Wizard's Nocturne: The Sixth Jonathan Shade Novel

by Gary Jonas

  “Jon Easton,” the leader said. “You should step away from this man.”

  Instead I stepped between them.

  “Back down, Vanguard. You can't sacrifice this many people!”

  He shook his head. “We never back down.”

  “What happens now is your fault, Jonathan,” Winslow said.

  The people all raised their hands as one, but Winslow didn't wait to see what might happen. He unleashed a massive blast of energy.

  The street lit up. Lights exploded along the lampposts down the street, showering the people in sparks and glass. The rain looked like white lines slashing the night into thousands of separate slivers. The army of men, women, and children disintegrated, and those slivers fell away as the rain washed the aggregate cells into the gutter with the rest of the runoff.

  The ghosts of the spirit warriors were still there, translucent, with rain cutting through them. Winslow made a quick motion, and the ghosts plowed into one another like a thousand stalks of wheat being swept to the side by some giant, invisible plow. He held them there then gestured to the side and pinned the ghosts to the buildings along the street. The ghosts hung there ten deep, with rain splashing against the brick, concrete, and steel behind them as if they didn't exist. The men, women, and children who had once lived their lives on the streets of New York were nothing more than a memory.

  But that memory threatened to crush me as I dropped to my knees.

  I couldn't see their faces. I could see only the uniform of the policeman in my mind's eye. One man to represent the thousands lost in a two-second flash of energy. One man to carry the burden of their deaths. My soul dripped red with blood, and the rain could never wash it clean.

  “We shall proceed on foot from here,” Winslow said and walked past me as if nothing had happened.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The members of Alpha et Omega worked together to plant two lines of six-foot-tall magical beams of light at slightly different angles leading off to the northeast from Cleopatra's Needle. The lights reminded me of the light sabers from Star Wars, though they didn't hum. They simply marked off a scalene triangle toward London and Paris and were spaced so the members could stand between two of them and reach the beams on either side.

  Winslow walked along the rows of lights, passing his hand through each of the thirty-three pillars. He moved toward the obelisk, where Ankhesenamun waited. She pointed to a particular hieroglyph. Winslow placed one hand on that hieroglyph then threw his other open hand out toward the northeast, pointing across East Drive, and the museum. The raindrops veered away from the triangle. Rain fell outside the triangle but not within it. At the far end, where the rows of light ended, the rain separated out as if that triangle continued all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. One section of the museum fell within the triangle, so rain didn't fall on that strip of building.

  Winslow and Ankhesenamun exchanged words, but I was too far away to hear them.

  Carlton positioned each of the members of Alpha et Omega between the pillars of light. He even begrudgingly shoved me over to fill a spot.

  “You're still technically a member, and while you're not in the good graces of the society, we will allow you to participate.”

  I didn't have any smart-assed remarks. My emotions were still destroyed by the thousands of people who'd lost their lives in the street. I stood where Carlton pointed. Rain splashed on my back, but no drops landed on the front half of my body. Everyone reached out and touched the light on either side of them, except at the ends.

  Winslow raised his voice so everyone could hear. “Everyone, please reach out and touch the lights on either side of you. Those by the Needle, please touch the obelisk.”

  The members of Alpha et Omega did as he said. On one end, two men touched the hieroglyphs on the obelisk. On the other end of the line, the man and woman there extended their arms toward London or Paris. As soon as they touched the lights, they froze in place as if paralyzed. Their chests rose and fell as they breathed, but other than that, they were silent statues locked in place by the magic of the spell.

  Very few of them would have hesitated to do as he said even if they'd known the complete story. This was the sort of thing they lived for, had studied for, had joined the temple for--an actual magical ritual using ancient rites and great power to help one of their own achieve immortality. If it worked for him, perhaps it could work for them. Most people don't want to die. Aside from simply growing up with the beliefs their parents instilled, the possibility of life after death is one of the main reasons religions offering eternity are so popular. Not only do we not want to be forgotten after our brief lifespan is over, we want to continue living, knowing what we know. We don't want to end.

  Esther, Rayna, Naomi, Shade, and Kelly stood ten paces behind me. Esther shivered in the rain. Kelly stared straight ahead, waiting for any signal that she should try to attack. Rayna waited patiently, and I knew she'd been stoking her fire. Shade remained quiet, which concerned me. It meant he was thinking, and as I know how I would have been thinking, I worried that he might do something that got someone else killed.

  “Shade,” I said. “Come over here.”

  Winslow was busy drawing hieroglyphs of light on the grass, while Ankhesenamun guided him in a few corrections. Carlton kept an eye on me and shook his head when I called to Shade. “You keep your distance,” Carlton said.

  “Make me,” Shade said and walked toward me.

  Carlton touched his bandaged nose and blackened eye. Then he smiled and pulled a gun. He leveled it at Shade. “The memory of our previous altercation is a little too fresh. If I have to make you, it will be a permanent fix.”

  Shade held up his hands. “It's cool,” he said. “I'll be a good little boy.”

  “That's what I wanted to tell you,” I said. “Don't do anything stupid.”

  “Define 'stupid,'“ Shade said.

  “Anything that will get you or anyone else shot for starters.”

  “Damn,” he said, “old age has made you into a party pooper.”

  “Don't do anything other than watch. I mean it.”

  “Or Carlton will shoot me. Yeah, I got that.”

  “Winslow has already summoned up a massive amount of magic. He needs to complete this ritual or that magic will be released, and it could kill everyone within a twenty-mile radius.”

  “Except for you and me,” he said.

  “Exactly. You don't want your wife to die. Right?”

  “Should this ritual be played out like this? Shouldn't it be performed in a bunker lined with lead or something?”

  “If you two are trying to communicate a plan,” Carlton said, “it won't do you any good.”

  “No secret communications here. The plan,” I said, “is to let Henry perform his ritual. A bunker would be good, but this will give a better show for the members of the group.”

  “It's going to work,” Carlton said. He walked over to me and pointed the gun at my face. “And you think it will backfire.”

  I shook my head. “On the contrary. I think it will make him immortal exactly as he plans.”

  “So what's the catch?” Carlton asked. He couldn't see an angle because there wasn't one.

  “I've seen enough death, Carlton. I helped Henry plan this ritual. I'm the one who suggested we use the obelisks to channel the energy. I'm the one who worked out many of the details of the ritual. Some of the specific details were only on the tablets, so Henry needed those. But I set everything else up so he could succeed.”

  “Because you want to be young again.”

  I sighed. “I've tossed that dream into the garbage. I'm ready to watch this ritual because I worked so hard to get here, but after this, I just want to go live out my final few years in peace.”

  “You don't want to live forever?”

  “No.”

  “Even if you could be young?”

  “Magic doesn't work on me, Carlton.”

  “So?” He considered it for a
moment, and I saw the light come on in his eyes. “You knew you weren't going to regain your youth even back when I brought the tablets.”

  I nodded.

  “But you tried to sway me to your side.”

  “I thought I could play you.”

  “To what purpose?”

  “To keep you wondering about my angle and not about Henry's.”

  “I don't understand,” Carlton said.

  I grinned at him. “You will.”

  Carlton moved closer and jammed the gun up under my chin. “Tell me,” he said.

  “I don't like you, Carlton,” I said. “I could take that gun away from you right now, but I'm not going to do it.”

  He pushed the barrel up, trying to tip my head back, but I flexed my neck muscles and held my ground.

  “You're lying.”

  “No, I really don't like you.”

  “Not about that.”

  “The gun?” I asked. “A gun is a fixed weapon, Carlton.”

  “So?” He pulled the gun back a bit and pressed it to my forehead. “You can't take it away from me.”

  “You're clear,” Kelly said.

  I smiled because it meant nobody was behind me in the direct line of fire.

  Carlton moved to push the barrel to my skull, but I jerked quickly to the side. He pulled the trigger, but my head was no longer in the line of fire. The gunshot exploded and my ears rang. I wasn't as fast in my old age, and the bullet grazed my forehead, but it was a minor flesh wound. I brought my hands in. With my right hand, I punched Carlton's wrist so hard, his grip loosened, and with my left, I snatched the gun from his hand. I smacked him in the forehead with the butt of the gun, and his head snapped back. His eyes crossed and he dropped to his knees. The entire confrontation lasted less than a second.

  Winslow raced toward me, and while his mouth was moving, I couldn't hear anything other than the ringing.

  I touched my forehead, and my fingers came away bloody.

  “Sorry, I just wanted to hit him,” I said.

  “You don't have to shout,” Winslow said. His voice came through now, but sounded distant while the ringing in my ears drowned out almost everything.

  “Here,” I said and handed the gun to Winslow.

  He took it and stared at it as if he'd never seen one.

  “Won't do me any good,” I said. “I just didn't want Carlton to have it.”

  Carlton remained on his knees, holding his head, but now he looked up at me, and fury glowed in his eyes.

  Winslow held out a hand, signaling for Carlton to stop. “Carlton, go stand by the obelisk,” Winslow said.

  “They were talking, trying to work some plan.”

  “Nobody here has the power to stop me from completing the ritual, and they all know it. Now go.”

  Carlton tucked his tail between his legs and moped his way toward the obelisk. Ankhesenamun glared at him as they passed. She walked up to stand beside Winslow.

  “Shade here was thinking about trying something,” I said. “But I told him not to.”

  “He's welcome to try,” Winslow said. “Anyone who wants to try something is more than welcome. Of course, the temple members aren’t even aware that we’re discussing this, but those of you who aren’t bound by the light are free to accept the challenge.”

  “Maybe I'll take you up on that,” Shade said, but Kelly took him by the arms and pulled him back.

  “And as punishment, I'll kill your wife.”

  “I don't see the necessity of killing anyone,” Ankhesenamun said. “They can do nothing to you, and we're about to embark on an eternity together.”

  “What she said. Just sit back and watch the show,” I said. “We're about to witness something truly amazing. A wizard is going to attain eternal life right before our eyes.”

  “I can't just watch that,” Shade said.

  “There's nothing we can do,” Kelly said. “He's too strong.”

  “So we're just going to let him win?”

  “We don't have a choice.”

  Winslow nodded to Kelly. “She understands.”

  “Kelly was always the smart one,” Ankhesenamun said.

  “I'd rather die fighting than just watch this,” Shade said.

  “He won't kill you,” I said. “He'll kill the people you care about. Starting with Naomi. Just let him perform the ritual. It's almost midnight and this argument isn't going to change anything.”

  Shade stared a question at me.

  “No,” I said. “I seriously just want you to stand back and watch the ritual. I don't have any tricks up my sleeve. Henry and I worked this out together. My Henry was weaker than the one you originally killed.”

  Henry smiled. “I absorbed his ghost, and he didn't even have a chance to fight back.”

  “What do you mean?” Shade asked.

  Ankhesenamun touched Winslow's shoulder. “Almost time,” she said.

  “Thank you, my dear.”

  “Answer me,” Shade said.

  “You will show respect to my future husband,” Ankhesenamun said.

  “It's quite all right,” Winslow said. “I want to answer because it will hurt Jonathan, and anything that hurts him is fine by me.” He turned toward Shade. “Jonathan the elder tried to set it up so that the version of me that he raised would be performing the ritual. He thought I'd be weak as I'd divided myself into three.”

  “Makes sense,” Shade said.

  “But not every triangle has equal sides. Why should I give equal power to the aspects I sent to the past? I wanted most of my power saved for later. And I was far more powerful than Jonathan anticipated. I saw a ghost of myself standing on one of the tablets, so I engulfed him and assimilated him.”

  “Like the Borg,” Shade said.

  “I don't know what a borg is,” Winslow said.

  “Like the Borg,” I said, speaking directly to Shade and ignoring Winslow. “I knew then that we'd lost.”

  “But you kept going,” Shade said.

  “Seemed like a good idea at the time. I tend to pull solutions out of my ass at the last minute, but in this case, I've got nothing.”

  “It's time,” Winslow said. “But we need to make a minor correction here.”

  Winslow motioned for me to step aside, and he pointed at Naomi. “You,” he said. “I want you to stand right here.”

  Naomi hesitated. “I think I prefer my vantage point.”

  “I didn't ask what you preferred. I have the option of having a man with no magic take a position here or a woman who has magic. As Jonathan has no power, he's unlikely to cause any trouble, but I'd rather not risk the possible interruption. He's got an uncanny knack for throwing wrenches into machines. So you will stand here.”

  Naomi grinned and stepped forward.

  Winslow waited until she stepped into the space I'd vacated. “Hold your arms out between the lights.”

  She stared at him and folded her arms in defiance.

  He looked her in the eyes. “That magic you've summoned? Feel free to cast it into the light or wherever else you might want. Every ounce of magic will flow along the channels I've created.”

  I stood slightly behind Naomi and to her right.

  “Stay put or I'll kill your friends,” Winslow said. “Now touch the light.”

  “Do as he says, Naomi,” I said.

  She glared at me. “Really?”

  I nodded.

  She reached out and touched the lights and instantly froze in place. “Now,” I said and tried to catch Shade's eye as I looked at the ground beside me. “Stay put.”

  Shade didn't notice but Kelly did.

  When Winslow turned to go back to the obelisk, hand in hand with Ankhesenamun, Kelly pushed Shade over beside me.

  “You stand here,” Kelly said.

  “Why?”

  “Because you'll like the view better from here,” I said.

  “You have a plan?” he whispered.

  “I do but it's a long shot.”

 
; “I'm in,” Shade said.

  “You don't even know what it is.”

  “I don't care,” he said. “I'm in.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The rain eased up as Winslow adjusted the arrangement of the Emerald Tablets. He had Ankhesenamun stand in front of the obelisk with the crook of Osiris in one hand and the flail in the other. He faced the group, running his eyes down the lines to make certain everyone was in position.

  “The ritual will take little time,” he said, staring at me. “Not that the members of Alpha et Omega will notice.”

  I looked around at these people. Most of them would be dead before I was even born, but for now they remained living statues.

  “Now I walk the Halls of Amenti,” Winslow said, looking to the stars. “The gods surround me, and their sparks of wisdom engulf and enlighten me. My heart beats now. My lungs fill with life. My world expands. My days stretch out before me to infinity, but I seek the approval of the Men of Anubis.”

  He took the flail from Ankhesenamun and slapped it against the obelisk.

  Light sparked at the touch and swirled around the hieroglyphs, dancing their way to the capstone as lightning ignited the clouds. The light shot from the obelisk and exploded into bright flashes as it connected with the lightning. The light flared brightly and shot back into the obelisk, but now it made the granite glow blue while the hieroglyphs flared bright white. The resulting flash illuminated the park and made the rainless triangle stand out as dark against a skyline highlighted with bright white flowing lines as the rain fell from the sky.

  The pillars of light glowed, and energy coursed through the members of Alpha et Omega. The air around Naomi charged with electric energy, and her hair flowed as though caught in a strong wind. I felt the hum of power and had to take a step back. The magic wouldn't affect me, but the electricity from the lightning might. Shade and Kelly, too, stepped back. Rayna and Esther watched from the sidelines. We were drenched from the rain but captivated by the spectacle.

  None of the Alpha et Omega members moved. They all stood, arms out, touching the glowing posts. A wall of light shimmered between the pillars and shot off to the northeast, illuminating the sides of the triangle stretching from Cleopatra's Needle in New York to its like in London to the obelisk in Paris and back to New York. While I couldn't see the entire length, I knew the power radiated all the way there, around, and back. I suspected it was visible from space as a scalene triangle of immense proportions.