The Devil You Know (Jacob Graves Book 3)

by Sean Stone

  ‘It’s a good thing Drew never found out about our secrets duels. If he knew that I secretly kicked the crap out of you on a weekly basis then his shame would’ve dropped to even lower levels.’ My words found their mark and the humour on Sam’s face was swallowed by something far darker. ‘Still, he didn’t need to be ashamed for long, did he? Only until you did a runner and then he could concentrate solely on the son he always wished was his.’

  Saying the words made me feel despicable, even after all Sam had done, but I forced them out nonetheless because I had a job to do and my cousin needed to be stopped. I could hardly let him continue his daily tour of destruction around the city. The words had their desired result. Sam drew back his lips in a vicious snarl as he hurtled down the aisle toward me. I braced myself for impact knowing that his strength was doubled.

  I grunted as I was knocked back. I tried to steady myself but as I trod down with my right foot the floor beneath it moved, pulling my leg away behind from me. I realised I’d hit the escalator just a moment before the moving ground suddenly dropped and my entire body was pulled down. I reached out frantically with my hands and managed to grab hold of Sam’s jacket. He was too slow to stop me from dragging him down the escalator with me.

  We hurtled down the metal stairs and I swear I hit every step on the way down. I felt the sharp metal edges of each step bruising a fresh part of my body. I hit the hard floor at the bottom and remained still. Pain pulsed throughout my body and blood trickled from various places. The pain was so great that for just a brief moment I thought I was actually going to die. I ground my teeth together and forced healing magic through my body. My pain eased but that was the best I could do, I wasn’t able to heal myself fully.

  Sam was pulling himself up just a short way from me. It was time to remind Sam who the stronger cousin had always been. Declining to make the super mistake that people often make on the television, I ran in silence at my cousin. He had his back to me so the only indication of my approach was the sound of my feet hitting the linoleum. Sam turned but it was far too late for him to do anything now.

  ‘Magribus,’ I whispered. Power flooded into my arms, enlarging my muscles and increasing my strength. I still wouldn’t be able to match Thor’s belt, but it would give me a bit more of a chance. Sam’s eyes widened as my magically charged fist slammed into his face.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Sam staggered backward as I pummelled my magic-charged fists into his face and body. I felt like the Hulk smashing my way to victory. I forced my cousin through the aisles of the department store, keeping the punches coming so fast that he had no time to counter in between blows. I knew that the moment I gave him even a second of reprieve he’d capitalise on it and turn the tables. Almost as soon as I’d had that thought he did just that. Sam moved with all the jamminess of the jammiest jam donut, he ducked under my next punch and avoided taking another vicious strike to his face which was covered in rapidly healing cuts and bruises. I lurched forward as my fist connected with nothing but air and Sam slammed his shoulder into my stomach robbing me of breath.

  I struggled to draw air into my lungs, flapping my arms about wildly to fend off any attacks. I would’ve used magic, but with no breath it was rather impossible to form the words needed for a spell. Sam grabbed me with one hand on my waist and the other on the back of my neck. Then he launched me across a nearby electronics display. My enhanced strength was strong, but it still didn’t hold up to the strength granted by Thor’s belt.

  I flew through the air so fast that it took my brain a few seconds to realise I wasn’t still standing where I had been. Display boxes scattered on impact as I rolled across the table and tumbled to the floor. Thankfully, the boxes were empty so no real damage was caused to me. Just a few bruises from my messy landing.

  ‘Not so high and mighty now, are you?’ Sam sneered. ‘Poor little Jakey, finally being put in his place.’

  I pulled myself up to my knees. ‘Take off that belt and we’ll see who gets put in their place,’ I said. And then quickly, ‘Butio Dissul.’

  The wooden display table exploded and I directed the jagged pieces of wood to fly in Sam’s direction. He was prepared for the attack. He muttered something and swept his hand through the air. The fragments of wood turned to dust and fell from the air before they ever reached him.

  ‘Pathetic. There’s more power in my little finger,’ he said, sticking his little finger up in an annoying example. I threw up my arm and Sam brought his little finger around to counter the spell he assumed I was going to throw. I didn’t throw any spell. I released three shurikens in quick succession. The razor-edged weapons spun through the air, each of the three parting to hit its own target. Sam’s eyes widened as they approached and he dropped the mocking gesture as he moved his hands to project a shield. There was a reason Natalie was one of the most popular armourers in the country. She made the best weapons. They were all enchanted to be stronger, faster, and more durable than normal weapons.

  The shurikens moved too fast for Sam. The first one skimmed off his shoulder and caused him no harm. The second sliced open his cheek. Natalie’s weapons all came with a standard poison oil that counterattacked a person’s healing abilities, so the cut on Sam’s face remained open and bleeding.

  The third shuriken found the main target, despite Sam’s efforts to move it. The golden blade sliced right through the base of his little finger severing the digit and sending it toppling to the floor. Sam screamed and grabbed his hand as if he might still be able to undo the damage.

  I rose to my feet and approached my cousin eager to finish this now. His eyes whipped up, a malicious gleam showing through the silver. ‘Cadtund!’ he screamed, wrenching his hand up to the ceiling. My eyes widened as I clocked on to what he was doing. With a scream of surprise, I launched myself to the side, like a goalie trying to block a goal. I hit the polished linoleum and skidded away. I felt something fall from my pocket and heard it roll away, but I had no time to focus on that because just then the humungous crystal chandelier hit the floor behind me. Glass and metal exploded outwards, showering the store in every direction. The debris that came my way glanced harmlessly off my shield and clattered to the floor. If I’d lingered in that spot for even a second more that chandelier would have mangled me Phantom of the Opera style.

  ‘What have we here?’ Sam said. As I rolled onto my front I saw him bending over and picking up whatever it was that I’d dropped. It was a small black, cylindrical object. Sam lifted it up to his face to examine it better. I noticed that he’d cauterised the stump where his finger had been so it was no longer bleeding. I hoped he still felt the pain.

  ‘What is this?’ he asked me. He lowered the plastic object from his face and that’s when I realised what it was. He was holding my retractable spear. The weapon would not respond to this touch so the spear would not protrude for him. It had been designed by Natalie to open only when I touched it. Or when I willed it. Which I did.

  With a scraping of metal, the pointy golden tip flew from the shaft. Sam howled as the end of the spear tore through his chest. The force of it threw him onto his back where he lay sprawling around, trying to wrench the spear from his body. I ran forward whilst he was preoccupied. He was on his side wrestling the spear giving me easy access to his back where the belt was buckled together. I reached out for the strap and Sam turned. He tossed the spear aside, having now freed it from his chest. His hands grabbed me and pulled me down to the ground with him.

  We both lashed out at one another with a flurry of punches. It was the least graceful fight a person could see. The two of us rolled around the floor of the shop striking and jabbing at one another like a couple of schoolboys. He forced me onto my back, Sam now taking the advantageous position on top of me. I thrust my knee upwards and struck him in the crown jewels. I felt his bits squidge on my knee and Sam groaned as he fell off me. One thing I learned early on in fighting, never be too noble as to not hit a guy in the nuts. Take him down any
way possible.

  I pulled myself up once again and the shop spun around me. Aches radiated from places all over my blood. There was blood oozing through my clothes and trickling down my face. I shuddered to imagine what a mess my hair was in. My arms had shrunk back to their normal size. The spell had expired and Sam was still wearing the belt. I took a step toward him.

  ‘Rabole!’ he yelled, throwing his hand out at me. His spell slammed into me like a wall of reinforced steel. I flew back, smashing through the window of the shop. We’d fought one another all the way though the department store and come out the other side. I felt sorry for the insurance company that was going to be footing that bill.

  My tailbone was the first thing to hit the concrete floor of the street. I felt it crack, but any pain was quickly forgotten when my arm hit the ground and was crushed beneath my body. Something fractured there too. My face scraped across the floor, opening several more cuts on it, before I finally came to a stop.

  My body shook as I drew in a deep breath and tried my best to send a wave of healing magic through my body. I felt a flicker of warmth before the spell fizzled out. I didn’t have time to waste on healing. Sam was lurching my way, his hand pressed to the wound in his chest in an attempt to heal it.

  ‘I’ve been holding back on you, Jake,’ he said as he advanced. I pulled myself to my feet and waited for him to close the space between us. ‘As I said, I didn’t want to kill you yet. I was going to kill you last. But as usual you ruined all my plans.’

  ‘Sorry, I think I left my tiny violin at home.’

  A bitter smile stole Sam’s features. ‘Well, plans change. That was how I saw it going when I put the idea together. But now that I’m here living it. I think I will start by killing you.’

  He opened his mouth to shout a spell that was no doubt intended to kill me. Then he stopped. His eyes flicked up the street. It might’ve been a trick but the glimmer of panic made me think otherwise. I turned and looked down the dark road and saw what had ensnared his attention. Several figures were heading our way. At first it was impossible to tell who they were but as they drew nearer the streetlights caught the approaching figures and at their helm was Monroe.

  There were many ways I thought Sam might react but I did not expect him to turn tail and run. Yet that was exactly what he did.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  ‘Hey! Hey, where are you going?’ I shouted after him.

  He carried on running, paying me no heed whatsoever. I took after him, determined not to let him get away. There would be no sequels to this fight.

  He moved stealthily through the streets, but never did his pace increase enough for him to lose me. He wasn’t just running away to escape Monroe. He was leading me away so he could kill me without interruption. As if I was going to let that happen.

  ‘Rabole!’ I shouted, in an effort to stop him from reaching whatever destination he had in mind for us. Sam flung himself around the nearby corner and my spell did nothing except destroy a few bricks. ‘I thought you were the stronger one now? Why run? Stand and face me?’ My attempts to goad him back into the fight had no effect.

  I hurried around the corner, being careful that he wasn’t waiting to pounce. I needn’t have bothered with caution because he was gone. Somehow, my cousin had managed to vanish. I cast my gaze around in search for his hiding spot. His portals had been shut down so I knew he hadn’t whisked himself off to his hidey-hole. He was still around here some…

  Sam had led me into the South End. The very area we’d grown up, and the area in which Drew still lived, albeit no longer in our childhood home. Across the road stood an old and weathered brick building. A very familiar one. It had once been a factory that made lampshades, but it hadn’t been used in at least twenty years. Not in any official capacity. The roof had now almost completely disintegrated. Only the wooden frame remained like a skeleton, a few surviving patches of roof clung on like flaps of skin. The moon stood proudly behind the building, casting the entire ramshackle thing in a serene silver light. It was almost as if the moon had been deliberately positioned to highlight the building.

  I walked toward the old factory with purpose. My cousin was inside and he was waiting for our final showdown. As I walked, I drew magic from the various outlets around me. Streetlights buzzed, flickered and were extinguished as I drained them. Car batteries died. Buildings blinked into darkness. Smartphones shutdown without warning. The energy flowed into me like a surge of electricity, filling my reserves in no time at all. I needed to be at full capacity if I was going to end this.

  The door was holding on only by its top hinges and the wood hung at a funny angle. I pushed it aside and entered the mouldy construct. The smell of damp and decay assaulted my nostrils on entry. Inside was one vast room with only a few doors at the back of the building where old unused offices and toilets sat. Four giant windows stood in the walls, two on each side, all of them coated with so much grime that a person could be excused for not noticing they were there. It was exactly how I remembered it, only older and dirtier. Just like my cousin and me. Sam was standing in the centre of the empty room, the moonlight acting as an incredible spotlight.

  ‘You remember this place,’ he said. It wasn’t a question.

  ‘Of course. We used to sneak out as often as we could to practice duelling right here,’ I replied as I descended the three stone steps that led into the room. ‘I used to wipe this floor with your arse. I’m amazed nobody bought it and turned it into a block of flats or something.’ I quickly muttered a spell under my breath, trying to catch Sam offguard, but he dodged it and flung one of his own back at me. I narrowly managed to avoid it by ducking behind a nearby pillar.

  ‘Actually somebody did buy it years back. I convinced him to sell it to me.’ His footsteps came my way.

  ‘You convinced him to sell it to you?’ I said, the doubt obvious in my tone. I turned around the pillar and stepped out, hoping that I’d positioned myself behind him. I was wrong. Before I could even form a word my cousin’s spell slammed into me and had me flat on my back, gasping for air.

  ‘Well, okay, I tortured him until he signed it over to me, but it’s basically the same thing. The point is, I kept it like this so I could remember the good old days. You may find this hard to believe, but those duels are some of the happiest memories I have.’ He didn’t push his attack. He waited patiently as I pulled myself back to my feet. How very gracious of him.

  ‘Really? Killing hundreds of innocent people didn’t you bring you more happiness?’

  The reminiscent smile left Sam’s face and he pursed his lips in disapproval. ‘You had to ruin the moment, didn’t you?’ He lunged forward, fist coming round at me. I caught his wrist in one hand and slammed my free hand into his chest forcing him to stagger back away from me.

  ‘Ruin the moment,’ I repeated incredulously. ‘How many lives have you ruined and you want to talk about me ruining this moment for you?’

  ‘The only lives I intended to ruin were those of the people who ruined mine.’ Once again he lunged but this time I was ready for it. I sidestepped out of his way and he stumbled past me, barely managing to keep his footing.

  ‘Yeah, yeah. Dorian, your dad, and me. I get it. Woe is you. But you’ve killed hundreds in this city. Hundreds of people who never did anything to you.’

  ‘This strikes me as a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, Jake. I mean, how many people have you killed, people who never did anything to you?’ He looked so smug and self-satisfied with his pathetic response.

  ‘None of those people were innocent.’

  ‘Well, I’m sure none of my victims were innocent either. I mean, anybody living in this city can’t be that good, right?’ A rich chuckle flowed from his throat.

  ‘Are you actually trying to make jokes right now?’

  ‘No, Jacob!’ Sam snapped, his expression turning livid in a heartbeat. His pale face turned red. ‘Anybody who has willingly stayed in this city whilst Dorian controls it ha
s aided and abetted in his crimes. Therefore everybody here is guilty!’

  I narrowed my eyes as I saw my cousin in a whole new light. The glamour was truly gone now and the false Magraval persona gone with it. What I saw now was Sam in his true glory and he was not the boy I’d grown up with. He was quite literally mad.

  ‘What? Why are you looking at me like that?’

  ‘I can’t figure out if you’re insane or just stupid. I think the latter.’ My words were designed to annoy him in the hope that his anger would cause him to make a mistake. This time, however, I failed to provoke the monster.

  ‘My cousin, Jakey. Always so witty.’ He rolled his eyes.

  ‘Don’t call me Jakey,’ I told him. I used to like that he was the only one who called me that. It reminded me of the bond we had, but that bond was broken now and him using that name served only to remind me that my cousin was long gone.

  ‘It’s what I’ve always called you, Jakey.’ A devious smile slipped onto his face.

  ‘No, that’s what my cousin always called me. He died fifteen years ago. So you might as well put that glamour back on because whoever you are, you’re not Samuel Graves. You’re an insult to his memory.’

  ‘As you lay here on this floor dying, I want you to imagine me killing all the people you care about and burning this city to the ground.’

  I knew that he meant every word he spoke. They weren’t threats, they were ironclad promises, they were premonitions and I was the only thing that could stop them from coming to pass.

  ‘Morivar!’ I screamed, throwing my hand out and unleashing the killing spell. Power flew out of me and shot through the space between us. Sam’s eyebrows flicked up in surprise. He raised his hand and mumbled something under his breath. Then I watched as he literally caught my spell in his fingers. He tamed the killing curse and a small silver light shone out of the palm of his hand.