Dark Star, page 9
Estelle was looking at him with an expression he had never seen on her face before. Excitement. “This is brilliant.”
“This is insane! It’s mumbo jumbo, at best.”
“Why?” she asked, suddenly annoyed. “You can’t possibly scoff at this.”
He rubbed his face, bewildered. “No, you’re right. Let’s print this out and see what else we can find.”
Nahum looked at the Assyrian statue of a winged lion that towered over him in the British Museum and felt a shudder of recognition. This was more than he was expecting. So much more.
He took a step back, feeling suddenly hot, and decided he needed to find Niel. He had left him in the Mesopotamian rooms, lost in his memories, but it was unlikely he was still there, surely.
Nahum made his way upstairs and through the galleries, feeling dizzy as the past assailed him. Many things there were from after his existence, but they were recognisable enough, their roots being found in his own time. But other things were far too close. The Assyrian lion hunts, the Canaanites, the Egyptians, the Levant, so many names… But here, fragments of their existence were right in front of him.
Almost blindly, he stumbled along, and finally found Niel in a long room staring at the Assyrian reliefs from Nineveh. He moved to his side, Niel transfixed on the images in front of him. Nahum nudged him gently. “Niel, are you all right?”
“No. I’m not.” Niel turned to face him, his face pale. “This is weird.”
Nahum smiled weakly. “It’s unnerving, that’s for sure.”
“We need to bring our brothers here.” Niel turned away to study the panels again, moving slowly through the room. “I’m amazed at what has survived.”
“Maybe we’re not out of time after all.”
“Oh, we’re out of time, all right. I remember commissioning things like this to be carved. The work it took, the skill, the conditions. Brother, I need a drink.”
“Not yet you don’t,” Nahum said, steering him out of the room. “Let’s look at something more modern. We came here for JD, after all.”
“Right now, JD seems insignificant.”
“But he’s not. He’s our occasional employer, and immortal, too.”
Niel shook his head, his stride matching Nahum’s as they headed for the galleries housing the modern displays. “These ancient remains remind me who we really are. We shouldn’t be taking instructions from him! He should be grovelling at our feet.”
Nahum looked at him sharply, alarmed by his tone, and grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. “There’ll be no grovelling, Niel. We don’t do that anymore.”
“But you know what I mean.” Niel’s blue eyes stared into his own. “JD has no power over us.”
“I know that, and so do our brothers. But this isn’t about us exerting our authority or ancient bloodline. This is about us forging our way in the world. And potentially, JD may have just lived a bit longer than we did. And he’s a lot more familiar with the past five hundred years than us!”
“So why are we focussing on the more recent past when we could be utilising what we do know?”
Nahum paused, feeling ambushed. “Because at the moment, that’s where the money is. And I guess because our own time is too long ago.”
“And yet…” Niel spread his arms out, almost knocking over a bystander. “It’s not. It’s here!”
“Dug out from the earth after painstaking archaeological digs. And how much has been lost? 99.9 percent of it, that’s what! This is amazing, I agree, but let’s be honest, Niel. Most of our history is just dust. Let’s enjoy the glimpse we’re getting of it and appreciate it for what it is.” Nahum stared him down, knowing that Niel could be bloody-minded and belligerent sometimes, and thankful that most of the time he wasn’t. “You’re shocked, like I am. That’s all. It’s doing strange things to my head, too.”
They stared at each other for another moment, and then Niel nodded. “Yeah, I’m in shock. But still…”
“Come and look at JD’s stuff, and let’s find some astrolabes.” Nahum urged him along, desperate to move to more modern displays. He agreed that they should bring their brothers here, but what would they think? Some days being here seemed easy, when the past felt at a distance. But now, it felt like it might swallow him whole. And last month’s encounter with The Book of Raziel didn’t help, either.
When they finally arrived in the gallery containing JD’s belongings, Nahum led them to his obsidian mirror. “It doesn’t look much, does it?”
“No, but it is an old Aztec relic,” Niel said, and then nodded to the wax disc next to the other objects. “And that’s his Seal of God. The design given to him by Uriel, apparently.”
“Don’t you believe him?”
“Do you?” Niel asked sceptically.
“He’s a wily old devil, but he did summon Chassan,” Nahum reminded him.
“Like I’d forget,” Niel mumbled. “At least he hasn’t contacted me.” Niel looked around the room. “Come on, let’s find some astrolabes, see if someone can give us a lesson on using one, and then we can head home. I’ve had my fill of history for one day.”
Gabe and Shadow were back in London by early afternoon, and once inside Chadwick House, Shadow headed to the kitchen to prepare a late lunch, while Gabe went to the study with the astrolabe. He’d just spoken to Barak and was disturbed by his news. He eyed the astrolabe with distaste. The object was getting more bizarre by the minute.
The rete, which depicted the celestial hemisphere, was ornate and delicate, each tip representing a star. There appeared to be a couple of plates layered in the disc, but he had no intention of dismantling it to investigate further. The centre pin that connected them all together had a large, black pearl in the centre, and its lustre shone in the sun. Was it supposed to represent a dark star, whatever that was? He shook his head, confused, and placed the astrolabe on the table just as Nahum and Niel arrived, both looking preoccupied.
“What’s happened?” he asked them as Nahum threw himself in a chair. “You look spooked.”
Niel just grunted and carried the astrolabe to the window to examine it in better light, but Nahum said, “We went to the British Museum and had an interesting encounter with our past.” He updated him on what they’d seen, and for the first time in 24 hours, Gabe’s thoughts left their current case.
“Really? Was it that weird?”
“Weirder, brother. But, having said that, I think you should go. We all should.” He lowered his voice. “It made Niel cranky.”
“I can hear you!” Niel called across the room. “And yes, I am cranky. I’m not apologising for it, either.”
Nahum rolled his eyes at Gabe and he smiled. They all knew what Niel could be like. “I am intrigued,” Gabe admitted, “but not right now. Why weren’t you watching the order?”
“Waste of time. There was hardly anyone going in, and we decided we’d be better off going tomorrow night,” Nahum said, explaining their reasoning. “But we did manage to get some basic instructions on how astrolabes work. They’re complicated things, clever, very sophisticated for their time. I know we don’t need to know how to use it, but—” he shrugged. “It felt like something we should do.”
“Fair enough. But I’m handing that thing over later today. I’ll call Caldwell as soon as I’ve spoken to Harlan.” He checked his watch. “And that should be any minute now.”
For the next short while they talked about what had happened in Oxford, until Shadow arrived in the room with sandwiches and drinks on a tray, Harlan next to her.
Harlan looked flustered, and Gabe’s heart sank. “Is something wrong?”
“Just JD being his usual, belligerent self,” Harlan said. He didn’t sit, instead picking up the astrolabe that Niel had placed on the table again and examining it. “So, this is what’s causing all our problems?”
“It is,” Gabe said nodding. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“And a little different from the astrolabes we’ve been examining, including Chadwick’s,” Niel added. “The jewel on the disc is unusual, but from our admittedly brief instructions, it seems it would work the same way.”
Harlan grunted. “As long as Caldwell is happy, I don’t care. I just want it out of my hands.”
“What problems are you having?” Shadow asked. She was sitting at the large table covered in paperwork with her lunch in front of her, and seemed none the worse from the late night.
For a moment, Harlan didn’t answer, instead running his fingers across the engraved metalwork of the disc, seemingly lost in thought. Watching him now, it was clear to Gabe that Harlan had experienced just as disturbed a night as the rest of them. His eyes had dark shadows beneath them, stubble grazed his jaw, and his lips were tight. He seemed to be wrestling with something. Finally, he said, “JD wants me to double-cross Caldwell and deliver this to him.”
Silence fell as Gabe looked at his companions’ incredulous expressions, and then he laughed. “Over my dead body! I don’t break deals.”
Harlan grinned, finally meeting his eyes. “Neither do I, so I’m glad to hear you say that. But he did give me some interesting news.”
“So has Barak,” Gabe confessed, not having told his brothers Barak’s information yet. “I’ll start. You might want a seat.”
For a few minutes they exchanged information, and by the time they’d finished, the mood had darkened.
“Can I suggest that we don’t waste time, and pass this on right now?” Harlan said. “I don’t want to be ambushed in this house by your mysterious attacker, or JD. Shall I call Caldwell?”
Gabe nodded. “I think we should go fully armed, too. Tell him we’ll be there within the hour.”
Their journey through London was relatively quick, and once again, Shadow, Harlan, and Gabe went inside the order’s headquarters as Niel and Nahum waited outside, watching the building. But this time, Aubrey Cavendish was with Caldwell, the man who’d orchestrated the theft from France. He was a big, middle-aged man, soft around the edges with a paunch that indicated good living, and a very unlikely thief, Gabe decided. Maybe he’d engaged someone else in France, or perhaps he had hidden skills.
Caldwell grasped the astrolabe to his chest, his eyes wide. “I can’t believe you found it so soon!”
“Speed was the key, and some luck,” Gabe confessed. “But you need to be careful. Some powerful people want that, and I would guess they’ll try again.”
Aubrey prised the astrolabe from Caldwell’s hands, scanning it quickly. “Is it damaged?”
“I don’t think so,” Shadow said, “but we did have to fight to get it.”
“A fight?” Caldwell asked, alarmed. “With who?”
“Someone who was not fully human,” Gabe explained, eyeing their worried expressions, but it was important they knew what they were up against. He described their encounter, noting that both Caldwell and Aubrey had gone very still, Caldwell fumbling for the chair behind him and sitting heavily.
Harlan cut in. “We believe Black Cronos is behind this. It was a name given to us by the thief’s contact.”
“Impossible!” Aubrey said immediately, his face flushing. “They do not exist.”
“But you have heard of them?” Harlan looked amused. “Because I’ll be honest, we had to do some digging to find anything on them. It seems they’ve been around a long time.”
Aubrey and Caldwell exchanged nervous glances, and then Caldwell said, “They existed once, but a very long time ago. Your source is wrong.”
“And the woman who had the ability to kill with a kiss?” Shadow asked. “If it wasn’t Black Cronos, who employed her?”
“That really doesn’t matter,” Caldwell said, standing abruptly. “Thank you for your time and excellent service. I will arrange payment immediately, and I shall certainly use you again, should I need to.”
So that was it, Gabe thought, experiencing a weird mixture of relief and disappointment. And then his phone rang. It was Nahum. “A black van has just pulled up outside, and I can see five people so far, including a woman, surrounding the building. This is not a social call. Me and Niel will try to stop them.”
Gabe turned to Shadow, who was already holding her two daggers, poised for action. “Check the hallway. They’ve come for the astrolabe.”
“What?” Aubrey said, already backing away as Shadow left the room. “Who?”
“Four men, one woman, and maybe more. Is there anyone else in the building?”
Caldwell shook his head. “No, it’s just us.”
“Good,” Gabe said, immensely relieved he didn’t have to worry about protecting anyone else. “Harlan, stick with these guys and leave the fighting to us.”
Then a scream resonated down the hall that was abruptly cut off, and Gabe ran to the door.
Ten
Shadow spun away from the man she had just stabbed and who had fallen dead at her feet, covered in blood, just in time to dodge the attack of another man who had entered the reception hall from a doorway at the rear.
He was lean and stealthy, and like her, carried two sharp daggers. In seconds they were engaged in deadly combat. Shadow was aware of another figure approaching from the stairway, but Gabe ran to help, yelling, “Harlan, get them to the safe room!”
They fought side by side, Shadow swiftly dodging the whirling knives of her attacker. He was good. Inhumanly good. She felt his knife slice her arm, and she knew she’d need every ounce of her skill to defeat him.
The man’s eyes were dark, and the longer they fought, the darker and more intense they became, just like the woman from the previous night. She could feel his immense concentration as he tried to back her into a corner. She dropped suddenly, rolling to the side before regaining her feet, able to slash his side with a long, deep cut before he rounded on her, a low, inhuman growl in his throat. Gabe seemed to be having a similar struggle, and she could hear his sword clashing with his opponent.
A strangled cry came from another room, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Niel stride through a doorway, whirling two swords at the same time as he aimed for their side. And then something dropped down from above, sending Niel crashing into a wall. It was chaotic, and the fight was messy. All of the furniture in the hall was upended, and the sounds of splintering wood and shattered porcelain mixed with the clash of swords and grunts of aggression.
Shadow finally managed to thrust her blade between her opponent’s ribs, watching him slide to the floor, eyes wide, before the life passed out of them. She ran to Harlan’s side as he hurried Caldwell and Aubrey to the door that led to the passageway and the safe room below. But they had barely walked a few feet down the hallway when the woman from the night before appeared at the top of the rear stairs, her dark eyes glowing with malevolence.
Herne’s bloody horns. How many of them were there, and where the hell was Nahum?
Nahum was engaged in his own battle in the alley behind the building. Two huge men faced him, both with full beards and bearing unusual weapons. One carried a short sword with an oddly shaped blade, the other carried a double-bit axe, both sides wickedly sharp, and in the dull light of the alley, Nahum could see strange engraving on the blades.
But that’s all he could take note of, because the men struck quickly, clearly intending to kill him.
Nahum was suddenly glad of the sparring he did regularly with Shadow and his brothers, because he needed strength and agility now more than ever. As the axe head missed his own by mere inches, he realised he needed his wings, and damn the consequences. One man feinted to the right, trying to draw his attention, but his wings punched through his shirt, shredding it, and he used them to crush the man against the wall, throwing him with such force that the man’s skull cracked and he fell, lifeless, to the ground. His remaining opponent roared with fury, his eyes bloodshot with a berserker rage, throwing himself at Nahum.
Nahum lifted effortlessly above him, grabbed the man around the neck, and hauled him off his feet. He twisted and writhed as Nahum flew higher, hoping the alley would protect him from prying eyes. His opponent flung his arm back, swiping wildly with his axe, and in an effort to dodge it, Nahum dropped him. With a strangled cry he fell to the ground, the sound cut short with a sickening crunch.
Nahum dropped to the ground, and ensuring there was no one else outside, ran through the damaged back door, across a large kitchen, and into the hallway beyond, where he saw Shadow fighting furiously with a dark-haired woman. Nahum knew who she was. Her black eyes and athleticism marked her as the woman Gabe and Shadow had fought the night before. It was unlikely she had followed them, but it was obvious that she and her companions had decided to stake out the order’s headquarters.
Caldwell and Aubrey were cowering in the hall as Harlan pushed them back towards the kitchen. He eyed Nahum with relief. “I’m trying to get them to the safe room, but we’re blocked.” He nodded behind him. “Gabe and Niel are back that way.”
Nahum didn’t speak, his eyes still on Shadow and the mystery woman. Shadow ducked and rolled, striking out at the woman’s legs, and Nahum took his chance. He pulled one of his throwing daggers from where it was strapped to his forearm and threw it at the woman’s throat. But like she had a sixth sense, she turned, and it caught her in the shoulder. While evading Shadow, she pulled the blade free and hurled it back towards Nahum. Nahum was vaguely aware of the others dropping to the floor behind him, but the knife landed in the wall, and he grabbed it once more.
Cornered and desperate, the woman ran to another doorway, and Shadow raced after her. Nahum seized the opportunity, and hauling Harlan to his feet, asked, “Where’s the safe room?”
Harlan was already leading the way. “Down here, bottom of the stairs.”
Nahum checked behind them to make sure they weren’t being followed, and then ran in front of Harlan, ensuring their path was safe and the room secure.
“Are you sure there’s no other way in?” he asked him as he scanned the small room, noting the large safe door opposite.
