The Cardkeeper Chronicles: Books 1-5 (Complete Collection)

by A. C. Nicholls

  Link fell asleep before we even got to the front door of the building. I held him on my shoulder and carried him upstairs while Jack got the doors for me. It felt like we were parents and Link was our baby, like waking him would mean staying up for hours as he screamed and wailed. The analogy hit close to the truth, with Link being such a talker.

  When Jack opened the front door, I went inside and lowered Link gently into his fruit bowl by the window, pulled down the blind and dimmed the lights. Alone now, I took the last two beers from the fridge and handed one to Jack, who sat on the couch, scratching his dark beard.

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. You look like you could use one.”

  “I’m okay, really. Just anxious to get moving.”

  “It’s gone midnight,” I said, taking a sip of the cheap beer. It tasted off, like it was brewed in a fish barrel and stored in a hot room. Only the ice-cold beads of water on the bottle offered any kind of freshness. “Ryker is probably home and sleeping.”

  “So what? Let’s go get the bastard. The element of surprise is on our side.”

  “That’s not a good idea.”

  “Why?”

  “We want the staff, right?”

  Jack nodded, took a long sip from his own bottle.

  “Then bursting in there only gives him the opportunity to retaliate. The best thing we can do is wait until morning, pray to R’hen that he’s out doing something, and break into his house. Without being seen, preferably. That way we can have a little snoop around, see what kind of person he is and what his plans are.”

  “Whatever,” Jack said sulkily.

  “You don’t trust me very much, do you?”

  “Of course I trust you, I just…”

  A clanging sound broke the peace in the room. I spun around toward the source of the noise to find that Link’s bowl had toppled over. It lay on its side, still spinning slightly on its axis while Link remained surprisingly undisturbed by his fall. His eyes were still closed and, after taking a deep breath, he resumed his loud snoring.

  “I trust you,” Jack continued as we faced each other again. “I have my way of doing things and you have yours. What you say is still what goes, but you can’t expect me to always like it. If circumstances were different and I was in charge, you’d probably be the same way. Am I right?”

  The guy had a point. Multiple times in the past I’d had to play follow the leader. Sometimes there were rules against how you could handle things, despite how easy it might seem to just burst in and do your thing. That consideration helped me to understand Jack, if only a little. Vengeance, after all, was a sly temptress, depriving its pursuer of sense.

  “Just don’t go making any more decisions.”

  Jack raised his bottle like a toast. “Like I said, what you say goes.”

  “Good.”

  I finished my beer and got up to start throwing cushions onto the floor. To my surprise, Jack got up then and insisted that he take the floor, so as I could sleep on my own fold-out bed. The chivalry warmed me in a way that I’d never seen coming.

  When I laid down, my head went fuzzy and I fell asleep quickly, dreaming heavy dreams about demons, prisons and imps. Then there was Jason, his soft smile appearing at the back of my mind with every thought. I woke up twice in the night, hot and thirsty, haunted by the memory of my lost loved one who had sacrificed himself to save our lives.

  I just hoped that nobody else had to die.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Jack and I left early in the morning, tip-toeing around so as not to wake Link. If we did, he would insist that he accompany us on our investigation, and I simply didn’t want him involved. He’d survived a lot while working with me – hell, we both had – but sometimes I forgot that he was only a faery. Putting him in any more danger would be stupid, especially when we were so close to passing the job on to Jack.

  We got coffee from a nearby coffee shop, taking it with us to wait across the street from Ryker’s house. It was a narrow, three-story building that looked suspiciously unoccupied; dead vines hung from the walls as if they’d given up. The paint had eroded and become nothing but dull flakes that threatened to crumble. Nothing about this building suggested it had a living habitant – not one that cared for décor, but perfect for someone that didn’t want to be found.

  “Think he’s home?” Jack asked, wrapping his hands around the coffee cup. The air was a bitter cold, but he felt it more than I did. Another perk of immortality.

  “Hard to say.” I began to wonder if we’d been given false information. Mr. White hardly seemed like a reliable source, but if the address was wrong then why had he bothered to try and keep it from us? It seemed to me like this was the real deal. “He’s probably in there somewhere. I’m sure of it… I think.”

  “Then where is–”

  The front door of the house sprung open, and a tall figure emerged from the dark hallway. I stared at the muscular man wearing a long, black coat that swayed with each step he took. The material clung to his firm chest as if it were tailored. Above the collar, his chiseled face appeared about thirty or so. He’d tied his thick, black hair behind his head in a ponytail, which swung around as he looked up and down the street before finally closing the door. More noticeably, however, was the long, suspiciously spear-like object in his hand. I felt my fist clench into a tight ball of anxiety, like it had taken on a mind of its own.

  “Wanna bet that’s the Staff of Lucada?” Jack said, setting down his paper cup.

  “You think?” I looked closer. “Maybe you’re right.”

  “Of course I’m right.”

  “Then we should split up.”

  “Why?”

  My eyes followed Ryker as he hurried down the street, suspicious of all those that he passed. He must have known he was being followed, or at least suspected it. In his line of work, it would be stupid not to.

  “I can check out his house while you find out where he’s headed.”

  “No way,” Jack said. “I’m still mortal, remember? All it would take is one point of that staff and I’d be reduced to nothing. If anyone should follow him, it should be you.”

  But I don’t trust you, I thought, but kept to myself. We’d been so up and down with our arguments lately that I didn’t want to stir up more trouble. Not when the staff was in the hands of someone like Ryker. “Fine. Come on.”

  I set down my own coffee and when Ryker trailed out of sight, we rushed across the street to the front door. Jack knelt by the knob to pick the lock, but I had a better idea. Pressing my ear against the door, I lightly stirred my magic, swirling the air around on the other side of the door until I felt resistance by the lock. I closed my eyes, focused on that position, and then with a small flick of the proverbial wrist, the latch turned and the door flung open.

  “Not bad,” said Jack.

  I tried not to gloat as I took point, storming inside and closing the door after Jack followed. The interior smelled of something stale, like it had been disregarded for a matter of weeks or even months. Jack and I separated, him disappearing into the first room on the left of the hallway, while I went to the back and found the kitchen.

  The blinds were drawn in the dusty, dull room and there wasn’t a sign of food anywhere. Small chunks of clay and dirt littered the work surfaces, and there were crumpled piles of dustsheets on the floor, decorated by muddy footprints. Some work was being done in here, I realized. At least it had been – it looked as though it had been abandoned a long time ago.

  While I checked the drawers, I caught a glimpse of Jack passing the doorway and heading upstairs. Moments later I heard his heavy shoes stomping on the floorboards above my head, but I carried on searching the drawers and cupboards, finding nothing.

  “Shit,” I said aloud, before realizing that it could be a good thing. Ryker had obviously not used the kitchen, or else there would be litter. I checked the nearest bin, which was also empty, and therefore proving my point. An undisciplined man, or even a l
azy one, would have left some kind of mess lying around, or at least thrown away his trash. To a mind like mine, this suggested that the house was only a cover.

  Jack still padded around upstairs as I checked the walls. I went from room to large room, feeling around the walls for some kind of hidden area, looking for switches and even pulling on the occasional paperback, half-expecting the shelves to turn and reveal a secret room. Giving up, I returned to the hallway and raised my neck to call up to Jack, but something stopped me before I could get a word out.

  A draught.

  I felt the cool whisper of air on the flesh of my neck, and looked down to see a small doorway by my waist. It wasn’t tall enough for a human to walk through without crouching, but I dropped to my knees and opened it up, flicking the light switch just inside the door.

  The door opened out into a full-sized staircase, narrowly lined by brick walls and reaching down into a room where bright lights flickered. I shouted to Jack but didn’t hesitate, climbing through and venturing down the steps into the basement.

  An amazing sight reached my wide eyes.

  The light had come from a row of screens, each one focusing on a different angle of a mages ceremony inside a church. I recognized it immediately, assuming now that Ryker was – or had been – a mage of some kind. My eyes scoured the room; the empty potion bottles on the shelves, the steamy liquid that bubbled inside some alchemy equipment on the center table. Stacks of books littered every available surface, demon claws in display cases, stuffed faery corpses nailed to the walls. I swallowed a lump in my throat, so glad that we’d decided not to bring Link along with us. I could imagine the horror on his face as he stared at the lifelike, stuffed bodies of his dead brethren.

  Jack headed down the stairs, his expression mirroring my own feelings. His mouth hung open as he gazed around the place, tottering from shelf to shelf, from table to table, examining the details of the secret room.

  “What is this place?” he asked.

  “If I had to guess, I would say it’s some sort of alchemist’s lab.”

  “Right…”

  Jack turned away, distracted and awestruck. It didn’t surprise me that he was so shocked by the strange and disturbing sights. Even I was starting to feel uncomfortable, and I’d seen more than enough obscurities during my time as a Cardkeeper.

  “Come on, let’s find something useful,” I said.

  We each began to explore the room in more depth, Jack rummaging through drawers while I studied the hardback titles that lined the shelves. There was nothing out of the ordinary for a mage – mostly potion recipe books and myths. Although there was one section that caught my eye, dedicated to the underworld. The thing that stood out to me most, however, was an empty space indicating that a book was missing from the collection.

  I spun around, looking all over for the missing book, before finding it on a reading stand by the center table. Approaching it, I found it spread open onto a page that detailed the Staff of Lucada. I began to read, hoping to find something helpful – something that might give us a clue as to where we needed to be, or how we could stop Ryker.

  What I found almost knocked me off my feet.

  “Jack,” I said urgently.

  Jack turned and ran over to me without hesitation, following my pointed finger to the book. His eyes lowered to it as he read the inscription that I’d just read; instructions on how to use the staff in order to summon Zorin. Jack’s eyes widened as he read, and I instinctively knew that he’d reached the part that drove panic into my heart.

  When he looked up, he’d gone pale.

  “That means…”

  “Yes,” I said, grabbing his arm and rushing back toward the stairs. Even as I let go, Jack’s footsteps still hurried up the stairs behind mine, rushing as I was to get to where we urgently had to be. All the while, an image of the recipe kept flashing in my mind, striking me with fear and anxiety, sending raw and unrelenting dread into my heart.

  The staff could summon the Demon King, the inscription had told me.

  With the blood of seven imps.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  I sprinted most of the way there, finally slowing myself so Jack could catch up. From the look on his reddening face, I imagined that he was looking forward to becoming immortal, even if just for the enhanced energy that came with it. Running at this pace clearly exhausted him, but I was pleased to see that he was pushing past the pain for the sake of the imps.

  “Don’t stop for me,” he said, panting as he caught up.

  “I’m not going in without you.”

  “Then carry me the rest of the way.”

  I knew it was a joke but neither of us so much as grinned. Instead, we hurried the remaining two blocks to the office where the imps lived, dreading the sight that would fall before us when we opened the door.

  We were right to worry.

  The place was wrecked. The windows had been smashed, the chairs overturned, and the main desk had been reduced to no more than a pile of smashed oak. The secret doorway, which was no longer a secret, was wide open, and a trail of blue blood marked the floor.

  “Jesus,” I said, frozen stiff.

  Jack overtook me, diving into the office and looking all over the place. When his head cocked to the side and his gaze fixed on something on the floor – something out of my sight – he cussed under his breath and ran to it.

  I rushed to his side, staring down. Jack knelt by an injured imp, and I realized I knew the poor thing as soon as I saw it – it was the one who had manned the desk, masquerading as an old man. A puncture wound covered his tiny stomach, and his oily blue flesh was drenched in sweat. His eyes, once full of life, were now on the verge of closing.

  “He’s not gonna make it,” Jack said. Anger laced his voice, though I couldn’t tell if it was for Ryker or himself – for how he had treated the imps beforehand. The human conscience was a cruel thing, and would do anything to consume one’s soul with the bitter taste of shame and regret.

  “Leave him be,” I instructed. “Lay him down flat and wait outside.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  I stretched out my fingers, conjuring a ball of telekinetic energy into my palm. “I’m heading inside. If Ryker’s still in there, I have to do something before he does any more damage.”

  Jack shot to his feet. “Then I’m coming with you.”

  “Don’t be so stupid. You don’t even have a weapon.”

  “Do I look like I give a damn?” Jack rolled up the stiff sleeves of his coat, balled his hands into fists and raised them in front of his face – not like a guard, but like a deadly weapon. “I have these to keep me safe.”

  “Fists?”

  “Fists.”

  I rolled my eyes, catching sight of the bloodstain on the door in the process. A knot appeared in my stomach, twisting my guts. How could somebody do something like this? Someone even angrier than an angry, misguided Jack Hannigan.

  When I turned back to Jack, and saw that his expression hadn’t changed, I gave a deep sigh. “Fine, but you stay behind me and follow my lead. Are we clear on that?”

  “Crystal.” Jack stepped aside, sweeping his hand across the short distance between me and the door. “After you, boss.”

  I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of reacting to his sarcasm. There were bigger things at play here. Ryker may or may not have been a mage – I would find out soon enough – but his head was screwed up enough for me to know that he wasn’t going to back down easily. As I approached the door, the magic burning in my hand, I took a deep breath and prepared for a battle… then stepped through the door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  I wasn’t ready for what I saw when I entered the imps’ lair.

  The dark caves were covered in pools and splatters of a gooey blue substance. Their blood – I could tell just from looking at it, the way it seemed to elasticize as it dripped from the stalactites, before finally falling into the puddles below. There was a commotion too
, at the far end of the open area where hundreds of imps used to feel safe.

  “Ryker,” Jack said from behind me.

  I simply nodded and walked out into the expanse, watching Ryker and his men slay one innocent imp after the other. What Jack had done to them before was mere child’s play compared to this. They were huddled together for comfort, being taken out for slaughter one after the other. It made me sick to my stomach, seeing a true monster at work. But something told me this was nothing compared to the work of the demon that Ryker would summon if he got out of here alive.

  Silently, I drew a ball of magic into my hand.

  “Do you have a plan?” Jack asked, softening his tone to a whisper.

  “Not exactly.”

  “Then allow me.” Jack placed a hand on my shoulder and gently moved me aside, leaning his head forward to peer at the scene ahead of us. His lips moved as he counted, before he returned to me. “Six men, plus Ryker.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking that if I head to the left, over by those crates there, it should draw their attention. That will give you a chance to get around them, then jump out and catch them by surprise. You have the magic, so you can do more damage that way.”

  I bobbed my head up and down, accepting his plan. It was better than anything I could have come up with, and besides, Jack was finally making a selfless effort to help someone other than himself. “You’re sure you want to do this? You’re unarmed and vulnerable.”

  Jack grinned, playful but false. “You wanted a hero. Ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Jack took off like a bat out of hell, running across the rocky open area with his footsteps echoing all around us. Every one of Ryker’s men stopped what they were doing and turned toward the sound. One of them shouted, “Intruder!” The others followed toward Jack, all except for Ryker and one of his men, who stayed with the group of ten or so imps.

  This was my chance.