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

  “They won’t know where to find us.”

  Dad waved a hand. “They have a pair of skilled wizards with them and the three of us, along with the mayor and Clair, are the only humans in the building. I suspect they’ll be along shortly.”

  The high from the infusion of life energy had faded to a faint buzz. As fantastic as it felt, Conryu was glad to return to normal. The giddy rush left him feeling invincible and that was a good way to do something stupid. He couldn’t afford any mistakes. They only had nine hours left.

  Jonny stopped and pulled over to the side of the road, dragging Conryu from his contemplations. Ten cop cars surrounded the cemetery and heavily armed officers patrolled the perimeter. There was no way to sneak through and Conryu wasn’t eager to lay out more cops. They were supposed to be on the same side after all.

  “What now, dude?”

  “Reveal.” Conryu squinted at the crumbling mausoleum where the box had been hidden during the winter. Dark wards crackled around it and the aura of one of the boxes was just visible through the walls. “She moved them back.”

  “What?” Kelsie turned to look at him.

  “She moved the boxes back to their original hiding places, this one at least. It’s smart; now her artifacts are protected by people I don’t want to hurt instead of monsters I’d be happy to destroy.”

  “Or perhaps both,” Prime said. “Shadow beasts could be hidden inside the crypt as a second line of defense. Mingling with the living would make them more difficult targets for you.”

  Conryu canceled the seeing spell. “Let’s try the culvert. If they have that one on lockdown as well we can assume the police are working with the Le Fay Society and not against them.”

  Jonny did a U-turn, drawing several annoyed honks which he ignored. As they roared down the street Kelsie asked, “Couldn’t you just portal in, deal with the box, and escape without the police noticing?”

  “Maybe, but what if something goes wrong and I need to retreat? Having twenty plus machine guns pointing my way isn’t very appealing. I wish I’d thought to borrow Mrs. Kane’s ring when I got home from school.”

  “Why, what does it do?”

  “She said it stopped bullets.”

  Kelsie chewed her lip and nodded. “That would certainly be handy.”

  It took almost half an hour to drive across town through the afternoon traffic. Jonny didn’t even bother pulling down the street leading to the culvert. The police cars were visible from where he stopped.

  “Goddamn it!” Conryu slammed his fist into the car door.

  Wasn’t it enough to have to deal with wards, shadow beasts, and demons? Now he had a bunch of cops who should be out evacuating people in the danger zone standing between him and the very things that put those people in jeopardy. It was a bad joke.

  Conryu dug out the phone, flipped it open, and dialed Maria. She answered after the third ring. A stream of worries slammed into his ear and he held the phone away.

  “Maria. Maria! I’m fine, really. Is your dad there? I need to talk to him. No, I’m not trying to get out of talking to you, I’m in a bit of a situation here and I need some advice. Please?”

  A couple seconds later Mr. Kane came on. “Conryu, what’s the problem?”

  “The problem is a bunch of cops that are trying to stop me from getting to the boxes. A SWAT team damn near shot me twenty minutes ago, and the less said about Mrs. Kane’s car the better. I need the police out of the way if I’m going to do my job. I can take them out if there’s no other option, but the only spell I know that’ll do it might kill everyone if I make a tiny mistake.”

  The silence stretched until it grew uncomfortable. “We have a bit of a situation here as well.”

  Mr. Kane filled him in on their demon problem. As he talked a headache built behind Conryu’s eyes.

  Mr. Kane added, “So the mayor has the police convinced you’re the primary threat and they’ve deployed accordingly. Until we deal with the demon controlling him there’s no way we can convince the police to back down and even then they might think it’s a trick.”

  “I assume you have a plan.”

  “No. Terra and Shizuku think they can kill the creature, but there’s every possibility of the mayor getting burned in the crossfire. I’m not sure that’s a chance we can take.”

  “What if I come and use Domination to force her to release the mayor and return to Hell? It’s that or I risk killing the police between me and the boxes. That’s not a decision I’m comfortable making on my own.”

  “Alright, take the stairs up to the fourteenth floor. After Terra destroyed the second and third floors the elevators aren’t working.”

  “Great. I thought your office was on the sixteenth floor?”

  “It is, but we were forced to escape. We’re working out of Angus’s office for the moment.”

  Conryu groaned. A demon and the professor, fantastic.

  Smoke was pouring out of the second-floor window when the car pulled into the Department parking lot. Why there weren’t people pouring out of the other nearby government buildings was beyond Conryu. The lack of fire trucks was another mystery. There was a station three blocks north. They should have spotted the smoke from their front door.

  The almost-empty parking lot gave them ample options, but Jonny parked as far from the doors as possible. Probably a good idea. If Conryu failed to keep the demon under control and it became a fight, well, better to have their ride a safe distance away.

  They piled out of the car and Jonny looked around the empty lot. “You’d think it was a holiday.”

  “Yeah, Demon Apocalypse Day. Come on.” Conryu led the way to the front doors.

  When he pushed them open they found a heap of rubble in the lobby. The secretaries’ desks were crushed under tons of steel and concrete. A haze of dust filled the air. Conryu covered his face and made his way around the debris and over to the stairwell.

  The path was clear and he quickstepped it up to the fourteenth flour. By the time they reached the door Kelsie was gasping and Conryu’s pulse raced. Only Jonny appeared unfazed. All that training must have paid off.

  When Kelsie had stopped wheezing like a bellows with a hole in it, Jonny pushed the door open and they stepped out into an empty, undamaged hall.

  “Shit! I forgot to ask which office belonged to Angus.” Conryu pulled out the phone and dialed. “Hey, we’re here. Which office is Angus’s?”

  Three doors to their left a door opened and Maria poked her head out. “This one.”

  She stepped into the hall and leapt into his arms the minute he came within reach. They shared a kiss and Conryu sighed. “I missed you. Though I’ll admit I’m just as glad you weren’t with me for the last two fights.”

  “Bad, huh?” She took his hand and led the group into Angus’s office.

  The professor was behind his desk, chin on chest, sound asleep. Thank god for small favors. Everyone else was sitting, standing, or leaning as was their preference.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  His father nodded, but made no comment.

  “Conryu,” Mr. Kane said. “We’re in a real mess here. That creature has complete control of the mayor and it’s standing right next to him. Any offensive move will hurt him as much or more than her.”

  “Can you show me?”

  Lin had a computer on his lap which he spun so Conryu could see the screen. There was an image of a room with a long table. Seated at the end of it in front of a computer with two monitors was a man in a suit and beside him was a pale, bat-winged demon. Both of them faced away from the camera, but from the curve of her hips it was clear the demon was a succubus. It might even be someone the Dark Lady knew.

  He didn’t expect that to help him any. From what she’d said it didn’t seem like the Dark Lady got along especially well with others of her kind. Of course, if she’d gotten as strong as she claimed since becoming his agent, maybe he could use her as a threat against this succubus.

  “So is the
re a plan?” Conryu asked. “Or do you just want to march up there and see what happens?”

  When the silence had stretched to a breaking point he looked from Mr. Kane to Terra to Mrs. Kane before sighing. “Right. Let’s go. Kelsie, stay close and be ready to put your hand on my back. A little power boost might be the difference between success and failure.”

  Maria glared and Kelsie beamed, walking right beside him as they left Angus’s office. The old professor had slept through the whole discussion.

  It was a short walk up to the next floor. When they stepped out of the stairwell Conryu grimaced. Two bodies lay on the floor, one of them with his head crushed flat, a pool of blood spreading around him.

  “Looks like the demon wasn’t careful where he stepped,” Terra said.

  Kelsie grabbed his arm and buried her face in his shoulder. He could almost feel Maria’s gaze boring a hole through his back. She was clearly not over the jealousy thing yet.

  Dad moved to the front of the group, stepped over the bodies, and shoved the door open. Conryu moved in front of Kelsie and brushed past his father. The rest of the group joined him just inside the door.

  The demon stood and turned to face them. She rested her clawed hand on the mayor’s neck in an unsubtle threat. Kelsie’s hand felt warm on his back.

  “I didn’t expect to see you fools again. And you brought friends, how nice. The Society will give me a fine reward when I kill you, boy.”

  Conryu ignored her and focused. “By my will be bound, oh child of Hell. Your thoughts are my thoughts, your desires, my desires, Domination!”

  Kelsie’s power mingled with his as the spell surged out and settled over the succubus. It was stronger than the last time he used it and not just because of Kelsie’s added power. It must have been the power boost the Dark Lady mentioned when they signed their agent contract.

  The succubus snarled and twitched her head.

  “Be still!” he commanded.

  He focused the order on her body rather than her head as he had questions to ask before he sent her back. When her legs and arms went rigid he moved closer, his focus on the spell absolute.

  “Release the mayor.”

  She growled and fought, the mayor staring straight ahead, seemingly unaware of anything happening around him.

  Conryu took a step closer and locked gazes with her. “Do it!”

  She screamed. A full-body shudder ran through the mayor and he slumped in his chair.

  “Dad, Sarge, you guys want to pull him out of here?”

  His father and Lin eased around the demon and slid the mayor’s rolling office chair away from her before pushing him back behind the rest of the group.

  “Where is the wizard in charge of the artifacts hiding?” Conryu pressed down on her with every bit of focus he could muster.

  “I don’t know.”

  With the spell on her the demon was incapable of lying. Her masters probably hadn’t told her anything more than she needed to know for just this sort of eventuality. That meant she probably didn’t have much in the way of useful information.

  “You’re the Dark Lady’s new pet.” The succubus sneered. “I can feel her presence running through your magic. She was never more than a second-rate whore. I don’t know how she convinced you mortals that she’s some sort of princess of demons.”

  “What is your name?”

  The demon struggled but in the end his magic was stronger than her will. “Rennet.”

  “Rennet. I’ll remember to mention you to the Dark Lady the next time we speak. I think you’ll find her stronger now, a true princess. Terra, would you open the portal please?”

  Behind him Terra chanted. “Reveal the way through infinite darkness. Open the path, Hell Portal!”

  When the dark power from the open portal reached him Conryu said, “Back you go.”

  Rennet rose jerkily to her feet and shuffled over to the black disk. “You’ll never find the last three boxes in time. This city will fall.”

  She jumped into the portal and Terra shut it behind her.

  While Mr. and Mrs. Kane tried to bring the mayor back to the realm of the waking Conryu motioned his father off to one side. “How’s Mom doing?”

  The corner of his father’s lip quirked up, about as strong a reaction as he ever gave. “You know your mother. She wasn’t thrilled when I told her, but she’s hanging in there. They have her working on a new project and it’s helping her focus on something other than your problems.”

  “Do you think I should visit her now, or wait until this is over, one way or the other?”

  “I don’t know. If she sees you she’ll get upset. That’s just the way your mother is wired. But if things grow worse… I just don’t know. Whatever you decide is fine with me.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” Not that he’d been a great deal of help but it was nice just to talk about something other than magic and crazy wizards.

  The mayor’s groan drew Conryu’s attention to the collection of people gathered around the semiconscious politician. Mrs. Kane was applying light magic healing in an effort to wake him faster while Maria looked on with a rapt expression. Whatever Maria’s mom was doing, it appeared to be working.

  Conryu took a step toward the group, but his father caught him by the arm. Conryu raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”

  “I fought a demon today, son. For the first and god willing the last time. I wanted to tell you I have a whole new respect for the things you’ve done this year. Until I felt the creature’s power with my own fists I didn’t fully appreciate what fighting such a monster meant. I consider myself a strong warrior, but I couldn’t even make it flinch.”

  Dad shook his head and Conryu wasn’t certain what he should say. His father had never made such a long speech before, much less admitted any sort of weakness. The weirdness of it struck him dumb.

  A few seconds later a louder groan from the mayor shook Conryu out of his stupor. “Don’t worry, Dad. Dealing with things like demons is a job for wizards. Did you know the military considers us living weapons? Apparently that’s all we are, weapons. Mr. Kane admitted the government regards us as assets more than individuals. I understand where they’re coming from. Some of the things I can do now make me think they’re right.”

  “No. You’re not just a weapon, any more than I am. To an untrained person, what I can do is frightening, but it doesn’t define me. We are more than the sum of our skills.”

  Conryu hugged his father. “Thanks, Dad. I think I will go see Mom before I go out again.”

  “What happened?” The mayor’s mumbled question sounded like he was talking with a mouth full of marbles.

  Conryu gave his father one last pat on the back and went over to join the others. The mayor was awake now and alternately staring and blinking at those around him. It didn’t look like he was fully with it yet.

  Mr. Kane crouched down in front of the mayor. “What’s the last thing you remember, Tom?”

  “Ugh.” The mayor rubbed his eyes. “That woman. She said she came from Central to advise me on the current threat. She touched my shoulder. The next thing I know I’m looking at you lot.”

  “Loss of memory isn’t uncommon in cases of psychic manipulation,” Mrs. Kane said. “Demons are especially indifferent to any damage they may cause.”

  “Psychic manipulation? Demon? Maybe someone better tell me what’s going on.”

  Conryu had heard enough. He slipped out the door to make the short run over to the science building. If the worst should happen he wanted to talk to his mother one last time.

  8

  On the Run

  Conryu jogged back to the Department building having spent a weepy ten minutes with his mother. Just as Dad had said, the moment she saw him Mom burst into tears and hugged him. When she finally brought herself under control Conryu gave her the sanitized version of his work so far. Even with the worst of the fights edited out she still almost started crying again.

  Eventually, in desperation,
he’d asked her about the project Dad mentioned. Changing the subject had worked wonders. She went on and on for ten minutes about how they were trying to fuse a nonmagical vehicle with a magical weapon, in this case a tank that shot fireballs. The military wanted to deploy it on the northern border to help deter the frost giants the next time they marched south.

  He’d finally given her one last hug and made his escape. If he had any luck the others would have gotten the mayor up to speed and an order sent removing him from the city’s most wanted list. The sun was hanging low in the sky and they didn’t have a great deal of time left.

  When he reached the conference room and opened the door everyone was seated at the long table. They all looked his way.

  Maria stalked over. “Where have you been? We were trying to make plans, but without you we weren’t sure of our next move.”

  “I went to see Mom. Anyway, what’s to plan? Order the cops out of the way and I’ll go smash those last three boxes and that’ll be it.”

  “Just that easy?” She crossed her arms and stared.

  “Simple, not easy, believe me. So are we good to go or what?”

  Conryu looked over Maria’s head. The mayor climbed to his feet, looking none too steady. “Come here, young man.”

  Maria took him by the hand and led him over to the mayor. He felt like a little kid being led to the principal’s office. “Yes, sir?”

  “Orin tells me I owe you my freedom as well as any hope that my city might survive the next day. I wanted to thank you and apologize for all the trouble you’ve been having with the police. I’ve spoken to all the station commanders. They’ll have their people pulled back within the hour.”

  “That’s a relief as we’re getting low on time.” He turned to Terra. “Just how long is left?”

  She opened their laptop and clicked on something. “Eight hours.”

  “It’s going to be close.” Conryu scrubbed his hand across his face. “Jonny, Kelsie, let’s get out of here. The cemetery isn’t that far away.”