The Shadow Rises: A Morgan Rook Supernatural Thriller (The Order of Shadows Book 5)

by Kit Hallows

  16

  “And why have the accused been silenced? I see there’s a spell of muting sealing their lips.” The dwarf nodded to Samuel, Astrid and myself.

  “That precaution is necessary because the offworlders to either side of Mr. Rook,” Lampton said, “aided and abetted him in my grandfather’s murder, and I have intelligence that the male,” his eyes flitted over Samuel like a snake regarding a mouse, “employs a form of spoken magic to befuddle his victims. And I’ve no doubt that all three share this magical ability. I also have good reason to suspect the offworlders are responsible for the reprehensible act of reanimating the blinkered dead that were recently found roaming our city streets and that they smuggled a horrific virus into our world to achieve their twisted aims.”

  “I’ve had my own run in with them,” the dwarf said, “and found myself confounded by the spell of befuddlement you mentioned. But these other charges are gravely serious; we must have irrefutable evidence to back up these claims.” His words received a few nods of agreement from the others around the table. “So, I take it you’re not planning to sentence anyone tonight. Not when what has been presented to the Council so far is little more than hearsay.”

  Lampton offered him a cold, empty smile. “I understand. No doubt many of you were expecting tonight’s gathering to be yet another dry and needlessly drawn-out Council meeting punctuated with a lavish feast and heady, expensive tipples. But that script has changed. Yes, I mean to sentence Mr. Rook tonight, and put his vicious co-conspirators to trial and death with immediate effect before they rain any more destruction down upon our city.”

  “This is insanity,” the Wendigo said. “It cannot stand! This is not how we do things.”

  “It can and it will,” Lampton said. I did my best to suppress my fury as his eyes lingered on Astrid and returned to mine with a glint of amusement. “However, I’m glad you raised your objections, because that in itself fits into tonight’s agenda. Now,” Lampton turned to regard the other Councilors, “who here agrees with Councilor Kasthrall? Can I see a show of hands for those amongst you who wish to curtail justice?”

  “And what of due process?” the ogress said, her fingers toying irritably with the pearls gleaming around her sizable throat. Then she raised her hand along with the Wendigo and dwarf.

  “Thank you for your honesty,” Lampton said. “The Council has noted this demonstration and determined that you are ready for retirement. I’ve already told you, this isn’t the time to tarry and indulge in archaic bureaucracy.”

  “Retire?” The dwarven Councilor said, his face reddening. “This is monstrous!”

  “No,” Lampton said, “it’s merely practical. Many, many changes are underway and when they’re in place, this city will be quite unrecognizable. Which is why we must be prepared to deal in fast, firm, decisive justice.”

  I glanced to Samuel then Astrid, and turned toward the vampire guard behind us, noting the gun in her hand.

  “This is why I summoned you tonight,” Lampton continued, “so I could understand which of you are closed to change, and which of you are open to embracing this new world that’s set to align with our own, whether we like it or not. These changes are inevitable, and those of you who placed your trust in me just now have proven yourselves worthy. And believe me, the rewards are going to be substantial.”

  “And what’s to become of those of us who’ve defied your ridiculous, kangaroo court sentencing?” the ogress asked. “And what exactly does retirement mean? Are you referring to the way the Organization retires wrongdoers?”

  “You’ll be dismissed from the Council,” Lampton said, and then his gaze shifted to the bulky equipment below the draped black fabric. “But not before you’ve contributed to the cause by relinquishing your magic. I think it’s the least you can do, considering all the years you’ve so disloyally drawn such generous entitlements.”

  “Relinquish our magic?” the ogress demanded. “How?”

  “I am more than happy to show you, Ms. Grithey.” Lampton stood and nodded to a vampire guard. The pale thug promptly strode over to the black drapes and ripped them away.

  The machinery’s design was more compact but aside from that, it could have come straight out of the black crystal lab I’d raided in Copperwood Falls. The brass cylinders, the tubing, the ominous chair fitted with restraints.

  “No,” the elderly Wendigo said, climbing from his chair. “I will not allow this!”

  I glanced around the table. All eyes were on the machine, but as I looked back to the vampire guarding us, her pale eyes met mine. She clutched her pistol and gave it a slight shimmy as she raised an eyebrow.

  “Is that right Mr. Kasthrall?” Lampton grabbed the Wendigo’s shoulder and shoved him toward the guards.

  “This is an outrage!” Kasthrall said, his gaunt face growing paler by the second, his lips forming words he didn’t speak out loud.

  Lampton snapped his fingers and the vampires seized the Councilor by his bony arms and marched him toward the machine. As he tried to wriggle free, a dark curling spell twisted around his maroon robes.

  The vampires shoved him into the chair and strapped down his long flailing limbs. Then they slapped a headset over the Wendigo’s thin wiry hair, flicked a switch on the side of the tall cylinder, and stood back.

  A deep rumble groaned out from the cylinder, followed by a long stone-like rattle. Lights blinked on the headset and an electric-blue gleam snaked along its cables leading toward the cylinder.

  The Wendigo screamed, his pleas hoarse and muffled amid the noise from the machine. I cringed as his hands clutched the armrests, and his mouth became a dark circle of torment. The machine rumbled harder and the lights around his headset burned brighter, then his entire body spasmed and the din from the machine began to wind down.

  A terrible silence fell over the scene as the Wendigo slumped forward, his eyes fixed in a spaced out stare. One of the guards returned with a wheelchair, and together they placed the Wendigo into it and prepared to cart him away.

  “Monstrous!” the dwarf growled. “What on earth has gotten into you, Lampton?”

  “Me?” Lampton said, pointedly looking down upon the dwarf. “I grew tired of the status quo, the tedious inertia, and lack of ambition. We’ve spent all this time and effort coexisting with a race that would wipe us if they ever learned of our existence. Would anyone in their right mind live in a house with a sleeping dragon, knowing one day it will awaken? No! I am taking a stand. The dragon is about to be slain so that we’ll all have the chance to live a free, just future. Now,” he looked from the dwarf to the ogress, “relinquish your powers willingly and you can retire in peace.”

  “Peace?” The ogress’ eyes followed the guard as he wheeled the Wendigo to one of the limos parked in the driveway. “Is that what you mean by peace?”

  “There’s a fair chance he’ll recover. That’s better that than a bullet, wouldn’t you say?” Lampton asked, then he pointed to Astrid. “She, however, will be getting both. And so will he.” Lampton nodded to Samuel and snapped his fingers.

  An eerie silence fell over the table as a guard seized Astrid and dragged her toward the machine. I leapt to my feet, my scream of fury trapped behind my muted lips. The vampire guard shoved me onto the stool and tutted as she placed her gun to Samuel’s head.

  Astrid was strapped into the chair and the lights of the headset shimmered in her soft dark hair.

  “An eye for an eye, Rook,” Lampton said, “that’s the credo you’ve sworn by all these years.” Death shone through his steely gaze as he turned to Astrid. “Now let’s see what she’s got up her sleeves.”

  17

  “Do it!” Lampton shouted as the guard loomed over Astrid. He kept his gaze on me, his tongue running over his lips as he grinned. I strained to shout, to release my fury but the muting spell he’d cast ensured I choked back each word.

  Astrid sat still, her face like stone, clearly determined to remain composed. No fear, no panic. Bu
t as her eyes wandered to Lampton, I could see what she was thinking. Her gaze softened as she looked to me and forced a smile.

  Samuel began to rise but the vampire slapped him across the face and jammed her gun harder against his skull. I calculated the distance between myself and the machine. I could try to reach Astrid but the vampire would shoot Samuel and the guard would fire up the machine before I’d gotten halfway there.

  “Enjoy, Morgan,” Lampton said. The vampire leaned in to flick the switch and paused as a roaring boom rang out.

  Bright lilac light burst through the air and rained down over the trees, bathing their branches in a spring-like display as it blossomed through the murk. I glanced from the spectacle to Samuel and nodded toward the guard between us. Her attention had been drawn away by the lights, then in a panic Lampton called all the guards in to protect him and she turned and looked toward the table.

  Samuel grinned as he jumped to his feet and punched the guard in the face. Before she could bring her gun up I seized her wrist and forced it out of her hand. She turned on me with a feral hiss and thrust her claws into my chest. I winced as a deep burning pain spread through my flesh.

  She lunged again and I staggered back, grabbed the stool and used it to fend her off.

  “No!” Lampton shouted to her. “Not him!” His attention was split between the guard and the uproar amid the tree line.

  The vampire snarled, her unwavering stare filled with an appetite to maim, then with a wail she broke apart in a cloud of black motes and reassembled behind me.

  I sidestepped as her claws shot toward me, brought the stool up and shoved it into her with all the force I could muster. One of the legs punctured her chest and she shrieked as she writhed upon the lawn.

  Boom!

  Another explosion rumbled across the forest. Lampton shouted at the guard by his side then snapped up his gun and aimed it at Samuel. Gunfire roared past me, then a round shattered the guard’s forehead, spattering Lampton with blood.

  I turned to find Samuel holding the vampire’s gun. He smiled as he whirled around his finger like a cowboy in an old western and gave me a wink before taking aim at Lampton.

  The bullet struck Lampton’s chest and he glanced down as the bullet glowed and fell to the ground. He’d cast a shield around himself, and it was powerful.

  Samuel thrust the gun into my hand and nodded to Astrid as he headed off to untie her. Lampton’s guards took aim as he ran but I brought them both down before they could fire.

  Lampton came at me, his lips muttering furiously as he began to summon a spell. Cries from the forest shattered his focus, and he stumbled toward the trees with his remaining guards.

  I searched the fallen vampire until I found the keys to the cells and ran to Samuel as he freed Astrid from the machine. She looked up at me and we embraced. I thrust the keys into Samuel’s hand and pointed back toward the holding cells where they could retrieve our weapons, before indicating I was heading into the trees. They nodded and ran toward the building while I strode past the table.

  The Councilors were gone, except for the Wendigo, who'd been left shivering in the wheelchair. I took his arm, helped him to his feet and pointed for him to take shelter in one of the cars. He staggered off as I turned my sights toward Lampton.

  The wind blew, stirring scraps of snowflakes that curled past my eyes as I headed up the slope into the darkness of the trees with the gun clenched firmly in my hand.

  Shouts and cries echoed all around while blades clashed and gun smoke tinged the air. I could see the light from the bonfires in the encampment and then the Nightkind’s panicked frenzy as figures in bright silver armor pursued them. Soon I spotted Lampton shouting amid the fray to rally his army of Nightkind. As I turned to run after him, something immense lumbered toward me through the dark trees. With a creak of shattering limbs a huge beast of a troll appeared. It looked down at me with one eye and snorted through its squashed up nose. The long sword in its gnarled fist flashed in the moonlight as it arced toward me.

  I shot at its chest, then its head, but the bullets barely scratched its warty grey hide. It stomped and charged. I leaped aside and it smashed into the tree behind me, wrenching it up by its roots.

  Before the troll could right itself I took another shot. The round struck soft tissues from a vicious bite wound at the back of its skull and it slumped to the ground dead.

  I grabbed the heavy sword, and scarcely had time to get its measure before a ghoul with blazing red eyes came out of nowhere. I swung the sword to counter the club hammer clutched in its hand but missed it by what seemed like a mile.

  My arm ached as I drew the blade back to parry its attack. The blade met the hammer’s polished wooden handle, and glanced off as a dim light of enchantment shone along the haft.

  “Morgan Rook!” the ghoul growled, his breath stinking of dirt and rot. He broke back and swung his hammer again, almost smashing my skull into the tree behind me.

  I forced myself to focus, and adjusted my stance to balance the heft of the long sword, then surged forward, driving it through the ghoul’s chest. With a tortured cry he slumped to his knees, taking the weapon with him. I pulled it free as three sinewy figures sprang from the shadows and surrounded me.

  Ratmen, their beady black eyes glimmering as their whiskers twitched. They raised their cutlasses and clashed them together, as if toasting each other, then one dashed forward with its blade aimed at my heart. I blocked its charge and forced the creature back, leaving myself open…

  A flash of lilac shattered the darkness, bringing a stench of singed fur. I adjusted my stance, forcing the ratman away, before kneeing it hard in the groin. As it slumped over I swung the sword and cleaved its head off.

  I spun around as another ratman fell, its flesh blackened. It rolled across the ground, with a high, piercing cry. I raised my sword and plunged it through its heart then turned to try and figure out what in the hell was going on.

  A figure was poised in the moonlight with firelight glinting off his armor. He swung a rapier-like sword, the movements so fast I could barely track them. The ratman before him fell, its furry chest slashed to ribbons as it rolled onto its back, its beady eyes lifeless.

  “Morgan?”

  It was Erland’s voice but my mind bucked against the realization and what I was seeing. I couldn't fathom him in anything other than his usual dapper suits. He held his hand out benignly as he approached. His hair had been drawn back into a ponytail and pretty much all semblance of the Fae I’d known was gone.

  I took a step back as the metal shimmered with pale blue light and stared at the chest plate’s thorny bramble-like design. He smiled as he looked at me, then raised a brow as his gaze fell to my face. “I was wondering why you had so little to say.”

  Erland uttered a spell and wagged a finger in front of my mouth, then an odd warmth passed through my lips as Lampton’s curse dissolved.

  “Are you okay?” Erland asked.

  “I’ve been better. How’d you find us?”

  “Fate or fortunate timing. We returned this morning, interrogated a few of the usual suspects, and got wind of the Council’s meeting. We’ve been scouring the city for hours trying to find this place then I suddenly felt the undeniable pull of magic wafting along the streets. One that hadn’t been there before. Your work I assume?”

  I nodded and glanced through the trees as the clatter of clashing swords seemed to grow more frenzied. “Did you get Lampton?”

  “Not yet, we’ll find him. But first-” Erland’s eyes darted toward the trees.

  He stood still and alert as figures snaked through the brush. Men and women clad in black robes stalked toward us. They fanned out, raising their staffs as they whispered low, arcane words then an eerie glow lit their twisted faces. Their summons drew in the demons, vampires and werewolves from the encampment and I readied my sword as the feral mob prepared to destroy us.

  18

  The Nightkind drew in, their eyes gleaming with cont
empt. The more bestial amongst them bared their teeth and toxic slathering tongues. Amid the werewolves and vampires, demons conjured balls of hellish fire while the black-robed figures uttered spells.

  I brought my sword up and readied myself to take down as many as I could.

  “Wait.” Erland placed his chain-mailed hand on my shoulder, before crying out a word of power. He stomped his foot. The ground rumbled and shook. The undulations were fast and violent and sent most the attackers toppling back where they writhed in a snarled tangle of beastly limbs.

  The werewolves were the first to leap back to their feet, but before they could strike, I slashed one across the chest with the long sword and stabbed another. My arm shuddered under the weight of the unfamiliar weapon and my assault was crude. I drove the awkward weighty blade into the earth as I drew the gun Samuel had given me, and fired. Two robed figures fell first then I turned to the demon. It blinked all three of its eyes and cackled as the bullet glanced off its brown leathery hide and then it sprang at me with a short bloody blade clasped in its hand.

  I tried to fire again. The gun was empty, so I threw it at the charging devil. It struck hard and glanced off its pointed head, but didn’t slow its momentum. The demon lifted its knife and was about to bring it down on me when an arrowhead ripped through its throat.

  It fell dead to the ground and I looked up to see Samuel standing behind it, bow in hand.

  Erland slashed through the remaining Nightkind and Astrid joined him, her daggers flashing in morbid harmony with his magical Fae steel. I retrieved the long sword and ran at a swarthy robed man as he brought his staff up over Erland’s back. A spray of blood misted the air as I sliced his arm off then brought the blade down and severed his head before his hand even hit the snow.