Death Incarnate: Aegis of Merlin Book 7 (The Aegis of Merlin) Read online

  “Leave?” Angus said. “We just got here. At the very least we need to take time to catalogue this find. This library might be the single greatest discovery in human history.”

  Maria was torn. Part of her agreed with Angus. No one had ever found anything like this. Not even the Relic Hunters had ever reported anything of this magnitude. On the other hand, having no way to escape was a major problem. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life stuck in a magical library.

  “Welcome,” a voice said. Maria turned every which way trying to figure out where it came from.

  Beside the staff a wavering, pale shape appeared. It took on the ghostly form of a man with long hair and a beard. The ghost wore translucent robes and carried a staff that looked just like the one it stood beside.

  “Welcome to my library. I’ve been waiting a long time for your arrival, my heir.”

  Angus fell to his knees and stared at the ghost like it was the second coming. “Merlin.”

  Jemma raced down the tunnel after Maria. The girl had surprised her when she took off after Conryu which made her feel stupid. Of course she rushed to check on her boyfriend. Jemma should have been surprised if she did nothing. That said, the situation might still be dangerous.

  She rounded the corner just as Maria vanished through the door and Angus leapt in after her.

  Jemma took one more step before the door closed and vanished. She blinked and approached the wall. It looked exactly like every other bit of concrete. When she ran her hands over the stone it felt smooth and flawless. No trace of the mystery portal remained. A simple detection spell confirmed it. Whatever the phenomenon had been, it was gone now and Conryu, Maria, and Angus were gone with it.

  For a moment exhaustion nearly overwhelmed her. Why couldn’t they catch a break? It seemed the Ministry lurched from one disaster to the next lately.

  She scrubbed her hand across her face. Nothing remained to be done here. She retraced her steps and ten minutes later emerged from the tube entrance. Should she give the order to resume service? Not yet, if the door reappeared who knew what might happen.

  Her driver opened the limo door and Jemma said, “Ministry headquarters.”

  He nodded and they set out. Jemma tried to think how she’d tell Orin that his daughter and her boyfriend had vanished into god knew where. Probably best just to get straight to it. He was a professional the same as her. Right, somehow she doubted his professionalism extended to Maria.

  Halfway across town her cellphone rang. She hesitated, not really in the mood to talk. Hell with it. The situation couldn’t get any worse.

  “Go ahead,” she said.

  “Director Simpson,” her second, Marsha Collins, said. “We’ve detected a high-level burst of magical energy in the Welsh lowlands.”

  Jemma grimaced. No research facilities existed in that part of the Kingdom. In fact, not much of anything existed out there. Could it have something to do with the mystery door? Doubtful, but better to make sure.

  “Dispatch the district investigation team. I want preliminary results in two hours.”

  “Understood. How’s it going with the door?”

  “There’ve been developments.”

  “I know that tone. What happened?”

  “I wish I knew. I’ll need a secure line to Chief Kane’s office when I arrive. We’re in a bit of a fix here, Marsha.”

  “I’ll take care of it, Director. What’s your ETA?”

  Jemma glanced out the window to get an idea of how far they’d come. “Fifteen minutes I’d say.”

  “Okay, I’ll have everything ready.”

  Jemma disconnected and closed her eyes. An efficient second made life so much easier.

  A little less than fifteen minutes later they pulled into the Ministry building’s underground parking lot. It was one of the few areas of the building that sustained no damage during the attack last summer. The rest of the place still had workers swarming over it and the air smelled constantly of hot metal and sweaty men. She couldn’t wait until they finished.

  She strode past her secretary and into her office. Marsha sat on the edge of her desk holding the phone, the red Ministry robe pulled tight against her plump frame. “Chief Kane’s on secure one. I’ll go check on the Welsh matter.”

  “Thank you, Marsha.”

  Jemma took the handset and her second hurried out. When the door closed behind her Jemma pressed the flashing button on her phone. A moment later Chief Kane said, “Jemma, is everything alright?”

  “No, Orin, I’m afraid it isn’t. During our initial investigation the door opened and Conryu, Maria, and Angus were pulled in.”

  “What!?”

  “I’m sorry, Orin. In all the time we spent investigating it, the portal never showed any sign of activation. It appears to have reacted to Conryu. How or why I haven’t a clue.”

  “Are you searching for them?” Orin’s shrill voice bordered on hysterical.

  “There’s nowhere to search. Once they passed through the portal, it vanished without a trace. I’ll have a team investigate the area, but I didn’t detect even a shadow of the magic. Wherever they’ve gone, I fear it will be up to them to find their own way back.”

  “What am I supposed to tell Shizuku and Conryu’s parents? I dragged Conryu into this business. Part of the responsibility lies with me. We need to make this right, Jemma.”

  Jemma shook her head, not that he could see it. “We’ll do what we can of course, but I’m not optimistic.”

  She almost heard his teeth grinding. “Thanks for letting me know yourself. You’ll keep me updated if you learn anything?”

  “Absolutely, you have my word.”

  “Good enough.” He disconnected and Jemma stared at the receiver for a few seconds before hanging it up.

  She came around her desk and slumped in her chair. How was she supposed to find three people who disappeared through a portal to who knew where? It’s not like she could send bloodhounds after them.

  Marsha burst through her door without knocking. “It was a trap. The Welsh team is dead.”

  3

  The Library of Merlin

  Conryu couldn’t take his eyes off the ghost, assuming it was a ghost. He’d seen enough weird stuff over the last two years not to take anything for granted. Beside him, Maria had switched from surprised to curious while Angus still gaped in awe at the floating proof of the second part of his theory.

  In a barely audible whisper Angus said, “Merlin, Merlin.” Over and over again.

  The ghost cocked its head and asked, “Who is Merlin?”

  Angus’s jaw dropped further. “You are.”

  “No, I’ve never heard the name before. I am the Librarian, a manifestation of the memories of a man named Gideon, the first male wizard.”

  Conryu nearly laughed. So there was no Merlin after all. He’d never believed it, even with all Angus’s insistence.

  “Gideon?” The disbelief in Angus’s voice spoke volumes. “I have so many questions.”

  “My purpose isn’t to answer your questions.” The Librarian turned to focus on Conryu. “Gideon created me and this library to serve the next male wizard. I have lain dormant for centuries waiting for you. At last I felt your presence and manifested the entrance. Unfortunately, I was too slow and you had already left the area. Fate, it would appear, has brought you back.”

  Fate in the form of the Ministry of Magic. “I appreciate you going to the trouble, but how do we leave?”

  “You must assume mastery of the library. Once you’ve done so, you can command the door to open wherever you wish.”

  “Wait,” Maria said. “What do you mean the door can open anywhere?”

  The Librarian gave her a quizzical look. “I mean exactly what I said. The library connects to all realms, but isn’t fixed in place. The master can choose to have it appear wherever he wishes.”

  “Fascinating. It’s like having your own permanent, mobile workshop. I can’t even imagine how that sort of
magic works.” Maria smiled, looking for all the world like a little girl who came downstairs to find every toy she ever wanted under the tree.

  “You guys can discuss theory later. How do I become master of the library?”

  “Simple,” the Librarian said. “You must obtain the blessing of a powerful spirit of each element. You already have the Reaper’s mark, so you’re already well along on your journey. The demons are always the trickiest. The five remaining blessings shouldn’t take you long to acquire.”

  Conryu glanced at Prime. “You ever heard of this blessing stuff, pal?”

  “Demon brands are common enough, Master, but I’m unaware of the other elemental spirits marking their favorites.”

  “The marks aren’t always visible as brands,” the Librarian said. “They can manifest in a variety of ways, through the eyes, or with an aura. Gideon had no brands, but his eyes burned with different colors depending on the spells he cast.”

  “Maybe that’s why St. Seraphim’s eyes glow the way they do.” Conryu shook off the random thought. “How long is this going to take? We have people who’ll be worried about us.”

  “That’s trickier to answer. The library isn’t only unmoored in space, but also in time. Without a master we’re adrift. A day here might last a second in the human realm or it might last a year. Until you claim the mantle of master, there’s no way to know.”

  Conryu ground his teeth in frustration.

  Seated on the ground, his head between his knees, Angus was murmuring, “Not Merlin?” repeatedly to himself. No help to be had there.

  He looked at Maria, but she was enraptured by the books. He’d have to handle this himself. “Okay, what do I have to do?”

  “Grasp the staff and focus on whichever realm you wish to visit first. The crystal will change color and you will astral project into the appropriate elemental realm. The spirit Gideon contracted with will appear and you will need to convince it to grant you its blessing. Your astral form will then return to your body and you will either be free to move on to the next realm or take a rest. As I said, time is essentially meaningless here.”

  Maria had shaken off her book lust and took his hands. “Be careful. I don’t know if you can be harmed in your astral form, but act like you can.”

  He kissed her on the cheek. Maria didn’t need to worry. All he had to do was think about his first attempt to make a contract with Cerberus when Lucifer showed up to know he had to take care. “I’ll be careful. I hate to ask, but can you keep an eye on Angus? Getting a lifelong fantasy crushed has to be hard on the psyche.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  He gently pulled his hands from her grasp and marched over to the staff. As he approached he asked Prime, “How will astral projection affect our link?”

  “It won’t affect it at all,” Prime said. “My consciousness will be sent along with you and an astral body should form for me at the same time yours does.”

  Conryu nodded in relief. He wouldn’t be completely on his own.

  Up close the staff appeared more ornate than he’d first thought. The setting that held the crystal looked like gold carved with runes he didn’t recognize.

  Prime flew all the way around it. “Some of the markings are Infernal. I also recognize some fire and wind runes as well. I’ve never seen an item inscribed with more than one language. Though given your unique situation it does make a certain amount of sense.”

  None of this made much sense to Conryu. He took a deep breath to steady himself, thought about Heaven, reached out, and grasped the staff.

  Like when he entered the door, a sense of motion filled him as his consciousness flew through a white void. Where he would end up, Conryu had no idea.

  Jemma soared through the overcast Welsh sky, her mind fully occupied by thoughts of two more dead Ministry wizards. The Welsh office had a small team of five wizards and twice that many support staff. Not much happened, magically speaking, in this part of the Kingdom so many of the new recruits did a tour through the office to get some experience before a transfer sent them to somewhere more dangerous.

  Still, even inexperienced wizards should know enough to be careful when approaching an unknown magical event. What did they learn at the College of Magic these days? Jemma needed to have a talk with the headmistress, see about making the curriculum more applicable to real-life threats.

  “Director, to your left.” She’d forgotten about Marsha flying behind her until she spoke.

  Jemma shifted her gaze where she indicated and gaped. It looked like a bomb had gone off. From the air she had trouble judging the depth of the crater, but guessed it measured at least ten feet deep and fifty feet across. To cause an explosion like that with magic took an obscene amount of energy. Whoever laid the trap must have been empowering it for months if not longer.

  She shifted her course and descended. As she drew nearer the ground, the stink of charred wood and scorched earth made her lip curl. Jemma had seen her share of battle over the years, but the smell of it never ceased to disgust her.

  A trio of women in red Ministry robes stood a dozen feet from the crater. Jemma and Marsha landed beside them. They looked at her with bloodshot eyes.

  The woman in the center, the office commander from the mark on her sleeve, took a step away from the others. “Director, I’d like to offer my immediate resignation. I never should have sent those two out to investigate the event on their own.”

  “It’s not your fault. No one could have anticipated something like this. Tell me what happened.”

  The commander brushed a fresh tear from her eye. Jemma put her age at maybe twenty-five. She’d probably never lost a subordinate before, much less two in one day. Jemma would have liked to give the woman some time to pull herself together, but any wizard powerful enough to cause something like this needed to be found, quickly.

  “Get ahold of yourself and report,” Jemma said.

  The commander made a visible effort to straighten up and cleared her throat. “Yes, ma’am. Approximately ninety minutes ago the sector wards went off indicating an individual or group had performed a powerful ritual. Per Ministry policy, we reported the event up the chain of command and when the order came down, a team flew out to discern the cause and make certain no one had gotten into something they shouldn’t have.”

  Jemma nodded for her to continue. The commander had gathered herself and gained strength as she spoke, much to Jemma’s relief. It appeared she’d be okay.

  “As far as we knew, there were no powerful wizards living in the area. In fact, the house that once stood here was abandoned, or so we thought. I ordered my second, Emily, to take one of our new recruits to check it out. Emily had three years’ experience in the Ministry, but little field time. I thought this would be a good chance for her to investigate a magical phenomenon, pad her résumé a little. She wanted to transfer to London in the new year.”

  The London branch needed all the wizards they could find after the invasion. “Did you receive a report before the trap went off?”

  “No, ma’am. Looks like a delayed-blast fire incantation was set to trigger the moment someone approached the house. I doubt Emily knew what hit her. We searched but couldn’t find…couldn’t find any remains.”

  Jemma gave the commander’s shoulder a squeeze. “What’s your name?”

  “Cassie, ma’am.”

  “I want to commend you, Cassie. You’ve done yourself proud under difficult circumstances. I’ll be overseeing the investigation of the site from here on out. I want you and your people to return to the Welsh office and dig up everything you can about this area. Anything, no matter how minor, might be important. I expect your report at noon tomorrow. Understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am. We won’t let you down.” Cassie gestured at her companions and leapt into the air.

  Jemma sighed when they were out of sight. Hopefully they’d bounce back or at least discover something useful about the area.

  Marsha moved closer. “I’v
e completed the basic residual analysis. She was right, definitely a delayed-trigger fire spell. The local earth spirits say five people left the house about eight hours ago heading toward the water. I assume they mean the ocean.”

  “Wizards?”

  “At least one was an earth wizard. The spirits had done tasks for her. No idea about the others.”

  Jemma gave an absent nod. At least one of the others had to be the fire wizard that set the trap, no earth-aligned wizard ever created a fire spell that powerful. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that all five were wizards. If that was true, what the bloody hell were they doing all the way out here?

  “How far is it to the coast?” Jemma asked.

  “Not far, maybe a mile or two.”

  “Let’s take a look around. I doubt we’ll find anything, but who knows.”

  Seconds later they took to the air and soared out toward the ocean. Jemma flew as close to the treetops as she dared, but the canopy was so thick nothing below showed through the leaves. After five minutes in the air she spotted an isolated stretch of beach.

  Jemma swooped down and sure enough a line of tracks led down to the water. Right at the edge they simply vanished. Whether by portal or boat, the murderers were long gone, but where? She could throw darts at a map and have as good a chance of being right as any guess she might make.

  There were at least two and possibly up to five powerful wizards on the loose. Jemma had no idea of their agenda and even worse, they clearly had no compunction about killing.

  Worry paralyzed Maria for a few minutes when Conryu first grabbed the staff and a vacant, unseeing expression spread across his face. The lights were still on, but nobody was home. She wished for some way to help him, but as seemed so often the case, he’d left her behind.

  She frowned and looked around at all the books. Then again, maybe there was something she could do. Despite all her time and effort, she’d been unable to determine which spirit was tied to the elf ring. Perhaps something in this place held the clue she needed to activate the artifact.