Ash Addict
Page 23
It was too much to take in on this scale. They were obsessed by something entirely alien to us, unable to help themselves or stop what they were doing. A switch had flicked and this much free bounty had sent them somewhere truly dark. They stuffed themselves, gorged on something sacred, making strange mewling sounds as the ash hit their system and did something unfathomable inside. They were nothing but animals. Starved animals feasting like they hadn't fed in weeks.
"Come on, let's go," I said to Ivan.
He nodded mutely, unable to take his eyes off the pathetic creatures they'd become.
"Ivan, we haven't got long. We need to go."
"Look at him. What's wrong with him, all of them?"
I looked where he was staring, and there was Tasius, the once smartly dressed, self-assured man. He wasn't that man any longer. With two other men, he was squatting by a particularly badly burned corpse, little more than mounds of ash over the rough contours of a person. Tasius ran his hand frantically over the body, then licked his fingers and palms like they were coated in honey. He snarled when another tried to interfere with his prize, then he must have caught sight of us. He turned his head and stared for a moment, but I don't think we registered. His eyes were pure red, his features slack. There was no recognition, all he desired was ash and that was all he knew.
"Let's go," said Ivan. He turned to the others, equally mesmerized and silent at the sight, and told them to leave as fast as possible. As if breaking from a trance, they were gone.
The first rumblings of the wards breaking down vibrated the ground, the air fizzed and sang a sad song as magic filled the air.
"Give me the canister. Give me Mikalus," I told Ivan.
Numbly, he removed it from his pocket and handed it to me, not thinking, just acting. I walked over to the nearest hole and dropped it down into the warehouse. I returned to Ivan's side and he raised an eyebrow; I had no words.
Several moments of silence followed, but we had to escape this place.
"Fast as you like," I said as I jumped onto his back and wrapped my arms tight around his neck.
"You are kidding, right?" he said, unamused.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?"
"It's hard to tell, especially when you're behind me."
Ivan sped off into the early dawn.
Not long after we hit the forest, I heard the explosion as the wards completed their mission.
I didn't look back.
Never look back. Always focus on what's ahead.
Where I Should Be
"Did you read it?" asked George as she pushed a confusing-looking and shiny technical device under my nose.
"Um, no, did you?"
"Of course!"
I sipped my coffee and watched, amused, as George slumped into a chair and pulled her gadget close. Penelope and I exchanged glances and I smiled. I squeezed her knee under the table and she squealed.
"You really should read it," said George, looking beautiful as always, even if she was still in her pj's.
"Give me the highlights," I said, slurping what was probably the third best cup of coffee I'd ever had in my life. The first and second being those I'd consumed previously over the two hours I'd been home since we left the warehouse.
"Says an explosion at a local factory has destroyed acres of land and the entire building was basically incinerated. Nothing left but a few bricks. And," added George, "the report goes on to say that luckily there were no casualties and that everyone is now being returned to their homes after being evacuated for their own safety."
"Sounds about right. That's what happened, isn't it?" I took another mouthful of coffee and Penelope squeezed my knee in return, making me squeak and dribble it down my chin.
"No casualties! How can they do that?"
"Because it's Cerberus and they have a lot of influence and even more power."
"Dad!"
"What?"
"How can you be so calm? They killed hundreds of people, maybe more. Wizards and witches and vampires. Their own people too, I bet."
"Honey, I know, but sometimes you have to accept your defeat graciously and get on with life. I'm home, with you two, and that's all I care about, all I need."
"But they tricked you! They exploded all those artifacts, and what about the ashes? I thought they had to be destroyed permanently or Mikalus could rise again?"
"They do, and he will. But after being blown up like that it'll probably be, oh, a good few hundred years according to Ivan before the ash can come together again. And that's only if a very powerful person tries very hard to collect it all. Let someone else worry about that, or if I'm around I'll deal with it then. For now, let's just enjoy the peace."
As if on cue, my phone rang. I stared at it on the table, saw it was Vicky calling. "Or, maybe not." I sighed as I picked up the phone and answered.
Maybe I'd find peace when I was dead, although I doubted it.
The End
Book 9 is Death Calls.
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Read the Dark Magic Enforcer series for more magical mayhem.