The Devil You Know (Jacob Graves Book 3)

by Sean Stone

  I didn’t have time to rest and recover but I had no choice. I could hardly move at all. Leah went to make drinks for us all, leaving Jasmine to heal my wounds. She said Jasmine was the better healer but I got the impression she felt a little awkward. We hadn’t seen each other in so long and she’d left without saying goodbye. Of course she’d done so to save my life so there was no bitterness about it. It was still a little awkward though.

  ‘Thank you for coming,’ I said as Jasmine worked on a nasty gash on my stomach that I hadn’t even known was there. There were wounds all over my body that I hadn’t been aware of until now. I had taken the beating of my life at Sam’s hands and it had all been for nothing.

  ‘Leah wouldn’t take no for an answer,’ Jasmine replied. I was glad it had been Leah who had insisted on helping me and not just because it meant I got to see her again.

  ‘I thought you weren’t allowed to get involved.’

  ‘We’re not.’ Jasmine paused to take a closer look at the wound. ‘This might be infected.’

  ‘So how’d you get away with helping?’ I asked, not in the least bit interested in an infected wound.

  Jasmine looked up and her blue eyes held worry. ‘We didn’t. Mother will be furious and the consequences will no doubt be severe. But I wasn’t going to let that creature kill you.’ It touched me to know that she cared, but I couldn’t let her and her sisters take any punishment on my behalf.

  ‘I’ll take the punishment. You were helping me. Let me take the fall.’

  Jasmine laughed and there was a tiny twinkle of gratitude in her eye. ‘That’s not how it works. Besides, Mother won’t do anything to you. You’re the…’ she stopped suddenly, realising she was about to say something she shouldn’t.

  ‘What? What am I?’ I tried to sit up but Jasmine forced me back down with the palm of her hand. She was far stronger than she looked. ‘Tell me,’ I insisted.

  She kept her eyes fixed on my abdomen, chewing her lip as she thought things through. She’d already slipped up now so she had to tell me. It just wouldn’t be fair not to.

  ‘Do you wonder how you managed to wield lightning without casting any spells?’ she asked. She had a small tray of supplies on the bedside table and she began applying some kind of salve to my wound. Drew always used to do that. I forced the sadness aside, there was something more pressing than moping over my uncle’s death. I could mourn when Jasmine was gone.

  ‘It feels like a different kind of magic,’ I replied.

  ‘It is. It is a gift. One that comes because of what you are.’

  ‘A wizard?’

  A chuckle that was almost cute fell from her lips. ‘No, Jacob. You’re a doppelgänger.’

  My silence betrayed my confusion. Doppelgängers were fairy tales. Nobody had ever really encountered one. Although… I remembered the portrait of Tristan that I’d seen in the Hall of Wizardry not so long ago. The only difference between him and me was that he’d been ginger and my hair was brown.

  ‘Tristan’s doppelgänger,’ I said quietly.

  ‘Yes, and being that gives you certain magical gifts.’

  ‘But Tristan didn’t wield lightning.’ Leah had told me that.

  ‘No, the power manifests itself differently in each doppelgänger.’

  ‘There are more?’ Once again I tried to sit up and again she pushed me back down.

  ‘There were. Every couple of centuries a new one is born.’

  ‘So, I’m a descendant of Tristan, the first wizard?’

  Jasmine shook her head. ‘No. Tristan had no descendants. The doppelgänger spell strikes at random. As far as I know, none of them have been related.’

  ‘Why though? What’s the point?’

  ‘It is a result of a very powerful ritual that Mother performed a very long time ago. And no, Jacob, I can’t tell you any more than that.’ I went to argue but she pushed her finger to my lips. I narrowed my eyes but she did not retract the offending digit. ‘I can’t tell you because I don’t know any more than that.’

  ‘Who does? Does Leah know? Why didn’t she tell me this before?’ I couldn’t believe she’d kept something this monumental from me.

  Jasmine shook her head again, this time smiling. ‘Leah only found out about a week ago. Mother didn’t tell her before because she knew she’d tell you. Leah is more loyal to you than you think. She’s more loyal than she should be.’ The last she said with the usual resentment I’d come to associate Jasmine with.

  ‘I know,’ I said softly. The fact that she’d rallied her sisters to aid me against her mother’s orders was testament to that. ‘Why wasn’t I allowed to know this stuff about me?’

  ‘Mother believes in revealing things only when the time is right. Everything must happen only when the time is right,’ she said in annoyance. Clearly her mother’s ways grated on her as well.

  ‘Your mother sounds like hard work.’

  ‘That she is,’ Jasmine said laughing.

  ‘I want to meet her.’

  The smile fell abruptly from Jasmine’s face. ‘No, you don’t. You think you do, but you really don’t.’

  ‘I want to meet her,’ I said again, this time more firmly.

  ‘You will. But not yet.’

  ‘I don’t care if the time’s not right. Take me to her.’

  ‘I can’t. You don’t go and see Mother. You wait until you are summoned.’

  ‘Don’t worry though, Jacob,’ Leah said. She was standing in the doorway with a tray of hot drinks in her hands. The sight of her was the most welcoming I’d seen for weeks. I couldn’t have stopped the smile from lighting up my face if I’d tried. ‘You’ll be summoned soon enough.’

  Jasmine stood up and stepped away from her seat allowing Leah to place the tray on it even though there was a perfectly good dresser by the wall.

  ‘You should go and talk to Mother. The longer you leave her the angrier she’ll get,’ Leah told Jasmine.

  ‘I don’t take orders from you,’ Jasmine snapped. It seemed like an automatic reaction rather than a thought out one. Sniping at one another was the default setting for Jasmine and Leah. For a moment the sister’s eyeballed one another like cowboys in an old western.

  ‘What’s wrong? Worried if I stay too long he might start to like me?’

  ‘Leave me out of it,’ I piped up, but they both ignored me.

  ‘This isn’t the time, Jasmine,’ Leah said.

  ‘Fine. I’ll go to Mother. We both know I’ll get the telling off either way. She’d never do anything to her favourite.’ Jasmine snatched her phone from my bedside table and stormed out of the room without saying goodbye. Leah gave me an apologetic look. I simply shrugged. I was used to Jasmine now. It was a shame because on her own, Jasmine was a nice enough person. It was only around Leah that she turned into such a spiteful bitch.

  Leah stayed with me that night. She slept beside me on the bed but she didn’t get in. When I woke up in the morning she was already up and preparing breakfast.

  ‘Simon stopped by whilst you were sleeping,’ she said. She was frying bacon on the stove.

  ‘Oh shit,’ I muttered, holding my head in the palm of my hand. ‘What punishment has Dorian chosen for failing to kill Magraval?’

  ‘None,’ she said chirpily. ‘Simon said the remainder of your fee will be delivered to the club this afternoon.’

  ‘What? But I didn’t kill Sam.’

  ‘You defeated him which is as good as.’

  ‘You defeated him actually.’

  ‘It was a team effort.’ She gave me a cheeky wink and dropped the bacon onto a plate. I couldn’t help but smile despite everything that had happened.

  ‘But he’s still out there.’

  Leah shook her head. ‘Dorian has him in a cage. His execution will be carried out imminently.’

  ‘What the hell is he waiting for?’

  ‘Who knows? Just take the win. Your cousin’s gone. You’re free now.’

  I picked up a piece of the crispy bacon a
nd bit into it. It was like heaven on my tongue. I hadn’t realised how hungry I was. ‘I’m not free though,’ I said and then told her about the deal I’d made with Cheirvorn.

  Leah was not pleased with the news, even less so because her sister had kept it from her. ‘Well, at least Jasmine had the foresight to get death taken off the table. Soon Cheirvorn will summon you. When he does you must act accordingly. You have to accept that you failed to fulfil the deal and try to negotiate a fair penalty. Don’t worry, I won’t let you go alone.’

  I looked into her deep eyes and all the old feelings for her swirled around within me. I wanted to tell her I loved her. I wanted to do as Drew had told me and let her in. But I’d just lost one person I loved, if I admitted my feelings for Leah then fate would snatch her away from me too. I couldn’t bring my lips to form the words.

  I shoved the bacon into my mouth instead. It was a different kind of love, but my love of bacon was love nonetheless. And bacon never left.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  I buried my uncle a week later. As per his own arrangements, he was buried in the plot next to his son’s grave that actually held the corpse of Roland Black. I had considered changing the plot so he wasn’t next to Sam, but I didn’t. Drew was buried next to the memory of a child who, despite his issues, had not been a monster. The Samuel Graves that lived today would never be buried in that grave. I had no idea if he would ever be buried at all. Who knew what Dorian was planning to do after he was executed.

  A lot of people turned up to say their last farewells to Drew. He had more friends than I realised. Some of them I knew and some I didn’t. It was a sad day but a beautiful send off for a man who deserved so much more.

  I was the last one to leave the cemetery. I stood for a long while staring at the mound of earth that covered my uncle. There was no headstone yet, that wouldn’t be laid for some time. A simple piece of wood with Drew’s name carved into it had been planted in the dirt.

  When I returned home there was a package waiting for me at the front desk. I tore open the seal and pulled out the first item contained within. It was a single sheet of paper. Along the top was the heading: Renfield Utterson.

  It was some kind of letter from a law firm. I assumed it had to do with my uncle’s death. The elevator doors dinged open and I began walking to my apartment, loosening my tie as I began to read the letter.

  Dear Mr. Jacob Graves,

  I am writing to you on behalf of my client Mr Andrew Graves. My client left instructions that upon his death I should pass on the enclosed USB flash drive. Please find enclosed herewith a 64Gb SanDisk flash drive.

  No other information about this item was provided and nobody at these law offices has seen the contents of the device.

  All of us here at Renfield Utterson are deeply sorry for you loss, and should you require any legal assistance in this troubling time, do not hesitate to reach out to us.

  Yours sincerely,

  Gabriel John Utterson

  I’d met the solicitor about a week ago when he’d read my uncle’s will. There wasn’t much to read, he’d just written that everything was to go to me. The fact that this had been kept separate from all that meant it was of particular interest. It also meant it was likely very dangerous.

  I tipped the package up and a little red and black flash drive tumbled into the palm of my hand. I stopped just outside the door to my apartment and stared at the device. What on Earth had my uncle stored on a flash drive that couldn’t have been included in his will. Why all the cloak and dagger?

  I hurried into my apartment and shoved the flash drive into the USB port at the back of my television. I was so eager to view its contents that I missed the hole several times and ended up shouting at the television in frustration. Finally the drive was inserted and I sat down, picked up the remote and opened the drive to view the files.

  There was a single file.

  A video.

  It was titled: For Jacob.

  I rubbed my palms down my trousers to remove the sweat. I had no idea what to expect but I knew it wasn’t going to be good news. I sat on the edge of my seat and pressed play.

  Drew appeared on the screen and a small sad gasp escaped my mouth. It was the first time I’d seen him moving about and alive since… well before he’d died. He was wearing his usual blue jeans and a red gingham shirt. He was sitting in his tatty old brown arm chair in his modest little home. I owned that now, though I had no idea what to with it. I’d probably just leave it as it was in memory of my uncle.

  ‘Alright, let’s get on with this. I don’t want to sound like a cliché, but if you’re watching this Jacob then I’m dead. Or I better be bloody dead because if you’ve got hold of this while I’m still alive I’m gonna beat your arse into next year, you sneaky shit.’

  I had to laugh at my uncle’s grouchy demeanour. It was remarkable how much I missed it after only a week with him gone.

  ‘I wanted to be there with you through this. This was something I wanted us to do together, but for one reason or another I can’t, so this video is all the help I’ll be able to give you.’ Drew paused and looked off to the side whilst he took a very deep breath. He held it in for a long while before exhaling noisily and then looking back at the camera. ‘I’m sorry, Jacob. I’ve been lying to you your whole life, but I need you to understand that I did it to protect us. Both of us, and Sam as well before he… left and got himself killed.’

  ‘You were wrong about that actually,’ I mumbled, as if my uncle could hear me through the television.

  ‘It’s time for me to tell you the truth about your mother and how she died,’ said my uncle. I paused the video at once. I had never questioned the circumstances around my mother’s death. She had severe depression and she’d taken her own life. It was a closed book. And now, Drew was going to upend all of that. As if my life hadn’t been turned upside down enough as it was. My curiosity had turned into a ravenous hunger for answers and I pressed play.

  ‘Your mother did kill herself. There’s no doubt about that. The reason why is what I’ve kept secret from you all these years and I hope you’ll understand why and forgive me. I know you think she did it because she couldn’t handle the stress of being a single mum. Post-natal depression and all that. I’ve told you time and again that wasn’t the case but you never believed me. It’s like you wanted to blame yourself. Your mother loved you more than she loved herself. After your father did a runner, you were all she cared about. And she wasn’t a single mother because she had me. Not a day went by that I didn’t pop in to see her and make sure she was all right. You brought her more joy than you could ever imagine and I’m so sorry that you weren’t old enough to remember the way she smiled at you. That smile was love in its purest form.’

  Tears rolled openly down my face. How I would have loved to have just one memory of her smile.

  ‘But love can be as poisonous as it can be beautiful. And your mother fell in love with the wrong person.’ Drew’s voice became choked and he took a moment to master his emotions. ‘I don’t know how or where she met him. Even now it seems impossible that they should ever have crossed paths. Him, one of the richest elites of the North End, and her, a nobody from the Dregs. But they met anyway and she fell for him hard. Oh, the times I had to listen to her prattle on about him. It makes me sick to this day. Anyway, your mother was old-fashioned, it was how we were raised. She didn’t put out for him on the first date. Nor the second. She made him wait for it. But the second he got what he wanted he cast her aside like a broken toy.’ Drew’s face wrinkled in anger. I was getting frustrated myself wondering if he was ever going to tell me who this man was who had captured my mother’s heart.

  ‘She pined for him. She wrote him letters. Tried to go and see him but couldn’t get anywhere near him. Eventually she did manage to catch up with him at some bar and he told her how little she meant to him. He said that to my sister. He told her she was a common whore and she was lucky to have had his attention for as
long as she did. He said other things that I will not repeat here. You get the picture, I’m sure.

  ‘Poor Cheryl, she tried desperately to move on. But just couldn’t stop thinking about him. Her heart was broken worse than when your father left. She really thought that this new bloke was going to be the knight who’d give her the life of her dreams. She couldn’t recover from the heartbreak and she… you know what happened.’

  Drew buried his head in his hand and stroked his temples gently with the tips of his fingers and thumb. ‘I confronted him. I told him he’d answer for what he’d done. As you know, he’s not a man who responds well to threats.’

  As I knew. Was Drew saying I knew this man? Who could possibly… an icy curtain fell over me as I realised who he was talking about. It wasn’t that hard to figure out when you really thought about it and put the pieces together. So many things were starting to make sense.

  ‘He had my wife killed and he threatened to kill you and Sam too if I ever told you the truth. I had no choice but to lie about the murder and the suicide. Since then, I’ve done everything I could to protect what’s left of this family whilst very carefully planning revenge. We were supposed to do this as a family, but now it’s all on you. I know you can do this even though you’ll doubt yourself. This, Jacob, is why I taught you to kill. This is what I’ve been training you for your entire adult life. I warn you now, this is going to be a long video. So, go and put the kettle on, Jacob. Then sit back down and I’ll talk you through exactly how you’re going to kill Dorian Gray.’

  END

  Jacob Graves will return in The Devil You Know. Get an email as soon as The Devil You Know is available by joining the mailing list.