Angel Candidate, page 8
part #3 of Lucas Johnson Series
I frowned as the kill on sight policy was unlike the Vatican Inquisition. Since nobody asked questions, we got into the van and rode off. Katherine demonstratively ignored everyone, especially me.
That both made my gut clench and forced me to wonder what the hell was this about. From the start, she has been uncharacteristically emotional about this whole operation.
We drove in silence without having any idea where. The others kept looking around nervously, tapping their feet or fingers or both. I almost fell asleep.
The van stopped. Katherine withdrew a box from under her seat and kicked it toward me. It was the size of a transport box for a cat, had a handle but was solid and impossible to see through. The latch at the front end was closed but unlocked. I took the box without a word.
Katherine opened the door. We followed her outside, staring at the side of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Central Park.
I drew in the wet, night’s air and relaxed my muscles. While we were out of sight, we could hear music and laughter of people drinking deeper in the park.
“Secure the perimeter,” Katherine said. “Simmons comes with me.” She stepped toward the side entrance and I followed.
When we approached the door, I leaned to Katherine. She stank of beer worse than ever. “Let me guess. They wouldn’t give us the item willingly, so we’ve come to steal it.”
“Shut up,” she snapped and punched me in the shoulder, sending pain all the way to the bone. “You don’t speak unless I allow you to.”
I took that as being right. We got to the door of glass and steel and Katherine raised her hand. A small sphere of bright green aether formed in her palm. ‘Fusco.’ [Blacken.]
A flash of light blinded me for a split second and everything around us went dark. An EMP blast from a spell, impressive. Sure, Katherine was said to be the strongest witch on East Coast, but I never quite got to see that part in person.
She placed her palm on the lock. ‘Aperio.’ [Unseal.] The lock clicked and the door opened. She flung the wing open and walked inside.
I followed her. Once we turned the corner, we took out our phones and activated torches. Instead of going into the museum itself, we took the steps down, heading toward the personnel-only section. Katherine unlocked two more doors and we entered the less maintained, unglamorous maintenance corridors. She headed toward the left one until we reached a wall where Katherine shone her phone’s torch on the displayed evacuation plan. “There’s a hidden room on this floor. Find it.”
I looked at the schematic, drawing the map in my mind. The museum was big. Hundreds of corridors spanned among dozens of rooms. The overall shape matched how I remembered the museum’s disposition from online maps, so the hidden room had to be somewhere inside. I had to make some assumptions. First, the hidden chamber was used to store a powerful artifact, so it had to be guarded, most likely by a magical guardian. To minimize risks, it would be placed somewhere where a battle with the guardian couldn’t cause too much collateral damage.
“Today,” Katherine snapped, and started tapping her foot.
No pressure. Where was I? To prevent collateral damage, the hidden room would be somewhere away from the other rooms with multiple feet thick walls isolating the area. That severely limited the number of potential spots. Second, it would be away from main routes to prevent accidental finding, so the entrance to the hidden room would be far from stairs. “Here,” I said and pointed at the map. “The entrance will be from this or this hallway.”
Katherine stared at the map for a few seconds, apparently memorizing the way. And then she stepped into the corridor. I followed her, wondering how to break the deafening silence
The hallways were empty, and dark save for the light our phones produced. Normally, this would be an excellent opportunity to be romantic and soften Katherine a little. But she emitted the feeling she wanted to murder me, which didn’t present an opening.
Long minutes of walking later, we arrived at the corridor I pointed at. She arched an eyebrow at me. “Well?”
I stalked by the wall, tapping on it with my knuckles, searching for a hollow sound. The difference between tapping the standard wall and the hidden door wasn’t large, but I noticed the slightly different echo as the door was made of steel while the wall from concrete. After I slid my hand by the area, I noticed the thin seam that marked the door’s edge.
Now, how would they open this? There would be a remote control for certain, but we didn’t have that, and the door had to have an emergency override precisely for blackouts. I moved my fingers by the frame, pressing the sides. After a moment, the part of wall under my hand moved a tiny bit. I pressed harder and triggered the hidden pressure plate.
The secret door moved a touch backward and slid to the sides.
I stepped aside and motioned Katherine, theatrically presenting the entrance.
She jabbed me in the shoulder. “Thief.” She stepped inside.
Okay, I was not going to make her happy tonight, no matter what I did. I followed. We entered an antechamber with a heavy security door. These had a keyhole and were covered in magical runes, surely made to counter unlocking spells.
Katherine stretched out her hand and whispered, ‘Gladio.’ [Sword.] Green flame poured out of her palm and formed a longsword. ‘Invalesco.’ [Intensify.] The blade thinned, but brightened, shining like a fragment of a sun. Heat filled the room.
She stabbed the sword into the door’s side. Slowly, she moved the blade up, melting the heavy steel. Within a minute, she carved a human-sized hole into the door. The cut-out part fell down with a loud thud. Yes, protecting places from witches wasn’t easy. Katherine flicked her wrist and the sword disappeared.
We entered. Beyond lay a square hall with a hallway exiting at the opposite end. We walked right through the middle. From what I noticed in the torchlight, the room had a square-like pattern with hieroglyphs carved into the floor, walls, and ceiling.
When we reached the room’s center, the exit in front of us blurred. Everything around us did. I clenched my muscles and readied myself to fight. Shadows emerged from the blur, human-shaped with burning eyes.
Katherine raised her hand, forming a sphere of her green flame above her palm. ‘Orbis extinctio.’ [Orb of extinction.] The orb floated toward the ceiling and hundred streaks of flame rained outward. Like broken vectors, paths of flame shot through the room, exploding upon contact. I shielded my eyes to not get blinded by explosion’s light.
When the spell ended, my ears rang and sweat covered my entire body. Nothing was blurry anymore and we stood in a horribly charred room.
“Move.” Katherine stepped forward.
We passed the hallway and arrived in a small room. Large, open chests full of golden coins and gems lay at the sides. Above them hung sets of medieval armor and weapons, all ornate. At the room’s end stood four pedestals, each holding a different item, clearly an artifact.
Katherine motioned toward the second pedestal, which featured a scepter that looked as if it was carved out of a single huge sapphire. “Bag that.”
I approached, reading the plaque: Scepter of Atlantis. With a shrug, I took the item. The magical power from inside the item made my skin tingle but didn’t reach past my fingers. This artifact was sealed. I placed it into the box we brought. In the meantime, Katherine moved her phone around, taking pictures of the room. I stepped back and she photographed the pedestals. I suddenly had the feeling the museum owner may have not had the proper permissions to store ancient artifacts.
Now, Katherine gathered the evidence. Tomorrow, she would check his permissions and if he didn’t have proper licenses, she would arrest him. Or she would send an assassin to kill him if he was a strong enough mage since those were too difficult to imprison. Yes, the law of Secret Societies was rather uncivilized.
She spun and headed out. I followed her.
Outside the building, our team waited, all twitching nervously in their positions. Katherine motioned to the van and walked to the driver’s seat. The man inside opened the door.
“I drive,” Katherine commanded, “Simmons sits in the front, the rest in the back. Robert guards the box.”
I shrugged and gave the box to Robert. He took it with a troubled smile.
We got into the van as Katherine commanded and she stepped on the gas, heading out. The streets were calm, but far from devoid of traffic. The city lights passed around us. I paid utmost attention. Katherine didn’t put me on the front seat because she would want my company. But I had the best eyes in the group and was thus present to spot any ambush.
The base was thirteen miles away, which would normally be nothing dramatic. We got on FDR Drive and moved along the Harlem River. We crossed the bridge to Randal Island, and I frowned. This was the fastest route, but also the one which led through the least populated area, Randal Island. So far, Reid and his people could always track us. I assumed it must have been a traitor, but what if it was something much more mundane, like security cameras installed around the buildings surrounding the barracks? Or GPS trackers placed into our vehicles? Or drones with cameras? The logistics of doing that would have been difficult, but if there was anything Reid’s group excelled at, it was logistics.
Since their group had at least one extremely powerful mage, they would want to fight away from populated areas. We got onto Randal Island and approached the bridge over Bronx Kill.
My scowl deepened. “Stop.”
Katherine stepped on the break. The car behind us nearly hit us. The driver sounded the horn as he swerved around us.
“What?” Katherine snapped.
“The ambush is on that bridge.”
“I don’t see anything.”
“Me neither, but this is the only logical spot for an ambush.”
She glowered at me. “I don’t care about your hunches. Do you have any evidence?”
“It’s not a hunch. This is an unpopulated area, and that bridge is the only connection we have to our reinforcements in the Bronx. This is the perfect spot for an ambush, and they will use it. Trust me on this.”
“You have lost that trust a long time ago.” She grabbed the intra-van radio speaker, said, “Prepare for combat,” and then she stepped on the gas.
I sighed and clenched my muscles. I was only the Devil’s top assassin, why trust me about convoy ambush locations, right?
When we were halfway across the bridge, a flash of light blinded my eyes for a second and the city around us went dark. Of course, they had an EMP. An explosion deafened our ears and the force flung us up into the air. The airbag flew into my face, hitting me like a padded shovel, pinning me against the seat. Great.
We started falling. I glimpsed the bridge as we fell under it onto Randal Island. The concrete was bent upward, and the bridge’s bottom was torn apart and charred.
We hit the ground with the roof. The impact blew the air from my lungs. My entire body exploded with pain.
‘Uro.’ [Incinerate.] Grass green flame burst around me, scorching the airbag and exploding out of the windows.
Katherine, visibly unharmed by the fall, kicked out the door and leapt out of the car. From her side, Reid and his people, about ten men with assault rifles, wearing combat armor, were approaching.
I removed my seatbelt, opened the door, and slid out. My entire being trembled. Ten more of Reid’s men led by a black-haired woman were approaching the van from behind.
I reached for my aether. Power flooded my body and mind. If our team inside the van opened the back door, they would become easy target practice. I grabbed the van’s side, braced my leg against the roof and pulled. With the godly strength my aether provided, I tore off the steel plate that made the van’s wall.
Metal screamed and I bent it to form a something-like-a-barricade while opening an exit from the van. My body’s ability to handle aether gave out.
From Katherine’s direction, gunfire and clashing of spells thundered through the night.
In the van, Robert lay unconscious together with the Twins. Amaranta crouched above them, eyes wide, and Sergeant King was readying his rifle. He understood my move, instantly stepped out and lowered his rifle over the bent plate. He started shooting in short bursts, deafening my ears.
I crouched next to Amaranta. She stared at me with wide eyes, face pale. I reached for the box containing the Scepter of Atlantis, opened it, and let the artifact fall out. “Hide this,” I said when Sergeant King wasn’t firing. I closed the box, reached to my neck and pulled out the amulet with the cross. I took it off and tossed the amulet to staring Amaranta.
She caught it mostly by instinct.
“Hold this for me,” I said with a faint smile.
She placed the amulet into a pocket. “They’ll kill you.”
“Possibly.” I smirked and shouted. “Cover me!” And then I bolted away.
Amaranta leapt after me, took Sergeant King’s side and lightning illuminated my path as she fried two men. I headed diagonally toward the river, holding the empty carrying box so it would be visible. I hoped Reid’s men would get a nice view. Bullets tore a chunk out of the ground in front of me.
Yep, they noticed. Good. This put them up for a difficult decision. They were here for the scepter and I looked like I was running away with the artifact. Sure, that was a decoy, but they didn’t know that. To send only a couple of grunts after me would be risky since I could escape. But splitting their force would also be a problem since they probably had just barely enough strength to get past Katherine. Especially after using an EMP since now, Katherine didn’t have to bother with concealing magic.
Without phones to record the incident, a few dozen people seeing her use magic meant nothing since the rest of the world would view them as lunatics.
I reached the riverbank and leapt into the river.
Cold water embraced me, and the flow swept me with ease toward the East River. I kicked with my legs, focusing on not drowning. Reid’s men arrived at the riverbank. I raised the box to cover my head. They couldn’t shoot it. Sure, the scepter was probably unbreakable by bullets, but the grunts wouldn’t know that.
They jumped into the river and started swimming after me.
Well, fuck. I swam with the flow, my entire being frozen, teeth clattering. For as long as I had the current, I moved without problems. Yet when I reached the East River, I started sinking. I kicked like mad. But I was out of strength.
Water closed above my head. I held my breath, but my lungs already burned. My vision started going dark. Chains broke through the water’s surface, reaching after me. They coiled like snakes, as if imbued with life. I didn’t bother dodging and let them catch me.
The chains wrapped me like a mummy and dragged me through the water. I surfaced and gasped for air. The chains dropped me on the shore of Lawrence Point. In a semi-circle around me stood about fifteen armed men, Reid and the black-haired woman. I recognized her. I bumped into her when we were drinking in Taj Mahal.
She was the one controlling the chains, which flowed out from her overly long hair like a hundred snakes. The chains removed the box from my hand and flipped open the latch. They stared into the empty box.
Shame I didn’t have the strength to laugh.
Reid stepped above me with a stern expression. “Tell me, friend, why shouldn’t we kill you?”
I smirked. “Because you don’t know how to unseal the scepter.”
Chapter 8
REID didn’t immediately shoot me, so that was a good start. Shame I couldn’t keep up my smirk with my teeth clattering. Yeah, I was that cold. And sure, this was a giant gamble, but for the sake of Paul’s family, I had to try.
The black-haired girl shrugged. “He’s lying. Let’s kill him and go.”
“But if he’s not, that would cost us time.” Reid aimed his wand at my face and whispered. ‘Somnum.’ [Sleep.]
I blacked out in an instant.
I woke up chained to a table, naked save for a towel placed over my crotch. But I wasn’t freezing, so they must have realized me dying of hypothermia wouldn’t help them, so they dried me first and left a small heater in the room. The room had no windows, featuring the large, wooden table, piles of weapons, ammunition, and combat armor sets. Right next to me stood a smaller table with a set of knives, scissors, pliers, hammers, and nails. Okay, this was going to be troublesome.
I pondered my strategy. There was no point in having them torture me since I was planning to tell them how to unseal the scepter anyway. That information would be useless without the scepter and they weren’t going to get it from Katherine since they all went after me when I ran. If they could have overpowered Katherine before doing so, they would have.
After about twenty minutes, the door opened, and a guard peeked inside. He didn’t wear the tactical armor anymore, but a casual set of jeans and a t-shirt. He still had a gun tucked behind his belt though.
I granted him a sour smile and he closed the door. A few minutes later, the door opened again, and Reid walked in together with the black-haired girl. I finally got a closer look on them. He was tall, in perfect shape, wearing a white shirt with an unbuttoned collar and a leather coat that matched his black jeans. His hair and beard were well-arranged, both trimmed in a modern fashion. He was younger than I thought he would be, thirty-five at most.
And the woman… well, girl, was way too young for this. Barely twenty with raven hair falling below her waist, tanned skin, and bright blue eyes. She was kind of pretty, wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and a wooden cross on a silver string for a necklace.
I smiled. “Hi, I’m Paul.”
They stared at me for long seconds. Yeah, I wasn’t appropriately afraid. and I had no idea how to fake that. Okay, I knew how to fake that, but I couldn’t be bothered. I was a terrible undercover agent, I knew.
