Eddie Lancaster Box Set 2, page 29
part #4 of Eddie Lancaster Series
Veronica was standing still looking dead ahead. I followed her gaze and saw the warlock yet again. He’d somehow managed to get to the opposite end of the road, blocking her path and was approaching Veronica with hideous slowness. As he drew near I saw that he was splattered from head to toe with blood. Looking back in the direction we’d come from I saw the mangled remains of all the vampires. Some were charred and smoking husks, others were dismembered piles of limbs. I looked back at Veronica and saw that the warlock was right in front of her, in his hand was the stake she’d tossed at me. I rose shakily to my feet, not wanting to remain on my arse like a helpless infant.
‘Yours, I believe,’ he said as he offered her the stake. He kept the point facing his way. She reached out to take it and as her fingers wrapped around the wood his free hand grabbed her wrist and held it in place. Magic can be used to increase a sorcerer’s strength, I’ve done it on occasion, but it takes a shit lot of power to make yourself so strong that you can outfight a vampire, but this guy was having no trouble. I could see by the way that Veronica’s face was strained that she was fighting him, but it was hopeless. I heard her bones crack as he twisted her wrist one-hundred and eighty degrees so that the stake, still in her hand, was now pointing at her own heart. Then silently and looking her right in the eyes he pushed the stake towards her. Being unable to fight him she started backing up until her back hit the nearby Volvo and she could go nowhere else.
She let out an unintelligible grunt. The warlock said nothing. He continued staring blankly into her eyes and he continued to push the stake her way. She let out a whimper as the point reached her and penetrated her flesh. The whimper turned to a full ear-shattering scream as the warlock drove the stake all the way in, still holding her own hand around it. Blood drooled out from the wound and still she tried to fight. The stake dug deeper and deeper until only the end was left. Her grey and lifeless hand fell away limply, and her body slid down the car to land with a thud on the tarmac. I looked at her wide, dead eyes and wondered if I was next. The warlock, obviously not content with murdering her, then kicked her corpse so it rolled over and faced the other way. I was a little thankful for that. I didn’t want it staring at me.
Then he turned to me. He strode across the road to where I was standing. I held my ground despite the terror that was seizing my heart. He glanced at the chains binding me and they turned to dust at once. Amazement did not begin to describe what I was feeling. Before I could react, he was upon me. He seized my chin and lifted my face so I was staring into his dark blue eyes. For the first time I could see him completely. He was a little taller than me and very slightly broader. He looked like he worked out perhaps. His hair was dark and a little messy. His square chin was coated in dark stubble and his dark ocean-like eyes had the look of a person who had seen more than they should have done. They looked haunted and yet alive and amused and enthralled. Every emotion seemed to be mingled in them somehow. But what struck me the most was the feeling I got from the light touch of his fingers on my chin. I could feel his power radiating from him. I imagine it was like standing at the edge of a crater of a live volcano. The magic was red hot, burning into my skin, though it was not unpleasant. It was magnificent. Never in my life had I felt something so strong.
‘It is true,’ the warlock said to himself rather cryptically. ‘We’ll talk soon.’ And then he was gone. One moment he was standing in front of me and then he was not. Teleportation was one of the impossible abilities for humans, only the most powerful can do it. There was no doubt in my mind that I had just met the most infamous warlock in history. Despite what Clara claimed to be true, I had just encountered Nickolas Blackwood.
Chapter Twelve
The annoying thing about having twenty dead vampires scattered around the street was that it was now my job to clean them up. Gone were the days where I could just walk off and let someone else deal with the mess and believe me I did that a lot. Now if some stupid unsuspecting human came across this lot it would raise a lot of questions that would all be dumped on me.
The commotion had brought out some disturbed residents and luckily Gabe was now awake and rushing around erasing memories as required. It was handy having a vampire on the payroll. Not that I paid him. I got on the phone to Neil and had him bring a van as well as all the other vampires — minus Marty. I didn’t want him anywhere near me. That guy was a moron.
We — and by we, I mean they — bundled the remains into the van and then took it to the crematorium on Bearsted Road where Neil handled the burning. Job done. Technically, I did still get someone else to clean up my mess, but I gave the orders.
Even though Veronica and all her followers were dead I still didn’t feel very safe. Like she said, Aldric’s detractors were growing in number every day and maybe Veronica had told a few more of them that I alone knew how to kill Aldric. That meant more might come for me. I decided to increase my security detail. From now on Gabe would continue to follow me around but three of the others would stay nearby too. I told them that I wanted them to be discreet and if possible out of sight. I didn’t want to be walking around surrounded by heavies like some kind of gangster. I also made it clear that my safety was never to be put in the hands of Marty-the-idiot. Gabe seemed offended by this but he didn’t argue.
I wondered what Nickolas was talking about when he said ‘it is true’ all mysteriously. Would he be back? I know I haven’t seen any evidence that the warlock is Nickolas, but it just seems like he is. Come on, you know it too. Anyway, he never came back and after a couple of days I’d pretty much given up waiting for him. When my phone rang I got excited that it might be him even though he didn’t have my number. How hard could it be for a guy like him to get it? Although the chances of him phoning when he could just teleport to me were pretty slim.
Either way it wasn’t him, it was Inspector Richards, or Detective Chief Inspector Richards, or whatever he is these days. Every time he phoned lately it was to berate me, so I prepared myself for that and answered the call. He didn’t tell me off, instead he invited me to lunch. I could tell by his tone that he was going to give me a telling off, but I do love a free lunch, so I told him to meet me at Muggs.
Half an hour later we were sitting in my booth in Muggs. Gabe was sitting next to me and Neil, Sabrina and Alison were scattered around the pub. I used to think that Muggs was a safe place but then my girlfriend got murdered. Richards saved the telling off until after we’d eaten. Instead we engaged in tedious small talk until the meals were finished. Then he sat back and crossed his thick arms over his broad chest.
‘Where to start,’ he said and rubbed a hand over his clean-shaven chin.
‘I’m sure you’re going to tell me what a shit job I’m doing, Inspector so just cut to the chase,’ I said.
‘After all these months how have you not remembered that I’m Detective Chief Inspector?’ Richards said in exasperation. I did keep forgetting that but in my defence it’s too much of a mouthful. Inspector rolls off the tongue more easily.
Listen,’ he said, snapping to attention. ‘I know you’ve been through a hard time with all that’s happened lately but I’m getting a lot of pressure from my boss to sort things out, so I’ve got to put some pressure on you.’
‘Yeah, except you’re not my boss,’ I pointed out.
‘Crime has increased over the last eight months,’ he said, ignoring my comment.
‘You can hardly blame that on me,’ I said defensively.
‘On deeper analysis I can. A huge portion of the crimes are unofficially categorised as supernatural disturbances which have increased by more than 200% over the last eight months. You’ve been running things for eight months. See the correlation?’ he said. When he said the word supernatural his fingers moved to the huge black scar on his neck, courtesy of a supernatural attack. His veins in the area now protruded from the skin and were a nasty shade of black.
‘What are those crimes officially categorised as?’ I asked curiously. I do wonder about little details sometimes.
‘Can we try and stay focused here?’
‘So, what do you suggest?’ I said a little testily. I was getting really fucking sick of people telling me how rubbish I was at being in charge. Did these people not understand that I’d stepped up to protect them from Clara and Aldric?
‘Let Clara take over. She has the resources to get everything under control,’ he said. The very thing that was guaranteed to wind me up.
I let out a dry laugh. ‘If you think Clara will fix your problems then you’re an idiot. Everyone in this town would rebel against her. They’re here because they dislike her.’
‘They don’t seem to like you very much either,’ he said. That hit a nerve, no matter how true it was.
‘Trust me when I say they’d like her less,’ I said in a low voice. This meeting was nearing a very abrupt end.
‘But she has the manpower to make them accept her in ways you can’t. You and a couple of vampires aren’t enough. This isn’t a game Eddie, people are in danger because of you.’
And there it was. I’d had enough. I don’t know if it was his words or his condescending tone, but something inside me hit the anger switch and out it came like a torrent of lava. ‘Do you think I want to be in charge? Do you seriously think I’m playing a fun little game? Ooh look at Eddie acting like a grown up, running around playing king of Maidstone. Silly old Eddie! No! Not silly old Eddie. I’m not playing a game and I do not want to be in charge. This town was moments away from getting torn apart by Clara and Aldric fighting over it. Imagine that for a second. Maidstone full of sorcerers and vampires, running around trying to kill each other. Without me this town would be a war zone and there would be nothing that you or anybody else could do about it. I did you a fucking favour when I stepped up and took charge. I did everyone a favour!’ Richards sat in stunned silence as I screamed in his face. He held my gaze throughout and showed no signs of embarrassment despite the entire pub now staring at us.
I pulled my anger in and spoke in a quieter tone. ‘But nobody seems to appreciate what I’ve done for them. Nobody. Not them,’ I pointed at the onlookers. ‘And not you. You don’t appreciate the sacrifices I’ve made. My time. My energy. My girlfriend.’
‘Eddie…’ Richards tried to stop me but I wouldn’t let him.
‘No, it’s true. If I wasn’t in charge we wouldn’t have been attacked and she’d still be alive. But that doesn’t matter does it? She’s just another casualty of me trying to play king. Silly old Eddie, eh?’ Tears were rising in my eyes and I fought desperately to force them back down. Gabe subtly slid a napkin across the table to me but I ignored it. To use it would be to admit that I was crying. ‘I’ve given so much for you and all you want is more. Do you know what I want? Do you?’
Richards shook his head helplessly, looking to Gabe for answers. He looked humbled now. Good.
‘I just want some fucking appreciation. Maybe a little respect. Or maybe I should just walk away. I mean, all the people I care about are gone anyway. What is there to keep me here? Maybe I should just let Clara and Aldric go at it.’
‘Eddie, I didn’t mean to… Of course I appreciate you. But something has got to…’ he was interrupted by his own phone dinging on the table. He was about to ignore it but then something made him change his mind and he picked it up and read the message. ‘Fuck. Well, here’s one for you by the looks of it. We’ve got a murder, looks like some kind of ritual. Why don’t you show us all why we should appreciate you?’ He stood up before I could throw a snappy reply back and headed for the doors. I glared after him before letting out a growling sigh and stomping after him.
Richards took me and Gabe to a flat not far from the town centre. The other vamps followed in a separate car. Richards did not appreciate being followed around by a group of vampires, but he was smart enough to keep quiet about it. One eruption from me was all he was prepared to deal with. We walked up to the third floor flat which had two uniformed police officers on the door.
‘No idea what to make of it, boss,’ one of them said as Richards approached.
‘You can’t bring all of them in. It’s a crime scene,’ Richards said and then entered the flat before I could argue.
‘Just you, Gabe,’ I said and then walked in with him. The others hung back. I didn’t need any of them anyway.
We walked down a fairly long hallway until we came to a spacious living room. Everything seemed to be fine, no sign of a struggle. The only thing out of the ordinary was the body lying in the centre of the room. There was no obvious damage to it. Just looked like the guy was sleeping, except for his chest wasn’t moving and he was completely naked. He was a hairy bloke too. His eyes had been closed and four symbols had been drawn around him in blue chalk.
‘Neighbour came in using a spare key after the deceased hadn’t been seen for a few days,’ said the uniformed officer inside the room. He was doing his best not to look at the body.
‘Gabe, deal with the neighbour,’ I said casually as I approached the body.
‘What does that mean?’ Richards said sharply. Gabe didn’t hang about to hear the exchange, he had his orders.
‘Gabe will make them forget what they saw here,’ I explained as if it was obvious. What did he think I meant? I was hardly ordering Gabe to murder the guy just for seeing a dead body.
‘That’s not really what we do with witnesses,’ Richards moaned.
‘It’s what I do and since this is supernatural it’s my jurisdiction,’ I said matter-of-factly.
‘So, it is supernatural then?’ Richards asked.
‘Absolutely. The symbols give it away,’ I said, pointing at the corpse.
‘That’s all I need to know,’ Richards said and then turned to his colleague. ‘Get our lot out of here, we’ll file a special report back at the station.’
The uniform nodded and then briskly left the room. ‘A special report?’ I asked, as I knelt beside the body. There was a bit of a smell to it, I mean it had been there a few days after all.
‘You don’t need to worry about that,’ he replied. ‘You worry about making sure stuff like this stops happening. I don’t care what you think or what your motives are, if you don’t control your people I will invite Clara here myself.’
I looked up at him and tried my best to convey how much his words had irked me. Judging from the way his eyes shifted, I’d succeeded. I didn’t need to say anything, I think my expression said it all. After a couple of moments Richards left the room without so much as a good bye. I got the feeling we weren’t going to be friends for much longer.
‘So, what is all this?’ Gabe asked, as he returned from dealing with the neighbour.
‘Well,’ the guy was killed using magic somehow. There are no signs of an attack. These symbols…’ I looked at them intently trying to figure out what they meant. To either side of the man were circles with lines through them. Above and below him were triangles containing what looked like little stick men. ‘They’re crude. Very basic.’
‘What do they mean?’
‘I’d say they were for hiding something. The circles are eyes and the lines indicate blocking the eyes. The triangles represent a cloak for the little stick man,’ I said.
‘Well they’re not doing a good job, this guy was found pretty quickly,’ Gabe said with a small laugh.
‘They’re not cloaking him. He is powering the spell. Which means… he’s supernatural.’ Much as I really did not want to I reached out and placed my hand on the corpse. I touched the arm, it seemed like the least intimate part. I could feel magic flowing from the corpse. He was being used to power a pretty powerful cloaking spell. ‘Sacrificial magic. By sacrificing a supernatural being you create a whole new power source. Whoever did this is using this ritual to hide from someone.’
‘Clara or Aldric?’ Gabe asked.
‘I doubt a vampire did this. You need some magic in order to perform the ritual and there are very few magical vampires out there.’ It was possible to be both a sorcerer and a vampire but neither sorcerers nor vampires liked the idea of a cross-breed and they tended to hunt them down and eradicate them. Aldric told me all about it not so long ago after I’d spent a brief time as a vampire. ‘We need to find the sorcerer. My guess is they arrived in town about three days ago.’
‘Can’t you just break the spell and use it to lead us to them. I’ve seen you trace people using their spells before,’ Gabe said.
‘‘I’m glad you were paying attention, but no. In order to trace them I would need their magic to be used in this ritual, but they created an external power source. The perfect way to do a cloaking spell. And I can’t break it from here. This kind of spell will work with a totem of some kind. Wherever the sorcerer is they’ll have some object that we need to destroy in order to break the spell.’
‘What kind of object?’
‘Something connected to this guy,’ I nodded at the corpse. ‘Something sentimental perhaps, or not. It could be anything of his really.’
‘So, in order to break the cloaking spell we need to find the person it’s cloaking?’ Gabe reiterated.
‘Yep, I see the irony too, but there’d be no point in doing a cloaking spell if they were that easy to break. Get your guys to search this town from top to bottom for a sorcerer who doesn’t belong here. I’ll ask Clara if she’s had any runaways lately.’
Clara didn’t have any runaways. She did offer to help me locate the rogue sorcerer but only if I promised to hand them over to her. I wasn’t ready to make a deal with Clara just yet, I wanted to see what I was dealing with first. The following morning Gabe told me that they’d found something. Then he added that Marty had been the one to find it and my hopes rapidly diminished. I doubted that notorious imbecile had come up with anything useful. Nonetheless I sat in my soon-to-be-former living room and stared intently at the fool whilst I waited to hear what he’d dug up.
