She understood so little about her innate power, it was hard to figure if he was using, or misusing what she had to offer. She thought she detected more of the flow of exchange. Things weren’t going out of her, it was more like Jack was burrowing into her, then moving through her. She wasn’t sure if she was correct in the assessment. It would take years to learn what the magic in her bloodline was all about, years she planned to devote to another task.
Raine had a fleeting thought that at some point in life, she should have learned more about the power instead of hiding her head in the sand and hoping it would go away. Then again, up to now, she’d strived to do the acceptable thing, to be beyond reproach. Things she’d kind of chucked out the window the moment she decided to bargain her way into knighthood.
Jack’s energy merged with hers, blending seamlessly. She had her sea legs now, but that was about it. No matter how hard she applied her awareness, understanding was beyond her grasp. In the end, she gave up trying to define what Jack was doing with her. The action was way too nebulous to grasp.
The results were indisputable, though. The center of the table shimmered and appeared to melt into a wavy, blue disk. There was a brief popping sound, and where there was once thin air, there was now a dusty looking, non-descript canopic jar.
Matt whistled low. “Where was that hiding?”
“A little to the left and outside of our reality.” Jack released Raine’s hand, cutting the connection. “Your guy has an etheric storage unit anchored to this table. Chances are good there’s more booty hidden in there.”
“Can you pull out the rest?”
Jack shook his head. “It would take too long, and we’re on a deadline. Once I’m done, I can lend a hand, but I get first crack at what I find.”
“You know I can’t sanction that,” said Matt. “I’ll call Langley, get one of the big guns to come up here to the sticks and see what they can do for me.”
“You’d be better off tapping Area 51.” Jack gingerly grabbed the jar. As he did, the floors of the house started to shake. “I should have mentioned—being here too long may trigger defensive measures. We should hit the bricks.”
There was another popping sound from somewhere within the house, followed by a boom, and an inhuman scream.
“Excuse me.” Alex raised his semi-automatic pistol, stepped into the arch and looked around. “Looks like you can exit safely through the kitchen door. Matt, can you see them out?”
“Jack can take care of himself, and his date. I’d like to see what’s still stirring up in this house. Call me, Madden. You owe me now, and I want a date with your assistant to start the payback.” He winked at Raine, while a spooky wail echoed through the house. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Spencer. Good luck with whatever the hell it is you’re mixed up in.”
“Same to you,” she replied.
Matt followed Alex into the interior, leaving Raine alone with Jack.
He said a few parting words and the table returned to the benign state.
Raine tried to contain her elation. “Score one for us.”
A ruckus shook the walls. Shots rang out. Then screams. Then more shots. A window shattered. Raine’s forearm started to burn. The words of summoning were on the edge of her tongue. The urge to call the blade and go after whatever had turned up from hell was near irresistible.
Jack touched her shoulder lightly. A jolt of energy tore through her, disrupting the noise the blade shook up in her head. With it went the urge. “We should go.”
“Right. We’re on a deadline. Pretty tight one. Saving the dimension.”
“It’s hard to say no when the blade calls, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “Ever had one?”
He snorted. “Me? Yeah. Like someone would give me one of those.”
“What about that blade back at Orpheus?”
“Garden-variety magic sword. Won it in a card game when I was twenty-two.”
One more mystery solved. “Looked pretty impressive.”
“Seen one, seen them all.”
Jack stole the sheet from a couch in the family room and they left through the back door, despite the sounds of struggle. Jack seemed to think Matt and Alex would keep things under control. Raine didn’t doubt they could. Neither of them wanted to risk losing the first artifact, in favor of a dust-up with demons.
At the car, Jack wrapped up the jar and handed it off to Raine. “Keep it safe, princess. You may not realize it, but just coming into proximity can stimulate etheric connections.”
“Like psychometry?” She strapped into the seatbelt and he shut the door.
“Sort of,” he continued, climbing into the driver’s seat. He started the vehicle up and followed the drive down to the road. “You’re tracking energy patterns. Think of it as putting together puzzle pieces. Your eyes are looking at the colors of the pieces, and at the same time the shape, and your brain is processing them faster than you realize. Then, out of nowhere, you make a connection, and can join not just one, but many pieces, right? It’s like that. Ambient energy often has more to offer than first glance, and it’s easier to pick up when you don’t try too hard.”
She’d been trying too hard to pick up what he was doing when he tapped her energy. Maybe that was why she couldn’t get a clear understanding of what he did. If she took the same approach to him that he suggested for the artifact and the retrieval process, what then? “Is there a way to practice this? You know. Like meditation or something. Make it work better?”
He gave her a funny look. “If you were driving it, yeah, plenty of things you can do. But you’re like the battery is to this car, providing the power and nothing else. I’m driving and I’ve got enough years behind me to know what to do.”
Wow. She’d hit a nerve. He was definitely hiding something from her. Something she’d come close to getting with her request to sharpen her skills. Trust no one. Not even a tarnished hero, she thought.
“Something bugging you?” Jack’s musical voice pulled her out of her fugue.
“It’s weird to have this magic and not know what to do with it.”
The light turned green and they drove onto the highway. “How come you never explored it before now? You don’t seem like the type to easily frighten.”
Damn. He’d turned the conversation around too fast. Brought it right back to things she didn’t want to discuss. Not with him. Not with anyone. “Knights don’t use magic.”
“And you’ve always wanted to be a knight?”
“When I was three, I wanted to be a fairy princess.” She smiled at the memory. “After that, though, I wanted knighthood. My uncle’s men were always around the house. So proud. So brave. Saving the world from itself and the Gods. I wanted to be a part of that so bad I could taste it.”
“Still feel the same way?”
“Last night didn’t change my mind, Jack.”
“Guess I’ll have to try harder.”
They lapsed into silence until they reached the private hangar and runway space that housed his private jet.
“I need to talk to the pilot. Go ahead and get settled, I’ll be back in a few.”
He went into the hangar, and Raine climbed on board the waiting jet. She put the jar in a storage container, securing it with straps and more padding to keep it safe. Raine realized she’d need to be more clever if she was going to get information from him. About magic. About how it worked and why. She specialized in arcane lore, and modern revivalist and ritualists, but that was all outsider knowledge.
She had in-depth knowledge of magic’s history, basic principles, and potential effects. But the inner workings, the true functioning on the energetic, internal level remained a mystery. Wizards, mages, and the rare sorcerers, as well as mystics across the world, guarded that information jealously, and rarely let anyone in on the trade secrets. To really know how magic and mystical energy functioned on the intuitive level, she’d need to be part of the club. Technically, she had the juice by virtue of her bloodline, but in
actuality, it was as it always was for her: standing on the outside, looking in.
But Jack had told her things, hadn’t he? Simple magic had devastating effects, for instance. Approach problems from different angles. Use the retrieval skills to soak up all kinds of seemingly disparate facts, and find a pattern. The artifact resting benignly in the overhead compartment was proof he knew his business. If she wanted inner sanctum knowledge, maybe that was her answer. Go outside the box. Take the oblique approach, like he did. If she could get the general understanding down, she might be able to really figure it out for herself. She had to get creative. Use other resources. Question was, which resources? Who could she trust? Who had enough years, skill, and understanding to tap?
She ran through a number of options, and in the end came up with one surprising choice. Raine looked out the window to make sure Jack was otherwise occupied. He was on the tarmac now, talking to someone on the cell in a very animated, very typically Jack fashion. Good. He looked busy. Taking a deep breath, and mentally crossing her fingers, she pulled out her own cell and rang up her uncle.
Chapter Ten
Jack rang Ramon’s personal cell, hoping the Spaniard answered this time. Once again, the machine picked up. Silently, he cursed.
“Hi, Lucy, it’s me. Ricky. The band’s gigging tonight, so don’t expect me home. I miss your sweet voice. You know my number.”
He disconnected and speed-dialed Havers. Energy bubbled happily through him. He was still racing from drinking the potent elixir made from Raine’s magic. He’d barely tapped her, and this time, it wasn’t for magic as much as it was for information. Cracking the spell tied to the table had come as easy as breathing. So much like the old days, the old Jack, it made him wonder if indeed it was possible to undo the damage that had been wrought. It was crazy to think like that. He was sure to be disappointed. But he’d pulled the spell-breaker literally out of a dark spot in his head that didn’t seem all that dark anymore. If it was possible…
Havers picked up on the third ring. “This better be good.”
“I have Raine’s Covenant archive access codes.” He was a total heel for tricking them out of her. He’d taken the chance to goose them out when he was working on revealing the artifact. He shouldn’t have this guilt thing going on. He really needed to work on getting rid of it, because it was a total pain in his ass. “You ready to copy?”
“Go ahead.”
He repeated the string of complex alphanumeric sequences, then confirmed them with her.
“I’ll get started on the hunt.”
“One more thing to add to the list.” The idea sprang out of Gods knew where, but Jack rolled with it despite the sheer idiocy of the action. “See what you can turn up on Edward Spencer, and his liaison with Raine’s mother. Would have been thirty-one years ago.”
“Only if you give me a damn good reason.”
“Don’t you work for me?”
“I work with you, not for you. Time’s wasting. Why do you need to know?”
Why indeed? Digging up that kind of past would do no one any good. Raine certainly didn’t seem to care. Jack cast around for something reasonable. “I don’t know why, but I want to know. I think it may play into the conspiracy in some way.”
“That’s a lame reason.”
“It’s the best I have right now.” And it was, in a way. He could tie it back to that first meeting. The stray weirdness he couldn’t seem to identify. Something bothered him, back in the Warden’s stronghold. Something about the energy between Raine and Hugh. And the dynamic hatred of Kerr. Perhaps it was popping into his head now, the way solutions to tricky problems did, after giving them time to settle. He figured it must mean something, otherwise it wouldn’t have presented itself, front and center. Jack dredged up the little he’d learned from Ramon regarding Raine. “Her father, Edward, was on an op, sanctioned by Kerr. Must have been pretty high-level, for-your-eyes-only type of secret. He was stripped of most of the knight’s enhancements so he could pass as a mortal.”
“That’s rare for the Wardens. Last time I heard of that kind of field scenario, they were trying to infiltrate a Werewolf pack. Were can smell magic ten miles out.”
Havers sounded hooked. Jack knew she was a sucker for a good mystery. Especially an old, cold, nasty kind of mystery. “Whatever it was, it brought him into contact with an elf. Up close, and very personal contact. That in and of itself is highly suspect.”
“You sure you’re not playing Lancelot for the fair maiden?”
“Hell no. And Raine’s no fair maiden. She’s an ass-kicker. You should have seen her in action at Orpheus. Like a Fury gone wild.”
“Don’t lie to me, Jack. Or yourself. It’s a waste of breath.” In the distance, a baby cried as if just waking. “If you’re serious about this diversion, then we should use Butchy, see what he can dig up from the Elven side of the fence. I don’t trust the Warden archives to hold the whole truth. They only like the sanctioned kind.”
“Butchy promised to kill you if he ever saw you again.”
“I’m going to email him from your account. He’ll have no clue it’s me.”
“If he finds out, he’ll add me to his hit list.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time you made someone’s dead pool.”
She had a point. New crying started. Sounded female, young, and very high-pitched. His ears twitched in response to the dire sound. “Everything okay back at the home front?”
“It’s bedlam. The kids are colicky from the drugs the vamps hit them with to keep them in a nod. I mixed them up some medicine, but nothing is working. Rafe wants to go for a drive. Said the motion of the car will soothe the kids, but it’s too dangerous to leave. The girl, when she isn’t crying or puking, is following me all over the house asking me questions I can’t answer. Get back here before I turn the lot of them into zombies. It’s the only way I’ll get some peace.”
The picture she described was amusing. It reminded him of his own youth, growing up in the happy chaos of the fosterage. That single experience, more than his dubious heritage, made him who he was today. “You invited them in, you take care of them.”
She cursed a blue streak.
“Try coke syrup. I have some in the main laboratory,” he offered.
“If it doesn’t work I might grab the cyanide and use it on myself.” The wailing in the background shot up an octave. “One last thing. The mercenary captain was reviewing the security logs. There are minor stress fractures in the energetic protections around the apartment. They started last night, right after you came back from Orpheus.”
Jack considered the implications. If his firewall was wearing down, that meant someone or something was pushing against his defenses, maybe even taking pieces of them apart. “You don’t think Malinov is attacking us magically or etherically, do you?”
“Not right now. All hell’s broken loose in the city. The demon horde Gia retained decided to take matters into their own hands for some unknown reason and launched an offensive. Blood’s all but running in the streets. The wear-down in the protective spells could be a result of the Spencer woman’s magical bleed-through. You’re using it, and mixing it with the mystical trance work, and that’s always a risky bet. The residual alone could mutate and interact with the other enchantments at work protecting the apartments and screw up everything from the frequency to the intent.”
“If there was negative spell and energetic interaction, system fail-safes would trigger and warning signals would result. I’ll run a full diagnostic as soon as I get back. In the mean time, salt all the doors and windows and points of entry or egress.”
They talked a little more about what to do with the unexpected visitors, then Jack hung up. He’d sensed something during his trance early this morning. He should have paid better attention. Odds were good that the energy signature he picked up belonged to whomever was trying to take apart the magical protections he’d built around his New York home. Odds were even better it was someone
after the same artifacts he was seeking. Maybe even someone tied in with the conspiracy. If he beefed security back up, he might tip his hand. But if he left it in tatters in attempt to lure the lurker into a trap, he’d risk the safety of himself, as well as Raine, Havers, and all the others currently under his charge. Damned if he did. Damned if he didn’t. And at the center of the trouble was ultimate power and a beautiful, irresistible woman. Business as usual.
Hugh answered Raine’s call on the first ring. “Where are you?”
“Can’t say. I need to make this quick.”
“Hold a second.” Hugh never had need for too many words. That used to bug her, but now she realized the value.
She heard a door open and shut on his end. “Go ahead.”
“How does magic work when you’re doing mystical retrieval? Are the two different?”
“I don’t know too much about either at that level.” Hugh paused. When he spoke again, his voice was lower, like a whisper. “What’s the problem?”
What wasn’t the problem? “Do you have a reliable, discreet contact I can use to answer some questions on the topic?”
“Yes.”
“How do I reach them?”
“They’re not sanctioned.”
Holy shit. Hugh? Consorting outside the Covenant? “Come again?”
“I’ll reach out to them, give them your contact information. Watch your email.”
“Okay.”
“Is that it, Raine?”
If only. “Isn’t there anything you can tell me?”
“What has that bastard Jack done to you?”
“Nothing. I’m trying to figure out stuff for myself. About how I work. About the magic and all of that.”
“Your mother went crazy because she was using too much.”
Raine nearly dropped the phone. Her blood went cold. This was the first time Hugh had mentioned anything about her past. He spoke about it the way he might report the weather, or give a mission debrief.
ImmortalIllusions: The Eternity Covenant Book2 Page 16