by Linsey Hall
The angel’s wings were burning as he fell, a look of agony on his face.
“This was his fall,” Declan said.
“Yours wasn’t like that, right?” It looked awful.
“No. Mine wasn’t nearly as bad. Whatever he did, it was evil.” He leaned closer to the painting, inspecting the fortress. “Where is that place?”
I drew my phone from my pocket and snapped a picture. “I think it’s where we need to go next. The angel is clearly headed there.”
Declan frowned.
“Attention, aux intrus!”
Shit.
I spun around to see a security guard racing toward us
“Arrêtez!” the guard shouted. “Plus de gardes sont en route!”
“He said that more are coming,” Declan translated.
Crap. We needed a way out. Were we even done here? We had to be. I was sure the building in the painting was the clue, and I had a picture of it.
Now we just had to avoid getting caught by these guards.
Frantic, I looked left and right. There was an exit to our left. We needed to find a window or a door to the exterior of the building so we could use our transport charm.
The guard charged us, raising a flaming hand. Honestly, it was stupid to use fire mages as guards around all this valuable artwork. For that reason, he was clearly hesitating. As long as we stood in front of this painting, he wouldn’t want to hurl fire at us.
A noise from the left caught my attention, and I turned.
Too late.
A guard stood there, clearly having just thrown something. I caught sight of a ruby red potion bomb the second before it slammed into Declan.
He went down like a sack of bricks.
I drew a knife from the ether and hurled it at the guard, nailing him in the shoulder, right about the heart. He collapsed.
The other guard was nearing us. I had to take him out, but I wanted to check on Declan.
A half second later, Wally appeared. The little black shadow raced toward the approaching guard, a blast of red flame bursting from his mouth.
I dropped to my knees next to Declan and pressed my fingertips to his throat. A pulse.
Relief swept through me.
As Wally chased the guard around the huge room, I surged upward and grabbed Declan’s arm, then dragged him toward the exit. I passed the guard’s bleeding body in the narrow archway without feeling an ounce of guilt. I didn’t know what he’d hit Declan with, but it could be deadly.
Fair’s fair.
I dragged Declan into a corridor. There was a stained glass window that probably led onto an alley. At least, that was my guess, given the minimal amount of light flowing through. Magic pulsed from it, a strong protective charm that would make the window difficult to break.
It hadn’t met me yet.
I dropped Declan’s arm and called my mace from the ether. I swung it fast, several times around to get good momentum, then slammed it through the glass. The colorful design shattered, and I ducked my head.
I could hear an enraged shriek from inside the gallery. Probably the guard.
And while I did feel a little guilty about damaging the building, it was either that or death. I’d take property destruction any day.
As I’d suspected, there was an alley on the other side of the window. Thank fates we were on the ground floor. We were probably even on the same side of the building that we’d entered through.
I sucked in a deep breath and crouched, pulling Declan up into a fireman’s carry. I grunted as his weight settled on my shoulders.
“Damn, you’re dense,” I muttered as I staggered through the broken glass window, careful to avoid the shards that stuck upright. Once in the alley, I gripped both of Declan’s hands with one of my own, making sure to keep him on my back, then dug into my pocket with the other.
I withdrew the transport charm and slammed it onto the ground, imagining heading for Magic’s Bend. The sparkling gray cloud burst up, and I stepped through, calling back to Wally as I left. “Thanks, pal! We’re out of here!”
I heard a yowl, which I assumed to be a goodbye, since nothing could hurt Wally. The ether sucked me up and spit me out on the street in Darklane. On instinct, I’d gone straight to my house. It was still dark, and I dropped Declan onto a patch of grass, then knelt by his side and smacked his cheek lightly.
“Come on, wake up.” Worry tugged at every ounce of me as I watched him. “Come on!”
He groaned and moved his head, his eyes slowly blinking open.
“You okay?”
He raised a weary hand and rubbed his face. “What happened?”
“Guard hit you with a sedative. At least, I think it was a sedative.” I inspected him. He looked all right, at least. “Can you walk?”
“I can try.” He staggered upright with my help. “Legs are wobbly, but fine.”
“Good. Come on. We need to go check out that clue. I want to find out what that building in the painting is called.”
He nodded and followed me up the stairs. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”
“Anytime.”
I disengaged the locks and security charms, then stepped into the foyer. “Let’s eat while we do this.”
My bright white kitchen welcomed us, and I went immediately to the bell that sat on the counter. I rang it twice to let the Jade Lotus know we wanted food, then grabbed two cups of water and returned to the table where Declan had collapsed into a chair.
“That was some serious stuff,” he said.
“If you’re not feeling better after food, I’ll get you a potion.” From behind me, the bell rang. “Speaking of.”
I turned to see the portal that sat right over the counter spit out two cartons of Chinese food. I grabbed them, along with some chopsticks, and brought them back to the table. I gave one to Declan, then dug into my own as I pulled up the photo on my phone.
“The image is pretty clear,” I said. “I’m going to crop out the building and put it into Goggle reverse image search.”
We ate as I worked, my stomach roiling with nerves. I was hungry—sort of—but more than that, I needed to keep my strength up if I wanted to save Mari. Even now, the fire in my veins was burning. This damned curse got worse with every hour, so how was Mari feeling?
Like shit, probably.
If she’s still alive.
At the thought, my stomach lurched so hard that I nearly vomited. I sucked in a shaky breath and tried to banish the thought.
Don’t go there.
I would get to her in time. I had to. I had to.
Finally, my phone pulled up a match. I looked at Declan, who already appeared improved. “Have you heard of the Chateau d’If? In France?”
He frowned, clearly searching his memory. “It’s a prison, right?”
I nodded. “A very famous one. A very deadly one, full of the worst demons and mages in the world. Not that I can understand why they bother imprisoning them if they can just kill them.”
He raised a brow.
“What? I’m a demon slayer. Slaying demons is what I do. It’s in the job title.”
“If a regular person kills them, they just get sent back to their underworld. They could escape again.”
“Good point. I guess they don’t have a slayer on staff.” We were the only ones who could kill them for good, and I knew I wouldn’t be volunteering for the job of executioner. It was one thing to hunt them myself when I knew exactly the evil deeds they’d committed.
Just waiting for demons to show up so I could lop their heads off didn't sound very appealing.
That was yet another good reason to hide what I was. No way I wanted to be shanghaied into a job at a prison, chopping off demon heads night and day.
“They could also be in holding in case they have skills or knowledge that is needed.”
“Fine, fine. I see your point.” I clicked through the link. “There’s very little info on here. Most sources agree that it’s a myth.”
Declan shru
gged. “Goggle is run by humans. It’s a supernatural prison. We’re lucky they know that much.”
I nodded as I squinted at the two images on my little phone screen. The prison building was ancient. Eight hundred years old, at least. Maybe a thousand. I was no expert. But it looked like a castle sitting on top of a rock in the middle of the ocean.
“Supernatural Alcatraz,” I said.
“And we’re going to break in.”
Somehow, this felt like a very bad idea.
But it was the only idea.
11
Declan and I didn’t waste any time. We headed directly for my workshop, where I gathered up a bundle of potions. We’d need to be prepared.
First, I handed him an energy potion. We were running on too few hours of sleep. After we’d drunk them, I collected a variety of different potions that might come in handy when breaking into a prison.
I stashed them in a little bag, then stuck it in the ether.
Declan looked at me with wide eyes. “That’s a useful spell. And rare.”
I nodded. It cost a lot of money to stash something in the ether for later use. That was why it was primarily used for things like weapons, which you didn’t use up. With something like potions that were used in one go, it was rarely considered worth it. I’d bought the enchanted bag last year, though, and it allowed me to store the potions for when I really, really needed them. Like all magic, the spell that enchanted it decayed with time—quite quickly, in this case—so I used it rarely.
“For this, it’s worth it,” I said. “Let me call Nix and Cass and update them on our progress, then we can go.”
I made a quick phone call and found out they weren’t much farther along. They’d ruled out several places in Grimrealm, but the whole place was a complicated labyrinth. It’d take them more time, and even then, there was no guarantee. They promised to come after us in twelve hours if we didn’t get back in touch, though.
I hung up and looked at Declan. “Ready?”
“Let’s do this.”
We used a transport charm to get to the French fishing village that was supposed to be close to the prison island. When we arrived, the sun was nearing the horizon.
“Damn, we were in that museum for longer than I thought,” I said.
Declan looked at the sky. “By the time we get a boat, it should be dark.”
I inspected my surroundings. The little village crowded up against the dark blue sea, the white buildings ancient and charming. The scent of food wafted on the air from the seaside restaurants, and boats bobbed on the harbor.
“You’d have no idea there was a supernatural prison out there.” I looked toward the sea, where the ruins on the island sat, buffeted by the waves. This town was a human town, and the ruins looked abandoned to the inhabitants. They’d probably been enchanted to repel people with the idea that they were unsafe. Any brave souls who dared approach were likely turned back by anxiety or something along those lines.
“There’s a harbor that way,” Declan said.
It would have been faster to fly to the island, but the humans definitely would have noticed.
We made our way across the town, sticking to the edge of the harbor. I passed by couples drinking wine at tiny tables and old women debating something over a pot of tea. Children played on a green square where a fountain burbled, and a cat rolled in the grass. It was all so lovely and normal.
“Freaking weird how Black Magic Alcatraz is spitting distance from this bucolic scene,” I murmured.
Declan shook his head. “If those demons escaped…”
Just the idea was horrible. “Yeah, this prison is a terrible idea.”
We reached the harbor as the sun dipped fully behind the horizon. The sky lit with a brilliant pink glow before descending into darkness. When the town lights began to sparkle on the waves, I looked at Declan. “It’s as dark as it’s going to get.”
We found a little wooden boat tied at the end of the dock. There was a small chest sitting next to it on the little pier, and a name was inscribed on it.
“Piers Franz,” I read. “He must own the boat.”
I lifted up the lid of the box and found life jackets and other assorted boat paraphernalia.
Declan leaned over and dropped a few hundred dollars into the box. “Just in case we don’t return it.”
I smiled at him. “Good thinking.”
Quickly, we climbed into the boat and untied it. Declan picked up the oars and began to row, and I scanned the shore, hoping that Piers or one of his friends weren’t eating at a seaside restaurant. Last thing we needed was them witnessing our theft and setting up the alarm.
Fortunately, no one seemed to notice, and we were able to quickly row far from shore. Waves buffeted the little boat, crashing over the bow, but Declan kept us on a steady course. I eyed the looming structure as we approached. Part of it was a cliff that extended straight down into the sea, dropping a good thirty feet. The castle prison crouched on top. The other side of the island was a more gradual slope.
I searched for guards, but saw none who were watching the sea. “I don’t see anyone on guard.”
“They’re probably more concerned with those inside the prison than outside of it. I doubt they get many visitors.”
“Good point.” Who the hell would want to break in here?
Any person in their right mind would stay the hell away.
“Go to the left,” I said, directing Declan to a good place to beach our little vessel. It was far enough from the main prison that hopefully no one was looking.
He rowed us right up to the rocky shore, and I leapt up and pulled the boat mostly out of the water. Declan climbed out and helped me haul the boat onto the shore and hide it behind some rocks.
“The whole place feels totally abandoned,” I whispered.
“I doubt they leave the castle much. Wouldn’t want to alert anyone to the fact that people live here.”
“Live is a generous term.”
A smile pulled up the corner of his mouth. I could barely see him in the faint moonlight.
“Come on.” I turned and set off toward the castle.
We stuck close to the shore, reaching an area where the cliff rose high. There was a sturdy iron gate set into the base of the cliff, and an area to pull boats out of the water.
“This is our best bet,” Declan murmured.
I nodded and pressed myself up against the cliff wall, then tiptoed toward the gate, making sure to stay out of view of anyone who could possibly be on the other side, looking out.
I got up close and listened intently. I could hear no one, so I peeked my head around and inspected the gate. It was massive, made of iron bars as thick as my arm. The whole thing was at least ten feet tall and eight feet wide. Within, a tunnel was faintly lit by old electric lights. Somehow the crappy flickering electricity illuminating the ancient cavern made the place even creepier.
I ducked back against the wall and looked at Declan, then whispered, “I think we—”
The sound of footsteps coming from within the tunnel made me shut my mouth.
It had to be a guard. He was leaving. Or looking for us, if he’d happened to hear or see us approach.
My mind raced. A plan formed.
I leaned close to Declan and pointed to a nearby bush, then quietly hissed, “Hide.”
It was obvious from the look on his face that the idea was abhorrent, but I glared so hard that he listened. I waited until he headed toward the bushes and then flipped up my invisibility hood. Sure, my plan was dangerous. But at least I had one.
Declan darted behind the bush at the same time the guard opened the gate to peer out. I drew a dagger from the ether—one with a really heavy hilt—then slammed it into his skull.
He dropped like a rock, unconscious. Fortunately for us, his body propped the gate right open. Declan materialized at my side a moment later, silent as a cat.
Quickly, I tore a strip off the guard’s shirt and bound his mouth. I se
arched his pockets for keys and took every one that I could find—four, total. Declan grabbed the iron cuffs at his wrists—iron, not steel, which I thought was a super old-school choice—and bound his wrists behind his back. Then he dragged him behind the bush while I held the gate open.
He returned and murmured, “That was efficient.”
“Stick with me, pal.” I slipped into the darkened tunnel.
Declan followed, quietly closing the gate behind us but not locking it.
Together, we made our way silently down the hall. The lights buzzed in my ear, giving this place a real torture-dungeon feel. We descended deeper underground as we traveled.
Finally, I began to hear voices. I slowed, listening carefully. They sounded somewhat jovial.
“Not prisoners,” I murmured.
We crept closer, peering out into a cavern that was carved into the earth. A pond in the middle rippled under the lights. It was a weird shape with little arms that flowed between the rock outcroppings in the space, and one part of it butted up against the rock wall. It even looked like the water might flow underneath.
On the far side, a table full of men sat and talked. Cards and food littered the table.
“Break time,” Declan murmured.
Behind the men, there was a stairway leading up. Unfortunately, there were eight guards. Since they had been hired to contain the most dangerous demons and mages around, they had to be skilled.
“Too many to fight.” If I had my choice, at least. “We’d lose our element of surprise.”
“Maybe there’s another way.”
There were a number of natural rock outcroppings in the space, and we managed to creep behind some, working our way deeper into the cavern. It’d take time to search it all. Time that I wasn’t sure I had.
Hey. You look sneaky.
I nearly jumped, then looked down at Wally. He’d appeared at my side, his smoky dark fur wafting up from him as his fiery eyes met mine. Next to him, a tiny black figure stood. He was also ephemeral, though he looked more like he was made of shadow than smoke.
I could feel the skepticism coming off the little figure, who couldn’t be more than twelve inches tall. Some kind of sprite, I had to guess.