The Devil You Know (Jacob Graves Book 3)

by Sean Stone

  ‘I just don’t see it. He’s too arrogant. Too sure of himself. I think he’ll just be more careful from now on. I don’t think he’s done trying to mess with me just yet.’

  ‘Well, either way, it’s er… bad, what happened last night,’ he mumbled, eyes on the table and not me.

  ‘Is that your version of an apology?’

  ‘I’ll apologise when you do. Or we can drop it and move on.’

  I grabbed the pile of letters he’d delivered to me, choosing not to argue with him. For all his intelligence, my uncle was stubborn to the degree of stupidity. How could he think that me presenting a theory that upset him was in any way equal to him stranding me and almost getting me killed? Outrageous.

  Most of the letters were just invoices. When I was a kid I used to love opening letters, since becoming an adult I’d learned to tell what a letter was without even opening the envelope. I tossed them aside one by one until I came to one I was not expecting. In the corner of the envelope next to the stamp was the emblem of the Hall of Wizardry. Drew saw it too and he sat up straighter.

  I tore open the envelope and pulled free the folded paper inside. It was thick and expensive, and the letter was written by hand in radiant red ink. The colour of the ink gave away the writer. Each Elder’s department was associated with a colour. Red was the colour of the Spells Master — Marcus. I looked up at my uncle and we shared a foreboding look. Marcus was not a fan of mine on account of me having possessed him in the not-so-distant past. I needed access to the Hall and his was one of the few bodies that could pass through the protections and get me to the most restricted areas. This letter would undoubtedly tell me how he planned to get his revenge.

  I read the letter.

  Dear Mr. Jacob Graves,

  You are hereby summoned to attend a hearing of the Council of Elders at the Hall of Wizardry. You are to answer for the crimes of:

  1. Attacking an Elder of the Hall of Wizardry

  2. Using forbidden magic.

  I would like to remind you that as a wizard you are bound by the laws set by the Elders of the Hall of Wizardry, as well as the laws set by the government of this country. It is the will of the Council that we will not be reporting your crimes to the police but you must attend the Hall upon receipt of this summons. Any delay will result in further action being taken against you. Please also be reminded that the nature of your crimes has been classified as critically severe and as such any action taken against you will be final.

  Yours sincerely,

  Marcus Noble

  Spells Master

  I slid the letter across the table for my uncle to read. His eyes passed over the words in seconds and then he dropped it down on the wooden surface.

  ‘Ridiculous man,’ Drew growled. ‘If he thinks his empty threats are going to scare you into going in there. Let him go to the police, Dorian’ll get you off within the hour. He’s got nothing and he knows it.’

  ‘I think it’s a good idea to go to the Hall,’ I said, and then waited for the backlash.

  ‘And that’s why I do the thinking in our team. If you walk in there you’ll never walk out again. He won’t actually do anything if you don’t attend. Dorian will protect you from the Hall. Loathe as I am to accept anything from that man.’

  ‘First off, I don’t need protection.’ I almost certainly did, but I didn’t want to admit it. The Hall had hundreds of wizards and witches, and Marcus alone was one of the best fighters in the country. I could possibly beat him one-on-one, but I couldn’t take on the full might of the Hall. ‘Second, going to the Hall is the best chance to try and find out where Magraval is. One of them must know something. If I can get them to let it slip.’

  ‘That’s stupid, Jacob. They are not just going to accidentally tell you where their boss is. And even if they did, you’d never get out of there again. They aren’t calling you in for a chat, they’re calling you in to punish you.’

  ‘It’s a hearing. I can talk my way out of trouble.’

  Drew stared at me flatly. ‘The only thing you’ll do is talk you way into more trouble.’

  ‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’

  ‘The only way I’ll allow you to go in there is with a fool proof escape plan.’

  ‘Allow me? I’m not a child, Drew.’

  ‘How do you plan to get out of there?’

  ‘Dorian believes I’m the one who can defeat Magraval.’ Dorian asked a magic mirror how to solve his Magraval problem and the mirror showed him an image of me. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but I’d seen the mirror and it showed me an image of a person who turned out to be the answer to my problem. Of course, since my problem was getting into the Hall, and the answer was Marcus, it could be said that the solution had brought more trouble to my door.

  ‘If the Elders try to arrest me Dorian will storm the Hall by force. You never know, an attack like that might draw Magraval out, or goad him into making a mistake.’

  Drew stood up and ran his hands over his close-cropped hair. ‘This is stupid, Jacob.’

  ‘I’m doing it. Unless you come up with some other way to find Magraval.’

  ‘You won’t learn a damn thing by going in there. But if you’re going in then I’m going with you.’

  ‘That’s not a good idea. If they do arrest me they’ll arrest you too.’

  ‘No they won’t. They may well be arrogant, self-aggrandising pricks, but they follow their own rules. I haven’t committed any crimes against them. I’m your companion, not your accomplice.’

  I could see I wasn’t going to be able to talk him out of it and that was fair, after all I wouldn’t let him talk me out of it. Frankly, I’d feel a lot safer with Drew by my side, even if he couldn’t cast magic on account of his Clausateum, a disease that stopped wizards from being able to convert energy into magic.

  I got ready and the two of us headed straight down to the Hall. The letter hadn’t given a time or date to attend the summons, but the Elders had ways of telling when their letters were delivered. They’d know I got the summons today and they’d know I opened it. Magic was handy like that.

  The great stone steps that led up to the Hall of Wizardry were void of any sign of life. Any passers-by would’ve thought the building was abandoned. I was not fooled. I knew that security was higher than it had ever been before. Either side of the tall double doors stood a statue of an elderly wizard. Most people called them the Merlins. They were enchanted to make sure that only wizards and witches passed through them. The night that Dorian’s Orchids had attacked the Hall, a Fae had broken the statues and rendered their protection moot. The Elders had prioritised their repair. If the rumours were to be believed then the Hall’s fortifications were stronger than they ever had been.

  Last time I’d been on the steps they’d been decorated with dead wizards and witches who had dared oppose Dorian. Their corpses were now gone but the blood stains remained. The white stone was littered with faint red.

  ‘Why didn’t they get rid of the stains?’ I asked. It would have been easy enough for wizards as powerful as the Elders to clear up some blood stains.

  ‘They probably want to remind everybody there’s a war going on. Scaring people into choosing a side,’ Drew said as we climbed up to the building.

  ‘Risky move. Most people are too scared to side against Dorian so it’s not going to help them.’

  ‘People are fed up of him too. He’s been ruling this city for over a century now. People are tired of the little prick.’

  We reached the doors and I attempted to push them open. Usually they were left open but these were dangerous times. The doors did not budge under my hand. ‘Locked,’ I said to my uncle.

  ‘First time in my life they’ve ever been locked before. Even at night they only close them,’ Drew said. He reached across me and jabbed the doorbell to the right of the doors. I didn’t hear it go off but a few moments later I heard the grating of metal and one of the doors began to open. It opened only a few feet, just large
enough for a single man to stand in the gap and look out at us. I noticed that he was careful not to step over the threshold. Any magical protections he was enjoying would be gone if he pushed even a toe outside.

  ‘Yes?’ he said impatiently.

  ‘My name is Jacob Graves. I’ve been summoned,’ I said, making sure my tone conveyed how seriously I really took the authority of the Elders.

  ‘I was told to expect you. And this is?’ He looked Drew’s way.

  ‘I’m his companion. Drew Graves.’

  ‘No unnecessary people are allowed entry into the Hall. You’ll have to wait outside.’

  ‘He has the right to be accompanied by a member of the Hall. That’s me,’ Drew growled. Brilliant, we were going to get into a fight before we’d even made it inside.

  ‘Usual rules have been suspended. This is wartime,’ the doorman said flatly. It was clear that Drew was not going to get his way unless he planned on battling his way inside the building.

  ‘Drew, it’s fine. If you’re outside you can make sure I actually come out again. If I’m not back in… shall we say three hours?’ He nodded. ‘If I’m not back by then make contact with the right people.’ I made sure not to mention Dorian’s name. If the Elders had evidence that I was working with their enemy then they’d definitely arrest me. They certainly already knew I was working for Dorian, but without hard evidence they couldn’t sentence me for it. My job today was to convince them that my actions against Marcus had been of my own accord and nothing to do with Dorian. It was an impossible task and the more I thought about it the more I realised that I shouldn’t have come here. But it was the only way to learn where Magraval might be. If I was unlucky he’d be here. There was no way I would be able to kill him whilst he was surrounded by the majority of his supporters.

  Drew glared at me. I was getting my wish to go in alone and he now had no choice but to accept it. Unless he planned on subduing me on the steps and dragging me home. ‘Fine,’ he muttered, accepting defeat. ‘You’ve got three hours.’ He turned and stomped back to his car.

  Once he was gone the doorman stepped back and opened the door just wide enough for me to step through. I stepped over the threshold and entered the belly of the beast.

  Chapter Five

  I knew they’d beefed up security at the Hall, but I was not prepared for the show of force that met me on the other side of the doors. The circular lobby had been completely repaired since the battle and it now looked almost exactly as it had before, unlike the steps outside. The only difference was the absence of the reception desk. I guess they wouldn’t be needing that since visiting was by invitation only. The lobby was full of people. Not the usual people milling about, but people standing guard. There were probably about fifty of them, all standing in neat formation. Three rows stood neatly on one side of the room and three on the other. They faced each other leaving a wide gangway for me to pass through them all. They weren’t wearing the usual uniform of the Hall which consisted of robes in the colour of their department. Magraval had done away with the robes and modernised the appearance. Some of them wore shirts that matched the colour of their department. The reason only some were in uniform was obvious. The Hall had called all its members to arms. That meant many of the people now residing in this building were not employed by the Hall, but still saw the Elders as an authority. Wizards and witches from all over the city who either hated Dorian’s regime or were too scared of the Elders to disobey them. Personally, I didn’t see who could be scared of a bunch of old relics. Their power only existed within the walls of the Hall. Outside they were nothing.

  Although there was no uniform, I noticed that every one of them was wearing the Hall’s emblem on their chests. The five coloured stripes: green, red, purple, yellow, and blue. Only now the badge had a new addition. On top of the colours was the outline of a silver mask, the colours displayed through it. The message was clear; those loyal to the Hall were now soldiers in Magraval’s private army. He was ready to wage war on Dorian and I could only assume he was waiting for the right moment to strike. Or he was waiting for Dorian to throw the first punch.

  I wondered if the Elders were still happy with their decision to appoint Magraval as their Prime Wizard. Especially after his admission during the battle that he didn’t care about the city, he’d happily burn it down if it meant hurting Dorian. None of the Elders had been there to witness that so it was likely the news had never reached them.

  ‘This way,’ the doorman said as he brushed past me. The gangway that led through the Hall’s guards went right up to the door that led to the Room of Hearings. There seemed to be no other guards along the way so they obviously didn’t think I was going to cause any trouble. They’d focused their force on the lobby, the only entrance to the building.

  ‘Good luck,’ the doorman said as he pushed open the doors to the hearing room and announced my arrival. ‘Jacob Graves. Defendant in hearing 46912!’

  I followed him into the familiar room. I’d had a hearing not so long ago where I’d had to explain why I was letting a phoenix-born run rampant through the city. I wasn’t letting him do any such thing, I just hadn’t figured out how to kill him.

  The pews for the audience stood empty. Nobody had been invited to attend this hearing. Marcus would never allow it to become common knowledge that I’d not only managed to beat him in a fight — I had help from an Elven friend — but that I’d also possessed his body and used him to break past the security of the Hall. He was probably embarrassed enough.

  The ancient table that stood at the head of the room was attended by four of the Elders. Jeremy, the Library Keeper, and a Graves family friend sat on the left. Marcus was next looking like he was chewing a wasp. The tallest chair for the Prime Wizard was empty, as I’d expected it to be. Magraval was keeping himself hidden and wasn’t going to reveal himself for a trivial matter like this. Next was Agatha, the Potions Mistress, and finally Paul, the Explorations Master.

  As I walked through the little wooden gate that separated the audience from the defendant I looked over each of their faces, trying to deduce what they were thinking. Marcus, quite predictably looked furious. Jeremy and Agatha had almost the exact same expressions on their faces. They looked tired, defeated, and utterly haunted. Clearly they had not anticipated things getting so bad when Magraval had been appointed. As I recalled Jeremy had been the only one to vote against his appointment. Paul looked simply bored. I could understand why. The Explorations Master wasn’t used to spending much time in the Hall. His job was to explore the world looking for new ways of magic, new creatures, and new things to learn. Obviously in the modern age there was far less exploring to do, but he still spent most of his time travelling and not engaging in the politics of the Hall. Now he was grounded until the war was over.

  I took my place behind the podium and waited for the proceedings to begin. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to play this to my advantage, but I had to get something out of them. If I left empty handed then Drew would likely beat me into oblivion.

  ‘Jacob Graves, you have been summoned here—’ Marcus began only to get cut off as the door behind the Elder’s table swung open.

  ‘Hold on, hold on!’ A new voice said. A boy with short curly brown hair stepped up to the table and stood in the very centre behind the Prime Wizard’s chair. He looked no older than twenty, if that. All of the Elders looked at him, each of them showing varying degrees of outrage. Even Jeremy was taken aback at the boy’s interruption. The boy wore a red shirt with a black waistcoat over the top. He worked in Marcus’ department.

  ‘What do you think you are doing?’ Marcus demanded glaring at his subordinate intently.

  ‘Apologies for the interruption, Elders. Prime Magraval sent me with this.’ He held up a rolled up sheet of paper bound together with a purple seal. The Hall was in dire need of some modernisation. Marcus snatched it from the boy’s young fingers and practically tore it open.

  ‘This is an outrage!’ Marcus y
elled, throwing the slip of paper back at the boy. ‘Get out of here before I reduce you to ashes you impertinent brat.’

  The boy squirmed, his expression caught between anger and fear. ‘Those are the Prime’s instructions,’ he said slowly.

  ‘Let me see,’ said Agatha. She held out her hand and the paper flew up from the floor and landed in her palm. Her eyes moved carefully over the words written, her eyebrows climbing ever higher the more she read.

  ‘What does it say?’ Paul asked, looking a little more interested than previously.

  ‘Prime Magraval has sent Neil to sit in his place. From now on all of the Prime’s instructions will be delivered through Neil. He is the Prime’s word and will.’ Agatha let the paper fall to the table as she looked at the boy in surprise. ‘How did you manage to secure such a position?’

  It was unheard of for a Prime to leave anybody who was not an Elder in charge. And to grant the position to a subordinate of the Elders was unthinkable. At least it was to those at the Elder’s table.

  ‘I step in for the Prime when he is not present. Me!’ Marcus snapped.

  ‘The paper is quite clear,’ Agatha told him. ‘You have been stripped of that privilege as a punishment for your failings.’

  ‘My failings…’

  ‘It is because of you that the security of the Hall was breached,’ Paul said.

  ‘Many of our members died because of your failings,’ Agatha agreed.

  ‘I will not allow this insult. That boy is my subordinate. I will not have him positioned above me.’

  ‘You invited Magraval here. Now you have to accept the consequences of your actions,’ Jeremy told him sternly.

  ‘Oh, I will not be told my place by a book keeper.’