Heart of Gold: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Clans of Shadow Book 1)

by J. A. Cipriano

  “Any sufficiently advanced science, eh, Frank?” She smiled softly, and I couldn’t help but reciprocate.

  “Yeah, sure,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure I got why she found it funny. I crossed my arms over my chest and immediately wished I hadn’t.

  “If it helps you process it, go with that. Mind you, it’s not the truth of the situation, but we have bigger problems to focus on.” She let out a faint sigh. “Let me start by apologizing for bringing you into this.”

  “Don’t worry, Doc. I think we’re even after you saved my life, but you had better tell me what the hell you did to me.” I rubbed my face as a sudden wave of bone-crushing exhaustion swept over me. “Not that I’m not grateful for being alive but, shit, gold fucking blood? Also, where are we going?”

  While I wouldn’t give Lambert the time of day, I had always felt like Gabriela was someone I could trust. I mean, she had never lied to me, and no, I didn’t consider this whole “existence of magic” a lie. I had never asked Gabby if she was actually a wizard belonging to a secret cult of spell-lovers, so she had never lied to me. Maybe it’s a technicality, but I didn’t give a shit.

  “I did the only thing I could to save your life.” Gabriela paused, chewing her bottom lip for so long I almost thought she wasn’t going to answer me. As I opened my mouth to urge her along, she started talking. “Your heart was shredded by shrapnel, so I took an ancient artifact of incalculable power, one that has killed nearly everyone else it had been put into, and replaced your heart with it.”

  My glib tongue, as always, did not fail me, and I wittily replied, “I, uh, you, uh… what?”

  It was a lot to take in. Was she seriously telling me she’d replaced my heart with an artifact? An ancient one no less? It sounded insane, but then again, I had golden blood, which was decidedly not fucking normal. The sad thing was, I actually sort of hoped this was real because if it wasn’t, I needed to be in a padded room stat.

  Unable to deal with my stunning verbal riposte, the Doc turned the car into the parking lot of a McDonald’s and parked in the spot farthest away from the restaurant. Even the faint smells of Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets weren’t enough to get my brain unlocked. She turned toward me and put a fine-fingered hand on my shoulder.

  “Frank, as Roland might have told you, magic can’t work miracles. You were dying, and the best I could do, even with all the modern medicine at my disposal and all my magic, was to slow it down. It might not have been smart of you to try to help me, but I wasn’t going to let you die if I could help it. Not after what you did.” She took a deep breath. “I had to save you, Frank. I owed you that much.”

  “So you put a cursed fucking object in my chest?” I cried, unable to help myself.

  She took a long look at me and must have decided to ignore my outburst because she continued like I hadn’t even spoken. “My only recourse was to use la Corazon. It was carved from turquoise, wrapped in pure gold, and etched with ancient sigils no one has ever deciphered. Some say it was created by the ancient Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl. Others say it is literally his heart. Suffice it to say, there are a thousand tales told by a thousand people about la Corazon.”

  “And you put that thing in my chest?” I raised a hand to ward off the insanity I was hearing because shit had just gone from insane to batshit insane. “So you’re telling me you crazy motherfuckers stuck a hunk of gold and stone into peoples’ chests and were surprised they died? For fuck’s sake, lady…”

  “I only did it because you were dying, Frank. I won’t try to excuse the actions of others, but I’m sure they all had their reasons for trying. There is documented proof la Corazon has replaced the hearts of others before and granted them renewed life. You were already dying. It was worth the one-in-a-million chance to try to save you.” She squeezed my shoulder, and I’ll be completely honest, the earnest look in her eye melted my heart. I couldn’t stay mad, not when she’d clearly done this to help me. Goddamn, I can be a push-over sometimes.

  “Okay, right, so I have a magic rock in my chest keeping me alive. Sort of like Iron Man but with magic.” I took a deep breath and squared my jaw. “I can handle that. I am on top of this.” I wasn’t, but I at least wanted her to think I was.

  Gabriela gave me her “you’ve-got-terminal-cancer-and-I-don’t-want-to-tell-you” look. “That isn’t all, though.” She turned back toward the wheel, gripping it tightly with one hand while turning the key with the other.

  I gave her my patented scowl as I thumped my chest, which was really stupid with the healing gash there. “You used a goddamned Aztec doohickey to replace my heart and there’s more?”

  Gabriela slapped the steering wheel. Now, see, I had never seen the Doc get angry before, but she was madder than a kicked hornet’s nest now. “Shut up, Frank! I’m trying to help you. If you would just listen!” She shot me a sidelong glance that probably would have killed me if she’d just wiggled her fingers. “First, I am not ‘Gabby.’ I am Dr. Gabriela Perez. You can call me Doc, Doctor, Dr. Perez, or even Gabriela, but never, ever, Gabby.”

  “You’re right, Doc. I’m sorry.” As I said the words, I was surprised to find I actually was sorry. Which made no sense because she’d cut me open and stuck a magical egg timer in my chest, but there it was.

  The Doc’s death grip on the steering wheel loosened. “So am I. And we’ve wasted a lot of time.” She shook her head and looked over at me. “Can you just let me get through this? It will be easier if you don’t interrupt, okay?”

  I shut up and nodded. I was going to be good. Okay, I was going to try to be good.

  “La Corazon is ancient magic or, more specifically, ancient anti-magic. No magic can touch you now or ever again. I can probably even teach you to use it on spells and enchantments that aren’t focused on you.” As she spoke, I could already feel the other shoe dropping. “Unfortunately, that also means it’s something both the Enders and the White want.”

  “Let me guess, they’ll kill to make sure they have it?” I said, but I already knew the answer before she replied.

  “Yes.” She turned back to look at me. “That’s why I got you out. I was pretty sure the Frank Butcher I know wouldn’t work for the White so…”

  “Fan-fucking-tastic! So, Doc, is there anything else? Does my new golden blood make my dick shrivel and fall off?” I tried to smile as I said it, but I couldn’t. What if it did?

  “No, in fact, la Corazon protects its host. You’ll be very healthy for the rest of your life, that much I can assure you.” She gave me a thin smile.

  “So what is it?” I asked, wondering if that meant I could still get drunk because honestly, right about now, downing a fifth of vodka sounded like a great idea.

  “The End Society is going to finally do it. They’re going to end all magic on the planet and there’s nothing the Alliance can do to stop it.” Gabriela and I locked gazes. “But you can stop them, Frank. With la Corazon’s power, you can break any spell, even something as powerful as the Enders’ ritual.”

  I couldn’t help myself, I laughed like a jackass. “Well, I hate to tell you this, Doc, but I give absolutely zero fucks about this. No offense, but if all magic types are like those monsters and your boss, Rollie, good riddance to bad rubbish!”

  “But if there is no magic, Frank, there’s no way to know if the heart in your chest will still work! There is a very good chance you will die.” As Gabriela laid that one on me, I realized she had an excellent point.

  If I died, Mom would be in trouble After all, I was the only one she had. I called her every day.

  I stopped. When was the last time I called her? She would be worried sick.

  “Doc, I’ve got my own shit to deal with. If both your friends and the boys in black are coming after me, I need to pack my shit, pack Mom’s shit, get us some bus tickets to Hoboken, and get the fuck out of town.”

  There was an honest-to-God shocked look on Doc’s face. “Frank, I… but how can you not care? There’s so much more to magi
c in the world than just what we magicians do! Do you know what would be lost if there was no magic?”

  “Don’t know. Don’t care,” I said, already mentally going through my apartment and cataloging which of my records I could take with me. Definitely the Stones album…

  “By the gods and spirits, are you really that selfish?” Gabriela’s eyes started to water for some reason, though big credit to her for keeping a stiff upper lip. “I may have given you a heart of gold, but you’re still a selfish, heartless bastard!”

  I probably deserved that, but I had to worry about Mom because I might not have forever to take care of her. “Sorry, Doc, but I have to take care of mine.”

  “Fine.” The disgust and defeat in Gabriela’s voice cut deep. I almost gave in, but Mom came to the front of my thoughts. If there was one thing Frank Butcher stood by, it was his family. “Tell me where you live. I’ll take you there and then I need to get ready myself.”

  “Packing up and getting out of this shit storm too, Doc?” I tapped the side of my head as I buckled back up. “Smart thinking.”

  “No, Frank.” She cranked the engine. “I need to try to get my son back.”

  “Your son?” I didn’t know she had a son. Devil Frank immediately wondered if she was married or not. Thankfully, Angel Frank continued the conversation. “What happened to your son?”

  Gabriela backed out of the parking space. Shit, she was driving angry. Hopefully we didn’t crash. I might have had an ancient voodoo heart in my chest, but that didn’t mean I wanted to get splattered across the pavement because she rear-ended someone. “Oh, does Frank actually care about someone else’s problems?”

  Ouch, deserved that too. “Well, no, but, well, maybe I could give you some advice or something.”

  “How touching.” Her eyes focused hard on the road as she peeled out of the parking lot even though I hadn’t told her where to go yet. “So, Mr. Butcher, what advice can you give me about rescuing my son, Max, from the cult of black-robed wizards who kidnapped him, no doubt as leverage to get back the ancient artifact I stupidly put in your chest?”

  I closed my eyes and pressed my hands against my now-throbbing brow. Was I really going to do this? After all, I had stopped the mugging and taken my stabbing like a man. Now, assuming I went through with helping her, things were bound to get even worse. Man, why couldn’t I just be the type of guy who liked to watch shit burn?

  “I guess I’ve got only one piece of advice for you, Doc,” I said, clenching and unclenching my fists as I watched cars pass by on the street ahead.

  “Which is?” she asked, voice low and angry.

  “Well, you said it yourself. There’s only one thing that can stop these guys and get Max back.” I took a deep breath. “I promise, Gabriela, I’ll do everything I can to help you.” I pointed toward an oncoming side street. “My place is that way.”

  The Doc arched an eyebrow in alarm. “But I thought you were–”

  “Oh, I am going to help,” I assured her. “But I’m going to need some things first. Like shoes… and my gun.”

  4

  “We can’t linger long,” the Doc said, eyes darting around the nearly empty parking lot in total paranoid mode. “The Enders will be on your trail soon, if they aren’t already.”

  “Ah, come on.” I put my key in the lock of my apartment, jiggled it a time or two, and opened mi casa up. Thank God Gabriela had the foresight to remember my key ring and wallet when she broke me out. The last thing I needed was for old Ms. Wilshire to call the police and report me for breaking into my own apartment again. Last time, the cops had been pretty adamant in explaining that the third time was not, in fact, the charm.

  “Don’t ‘ah, come on’ me. We’re on a timetable,” the Doc said, leaning to the left so she could peer through the sparse bushes beside my porch.

  “They might have seen me before, but they won’t know my name or where I live. You know, unless you told them.” I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously. “Did you tell them, Doc?”

  “No,” she said, swinging her gaze back to me as I threw the door wide.

  “Well, come on in then.” I gestured grandly into my glorious abode. Well, glorious might have been a bit of an overstatement. While my pad was pretty sweet for a APD driver and a bachelor, I had the realization it might not be quite so desirable to a lady like the Doc, or really anyone else…

  It’s not that the place was a mess. No way. If you kept a messy kit in the service, you had everyone on your ass. For good reason too! My place was immaculate and everything was in its place. Really, it had to do with what I had dubbed “The Collection.”

  Movies of every kind lined the shelves. Every genre, from fantasy to romance, and every format, from DVDs to video tapes (VHS and BetaMax alike), were neatly organized on the labeled shelves. Add to that the cabinets full of music, CDs, cassettes, and good old vinyl, and top it off with all the right equipment to enjoy it all. It was a true media lover’s paradise and the recipient of every penny that didn’t go to burritos, beer, and Mom.

  “Frank, I don’t know what to say.” The Doc looked slowly around the room as she walked in. “When you said you were a film buff, I never would have imagined this.”

  I followed her inside and dead-bolted the door behind me. “You don’t have to lie. It’s impressive, eh?”

  Gabriela looked a bit embarrassed as she rubbed her eyes in fatigue. “Well, if you want to keep this little stash nice and safe, we should hurry. The Enders will feel la Corazon and come running.”

  “I thought you said this doo-dad was like a magic black hole? Shouldn’t I be jamming their radar or something like that?” This magic thing was getting to be headache inducing. Maybe Doc had a Dummies Guide or something for it sitting around.

  “Yes, from direct detection, you’re invisible.” Gabriela moved to the windows overlooking the street and peered outside while being careful to stay out of sight. “However, powerful anti-magic basically makes you a large, obvious null space. In a world where everything has a touch of magic, you’ve got absolutely none. It’s like how the Jedi were able to sense the Vong via their absence of the Force in the New Jedi Order books.”

  “You’re a nerd after my own heart,” I said, already moving to the bedroom. “Although I’m still a bit irked Disney took those stories out of the canon.” Clothes, guns, and calling Mom were in order before we cut out of here. I had half a mind to grab a few classics to make sure they were safe, but that was just sentiment talking. I was going to go kick some ass, and when that happened, shit got broken. I did not want to break my babies.

  “How else would they move forward with the new movies?” I could hear the underlying annoyance flowing into her voice as she spoke. “I mean, I loved the expanded universe, especially Thrawn, but I’m willing to live in a world with both sets of stories. Does Thrawn no longer being canon make him less badass?”

  “Fair enough,” I said, suddenly worried I might actually lose a Star Wars argument to her. It was time to change the subject. “Keep an eye out, which I don’t need to tell you because you’re already doing it, and I’ll make this as fast as I can.”

  I couldn’t see her as I rifled my drawers, but I could hear the worry in her voice. “You sound like you already have a plan.”

  “Well, I do, sort of.” My plan was probably stupid, but it was better than no plan at all. Besides, plans never survived contact with the enemy, and I was going to contact the shit out of them. “Do you have any idea where these assholes have your boy?”

  “No, not precisely.” Worry turned to determination as she spoke. “I know where to start though. This ‘war’ hasn’t been going on long, barely a year, and I’ve been to a few of the End’s facilities.”

  I threw a couple spare changes of easy-moving clothes into a duffel bag along with one of my spare APD uniforms. “Wait, you were buddies with these monsters?”

  “It isn’t as clean cut as that. Think of our two sides like political parties. The troubl
e right now is that the extremists have taken over the End and the…” The pause was noticeable, like she remembered something that hit her hard. I was literally jumping into a pair of old jeans and a Metallica T-shirt when she finished. “It isn’t easy for me to explain. Just know there used to be people who kept everyone in line and they’re gone now.”

  “So basically, you wizards have as much of a problem with fuckwits in politics as we do.” My old combat boots felt like a second skin even though I hadn’t worn them in a long time. I’d almost thrown them away, but part of me had known I’d need them for a day like this. You know, that or for the zombie apocalypse. Whichever. Speaking of which… were zombies real?

  “Before things went bad, I was a doctor for both sides.” Gabriela sighed heavily. “Anyway, the Pendleton Building on the edge of town is their most fortified base of operations. Everywhere else is basically a social club or a bar. None of those are secure enough to hold my Max.”

  I opened my gun safe. The lock on my front door might be trash, but this beauty was as solid as a rock. Now, I’m not one of those creepy guys stockpiling for the apocalypse (whichever one hit first), but Momma Butcher always said a good boy is a prepared boy, and I was a prepared boy.

  “Seems reasonable,” I said, pulling my Browning BAR .30-06 out of the safe and tossing it lightly on the bed. I followed it with my Mossberg pump-action shotgun in case shit got real. Say what you will about shotguns, but I pitied the fool who got in front of me while I was holding the Mossberg. I was a goddamned surgeon with the weapon.

  As I checked my .40 caliber Glock 23 and slid a magazine home, I had that familiar old tingle in the back of my head. You don’t live long on the modern battlefield without a good gut instinct about when a gun is aimed at you, and as I caught the glint of sun off a sight across the street, I knew I had only moments before I went down in a hail of gunfire. Well, screw that noise.