Shadowborn's Terror: Book IV of 'The Magician's Brother' Series Page 2

  That dismissive attitude rankled at me a little, making me defensive and perhaps a little unnecessarily tactless...

  "There are currently two potential explanations on the table," I said, staring Lady Time down while the other Archons approached, no doubt hoping to diffuse the situation, "Either she didn't notice, in which case she's incompetent and negligent in the face of inhuman suffering; or she did, and she's complicit in severe mental abuse. Which theory deserves the most respect?"

  Kron's face went white with rage while Sutton cried onto her shoulder. I thought for a long moment that I'd made a terrible mistake, but then I saw one of Sutton's eyes open and look right at me.

  There wasn't just hatred in that look; there was a complete and utter loathing; disgust coupled with a destructive, total contempt.

  It was a look I saw mirrored in Kron's eyes, but it wasn't nearly as intense as Sutton's.

  "We will adjourn now," Lady Time said, her voice trembling in fury, "When we return, you will be elsewhere, understand?"

  "What about Mister Clayton?" I asked.

  "He'll be taken care of, now get out!" Kron hissed.

  I stood for a moment, shocked by what she'd said, but I nodded, turning on my heel and walking out, heading straight for the big doors. I was disappointed; the other Archons were supposed to be the ones who believed me when crap like this came up, for heaven's sake! They're supposed to be on my side, even when nobody else is. I should have known that would be an empty promise.

  I walked through the doors and took a hard left, heading towards the Archons' offices where I could change and get the hell out of there.

  "Matty!" Hopkins called. I turned and saw her, hot on my heels, "What the hell was that?"

  "That was apparently me getting ejected from the Conclave for telling the truth," I said as Captain Cassandra Vaillancourt came out of nowhere and fell in at my side, her right hand resting on the pommel of her gladius.

  "What did he do now?" my Warden asked Hopkins in a long-suffering voice that really wasn't warranted... this time.

  "He..." Hopkins started, "I don't know. What happened back there?"

  I sighed as we went through the doors leading to our rooms, on either side of which there were guards that saluted as we passed. I explained how Sutton had made me feel, and then what I'd found in Clayton's head.

  "Ah," Hopkins said, "Look, Matty, you can't just go after Sutton like that. She's one of the best people I know. She's like a daughter to Kron. If there was a mistake made, it wasn't by her."

  "And the sheer, God-awful terror I felt at the very sight of her?"

  "She is a Light Mage. The strongest Light Mage in the world, actually. Maybe your Shadows sensed that?" Hopkins suggested.

  "I've never been afraid of Light Magic before. This was something else. It felt like... like I was meeting the person who'd destroy me," I said, shivering, "Like she'd be the thing that ended me."

  Hopkins shuddered slightly as well. I got to my office, which wasn't much, just a desk, a chair and a lot of empty shelves. There was a small nook with a cupboard in it; I stored my hood and robes in there before pulling out my satchel and hooking it over my shoulder.

  "She couldn't, Matty," Hopkins said, putting her hand on my shoulder, "she's the Commander of the Peace Legion. She wouldn't hurt anyone, much less an Archon."

  "If you say so," I said, just wanting out of there, "You know where I'll be if you need me."

  She nodded, "Kron will calm down. She's just protective of Namia. She'll be alright in a few days, you'll see."

  "She loves that girl," I said, shaking my head, "I recognise the look on her face. She's going to be mad for a while."

  I turned to leave, but just couldn't let it be, "Watch your backs around that woman. She's up to something with that drug."

  Hopkins frowned, "Namia Sutton's word is above reproach, Mathew," she said, her tone now a little angry, "She has never lied to us before, and she's saved us from threats we'd never have seen coming otherwise. You can't conceive of the things she's done for all of us."

  I rubbed my forehead, "When this goes belly-up, don't say I didn't warn you."

  I walked around her and out the door, Cassandra right next to me.

  "Matty?" Hopkins said, I turned around, "The others owe Sutton. So do I. Don't push this, please?"

  "None of my business, Miss Hopkins. I'm not S.C.A., and drugs are their problem," I said, rather hurt that even Hopkins was taking Sutton's side.

  I knew that I shouldn't be. The others had only known me for a few months, Hopkins just a little more, a bit over a year. I couldn't blame them, really, I was a relative stranger and they'd known Sutton for centuries. I knew all that intellectually, but I couldn't quite put the bad feeling to one side. It felt like a betrayal.

  "Alright," she said, "We'll smooth this over with Sutton. You'll see in time that she's a truly wonderful person."

  "I'm sure," I said.

  Cassandra snorted, recognising my tone even though I'd done my very best to sound sincere.

  "If I don't see you before then, I'll see you next week at school," Hopkins said.

  I nodded and walked out with Cassandra, who followed me into the April sunshine. She'd been my Warden (personal guard) ever since that day I'd been to see Hellstrom in her house. She went most places with me; lived with me, more or less. I had no idea how she ended up with that job, but she seemed to be happy with it, and goodness knows she made my work considerably easier. She was, apart from everything else she meant to me, an indispensable source of advice.

  "So, on a scale of one to ten, just how pissed off are you?" she asked, nudging me with her elbow as we walked towards a nearby taxi rank.

  "Eleven," I said, smiling at my friend, "I know it's unfair to expect it, but they're supposed to be the ones that I don't have to fight against, does that make sense?"

  "Of course. You think of them as family, you expect them to act like it. And they would; you know they'd go right to the end for you, Matty. But that woman is a famous good guy, and you..."

  "Yes, I know. I'm a sneaky, mean-spirited Shadowborn who hasn't proven anything yet. I certainly don't compare well to one of those hero types."

  "I didn't mean it like that. You just don't have the history that they do, that's all."

  I smiled, patting her shoulder, "It'll be fine. It's not like I'm unused to being a pariah."

  Cassandra snorted and we hopped into a cab, "Five, Lord's Way, please," she said, sitting back with me as the car pulled away.

  "You know, we'd save a lot of money if you'd just let me fly us," I pointed out.

  "I am not Princess Jasmine, you're not Aladdin, and your flying carpet is made of horrors, no thank you," she said, glaring, the hint of a smile on her face ruining the effect.

  "You loved it the last time," I said, nudging her.

  "Did not!" she complained, blushing.

  Cassandra didn't like Shadow Magic, and no matter how fond of me she might be, she still had to fight that contradiction every time I did something like a Shadowborn.

  So I smiled and stared out the window, knowing that to press my advantage was to get punched in the arm until I stopped.

  Chapter 2

  Stonebridge was a grand old city. It brimmed over with history, ancient buildings sharing the city limits with newer glass towers, cramped warrens of alleyways a few blocks away from modern thoroughfares. Old and new, beautiful and grotesque, everything had a place there. It was home to one of the oldest Universities in the country, which filled the city with youth and vigour. It also had the largest per capita Magical population of any settlement in Europe, making the whole place seem to thrum with hidden power.

  My official residence went by the slightly dramatic name of Blackhold Manor, and was located in the Old Quarter. The property had been passed down from the previous First Shadow as part of the trust, and had been empty for the last nineteen years; ever since the last First Shadow went insane, used the Black, and had to be brought down
by the other Archons.

  It sat on its own plot, deep in the most ancient part of the city. It was closer to a palace than a house, with four wings, three of which I had no use for. I say wings; that's what the staff called them. They were actually the four massive sides of the rough square that made up the house. The stone was a light brown, the roof slate grey, and it was Magically warded like nothing else I'd ever seen, surrounded by a tall stone wall with a reinforced steel gate. There was a bit of lawn around the buildings, and a beautiful little garden nestled inside the square made up of the house's 'wings', where there was grass, some bushes, flowers and a couple of trees, including an old oak I was very fond of. Beyond the house was a long, low set of buildings where the staff made their homes.

  I used the 'wing' closest to the gates, which would have made a comfortable palace just on its own, if you ask me. Each wing was made up of four floors, with less space on each ascending storey, giving the inside of the square a tiered appearance, sort of like a colossal cross between an ancient Roman villa and a square amphitheatre. Each inner floor had a balcony covered in yet more plants, which I liked.

  Personally, I thought the place was far too big for me. I would have preferred to stay at home, even if it was a hundred miles away, but this was the First Shadow's official residence, and it helped to have somewhere close to the Conclave.

  In the South Wing (mine), there were seven bedrooms, about that many bathrooms, a huge reception room, library (where I spent most of my time), sitting rooms, a colossal kitchen, a dining room, a breakfast room and a small conservatory. Apparently, Magicians, particularly Archons, tended to accumulate wives (yes plural, and concurrent) and... girlfriends over the centuries, which tended to result in big families, needing big houses. My predecessor hadn't bothered with either, being more concerned with some light genocide and world domination.

  Cassandra had moved herself in, of course; and taken the biggest room, too. Mine was more comfortable, though, with a terrific bathroom and a cosy fireplace. I hadn't redecorated anything, not really feeling at home yet (and having precisely no taste, besides).

  The cab pulled up to the gates and we hopped out. I paid the man and he drove off. Money had ceased to be a problem once I'd gotten hold of my part of the Archon's combined trust, in addition to the pile that was the First Shadow's individual trust.

  I had no idea what to do with that, either, but that's what my meeting tonight was all about. Cassandra followed me to the front door, where Case Webb, the Major-domo, had come out to greet us (he preferred to be called the Butler, and wore coat and tails at all times).

  He was a fatherly looking man, middle aged with greying hair and a friendly smile; his family had been managing Blackhold for four hundred years and ten generations. He'd been perfectly formal with me when we'd first met, not knowing what to expect. When I told him that I wasn't planning to interfere with his running of the place, he warmed up a little, and after four months, he was even willing to smile from time to time.

  "Welcome home, Sir," he said, "You've returned earlier than expected."

  "My presence was no longer required," I said, smiling sadly, "All well here?"

  "Of course, Sir. Shall I have Miss Jenkins prepare a light lunch?"

  "Oh, yes please," I said, with a more happy smile, "breakfast room in say half an hour or so?"

  "I'll see to it," he said, giving a small bow, "Will the lady be joining you as usual?"

  "Where there's food, there's Cassandra," I said before taking the hit to my arm I knew was coming.

  Webb nodded and went off, passing by the two guards on the front doors. They were both Cassandra's people. She had taken over the house's security and brought in half a dozen of her people from the Archive to act as Wardens. They were all highly trained, both Magically and martially, all wore armour and carried firearms at all times. That reassured me; it meant that even if the Wards on that place didn't strip hostile Magicians of their power and physically injure anyone acting with hostile intent, then these women would still be more than enough to take on anything short of an Archon and come through far better than the poor idiot who tried attacking my home.

  I nodded to them and they nodded back. I knew them all by name, and liked most of them. One of them hated my guts for some reason or another, but Cassandra didn't seem to think that was a flaw in a bodyguard...

  Cassandra went off to store her sword while I changed into something more comfortable. It was just after two in the afternoon; the day was warm and quiet, the sun shining. I was already in a better mood by the time I made my way to the breakfast room, where Cassandra was waiting impatiently, back in her usual jeans-shirt-jumper combination, her gun at the small of her back and a series of smaller blades concealed about her person (she produced them from time to time, practicing her quick-draws).

  Miss Connie Jenkins came bustling in, supervising a young valet who carefully placed a number of trays and dishes on the table before bustling right back out again with a smile on her round and pleasant face. She was one of the reasons why I was willing to live at Blackhold so much. She was the chef, and she was just... terrific. She was an older woman, with a warm smile and a perpetual desire to feed me up. She wasn't a Magician, but that didn't stop her from weaving some sort of Magic on the food. She could do things with pastry that would make you think you'd died and gone to gastro-heaven. That day there was soup, freshly baked bread and a selection of cold meat and cheese.

  Cassandra all but dove into her meal, and I nearly lost a finger claiming some bread and soup before she could get to it.

  "Not hungry?" she asked as I picked at my lunch. She'd already demolished everything else and was wiping the last of her soup up with the last crust of bread.

  "Not really," I said, thinking on the Conclave, and the sudden, jarring, estrangement between me and the others.

  "Then are you going to finish that?" she asked ruthlessly, pointing at my soup.

  I grinned and slid it over, along with the last of my bread, which she set to as well.

  "You want me to come with you tonight?" she asked after failing to conceal a very un-ladylike belch (which earned me a punch when I giggled at it).

  "Nah, that's okay. It's only dinner, and I know you have plans."

  Theatre with an old friend. Planned for months in advance; there was no way I was interrupting that. She'd be in a snit for weeks.

  "I can send one of the girls with you."

  "And have them disapproving their way through the whole thing?" I asked, which made her laugh.

  "Just be careful, you know she's been getting more aggressive lately," Cassandra said with a leer. I glared, but it didn't seem to discourage her.

  Amico Cucina was a nice little Italian place in the more modern part of Stonebridge.

  My companion for the evening was waiting in a booth at the far end of the packed restaurant and smiled when I approached. I grinned back and went over to her, making my way past the wealthy clientele and their dates. It was dimly lit; the tables were round and small enough to be intimate, covered in pristine white tablecloths and set with real silverware. I was dressed in another suit, but with a more cheerful tie than earlier.

  Tethys was stunning as always, clothed in a red, form-hugging dress that drew attention to her curves. She had deep violet eyes, which always seemed to dance with mischief, long black hair and lips that were difficult not to kiss. She pulled me into a warm hug that I returned before sitting next to her in the booth.

  This was her favourite restaurant. Not that she needed food, you understand, but she could still enjoy eating it. She also had a favourite diner, wine bar, sushi place... a favourite everything, really. She was a Succubus, after all, and she seemed to take a certain warped pride in indulging in every form of hedonism known to man (and a few that weren't. Don't ask, you don't want to know).

  She was temptation in the flesh, and one of my very best friends.

  "Long time, no see," she said, shifting in closer to me, looping h
er arm through mine.

  "We had lunch four days ago," I replied, grinning at her. That was one of my favourite things about Tethys; she always made me smile.

  "An eternity," she said with that smirk I liked so much, kissing me gently on the cheek, "you have no idea of the depraved things Kandi has to do to distract me when you're away that long."

  "Oh yes I do, you keep sending me pictures, and would you stop that? Cathy found some of those."

  "So you're keeping them? Interesting."

  Walked right into that one, I must admit. I gave her a look, but she just laughed, leaning against me.

  "How are things going lately?" I asked, "Busy?"

  "Quiet, actually. Consolidating. I'm happy to sit on my laurels awhile."

  We chatted for a bit, catching up. We were comfortable enough with each other that talking was easy and arguments non-existent. She told me about some of Kandi's recent misadventures trying to find out who was stealing outfits from the Purple Pussycat and I laughed. I told her about the latest Conclave nonsense and she sympathised. It was a pleasant dinner, I relaxed and so did she. She also kept trying to grope me, but that's par for the course with her.

  "So, I was wondering if you might be willing to do me a favour?" I asked as the waiter took our dessert things away.

  "Is it sexual?" she asked, suddenly very close, her nose on my neck, "because absolutely."

  I smiled, squeezing her shoulders.

  "No, I need advice, business advice, actually."

  "Less fun, but still interesting," she said, running her nose up and down a little, making me shiver.

  I took a moment to re-gather my thoughts from where Tethys had scattered them. One could see why she was a minor business mogul, none of her opponents could remember their negotiating position...

  "As you know, I've come into a bit of money. Well, it's a lot more than I thought it was."

  I pulled a small diary out of my pocket, where I'd scribbled some basic notes, passing it to her.

  "I have absolutely no idea what to do with any of it," I said.