Chapter 42

“Magic Bo…” I started the familiar spell, but trailed off as my fingers betrayed me. It started with a sensation of pins and needles in my extremities before my hands fell limp at my sides, the runes sputtering and dying in a cloud of glitter. “What’re you doinfffff.” My lips stopped obeying my orders, too.

My eyes still worked, at least. I think I’d have been able to see the magical aura surrounding Major Smythe’s body even without my affinity. I could certainly smell the stench of sulfur and rot. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and I could practically see her flesh wither away beneath her skin.

I could hardly move a muscle, but I also didn’t have a bloody clue what was happening to me. Taking a chance, I closed my eyes to look through Mimic Sight.

The situation wasn’t much better from a spiritual view, but it was clearer. Major Smythe’s magical signature was leaking from her body to invade my own. Her soul was a sickly yellow, still crackled and fraying at the edges, but it was pushing my magical energy back from its beachhead in my hands.

I snapped back to reality with a better understanding of my desperate situation. The hands were numb and useless, but I was the master of my arms. Thank Our Father Below I hadn’t buckled in, or I’d have been totally trapped. And the humans say seatbelts save lives!

As it was, I was able to lurch into the driver’s seat in a half-tackle that slammed her head against the driver’s seat window.

The blow knocked the wind out of her, and the garlic and sulfur scent trailed off. I could slowly feel control return to my hands, like waking up to find that I had cut off the circulation while asleep. I couldn’t maneuver them well enough to cast a spell, but at this range, a fist would do just as well.

“Bahadour!”

It seemed that my enemy was not under the same restriction. She went wide; a bolt of ragged red lightning lashed out from her fingers, punching a hole in the passenger side window.

“Fera taught you well,” I slurred. Not well enough, thankfully; with proper anger to feed it, Bloody Lance would have made short work of my uniform’s magical protection at this range.

She reached up to wipe a trail of blood from her eyes. “You damn idiot, I almost forgot I wanted you alive!” The sulfurous stench filled my nose, and before I could get my hands around her throat, I lost control of my hands again. “Just submit already! This will all be much easier!”

Thankfully, one doesn’t need fine dexterity to perform a headbutt. The odor of her affinity slackened again as she cried out in pain.

Our eyes met. In a fracas, there’s a look that’s clear in the enemy’s eyes once you’ve gone past the point of no return. Whatever she said about taking me alive, only one of us was leaving this car under their own power.

By the Dark Lord, I hoped they would understand why I’d assaulted a superior officer. I doubted they’d believe she’d started it.

Again came the wave of pins and needles, but this time, I was wise to it. Seeing it through Mimic Sight had let me suss out the creeping magic’s advance and resist.

“Too much demon in your stubborn halfbreed ass,” she hissed, stopping her attack. “It’s a shame; this was a nice ride.”

Before I could respond, I was driven into her as she stomped on the accelerator as hard as she could manage. Even the quiet electric motor whined and protested under the sudden strain. If I thought we’d shot out of the parking lot before, that was nothing on our current speed.

Our wild ride stopped as quickly as it had begun. We crashed straight into the side of one of the concrete tenements they’d thrown up for the members of parliament. As shoddy as the concrete looked, it held up to the impact better than the vehicle. Amanda was buckled in, but I wasn't so lucky. I flew into the windshield spine first, and then the whiplash smashed the back of my skull into the reinforced glass. Everything went black after that.

*****************

I awoke, which was the first bit of good news I’d had all day. It didn’t come easy, and I felt like I was having to crawl out mental quicksand.

Wherever I was, I was cast in complete darkness and laying in a narrow bed. My head was bound in bandages, an all too familiar sensation. I couldn’t move my arms, which drove a spike of fear into my gut as I remembered my last moments with Major Smythe. Had I managed to paralyze myself?

A moment’s study traded one worry for another. I hurt entirely too much to be paralyzed, and I could still feel the tips of my fingers as I writhed around. No, I was being held in place by manacles. A quick inspection of my shackles showed the familiar indentations of magical runes. I knew better than to try and cast a spell with these fabricata handcuffs on; all I’d accomplish was powering my own electrocution.

“Hello? I’m awake,” I said.

“It’s about time,” said Carine Lakhdar a moment before she switched the lights back on.

I hadn’t been able to tell before, but I’d had my uniform removed and swapped with a hospital gown. “I’d salute, but I’m a bit tied up.”

“I see that your sense of humor wasn’t damaged in the crash.”

My words died on my lips as I saw the state she was in. Her eyes had a bit of puffiness at the edges, but there were no tears in evidence. The time for sorrow had passed. Instead, her clenched fists trembled with barely contained anger, and she was considering venting it on me.

It didn’t take long to figure out what had happened, or why I was handcuffed. “I’m sorry for your loss, Sergeant.”

“So you know she’s dead,” she said. “How?”

“That was a He… heck of a crash, and she wasn’t helping herself!” I protested, realizing how nonsensical my explanation sounded. Hell, I hardly believed what I’d seen, myself.

“You asked me to trust you, Private,” she said. “I don’t have much to show for that trust, besides a horrible mess. Explain yourself.”

“Ma’am,” I said, trailing off. I was chained to my bed. I was at the very least a suspect. “I admit, I don’t have the whole picture myself. It’s a strange situation.”

“I don’t want excuses, Private. I want results.”

I briefly considered feigning ignorance. Dante was still out there, ready to expose me to the world if I went too far. It had been partially bluster when I’d forced my way into Amanda’s car, and like she said, they had two levers to use against me. A story came ready to mind, that the major had fainted with her foot on the accelerator and it was all a tragic accident. I might be able to make it stick, if I kept my lies straight.

However, this woman had trusted me, even knowing about my past dalliance with darkness. She deserved better. “Firstly, Major Smythe was a demonkin in the employ of the same masters who tried to have me assassinated in Iceland.” I hesitated, waiting for the objection. It seemed she was willing to hear me out, even if I was calling her friend a demonkin. “Were you privy to that story?”

“Yes; Yosuke Tachibana gave me a heads up on the dangers that would come with commanding you.” Sergeant Lakhdar’s shoulders slumped. “That never made much sense to me. Why do they care so much about you?”

Those truths didn’t require too much massaging. “Because I escaped. I’m sure it’s a huge embarrassment to them. My fights against the Holy Brotherhood have only made me a more enticing target.”

“But why would Amanda do that? They destroyed her homeland!”

“These devils used to tempt men and women to their damnation; I imagine being able to talk with someone directly expedites the process.”

“There was never any sign! She was acting strangely, but that’s only been in the last few weeks!”

“Strange how?” I asked.

“You know how much pressure I’ve been under to speed up all of your training,” she said, pacing as she thought. “She was helping me hold off High Command, but then she switched sides out of the blue. I thought High Command had forced the issue, but now…”

“She did say she wanted me here,” I said.

“Again, what makes you so special? If they wanted you dead, why not detonate a bomb in an airplane? You’ve made enough flights the last few months.”

Well, thank you for making me more paranoid about flying, I didn’t say. “They…” Did I dare say it? “Ma’am, you know that my loyalty is to the Wizard Corps.”

“I know that shady shit keeps happening whenever you’re involved,” she snapped. “So no, I don’t know that.”

“I… see,” I said, noticing that her hands still trembled with rage.

She let out an annoyed grunt at my silence. “Don’t let me stop your story, though.”

“Y-yes, ma’am. She seemed to think that they could force me to look the other way when they did… something or other.”

She loomed over me, reminding me of my precarious position. “Something or other?”

“I shut her down rather quickly,” I said, “and then she decided to end the conversation by ramming straight into a concrete wall. I’m afraid I didn’t get any details.”

She was quiet and returned to her pacing. It didn’t seem wise to interrupt her while she stewed.

After a small eternity, she whirled around. “Do you know what Amanda died of?”

“I imagine the crash?” I ventured. “She didn’t seem to be in the best shape going in.”

“Absolutely nothing!” she spat. “That’s what she died of. I read the coroner’s report thoroughly, and they are convinced she was dead before you hit the wall. None of the injuries she sustained beforehand should have been life threatening, even if she looked ten years older than when she’d left my office!”

“Coroner’s report?” I said. “Surely there hasn’t been time for…” My eyes widened. “How long have I been out?”

“A day,” she said. “After all, a former demonkin was involved in the death of my superior officer. I’m going to take precautions.”

I’d been drugged! No wonder I’d had such a hard time waking up! “A day? An entire…” I was seeing red again, but I forced myself to stop and breathe. Anger wasn’t going to help me, as much as it might feel good in the moment. “I’m not in a prison; I’ll call that a good sign?”

“What killed that Wendy girl? Nothing. What killed Amanda? Also nothing. There’s a pattern here, Soren. People that are in the room with you die of nothing. Care to fill me in? What happened to Wendy, and what happened in that car?”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I don’t have much more solid information than you, though I have some theories.” I told her about the strange distortions in their magical signatures, and I wasn’t interrupted until I was done. That struck me as a good sign, since it meant she was taking my information seriously. I also let her in on my suspicions about Wendy’s loyalties, using the cover story I’d given King George about her. I also let slip about how Amanda’s aura had invaded my own body, as a prelude to her last minutes.

“So, they act out of character, waste away, and then Amanda tried to seize your body. That almost sounds like demonic possession,” she mused, scratching her chin.

“I’d taken that to be her affinity,” I said.

Sergeant Lakhdar shook her head. “No, she could control gravitational forces, though not as well as Private Sato. That was brand new, and you didn’t see her casting a spell. You’re the only case of a wizard’s affinity changing under stress; that was being done by whoever had inhabited her body.”

“Demonic possession, though? That old wives’ tale?” I’d certainly never heard of the like; my people always spoke of working on their hosts like a parasite, not seizing direct control. After all, our goal was to damn them, and subtlety was the watchword to keep them from hitting rock bottom and getting help. I’d always been told that possession was a human exaggeration, like devils having wings and flying through the night.

Besides, we devils of the Grim Horde had surrendered our spiritual forms to become fleshy beings. If possession was possible, we’d long since given up the knack, and Our Father Below’s more loyal children were usually content to leave the physical plane to us.

Carine’s flabbergasted expression told me she wasn’t about to listen to reason. “Soren, I’d have thought a demonkin would know more about their modus operandi! Read your bible more often; there was talk of Christ and the apostles driving demons out of the afflicted. It’s honestly stranger that we haven’t encountered that yet.” She stopped her tirade to shudder. “As far as we know.”

Read my bible? What an awful suggestion; then again, she was a Catholic. I’d read through the Enemy’s manual a few times as preparation in my youth, but it always left me feeling a bit dingy afterwards.

Not that it made me feel wanting, of course. You simply tire of reading so much nonsense in one sitting.

I knew a way to dodge her suggestion without arousing too much suspicion, though. “I’d always taken those passages to be a premodern description of garden variety mental illness.”

“Even if that were the case, it would still be miraculous,” she said.

“According to an inconsistent book of myths,” I replied.

“Then what’s your theory?” she demanded.

“I…” What was my alternative theory? I looked over the facts as I knew them. “There are plenty of advanced demonic spells I don’t know about that can twist the mind. Perhaps it feeds on the user’s magical energy, gradually injuring them, like Vugelspek did to Mr. Lahlou’s crow.”

“Then how about when her soul invaded your body?” she snapped.

“She was casting the mind control spell again,” I said.

“I’d rather believe in one possessing demon than a mass producible zombie spell!” she countered.

I shrugged again. There were some holes in my theory, but it seemed more plausible than her nonsense. “And I’d rather stay in the realm of fact than myth.”

She raised her eyebrow. “You’re a dang wizard, Soren, in a world with a literal horde of demons waiting at your doorstep. How in God’s name can you be so skeptical?”

I shrugged. “Magic has rules. Miracles seem so… arbitrary.”

She shook her head. “Life is arbitrary, private. For example, my best hope for keeping my command safe is a demonkin.”

“Former,” I added hastily. “And how am I your best choice?”

“There’s a pattern,” she said. “It seems to take time for the afflicted to waste away. However, you can spot the rot in their magical signatures before it becomes too obvious from the outside; Amanda wasn’t as bad off as Wendy, but you could still detect it.”

“Then you believe I’m innocent,” I said.

“I believe you’re not aligned with whatever is skulking around,” she said. “They wanted your help with something here, and you refused so firmly that my friend committed suicide to avoid being caught.” She hesitated. “Unless this is all a lie and you have been possessed.”

“Or infected,” I said. “I’m afraid you’ll have to take my word for it.”

She looked deeply into my eyes for a moment. “I don’t have a choice but to trust you, but I’m going to be watching you like a hawk.” The iron in her voice made me gulp. “Now, just so you can trust me, scan me now. Do I show the rot?”

I closed my eyes. “No, ma’am. Your magic is looking hale and hearty as ever.”

“Good, then I haven’t been taken,” she said.

“Now, you mentioned trusting me? Perhaps it’s time to get rid of these bracelets, then.”

She nodded silently, reaching for the keys to my fabricata handcuffs.

“Thank you, ma’am. I won’t let you down,” I said, rubbing the sensation back into my hands.

“Don’t think you’ve gotten off lightly, though,” she said. “Get ready for long days. Whatever this mysterious force is after, it’s after you, the King, or both of you. That means that security just got ramped up.”

I simply nodded; with my lingering headache from the crash, I didn’t feel like doing any pushups after a smart comment.

Chapter 43

Belfast, North Ireland

Friday, February 25th, 2051

Soon enough, I was back at Stormont Estate, which was itself a pleasant surprise. Sergeant Lakhdar and I had agreed to keep things between ourselves. After all, if Major Smythe could be corrupted (and we’d had to agree to disagree on the nature of that corruption), then so could one of the faceless Smiths, our superior officers, or literally anybody. I certainly wasn’t going to complain about missing another round of interviews with intelligence.

Oh, I’d had to talk with the mundane military police about the accident, but that had been easy enough. The Sergeant and I had prepared a story that Amanda had lost consciousness and floored the accelerator, totaling the car before I could wrest control away from her. My injuries had helped sell the tale, along with a stellar performance from yours truly. The mysterious non-cause of death was still a sticking point, but it was easy enough to feign ignorance when I was truly ignorant. My only punishment was a lingering headache and a lecture about wearing my seatbelt.

That headache proved to be a prelude of my next workday.

“Alright,” I said, massaging my temples while I rested my eyes. “He’s clean.”

There were normally two checkpoints into Stormont Estate, but one had been shut down. While we hadn’t copped to the real reason, the UK Remnant government’s security didn’t ask too many questions when Sergeant Lakhdar had told them there were ‘credible threats’ against the crown and Parliament.

The Major’s death had given Carine an emergency promotion to take her place until another ranking Wizard came in to take command. Plus, civilian governments tended to follow the Wizard Corps’ lead.

For most of our platoon, that meant increased security patrols in the Parliament building and the king’s residence. For me, it meant just the opposite. Since I was the only one with Mimic Sight, that meant I was stuck sitting at the checkpoint for hours on end.

Visitation was restricted to only what was strictly necessary until the ill-defined ‘state of emergency’ was ended, but that didn’t reduce the workload as much as one might think. With so many functionaries, staff, and military members housed at the estate, there was a never-ending flow of deliveries, trashmen, and maintenance workers. Also, the MPs themselves weren’t under house arrest, so they were always coming and going off site to perform ‘important business’.

Important business was a phrase I kept hearing when the mundane troops questioned the MPs or their staff, who were none too pleased that the order that everybody be checked when coming and going included them too. They didn’t get the full metal detector treatment when they went through, but I still had to scan them for any hint of magical corruption.

“Don’t you realize you’re keeping me from important business?” I’d heard some variation of that thirty times that morning.

“Important Business,” I growled as one of them returned to his car to exit the gate. “That’s either the name of his favorite stripper or his favorite racehorse.”

“Oh my,” said Mariko. “Soren, I know you’re exhausted, but somebody could overhear you!”

“Who cares at this point?” I said.

“I do,” said Mariko, bending down to meet my downcast gaze. “I don’t want my knight ruining his reputation because of a bad mood.”

The imploring look in her brown eyes snapped me out of my funk. “For you, my dear. Still, can you blame me for being a bit cross? Two hundred and thirty-seven scans this morning alone! We’ve been at this all week and have nothing to show for it!”

I slumped against the outer wall wall of the checkpoint, sweat slicking my brow despite the chill air. I’d found I preferred the cold, with as hard as I was working my magic. It worked out alright, since I was the last line of defense once visitors had gone through the metal detectors and other mundane security methods.

The mundane soldier who’d promised me a pint my first day noticed Mariko fussing over me and came over. “Doing alright?”

“Not especially,” said Mariko as she dabbed the sweat away with a handkerchief.

“I’m perfectly fine,” I said, I gently shooed away her hand and straightened up. She’d been right; I did have a certain appearance to uphold with the mundanes. “Though, do you have any more of that coffee? Perhaps an energy drink?”

He nodded knowingly. “Coming right up. And don’t worry, we’ve got the last of the lunch rush coming through now. Shifty looking fella, but everything seems to check out.”

“Music to my ears,” I said.

“Is it really that bad?” asked Gabby, looking up from a book of spells and a half-whittled wand that she’d been using to fill the time. “Mimic doesn’t seem like it’d consume too much energy.”

“Not once or twice,” said Mariko. “But, each use adds up. Yukiko used it against him in the War Games.”

“It’s like lifting a one-kilo weight over and over again,” I said. “Eventually it adds up.”

“What are you looking for, anyway?” asked Gabriella. “You’ve been cagey about it all week.”

I felt slightly bad to keep my teammate in the dark, especially when she had been remarkably patient with the dull work of watching me close my eyes and scan everybody entering and exiting Stormont. She’d even gone on coffee runs a few times.

“I’m afraid I’m still not at liberty to say,” I said. “I’ll know it when I see it, and hopefully I don’t.”

“Oh, this is some bullcrap,” she said. “I bet Mariko knows,” she added, jerking a thumb Mariko’s way.

“He has been just as, ah, ‘cagey’ with me,” said Mariko.

“He hasn’t told me anything, either,” came Kiyo’s voice over our magical earpieces. “Guess everyone’s in the dark.”

“Oh, were you listening in?” I’d forgotten about the communicator, which was a mark in their favor. They were a nice piece of kit, carved ivory similar to the communicators Maggie had issued her Holy Brothers during the Tower Attack. The entire platoon had them, but we usually only kept them tuned to our squad’s frequency. In a pinch, though, they could signal everybody.

“Yeah,” she said. “You’re breathin’ kinda heavy. Don’t pass out.”

I turned to a nearby copse of trees on a neighboring hill. I could just make out Bernadette’s barrel poking out from the shrub. “Just for you, my… Kiyo,” I said.

She let out a slight chuckle. “Glad to know I still matter.”

“Of course,” I said, glad to hear her talking. She’d retreated into her shell again; Hell, she was the only one who liked this new assignment. It gave her time to herself, though I rather hoped she wasn’t playing video games in there. “Why would you…”

I trailed off, eyes goggling at our newest visitor as he stepped out of the security checkpoint.

“Well, crikey!” said Dante. As before, the sun-bitten Australian looked out of place in his business suit. “Fancy running into you here!”

“That bastard who drugged me!” Kiyo’s shout echoed so loudly in our ears that I was sure he’d hear us. “I’m gonna put a bullet between his stupid eyes!”

I stepped between Kiyo and Dante, hoping she wouldn’t be angry enough to try anyway. The man was a bit taller than me, after all. “It’s a small world, isn’t it?”

Gabby clawed at her ear as Kiyo’s growl of annoyance. “What’s she talking about?”

Dante raised an eyebrow. “She? Get yer eyes checked, Sheila. Sir Marlowe’s a bit scrawny, but he’s all man, last I heard.”

Mariko had gotten behind him and made the kill sign across her throat at Gabriella. The American nodded, her back going ramrod straight. “It wasn’t meant for you, sir. Private Yamada was telling us a story before you showed up.”

He nodded. “Well, I heard you were supposed to do some voodoo to make sure I ‘check out’. What’s all this about?”

“Standard procedure, sir,” I said. “Wouldn’t want to let in the wrong sort.”

“Of course,” he said, smugly leering at me. “Can’t be too careful.”

I closed my eyes and scanned his pitiful magical signature. As before, there wasn’t much to see. It didn’t look any more disturbed than it had before at my knighting ceremony.

Yet more magical energy bled away as I considered my next steps. I could sic the mundane guards on him, and there wouldn’t be a damn thing he could do about it. He was exactly what we were there to stop.

However, that would be a risk to my secret. Moreover, it would be a waste, since I doubt I’d learn why he’d arrived to start with.

“Well? Am I free to go?” he demanded, his voice warped as I emerged from Mimic Sight.

I took a moment to brace myself as my headache intensified. I wasn’t at Wizard’s Desolation, but another hour of this work and Mariko and Gabriella would be carrying me back to the dorm.

Good thing I wasn’t going to be doing more checkpoint duty, then.

“Of course, sir,” I said, avoiding his daemonym. Who knew what fake ID he’d shown the guards, and I didn’t want to arouse their suspicion.

“About time,” he said, adjusting his suit’s jacket like he was a man of means and not some shaved ape. “My taxes pay your salary, y’know. You should show some respect.”

I bowed. “Of course.” Let him enjoy his little revenge for how I’d manhandled him in the past. He’d just stumbled into my web, and I wasn’t going to let this juicy fly get away.

He went back through the checkpoint to his waiting car and drove off towards the Parliament building.

“Alright, what was that about?” said Gabriella. “Where’d you know that jerk from?”

“Kasasagi, is that…” Mariko trailed off, casting a look at Gabriella.

“Is that what?” she demanded.

“My uncle, Eugene,” I said, choosing a name from thin air. “He lives in Australia these days, likely to avoid scrutiny. We aren’t close, after a certain incident I won’t go into here. But yes, Mariko, he’s the one I told you about.”

Mariko gave me a curious look, before giving me an understanding nod. “Are you finally going to confront him about it?”

Gabby tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. “You’re talking like he…”

“This isn’t the time, Gabby,” I said, realizing the grim picture that Ms. Hernandez was bound to be drawing in her head. “Let’s not dredge up anything right now.”

“But Soren, this is your chance,” said Mariko. “He needs to hear what you have to say.”

By the Dark Lord, I loved Mariko so much right then. I couldn’t have asked for better improvisation.

“Yes,” I said, “but I think we ought to see what he’s here for. There’s quite enough corruption in that building without him making things worse.”