“I’m trained to avoid questions about myself.”
“You’ve done it well.”
“My family thinks I’m dead.”
The suddenness of him saying that hung in the air. “Why would they think that?”
“Because they need to. The organization acts outside of the magical world, and if they believed I was still alive, I suspect they would be more concerned about me. Then again, maybe they wouldn’t. I was something of a disappointment to them.”
“I doubt that.”
“Tell me about yourself. Were your parents mages?”
I looked down at my hands. “I don’t think so.”
“Think?”
I shrugged. “My parents… Well, I don’t talk to them that much. At all.”
“Why not?”
I looked up. “For one, my father is in jail, and I have no interest in seeing him. And my mother covered for him for so long I think she started to believe his bullshit.”
I looked back down. It was difficult even talking about them, and I didn’t know why I was telling Matt. I didn’t talk about it to anyone. Not even to Kate. Was he using some sort of spell on me that compelled me to share? If he were, I figured I would have known about it. The bracelet didn’t give me any indication he was using power against me, but then again, maybe he was far more subtle than that. Maybe he was finding a way to use the vampire techniques.
“One of those, huh?”
“It’s fine. It doesn’t matter anymore. I got out, got away, and I don’t have to deal with him anymore. I made a point of doing everything I could to escape, and I have no plan to ever return.”
“I’m sorry.”
I looked up. “Are you? It seems like you want to know as much as you can about me so you can use it against me.”
“That’s not how I work.”
“That’s right. You work so differently, don’t you? You operate in such a way that you can attack others with any magical ability.”
“I know you don’t believe this, but what the organization does is generally good. There’s a reason I was willing to get involved.”
“Really? What good does your organization do?”
“Do you believe all magical users in the world are good?”
I shook my head. “I’m sure they’re not.” I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about various magical users, but even having seen what Matt’s people were willing to do, I knew they weren’t all good. Some of the things Kate had faced, including dealing with her mother, had made that equally clear.
“They are not. Now, there are various organizations in place that keep magical users in line, mostly because they provide the training and education that others want. The Mage Council has served that role, but so too has the Dark Council. Vampire families have generally kept their kind in check, almost more so than the various mage councils. They have a unique sense of honor. And then there are the shifters. They stay together, a family almost as much as the vampire families, and they keep their people in check. Again, for the most part.”
“If the various magical factions have managed to keep their people in line, then what does your organization have to do?”
“They aren’t always effective. There are times when someone or something emerges that requires a different power. There are times when the power that escapes is more than even the councils are able to deal with. Then again, the councils have proven themselves quite capable. We haven’t needed to get involved when demons cross the Veil. That’s the whole purpose of the archers, and because of them, we haven’t needed to do anything, but there are other things that present dangers. Those are the times we do need to get involved.”
“What other things?”
“Has Barden talked to you about creatures on the other side of the Veil?”
“Other than the fae, and you mentioned demons, I don’t really know.”
“Anything that you’ve ever heard of through mythology is real, Dr. Stone. That is the kind of threat the world faces. Now, the Veil serves its purpose. As far as the various council factions know, it separates our world from the magical one, keeping dangers at bay, held in place by people of considerable power, but it’s not nearly as effective as most think.”
I shivered. “Is that your way of telling me you operate on the other side of the Veil?”
Matt shrugged. “When I need to.”
“I didn’t think humans had a lot of power on the other side of the Veil.”
“Generally, we don’t. We have to use various items of power in order to do so. When we do, then we can operate far more effectively—and survive—but even then there are people and things that occur which put us in danger.”
“What sort of things do you deal with on the other side of the Veil?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“You said everything from mythology was real. You mean even angels and demons and gods?”
“Everything.”
How much of that did Barden know? He had crossed the Veil, and he had experience with it, but he hadn’t told me much else about it. Maybe there wasn’t anything more he could tell me, or that he wanted to share. I had the sense from Barden that whatever he’d experienced on the other side of the Veil was troubling to him.
And then, it was possible the only reason it was so troubling was because it represented the kind of power he did not have. Barden was the type of man whom I suspected would be bothered by being overpowered, wherever he was. He struck me as someone who was accustomed to always being the most powerful person in the room, and while that had previously saved me, there was also the possibility he wouldn’t do well in situations where that wasn’t the case.
I had lived most of my life not always being the smartest person in the room, but recognizing I could compensate for that by outworking others. It was how I had managed to succeed in school and get so far in medicine. It was my approach to magic, as well.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you asked.”
“What you’re getting at is that anyone within your organization could be responsible for killing John Adams.”
“Not just within my organization, Dr. Stone. Anyone he ever worked with, or against. All of that put him in danger. It’s what puts me in danger. Then again, on this side of the Veil, and in this city, I shouldn’t be in any danger.”
“Why is that?”
“This is a place where the Veil is more difficult to cross. There are ley lines here, places of power running beneath the earth, somewhat tied to the waterways, and they concentrate power in a way that should prevent anything from happening here.”
“If you think that’s the case, then you haven’t been spending that much time in Minneapolis.”
“I’m well aware of the strange events that have taken place around here lately, Dr. Stone. That was the other reason I came here.”
We fell into silence, me not wanting to say anything, not needing to risk exposing anything I might know about Kate, and Matt apparently wanting to keep his ties to the organization to himself. I guess I understood that.
“I can try to work with you,” Matt said.
“Oh, now you’re suddenly willing to do so?”
“It’s not that I wasn’t willing to do so before. You shouldn’t have needed me to.”
“Why not?”
“Because. As I told you, I was aware you had. You weren’t unprotected, and you weren’t left completely isolated.”
I leaned back. It was a good thing I didn’t have to work today. I didn’t know how long this was going to take, and because I’d been sitting here inside this safe house for as long as I had, it made me wonder if Barden was having a harder time than I realized, getting the vampires to work with him. There was no reason they should, other than the fact that I had helped Jean-Pierre once. I suspect if I were the one to reach out to the vampires—even though I had no idea of how to do so—they would have responded favorably, but with Barden being the o
ne to do it, I didn’t know if that would be as true. Then again, since I didn’t have any way of knowing how to reach out to the vampires, that was why Barden had to do it.
“If you’re willing to teach, then I would like that.” I hesitated. “Will you even be able to? You still haven’t—“
The door opened, and Barden appearing on the other side, power swirling around him, leaving my bracelet cold and my arm freezing.
“Come. We need to hurry.”
9
I raced after Barden, watching his back, uncertainty rising within me. “What’s going on?” I asked him.
“It seems your friend,” he said, glancing back at Matt, who trailed after us, “is every bit as pursued as he would have us believe.”
“You doubted I was telling you the truth?” Matt asked.
“I didn’t doubt, but I must admit I was hoping you were understating it.”
We passed quickly through the office, and I realized the flames that normally crackled within the hearth had been extinguished. Smoke still drifted outward, suggesting it was a recent thing, and there was considerable warmth in the room, enough that the fire must have been burning up until just moments before.
The tension within Barden—along with the power he held onto—suggested a level of concern from the mage that made me uncomfortable. “What's going on?" I whispered, leaning toward him.
"We are fine, Dr. Stone.”
“If we were fine, you wouldn’t be nearly on edge as you are. I can see something is troubling you.”
“There is something troubling me, but that doesn’t change the fact we aren’t in any immediate danger.”
“What kind of less-than-immediate danger are we in?”
We reached the hall outside of his office, and as we did, Barden pushed some sort of power out from him. It sent a surge of magic that left everything within me tingling. Was the bracelet the only reason I was able to detect it? Could I be tied to magic in a different way? Maybe I was able to detect it without holding onto a spell. I had never tried, never having the need, and doubted that now was the right time to do so. When this was over, when things finally settled and slowed down, then I could try to see if I had a connection to magic in a way that would allow me to pick up on it. If I did, it would be valuable.
“I’m prepared for the possibility we might be under a different sort of attack. As your friend has made clear, I may not have the necessary protections around the warehouse to prevent his kind from accessing it.” Barden glanced at Matt who nodded. “As much as I thought I had prepared and as much as I believed we were safe, it is entirely possible that is not the case.”
We reached the door separating the office space from the rest of the warehouse, and Barden pressed his hand upon it. I felt a surge of power, enough that I was aware of what he was doing, but nothing more. When it was done, he removed his hand, pushing open the door, and then he hesitated. Power crackled, and the hairs on my arms stood on end.
I realized there wasn’t anyone else around. “Where did everyone else go?”
“I dismissed them,” Barden said.
“Why?”
“I wasn’t about to risk any of my people for this. Seeing as how I have no idea what he and his kind are capable of, I thought it prudent to ensure their safety before risking my own.”
“You don’t have anyone else here?” Matt asked.
Barden glanced over his shoulder. “That doesn’t mean I am without any protections.”
Matt looked at Barden, shaking his head. “You are making a grave mistake.”
“If I am, then it is only the three of us who go to the grave. I would rather that than risk anyone else.”
Although it might have been nice to have someone else with us, and to have the entire protections of the Dark Council, I appreciated that about Barden and that he wasn’t willing to sacrifice anyone with him for the safety of just the few of us. It was all I needed to know about Barden. He cared, and though Matt might not understand it, that was one of the things which made Barden so compelling as a leader.
“What do you think is coming?” I asked Barden.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know. I sent the others out through various access points, but I haven’t heard back whether they are safe.”
“What other access points have you used?” Matt asked.
Barden glanced at Matt. “I’m not going to share with you all of the details of my operation. You have seen enough as it is.” I had the sense Barden was angry that Matt had uncovered everything he had. Would Barden move? I wouldn’t put it past him, but at the same time, this place was his home. It wasn’t just a base of operations, it wasn’t just a place where he came to work, it was where he stayed to protect people who worked with him, and where he operated, doing whatever research he had set up.
“I think it would be helpful to know if there are weaknesses in your facility. That’s all.”
“You have already made me aware I have weaknesses here.”
“And yet, I don’t know if there are additional weaknesses.”
“As far as I’m concerned, you won’t.”
We continued through the warehouse, passing rows of desks, the computers still flashing on them. On some, the screensaver hadn’t even kicked in yet, suggesting to me that whatever Barden had done was recent. There had been people working here not that long ago, and that despite everything Matt had done to break into the warehouse in the first place. It struck me as interesting Barden’s people would return to work so quickly, but then again, I don’t know why it should have. Doubtless Barden wasn’t used to things like this.
“How do you intend to get us out of here?” I asked.
“The same way that we have traveled here before, Dr. Stone.”
“Are you going to transport us?”
“That would be one way, but I was thinking perhaps we would take a car.”
I glanced at the Lexus parked near the back. It was the only part of the warehouse that still looked something like a warehouse—more of a garage than anything else. From here, he could open the door and drive us out, but doing so, especially if we were in any danger, seemed surprisingly risky. “I thought you might get us out of here in a different way,” I said.
“If we intend to go to the vampires, one simply doesn’t transport oneself into their compound. It is far safer for us to travel by car.”
Barden stood at the driver’s side, waiting for me to get in. When I did, the two men stood on either side of the car, saying something softly enough that I couldn’t fully hear it. I could easily imagine what Barden was saying. In my mind, he was threatening Matt, offering a warning, something to prevent him from harming me, or maybe there was something else going on between them.
When the door opened and Matt and Barden climbed into their respective seats, and neither of them spoke. Barden fired up the engine, and I chuckled. “Is that how this is going to go?” I asked.
“Dr. Stone?” Barden said.
“You two boys don’t need to be like this.”
“Perhaps you are correct. I would advise you to hold on tightly.”
With that, Barden stepped on the gas.
“The door—“
Before I had a chance to finish, we were squeezed.
I had experienced traveling in this way before, having transported more than once with Barden, and even doing so with Matt. It didn’t change the fact that doing so left me with a strange sensation, an unpleasant pressure squeezing all around me, as if something was trying to smash my entire being. It felt as if I were plunging to an enormous depth beneath the ocean, lingering for a moment before passing.
As it passed, we jolted forward out on a highway, well beyond the outskirts of the warehouse district where Barden and his hideout were.
Barden swerved slightly before correcting himself and stomped on the gas. Power surged outward from him, but not just from him. I glanced behind me to see Matt holding something in his hand, twisting it in his fingers, and the same
energy that I detected from Barden came from Matt, as well. Could they be working together to try to get us out of here? That was unexpected.
“Where are we?” I whispered.
“I didn’t want to travel too far in such a manner,” Barden said. “It isn’t the safest means of traveling, not without knowing what else might be out there, but seeing as how I have come here a time or two, I doubted the road would be all that busy.”
I glanced around, looking to see if I could recognize anything, but there wasn’t anything here that seemed familiar. We passed rundown buildings, most of them looking abandoned, many of brick or crumbling concrete. Dim streetlights provided some light outside, but not nearly enough for me to make out where we were. I kept looking for a sign, something that might tell me where Barden had transported us, but didn’t find anything. As we drove, I looked behind us, worried there might be someone else following, but I saw no sign of anything. If we had anyone following us, they were at enough of a distance that they were hidden.
“Could this have been your people attacking?” I asked Matt.
He shrugged. “It’s possible.”
“Possible? You wouldn’t know?”
“That’s sort of our thing, Dr. Stone. We try to make it so that others aren’t aware we are there. If they are, it defeats the purpose of the kind of work we do.
“I don’t like the kind of work you do.”
He glanced to Barden. “What about him? Do you like the kind of work he does?”
“Barden is different.”
“Is he? Because from my perspective, the things we do aren’t all that different. Your friend might have a different approach from me, but he still operates in something of an underworld, the same way I do. Ask him. Who else but someone with a similar responsibility to me would need a safe room like that? And it’s the kind of safe room designed to protect from magical attack.”
“He needed it because he’s with the Dark Council.”
“I’m not so sure that’s all there is to it,” Matt said.
I looked over to Barden, but he remained silent. I wasn’t about to push him to explain more. He didn’t need to, not with me. I trusted him, and I didn’t think he needed to explain the things he had to do. He had already gone through that enough with me, sharing with me how difficult things had been for him and his people over the years. If Matt thought he could try to convince me otherwise, he was mistaken. I didn’t need for Barden to explain himself any more than he already had.
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