by Sean Stone
Drew said nothing. His eyes fell from my face to the ground as something went on inside his head. He swallowed hard and rubbed his palms along the tops of his thighs.
‘What? What is it?’ I asked. I’d made him think of something. Something he didn’t seem to want to share.
‘Nothing. I just… You should rest.’ He stood up.
‘Is there something you’re keeping from me?’
He shook his head, but I could see the dishonesty in his face. ‘You nearly died today. Do not attempt that again.’
‘I nearly had—’
‘I know,’ he said firmly. ‘But the information you’ve learned presents us with better options. Magraval can’t convert magic. That means he relies on harvesting power from people. All we have to do is cut him off from his energy supply and then overpower him with enough magical muscle. He’ll hold his own for longer than most, but eventually he will succumb to the attack. Step one, we find him. Step two, we get a team of very powerful wizards together. Step three, we make sure he’s alone and we attack as one. Get some rest. We’ve got a lot of work to be getting on with. Jeremy will be here in the morning. Your strength should be back by then.’
‘Drew, what are you—’
‘Not another word, Jacob. You need to get your strength back so we can get this done. Tomorrow at noon there will be another attack. Neil said so on the news. The Orchids and the police are already stationed at every school in the city. You need your strength so we can be there to fight Magraval again. He’ll be alone and surrounded. Tomorrow we finish this.’
Drew turned off the light and closed the door treating me like a little kid. He was right though, I did need my strength. His plan was good too. But it would only work if we got to the location in time. Sangford was a big city, I’d only found Magraval today by luck. Tomorrow I might not be so lucky. I lay back down and closed my eyes planning to think things through until I fell asleep again. As soon as my eyelids closed sleep snatched me away.
Chapter Nineteen
When we headed out the next day the streets were pretty much empty. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a tumbleweed go rolling by. People had learned from yesterday’s attack that Neil’s threat had not been idle. Drew told me over morning coffee that the majority of parents in Sangford had refused even to send their children to school. School attendance was the worst in the city’s history. It was understandable given the circumstances. Nobody wanted to send their kid to a place where they might get blown up.
Every street had at least one police officer on it. The mayor was taking no chances. Dorian had concentrated the majority of his muscle on the schools, but everybody knew that Magraval might strike elsewhere. Going after people’s children was the easiest way to turn them against Dorian and if a few more schools exploded then furious mothers and fathers would be marching to Gray Manor, pitch-forks in hand.
Jeremy met Drew and me on the corner of Wilmington Street. I wondered if this was the location of his secret hideaway. He climbed into the back of Drew’s battered old Golf and buckled up. Once his seatbelt was in place he gave me a look that strongly suggested I do the same. It was odd how former teachers still had that authoritative air about them long after their students had become adults. I almost put my seatbelt on before I remembered that I didn’t have to follow his instructions. I didn’t leave my belt off because I sneered at safety protocols, it was off in case I needed to make a quick exit from the car. A few years ago I’d been chasing somebody and when I’d tried to get out of my car they’d hit my seatbelt with a spell that stopped me from unbuckling it. Since then, I’d rarely used the contraption.
‘Where are we meeting the others?’ Jeremy asked as Drew got the car moving again.
‘Simon is waiting for us at Sterling Academy,’ said Drew.
‘What has led him to believe Magraval will strike there today?’
‘Nothing. But the children of the people with enough power to cause him some bother attend that school. He wants that one protected.’
‘If I were Magraval, I’d definitely attack that place,’ I said. ‘Easiest way to make the most powerful people in Sangford more scared of him than Dorian.’
‘That would only work if Magraval threatened their children. Killing the kids right off the bat would only make the parents hate him more. And the city’s elite will never side with a man who hides behind a mask. They need to know who they’re getting into bed with,’ said Drew.
‘The Hall sided with him,’ Jeremy added.
‘No offence, but the Hall is hardly Sangford’s elite,’ I said.
Jeremy looked down into his lap. There was a time, long ago, when the Hall was the city’s elite. The Hall was one of the ruling bodies of the city. But those days were far behind them and no living mortal had ever witnessed the glory days. Dorian had put an end to them when he came to power.
‘Drew said you figured out my dullahan problem?’ I asked, wanting to change the subject before I caused too much offence.
His eyes flashed back to life. Nothing like a bit of research to put a spring in old Jeremy’s step. ‘It would seem that the dullahan cannot be out in the daytime. Why? I couldn’t tell you. Some creatures are too bizarre for explanation. What I can tell you is this; the dullahan lives in a cart. It pulls its cart from place to place and leaves it somewhere secure when it goes out on the hunt.’
‘So, somewhere in the city is some old-fashioned cart?’
‘Yes. Not that I know if it is old-fashioned or not. Since people generally do not make horse and carts anymore it must be fairly dated. But, I digress. You cannot destroy the dullahan by force. You can fight it all night long and still it will not be defeated. No matter what you throw at it, it will survive. Even if you crushed it under a ton of pure gold.’
‘As much as I enjoy being told how not to kill something, I’m really hoping that you’re going to end this lesson with how to kill it.’
Jeremy shook his head like a teacher with an unruly student. ‘As it happens, I am. There are two ways to stop it. The first, is to keep it from reaching its cart by daybreak. If the dullahan is still out when the sun rises then the first rays of light will smite it out of existence.’
‘And the second?’
‘Torch the cart. If you burn the cart to dust then the dullahan will have nowhere to retreat to.’
‘Couldn’t it just go inside somewhere?’ Drew asked. It was a worthy question.
Jeremy shook his head. ‘No. It has to be in its cart. I don’t know why, but those are the rules.’
‘Are you’re sure this is a real rule? It’s not one of those folklore rules that actually end up being utter nonsense, like that vampire one that got me when I was younger.’
Drew tipped his head back and cackled at the memory I’d invoked.
‘What vampire one would that be?’ said Jeremy.
‘Back when Jacob was eighteen he took on a vampire. Trying to prove himself. He walked into that fight so smugly. Then I saw his grand plan. Honestly, of all this boy’s blunders, this is still the best.’
‘Yes, thank you, Uncle,’ I muttered.
‘What was the grand plan?’
‘He threw a bag of rice all over the floor because he’d read in some book of bollocks that a vampire would be compelled to count every grain.’ Drew and Jeremy both erupted in fits of laughter that caused my cheeks to flare up like a cooked tomato.
‘Mind the road,’ I growled at Drew who was laughing far too much to be paying attention to driving.
‘What happened?’ Jeremy asked.
‘The vampire walked through the rice and kicked the shit out of him.’
‘It was a learning curve,’ I said. And the experience had provided me with a perfectly valid reason not to bother reading books again.
‘Yeah, thankfully it taught you not to try the next rule in the book.’ Jeremy raised one eyebrow for Drew to elaborate. ‘It said if you can take the left sock off a vampire’s foot then it has to do your bidding.
’
‘Where on Earth did you find this book?’ the librarian enquired.
I shrugged. ‘No idea.’
Thankfully, their mockery ended there as we arrived at Stirling Academy. Stirling Academy was the poshest secondary school in the city. Only the upper echelons of the city’s well-to-do got places there. Simon was standing by the tall, spike-tipped iron gates with a small army of Orchids around him. He was taking no chances this time. I already knew that Monroe had been sent to another possible location so we wouldn’t be seeing the vampire this morning.
I pushed open the car door and that’s when the explosion rocked the city. I felt the ground beneath me tremble and heard the panicked screams of those few who had dared to venture out. I leapt out of the car and looked about wildly. The school was still intact. Not a single brick had been displaced. I knew that it wasn’t the school because the explosion had sounded much farther away.
‘Where was that?’ Simon screamed at one of his underlings. Orchids started digging through their pockets for their phones, each of them eager to be the one to deliver the news to their boss. Drew beat them all to it. He had his phone in his hand and the explosion was already being reported on the local news station.
‘Centurion’s Hospital!’ Drew yelled. Then he added, ‘Get in.’
I jumped back in the car and Drew had us moving before I’d even closed the door. I saw Simon and his minions running to their own vehicles back at the school. If Magraval was still there this time he was going to have a small army to deal with.
The hospital was a burning husk when we arrived. Charred survivors were gathered on the opposite street, some were still pouring out of the wreckage. The fire brigade arrived at the same time as we did. Boots hit the ground, hoses were pulled free, and fire hydrants opened and accessed. Police and paramedics swarmed in to tend to the victims. Simon and the Orchids flooded out of their cars and fanned out, searching for Magraval.
‘This was where the survivors from yesterday’s attack were brought,’ Simon said, his face held a grim expression.
‘Shit,’ I said under my breath. Apparently Magraval did not want anybody to survive his attacks. Tomorrow would he target wherever today’s survivors were taken?
Magraval had not lingered this morning. He’d even struck earlier than the day before to make sure he was ahead of us. After the first ten minutes of searching it was clear that he’d already fled, but Simon insisted we continue searching. He was clearly too scared to report back to Dorian that we’d failed. It was only when Monroe arrived that the search was finally called off.
‘How the hell are we going to stop him when we have no idea where he’s even going to attack next? He only needs a few minutes to execute his plan and then he’s gone long before we can even get to the scene. We can’t plan effectively like this,’ I said in frustration.
‘Well you better come up with a plan fast and I mean in the next half an hour,’ said Monroe. ‘Dorian’s summoned us to the manor to answer for this. All of us.’
Chapter Twenty
‘I’ll take my leave at this juncture,’ Jeremy said, smiling politely to Drew and me. ‘I betrayed the oath I took when I became an Elder in order to help stop Magraval, but to directly associate with Dorian Gray is a step I am not willing to take. My brethren were right to seek ways to depose him, sadly they put their faith in the wrong individual.’
‘Right you are. On the last part at least,’ Simon said as he crept over to us. ‘However, Dorian has summoned all of us so all of us will attend.’
Jeremy turned to Simon with a tired expression on his old face. ‘Young man I have no intention of attending any such summons and despite your renowned skill you do not have what it takes to make me.’ Although his words were insulting he said them with such grace and decorum that they almost seemed quite complimentary.
‘I am more than willing to put that to the test.’
‘Leave him,’ Monroe ordered. ‘We don’t need him to come. Dorian hired Jacob and Drew. The Elder has no part in this.’
‘I don’t take orders from you, Monroe,’ Simon said, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
‘Since I’m second-in-command to Dorian himself, you do. But I won’t force the issue. Stay and fight the Elder if you want but I won’t allow a single person to help you. And unlike you, the Orchids here will follow my orders without hesitation.’
Simon’s lip twitched in annoyance. ‘Go then,’ he barked at Jeremy before striding back to his car.
Despite it only being midday, Dorian already had a whiskey in his hand when we entered the lounge. He was not the same man I’d seen two days ago. He was wearing one of his trademark, three-piece suits, but the tie hung loosely around his neck and the top button was undone. His hair, usually combed perfectly to the side, now hung down over his forehead. There was even a light stubble coating his chin. For the first time in my life, Dorian Gray was showing signs of stress.
‘What a fucking catastrophe,’ he muttered before taking a hearty swig of his drink. ‘Somebody tell me how we’re going to stop a third attack taking place because if that bastard blows up one more building the city will start to revolt.’
I knew that Dorian would have no problem slaughtering anybody who rose against him, but what would it cost him? How far could he push the people of Sangford before they finally marched together to kick him out?
Simon, Drew, and I stood in silence. We all knew the answer would fall on unappreciative ears. Monroe was the first to summon the balls to say it. ‘There’s no way to predict where he’ll strike next. Today he went for the place where yesterday’s survivors were. He’d be an idiot to do the same again tomorrow.’
‘Or maybe that’s what he wants us to think,’ I said. ‘He can adapt his plan at a moment’s notice. If we guard today’s survivors then tomorrow he’ll strike the school that we were guarding today.’
‘But if we guard the school again then he’ll go for the survivors,’ said Simon.
‘Exactly. He can adapt his plan because he can see which locations we’re guarding. If we focus on one place, he’ll target a different one. Today we guarded schools so he went for hospitals. The best way to trap him would be to leave one place seemingly unguarded. Make him think we’re guarding another place and then hide out at the unguarded place.’
‘But there are still too many places. We could guard a school and use a hospital as a trap, and he could just choose to strike a bank instead,’ said Drew.
‘So there is no way to stop him. Is that what you’re saying?’ Dorian snapped. It was unusual to see him so frustrated. He usually managed to mask his emotions perfectly.
‘I’ve got an idea,’ I said. ‘But you’re not going to like it.’
‘Hit me.’ He gestured for me to present my plan.
‘Give him what he wants. Hand yourself in to the police.’ I might as well have gone and pissed in his glass. Every face was on me as if I’d just insulted Dorian’s mother.
Dorian stared up at me with heavily-lidded eyes and I wondered if he’d been smoking weed as well. Dorian’s penchant for smoking cannabis was well-rumoured in the city. ‘I will assume that with all the fighting going on in the last couple of days you have sustained a rather serious head injury, because there is no way that in your right mind you would have ever suggested something so ridiculous,’ the immortal said venomously.
‘You obviously wouldn’t be arrested. If you hand yourself in to the police to answer for any charges brought against you then the onus shifts onto somebody else. Somebody else then has to find enough evidence to actually bring a case against you, and I think everyone in this room knows that nobody has that evidence. You come out of this looking like the good guy and Magraval will be forced to stop blowing things up,’ I said.
The room was quiet whilst everybody considered my proposal. I looked over at my uncle and he looked impressed. Surprised, but impressed. ‘It could work,’ Drew said. ‘I mean, why does Magraval want you to be arrested
and charged?’
‘So he can step into Dorian’s place and take control of the city,’ said Simon.
I shook my head. ‘I don’t think he’s that interested in running the city.’
‘No,’ agreed Monroe. ‘Besides, with Dorian preoccupied Simon and myself would step in to keep things going.’
‘He wants me away from you,’ said Dorian. ‘He wants to separate me from those who would defend me. Nobody at the police station holds any love for me. They wouldn’t defend me if Magraval came after me. Putting me safely in a police cell would be the same as offering me up for the taking.’
‘But why would he want you? He can’t kill you,’ I said
‘He wouldn’t need to. He could just bury me in cement, or keep me as his prisoner for the rest of his life. Who knows what that bizarre individual has planned.’
‘We can use this,’ said Drew. Tired of standing on ceremony, my tactless uncle helped himself to a seat on the sofa opposite Dorian. The immortal’s only reaction was a raised eyebrow. ‘Let the police take you into custody and when Magraval comes for you, we will all be waiting. This is the best way to ensnare him.’
Dorian laughed drily and looked up at Monroe. ‘I think somebody has put something into whatever the Graves family drinks. They’re both spouting ridiculous plans now.’ He turned back to Drew. ‘Do you seriously expect me to offer myself up as bait. Me?’
‘The plan might work. It would draw him out,’ Monroe said.
‘Magraval is not my only enemy. I cannot walk myself into a cage, I could be handing myself over to any one of them. The police could sell me off to the highest bidder.’