Chosen, p.5
Chosen, page 5
part #5 of The Grey Gates Series
A laugh escaped Max before she could stop it. She felt heat creeping up her face as everyone stared at her, but didn’t apologise. Isadora glared across the expensive, polished table surface at her, fine lines evident around her eyes and mouth, making Max wonder just how old the woman was. She seemed entirely human, which usually limited life spans, but she was wealthy and powerful enough to afford treatments both medical and magical to keep her alive longer than would normally be possible.
“It’s a reasonable question,” the head of the Passila Family said, turning her almost impossibly large and impossibly blue eyes to Max. “Why don’t you tell us who you are working for, Marshal?” the woman asked.
Max stared back at the woman, feeling a trail of magic in the air. A siren’s compulsion. She couldn’t help but compare the woman’s use of her powers with the way Ruutti Passila used her magic. The detective managed to get information out of people without them suspecting anything. Ruutti was skilled at not letting people know they were being manipulated. By contrast, this siren was wielding her power like a hammer. And Max still felt no compulsion to answer. The greater part of her that wasn’t human didn’t respond to a siren’s persuasion.
“I’m a Marshal,” Max told her, voice flat. “I work for the people of this city, like every other member of law enforcement.”
The siren’s perfectly shaped brows snapped together in a displeased frown. “Answer me,” she ordered.
“No,” Max said. “I’m here at Lord Kolbyr’s invitation, not to play games with you. What did you wish to discuss?” she asked, turning her shoulder to the siren and looking instead at the vampire.
He inclined his head to her, which she knew was a rare gesture of respect, and then looked around the table, making sure he had everyone’s attention. Apart from the siren, who was pouting like a child denied her favourite toy, he need not have worried. Seemingly satisfied with the level of attention, the vampire turned back to Max.
“Will you tell us, Marshal, what you have observed about these demons?” he asked.
It was an extremely open-ended question, which was no accident. Lord Kolbyr didn’t do things without a purpose. He’d brought her here, in front of the most powerful people in the city. He wanted something from her, but she had no idea what. She didn’t like not knowing. Despite his assurance of protection, she was keenly aware of the danger around her. With the audience he had gathered, it would be foolish to openly challenge the vampire and risk his anger. All she could do was be honest. Max paused a moment to gather her thoughts.
“The demon Queran has been in the daylight world for some time. He’s a watcher demon, but a powerful one. Somehow he teamed up with Evan Yarwood.” Max paused, wondering how much to say about what Queran and Evan had been up to. She decided to stick to the relevant facts only. “With the Syndicate, Evan and Queran stole the Arkus Codex.”
“Syndicate. We are familiar with them,” William said, anger in his voice that, for once, didn’t seem to be directed at her or anyone else in the room. “They’ve caused us some trouble,” he added, surprising her. The Syndicate seemed to have recruited a large number of members of the Huntsman clan. It made a certain sort of sense as both the clan and Syndicate dealt in the sort of violence most city residents would run away from. Based on that alone, she would have guessed that the Syndicate and the Huntsman clan had a lot in common. But the Huntsman clan pursued their own wants and interests without regard for anyone else, while the Syndicate had been created in service to the dark lord. William didn’t seem the type to be worried about what was happening to his people. It was more likely he was annoyed by the implicit challenge to his position as head of the clan, knowing perfectly well that the dark lord had no use for any authority apart from His own.
“Queran is dangerous on a one-to-one level,” Max continued, “but he had seemed content with making mischief. The other two demons are quite different. They got into this world thanks to the dark magic ritual that Evan and Queran were working on.” She didn’t look at Isadora or Kolbyr as she said that. She was sure that Isadora would know that her son had been involved in that self same ritual, and that was when Max had killed him. It didn’t seem helpful to go over that point. Not right now. “The demons are Donal and Finn.”
A couple of people around the room stiffened. It seemed that they had been doing some homework on demons. Perhaps trying to work out how big a threat they really were.
“I am familiar with those names,” the former soldier said. He leant forward slightly, perhaps reading the surprise on Max’s face. She’d identified him as a soldier through and through rather than someone interested in magic or demons. “I found books on dark magic in Shivangi’s and Hemang’s rooms. Those names are mentioned. They are said to be extremely dangerous.”
“Yes,” Max agreed.
“Donal is a master magician, whose skills are at least equal to my own,” Kolbyr said. There was no false modesty in his voice. He was stating facts. For the first time, Max saw concern on several faces around the room. Everyone here knew, or suspected, what the dark magic master was capable of. Now they had another possibly even more proficient magician to contend with. “Finn is less skilled, but equally ruthless and powerful.”
“They are working together,” Max added. “The attack on the Order was to try and recover the Arkus Codex.”
“I thought that was a myth,” Isadora said, with apparently genuine surprise. Remembering the key role that Oliver Forster had played in the discovery and theft of the Arkus Codex in the first place, Max wondered just how much Isadora did in fact know about what her son had been up so. No one stayed head of their Family for as long as Isadora had without knowing what was going on in her territory. Max found it difficult to believe that she hadn’t known something of what Oliver had been involved with. If Oliver had managed to switch his allegiance and agree to follow Evan’s directions without his mother knowing, it meant that Lady Forster’s knowledge and control of her Family had slipped badly.
“No myth,” Kolbyr said. “The Codex remains within the Order’s control. They are putting additional safeguards in place.”
“It’s likely that the demons and Evan will try to get the Codex again,” Max added, remembering the bodies she’d been looking at earlier. “It looks like they went straight from the Order to kill more people.”
She saw the lack of interest in the faces around her. This wasn’t the place or audience to discuss those deaths in detail. The people here wouldn’t care about the victims. What they would care about was the potential impact on them, and their power. She thought about telling them that each death most likely provided more power for the demons, but the victims deserved better than that. And she wasn’t sure how much of a difference it would make to the attitudes of most of the people in this room.
Max thought the self-interest was short-sighted. The demons had taken what they believed to be the Codex from the Order’s underground vaults. It wouldn’t have taken long for them to realise that they had taken a decoy. Max could not imagine Donal or Finn being happy about that. And having gone to the trouble of invading the Order to get the book in the first place, she was confident that they would try again. And if the demons got what they wanted, nowhere in the city would be safe.
“Why not destroy the Codex?” the former soldier asked.
“Jagannath makes a good point,” the Passila siren said.
“For once,” William grunted. The Huntsman and Raghavan territories bounded each other, which was common in the city, and there had never been much friendship between the two Families, Max knew.
“There is a lot of dark magic bound up in the Codex,” Kolbyr said, ignoring William and speaking to Jagannath. “Attempting to destroy the Codex would release that power into the world. It would cause significant damage.”
“Alright. So, we can’t destroy it,” Jagannath said, nodding. “But it has been contained for some years, yes? Can we put it back where it was?”
“No,” Kolbyr said, without elaborating.
The former soldier didn’t look pleased with the blunt answer, but he didn’t question it, either. It was just as well. Max didn’t want to have to explain to this group that the Codex had formerly been hidden in the Vault, a repository for magicians that was supposed to be absolutely secure. Evan and Queran, along with Oliver Forster and the Syndicate, had broken into the Vault and searched every room until they had found the Codex. And while she was quite sure that the Vault’s Armourer, Cira - a capable and powerful magician - would be putting new security measures in place, they were unlikely to stop demons. Max hadn’t found anything yet that could completely stop demons. And talking about the breach of the Vault would only shake magicians’ confidence in the safety of their belongings.
“So our best option is to have the Codex left in the Order’s hands?” the siren asked, scepticism clear.
“My dear Taina, if you think you can protect it better, by all means go and see if you can persuade Kitris to let it go,” Isadora said, in a sugar-sweet tone that did nothing to hide the sharp, bitter hatred in her eyes as she looked at the siren.
High spots of colour appeared on Taina Passila’s cheeks. She took a deliberate pause before plastering a clearly false smile on her face. “I might just do that. After all, at least Kitris has let me into the building before now.”
Max’s brows lifted, surprised. They were talking as if none of them knew that Kitris was dead. But she had told both Ruutti and Audhilde about Kitris’ death in the bank, and would have expected Ruutti at least to pass on such important knowledge to her Family. Perhaps Ruutti had seen some personal advantage to not sharing the information. Or perhaps she simply hadn’t had time. Audhilde may have her own reasons for keeping quiet in the moment, and not sharing the information. Max couldn’t help but wonder how the powerful people in the room would react if they learned that the head of the Order was dead by his own hand, and that one of the Order warriors had betrayed his oaths. A chill ran over her skin. There was more than enough hostility and suspicion in the room without an open fear that the Order could not be relied on. She was tempted to glance at Kolbyr to see his reaction. He’d been there in the aftermath of Kitris’ death, and he wasn’t correcting either Taina Passila or Isadora Forster. He seemed to be keeping the death a secret. It couldn’t hold for long. Not for the first time, she wondered just what game he was playing.
“Ladies,” Jagannath said, before the two women could give voice to the fury that was showing on their faces. Interrupting them, but wise enough not to say anything more. He turned to Kolbyr, instead. “It is your assessment, then, that the Codex is best left where it is?”
“For now, yes,” Kolbyr said.
Max shot him a sideways glance. As far as she knew, he had not yet managed a close look at the Codex, despite his best efforts. She couldn’t help wondering if he was already preparing a room for it in his own house. If the Codex wasn’t in the Order, then the next safest place for it in the city would be with the foremost expert on dark magic. Even if that seemed like a thoroughly bad idea on so many levels. Somehow, though, Max had formed the impression that Lord Kolbyr liked the world as it was. He was fascinated by dark magic and the potential knowledge he could glean from the pages of the Codex. She didn’t think he was interested in bringing the dark lord Himself to the daylight world, or in throwing open the Grey Gates and letting all the inhabitants of the underworld out into this world. But she had never truly understood his motives.
“You said something about defending the city,” Connor Walsh said. The glass in front of him was empty. Max was sure it had been full when they had sat down. He’d been drinking while the others argued. There was a hint of colour in his face, but his eyes were sharp as he looked across the table to Kolbyr. “What did you mean?”
“What in the world do you expect us to do to defend the city?” Taina asked, not giving Kolbyr time to answer before she continued on. “None of us have a working knowledge of dark magic or how to combat it. That’s what the Order is for.”
“You all have resources,” Kolbyr said. “Safe houses, stores of supplies, and several of you also have armed men and women under your command.”
The most powerful people in the city stared at the ancient vampire, and then Isadora gave a dry, humourless laugh.
“You expect us to provide shelter for the city’s residents?” she asked.
“I expect you to be ready to defend your territories,” Kolbyr said.
“You’re not serious,” Taina said. Then she frowned, eyes travelling over Kolbyr. “No. You are serious. Aren’t you over-reacting?”
“We have two of the most powerful demons from Arkus’ court in the daylight world, and a descendant of Arkus who has raised one army already,” Kolbyr said, an edge to his voice that suggested he was running out of patience. Max hoped that the others in the room were taking note. She’d seen a small fraction of what the vampire was capable of.
“Three demons, Evan and about twenty members of the Syndicate managed to get past the Order’s defences,” Max added. “They have also killed several people in the city, bot before and after they attacked the Order.” She paused to press her lips together, seeing the disinterest on most of the faces around her. They didn’t care about the city’s residents, she reminded herself. They cared about power. “One of the demons is also modifying supernatural creatures to be more powerful and harder to kill.” She tried not to shudder, remembering the cuchara that she’d faced only a couple of days before. The giant insects had been far more resistant to bullets and magic than normal. And, worse, the second group of them that she and her companions had come across had had wings. Cuchara were deadly and vicious enough. Adding wings only made them more deadly. It was a miracle no one had been killed in that attack.
With the exception of Jagannath, no one around the room seemed impressed with her additional information. She smoothed a frown from her face. Almost none of the people here had any reason to respect her or listen to her, and she had just as little time for them as well. There were other things - more productive things - that she could be doing with her time. She turned to Kolbyr.
“Was there anything else?” she asked him bluntly. He’d brought her here for a reason, after all. Everything she’d told the room was something he could have shared with them.
He looked back at her, a hint of hesitation in his manner, and her breathing hitched, wondering just how much he knew and what he was about to reveal. He hadn’t been anywhere nearby when Kitris and Emmeline had made their extraordinary revelations about her origins, or when she’d spoken with the Lady Herself in one of Her temples. But this was Kolbyr. He probably had resources she couldn’t even guess at. He might have found out more information about her than she was comfortable sharing.
“I wanted them to meet you,” Kolbyr told her, his voice softer than she’d ever heard it. “You have the strongest affinity with light magic I have ever seen, and I think it will be much needed in the coming days.”
Max couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Relief coursed through her. He wasn’t saying everything he knew. Or he didn’t know. Either way, he hadn’t revealed her secrets to the room, and she was grateful for that. But he’d said more than enough. Her sense of relief faded as she sensed the sharpening attention from the powerful people around the room, doubtless almost all of them wondering how they could use the information Kolbyr had disclosed to their advantage.
Kolbyr tilted his chin at her. It looked like partly respect, partly apology. Oddly enough, she didn’t feel that she needed the apology. He hadn’t betrayed her. He’d acted out of some impulse she didn’t quite understand. It seemed almost altruistic, wanting the power brokers in the city to know who she was, and how helpful she could be. Concern for others wasn’t something that Lord Kolbyr would ever be accused of, though. There was something else going on.
It only took another breath for her to realise what that might be. Kolbyr was demonstrating, in a potent way, that he was ahead of everyone else in terms of the information that he had and the connections that he had made. He had gathered them all here. He had brought her into this meeting. He had identified her as important, when almost everyone else would have dismissed her.
If it hadn’t been her neck on the line, Max would have been impressed. Lady’s light, she was still impressed, but also irritated. She didn’t have time for power games. She had demons to find.
Even as she was wondering how soon she would be able to leave, Cas and Pol both lifted their heads, low growls emerging from their throats. They surged to their feet, shifting into their attack forms.
“Control your beasts,” Connor snapped.
“They’re alerting me to possible danger,” Max said, getting up and putting her hand on her gun. Cas stayed beside her while Pol took a couple of steps away. Towards the door. The danger wasn’t in here. It was outside.
“I don’t hear anything,” William said.
“The room is soundproofed,” Isadora told him, her sharp tone conveying just what she thought of him.
Kolbyr got to his feet, the chill of his aura spreading around him, sliding across Max’s skin. She wanted to move away from the cold trace of dark magic, but held her ground, keeping her eyes on her dogs.
“Anyone order room service?” Taina asked, her voice too brittle to make the words funny.
“My hounds wouldn’t react to the hotel staff,” Max told her. “Wait here,” she told the people around the table and headed for the door, Cas and Pol by her sides.
She wasn’t surprised to find Kolbyr and Audhilde with her. The petite vampire had been quiet during the conversation, but she would have been watching and listening.
“What do you think it is?” Audhilde asked Max.
“No idea,” Max said. She glanced at the vampires on either side of her. “Ready?” she asked.
“Always,” Kolbyr said. He looked almost eager to face whatever it was that her hounds had reacted to.
