by Sean Stone
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Also by Sean Stone:
The Cedarstone Chronicles
Cursed
The Cult of Osiris
The Ancients
The Cedarstone Chronicles Books 1-3
Arcane Inc.
Warlock for Hire
Warlock Wanted
Short Story Collections
Horrors from Cedarstone
Horrors from Cedarstone II
Horrors from Cedarstone III
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ARCANE INC. BOOK 2: WANTED
by Sean Stone
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER ONE
I followed the chap right the way down Week Street, through all the busy shoppers and then up Union Street. I wasn’t following him for anything seedy if that’s what you’re thinking; the reason I was following him was because I thought he was Shay Donahue. Who’s Shay Donahue? Let me explain.
So, about a month ago… Actually, if you don’t know who Shay is then I’m guessing you don’t know much about me either which means you haven’t read my first book. Yeah, this is actually the second book in my series. That’s fine though, maybe you didn’t know that or maybe you did and you just can’t be bothered to go and read book one. I mean it’s a lot of effort isn’t it? That’s fine, I’ll make it as easy as possible to understand what’s going on without having to go back. Basically, I’ll give you the Spark notes.
So, I’m Eddie Lancaster, a warlock. Not just any warlock, I have the unique ability to literally suck magic out of other sorcerers with or without their blessing and without killing them. I’m easy that way. I gathered a mahoosive amount of magic and stored it all safely away in my storage unit. Stupid idea, I know, but we don’t have time to dwell on that. Shay Donahue stole that magic from me — using sneaky tricks — and handed it over to my worst enemy: the woman who murdered my parents when I was thirteen. Why did she do that? Because she’s a mega bitch and also I wouldn’t go with her. She wanted me to be one of her pets and gather magic for her. She likes collecting supernatural beings you see, like some sort of mystical zookeeper. She collects as many as she can but only if she has a use for them. If they’re not useful she isn’t interested. As you can imagine I am incredibly useful being the only person with my particular skill, so she wanted me. When I refused she had my parents’ throats cut. I managed to get away and spent the rest of my life running. Finally, when I decided to settle down and build a life in Maidstone she found me. That was about a month ago. She now has all of the magic I had stashed away and is going to be coming for me when she’s ready. When will that be? I don’t know. If I can find a way to get her before she gets me then great. So when I saw a bloke who looked an awful lot like Shay walking about in town I decided to get him. So there you are, all caught up. Now where were we.
I continued to follow Shay right the way up Union Street, past all the Chinese and Indian takeaway shops. As I hoped he turned left about half way up and entered the small graveyard that was there. Sometimes a group of Polish men use the graveyard as their drinking ground. I don’t know why, it seems like a rather odd place to meet up for a can of lager but they do it nonetheless and I’ve never been curious enough to ask why. Luckily, today they had gone elsewhere and the graveyard was clear.
I continued following from a distance and sped up so I could catch him before he exited the graveyard onto Brewer Street. I didn’t need to worry about that, though, because he stopped at one of the bushes, pulled down his fly and began pissing up the leafy shrub. Disgusting. Did he think he was in Chatham or something? Chatham is a very nasty area by the way. I crept up behind him, quieter than a thing that’s even more quiet than a mouse, and planted one hand flat on his back. I sent a bit of magic through him, immobilising him. Stopping him from moving his limbs didn’t stop his bladder from releasing and he continued to spew a golden stream of piddle all over the bush. I waited for him to stop and then turned him around to face me, being extra careful not to catch a glance at his dick. Shay was not the cleanest of people as I recalled and I did not want to see what state that part of his anatomy was in. Keeping my eyes up I examined his face. It wasn’t Shay. Bugger. Not to worry, though, after all, I had another use for this poor member of the public.
I snapped my fingers and he fell asleep before he could speak. His knees buckled and I watched him fall onto the grass. I could have caught him but I didn’t feel like it. I’m not that nice a guy. I know I’m supposed to be the hero and all that, but no… it’s not that sort of story. I do things for personal gain, not because they’re the right thing to do. Although, my own gains have correlated with doing the right thing in the past. It’s all a matter of fate I guess. Not that I believe in fate. I’m rambling again.
He didn’t land in his own piss so that’s a bonus for him. It came around to bite me in the arse when I realised that I still had to put his dick back in his trousers. I could hardly transport him across town with his dick out. It was going to be hard enough with it in. I kneeled beside him and grab the waistband of his jeans. I pulled the front of his jeans forwards until his little buddy slipped back inside. I zipped him up — didn’t want to risk it making another appearance and then stood back up. Even though I hadn’t touched it I still wanted to wash my hands. Sadly, I don’t carry a bottle of anti-bac with me.
My storage unit is on the other side of town which posed a problem. Even for a warlock getting a hostage across town without getting caught is tricky; especially when they’re unconscious. There isn’t a handy invisibility potion that you can just whip up. I mean there probably is one somewhere but I don’t know how to make it and believe me I’ve tried. And I’m no amateur. The closest I’ve ever got was when I turned myself green, great for camouflage in the woods, not so much in a more urban setting, like Maidstone. Anyway, I grabbed my fallen captive and slung him over my shoulder. He was heavier than I would have liked. Shame I didn’t have super-strength anymore. I had super-strength for about five minutes once. It was awesome. I’d just have to hope my arms didn’t give up on me before I got there. I conjured up a shadow illusion which made me almost invisible, as long as I stayed in the shadows and didn’t draw any attention to myself. If anybody actually concentrated on me then the illusion would be shattered. Luckily it was a sunny day, so there were plenty of shadows to hide in.
I made my way across town without incident but my arms caned by the time I got to my unit. I dropped my new friend by some bins outside and then headed for the entrance to the storage place. I walked into the lobby and looked around. There was a receptionist behind the front desk — not one that I knew — and a security guard sitting in the waiting area. I didn’t know him either. The facility seemed to have undergone a change in staff of late; I used to know everyone and there never used to be any security. I clicked my fingers and they both fell asleep
. The sleeping spell was one of the first spells I mastered and is up there on my list of favourites. Get used to seeing it because I reckon I’ll use at least three more times before the end of this tale. I stepped around the desk and found the security cameras. I couldn’t have any footage of me leading my kidnap victim in. I placed my palm over the monitors and sent a pulse of magic through the circuitry that caused the feed to malfunction and filled the screens with static. My arms were still tired so I retrieved a trolley and used it to bring my sleeping hostage inside. It did not look comfortable for him in the least. Once we reached my unit I took him in and shut us inside.
There wasn’t much room inside so I had to leave the trolley in the hall. I keep pretty much all my supernatural stuff here and believe me I have a lot. Potion ingredients, spell books, magical items. You get the point. The unit, which is fairly large, was full to the brim with all my stuff. If anybody came in here then they’d probably think I was right nut job. Unless they were a sorcerer in which case they’d recognise that they’d found an awesome stash of stuff.
Ever since Shay robbed me I started keeping my more important stuff in a magically sealed trunk. The unit itself was sealed with magic when I got robbed but clearly not enough because they broke right through it. I had unwittingly given the thief a way to break through my protections. Now, I hate to admit when things are my fault so I’m just not going to. Anyway, I used blood protection on the chest, which means that nobody can get in without my blood. I pulled my knife out from up my sleeve and sliced my palm open. I pressed my palm to the cracked wooden lid until I heard the lock click. A little healing magic closed the wound and I got on with my work. I pulled out the mind control serum and the inoculant that I’d whipped up.
A little more catchup is needed here. A month or so ago I’d been experimenting with a mind control serum. I whip up my own potions as a bit of a hobby. I designed the mind control serum and it worked a treat. Shay Donahue was actually my first test subject. I know what you’re thinking: if I hadn’t done that to Shay then maybe he wouldn’t be working with my enemy right now. I disagree. Shay’s a prick and I think we would have ended up on opposite sides of the court no matter what I did. But anyway, when Shay raided my unit he took the mind control serum and gave it to Rachel. She improved it. Mine only lasts ten minutes or so whereas her version lasts twenty-four hours. I know because Shay used it on me. It wasn’t pleasant and I don’t want to talk about it. So I’ve been working on a way to inoculate myself against the serum and now it was time to test my latest strain. Seventh time lucky.
I crouched next to the guy I’d kidnapped from the graveyard and injected him with the inoculant. I gave it a few minutes to get into the bloodstream and then I woke him up. He regained consciousness with a jolt.
“What the fuck?” he said, wide-eyed and alarmed. His head jerked about as he took in his surroundings. “Am I in a storage lock up?” He was the first person not to try to run upon waking. I took that for a sign of stupidity.
“Yes, you are and I need you to calm down,” I told him. It was clear from his face that he was not going to calm down.
“Calm down?” he said incredulously. “How about you tell me what the fucking fuck is going on and then I’ll think about calming—” I slapped him. I know, not the smoothest move but it shut him up. For a second anyway. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” He tried to stand but I shoved him back down again. He wasn’t a big guy, I’m not stupid enough to kidnap someone who’s bigger than me. I’m not really a fighter so I try to avoid physical conflicts. Magic helps with that.
“Look, I don’t have time for this,” I told him. He opened his mouth to protest but a simple spell silenced him. I picked up the small phial of the mind control serum and held it out. This was the hardest part. “I need you to drink this,” I said. I’ve tried injecting it before but for some reason it just doesn’t work if it’s not ingested. I’m not a scientist so I can’t explain why and frankly I don’t care anyway. Also, magic doesn’t follow the laws of science.
He opened his mouth to protest but he was still unable speak thanks to my spell.
“Listen, mate, if you don’t drink it I’m going to force you to and believe me I can.” I pushed it towards him again and this time he took it. He fixed me with a hostile glare before he threw it across the unit. The phial smashed against the wall and the purple serum dripped down it slowly. It looked a little bit like Ooze. Ooze was a grungy stuff you could buy in the nineties. Something to do with the Power Rangers movie I think. I sighed.
“Did you really think that would achieve anything?” I walked back to my trunk and pulled out another phial. When I turned around I saw the guy trying desperately to open the door. It was shut fast with magic and he had no chance. He had no intention of playing ball and I didn’t feel like playing around anymore. I crossed the unit and rammed him up against the door. “I didn’t want it to come to this,” I said with feigned disappointment. I used magic to hold him in place against the door.
You might be thinking it’s a bit handy for me, using magic all the time and it is. It isn’t always this easy though. On your bog standard human, yeah, magic is an easy win. On other things not so much. Some humans can find ways to fight against magic, but this guy couldn’t. Because he was bog standard. You might think it’s insulting for me to refer to a person as bog standard, especially if you yourself are bog standard. You’re just going to have to get over it.
I put one hand around his jaw and squeezed his mouth open. With the other hand I tipped the serum down his throat and then forced his mouth shut. I held him that way until I was sure he’d swallowed it and then I released him. He remained standing where he was staring at me in shock. He seemed to be waiting for some adverse effect of the serum I’d force fed him. He probably thought he’d been poisoned.
This was it for me. The moment of truth. Inoculant strain 007. Nothing to do with James Bond, just the seventh strain of the inoculant.
“Stand on one leg,” I commanded in a clear voice. If they mishear you in these situations it can have disastrous effects. I told my third test subject to beat on his leg but he thought I told him to eat his leg. Luckily, I stopped him before things got too messy and he still has both legs. You’re probably wondering why I told him to beat his leg. Well, it’s because I’m a bit mean.
He raised an eyebrow sceptically but did not move. “What is wrong with you?” he asked, shaking his head. I laughed. I had finally found a way to inoculate myself again the serum. Of course, I couldn’t be sure it would work on Rachel’s improved serum but I was confident that—
My good mood evaporated as he slowly raised one shaking leg. He was staring at his limb as if it was somebody else’s. Clearly he was trying to fight it and had made more progress than any of predecessors. But it still wasn’t good enough. Strain 007 was another failure.
I gave the guy a potion to erase the last hour from his memory and then sent him home.
I fixed the security cameras and woke up the staff before returning to my unit. I spent the next couple of hours analysing the inoculant for the ingredients that had worked, at least for a minute or so. Something I’d done was clearly a step in the right direction, the previous subjects had all obeyed my commands instantly. I just needed to figure out what caused the delay in his reaction.
Once I’d exhausted my mental capabilities I locked up and headed home. I got no farther than the gates when a police car pulled up and two uniformed officers came towards me.
“Something the matter?” I asked. I hadn’t done anything illegal lately. Other than the kidnap but they couldn’t possibly know about that, even the victim didn’t know about it.
“Edward Lancaster?” the first one asked, rudely ignoring my question.
“I asked a question first. You have to honour that and answer before you get to ask a question.” I replied. Rules exist for a reason.
The smaller one grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. I
considered fighting but it wouldn’t do well to attack the police, especially not with magic. Best to see how this played out. That’s my approach to most things.
“Edward Lancaster, you’re under arrest,” the first one said before bundling me into the car.
CHAPTER TWO
I asked the officers for what exactly I was being arrested but they both seemed to have lost their tongues. I’m not sure about all the police rules of conduct and all that, but the way I’d been arrested didn’t seem completely legal. I’m sure there are rules about having to tell the suspect what they’re being arrested for and the whole reading their rights thing. There was nothing I could do about it from the back of the police car so I kept my mouth shut and tried to figure out what the fuck was going on. I know, it’s surprising that I kept my mouth shut.
I had kidnapped a few people over the last couple of weeks to test my inoculants on but I’d erased all their memories and that particular potion was very effective. Plus, if I was being arrested for that then the cops would have said so. No, this was something different. Something more complicated perhaps. And if they couldn’t tell me what it was then it probably meant the arrest wasn’t totally official.
When we arrived at the station I wasn’t booked in like average arrestees were; I was taken straight through to an interview room. No waiting about. Before they left I asked for a copy of the police code of practices. I was pretty sure that if you asked for that they had to give it not that they seemed to be following the rules so far. Nonetheless a few minutes later a book was delivered to me and I was left alone to read it. I didn’t get long to read it. About ten minutes later a hench guy in a shirt and tie walked in and sat opposite me. I’d met him before; he called me in to ask questions about Killian’s death but I could not remember his name. Inspector something or other.