Undead Warlock, page 25
part #6 of Arcane Inc Series
Next came Gabe. He was not bound in any way but his eyelids were half closed and he dragged his feet lethargically like a zombie.
‘What have you done to him?’ I demanded. If they’d harmed Gabe in any way I would retaliate in force. They’d already earned retribution by killing Marty. I hadn’t liked the guy but Gabe had loved him. Hurt my friend and you hurt me.
‘We injected him with the blood of the dead. Just to make sure he doesn’t try anything foolish. He’s been rather aggressive towards us,’ explained Julia.
‘I wonder why,’ I snapped back at her. Blood of the dead had the reverse effect of fresh blood on vampires. It made them weaker. It would wear off in a few hours, but for the time being Gabe would be useless.
Lastly, a middle-aged woman with greying hair and a look of utmost terror on her face was pulled out. She too had her hands bound in iron. She must be the lying sorcerer’s wife.
‘The dagger?’ Julia said politely as if she were at a tea party and not a hostage exchange.
I reached into my pocket and very carefully extracted the Ambrotos Dagger. Her pupils dilated when she saw it and her tongue flicked out to lick her lips. She reminded me of a lizard.
‘You can rest assured that I will put that dagger in the safest place on Earth. It will never be used by anybody to do anything.’ She sounded like Clarke. He’d died trying to keep it out of the wrong people’s hands. If he couldn’t protect it then I doubted she could.
‘Angels want this,’ I said waving the blade at her. She flinched away as if worried I might actually attack her. ‘Do you think you can stop them from coming for it?’
‘No such prediction has been placed on my desk. The only being who is after that dagger is you,’ she said. She was wrong. Obviously.
‘You need some better technology then.’
‘Give her the dagger,’ Shirley told me as if I was one of her pupils. She was probably getting nervous that I was about to jeopardise everything. She had her granddaughter in sight so I could see why she might be antsy.
I took two steps forward and held out the dagger for Julia to take. She did not move. She looked at the fat guy and he wobbled towards me and snatched the blade up from my hand. I wondered if he had any idea what he was holding. If he did then he was an idiot to be holding it like it was no more than a common kitchen knife. He went back to the van and disappeared in the back with the dagger.
I was already itching to get it back. This whole idea had been a mistake. Julia was going to drive away and I’d never see the dagger again. Lucifer would decide I was rotten and send me to the torture yard or wherever bad people went in his realm. Shirley’s hand gripped my forearm and pulled me out of the horrible place my thoughts had led me to. I glanced her way and she gave me a reassuring look. Or maybe it was a warning not to act out.
‘Thank you for your time, Eddie. I wish you all the best and I do hope you don’t embark on any more world-ending endeavours,’ said Julia with a smug smile on her face. She climbed into the van and then drove away leaving the three hostages behind.
As soon as the van left, we all rushed forward. All except, Lydia and the sorcerer’s wife. And Gabe was too groggy to rush anywhere so he slumped himself against a nearby car. So actually, just Shirley, Katelyn, and I rushed forward.
I grabbed Gabe and began pulling him to Lydia’s car as quickly as I could. We didn’t have time for drawn-out reunions. The dagger was out of my possession and I needed it back. I helped Gabe into the car and then strapped him in. I don’t know why I strapped him in, it just seemed like a natural thing to do.
Shirley was removing Katelyn’s handcuffs when I turned around and the wife was standing there looking at Shirley in confusion. Once Katelyn was free, Shirley released the wife and told her to get in the car which she did without question.
‘Thank you,’ Katelyn said to me once I was back with them.
‘No problem. Shall we?’ I was eager to get the dagger back.
‘Relax, Eddie. My team will be arresting that woman as we speak. Come on.’ She led the way out of the car park and around the corner to where the exit was.
There was no black van. There were no sorcerers. There were no people whatsoever. There wasn’t even any sign of a fight. Julia was gone with the dagger and I was fucked.
‘What the fuck?’ I said aghast. I turned to Shirley who was at a total loss for words. She was looking around as if the sorcerers might be hiding somewhere waiting to jump out with the dagger and surprise us. I really wished they would.
‘What exactly has happened here?’ asked Katelyn. She was completely in the dark about the plan. All she knew was she’d been rescued. It was a good day for her. An atrocious day for me.
‘You really fucked this up,’ Lydia growled, balling her hands into fists.
‘Eddie Lancaster and Shirley Demelza!’ Richards shouted as he strode into the car park. He was looking the worse for wear. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, his nose was crooked from a break and he was limping. Two men were behind him, some kind of police, or government agents I assumed. I noticed they had guns holstered at their hips, as did Richards.
‘What have you done?’ I yelled. I made toward him but Katelyn grabbed hold of me and pulled me back.
‘Don’t pick a fight with the government,’ she hissed in my ear.
‘I’ve done my job. I saw a group of sorcerers loitering around looking to cause some trouble so I arrested them.’
‘On what charges?’ Shirley said, her tone was even but demanding all the same. Richards looked her way, there was a little humility in the way he looked at her. A little fear maybe.
‘They haven’t been charged with anything yet. I had them taken in for questioning. With all the disturbances lately I am within my rights to arrest suspicious looking parties.’
‘Where were they taken for questioning?’ I asked. He wasn’t a cop anymore so I doubted they’d gone to the police station.
‘Why? Are you planning to attack another government building?’ he said sassily. ‘There’s too much trouble in town. Shirley, as leader of the sorcerers you’ve been summoned to appear before a committee representing the Department of Supernatural Affairs to account for these incidents. If you refuse, then new laws will likely be passed without your say. This is your chance to try and make your case.’ He knew the right buttons to press, he knew that Shirley could not refuse her summons if it meant things would get worse for her people.
‘Eddie, you need to come too. Since you’re responsible for all the shit that’s gone down,’ he added.
‘Yeah, I’m a little busy,’ I said dismissively. I needed to get the dagger back.
‘If you refuse it will look bad on Shirley. Do you want all the sorcerers in the country to be angry with you?’
It actually didn’t matter if they were angry at me or not considering I’d be dead by the end of the day. But it would mean I’d be leaving things in a much worse state for everybody who wasn’t going to die.
‘It would mean a lot to me if you came,’ Shirley said calmly. ‘I’m sorry that this meeting went wrong but I will do everything in my power to right this. But I need to deal with this committee hearing first.’
‘I don’t have time to attend a bloody meeting!’ I snapped. I brandished my tattooed wrist at her. ‘I need to get that dagger back now.’
‘If you don’t come, then the DSA will order armed units into Kent to stamp out the threat once and for all. Your choice,’ Richards said nonchalantly.
‘Go to the meeting,’ Lydia said. ‘I’ll find the dagger. Without you, there’s less chance you can fuck it up again.’
‘Fine,’ I relented. ‘Track down the dagger. Keep an eye on it. Don’t make any moves until I get back. Unless you have to.’
‘I’ll help,’ Katelyn said. ‘I won’t involve any other sorcerers though. Things are bad enough right now.’
‘Fair enough,’ I replied. ‘Oh, and give Gabe some fresh blood to flush the other stuff out of his system,’ I added to Lydia. He’d be bloody useful to us all if he was woken up properly.
I turned to Richards. ‘I want your word this isn’t a trap. That I’m not going to end up in a cage or something?’
His lip curled up in annoyance. ‘I’m not the bad guy here, Eddie.’
‘Well, you’re certainly not the good guy.’
‘You’ll be allowed to leave at the end of the meeting. It’s an official political function. Any deception could start a supernatural war. Nobody will be arrested.’
‘Good. One more thing, how did you know we’d be here?’
‘That woman, Julia, contacted me this morning and told me everything,’ he said. Julia had known about our subterfuge and she’d countered it expertly.
With that Shirley and I followed Richards to the car he had waiting. I chuckled to myself as I climbed in the back of the Range Rover. It was my last day on Earth, I was risking eternal damnation if I fucked up, I had a limited amount of time left to retrieve the dagger, and here I was on my way to attend a meeting. Things really were fucked.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The meeting was in London. That should have been obvious really, that’s where the government was after all. The drive was long and pretty silent. It seemed that Richards had said everything he had to say to me the other night. Right before he’d been tossed around like putty by the vampires. He was a little bitter about that. It was hardly my fault.
When we arrived, Shirley and I were ushered into some room where we were faced with a long beechwood table behind which sat five stuffy looking people. Not a single one of them looked to be below the age of fifty. Two smaller tables stood before the longer one. Richards showed Shirley and me to one of these tables and then he sat at the other.
All of them eyed me keenly as we entered the room. They whispered to one another and one of them actually pointed at me.
‘You’re the first known resurrection,’ Shirley explained. ‘You’re quite a celebrity. We can try and use it in our favour. Be careful, Richards will try to use it to scare them,’ Shirley told me quietly so that nobody else could hear her.
‘Why do I get the feeling we’re not just here to answer questions?’ I whispered as we took our seats. She shot a displeased look at Richards.
‘This is not an interview. This is going to be more of a trial. Us against Richards. As amusing as I usually find you, Eddie, I need you to behave yourself. No antagonistic behaviour,’ she warned me. She seemed to be warning me a lot lately.
‘No worries,’ I assured her. There was a jug of water and two glasses on the table. I poured us both a glass of water and then took a sip of mine. My stomach was churning over as I thought about how much time we were going to waste in this room. I lifted my wrist and glanced at my tattoo. There was only a slither of sand remaining.
There were no other people present apart from two security guards who stood on the edges of the room. The gallery behind us was empty. This was a private hearing, not something they wanted the newspapers to get hold of. The old committee people were all nattering among themselves even though we were waiting.
‘Can we get on with this?’ I said loudly to the panel of committee members. I didn’t have all day to kill with the government toffs.
‘That’s it, show us all your true colours from the off,’ Richards said smugly. Shirley peered around me and raised her eyebrow at him.
‘I see no problem with being eager to begin. I for one have important matters to attend back in Kent, and I’m sure the members of the committee have other government affairs to deal with. It wouldn’t be prudent for us all to sit here wasting the taxpayers' money on idle chitchat,’ she said in an authoritative tone that made several of the government officials blush.
‘Quite right, quite right, Miss Demelza,’ the man in the middle said. He had an impressive handlebar moustache that was no doubt there to make up for the lack of hair on his head. The name card in front of him identified him as Giles Sloughman, Chairman of the Committee.
‘This committee has been assembled by the Department of Supernatural Affairs to look into the disturbances in Kent. It has been put to us today to decide whether or not to put before the House of Commons a bill for tighter controls on the supernatural communities,’ he said.
‘An idea that I think we are in need of more than ever,’ Richards said. He glared across at me like a bully who intended to find me on the playground later and kick my head in.
‘Thank you, Agent Richards. We shall ask for your input when we require it,’ Wendy Chessman said. She peered over her glasses at him with a very headmistress-like look.
‘Well said, well said!’ Tony Adams said, clapping his hands together loudly.
‘Yes, yes, very good,’ said Giles. He tapped his fingers on the table as if to call silence and then cleared his throat. ‘We’re here today to—‘
‘Oh, you just told us why we’re here,’ Shirley snapped. ‘We are not in the House of Commons, we don’t need all the formalities and theatrics.
Giles narrowed his eyes at her and sat in silence for at least a minute. She met his gaze, undaunted and unwilling to bend to him. Just as the silence was becoming uncomfortable he spoke.
‘As you will, Miss Demelza.’ He turned to Richards. ’Agent Richards, I believe you have a statement to make in favour of tighter controls on the supernatural communities. This panel would like to first hear your case then we shall put our questions to you, after which Miss Demelza and Mister Lancaster can reply to your statement, and we shall then put our questions to the two of you.’
Richards stood up and limped into the centre of the room. ‘Agent Richards, there is no need to leave your seat, this is not a courtroom,’ Wendy told him, her voice already sounded exhausted. She seemed like an ally.
‘I understand that, but I want you all to get a good look at me. To see the damage that supernatural creatures have caused me.’
‘Creatures?’ I almost shouted. Several pairs of angry eyes flicked to me. Clearly speaking out of town was frowned upon here.
‘Please be respectful, Agent Richards,’ said the oldest man of the group, Donald Langford.
‘And we could see you perfectly fine over there. We’re not in a palace,’ Wendy added and Richards blushed, though from anger or embarrassment I couldn’t tell.
Giles shot an irritated look around the committee table and then turned back to Richards. He’d just realised that this hearing was not going to be an easy one. ‘Please continue, Agent Richards.’
‘Thank you,’ Richards said gruffly. ‘As you can see I am somewhat worse for wear. This,’ he waved his hand over his own body highlighting the cuts and bruises. ‘Is the effects of the supernatural.’
‘And how came you to be so rudely handled?’ Donald asked completely ignoring the rule about waiting to ask questions.
‘The most recent injuries were from a vampire attack. And this,’ he leaned forward and pointed at the ugly black scar over his neck. ‘Was the result of getting involved with that man, Eddie Lancaster.’ He pointed right at me when he said my name.
‘Hang on!’ I shouted rising to my feet.
‘Mister Lancaster!’ Giles snapped, looking at me in alarm. ‘You will have your chance to address these claims in due course. Please be seated.’
I drew in a furious breath, eyeballing Richards all the while. Then, very slowly, I lowered myself back into my chair.
‘The supernatural people are dangerous. What they’ve done to me is an example of what they can do when showing restraint. Imagine what they could do if they really wanted to hurt us. You saw what happened to Cedarstone. You are aware of the graveyard situation across Kent right now. What do you think they could be doing with all those stolen corpses?’ There was twittering along the big table at that. ‘Magic is dangerous and right now it is barely regulated. Sorcerers, vampires, werewolves and whatever else can roam about our streets doing as they please. Now that they’ve been exposed to the world they don’t even need to hide it.
‘This man,’ he pointed right at me. ‘died. It was all over the evening news nearly two years ago. And yet here he is! He has quite literally returned from the grave. That is how much power these people have. Is this the sort of power that should remain unchecked?
‘I witnessed a battle between vampires and sorcerers in Maidstone. The police could do nothing to control the situation. The streets were littered with corpses from all races by the end. Several police officers died. Their kind have no respect for the police or any government authority. What was the punishment for killing those officers of the law? There was none. If the people of this country continue to fall victim to supernatural attacks and the government does not increase controls then how long will it be until the people lose faith in their government? Maybe that’s what the vampires and the sorcerers want. They already have their own governing infrastructure. Shirley Demelza is the queen of the sorcerers in all but name. What if they’re waiting for the people to turn on the government so that they can then seize control? If you do nothing about this epidemic then soon enough the creatures of the night will be ruling the country and we’ll be nothing more than blood banks to them.’ Every face at the table was ashen. Richard’s speech was having the desired effect and from the looks of things, he wasn’t done yet. I never knew he had it in him, the ability to play politics and manipulate a situation for his own agenda.
‘Consider this too. The world is watching. It is watching the United Kingdom. Here, in this country, the supernatural was exposed. We are leading the world, showing them all how to handle this kind of thing. Europe, America, Asia, they’re all watching us to see how we handle this situation. They aren’t doing anything over there about their own supernatural communities. They’ve all pretended this hasn’t happened. Heads in the sand. We can either be the beacon that shows them the way or we can be the laughing stock of the world. Or even worse, we can be nothing more than a black mark in history when the monsters of the night rise up and smother us. We will become an example of what not to do.’
