Circle of Enemies: A Twenty Palaces Novel

by Harry Connolly

  Of course, I’d been a citizen. Talbot was already a wooden man; he should have been better prepared. Had the society warned him what this was going to be like? I doubt Csilla would have, but somebody should have.

  Something moved in the woods behind him. “Talbot!” I said in a harsh whisper. “Come here!”

  He stared at me as if I was a talking dog. A shadow behind him moved against a darker shadow.

  “Wake up! Get over here!”

  He didn’t want to come any closer to the house than he already was. Then he realized I was glancing over his shoulder and turned, taking a few tentative steps toward me. The wind hissed through the trees, but suddenly it didn’t sound very much like wind at all.

  Damn. There was another one out there.

  Talbot hurried to me and crouched low. “Call your boss out here,” he said, as though he wasn’t allowed to talk to her.

  “Shh!” I struggled to my feet, using Talbot as a support. I hadn’t seen any eyes on the one inside, but that wasn’t necessarily unusual. Did it hunt by sound? By smell? Maybe it could feel its prey with its expanding shadow. Then again maybe it saw “with something other than light.” Whatever, I wanted to be as still and quiet as possible until Annalise finished whatever she was doing inside.

  The security light at the front of the house flickered and went out, making the whole area clear in the moonlight. To the left, I saw another dark patch moving against the faintly lit background. Then another and another.

  Christ, how many of these damn things had Wally summoned?

  I watched them, hoping they were moving away from us. Maybe there was a deer or something they could hunt. It wasn’t happening. The darkness was getting larger, blocking out the moonlit leaves and underbrush. Were they growing or just moving closer to us?

  Either way, to hell with keeping still and quiet. “Boss!” I shouted. “There are more out here!”

  Talbot backed toward the house, and I hopped to keep up with him so I’d have someone to lean on. I didn’t trust my ankle enough to walk on it. Annalise still hadn’t come out. “Boss!” I shouted again.

  The creatures were close to us now, blocking the woods as they glided out of them. There were three—no, four. That I could see, at least.

  I readied my ghost knife.

  Talbot pivoted away from me, and I had to step on my injured ankle to avoid a fall. I hissed in pain as he broke into a sprint, running for the driveway.

  Damn. I hopped in place, ghost knife in my hand. One of the predators changed direction, moving toward Talbot. I threw the ghost knife just as a claw reached toward him.

  The spell sliced through two of the creature’s fingers. That horrible grinding shriek sounded out again, and the limb retreated into darkness. Talbot juked toward it to avoid another of the predators, then leaped over a low wall and sprinted down the gravel path toward the edge of the circle.

  The bastard. I hoped he’d make it.

  I closed my eyes and cleared my mind, then reached for my spell. Annalise came up next to me just as the spell returned.

  “Ray, how badly are you hurt?”

  “I can’t put any weight on that foot. Sorry, boss.”

  “There are five that I can see, and one of them followed Talbot. I only have four more of these.” She held up the green ribbon with the sigil drawn at the end. It was the spell she used to call up her green fire, and I’d never heard her call it by name. Was it a secret?

  The predators hovered at the edge of the forest. The darkness that shrouded them stopped expanding when they touched. “You can see them better than I can, boss. Do you know what they are?”

  “Claw-in-Shadow. There are only a couple of predators that we could call common, but this is one of them. The summoning spell for it turns up in a lot of spell books, and it’s a popular guardian predator among a certain sort of sorcerer.”

  “But … six of them? With only four more ribbons? Are you, um, going to carry me outside the circle?”

  She turned toward me suddenly, scowling. “Run? Now?”

  “So they’re not …” Dangerous? I almost said.

  “Oh, they’ll kill you. They’ll hunt you like a pack, tear you apart, and drag the pieces into the Empty Spaces. And they’re not stupid. They know what I did to the one inside. That’s why they’re hesitating.”

  The predators were trapped inside the buried circle, and if Wally was right, they were starving. They wouldn’t pass up a meal, but they were being careful. I needed to make them a little reckless.

  I hopped away from Annalise, nearly falling over. I took a deep breath to relax my shoulders and kept my balance better as I went out in front of the house. I’d played decoy for Annalise before—that’s what a wooden man was for—but I’d never done it in full wounded-bird mode.

  The predators at the edge of the gravel seemed to be moving back and forth. I was no expert on living spots of darkness, but they looked agitated. Their hunting instincts must have been screaming at them.

  I hopped toward them again and almost lost my balance. The predators moved toward me, then stopped. I needed to draw them in, so Annalise could take out more than one with each ribbon. As long as they were careful and keeping their distance, we were never going to kill them all.

  It occurred to me that I might have been thinking of this all wrong. What if Wally’s spell had simply created an opening between our world and the Empty Spaces? What if it wasn’t six predators we were facing but one?

  One of the talons emerged from the darkness ahead of me. I could see them better now as my eyes adjusted—there were five curving shapes, blotting out the moonlit landscape behind them. And they were getting closer. I tried to spot the one I’d mangled with my ghost knife, but I couldn’t.

  Five? The edge of the circle wasn’t that far. Talbot should have reached freedom by now—or been killed—and the predator should have had enough time to get back up the hill.

  Goose bumps ran down my back. I turned to Annalise just in time to see a dark shape come over the top of the ruined cabin and fall on her. I didn’t even have time to shout a warning.

  The hissing sound grew louder. I turned again and saw the other predators rushing at me. Instinctively, I reared back and, having only one good leg, fell sprawling onto the stones.

  A predator clamped down on my wrecked ankle, and the pain made me scream with a high, shameful voice.

  I sat up, reaching for that claw with my injured arm and wishing I’d switched my ghost knife to my left, and another predator clamped down on my other ankle.

  Just as they were about to tear me apart like a wishbone, I swept my spell through the talon on my injured leg, severing it at the wrist. If the predator shrieked with that metal-grinding sound again, I couldn’t hear it, because I was too full of my own screaming—the pain wouldn’t quit, and my fear was tearing through me.

  Before I could swipe at the claw on my left leg, another grabbed at my left arm. I swung the ghost knife at it, feeling something long and sharp slash through my right biceps as another talon barely missed me. I cut my arm free, but the pressure against my left leg was hurting like crazy and I couldn’t see a damn thing.

  Something slammed down on the left side of my chest, pinning me to the ground. Another talon caught my right wrist. I could still throw my ghost knife with a flick of my fingers, but I had to concentrate to aim it, and damn, they were already pulling me apart. The talon on my chest slid up onto my face and neck, and it was too much all at once; I couldn’t concentrate. They were going to kill me, and my brain was screaming at me This is it this is it oh thank God …

  Then green firelight flooded around me. The iron-gate spell beneath my right collarbone flared with pain as it protected me from Annalise’s spell. The predators released me immediately, and I slapped my spell against my chest. It was only made of laminated paper, and Annalise’s green fire could burn a human being down to the bones in seconds.

  Then the fire was gone. There was no hissing and no grindi
ng shriek. I blinked at the darkness around me, but my vision was full of spots. Were they all gone?

  “How badly are you hurt?” Annalise asked. Her high, funny voice startled me, although it shouldn’t have.

  “Boss, I …” I started to shake. I’d come close to death yet again. Damn, did people really get off on this?

  I pushed myself to my knees. “I think I’ll live, boss, but I’m going to need some help.”

  She grabbed my left arm and raised me up. Her grip hurt, but I hid the pain as best I could. My left ankle was going to be bruised, swollen, and stiff by morning.

  Annalise led me to a tree at the edge of the tiny gravel lot. “Did you get them all?” I asked. My vision hadn’t quite cleared, and I wasn’t sure if I should still be on alert.

  “Yep,” she said as she walked toward the house. “We’ll get you fixed up soon. Good job.”

  Well. A compliment. I nearly fell over from the shock.

  My ghost knife was still in my hand, and it appeared to be undamaged, as best as I could tell in the moonlight. I tried to consider what that meant, about her spell and mine. Was the ghost knife protected by my iron gate? Did her green fire affect everything but spells? Or was something else going on?

  I kept turning it over in my head, anything to avoid thinking about that moment of relief I’d had when I thought I was going to die.

  Annalise set a fire in the cabin, then I leaned on her while we returned down the long gravel drive. I hopped, she stayed close to me, and we went very slowly. It was exhausting, and it would have been so easy to fall flat on my face, but to hell with that.

  Of course, Annalise could have carried me as easily as I’d carry a loaf of bread, but to hell with that, too.

  On the way down, I showed her the pictures I’d taken of the drawings in Wally’s closet. The phone’s screen lit her face, but I couldn’t read her expression. I wanted to ask if this was news to her or if it was goofball conspiracy stuff, but I was afraid she’d give me an answer I didn’t want to hear.

  Instead I asked what we should do about this place. She said she’d file a report and let another peer check it out. We’d leave the circle intact to deter locals from coming up to investigate, just in case there was something we missed in the darkness. She put my cellphone into her pocket.

  Then we crossed the circle. Talbot hurried out from under the cover of a stand of trees and came toward us.

  “I tried to lead them away,” he said. Annalise laughed at him, but I didn’t have the heart. If I’d had two good legs, I might have run with him. Well, probably not, but that didn’t mean it was a bad idea.

  He looked at me closely. “I saved your life.”

  Before I could respond, a pair of headlights swept around the corner. Police lights flashed on the roof. I had my ghost knife ready, but Talbot’s hand moved toward the back of his waistband, a gesture I recognized immediately. As the driver’s door opened, Talbot drew a gun.

  I slammed my left arm across his hand and nudged him off balance. His gun went off, the bullet striking the stony dirt in front of the car, and he stumbled. I would have fallen over completely, but Annalise had a tight grip on my shirttail. With my right hand, I flicked the ghost knife.

  A normal piece of paper would have fallen at my feet, but my spell went where I wanted it to go. It fluttered upward and passed right through the space between the car and the open driver’s door just as the silhouette there drew a weapon.

  He didn’t get off a shot. I couldn’t see him clearly, but I’d managed to hit him anyway. The gun fell from his hands, and he reached into the car and switched off the headlights. Annalise let go of my shirt, and I hopped toward the car, bracing myself on the hood.

  “Put that away,” Annalise said. I knew she wasn’t talking to me.

  I hopped around the front of the car. “I’m sorry,” the silhouette said.

  “Turn around and close your eyes,” I told him. He did. “Did you get a good look at us?” I picked up his gun, a Glock, and tossed it into the car. My ghost knife was nearby. I reached for it and it zipped into my open hand. I put it away.

  “I did,” he said.

  “That’s all right. Just don’t do it again. Call in to the fire department. They’ll be responding to this fire soon, and you should warn them that ammunition inside the building is cooking off. Tell them to keep well away for now. And tell them there’s no one here.”

  “Okay.” He did that while I turned to Annalise and Talbot.

  I patted the roof of the car. “This is going to be our ride back to the beach.”

  Annalise shrugged. It was all fine by her. Talbot stared down at the cop. “What did you do to him?”

  We piled into the car. I couldn’t drive with my injured ankle, so Talbot drove instead, and I sat in the back with Constable Shayholter.

  That was how he introduced himself. He was a little under six feet and built like a high diver. He had a thick head of black hair and the kind of face you see on the covers of romance novels. And he sat beside me, obediently keeping his eyes shut tight.

  The drive back to the park was so quick we almost missed the turnoff. Talbot drove us into the parking lot and parked at a wooden rail. The weird stone beach and night water lay open before us.

  Annalise and Talbot got out. I turned to the constable. “Don’t open your eyes yet. But listen carefully. I’m not going to cuff you or take your gun. In fact, I’m not going to do anything that would give you an excuse for letting us go. I want you to wait for a slow count of six hundred, then drive back to the fire and do your cop thing. Don’t tell anyone you saw us. You’ll remember all this tomorrow, but you won’t be able to explain to anyone why you let three suspects leave the scene of an arson. You certainly won’t be able to explain it to yourself. Think how it would look if you tried.”

  “I understand.”

  “Start counting,” I said. He did. I hobbled out of the car. Annalise led me down to the bay, and it was a relief to float out into the cold, cold water.

  Captain was waiting for us. Annalise muscled us into the boat and we sped away. I lay back by Captain, stretched out on the padded bench, and let the cool night air blow my clothes dry.

  After about an hour, Captain turned to me and asked if I would hold the wheel steady. “Don’t turn at all,” she said as if talking to a child. “Like this.” I struggled into the pilot’s seat, my ankle stiff and screaming, and did as she asked.

  She went to the front of the boat to fuss over something. While her back was turned, I opened that cabinet beneath the wheel and took out the envelope in there. I took out the note Annalise had given her. It was printed on generic printer paper. I held it up to the lighted dials. It read: DO WHATEVER THE BEARER OF THIS ENVELOPE TELLS YOU TO DO IF YOU EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR SON ALIVE AGAIN.

  Oh, shit.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The sun was rising when we docked in Everett. By that time, my ankle was swollen and unbearably tender. It had to be broken. Walking was impossible; Talbot and Captain had to practically carry me to the truck. They laid me in the bed, and Talbot sat beside me. He looked as though he wanted to talk but wisely kept his mouth shut.

  We stopped off at a supermarket on our way to wherever we were going. While we waited in the parking lot, I closed my eyes and fell asleep almost immediately. I woke again instantly when we pulled out of our parking space.

  Not long afterward, we were back in the plane and in the air, heading south. I wanted a chance to talk to Captain—to apologize—but I never got it. Then it was too late, and I knew I’d never get another chance. I didn’t even know her real name.

  I sat on the plane, miserable and tired. I wanted to lie down, but there was no space.

  Annalise sat next to me. She held a plastic bag full of sliced meat. “Remember how bad it was to heal those burns?” she asked. “Broken bones are worse.”

  She was right.

  When we landed in Burbank again I was shaky and sick to my stomach, but I could wa
lk again and my bruises were gone. I rode back to the hotel with Annalise and Talbot, but I couldn’t look at them. I was wrung out and tired, and pissed off at the world.

  Annalise had Talbot drive us to my Escort. “Stay here,” she told him. Talbot gave us an unhappy look as we climbed out and went to my car. There was no pain in my ankle at all. It was completely healed.

  Annalise stood beside the driver’s door. The heat roasted us. “Well, he was useless.”

  “He wasn’t wrong to run, boss,” I said. I sighed. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have. “Csilla didn’t give him a useful weapon. He’d have fed a predator, and there would have been two victims to draw them in. You might not have gotten them all with your green fire.” She shrugged. I was boring her. “What’s next?”

  “Same thing we’ve been doing: find your buddy Wally King. I want you to get out there. Here.” She gave the cellphone back to me. A quick check showed that the pictures I’d taken had been erased. “My number is in there. Call me when we have some killing to do.”

  “What about the predators he’s been summoning?”

  “Wally King is our top priority. If I find out anything about those pictures, I’ll let you know. The predators …” It was her turn to sigh. “You knew these people, yeah? If you confirm they have predators in them but you can’t bring yourself to cure them, give their names and addresses to me.” I knew what she meant by cure. “I can make it quick, Ray.” There was no kindness in her voice, and I was glad of it. The woman who’d given Captain that note shouldn’t play at kindness.

  She turned and walked back to her van. Did I want to see Annalise burn Fidel down to a pile of bones? Did I want to sit alone in a motel room, TV blaring, while I knew she was out there killing him, or any of them?

  Hell, no.

  I drove back to my motel.

  Annalise had promised to tell me what she learned about Wally’s pictures. She had never offered to pass me information without prompting before. Now, just as she was trusting me, I wanted to be far away from her.