Deceived: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Unturned Book 3)

by Rob Cornell

  The healer pressed the back of her hand against my forehead, nodded, then backed away. She gave St. James a small bow, then left the room.

  St. James cleared his throat and lifted his chin off his hands. “You’ve given us quite a mess to clean up.”

  I groaned and closed my eyes. Here it came. How many Ministry members had I killed? Four? And maimed a fifth. I was going away for a long time.

  “It’s lucky for you Mayor Kirkland was so…forthcoming. But you and your mother still have a great many questions to answer.”

  Mom!

  “Where is she? Is she all right?”

  St. James nodded. “She’s recovering like you. She’d been put into a near death stasis. Ugly magic the Ministry doesn’t approve of.”

  I curled my hand into a fist.

  St. James noticed. “I told you, she’s fine.”

  “Still pissed at your colleagues for touching her.”

  “I understand.”

  “Really? Because I don’t think you do. I don’t think you have any idea what these bastards did right under your nose all this time. I should assume you were in on it, only I’m pretty sure you weren’t. But my life, my family’s life, has been wrecked because you couldn’t control your branch of the Ministry.”

  His nostrils flared, but he showed no other outward signs of anger. His gaze flicked up to the pair standing on the other side of the bed.

  “On behalf of the Ministry,” St. James said, “I extend our sincerest apologies.”

  I smirked, turned my head to face the two of them. The man wore a three-piece suit. The woman an elegant but simple green dress with a high collar. The woman had very dark skin. The man, on the other hand, had a pasty pallor as if he hadn’t seen enough sun.

  “You two aren’t Detroit Ministry, are you?”

  The woman shook her head. “No.”

  I turned to look at St. James again. “Are you in trouble?”

  His gaze danced up to the Ministry pair again, then back to me. “The Global Ministry Faction is here to assist in the investigation.”

  “How much do you know so far?”

  “Only what the mayor shared, and a few answers to questions your mother answered.”

  “It’s a hell of a story,” I said.

  “Tell us,” the pasty-faced guy said.

  And you bet your ass, I told them every last bit.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  I sat in Sly’s basement on a folding chair next to Odi’s coffin. Dusk was minutes away, and I wanted to be there when he first rose.

  The Ministry had had me and Mom in custody for three days while they investigated, cooperated, and debriefed. They had asked us all sorts of questions, but didn’t offer many answers. I got the feeling from the general tension that they had discovered more Ministry members involved in the conspiracy. They would also have to decide how to handle the vampire side of things. Separating the co-conspirator vamps from the general vamp population would be all but impossible.

  The vamps wouldn’t talk.

  Amazingly, when they finally let us go, the pair from the Global Ministry Faction assured me I wouldn’t be charged with any crimes. They even provided a piece of parchment saying as much, with an official signature from the prefect of the GMF (the prefect of all prefects) herself. I felt kinda special.

  During those three days, we’d been completely cut off from the outside world. Sly and Odi had no idea what had happened to us or where we were. And, of course, the Ministry covered up any evidence of the incident at the RenCen Marriott, so it wasn’t like they’d see something in the news about it.

  Sly got the news first, since Mom and I arrived during the day. About halfway through our story, Sly stopped us so he could roll a joint. It was the first time he’d ever smoked weed in front of me. I couldn’t blame him. This story was seriously messed up.

  I heard stirring inside Odi’s coffin. I braced myself. I didn’t know how he’d take the news. I didn’t really want to break it to him. But I’d promised Toft I would take care of the kid, and part of taking care of someone meant you told them the truth, even when it was hard.

  The coffin popped open an inch or so, then Odi pushed it the rest of the way open and sat up. He jerked when he saw me sitting there, clearly not expecting a visitor at coffin-side, let alone his missing mentor. He blinked away some of his sleepiness and a huge grin spread across his face.

  “Dude!”

  I smiled. “Dude.”

  He climbed out of the coffin and wrapped his arms around me, forgetting his vampire strength and nearly cracking a rib.

  “Ouch.”

  He let go and backed off. “Sorry.” He looked around. “Is Toft with you? I’ve been going nuts wondering what happened. Sly’s smoked so much weed he’s gone through like fifty bags of Cheetos. Where the fuck have you been?”

  I stood from the folding chair and held my hands out. “Slow down, kid. Let’s ease into this.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “You…you smell funny. Extra sweaty.”

  I kept from sniffing my armpit. I knew it was his keen senses picking up on my nerves. I wouldn’t get a chance to ease into this.

  “I’m just gonna come out with it,” I said.

  Odi stared at me.

  “Just gonna say it.”

  “Then say it.”

  I put a hand on Odi’s arm. “Toft is gone.”

  He knocked my hand away and staggered backward. He nearly tripped on his coffin. He gathered his balance, then wandered over to the couch. He dropped down onto it and picked up Sly’s glass bong. He turned it from side to side, examining the abstract carvings in the pipe’s base.

  “They killed him?”

  I so wanted to lie. I mean, hadn’t it been their fault? If they hadn’t forced Toft into enthralling half of Detroit, he would still be here. But there was that little detail about my zeal, throwing the cloak into hell before I’d said word one to Toft. If I had just waited a second, first…

  I clenched my fists and bounced them gently against my thighs.

  Odi twisted on the couch and looked over its back at me. “Sebastian?”

  “They got him to do it,” I said. “Tortured him. He didn’t stand a chance resisting.”

  I licked my lips.

  “When I found him, he was a wreck, but I didn’t know he’d already completed the ritual, had all those people enthralled and ready to let the vamps eat them.”

  Odi shot to his feet. His face shifted, skin going gray and shriveled, eyes glowing red. He bared his fangs. And the weight of his power crowded the room. “What happened to Toft?”

  “I threw the cloak into hell,” I said quickly. “Before I knew it was too late. So the only way to clear Toft’s thrall…”

  Odi’s glamour rippled back into place. He looked like an average, pained teen again. “Was to kill him.”

  “Yes.”

  He sank back onto the couch. He bowed his head and raked his hands through his hair. “So that’s it, then. You’re free of me. That worked out great for you, huh?”

  “I didn’t want to do it, Odi.”

  “Don’t treat me like a two-year-old, you son of a bitch. Don’t make it any worse than it is. I’m on my own again.” He covered his face with his hands. “Thanks for orphaning me again.”

  I came around the couch and sat next to him.

  He shied away, scooting to the other end. “Just give me a sec to process, then I’ll take off.”

  “No,” I said. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  He slowly raised his head and looked at me. “You’re going to kill me, too?”

  “No. No way. Just shut up and let me talk, okay?”

  He crossed his arms and frowned. “Whatev.”

  “I promised Toft I would take care of you.”

  He snorted. “Blood oaths expire after death, duh. I’m not an idiot.”

  “This isn’t a blood fucking oath, Odi. It’s a promise. One I intend to keep if you would just close your damn
mouth and let me finish.”

  He gaped at me, mouth open.

  Good. Had his attention.

  “Toft is gone,” I said. “And I can’t replace him. I’m no vampire. I don’t know all the things you need to know. But I’m willing to figure it out if you’re willing to stick with me.”

  He gaped for a full ten seconds before finally saying something. “Are you for real?”

  “I promised,” I said. “But not even that matters. I won’t abandon you, Odi. You…you’re not just my apprentice. You’re my friend.”

  He released a long exhale then he slid over to me and hugged me again. This time a couple vertebrae popped, but it kinda felt good.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Two weeks later, Mom and I moved into our new home.

  The Ministry had offered to rebuild our old house just as it had stood before the vamps burned it down, but Mom and I both felt it was time for a change. Especially since no one in that neighborhood would look at us the same—Mrs. Snoopis most of all.

  We ended up with a small house in a district of Detroit called Corktown. I liked the idea of leaving the suburbs for the city itself: my city, the city I hadn’t let Markus Hope and his crew steal from the folks who really belonged here.

  The other nice thing about the house was the neighbors. We had a super cute druid woman on one side and a white witch about Mom’s age on the other. The houses belonged to an initiative to create more support and cooperation between those of us in the paranormal community, which started with bringing that community closer together. All of this was started by the interim Detroit Ministry leadership from the GMF, who had taken over until they could elect a new Detroit prefect. I tried to convince Mom to run for the position. She answered with some vulgar language in plain old English that I didn’t know she knew. Wow.

  We settled in nicely. Mom shared food recipes with the witch, Gladys, in exchange for the opportunity to pour through Gladys’s massive collection of spell books from around the globe. You couldn’t take the scholar out of my Mom, no siree.

  Me?

  I laid low. The Ministry ended up way overpaying me for my services rendered, then promptly fired me. I didn’t really feel like demon hunting. I was more interested in getting a date with the druid next door. Of course, I would have to actually ask her out. Every time I got up the nerve, I thought about Fiona, and chickened out. I guess I still wasn’t over her. Who knew how long it would take me? I found it very hard to trust. And I’d earned that. I wouldn’t trust anyone outside of Mom, Sly, and Odi until I was damn well ready.

  Speaking of Odi, he lived in the basement now. I’d decided continue his training. I didn’t know any other way to keep him out of trouble. I also discovered we could keep him fed with a fraction of my Unturned blood compared to that of an average mortal, so we worked with that until we could figure out something better. There were ways tame vampires could get their needs met without killing. I would just have to make sure he came by it honestly, not through any kind of thrall.

  So, yeah. I was training Odi. Pining over my neighbor. And spending a lot of time reading and playing video games.

  I didn’t know what would come next.

  And I was totally good with that.

  ~~~~

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  Books by Rob Cornell

  The Lockman Chronicles

  Darker Things (The Lockman Chronicles #1)

  Dark Legion (The Lockman Chronicles #2)

  Darkest Hour (The Lockman Chronicles #3)

  Darkness Returns (The Lockman Chronicles #4)

  Darkening Dawn (The Lockman Chronicles #5)

  Unturned

  Branded (Unturned #1)

  Crossed (Unturned #2)

  Deceived (Unturned #3)

  Visit Rob Cornell’s website at robcornellbooks.com

  About the Author

  Rob Cornell is the author of The Lockman Chronicles, a five-book urban fantasy series featuring ex-government agent and monster hunter, Craig Lockman. He is also the author of Branded, the first book in a new series about Detroit sorcerer, Sebastian Light. Raised on a steady diet of Star Wars, He-Man, G.I. Joe, and Transformers, Rob has always spent much of his time wandering the halls of his imagination, conjuring stories. Nowadays, he writes them down like a responsible adult. He lives in rural Southeast Michigan with his family.

  Published by Paradox Publications

  Copyright © 2017 by Rob Cornell

  All rights reserved.

  Cover Design by Beth Flumignan

  Deceived is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.