The Raven's Shadow: The Aegis of Merlin Book 4 Read online

  Kelsie couldn’t help contrasting the welcome she’d received from these total strangers with the one her family gave her whenever she came home after a trip. Generally all she got was a combination of complaints and indifference. She’d been tempted to ask Mrs. Koda to adopt her on the spot and after the incident on the train that might still be an option. If nothing else she now understood why he said he wouldn’t trade families with her for all the money in the world.

  Conryu slewed the bike into the right lane, slowed, and pulled onto the off-ramp. They hadn’t really had a destination, the trip was just an excuse for him to take his beloved bike for a spin.

  After his parents and Maria, Kelsie was pretty sure Conryu loved his bike the most. When he’d uncovered it this morning he whispered to it and stroked it in a way that made her jealous. Kelsie would have loved to woken up that way. With his parents in the kitchen and Maria four floors up that didn’t seem likely.

  He wove through crowded city streets, to where, she couldn’t say. Ten minutes later he pulled into a dirt lot. In the nearby park workers were building a fence around the perimeter. Conryu switched off the motor, put down the kickstand, and pulled off his helmet.

  She copied him and shook out her hair, trying to restore some semblance of order. “What is this place?”

  “This is the site of the annual Shadow Carnival. It’s also where I was almost murdered for the second time. I’m not entirely sure why I came back here. It was like something drew me.”

  The flap on his saddlebag rustled and Prime flew out. She’d been so excited by the ride she’d forgotten all about the book.

  “It’s not unusual for the site of past trauma to haunt a person for years afterward. Don’t be concerned, Master, there’s nothing wrong with your mind.”

  “As always, Prime, you’re a great comfort.”

  “So what happened here?” She’d never heard the whole story about Conryu’s many brushes with death even though she’d lived through one of them.

  When he finished telling her she shook her head. “So that’s why you were curious about shadow beasts in our first class. I admit I was wondering.”

  “Why didn’t you ask?”

  “I was wary of you right up until my desperation got the best of me. Looking back, I can’t believe how many weeks I wasted. If I’d just taken a chance that first day when you talked to me we could have become friends so much sooner.”

  “We’re friends now, that’s what counts.” He patted her knee.

  His gaze shifted to the sky. Hanging above them was the huge floating island. She’d seen this one before, though it didn’t fly directly over Central. It looked like it was headed right for them, sort of a slow motion meteor from a movie.

  “When’s the carnival?” Kelsie asked.

  “This weekend, when the island is directly overhead. It’ll be so dark you’ll think it’s night at noon.”

  “Can we go?”

  “I don’t know if they’ll let me in after what happened last year, but we can try. Maria and I have been going since we were little so it’s a tradition and Jonny would never pass up a chance at junk food.”

  “How long have you known him?” Conryu had mentioned they were friends, but she didn’t know anything else about him.

  “Since third grade. He arrives from military school tomorrow for a one-month break.” Conryu sighed. “And I thought we got screwed on vacation time. So what do you want to do after lunch?”

  She shrugged. Kelsie was happy to do anything as long as it was with him.

  Lady Raven stood on the small balcony of her redoubt and watched the island creep across the sky. It wouldn’t be long now. After a year of sitting on her hands, hiding, and making preparations, at last everything would come together. And not a moment too soon as far as she was concerned. Another month cooped up with nothing but undead for company and she feared she might go mad.

  Her black silk robe swirled around her as a warm summer breeze caressed her skin and carried the salty scent of the nearby ocean to her. The blue-green water lay on the opposite side of the building from where she stood. Lady Raven imagined it, the waves, the birds. The mental exercise soothed her for a few seconds before the blast of a ship’s horn jolted her out of her reverie.

  Just as well, really. The final meeting with the Hierarchs was due to begin in ten minutes. She needed to go back inside and prepare. Three steps carried her through the French doors and into her bedroom where two of the undead bikers she’d taken as her personal bodyguards stood against the wall waiting for orders. She’d left three of the others to guard the entrance to her base and the last was destroyed by Terra and her flunkies.

  She brushed past her bed, pausing long enough to collect the black raven mask from her nightstand. On her way out she paused to look at herself in the dressing room mirror. Still old, still wrinkled, but still alive and more powerful than ever. That was an exchange the younger members of the Society wouldn’t understand for many more years.

  Satisfied, Lady Raven opened the door and stepped out into the hall. It was a short walk from the bedroom to her casting chamber, intentionally so, as she had to be available day or night for her superiors, especially now that the culmination of their work was so close at hand. Her guards fell in behind automatically.

  There was no danger to her here and it seemed foolish to have the lumbering things following her everywhere, but better safe than sorry. The only rule was they weren’t allowed in her casting chamber. The nature of their dark magic messed with her spells in unpredictable ways, so they stood guard outside while she stepped into the Spartan chamber.

  When she first arrived she’d taken the time to inscribe a permanent spell circle in the floor, thus freeing herself from having to draw it again and again. The mask slipped over her head and settled into its familiar place. When this mission ended she’d miss the raven mask, but Hierarchs all wore animal masks; only Sub-Hierarchs wore birds. It was an upgrade she was eager to make.

  Once inside the circle she cleared her mind and prepared for her superiors to make contact. Five minutes later a faint tingle was followed by the appearance of the Hierarchs and Lady Bluejay. Of the horrid Lady Mockingbird there was no sign.

  “All is in readiness?” Lady Dragon asked.

  “Yes, Mistress. There has been no activity near the new hiding places and I’ve seen no activity at the Department that concerns me.”

  “Excellent. Tomorrow we release our demands. The weak men will do what we require or see the streets of their city choked with the dead.”

  “As you say, Lady Dragon.” Lady Raven’s eyes flicked to the spot usually occupied by her rival.

  Lady Dragon didn’t miss the minute gesture, precisely as she’d hoped. “Lady Mockingbird is dead.”

  The blunt admission set her on her heels for a moment. Had she so badly failed the Hierarchs that they felt the need to eliminate her?

  “No, we didn’t kill her.” Lady Dragon leaned back in an unseen chair. “Her attempt to slay the abomination failed and her cover was pierced. She fell in battle with the head of dark magic, Angeline Umbra.”

  “A worthy foe. Pity about Lady Mockingbird.”

  Lady Dragon’s laugh filled the space. “Spare us your false concern. The hatred between the two of you was well known. To pretend otherwise is an insult to all of us.”

  Lady Raven bowed her head. “I meant no offense. But I do have a suggestion.”

  “We will hear it,” Lady Dragon said.

  “What if we included turning over the abomination to us as part of our plans? We could let the fools in the Department do our work for us. That would be a small thing compared to releasing our leader.”

  Lady Dragon’s mask covered her whole face, hiding her expression, but from the way she leaned forward Lady Raven hoped her idea had been well received.

  “An excellent idea. It will be a simple matter to add it with potentially great gains. You will make a fine Hierarch, Lady Raven.”

 
Her heart raced upon hearing Lady Dragon’s compliment. She had never shown such open favoritism before.

  “Be ready.” Lady Dragon’s figure started to fade away. “When the time comes it will be your responsibility to punish the city should their leaders fail to do as we require.”

  A second later Lady Raven was alone. None of the others had made so much as a sound. She didn’t know what to make of it. Were they distancing themselves in case she failed or had Lady Dragon given orders for them to remain silent?

  There was no way for her to know and that fact frightened her almost as much as the completion of her mission excited her. In a few days her fate would be sealed one way or the other.

  2

  Ultimatum

  “Long time no see, bro!” Jonny stepped through the door and bumped fists with Conryu.

  In the ten months since Conryu’d last seen his second-oldest friend, Jonny had traded his ripped jeans for fatigues, gotten a military-spec buzz cut, and put on about ten pounds of muscle. His already bronze skin had darkened and unless Conryu was mistaken he’d gotten a new scar on his right arm.

  “Looks like the army agrees with you.” Conryu motioned him to the couch and shut the door.

  Jonny managed two steps before he froze. Kelsie was sitting on the couch with a slightly nervous smile. She had on a scoop-neck red dress that hugged her curves in a way that would annoy Maria when she arrived with the food.

  Conryu smacked his forehead with his palm. He’d forgotten to mention Kelsie would be visiting in his last letter.

  “Who’s the babe and does Maria know she’s here?” Jonny couldn’t stop looking, not that Conryu blamed him.

  “Jonny Salazar meet Kelsie Kincade. Kelsie, this is Jonny.” They shook hands and Conryu gave his friend a playful shove toward the recliner before sitting beside Kelsie. “So how was your first year?”

  “Boring. Dude, you wouldn’t believe it. Every day, marching, calisthenics, shooting, and more marching. On the plus side they give us three squares a day and the guns were fun. So was the hand-to-hand combat training. I learned some good tricks.”

  “Yeah? Maybe a sparring match is in order.”

  “Maybe give me another year to practice. What about you, anyone try to kill you lately?”

  “Not for a week or so.”

  Jonny’s laugh slowly died when no one else joined in. “Shit, you’re serious. What was it this time, more religious nuts?”

  “I wish. It was a giant three-headed elemental monster called a chimera. The monster tried to burn me, drown me, and crush me. I came through it okay, but it was a near thing for Kelsie.”

  Jonny turned his gaze on Kelsie. “He’s a dangerous guy to hang around with. Did he tell you about the time we were almost eaten by these big black dogs?”

  Prime chose that moment to come flying out of his bedroom. “Master, your friend’s lack of knowledge regarding the shadow hounds is appalling. I felt it was my duty to come and explain.”

  To Jonny’s credit his reaction to seeing a talking book with the face of a demon was limited to his eyes nearly bugging out of his head. “What the fuck is that?”

  “I thought I mentioned Prime in my last letter. He’s my scholomantic slash familiar. Long story. Let’s just say my year was a good deal less boring than I might have liked. On the plus side I picked up several great friends.” For the sake of not totally overwhelming his already overwhelmed friend Conryu didn’t mention Cerberus or the Dark Lady.

  Kelsie blushed and Prime cleared his nonexistent throat. “Thank you, Master.”

  “Don’t mention it, or the shadow hounds for that matter, but if you want to hang out in the living room it’s fine.”

  Prime settled on the coffee table just as Maria pushed the door open. Her arms were laden with bags and a pizza box. Conryu and Jonny both jumped up to help her with her burden. To no one’s surprise Jonny made off with the pizza box.

  Jonny took a deep breath and sighed. “This is what I missed the most.”

  “Hey!” Conryu punched him in the arm.

  “Sorry, second most.”

  Kelsie came to join them in the kitchen as they emptied bags of food on the counter. She whispered, “You are so lucky. I never had friends like this. Jonny seems nice.”

  “Yeah, he’s awesome.”

  Everyone gathered their snacks of choice. Pizza and chips for Conryu and Jonny while Kelsie and Maria swapped the chips for a salad. Everyone settled around the tv. He sat between the girls on the couch and Jonny returned to the recliner.

  Conryu switched the baseball game on. The Sentinel Soldiers were down three runs to the Stark Sturgeons.

  “Good to see some things never change,” Jonny said around a mouthful of pizza. “The bums still don’t know how to play ball.”

  The Soldiers hadn’t made it to the Alliance Series since before Conryu was born and they hadn’t even made it to the playoffs in ten years. The screen went black for a second before a giant, flashing alert sign appeared followed by a sternly attractive female anchorwoman.

  “We interrupt this broadcast with an important announcement. This station has received a recording from the terrorist organization known as the Le Fay Society. We made this available to the city government one hour ago and after they viewed it we were assured everything is under control. Please keep that in mind as we play the message. Some of you may find it disturbing. If there are small children in the room now would be a good time to take them out.”

  Thirty seconds later the screen flickered and the image of a woman in an Imperial-style dragon mask appeared on the screen. “I am Lady Dragon, interim leader of the Le Fay Society. My agents have planted a number of magical weapons in Sentinel City. If our true leader, Morgana Le Fay, is not released from the Lonely Rock Prison and the abomination Conryu Koda handed over to us within forty-eight hours we will unleash an army of shadow beasts that will slaughter your people by the thousands. There will be no negotiations. You will comply or die. We will contact you every twelve hours until our demands are met.”

  The anchor reappeared. “The mayor has assured us that the Department of Magic has this matter well under control and the people of the city are in no danger.”

  When she started talking about him, Conryu turned the tv off.

  “Is this what Dad had you working on?” Maria asked.

  Conryu found his appetite gone despite the steaming slice of pizza in front of him. “That seems like a safe bet, though he never told me anything specific about a threat.”

  “He wouldn’t have. Dad wouldn’t want you any more deeply involved in something like this than was absolutely necessary.”

  Outside, sirens came screaming closer and his phone rang. He answered while Kelsie ran to the window.

  “There’re six cop cars out here and men with machine guns are spilling out,” she said.

  “Hello.” Conryu only half listened to what Kelsie was saying. “Angus? Calm down. What do you mean I need to get out of the building?”

  Orin watched the recording for the fifth time. He was sitting in the Department conference room, waiting for the mayor and his crisis team to arrive. City hall had sent the Society’s ultimatum over ten minutes ago demanding to know if it was a hoax and if it wasn’t what he was doing about it.

  He’d put them off by claiming he didn’t want to talk about it over the phone. That bought him however long it would take the officials to make the trip from City Hall three blocks north of here. He turned the computer off and leaned back in his chair. They’d all known something like this was coming, despite his assurances to the contrary. He hadn’t exactly lied to the mayor, but he had indicated they were making more progress than they actually were.

  Beside him, Terra, Lin, and Angus sat in stunned silence. Finally Terra said, “The other world governments will never agree to free Morgana. She’s the most dangerous terrorist on the planet. Nothing we, the mayor, or the president for that matter, can say will change anything.”

  O
rin rubbed his face. “I don’t disagree. What I need now is something I can tell the mayor that will give him confidence that we can handle this without giving in to their demands.”

  He looked desperately at each of them, but found nothing to give him hope. Lin looked exhausted, his eyes black and bloodshot with three days of stubble on his chin. Terra was only a little better, her complexion paler than usual and her gray-blond hair in disarray. Angus just looked totally confused.

  Terra shook her head. “I have nothing to offer you, Orin. We’ve done everything possible and it came up short. What we need to do now is plan for the upcoming battle, try to figure out how to save as many lives as possible.”

  “That’s not what he’s going to want to hear.”

  Orin’s secretary spoke through the loud speaker. “The mayor and his team have arrived, sir.”

  “Speak of the devil.” Orin heaved himself out of his chair.

  The others joined him and a moment later the doors swung open. The mayor strode through looking for all the world like he owned the place. Tom Corbin was a hale and fit fifty-year-old who favored gray suits and expensive shoes. The Corbin family had been the heart of Sentinel City politics for the past hundred years and if Tom had his way it would continue to be for another hundred.

  Behind him were the commandant of police, fire marshal, a pair of security guards, and two others, a man and a woman, that Orin had never met.

  “Tom.” Orin held out his hand, curious to find out if his old friend would take it.

  “Orin.” They shook and Orin had a moment of relief. “Please tell me these lunatics are bluffing.”

  “I’m sorry, Tom. Despite our best efforts we’ve been unable to neutralize the threat.”

  Tom sat in the nearest chair and waved his people down. When everyone had settled in he said, “That’s not remotely acceptable. I’ve spoken to the president and there’s no way they’ll free the witch Morgana. Even worse, the war up north is still raging. We can expect no help from Central.”