“You go out there, you’re dead,” I said. “Come with me.””
“I don’t do dead well,” he said. “Besides, see that window?””
I nodded, confused. “You want to take in the view, now?”
He gave a short laugh. “It’s glass, as in regular glass.”
“Great, so now you know the composition of the window,” I said, frustrated. “Not seeing how that is a solution.”
“Give me a call when you arrive,” he said. “I’ll have to take another method of transportation.”
A hiss filled the room and the partition slid open. Titus allowed his flow-state to fill the area. My power shut down completely. I unholstered my guns. He shook his head and signaled no.
“Are you planning a trip?” said the Director. “Or have you come to take your rightful place at my side?”
Titus drew his weapon, pulled something from a pocket, and stepped into the fishtank with his hands up. The sudden rush of footsteps caught my attention. I glanced around the edge of the door again and saw at least ten Enforcers in the office taking positions by the fishtank partition.
“Don’t shoot,” said Titus. “I need to speak with you, Director.””
The Director narrowed his eyes and stepped back.
“Shoot him,” said the Director. “He’s in a flow-state.””
Several things happened at once. Titus dropped small canisters from his hand, filling the room with smoke. The circle activated and I saw the symbols flare. I looked up from the symbols and heard the sound of shattered glass and running.
“Don’t let him near the window,” said the Director. “Block him, block him!”
It was too late. I remembered that this side of the Enclave overlooked the Hudson River, which is why the Director probably felt it was safe to put a glass window on a sheer two-hundred foot drop. He didn’t expect anyone to enter from the outside. He never counted on the window being used as a method of escape. Titus was gone.
The circle flared to life and I felt the power overwhelm me.
“Someone is in the circle,” said the Director. “Get in there, stop the circle, and bring me whoever is in there.”
Those were the last words I heard before the world went white.
TWENTY-ONE
WHEN I COULD see again, I found myself in the basement of a castle. At least I thought it was a castle. It was mostly large stone blocks and wood, lots of wood.
What is it with the Enclave and castle-fortresses?
I took a step when the nausea hit me like a fist and the floor tilted sideways. My stomach threatened to evacuate my body. I protested and won, but at the cost of losing whatever I had eaten last.
Worst mode of travel…ever.
I wiped my face and looked down. I found myself in the center of another mystic circle. If it was anything like the one in the North Enclave, I would be having visitors soon. I needed to make myself scarce before they arrived looking to kill me first and ask questions never.
I only had one problem. I didn’t know where to go. I thought Titus would be with me, or at the very least Sensei would have given me a map. It was still sitting back in the North Enclave in the bag she provided. I was screwed.
Okay, B&A—breathe and assess.
I had made it to a Japanese Enclave. I had weapons and ammunition. The Black Heart was charged and I could see that the shimmer effect was masking me. I had no idea which way to go or where my uncle would be held. I needed information. I focused on my hearing and listened.
No one was running toward my location or yelling in Japanese, which was odd. I would’ve thought someone using the circle would bring in a mob of Enforcers or at least the Japanese equivalent of Enforcers. Especially if the Nihon Enclave was known for being anti-social. Something was wrong. I moved silently down one of the abandoned corridors. There was no sign of activity on the floor.
Where is everyone?
I went up a flight of stairs and found myself on the ground level of the structure. I looked through a large window out onto a courtyard enclosed by a large stone wall. The wall appeared to create the perimeter of the property. Outside the wall, I could see trees and grass. The castle itself sat on a large island, judging from the water I could see.
Where is this? I know that view isn’t Tokyo.
“Who are you?” said a voice from behind me. “Turn around slowly and maintain your hands where I can see them.”
I didn’t sense a flow-state, so I knew it wasn’t a null. I turned around and looked into the face of a female Enforcer. She was a little taller than I was, with an athletic build and a large gun pointed at my face. She was dressed in the typical Enforcer armor——black full-body coverage up to the neck. Her armor looked different. It had a metallic sheen to it and reminded me of dragonscale.
How did I not hear her?
I didn’t want to let my energy flow in case there were wards that would alert others. I let my hands rest on my sticks. She held the gun inches from my face, which meant she was too close, and inexperienced.
I brought up my stick fast to disable her gun hand, but she released the weapon, which caused me to miss. My strike shot up past her head and she drove a fist into my side while catching her gun with the other hand.
I shifted to the side, away from the barrel of the gun and brought a stick to her temple, except her head was no longer in the path of my attack. She had crouched under the stick and was driving a leg to my knee. I skip-stepped to the side and avoided her kick while bringing an elbow down on her head.
The solid thud of connection was the only sound in the hallway as she collapsed under me, unconscious. I checked to make sure I hadn’t killed her and stripped her of her weapon. I made sure her hands were behind her back before I zip-tied them. I pulled her downstairs into one of the alcoves in the basement and tied her feet just to be safe.
By the Nine, she was fast…and silent.
I woke her up and she looked at me, expressionless. I needed information and she may know where my uncle was being held.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
Silence.
She didn’t appear to be a mystic, but I didn’t want to take that chance. Goro didn’t appear to be a tertiary until it was almost too late. I wasn’’t going to underestimate her.
“I need to find someone and I need your help,” I said. “What is this place?”
She smiled then. “This place is your grave,” she said.
“Where is everyone?” I asked. “A place like this should be crawling with people, Enforcers.”
More silence and I was getting frustrated.
“Do you have a prisoner here?” I asked. I crouched down in front of her and got in her face. She shifted her eyes to the right and then looked straight ahead.
“So someone is here,” I said. “Tell me where he is and I promise to make it fast. You lie to me and I will take my time with you.””
I placed a hand on her leg and let my power flow. The sensation started out warm and soothing and changed to excruciating in the space of a few seconds. She clenched her jaw and sweat broke out on her forehead. I let more power flow. I spread out the effect so I wouldn’t burn through her skin. It was similar to being lowered slowly into the mouth of an active volcano. The dragonscale was turning red and I knew she was in immense pain. She bit her lip hard enough to bleed, but didn’t say a word or cry out in pain.
“I don’t want to kill you,” I said. “Just tell me where he is.””
“So this is your way of convincing me?” she said. “Once I do, you will finish burning me.”
“If you don’t tell me, I will finish,” I said and let more power flow. This time she did cry out. I checked the flow and looked at her.
“Two levels up,” she said through gasps. “Can you read wards?
I nodded.
“It will be the door covered in explosive wards,” she said. “You won’t be able to get past them. Make it fast.”
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Why does it matter?” she said. “It won’t change the outcome.””
“I like to know whose life I’m taking,” I said and let the power flow into my stick. It gave off its violet glow as I spoke.
“Ikumi,” she whispered. “My name is Ikumi.”
I tapped her across the temple and sent her rushing to unconsciousness. I moved her body out of sight and deeper into the alcove. I angled her body and made sure she could breathe, before leaving the basement.
What the hell? Do I look like a cold-blooded killer?
I rushed back upstairs to the second level without encountering anyone. This only made me more concerned. I found the door with the wards. From what I could decipher, it would remove this level of the castle if I attempted to open the door. I felt around the door for any weakness in the wards, but sensed no gaps. I knocked on the door. Sometimes the simplest ways are the best.
“Have you grown tired of living?” said a voice from the other side of the door. “You try that door again and there will be little pieces of both of us all over the place.””
It wasn’t my uncle.
“Ghost?’ I said. “Is that you?”
“Of course it’s me,” he said. “Who else would it be?””
“Where is my uncle, Ghost?” I asked. “Where is Sebastian?”
“Ava, that you?” he asked. “What are you doing here?”
I fought back the tears that wanted to spill down my face. If my uncle wasn’t here, did that mean he was dead?
“Yes, it’s me,” I said after I took a deep breath. “I’’m looking for my uncle. Where is he? Is he alive?”
“That lunatic, Kaze, has him,” he said. “Something about finishing a ritual and he needs Sebastian to complete the last step.””
“Ritual? What ritual?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”
“Let’s get me out of here first,” he said. “Do you have your sticks?””
“Yes,” I said and rested my hands on them. “They can’t break through this door, even without the wards.”
“I don’t need them to break through,” he said. “I just need them to disrupt the wards long enough to activate what I have on this side.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Move down to the other side of the corridor,” he said. “Charge your stick and throw it at the door. That should be enough to start what I have in here.””
I headed down to other end of the corridor, charged my stick, and took aim.
“Make sure you don’t miss,” he yelled. “If you do, well, we won’’t be around to discuss it anyway.”
I threw my stick. It hit the door and remained attached.
“Get back!” he yelled. “Way back.”
I moved back and around the corner. I heard the sound of a vacuum and then silence. I approached the door and found the door and the wall missing. Inside the room sat Ghost with a smile on his face.
He was dressed in khaki cargo pants and a gray shirt. Over this, he wore what appeared to be a black rain slicker. The room had a bed and a small table but not much else. There were no writing instruments or paper to be seen anywhere in the room.
It seemed a good precaution to take with a Master Warder, but fruitless. Wards covered the walls. Most of them unknown to me. He put on his boots and pulled his long white hair in a ponytail out of his face. I looked around the room and turned slowly to take in the scope of what he had done.
“How did you do all of this?” I asked. “What did you use to write with?”
He gave me a sly smile that crinkled his eyes. “Trade secret,” he said. “We need to go. Did you kill Ikumi?”
“What? No, I didn’t kill her,” I said. “Why would you even ask that?””
“Good,” he said, grabbing his walking stick. “She’s a good egg, that one, just a bit confused.”
He bent down and grabbed something from the debris that remained of the wall. It was my stick.
“Thank you,” he said and handed it back to me. “Let’s get out of here before the Kurokami return.”
“Where are they now?’
“Leave now, talk later,” he said and traced a circle with his walking stick on the floor. As he dragged the stick, symbols formed along the impression he made. They resembled the symbols in the mystic circle. He finished the circle, stepped in and extended a hand.
“Where does that lead?” I asked warily. My stomach still remembered my last mystic circle adventure.
“Away from here and death,” he said. “That good enough?”
TWENTY-TWO
I NODDED AND stepped into the circle. A vortex of power clenched my body and squeezed. In seconds, we were in the countryside surrounded by trees. I remained motionless for a few seconds and waited for the nausea to strike. It never came.
“Where are we?” I asked. “How did you do that?”
He placed a finger on his lips and stepped out of the circle. I followed him to a small outcropping of stones. He sat down and took a deep breath.
“Tell me about the mystics,” he said.
“Which ones?” I answered. “Be more specific.”
I had forgotten that he never engaged in speech he deemed irrelevant. For him, each conversation traveled directly to the point. The only problem was that he never shared what he thought was relevant at the moment. It made for difficult conversations, at best.
“What do you mean which ones?” he said. “The ones popping up dead and half-turned to ash.”
“Oh, those,” I said. “What does that have to do with my uncle?”
“Everything,” he said, throwing his hands up. “Details, please.”
I told him about what had happened for the last few days, including how the wards were masked and tripped on the Rhino and at the house.
“Water, Earth, and Air,” he said. “Fire must be next, and then Void.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The pattern,” he said. “Don’t you see the pattern? He is fulfilling the rite of the disciplines.”
“The what?”
“The five disciplines,” he said. “Didn’t your uncle teach you anything?””
“He taught me how to fight and survive,” I said. “But he never mentioned this rite of disciplines.”
“The rumor is that completing the rite could turn a powerful mystic into an Arch Mystic,” he said. “But there is a cost.””
“Isn’t there always?” I said. “Free power is never free.””
“Very Zen of you,” he said. “And true. In order to gain this power you have to kill five mystics in a certain order, but something is missing. How did they die?””
“They were cut in half,” I said. “I’m guessing that’’s pretty fatal.”
“Yes, yes, but how did they die?” he asked. “Was there something odd about their deaths, something strange or hard to explain?”
I explained how the Water Mystic had drowned. The Earth Mystic had cement in his stomach and the Air Mystic asphyxiated, all of which were impossible.
“That must be it,” he said. “Whoever is doing this has an Eye of Reversal.”
“Which does what, exactly?”
“It turns the ability of a mystic back on them,” he said. “Like a boomerang, the more powerful the attack, the greater the backlash.””
Now the deaths made sense. Kaze must have used this eye to eliminate the mystics.
“But why take Uncle?” I asked. “He could take down any mystic with that eye.”
“No, not any mystic,” he said. “The last mystic must share a blood-bond.”
“And they share this bond?”
He nodded. “Kaze and Sebu have a long, unpleasant history that starts with Ichigo, your grandfather,” he said.
“I don’t have the power to do this,” I said. “My uncle is on another level entirely. Kaze must be just as strong.”
“It’s not always about raw power,” he said. “Many times it depends on who keeps the
ir wits about them.”
“The last few days have knocked the wits out of me, actually,” I said. “I have no way of finding Uncle. I thought he would be in that castle, but I found you instead.””
“You must remove your uncle before it’s too late,” he said. “If Kaze succeeds, he will control the Kurokami. I don’t need to tell you how bad that would be.”
“Yes, I get it, Ghost—do you have a map?” I said, looking around. “You shifted us to God-knows-where and I’m supposed to find him how? Close my eyes and point?”
He stood and began another circle.
“He has Sebastian masked somehow. He’s good, just not good enough,” he said. “I can find him—yes, I can.”
The symbols on the ground flared to life and formed an image.
“Another castle?” I said. “The Enclave needs to come into the twenty-first century.”
“That is the Nezu Shrine,” he replied. “The abandoned Nihon Enclave in Tokyo. These structures have stood for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.””
“Which means they’re really old and sturdy,” I said. “I’’m sure the Enclave can afford some modern facilities.”
“Which means they hold power,” he answered. “Some of the older locations in London are strong enough to increase a mystic’s power level if they know how to tap into it.”
“That’s why the Enclave chooses them,” I said. “To increase the power of each clan.”
He nodded. “The Japanese Enclave is one of the oldest, second to London,” he said. “They left the Nezu location because the building was too dangerous.””
“The building was dangerous?”
“Well, the ground it stood on,” he said. “When mystics start dropping dead or exploding because of latent energy, it becomes too dangerous. Wouldn’’t you agree?”
“And that’s where I have to go?” I asked. “A place known for exploding mystics?”
“Don’t worry,” he said and waved my words away with a smile. “That was hundreds of years ago. I’m sure it’s relatively safe now.”
I don’t know who is more insane—him for suggesting or me for following.
“How do I get there?” I asked. “I really am going to need a map.”
A Dream of Ashes: An Ava James Mystery (Chronicles of the Modern Mystics Book 1) Page 11