Grave Mistake (Codex Blair Book 1)

by Izzy Shows

  I frowned, not wanting to get close yet, but I knelt beside the trees, and placed a hand onto the ground.

  Oh, God, but it hurt. It hurt to be in contact with the spell work that had been woven into the ground here, it made me want to cry.

  What was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to think or figure anything out if all I could do was wail internally at the pain washing over me?

  Fight through it, I ordered myself, and ground my teeth together. This was miserable work, but I reminded myself that it was necessary.

  I didn’t have the knowledge of spell work that was necessary to recognise exactly what was going on here, but I was determined to figure parts of it out. Intent was the most important thing in magic, Aidan had taught me, so I focussed on the intent that the caster had left behind. It’s like a tone, or a writing style, you can see and hear those things even if you don’t know the language of the words, and it can communicate quite a lot.

  The intent here was horrific. There was a desire for blood and vengeance, although I couldn’t make out what exactly the caster intended to get vengeance for, it seemed as if all they cared about was causing pain on a massive scale. Terror? No, death. They didn’t care about inciting a panic, they wanted to wipe people off the face of the earth, the more that fell the better in their book. I did my best to memorise the patterns of the spells in front of me, certain that at some point in the future I’d be learning about things like this and it would be a good reference to have—for breaking down later. If I ever ran into this sort of thing again, which I really hoped I wouldn’t.

  I leaned my strength against one of the bands in the spell, and found quite a lot of resistance to it. Reasonable assumption that a very powerful person had done the work here, either that or multiple average people had done it. That didn’t seem likely, though, considering that the intent here seemed to be coming from a single mind rather than a multitude of them. Mal had spoken of multiple people, but it seemed to me that it was just one with the knowledge and power. The others were probably running around doing legwork.

  What was concerning, was that it didn’t seem like something that would be easily dismantled or broken. I peered closer at it, hoping to find a weak point. There had to be one, the edge of a woven fabric, the corner of a building, everything had a weak point and I just had to find it.

  In looking, though, I found the most disgusting part of it. Sacrifice was required to fuel it, obviously, and I had assumed that they would be using the dead for such things, but that didn’t seem to be the case. The caster had been excited when crafting this part of the groundwork, practically salivating over the idea. Murder. They were going to kill someone and use the energy their death generated for the ritual.

  The thing is, the energy generated from death is all in the potential of the life.

  That amount of necessary energy would require the death of a child.

  I realised that my hand was wet, and so were my cheeks. I was crying. Raven sent me the impression of a hand on my back, a comforting sensation.

  I am sorry, Sheach, that it was necessary for you to see this.

  “I-it’s OK. It’s going to be fine. Aidan can take care of it, he said so,” I mumbled, not sure that all of the words made it out of my mouth in one piece.

  Raven was quiet, the silence dragged out, which at first didn’t bother me because I thought they simply didn’t have a response to give. Then I glanced up at them and saw that they were holding back.

  “What?” I sat back on my heels, holding the hand that had been on the ground in my other, almost cradling it. I brushed my tears away with the sleeve of my arm. There wasn’t time to cry about this, it just had to be stopped before it could happen. That was all. Just had to stop it.

  I would prefer not to answer now, Raven said, fluttering back and forth in an anxious pattern. We should leave now. It is possible that the warlocks will have sensed your presence when you touched their work, and we do not want to accelerate their timeline.

  They clearly wanted to leave, and so did I, but I was feeling stubborn.

  “What is it, Raven? Tell me.” I snapped at them, not having the energy to be patient.

  I…have my doubts. Wallace will be hard pressed to handle this. It is a good thing that he is a strong Wizard, his skill was never the best. Raven said the words in a quiet tone, and I recognised that they were attempting to be cognizant of my feelings in this. Well, at least they adapted quickly.

  Except no. Except no that was horrid. The realisation dawned on me all at once. Aidan wasn’t as strong as he used to be. He’d said so, and now Raven was saying that his skill wasn’t very good, that he’d only been good because he was strong? But he wasn’t strong and he was relying on his skill in this, in his ability to craft things that made up the difference for him. That, and me, pathetic little me who could barely get a shield up when it was necessary.

  We weren’t going to be able to do this.

  I recognised that now, the horror of it all washing over me in waves. We were going to fail, the children would be sacrificed, and the city would fall. And after that, the world would go with it, I was sure.

  I stood up abruptly and took off, not wasting any time telling Raven where I was going.

  I had to warn Aidan.

  31

  IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO GET TO Aidan’s.

  I had to backtrack to my flat to get my car, then drive all the way to his place, and the entire time my brain was racing. I didn’t know what to do, and I wasn’t certain that Aidan would either.

  I slammed the car door shut, not bothering to lock it, and ran to the door.

  I beat my fist against it—heard him shouting for me to announce myself—until he opened the door.

  “What the fuck has you so riled up? I’m working,” he growled at me.

  “Exactly,” I snapped and brushed past him into the house.

  He shut the door behind me.

  “What does that mean? What’s got into you?” he asked.

  “I found the ritual site,” I blurted out. “And it’s not good, Aidan, we can’t handle it. You can’t handle it.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. You don’t know what I can or can’t handle.”

  “Oh? I don’t?” I snorted. “I’m sorry, was it some other amateur you begged to help you the other night? You don’t do that if you can handle it, Aidan.”

  “Oh, come on.” He waved a hand dismissively. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is my area. It’ll be OK.”

  “But it won’t, Aidan.” I refused to plead. It was tempting, but he was pissing me off so it wasn’t that hard to avoid it. “You’re being a stupid fucking pigheaded idiot!”

  He stared at me for a good minute, eyes wide, as if taking it in.

  And then he laughed at me. A loud, full belly laugh.

  I glared at him.

  “Pigheaded idiot, huh?” He snorted. “That’s one for the books.”

  “Oh, do not. Do not just ignore the situation and focus on that,” I snapped.

  “Pretty hard not to focus on that. Where did you even get that?” He chuckled.

  “Sod off. My head, you moron.” I spun in a circle, hands splayed. “And you’re still not paying attention!”

  He sat down on the couch, hooking one ankle onto his other knee. “So sorry, what am I paying attention to again?”

  I wanted to deck him.

  How could he possibly be such an arrogant sod about this? We were talking about a city destroying attack, happening tonight, and he was just going to laugh it off like it was nothing. I didn’t know what he had done in the past, what cases or missions or whatever he had worked on before, but this wasn’t something I could laugh about.

  This was my city about to be wiped off the face of the earth.

  “You’re supposed to be paying attention to the fact that I am standing here, telling you, that I found the ritual site. I looked at the spell work. And I don’t think you can handle it,
considering you’re fucking handicapped.” I bit out each word between clenched teeth.

  “OK, you need to sit down,” he said, the humour having left his face and certainly his voice. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t toss that in my face.”

  I rolled my eyes and threw myself into the chair I’d claimed the night before. “Fine.”

  I sounded like a petulant teenager, and I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

  He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “I understand that you’re concerned. But you are overreacting. You’ve been around magic for all of five seconds, you don’t even know what a ritual looks like, let alone what it can mean. You read it wrong.”

  My eyes bulged as I choked on my anger.

  But how could I explain it to him? Somehow I felt that, ‘hey, I met this talking raven and they took me to the ritual and showed me how to look at it and said you couldn’t handle it’ just…was not going to cut the mustard. Not that anything I said was going to anyway.

  I stood up slowly, shaking my head, clenching my fists to keep my hands from trembling with the anger inside of me.

  “I am not just going to stand around and help you go out in a blaze of stupid fucking glory!” I snarled. “You are an arrogant pig, you are going to get yourself killed, and I am not going to be a part of it. So, have fucking fun.” I turned and stomped towards the door.

  “Blair!” I heard him stand up behind me. I didn’t turn to look at him. “You have to trust me, I know what I’m doing,” he pleaded.

  I looked over my shoulder at him; I could only hope that the sadness didn’t show in my eyes. “That’s just it, Aidan. I don’t. I don’t trust you.”

  I turned my back on him and left the house.

  He might not be willing to make me seriously, but I wasn’t going to let him die.

  I wasn’t going to let my city be torn apart by revenge fuelled warlocks.

  I was going to do anything and everything I could to stop this.

  32

  TIME SEEMED TO MOVE IN SLOW motion as I went back to my flat. I couldn’t drive fast enough, people couldn’t get out of the way, the world just wasn’t travelling as quickly as I needed.

  It only took about twenty minutes.

  Every second it felt like I was letting everyone down. I barely managed to hold myself together, I was shaking with anger and anxiety and oh, God, it was all going to hell.

  I leapt out of my car and raced to the flat, slamming the door shut and bolting it behind me.

  I didn’t want anyone to see what I was going to do.

  “Malphas, Malphas, Malphas.” I chanted as I tore my jacket off and threw it onto the sofa.

  I couldn’t waste a second.

  He didn’t show up immediately and I wanted to scream.

  “Get your stupid self, down here!” I shouted, squeezing my eyes tight.

  When I opened them, he was standing in front of me, amusement softening the look of initial annoyance.

  “I did not think I would be hearing from you so soon.” He said, too calm and too collected for the frenzied panic that was sweeping me up inside. He seemed to recognise my inner turmoil in the next moment, stepping forward to brush a stray hair from my face.

  I flinched at the contact and he withdrew his hand.

  “What’s wrong?” he murmured.

  Don’t hit him. I reigned my temper in.

  “The ritual. Did you know Aidan wouldn’t be able to handle it?” I gasped the words out, fighting back the tears that burned my throat as soon as I spoke.

  “No.” He frowned. He almost looked insulted. “Wallace and I may have our differences, and excellent banter I might add, but I would never set him up for failure. Why? What’s happened?”

  I faltered, not certain if I should mention Raven or everything else that had happened today.

  “I found the site where the ritual’s going to take place. I looked at it. It’s too much for him. He isn’t as strong as he used to be.” Maybe I shouldn’t have told him that, maybe it was a mistake and maybe it would mean that Aidan wouldn’t trust me.

  Mal absorbed that information, his face serious and difficult to read. He nodded after a moment. “Then I will go to him.”

  I blinked in surprise, and abruptly shook my head. “No, don’t be an idiot. He won’t listen to you, he hates you. He wouldn’t even listen to me!”

  “I am aware that he is not fond of me.” A small amount of amusement in his voice this time. “I was not going to attempt to befriend him. I was going to offer my assistance.”

  “Because he was so willing to make any kind of agreement with you earlier.” I pointed out, acid in my tone.

  Mal closed his eyes, and I was given the impression that he was trying to disguise rolling them so as not to offend me. Whatever. I didn’t have time for that. “Again, I am aware. My assistance is not limited to grants of power or helpful advice. But I cannot physically step in and intervene without his permission. Perhaps if this was happening elsewhere in London, but it so happens that this is his jurisdiction, and I am incapable of disrespecting that.”

  Oh. That sounded nice for a moment, before I realised exactly what it meant. Aidan would have to agree to let Mal unleash power within London—I trusted Mal to follow through and assist us, but I knew that Aidan wouldn’t. I shook my head again, tears spilling over now. “No, that won’t work either, he wouldn’t let you, he’ll think you’re trying to take over or something stupid.” I choked on a sob, and collapsed onto the settee, feeling at a loss.

  Mal crossed the distance and sat beside me, gently placing his arm around me. “What would you have me do, Blair? I am aware of the part I played in bringing this distress to your door, and I would be a part in taking it away.”

  I’d known what I’d be asking for when I rushed here and called him down, but I was afraid to say it. Afraid to ask. Afraid of the consequences, but knowing that there wasn’t another option.

  Mal had only confirmed that by offering them and allowing me to shoot them down. I knew he had to see what I was going to ask for, but for some reason he did not broach the topic. Was he afraid of scaring me away from him? Did he think I hadn’t considered it?

  “Someone gave them power.” My voice was hoarse. “I want more.”

  His face shuttered closed immediately, and he pulled his arm away. He didn’t respond for several minutes after.

  I was confused, he was a demon, he had to be accustomed to receiving this kind of request daily. Why was he acting like it was such a sudden and serious moment?

  It was the only possible solution to the problem presented before us. The necromancers had been given power and knowledge. They would be able to inflict massive amounts of damage upon the city, and neither Aidan nor I had the necessary power it required to stop them.

  So, I needed to take it in some other fashion.

  “I do not exercise this caution with every request that is brought before me.” He said it with a little laugh at the end, as if it was humourous to him. Possibly it was. It wasn’t to me. “You need to understand the consequences that come from a pact of the magnitude you would require. We will be intrinsically bonded afterwards. You will be marked. You will owe a debt that I doubt you will be able to repay. These deals do not end well for those who accept them. That is the intended purpose, but there is no other way for me to pass such power into you.” His face was grim, and I could tell that he did not enjoy being the one who told me this. That was OK.

  I did not expect a blank cheque from him. He was a demon and I knew what I was getting into.

  Or at least that was what I told myself. I didn’t have time to second guess this decision.

  “OK.” I nodded my head, jutting my chin forward. “Is that it then? I just write you an IOU for payment and you get to the hocus pocus?” I asked, trying to make a joke to alleviate my nerves.

  He stood up and offered me his hand. “No. That is not ‘it then’. Unlike the barter for information with Wallace, this is a much mor
e serious agreement, and formalities will be required.”

  I accepted his hand and stood slowly, shaking ever so slightly. “What does that mean?”

  “Don’t you know how deals are sealed?” he asked, his eyes sparkling.

  I immediately stepped back. “You cannot be serious.”

  “Not always, no, but in this instance, yes.” He grinned. “It is the way these things work, the way they have always worked. There is wriggle room for the little things, with those that we know and have worked with. But with someone new, with something like this…” His voice trailed off and he shrugged. “It is what it is.”

  “No, that’s bullshit. You’re screwing with me.” I rolled my eyes. “This is like something from a bad movie.”

  He turned serious as he took a step towards me. “I am not joking, Blair. A pact is sealed with a kiss, all customs take from it in some form of another. We will be bonded.”

  My eyes widened, I tried to search for something else to say, something to stall this moment.

  Of course, with all the superstitions and myths surrounding demons, I couldn’t say the thought hadn’t entered my mind. It had. But I hadn’t really believed it, hadn’t thought that this was something that would seriously have to happen.

  He closed the distance between us, reaching to cup my cheek with one hand. I lifted my own, as if to push him away, but he caught it and held it prisoner.

  “This is what must happen. It is your choice, Blair, but it is the only way I can help you,” he breathed, the words filling the scarce space between us, and I felt my heart kick into hyper drive.

  I nodded my head, a jerky motion since I didn’t quite feel in control of my body. It was as if I was watching this moment from outside of my form.

  He lowered his head to mine, his lips just a hair’s breadth away for a moment that seemed to last a lifetime. I felt the tension escalating in the air around us, but I couldn’t move. Couldn’t break away, wasn’t entirely certain I wanted to.