Promise of Wrath (The Hellequin Chronicles Book 6)

by Steve McHugh

  I went into my shadow realm to see if Jerry was finally gone from everyone’s life, and found the wraith hovering around.

  “Thank you for your help,” I said.

  The wraith regarded me for a second. The vampire was delicious. If such things matter to you, alive is preferable to dead.

  “Do I need to keep feeding you to keep you strong?”

  Not at all. The more I eat, the stronger you become. There’s a limit. I can only eat so many corpses in one day, or in one sitting. But a regular enough stream would be advisable to see your power levels up.

  I wasn’t really sure how I felt about feeding my enemies to the wraith.

  You would kill them anyway, yes? he asked, as if able to read my thoughts.

  It had a point, but that didn’t mean I liked it.

  I left the shadow realm and went outside, where I found Morgan and Mordred. “Avalon will not be as accepting of me as you all are,” Mordred said. “I do not think they’ll believe me.”

  “I think that’s a fair assessment,” I admitted. “Run. Both of you. Get as far from here as you can.”

  Morgan nodded a thank you.

  “You should know that if there’s any doubt in you about who you are, today made all doubts in me vanish. I saw you try to save a life today. I saw the pain on your face when Adam died. Now go: get somewhere safe. Because this is far from over, and when we stop whatever is happening in London they’re going to come for us all. You two included.”

  “Nate, I need to tell you something. It’s important.”

  “Mordred, you need to go. Whatever it is, it’ll wait.”

  “Thank you,” Morgan said, and I watched as Morgan began to drag Mordred away. Then they both ran off into the woods.

  I went to find Chloe and Kasey, both of whom were sitting against a nearby tree, taking a well-earned moment of rest.

  “Mordred and Morgan gone?” Kasey asked. “My mum isn’t going to be happy about that.”

  “I’ll explain everything to her. Somehow. I haven’t quite figured out how yet, but I will, I’m good at explaining things.”

  “Can I watch that? Because she’s going to shout and it’ll be funny.”

  “Thanks, Kase. Nice to have you as backup.”

  Kasey laughed and the tension eased a little.

  “How are you holding up?” I asked Chloe. “I know it’s a stupid question, but I don’t know how else to ask it.”

  She nodded. “I can’t do this anymore. I need to get away. I need to do something normal.”

  “You said that before. I assume this has all confirmed it.”

  “Yes. I just want to do something that isn’t fighting demons, or monsters, or having my mum try to murder those I love.” She stared at me for a short time. “I can’t use my witch magic. I can’t access it. The scrolls took it away from me.”

  “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t really sure what else to say.

  “It feels like part of me is missing. I don’t know how I’ll cope not being able to use it anymore. It feels strange. This whole thing is going to take some time to get used to. I need to learn how to control the demon. I allowed all of the spirits and the demon to merge with me, but I had no idea how much power me losing control gives the demon. It’s scary.”

  “Take as long as you need.”

  Olivia and Tommy arrived ten minutes later, and both of them hugged Chloe and Kasey so tightly I wasn’t sure they’d ever let go. Eventually Tommy relinquished his hold and grabbed me in a bear hug, kissing me on the cheek.

  “Thank you for bringing them back,” he said.

  “Chloe lost her dad,” I told him, and then explained to both him and Olivia everything that had happened as more and more Avalon agents showed up. They began cordoning off the area and started their search for even more evidence against Mara.

  Mara was dragged out in handcuffs, a sorcerer’s band on her wrist, and I motioned for the agent to stop so I could speak to her.

  “Your coven will be disbanded. Your allies arrested or executed. We know Hera, Siris, and the rest of their group were behind it all, and we will find proof of that. You’re done here. You’re done ever seeing the light of day. I’m going to make sure they find the deepest pit in the most awful realm imaginable, and I’m going to put you in it.”

  “Filthy sorcerer. Knows nothing,” she snarled.

  “I know that Kay’s tablet went from your house to the dwarven realm and back again. Always the exact same spot. I assume you and Kay were friends, so you might like to know that he’s not going to be around again. Mostly because his head is no longer attached to the rest of him. Enjoy prison.”

  Mara glared at me.

  “You’re never going to see Chloe again,” Olivia told her. “Not ever. Unless she wants to see you, you are officially out of her life. You’re an evil witch who lives in a house in the woods, the only way you could be more of a pathetic cliché is if your house was made of gingerbread.”

  “You can’t keep her from me.”

  Olivia punched Mara in the face, putting some serious power behind the blow and crushing the witch’s nose. “Get her gone,” she snapped at the agent, who wisely did as he was told.

  “London is under attack,” I said to Olivia.

  “I know. We heard a few hours ago. Only just discovered it was Brutus, though. There’s a helicopter in the nearby field waiting to take you to London. I’m going to stay here and clear things up. Besides, I’m Avalon, so I probably wouldn’t be welcomed. Tommy, Remy: I assume you’re both going with him?”

  “Try and stop me,” Tommy said.

  “Us too,” Kasey and Chloe said in unison.

  I shook my head. “Right now, Chloe, you only just got a handle on that demon inside of you. I can’t have it rearing its head again when you get upset. And, Kasey, your friend needs you more than anything else in the world right now. We’ll be fine, but you need to stay here.”

  Kasey and Chloe accepted my words, although they clearly didn’t like them.

  “I was about to say no myself,” Olivia said. “It’s your turn to be the bad guy, rather than me or Tommy. I quite like that idea on occasion.”

  “Thanks,” I said and gave her a hug.

  “Thank you for bringing them both back. I’ll make sure they’re looked after here.”

  I passed Olivia the tablet. “Put it somewhere safe—far away from everything else. Then when you figure out how to get a fucking battalion into that realm, go take it back from the blood elves and Baldr. The dwarves deserve to have their kingdom back.”

  “I spoke to Zamek,” she said. “He’s already at the helicopter waiting for you. He’s upset he had to leave everything. Tommy wants to offer him a job. See if you can get him to accept it; it would give him purpose. And purpose is sometimes all we need when we’ve found that everything we’ve ever loved or known has crashed around us. I want him kept away from Avalon, too. They’ll question him on everything, and there are still elements there I don’t trust.”

  “You don’t trust Avalon?” I asked. “That’s new.”

  “I’ve spent the last year finding traitors, and people who want to destroy our way of life. A lot of them had hidden but powerful backing. If we find evidence to prove that Hera has been involved with Kay and Baldr, then we could uncover a lot of bad people within Avalon.”

  “You ready?” Tommy asked as he left the house.

  I nodded.

  “Oh, and when you get back, we need to talk about Mordred, and why he isn’t here right now,” Olivia said. “A long talk. In a locked room.”

  I was already walking away at that point. “Sorry, can’t hear you,” I called out. “The wind here is dreadful.” I whipped up some air magic to make my point and Olivia scowled.

  “You know she’s not kidding,” Tommy said.

  “Yeah, but how do I tell her that Mordred is one of the good guys now?”

  Tommy opened his mouth to speak. “You sure?”

  “One-hundred-percent yes
.”

  “Well, who’d have thought it: Mordred on our side?”

  “I never said that.”

  “You don’t think we’re the good guys?”

  I didn’t respond for a few seconds. “All I know is, we’re in the middle of a storm, and I really have no idea which way is the right way to turn. And until I do, I’m not sure who our allies or enemies are.”

  “We know that some of them just attacked Brutus,” Tommy said as we reached the helicopter. Zamek and Remy were already on board.

  “And right now that means I have someone to go hit. Repeatedly. And after the last few days, frankly, I don’t think they’re going to find me in the mood to play nice guy.”

  CHAPTER 39

  Smoke and fire. They were the main things visible from the building long before we got close enough to make out any of the details. The closer we got, the more the black, tar-like smoke billowed up into the sky. The sounds of sirens blared all around. The pilot landed on the roof of a building downwind from the smoke, and it didn’t take us long to get to the ground floor and out onto the busy streets.

  Police were everywhere: human police. Human fire brigade. Human paramedics. All helping, all trying not to show the public how scared they were. I walked past a policeman, who put his hand out to stop me, saw Remy, the walking fox, and blinked.

  “My name is Nate Garrett,” I told him, regaining his attention. “What happened here?”

  “Sorry, sir, we’re not at liberty to say.”

  Tommy walked over to the police officer and showed some ID. The officer immediately stood straighter and nodded, pointing down the street, past the cordon and people who were still trying to get a look at what had happened despite the danger.

  “What did you say to him?”

  “I have my old SOA ID,” he said.

  “You left working for Avalon a century ago,” I pointed out.

  “My ID is still valid. Olivia made sure of it after the Reavers attacked. Apparently, I’m trustworthy.”

  As we turned the corner, I looked up at the damage to the building that used to belong to Brutus. The Aeneid was five hundred feet tall, and designed to look imposing and inviting at the same time. It was Brutus’s living quarters and main headquarters; hundreds of others called this home, too. The last time I was here, it had been under attack from enemies who’d been working within Brutus’s own staff. I hoped that wasn’t the case again. Unfortunately, even with eyes as good as mine, I couldn’t quite tell what damage had been done to the building. Tommy walked away and found several official-looking people and began talking to them.

  Zamek was still carrying the swords that’d he’d retrieved from the dwarven citadel, and wearing his armor. Along with Remy, a heavily weaponized three-and-a-half-foot-tall fox, they stood out a little bit, and received the occasional glance from the humans around us. I wondered just how many of them were aware of Avalon and its people.

  Tommy returned before anyone came over to enquire about who we were and what we were doing.

  “The explosion happened on the twenty-seventh floor. It took out three floors on either side of it, so whatever they used was potent. It happened a few hours ago, and the fire brigade tried to get up there, but part of the staircase has collapsed, and the lifts are ballsed up.”

  “So how do we figure out what’s going on?” Remy asked.

  “How did you get here so quickly?” Diane asked from behind me.

  “Avalon perks,” Tommy told her and then explained what he’d been told.

  “We need to get up there,” Remy said from beside her.

  “Diane, where the fucking hell have you been?” Licinius shouted as he crossed the road. “And get out of the road—people are going to start taking photos of you.” He pushed us all through the doorway behind us, which led into a small, empty shop.

  “Why is there a dwarf here?” he asked.

  “No time. What happened?” Diane asked, getting the conversation back to more important matters.

  “The fucking building blew up,” Licinius said.

  “We got that,” Remy said slowly, as if he were explaining something to a particularly difficult child. “Tell us how.”

  Licinius clearly didn’t appreciate the condescension, but held his tongue. “A few hours ago, the cleaning lady arrived, as she has every day for the last ten years, but something was off. Her movement was weird, as if she hadn’t done the job before. But it was clearly her; I’d seen her hundreds, if not thousands, of times. I followed her when she left the floor before her shift was over, so I was three floors down when the explosions began. At least four bombs, all placed around the floor. I do know that the cleaning lady wasn’t who I thought she was.”

  “Changeling?” I asked. Changelings could become other people by physically taking their appearance and leaving the original a smooth sack of skin and organs. They were rare and dangerous.

  Licinius nodded. “He or she—I don’t know—tried to change into me, but I killed them before they could manage it.”

  “How many are hurt?”

  “The targeted floors were mostly empty today; a lot of those who live there are off at a retreat: team building. Thankfully, the injury count aside from those floors is low: only a few dozen. But no one has been able to get up above the damaged floors to check for more. The police here are mostly hand-picked by us, and like most in London are aware of who and what we are. Same with the fire brigade, but that doesn’t mean everyone here knows it. The civilians in the crowds certainly don’t, although now they probably have a few pictures of a dwarf and a walking fox.”

  “Most foxes walk already,” Remy pointed out helpfully. “And I think dwarves exist in this realm: just not Zamek’s kind.”

  “What about Brutus?” Diane asked, moving the conversation off Remy’s mocking.

  “He was in his penthouse: thirty-sixth floor. No one has seen him since, but he should be safe. The building is in no danger of collapse, and the damage appears to be contained to six floors. I have people working to move the debris, but it’s slow going.”

  “I can help,” Zamek said. “Rock, brick, any kind of building material: moving is a dwarven specialty.”

  “Let him,” Diane said before Licinius opened his mouth. “It’s been a long few days.”

  “You can tell me all about them later. Right now, let’s save some people.”

  We left the shop at the sound of a helicopter overhead, which was flying toward the smoke that continued to pour out of the building. At first, I thought it was a news crew or someone equally insane to be that close to a burning building, but the helicopter wasn’t anything the news companies use.

  “That’s a Black Hawk,” Remy said.

  We all watched as the Black Hawk landed on top of the Aeneid.

  “Anyone else find that odd?” Tommy asked.

  “Brutus doesn’t own a Black Hawk,” Diane said.

  “I didn’t order a Black Hawk,” Licinius said. “We’ve been in contact with Brutus; he’s on the top floor, and appears to be fine. There’s no need to risk a helicopter landing.”

  “He could have contacted someone in Avalon to rescue him, but that’s not exactly what I’d expect from the man,” Diane said. “I’d expect him to pour himself a vodka, sit back, and wait for us to get up there. Calling anyone for help, especially Avalon, isn’t really his style.”

  “Then who is up there?”

  The explosion at the side of the building confirmed that it was no one good. Glass and concrete began to rain down on the people closest to the building, and they ran for cover under the overhangs of the buildings nearby. I blasted a few pieces with air magic, but my involvement was thankfully minimal.

  It didn’t take long before the Black Hawk was on its way again. And all of us were helpless to stop it.

  “We need to track it. Any idea how?” I asked. I looked around for someone with a radio I could nab.

  Diane figured out what I was suggesting and called over some peopl
e, who, from their uniforms and badges, were clearly part of Brutus’s security staff. Or former staff, depending on how much trouble they were in. She took the radios from them and passed one to me and one to Tommy.

  Tommy nodded and set off toward the helicopter, changing into his wolf-beast form as he went. He was faster than any of us, and probably more equipped to track people—or at least the exhaust smell of the helicopter.

  “You know humans are watching us right now?” Licinius said, reminding us all about something we really didn’t care about.

  “It’s dark. The lights are far enough away to shield Tommy and the rest of us, and any civilians or press are far enough back that we’re not exactly in their line of sight. We’re good.”

  “Why don’t you do something constructive?” Remy asked. “Somewhere other than here?”

  “Diane, what are you going to do?” Licinius demanded to know, anger coming off him in waves. “You weren’t here when this happened. You’re meant to be in charge of his security. This is your screw-up.”

  For a second I thought Diane was going to punch him, as her hands balled into fists, but she relaxed before speaking. “I’m going to find Brutus.”

  “We don’t even know he was on board when it flew away,” Licinius pointed out.

  “True, but we will once Tommy lets us know. If Brutus isn’t on that helicopter, we’ll help you get up to his floor, but if he is aboard the Black Hawk, we’re going to go and save him. Sound okay to you?” Her tone suggested she didn’t really care if it sounded okay or not.

  The radio crackled. “Guys, are you there? I think we have a big problem.”

  “Bigger than a blown-up building and a possibly kidnapped Brutus?” I answered.

  “They brought him to the British Museum. I’ve just watched them march him out of the Black Hawk. I don’t think they can see me, but they’ve taken him inside.”

  “We’ll be there soon as we can.”

  “There are a hundred soldiers in front of this museum. And they look like they’re armed with swords and stuff. A few of them have guns, but most don’t. I guess a hundred soldiers in London with guns would catch someone’s attention a lot quicker than without.”