The Devil You Know (Jacob Graves Book 3)

by Sean Stone

  We both struck at the same time, me with fire, and Simon with ice. Streams of red and blue shot toward the Prime Wizard. Magraval lifted his arms and a defensive bubble sprung to life around him, our spells hit the surface and were consumed by it. The bubble rippled with each bit of magic that touched it. I dropped my attack seeing the futility of it. Simon followed suit and dropped his arms. Magraval moved faster than either of us could anticipate. With a quick thrust of both his hands he drew the power from our spells out of his bubble shield and flung it right back at us.

  My shield was only halfway up when the spell hit me. Searing pain seized my chest and I was flung off my feet. My body smashed into the rough surface of the road and my sleeve tore exposing my skin to the age-hardened tarmac. I was pleased to see Simon had been taken by surprise and brought to the ground too. That meant I wasn’t just being a liability.

  ‘My, my, what a poor show,’ Magraval said as he stepped out into the middle of the road. Simon and I drew up either side of him. We had him trapped in the middle of us. But he knew it. He’d positioned himself there because he was safe in the confidence of his own abilities. ‘Where’s the passion you came at me with last time? Gentlemen, did coming up short against me damage your egos? Have you lost your mojo?’

  I lashed out with another spell and Simon did so mere seconds after. Magraval moved quickly, deflecting the spells with his hands. He only managed to stop Simon’s at the last moment. If Simon had only been faster.

  I had an idea. Simon could stand here and parry with Magraval all afternoon. We couldn’t break through the power behind Magraval’s defences and he couldn’t get past our skill. I might not be able to hold that much power at once, but maybe if I didn’t hold onto the power I could throw an almost limitless amount at him. If I used a lethal spell against him and kept the spell going then the power would be flying out of me at a dangerous rate. But if I was constantly siphoning more power from my surroundings then I would be able to overpower him. Magraval’s defences would never be able to hold against a continuous torrent of power.

  I drew in a deep breath as if that would open up extra capacity for the magic I was about to throw Magraval’s way.

  ‘Rabole!’ Magraval said, whacking me lightning fast. It was as if he’d intuited what I’d been about attempt. His attack wasn’t that powerful, it was too hasty to put any real strength behind it. Still, it was enough to send me down to one knee.

  Several cars came flying around the corner and screeched to a halt some way behind Simon. The sound caught my attention from behind me and I turned to see more cars skidding to a stop. I turned sideways, keeping Magraval in my sight but also allowing me to see the newcomers.

  ‘Relax, Jacob,’ Simon said, ‘they’re with us.’

  The car doors swung open and Orchids came spilling out. Some held magical weapons, and some wielded nothing but their hands. The last to climb out was Monroe, his expression sullen as if this whole thing was a major inconvenience for him. ‘Graves,’ he mumbled as he stopped at my side.

  I turned back to Magraval, but his back was to me, his attention utterly captivated by who was on the other side of Simon. At the helm of the Orchids on the other end of the street was none other than Dorian Gray himself. He was dressed in a light grey, three-piece suit. Either he didn’t care that it was about to get ripped to shreds, or he didn’t expect the violence to actually touch him. As he walked forward, his thousand-pound shoes hitting the pavement loudly, he spread his arms widely inviting Magraval to attack. The nonchalant smile on his face told Magraval how threatened Dorian felt by him.

  ‘Dorian!’ Magraval yelled, his voice pure glee. ‘I’m so excited to finally see you face to face after all these years.’

  ‘Soak it in fast because you don’t have long to enjoy it,’ Dorian said quietly.

  The Orchids behind Dorian sprang forward but before they could attack Magraval moved his hand in a sweeping motion at the entire lot of them. ‘Aser tolata,’ he said. Several blades slashed through the air cutting right through the stomachs of the approaching Orchids.

  Dorian stopped moving and looked about in horror at his fallen minions. Simon stepped forward, unleashing an attack but Magraval blocked it just in time. The force of the spell knocked him back a step or two but kept him on his feet. I raised my arm, but before I could attack a black blur shot past me and sent Magraval crashing to the ground. The blur was Monroe who now stood staring down at the fallen wizard. Monroe reached for him, but his hands met Magraval’s newly erected shield. The vampire backed up a couple of steps, wrinkling his nose in annoyance.

  Magraval pulled himself to his feet slowly, trying to hide his surprise and pain. ‘Who brings a vampire to a wizard fight?’ he said as he backed up toward the steps. He was afraid of Monroe, just like everybody else in the city. Everybody left standing advanced on him, closing him in. Not that he was trapped. The Hall was at his back, a literal safe haven. None of us would be able to reach him once he was within those walls. Even those of us who could get inside would not survive the many wizards and witches who protected it. Not to mention the enchantments.

  ‘Someone who knows how to win,’ Dorian said smoothly. ‘I’ve been at this game for a hundred years, boy. You don’t have a hope of beating me. Surrender now and I’ll show you mercy.’

  ‘Mercy,’ Magraval said as if trying the word out on his tongue, still backing up. ‘Like the mercy you showed me last time?’ He was suddenly serious giving me pause for thought. He’d slipped up. He’d given something away, let something slip. Revealed something about his past. Though it could still apply to either Roland or Sam.

  ‘If I was benevolent enough to show you mercy last time we met, then you should have taken that mercy and been thankful. You should not have come back here.’

  Nobody was paying any attention to Neil. The boy, freed from the paralysis now that the spell had worn off, sprung to his feet. He ran down the steps to his master, his hand fumbling around in his pocket as he moved. He pulled out his hand and the tiny green spec spun through the air.

  ‘No!’ I screamed, but there was nothing anybody could do to stop it.

  The raisin hit the ground directly behind Magraval. A green pool swirled into existence on the stairs. Magraval’s lips stretched widely. ‘It was good of you to show me mercy last time, Dorian. But when the time comes I will show you none.’ The Prime Wizard took a final step back and his body slipped through the portal, the green stuff eating him up from his ankles to his head. I watched his shiny silver eyes vanish beneath the emerald surface. The doors at the top of the steps slammed shut as Neil slipped to safety. Our opportunity had slipped through our fingers and now Magraval would live long enough to make good on his promise tomorrow.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dorian stared at the spot where the portal had been. His eyes were dark with irritation. ‘Do we know how he conjures portals like that?’ he asked to nobody in particular.

  ‘I’m working—‘

  ‘Yes, I know,’ Drew said over Simon. I turned to see my uncle wading through the Orchids surrounding us. My uncle’s presence brought me more than a little relief. I no longer felt like I was standing alone surrounded by potential enemies.

  Dorian turned toward the Orchids after seeing who had spoken. ‘Are you letting anyone walk right up to me now?’ he demanded. Several of them promptly shat themselves.

  ‘Form a proper guard!’ Monroe snapped, and they all got moving at once.

  ‘You were saying, Drew?’ Dorian said, suddenly smooth and friendly. The guy changed moods like the wind.

  ‘It’s Fae magic,’ Drew said. Dorian, Monroe, and Simon all shared a troubled glance.

  ‘Fae magic. The Fae are helping Magraval?’ Dorian asked, there was an almost excited look in his eyes. I had no idea why.

  Drew shook his head. ‘I’ve got no evidence of that. But it is Fae magic. Any skilled wizard can create a portal, but as you know it is fixed in place. Wizards can’t just whip up a new port
al wherever they please. What Magraval has done is set up a portal and then created little magical keys to access that portal from anywhere.’

  ‘The raisins are keys?’ I asked. Drew closed his eyes and shook his head wearily at me.

  ‘They aren’t raisins, but yes. Now, portal key creation is a power that, as far as I can tell, humans do not have. Fae, however, do.’

  ‘And how did Magraval get his hands on Fae magic?’ Dorian said thoughtfully. He turned to Simon, eyebrow raised.

  ‘I have no idea,’ Simon said.

  ‘Look into it. Other than the Fae we are the only humans who should have access to such things. And since we do have access to such power, I want you to replicate this portal key magic. If we can do the same then perhaps we can find a way to hijack Magraval’s keys.’

  ‘I shall see it done,’ Simon said, though he looked anything but confident. So Dorian’s people had access to Fae magic. That was an interesting bit of information. If only he’d let slip how they came by such a luxury.

  ‘Is this the best place to stand and strategize?’ Monroe asked, looking pointedly at the Hall of Wizardry. The doors were closed, but just inside stood plenty of wizards and witches who were all aligned against Dorian. If they came out we would be overrun. No amount of skill would match up to the numbers they had.

  Dorian cast his eyes up at the Hall and then turned away dismissively, as if it was nothing to him. ‘I think we’re done here anyway. Simon has some research to do. Monroe, you need to return to persuading the vampires to rethink their allegiance with Magraval. I don’t care how. And, Jacob, Magraval needs to die. Preferably before he makes good on the threat that child delivered on this morning’s news.’

  I answered with a simple nod. I didn’t need reminding of my job. What I needed was a new lead. Magraval and Neil had both vanished to… well that was the problem, I had literally no idea where they could have gone. The only way of finding Neil or Magraval would be to wait until one of them showed their head again, which might not be until the attack tomorrow.

  Dorian sauntered away with his guards and the other Orchids followed. Nobody stayed to clean up the corpses of the Garland family. I supposed Dorian wanted to leave them as a warning to everybody, even though it had actually been Magraval who had done it. That was an even better warning; look at what your leader did to his own follower.

  As I looked down at the lifeless form of Neil’s sister I wondered what kind of a person was Neil? Why had Neil still helped Magraval when the blood of his family was still wet on the ground? What had Magraval done to command such loyalty from him? The blood…

  One of the easiest ways to locate a person was by using a tracking spell. To track somebody effectively you needed something strongly connected to them. Something like their DNA. I had a pretty huge collection of Garland DNA right in front of me. If the blood of his immediate family didn’t lead me to Neil, then there was no way I was going to find him.

  I knelt down, pulling out an empty phial from my pocket. It might seem like a strange thing to carry around but I often get into situations like this. I’d learned to come prepared. I filled the phial with the blood of Neil’s sister, then I pulled out two more to take blood from the other two relatives. It was possible that one of the other’s blood might yield better results. Magic was weird like that. It didn’t always make a lot of sense.

  ‘How badly did it go?’ Drew asked, coming up beside me.

  ‘About as expected. He’s too strong and he knows it.’

  ‘See any weak points in his technique?’

  I shook my head. ‘Maybe, actually,’ I said as I remembered something. ‘He’s got a short fuse. Maybe if I could wind him up enough he’d get sloppy and make a mistake. I’ve got a plan to take him down.’ I told Drew about my idea of constantly converting new magic so I could maintain the same spell until it overpowered him.

  ‘You want to use yourself as a conduit? Bad idea.’ He dismissed it at once.

  ‘Why?’ I finished filling the last phial and stood up, slipping it into my inside pocket with the other two.

  ‘You think the energy wouldn’t cause you any harm because you wouldn’t have it inside you for long. Wrong. It would still be moving through you and that much power flying through you at that rate will ravage your body. You wouldn’t be able to keep it going for more than a couple of minutes. And then you’d be likely to collapse from exhaustion. Worst case scenario, the power would blow you up.’

  Well, that was slightly off-putting. ‘Maybe a couple of minutes is all I’d need. Two minutes of pure, concentrated power should be enough to kill Magraval.’

  ‘You’re right, it should be.’ Drew turned and began walking back to his car leaving me with no choice but to follow. Not that I wanted to hang about and wait for the Hall’s members to come out and attack me. ‘But should be doesn’t apply to Magraval. He’s an anomaly. He’s perverted his body to the point where he barely registers as human anymore.’

  Drew’s words flew into my head and rang a metaphorical bell. ‘Magraval killed those Fae,’ I said, remembering what Jasmine had told me about the dried up husks that had been found outside the Fae Woodland.

  ‘What’s your theory?’ We reached his Golf and Drew pulled open the door. I had my own car just around the corner so thankfully I wouldn’t have to ride in the peasant-mobile.

  ‘Jasmine told me that the Fae bodies had no signs of a human attack. What if Magraval did it? You just said he’s perverted his body beyond humanity. And when he siphons the life-force out of people…’ I didn’t want to recall the image of Magraval sucking the life out of my father and leaving him a withered old man. His face transformed into something monstrous when he did it. Something not human.

  ‘Magraval doesn’t kill people when he does that, it just ages them.’

  ‘Maybe it works differently on Fae. Has anybody ever tried doing it to one of them before?’

  Drew shook his head, the realisation that I could be right crept into his eyes. ‘Nobody would be that stupid. You think he’s doing this to make the Fae attack Dorian?’

  ‘He said he wanted to burn the city down around Dorian. He just didn’t count on his attack not looking human.’

  Drew’s grip tightened on the top of the car door turning his knuckles white. ‘You might be on to something. But it doesn’t matter right now. Their problems have got nothing to do with us. We need to focus on finding and killing Magraval.’

  ‘Yeah, about that…’ I looked about me for some inspiration before I brought up the most tender of topics once again. At least he couldn’t leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere this time. ‘Magraval gave a little speech to Neil right before he murdered his family.’

  ‘Oh yeah?’ Drew’s posture turned rigid. He knew where this was going.

  ‘He said that family was nothing but a disappointment and it was better to get rid of them.’ I was paraphrasing, but the gist of it was the same.

  ‘What’s your point?’

  ‘Seems like something Sam might say. He left here hating us.’

  ‘We did nothing to disappoint him!’ Drew barked. He drew in a deep, furious breath. ‘I can’t believe you’re bringing this up again.’ He slammed his car door shut and took several angry strides away from me before turning back. ‘Roland is Magraval. When I handed him over to Dorian, Roland asked his family to lie to get him out of trouble. They refused. They wanted nothing to do with him once they found out what he’d been up to. Roland’s family turned their backs on him. Roland is Magraval. Sam is dead.’

  ‘You’re always going on about being prepared for every eventuality. What if I’m right. What if we pull that glamour off and it is Sam behind it. Do we still kill him? If not, what do we do? How would you like to deal with your son?’

  ‘That monster is not my son,’ Drew said. He tore open his car and flung himself into the driver’s seat. ‘Find Magraval. Kill Magraval. That’s all you have to do. Leave the thinking to me.’ The car’s engine roared
to life and he sped away before I could respond. Actually, his crappy car’s engine kind of grunted to life rather than roared.

  The more he argued with me the more he made me think I was right. My cousin was behind that glamour. Drew would never forgive me if I killed his son which left me in a bit of a quandary. It was one of those situations I was just going to have to try and figure out when the time came. Burn that bridge when we come to it and all that.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I didn’t go straight home. I should have done. I had three phials of blood that could lead me to Neil, and by association Magraval. But something in the back of my mind told me that it wouldn’t work. A wizard who could create portal keys and hold off the most skilled wizards in the city would have found a way to mask his minions from tracking spells.

  I found a quiet patch of grass next to the river to sit on. The area was empty and I was alone. Alone apart from those who lived within the waters that stretched out before me. A cool breeze blew over my face and ruffled my hair lightly. I gazed across the rippling water as it flowed gently by and I hoped that Leah would emerge. I would have paid any price to have seen her head slowly ascend from the depths of the river. It was strange how I’d let her get so close to me. She was supposed to manage my business and that was all. Yet somehow, she’d managed to seep into other areas of my life. Areas that were supposed to be closed off to everybody.

  No attachments, I thought and laughed. No matter how hard you try to keep people out of your head, they always have ways of creeping up on you.

  ‘Loving the bling.’ My heart actually skipped a beat at the sound of the nymph’s voice, but I realised quickly that it was the wrong sister. I looked up and saw Jasmine strolling toward me, her high-heels sinking into the grass giving her a pretty funny walk. Classy it was not.

  ‘Got a dullahan after me,’ I replied, pulling at the ugly chain that hung from my neck.

  ‘I remember. How exciting.’