Grave Night (Harbinger P.I. Book 10), page 17
“Come and sit down,” I suggested. “Take a load off. Unless there’s somewhere else you have to be.”
“No,” she said, walking into the living room and taking a seat on the sofa. “There’s nowhere else I need to be. Why is your TV volume so low? Do you have super-hearing or something?”
“No, I have it like that sometimes when I’m not really watching it. I guess I find it relaxing.” I sat next to her on the sofa.
She spotted the Traveler Egg on the coffee table. “What the hell is that? Some kind of ornament?”
“It’s a teleportation device.”
“Oh. Cool. Could it take me to the Bahamas? This snow is getting me down.”
“This particular one can’t, no. It’s calibrated to a specific location.”
She took another swig of beer. “Where’s that?”
“A long way from here.”
She tightened her lips and nodded slowly. “Here I am talking about the Bahamas and you’re probably referring to another world. Some magical place where there are unicorns and elves. Our lives are so different.”
“Not really. We both solve mysteries and fight crime.”
“Yeah, but I don’t arrest ancient gods and sea monsters.”
“Neither do I; I kill them.”
We both laughed at that.
She seemed to relax a little more, sinking back on the sofa. “Why are you here, Harbinger? You could probably be anywhere in the world right now—or even on a different world—yet here you are. In Dearmont of all places. I don’t get it.”
“It’s not so bad here. At first, I came here because this is where the Society sent me. But now, if I had to choose a place to live, Dearmont is as good as any.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot you were sent here as a punishment for being a naughty P.I. What did you do, anyway?”
“Nothing, really.”
“Nothing isn’t banishment-worthy. You had to have done something to piss off your bosses.”
“I went to Paris on vacation, got mixed up in a few things, and didn’t tell the Society everything that happened over there.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Oh? Why not?”
“Some secrets should remain that way.” Like the location of the Spear of Destiny.
“You have secrets, huh?”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“Not me; I’m an open book. My life is too boring to have any secrets.”
“I’m sure that isn’t true.”
She sighed. “Yeah, it is.” She drained the bottle and set it on the coffee table. “Got another beer?”
“Of course.” I got up and went to the kitchen.
As I took a cold one out of the fridge, Amy said, “Erm, Alec, you’d better get in here.”
I closed the fridge and took the beer into the living room. Amy was sitting on the edge of the sofa, pointing at the TV.
I passed her the beer and looked at the screen. There’d been an episode of the sitcom Outmatched on the screen when I’d gone to the kitchen. Now, there was a Breaking News broadcast. A blonde woman was sitting behind a desk in the studio while on the screen behind her, a live feed showed an aerial view of a desert, probably being shot from a helicopter.
The words Alien Structure or Hoax? scrolled across the bottom of the screen.
I grabbed the remote and turned up the volume, catching the woman mid-sentence.
“…and the mysterious pyramid seems to have appeared from nowhere. Some eye-witness reports say that it rose from beneath the sands of the Sahara Desert. Others are saying that this is some kind of elaborate hoax connected to the recent reported sightings of strange creatures all over the globe.”
The helicopter that was filming the live feed was approaching a pyramid that stood alone in the desert. The structure was lit by spotlights that had been set up on the ground around it. There were vehicles and people in the footage but they were tiny next to the huge pyramid.
“The Egyptian army has been deployed to investigate the strange pyramid,” the newscaster said. “No organization is claiming responsibility for this hoax, if it is indeed a hoax.”
“Do you know what that is?” Amy said, looking at me with concerned eyes.
I nodded. “Yeah, I know what it is.”
My phone rang. It was Leon. “Alec, have you seen the News?”
“We need to go to Egypt,” I said. “Rekhmire is making his move.”
Chapter 18
I called Victoria again.
“Alec, are you all right?” she said when she answered. “I didn’t expect you to call back so soon.”
“I need to get to Egypt. Something’s happened.”
“Oh? What’s that, dear?”
“Have you seen the News?”
“No, I haven’t seen the News. Devon and I are playing cribbage. I told you, we don’t watch much television.”
“A pyramid has appeared in the Sahara desert.”
“They’ve found another pyramid? Oh, how exciting. Devon, Alec says the archeologists have unearthed a new pyramid in the Sahara.”
They haven’t found anything,” I said. “It unearthed itself.”
There was a split second pause, and then she said, “Oh, that doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s Rekhmire. Do you remember him? Bad guy? Army of the dead? All that stuff?”
“Yes, yes, I remember. Devon, turn on the television. We need to see this.”
I looked over at my own TV. The helicopter had descended to get a better look at the structure that had risen mysteriously from the desert. I could see the people on the ground more clearly now. They were soldiers, setting up more lights and taking up defensive positions around the huge structure. Military vehicles sat on the sand, among the throng of soldiers. I could see armored personnel carriers, Jeeps, and a handful of tanks.
“They really shouldn’t be so close,” Victoria said in my ear.
Amy was still sitting on the edge of the sofa, her attention locked on the TV screen.
The blonde woman behind the desk in the studio touched her ear momentarily, as if she was being fed information from the control room.
“We’ve just received reports of a strange humming noise emanating from the pyramid.”
“They need to get out of there,” Amy said.
The live feed pixelated for a couple of seconds and then became clear again. The entire pyramid seemed to be glowing with a blue light. The glow was so subtle that I had to squint at the screen to see it and even then, I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t some kind of technical fault with the camera, or an illusion caused by a bad connection.
But the glow slowly increased in intensity until it was obvious that it was coming from the pyramid. The soldiers on the ground began to pull back. The glow continued to brighten until it was brighter than the spotlights.
“This isn’t good at all,” Devon said.
The live feed showed a sudden bright blue flash and then the connection was lost. The screen in the news studio showed only static.
The newscaster touched her ear again. Looking at the camera, she said, “We seem to be having technical difficulties at the moment. Stay with us and we’ll try to bring you more on the situation in the Sahara.”
“We’ll prepare the spell,” Victoria said. “Come to our house. How many of you are going to Egypt?” A hint of shock tinged her voice. She knew as well as I did that those soldiers and the people in that helicopter were dead. Rekhmire’s pyramid had emitted some sort of magical energy burst that was probably lethal in its intensity.
“There will be three of us,” I told Victoria. Leon and Michael were on there way. Other than that, I had no one else to bring along. Mallory was gone. Felicity wasn’t fighting fit and was in the academy realm, anyway. My dad was still recovering from his ordeal at the hands of the Cabal, and Tia had already told me that she couldn’t accompany me when I fought Rekhmire.
“I’ll go,” Amy offered.
I shook my head. I wasn’t about to take her into a situation like this.
“Of course you won’t take me,” she said. “I’m just a small town cop who can only fight small town crime.”
“Is there someone else there?” Victoria asked.
“It’s just the three of us. Me, Leon, and Michael.”
Amy got up and said, “Thanks for the drink.” She made her way to the door.
“Amy,” I said, following her. “It isn’t that I think you’re just a small town cop. I need you to keep an eye on Merlin. I have a plan, I really do. But I need you to wait here until I get back.”
She opened the door, letting an icy gust of wind into the house. “Fine, I’ll wait. But when you get back, I need you to find a solution to the Merlin problem.”
“I understand.”
She went out into the cold evening and walked across the snow-covered lawn to her patrol car. Without another word, she got in and drove away.
I felt bad for her; I really did. But going to Egypt to fight Rekhmire wouldn’t solve her problem with Merlin. I’d made the right decision by not taking her.
As Amy’s patrol car reached the end of the street, a bright red Dodge Ram appeared, heading this way. Leon was driving and Michael was in the passenger seat. When they saw me, they both waved at me.
I walked to the end of the driveway and waited there while Leon pulled up next to me. He rolled his window down. “Hey, man. We’re ready when you are.”
“We need to go to the Blackwells’ house.”
“Isn’t their house hidden by a spell or something?”
I’d forgotten that. I called Victoria.
“Alec,” she said. “We’re making the necessary preparations.”
“How do we find your house?”
“Well, that’s easy. You simply drive north out of town on the highway and then take the third road on the left. Then it’s just a matter of driving through the illusory trees.” She paused and then said, “Oh, I see what you mean. You won’t know where the illusory trees are. You might drive into the real trees. We can’t have that, can we?”
“So what do we do?”
“I’ll put a sign by the side of the road. When you see the sign, make a right turn into the trees.”
“Okay, thanks. See you soon.” I passed the directions on to Leon.
“See you there,” he said.
Michal gave me a wave from the passenger seat. “See you later, sir.”
Leon skidded away and turned the Ram around before heading back up the street.
I went back inside and gathered some things together, including the Traveler Egg Felicity had left for my dad. There was no point leaving it here. Besides, if I didn’t make it back from Egypt, at least he’d have a way to get back to the academy.
I grabbed my jacket and opened the front door.
Merlin was there. He’d parked a patrol car in the same spot Amy had parked in earlier and was leaning on the hood. He was wearing his uniform.
“Still pretending you’re the sheriff?” I said as I loaded everything onto the back seat of my Land Rover.
“I am the sheriff, Alec. Don’t I look like him? Sound like him?”
“The similarity ends there. I’m not John Cantrell’s biggest fan, but at least he’s a decent guy.”
“As I thought you were,” he said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Any real hero would do whatever it took to save the world, no matter the personal cost.”
“If you’re trying to push that sword onto me again—“
“There, you see? Me, me, me. What about the rest of the world, Alec? Aren’t you supposed to think about them before you’re concerned for yourself? Isn’t that what a hero does?”
“I never said I was a hero.”
“You never used those actual words, no, but you act as if you’re a hero. Jumping around the world and through the realms to help people and solve their problems. I thought you were putting others before yourself. Very admirable. But it turns out you’re not doing that at all. If you were, you’d use Excalibur to kill Rekhmire.”
“I told you, I’m not being possessed by that sword again. It takes me over. Tries to destroy who I am.”
“That’s called a sacrifice. You sacrifice yourself for others. All heroes do it.”
“I told you,” I said, slamming the rear door shut. “I’m no hero.” I opened the driver’s door and got in behind the wheel.
“At least let me come with you,” he said.
I rolled the window down. “Are you kidding? I don’t trust you, Merlin.”
“I know. But if you’re not willing to submit your will to Excalibur’s, at least sacrifice a bit of your pride and let me help. I don’t want the world to be destroyed any more than you do.”
“The last person who said that to me tried to have me killed.”
He sighed. I wasn’t sure if it was genuine frustration or an affectation. “Fine. Leave me here. And when you’re surrounded by Rekhmire and his army of the dead, wishing you had a magician by your side, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I considered what he’d said. With Tia’s absence, we were down one magic user. Merlin certainly had an immense amount of power and would be useful in a fight.
“Okay, you’re in.”
He grinned with what looked like genuine excitement. “Excellent!”
He ran around to the passenger door and got into the Land Rover.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m coming with you.”
“I thought you were going to follow me in your own car.”
“No need for that. Where are we going?”
“The Blackwell sisters’ house.”
“Even better. I know the way.”
I remembered that it was at the Blackwell house that Merlin had first revealed his identity to Amy and the witches.
I called Victoria again. “There’s going to be four of us.”
“No problem,” she said.
I ended the call and put the phone into its holder.
“Let’s go,” he said. He was as excited as a kid going to Disneyland.
“What’s gotten into you?” I asked as I backed onto the street.
“I’ve been spoiling for a good fight, Alec. And now a worthy opponent has arisen.”
“Well, I hope you rise to the occasion,” I said. Despite my misgivings, I felt that with an ancient sorcerer like Merlin on our side, we might actually have a chance to destroy Rekhmire.
Of course, there was always a chance that the Cabal would turn up with the Burning Glass and do the job for us, but I doubted that.
When we reached Main Street, I saw a new line of people outside my office and that reminded me that I hadn’t contacted Carlton. Using the hands-free system built into the Land Rover, I called him.
“Carlton, where are you?” I asked when I heard him pick up.
“I’m at the office. There’s another line of people outside.”
“Yeah, I’m driving past right now.”
“Are you coming in?”
“No, I’m going to Egypt.”
“I thought you might be. I saw the pyramid on the News. Rekhmire likes to make a grand entrance, eh?”
“Yeah, it would seem so.”
“I’ll hold down the fort here. Get some more info from these people. When you get back, you’re gonna be really busy dealing with all this stuff.”
“I know. There are a few things that need to be resolved.” Including the ancient magician sitting next to me. When I got back, I was putting him at the top of the list. Amy deserved that.
“Hi, Carlton,” Merlin said.
There was a pause and then Carlton said, “What the hell is he doing there?”
“He’s going to help with the Rekhmire situation.”
“If you think that’s wise.”
“We need all the help we can get.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“See you later, Carlton.”
“Good luck in Egypt.”
I ended the call.
“Carlton doesn’t like me very much,” Merlin said. “After you left the other day, he kicked me out of the office.”
“Good.”
We drove in silence for a while after that. It started to snow again so I put the wipers on as we hit the highway.
I kept an eye out for the road Victoria had mentioned but I shouldn’t have bothered, because as we approached it, Merlin pointed and said, “Down there.”
I took the turn and followed the road.
“There’s a cloaking spell around the house,” Merlin said. “It looks like trees.”
“I know. Victoria said she’d put out a sign.”
“I’m sure I can remember where it is.”
“All the same, I’m looking for the sign.” If he remembered wrong, we could end up wrapped around a tree.
I saw something ahead on the right. A dark shape against the snow. As I got closer I realized it was a plastic witch riding a broom, the type of thing someone might put in their window on Halloween. In fact, it was probably one of the decoration the sisters hung in the bookshop window during October.
Slowing down, I turned the wheel to the right and drove toward the trees. My brain screamed at me to stop, that we were going to have an accident, but I told myself it was just an illusion and inched forward.
The Land Rover’s hood disappeared into the fake trees, giving me more confidence. I put my foot on the gas and we shot through the illusion, finding ourselves on a short road that led to a house. The Blackwells’ Volvo and Leon’s Ram were parked outside.
I brought the Land Rover to a stop and we got out. I grabbed everything off the back seat and followed Merlin to the front door.
He knocked and looked at me with a big grin on his face.
“You need to calm down,” I told him.
“Lighten up, Alec. We’re about to save the world. Isn’t that something to be excited about?”
“We haven’t saved it yet.”
“We will, dear boy. We will.”
I wished I could share his confidence.
Victoria opened the door. “Good to see you again, Alec.” She looked at Merlin and pursed her lips. “Merlin.”
“No need to be so uppity,” he said. “Are you going to let us in?”
