And chucked a fistful of blazing powder in Lorenzo’s face, sending him flying backwards across the gravelled driveway. It fizzled out like burning butterflies falling around Lorenzo’s head.
‘What the Hel is wrong with you?’ I roared. Lorenzo immediately righted himself but was frantically rubbing the powder from his eyes.
‘No vampires allowed.’
Lorenzo growled, an arrow appearing in his bow – a present from the Sarrows, my great-uncle’s Elvish clan – in an instant. ‘I’m a Dark Elf and your Onkel’s kin,’ he hissed, ‘either I’m coming in as Theo’s guest or I’ll return the favour and blind you.’
‘I second that motion,’ I said.
Father stepped aside and allowed us passage. It wasn’t that Lorenzo’s threats meant anything to him. It was that Sarrow arrows can fly round corners. I’ll give my Father one thing: he knows how to choose his battles.
I felt dwarfed by the spacious entrance hall and grand staircase – the two nights I had spent cramped up in the Old Vicarage had somewhat redefined my notion of personal space. ‘We won’t keep you,’ I said, ‘I’ve just come for my letters…and my belongings.’
Father walked up three stairs, stopped, and turned around. No matter what the argument was, he always liked to have it on higher ground. ‘Your belongings? Are you going somewhere, Theodore?’
‘Yes, Nevø, are you leaving us?’ It was Uncle Nikolaj, dressed in brown corduroys and a half-buttoned shirt, his long, blond hair tucked behind his one, pointed ear. He came from the kitchen to our left – his usual domain – and swept towards me with open arms.
I reared back. ‘I think it’s appropriate timing, don’t you? After all, I have a coven to lead.’ While they were both frozen in horror, I filled them in with sparse details that told them enough, but still allowed them to stew about the gaps in the story. For once in my life, I was the one keeping secrets and it felt exhilarating.
I expected rage from my father. Instead the banister felt it, a piece of wood cracking under the magical pressure forced through his palm. He whispered so loudly it deafened me. ‘And Menelaus? What of his fate?’
I paused for dramatic effect. Well, partly. I also paused because it bit me that he had escaped. ‘I decided to wait until the trial is over before killing him.’ I looked at Nikolaj’s Spock-like ear and added, ‘It’s only logical.’
‘Everything you need is in your room,’ Nik said, the tension in his shoulders softening as he motioned for Father to move from the stairs. I watched their silent communication. Back off, Nik was saying. I didn’t know why Father listened. It didn’t matter anymore. My life no longer depended on their whims.
We followed the long tartan runners that cushioned the floorboards, wending our way to the west wing of the house and into my chambers. Lorenzo whistled when he clocked my four-poster bed. Oh, how I missed it. ‘And you want to give this up?’ he asked.
‘Only last night you said that you understood why I wanted to leave.’
Lorenzo shrugged. ‘Where are these letters then?’
I found them on my dressing table, along with the few volumes I had pinched from the library, on the night I’d returned from the Red Hawk, after my first run-in with Lorenzo and Malachi. So much had changed since then.
Lorenzo stared out of the bedroom window that overlooked the front lawn while I emptied the trunk at the bottom of my bed – it usually contained snacks and chocolate bars. I filled it with necessities such as clothes and books, and my laptop and various electronics, not to mention the Gatekeeper book, and the box and key that once guarded the now-missing amulet. I stored those bits in a smaller box and hid it in the secret compartment. I was pretty much done; I’d never been one for knick-knacks.
‘Lorenzo?’ He reluctantly broke his gaze from the window. ‘Are you thinking about Raphael?’
‘Is he still living ’ere?’
‘I doubt it. After he stole—’
‘Stole what?’
‘Something important to my family. It’s complicated.’ I wanted to add comforting words to smooth away the disappointment evident in the slump of his shoulders, but I didn’t want to lie to him any more than necessary. ‘I don’t think he’s gone for good though. I think he’s been keeping an eye on me. I just don’t know why.’
‘If you see him…’
‘You’ll be the first to know.’
‘Cool.’
Lorenzo made to help me lift the chest but I stopped him, waving my hands over it until it pulsed lightly with blue light. Then I gave it a swift kick and it vanished with a pop, as if the air had been sucked from the room. ‘No need for labour. It’s now magically sealed and waiting for us in the attic on our return to the Old Vicarage. That gives me another idea.’
I ran my hands over the four-poster and then kicked it. It was a large object and I had to lean on my Gatekeeper powers to help me shift it, and my inner beast lashed out a tail of fire that almost snapped the bone in my leg. I suppressed a yelp as I kicked the bed again. This time the sudden disappearance caused a vacuum in the air, and Lorenzo and I were slammed into one another and thrown to the floor. ‘Ouch,’ I said.
‘Fucking magic,’ Lorenzo groaned, then laughed. ‘Serves you right for showing off. Where’d you send that?’
‘The attic. Might as well be my bedroom. I can’t sleep on your floor anymore. And I’m not sleeping with Penny. Or Malachi.’
‘Let’s hope those old floorboards can bear the weight.’
‘Are you calling me fat?’ I laughed.
After a final scan of my bedroom, we went back downstairs, heading towards the library at the back of the house. Nikolaj intercepted us this time. ‘Please, Theo. Espen is in a foul mood.’
‘I don’t care. I’m not here to talk. I just want a couple of books to help with the preparations for the trial.’
‘I can help you with that,’ he said, but I shook my head so hard my curls whipped me in the face.
Lorenzo grabbed his arm before he could leave. Oh no, I thought, I don’t think Lorenzo can survive another square-off with one of my relatives. But I needn’t have worried. ‘I want to talk to you, Nik. I’ve got questions about Alfheim and, well, being a Dökkálfar.’
‘Fine. But not here. Let’s go into the garden and leave Theo and his father to…say their goodbyes.’
I entered the library alone. Without Lorenzo, it was easy to slip back into the father-son mindset I had been reared on, and I found myself walking towards Father’s giant mahogany desk in the far-left corner, hidden behind neat rows of book stacks. At the last moment, I veered to the right, crossing the open fireplace and disappearing into the shelving that ran back towards the door. The Praetoriani Code. I knew it was in here somewhere. I had studied it as a young boy, nothing but dry legalese to me back then.
I stalked the rows and located the folding wooden library steps, tucked in an alcove against the wall. I opened it out, the steps on each side leading to the little platform, creating a triangular base to support my weight. I climbed up and peered through the gaps in the books. Father wasn’t far away, but he didn’t approach me. I scanned the shelf and found my prize. As I began my descent, a gilded volume caught my eye. There were hundreds of old gilded books in the library, but this one had a modern cover. The title read, The Unofficial Praetoriani Code (or a Dissident’s Guide to True Justice).
I couldn’t believe it. To own a text like this was completely forbidden. I opened the cover and gasped when I read the author’s name: M.D. Laurentis. It had to be Michele. I checked the publishing details – not surprisingly pretty sparse, but it did identify the country of printing as Italy, the first print run just a year after my mother’s death. Of course, Uncle Nikolaj must have smuggled it home after his last trip to Italy.
Something wasn’t quite adding up, but before I could probe the uneasy feelings stirring in my gut, Father appeared at the foot of the steps.
I tucked the books under my cloak. ‘What do you want?’
‘To warn you.’
‘I’m not interested in another lecture, Father.’
He wrung his hands, a sign he was stressed. When had the circles under his eyes become so dark? ‘Think what you like about my motives, Sønn, but let me give you a piece of friendly advice – a parting gift, if you will.’
I spun on my heel. ‘I’m not interested in your crumbs of wisdom.’
Father was at my shoulder in a flash. ‘It concerns the Gatekeeper, Theodore.’
‘I’m listening.’ I bit my lip, frustrated that Father, yet again, thought he knew better than me.
‘At some point your “coven” will ask you to prove the true extent of your powers. Show them the man, Theodore, and not the Gatekeeper. The more of its energy you draw upon, the easier it’ll be for it to break out of its box and lock you in there instead.’
I nodded and started to leave. I’d reached the middle of the long carpet that depicted the World Tree, Yggdrasil, down its length, when he shouted, ‘You wouldn’t be the first Gatekeeper to go mad. And you won’t be the last.’
Damn right, I thought. And you have proved it, haven’t you?
3
Looking for Trouble
Professor Menelaus Knight bounded up and down the steps of the piazza, distracting his mind with an impromptu outdoor gym session. Out of all the things he’d expected to happen after his one-sided sword fight with Theo Clemensen, it wasn’t for Ava to call him and arrange to meet for coffee where they’d had their first (semi) date on Campus.
It could be a trap. Why would she want to talk to me? She belongs to Theo.
But did she? Theo clearly wanted her, but Menelaus had yet to hear it from Ava’s own lips. And, well, Ava had taken an arrow for him. There was that.
He halted at the bottom of the steps, catching his breath. A group of female students were watching him from across the piazza. He waved. Their faces ripened together, like a bunch of cherries hanging on a single branch. He smiled and walked past them into the coffee shop, ordered two coffees and waited. Perhaps professors shouldn’t exercise in tweed in front of the whole campus, he thought.
‘Menelaus?’
He sprang to his feet and pulled out a seat. ‘I took the liberty of ordering for you,’ he said, as Ava slid into the chair.
‘Thanks.’
He sat back down. ‘So, why did you want to—’
‘Tell me everything,’ she said, ‘or next time I’ll let the arrow hit its intended target.’
Menelaus redirected his attention to his cappuccino so that Ava wouldn’t see the pain her words caused him. ‘I never asked you to endanger yourself for me – although I’m grateful that you did, and that you’re okay.’
‘I didn’t do it for you. I did it to stop Theo making a mistake he’d regret for the rest of his life. Trouble is, I fear he’s made another.’
‘How so?’
Ava glanced around the room. There were few students cluttering the old-fashioned tearoom, now it was so near the summer holidays, which meant less chance of being overheard. ‘He’s joined Penny’s coven.’
Menelaus rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, not a regular sigh but something heavier, something with weight that left his chest and sat on the table between them. As if satisfied by his response, Ava nodded. ‘And the very fact you didn’t ask me what the fuck I’m on about means you aren’t just a philosophy and lit professor. Theo’s told me some of it – I’ve seen some of it – but I want to hear it from your own mouth.’
What does she mean, ‘seen’?
Ava sipped her latte, the drink she’d ordered on their first date. Menelaus hoped she was at least a little pleased that he remembered but her face remained stubbornly serious. ‘Yes, seen,’ she said.
‘How did you know I was think—’
‘I am clairvoyant. There I said it. Do you believe me?’ She looked so earnest that Menelaus dared hope she might actually care about what he thought of her.
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘but that doesn’t explain much.’
She paused. ‘I know how Isobel died. I know you didn’t mean for it to happen. Now, Menelaus, tell me who you really are.’
Should he tell her? She must know anyway, of course. Theo would tell her. But what about the Official Secrets Act? Too late for that, he thought, I need her help if I’m ever going to get through to Theo…and Lorenzo.
‘I’m a Guardian of the Praetoriani.’
‘What is the Praetoriani?’
‘It’s basically the justice division of an even bigger organisation called the Praefecti, a shadow government tasked with looking after and policing the Pneuma community. We have our own rules and regulations, our own courts, our own jails, everything. A Guardian’s role combines those of a social worker and a probation officer, and sometimes a police officer. That’s what I do. I uphold the Code.’
Ava leaned forward, interested. ‘I heard you mention it to Isobel that night. The Code.’ Menelaus tried not to flinch; clairvoyant or not, Ava was claiming to have witnessed something ten years in the past, an event that had haunted him ever since. ‘What is the Code?’ Ava asked.
‘They’re the statutes that Pneuma must abide by in order to protect the entire community…Pneuma and sapiens alike.’
‘Okay,’ said Ava, ‘so does every Pneuma have a Guardian or are they only assigned in special cases?’
‘It’s complicated. Certain members of the community are deemed “at risk” of misusing their powers or abilities, especially those such as Theo who have just come of age under Praetoriani law. But officially most Pneuma have a named Guardian, a bit like every student at the university is assigned a mentor.’
Ava nodded. ‘So are you Theo’s Guardian?’
He shook his head. ‘Even though he was summoned several times for further Assessment, he never turned up. Until he attends his trial, he can’t be assigned one. However, I am Lorenzo’s Guardian. I put myself forward on that one.’
‘Why?’
‘He was my student before Malachi turned him into a vampire. I feel…responsible for his welfare.’
‘And what about Theo? Do you feel responsible for him?’
Well, he did try to kill me at sword-point.
Then again, I did kill his mother.
‘I want to do right by him, Ava. I understand why he hates me. I’ve hated myself because of that night. And when you mentioned him in my office the other day, I…I thought you already knew what I had done. I’m sorry I shouted at you.’
She stared at him for a long moment. ‘I will forgive you if you swear on whatever god you believe in that you’ll never intentionally hurt Theo, and that you’ll help me stop him from losing his soul to darkness.’
It was both an easy and a difficult promise. Easy to feel, hard to fulfil. But it was his only path to redeeming himself, maybe never in Theo’s eyes, but in his own, perhaps – maybe Ava’s too. ‘I promise,’ he said, ‘whatever it takes.’
‘Good,’ she smiled. ‘I was hoping you’d say that. Now I’m going to ask you to keep a secret. I need you to get something for me.’
4
How Do You Plead?
I had visited the Praetoriani HQ once before for Assessment, a rather gruelling interrogation that happened in the labyrinth, hidden under the hill that the building dominated. During the last moments of the interview, I had accidentally let on about the amulet – the one that protects the Gatekeeper from premature death – but they had let me go.
I was kidnapped and tortured on my way home.
Despite Michele’s confident posture as he strode up the Palladian-style steps, I wasn’t convinced. Only a few days ago I’d held a Praetoriani employee, Menelaus Knight, at sword-point for killing my mother. What was to stop him from waiting inside the HQ, ready to arrest me for assault, or worse?
We paused under the elaborate gable. ‘Your heart is hammering. Keep it under control,’ Michele snapped.
‘Only you can hear it; what’s the big deal? I’m nervous, okay
?’
His dark eyes glittered with malice. ‘Ah, naïve boy, no wonder you find trouble so easily. The courtroom will be swarming with vampires during your trial, using their ears and noses as lie detectors. They will be hidden, of course, and the Praetors will deny it.’
‘But they will use it against me?’
Michele chuckled. ‘I can smell the blood rushing to the delicate little butterflies in your stomach. Relax, today is only a plea hearing.’
I nodded, failing to tell him about the run in with Menelaus. Maybe Malachi had informed him already. We pushed through the doors and I followed Michele’s quick clip towards the reception desk, apparently having no doubt as to where he was going. I thought of the book he’d penned, the ‘unofficial’ guide to the Praetoriani justice system. Whatever the reason he had lowered himself to help me, I felt certain it was part of a larger agenda.
I recognised the receptionist, Kate, from my last visit. She smiled but said as little as possible, never removing her eyes from Michele. The grand reception hummed with staff, the gold-framed portraits on the wall adding to the sense of being watched. But Menelaus wasn’t there. We signed the guestbook and received our wrist-tags. A burly guard escorted us down the spiral staircase, near the semi-circular conference hall at the back, and through the underground checkpoint before turning sharply right.
I hate these bloody tunnels, I thought, as we were herded down another level and through darker caves, until we arrived in a well-lit area with plastered walls, lined with benches. A tall, slim man, in plush red robes, passed the guards at the courtroom door and disappeared inside while Michele flashed the relevant paperwork to another receptionist, who made us sign more documents before whisking us through.
I hadn’t expected the courtroom to be quite so big – and gold. I learned later that it was called the Aurea Curia, or Golden Court. The man who’d entered before us – a magistrate – sat on a high, gold-rimmed desk on a dais, which matched the glittering chandelier hanging above the centre of the courtroom. The marble underfoot seemed to shimmer, brightly polished to reflect the classical scenes painted on the ceiling, as did the mirrors that lined the wall. On a stand next to the witness box, a heavy white-and-gold book gleamed under a spotlight. I stared at the faux sky above us and wished I could melt into it.
The Descendants of Thor Trilogy Boxset: Forged in Blood and Lightning; Norns of Fate; Wrath of Aten Page 34