?”
“Not in a million years.”
“Good,” Dex said. “I’d be worried if you thought you were. Remember what you learned here. It’s the only way you’re going to be able to bring him back.”
“What did I learn?” I asked, confused. “Besides that you are scary powerful?”
Dex stood next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Take a moment to use that dead sponge you call a brain, and you’ll understand,” Dex said. “My nephew will be in the center of the complex, beyond the Second Gallery. The defenses are disabled for now. Don’t dally; time is not your friend.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I can only keep him hidden for so long,” Dex said. “As his power shifts, I won’t be able to keep him hidden.”
“Does that mean…?”
“Aye, lad,” Dex said. “Evers and Talin will find him…eventually. At least this way, we control the battlefield.”
“Control the battlefield?” I repeated slowly. “What are you saying?”
“That we should limit the amount of collateral damage,” Dex said with a glare. “Maybe keep the property damage to a minimum by resolving this somewhere far from a population of eight million?”
“I just want to go on the record here and state that ‘damage’ can’t be spelled without a ‘mage.’” I said. “The destruction is not my department.”
“Clever,” Dex said with a nod, “but irrelevant. You associate with mages, so you’re part of the damage. Like it or not.”
“Shouldn’t we be calling in the cavalry?” I asked, concerned. “Maybe the Dark Council?”
“This is mage business,” Dex said. “The Dark Council has, and wants, no part of it in the city. The Director was adamant about distributing large amounts of pain and discomfort, if we failed to comply.”
“You spoke to Chi?”
“You haven’t?” Dex asked. “I’d arrange that conversation with haste, boy. You don’t want a woman like that to come looking for you, trust me.”
“What about the Ten?” I asked. “They can handle something like this quietly.”
“LD and TK are on it,” Dex said. “You do your part, and they will do theirs.”
“What happens if I fail?”
“If you fail, you’ll die, your hellhound will be placed in harm’s way, and Tristan will most likely follow you into death,” Dex answered matter-of-factly. “I’d suggest you strongly focus on not failing.”
“Great pep talk, thanks,” I said, stepping in front of the gate. “Hit me right in the feels. The next time I need—”
“Right then,” Dex said, cutting me off and gripping my shoulder tightly. “Off you go.”
Dex gently tossed me into the gate before I got to finish the sentence.
TWENTY-SEVEN
I landed in a sprawl worthy of my hellhound. I got to my feet, took in my surroundings, and found myself standing in front of the outer wall of the Sanctuary.
I looked behind me, but there was no Torii gate or Dex to be seen anywhere.
“Cheeky old bastard,” I muttered to myself, as I made a mental note to return the shove when I got the chance—, if I ever got the chance.
I dusted myself off and adjusted Grim Whisper, swa
pping out my ammunition for persuader rounds. If I could incapacitate Monty, I’d have a better chance of knocking some sense into him.
Provided I could shoot him first.
I moved forward carefully. Dex said the defenses were disabled, but I was still approaching this place warily. My memories of the Sanctuary were dark and unpleasant.
The last time I’d been here, Connor Montague had died.
I looked down at my hand and examined the ring. It gave off slow pulses of power every few seconds. I reabsorbed Ebonsoul, because nothing said, “Let’s stay calm,” like approaching with a drawn blade in my hand.
I let my senses expand and felt Ebonsoul’s presence easily. Whatever Kali had done had made access to my blade easier. I still missed my mala bracelet, though.
“I should’ve asked Dex for a large steaming pot of tea,” I said under my breath, as I approached the inner area of the Sanctuary known as the Second Gallery. “That would’ve been more effective, knowing Monty.”
The massive doors to the Second Gallery were open.
The Sanctuary was a series of rectangles inside of rectangles, inside yet more rectangles, and broken into small squares. The moat around the entire complex was rectangular. Each of the galleries was a rectangle, broken up into four even squares.
The Second Gallery was a large, rectangular courtyard with the temple structure located in the center. Around the Gallery wall, on each corner, stood a tall tower, matching the four towers around the center structure.
The center structure, which looked exactly like Angkor Wat’s temple, towered into the air. Realizing that Dex somehow managed to hide this entire complex boggled my brain and gave me a mild headache. To think that I was ever a threat to Dex made me shake my head at my arrogance. It was like an ant asking an elephant if it was a threat.
The little voice in my head answered: Even fire ants can sting.
Until the elephant rolled over and crushed the entire colony without a second thought. Good try, but no.
I really hoped Dex was right about Monty’s location as I took in the Second Gallery complex. Searching the entire complex for one person would take weeks, and that’s with them staying in one place. I felt the flush of warmth as my body repaired the damage from Dex’s magehandling of me.
Walking The Razor: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel Page 19