End Stage Page 9

  “If we find John Adams, I want a chance to speak to him first.”

  “What do you think you can accomplish?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not convinced he continues to side with the organization.”

  “Everything I’ve learned about John Adams suggests –”

  “He was doing everything for his daughter, Barden.” Of anyone, I thought Barden would understand. I didn’t know everything he’d been through, though I did know he’d experienced a traumatic event with his family.

  “That’s what he said.”

  “You don’t believe him.”

  “I’ve learned it’s best to question. It’s hard for me to know whether or not he actually had a daughter he lost, and whether that was his only reason for the pursuit of Dr. Michaels. If he thought he truly could raise her, then it was understandable, and perhaps it would give reason to be sympathetic to his plight, but…”

  “But you don’t know.”

  “But I don’t know,” Barden said.

  “When we find him, I’d like the opportunity to talk to him first.”

  “I will not get in your way. I can’t say the same about Jean-Pierre or Ariel, but I will not be the one to limit that.”

  “Jean-Pierre won’t be the problem,” I said.

  “Are you sure?”

  I frowned as I thought about it. Jean-Pierre would likely allow me the opportunity to ask the questions I needed, and I didn’t think he would cause the challenge. Ariel was the wild-card. I had no idea what she might do, or whether she would use any opportunity to attack. If she did, then there was the real possibility she might do something to cause trouble. And if she did, I didn’t know how I would even react. What would I do when it came to a powerful shifter trying to position herself in such a way that she would limit me from what I wanted? I might have a pouch full of spell coins, but I didn’t know exactly what it would take for me to overpower a shifter like her. If it came down to trying to prevent her from shifting, would there even be anything I could do to stop that?

  “Can you teach me the spell to hold a shifter from changing?”

  Barden watched me. “What you’re asking is dangerous.”

  “I understand.”

  “I’m not sure you do, Dr. Stone. If you do that, if you use a spell like that, you are attacking not just the shifters, but you’re attacking the nature of the shifters. They will take it as a very different insult.”

  I nodded. I thought I understood. It would be like stripping away magic from a mage. “Can you teach it?”

  Barden studied me for a few moments before nodding. “I can teach you, but I still don’t know if it’s the right idea.” Barden sighed. “You continue to create challenges, Dr. Stone.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry. You make things interesting as well.”

  “Is that good or not?”

  “It is very much a good thing. I thought it was going to be Dr. Michaels who would make things interesting for me, but perhaps she only started the fire. You keep tossing logs into it.”

  “That doesn’t sound good, either.”

  Barden grinned at me. “After what I’ve seen over my life, having a little fire is definitely a good thing.” He glanced back at the cabinet and pulled it open, grabbing several different coins, stuffing them into his pocket. When he was done, he turned back to me. “I’ll teach you. Let’s just consider it a fire extinguisher.”

  I smiled back at him. “In case I make things a little too exciting.”

  “Exactly.”

  9

  We stood back out in the street, and Barden eyed the town car. The sun was shining and bright, and cast a comfortable warmth over everything. I was a little hot in my jeans and T-shirt, but I wasn’t about to change into anything less. Especially not if we were going to go to the Northwoods. Up there, I had to worry about the weather and what we might encounter. I didn’t know exactly what it might be, but I had to at least be concerned about the possibility I might not enjoy the coolness to the air.

  “I thought you said she attacked the car,” Barden said.

  I stared at the town car. In the sunlight, the black metal gleamed, and there was no sign of any damage to it. I could still feel the runes of power along the surface, but there were fewer than when we had first started all of this. I had triggered too many of them, freeing that power, using it to push back Ariel.

  “The car is protected,” I said.

  “I guess so,” Barden said.

  “He says he learned from Odian,” I said, nodding to the chauffeur.

  Barden turned toward him, studying the man.

  “Odian?”

  The other man nodded.

  “You understand the reputation he has within the magical community.”

  “A reputation can be many things,” the chauffeur said.

  “Indeed,” Barden said. “It’s my understanding Odian has revealed himself again.”

  “Has he?” the chauffeur said.

  The vampire was somehow tied to Jean-Pierre, though I didn’t know enough about vampires and their organization to know exactly what role the chauffeur had.

  “From what I’ve heard coming out of the southern groups, Odian has revealed himself again,” Barden said.

  “Perhaps that is a good thing,” the chauffeur said.

  Barden smiled at him. “Perhaps.”

  Jean-Pierre stepped forward, and he headed toward the car. “Are we going to do this or not?”

  Barden shook his head. “I have a different vehicle we can take.”

  “I don’t know if your car is any safer than this one,” I said.

  “Perhaps not.” Barden watched the chauffeur, and there was a curious expression in his eyes. The chauffeur got into the front seat, waiting for the rest of us to get in. Barden smiled slightly.

  Ariel took a seat in the front, leaving Barden Jean-Pierre and myself to climb into the back. As we did, I grabbed Barden, preventing him from getting into the car. “What is it? You have this look about you.”

  “Perhaps it’s nothing.”

  “You know Odian.”

  Barden shrugged. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you get to meet many different people.”

  “Who was he?”

  “He was a mage of great power. He disappeared a long time ago, but not without word spreading that he was responsible for the creation of powerful artifacts.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Odian was a rune master. There aren’t many like him. Most mages focus on the creation of spells, and the use of their power in that way, but Odian was different. He wanted to understand how the spells could be twisted and augmented. We long wondered how he had acquired that knowledge.”

  “Did you figure it out?”

  “I only understood when I crossed the Veil.”

  “Why?”

  “Because there is power on the other side of the Veil which is different to what exists here. You’ve seen the way the time passes differently, but it’s more. There is a different type of magic, and the nature of how the others on the other side of the Veil use their power is different.”

  “Why look at the chauffeur like that?”

  “There aren’t many who claim to learn from Odian,” Barden said.

  “Why not?”

  “There is a certain reputation attached to Odian. A stigma. And because of that, they recognize that Odian is dangerous.”

  Barden climbed into the car, and I followed him. It was interesting to have Jean-Pierre and Barden sitting next to each other, and I near the door. The chauffeur glanced back at us. “Are we ready?”

  “Whenever you are,” Barden said. “Do you think it will tax you too much?”

  I glanced over to Jean-Pierre. He had seemed revived in the time we’d been within Barden’s warehouse. I thought he would be able to lend me more power. I didn’t want to have him feed on me again, but if he had to in order to restore his strength, I didn’t know if I wo
uld be able to stop him. Seeing how quickly he had acted the last time, and the way he’d grabbed me, forcing me to allow him to feed, I didn’t know if it would even be possible for me to prevent him.

  “I don’t think so.”

  He handed the coin over to me. “Focus on what you want to do, and then allow that to hear you.”

  “We’re just going back to the Northwoods,” I said.

  “We are indeed,” Barden said.

  I focused on where he wanted to go, remembering where he had been before, and let that power flow through me. I held the image of the Northwoods in mind, and the spell rolled over all of us. As I had the last time, I forced it outward, pushing it around the entirety of the car. Everything squeezed in, and pain rolled through me.

  And then we appeared outside of the transport spell. Trees rose up around us. It felt as if we had just been here, and yet everything was different. There were no shifters prowling. There was a sense of energy, though I tried to ignore it. I didn’t detect anything harmful to us, though that power was pushing upon me.

  “We can get out,” Ariel said. She climbed out of the front seat, and the chauffeur followed.

  Jean-Pierre glanced to Barden. “Are you able to protect yourself in this place?”

  Barden replied, “From what she said, we don’t need to. She has offered us safe passage.”

  “And you trust her?”

  “As the alpha shifter in this pack, her word is as strong as any spell,” Barden said.

  “And if the packs decide to change their mind?”

  “Then we need to be prepared for the possibility we will have to fight our way free.”

  “We tried that the last time,” Jean-Pierre said. He looked over to me, and I could see the uncertainty in his eyes. I felt the same thing. I didn’t want to have to face the shifters again. I had drawn considerable strength, and had pulled upon power from Jean-Pierre in order to get us free, and I wasn’t even sure if doing so was going to be possible again.

  “You didn’t have my help,” Barden said.

  “I’m not so sure that makes the biggest difference.”

  “And you have Dr. Stone, who is now fully equipped to transport us someplace if it comes down to it.”

  I patted my pouch, relieved I had those transport spells. At least now I didn’t have to fear the possibility of an attack the way I had before. Ariel might’ve promised us safe passage, and I did believe she wasn’t going to harm us, but if it came down to protecting her pack or protecting us, I knew what she would do. But it was more than just that. Not only did I have the transport spells, but I also had the collection of coins Barden had given me. In having those, I was given the opportunity to use a different magic and was well stocked with supplies in a way I hadn’t been when I was here before.

  We followed Ariel through the woods. She stalked forward, moving with a casual grace. It was strange to me, but in the time we’d been with her, she had been naked the entirety of that time, yet I had come to simply accept her nudity.

  “You should stop watching her like that,” Barden said.

  “How am I watching her?” I asked.

  “You are studying her as if she’s some kind of puzzle.”

  I shrugged. “She is a puzzle. I don’t understand anything about the shifters.”

  “The shifters are a different sort of people, and powerful in their own right. They keep themselves isolated and want to remain a part of the magical world, but they don’t want to have anything to do with people who would cast judgment upon them.”

  “Why don’t the mages do something similar?” It appeared to me that it might be easier for mages to live in communities where they could practice magic openly. Not that the councils ever refrained from using magic. For the most part, the council didn’t need to, but when magic was used, those who didn’t have any magic were repelled by that sense of power. They were forced away even without knowing why that was.

  “The mages have always been tied to the human world. Partly because they want to remain within it, but partly because – “

  “Because they want to rule over it,” Jean-Pierre said, keeping pace with us. He had been quiet, and he didn’t even look over when he said it, but Barden glared at him.

  “It’s not a matter of ruling over the humans. Not the way the vampires would like to do.”

  Jean-Pierre glanced to Barden. “We have abandoned that long ago.”

  “Have you?” Barden flicked his gaze to me, and I frowned.

  “The familiars are something different,” Jean-Pierre said.

  “And yet, the familiars are your way of continuing to feed on people.”

  “The feeding on people only solidifies the bond. It does not maintain our strength.”

  I remained silent, though I knew better. I had experienced it firsthand. Maybe him feeding on me had been a one-off, and the only reason he had done it was because he had no choice in order to keep moving, but I had to wonder if there was another reason behind it.

  “We both know that’s not true,” Barden said.

  “I doubt you know anything of the sort,” Jean-Pierre said.

  “You be surprised what I know.”

  Jean-Pierre locked eyes with Barden. “You realize I am centuries older than you.”

  “You might be older, but I have used my time as well as I could.”

  Jean-Pierre could only smile.

  We continued through the forest, following Ariel. As we went, I could feel the weight of the forest upon us. Trees rose all around, a mixture of pine and elm and oak. Every so often, I would step in a squishy pile of leaves, but mostly we were able to navigate quickly. Ariel moved comfortably through the trees, as did the chauffeur.

  “How much farther do you think we have to go?” I asked.

  “She wouldn’t have brought us all the way into the den,” Barden said.

  “I was the one who brought us here, and I brought us as far as we got before.” I glanced over to Jean-Pierre, meeting his eyes. “When we came in here before, we encountered the shifters before we got far. And then they attacked us.”

  “I find it interesting they would attack, especially as they were the ones to have called the meeting,” Barden said.

  “They are shifters,” Jean-Pierre said.

  “Your experience with shifters is different to mine, but I can tell you the shifters typically operate honorably.” It was obvious from the way he said it that Barden didn’t expect the same from the vampires.

  Were we going to deal with this the entire time we were together? I didn’t need to have these two at each other’s throats, so to speak. I had a feeling they were battling over me in some ways.

  “You would say so, but you have a different experience than we have,” Jean-Pierre replied.

  “My experience is such that –“

  Barden cut off as we stopped. Ariel paused between two massive trees. They were wider than any others, and there was something about them which felt different. I could almost feel power radiating from them. They weren’t pine trees, but they weren’t any other kind I recognized. I focused on the nearest of them. There was something about it that screamed power, though I wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe I could find something to trigger?

  As I focused on it, I pushed out a hint of power. Jean-Pierre turned toward me. Was he aware when I was using my magic? It would be unfortunate if the connection between us allowed him to know every time I drew magic. The only way to be able to protect myself would be drawing magic all the time, and then he would never know when it was different. He might be able to determine if it was more than usual, but I didn’t like the idea of him knowing every time I called upon power.

  The tree had nothing about it which felt unexpected. The more I pushed power through it, the more clear it was to me.

  “Why are you stopping here?” Barden asked.

  “This is the outer border of our pack den.”

  “Are you deciding whether or not you are going to allow us in?�
�

  “There would be no reason for me to debate that. I’m trying to determine if there’s anything off.”

  “Why would there be something off?”

  Ariel swept her gaze around, looking at them. “I don’t know.”

  I shifted the focus of my attention, looking between the trees. If it was as she said, maybe there was something about it I needed to be more concerned about.

  As I focused, I didn’t detect anything. And maybe that was the problem. There had been power here, and still was, though I didn’t know the nature of it. Even though that power was different, there was something here.

  “You feel it,” Barden whispered.

  “I don’t know what I feel, but I think there is something off.”

  Magic built from him, sending a wave of cold along my arms. It swept out from him, rolling toward the trees before fading. “There’s still a barrier for me,” he said.

  “What sort of barrier is it?”

  “The shifters create a magical barrier around their den. I have never been able to penetrate it on my own.”

  Ariel watched him. “And why would you need to?”

  Barden met her gaze, smiling. “Wouldn’t I want to just come for a visit?”

  “Most who try to come visit the shifters find we don’t greet them the way they think we would.”

  “And I am certain I know how you would greet me.”

  I ignored them. This was going to be unpleasant for as long as this strange alliance remained. The only other person who was silent was the chauffeur, and he stared outward, looking between the trees. I watched him, studying him for the first time. He was an older man, thin with graying hair. He had a sharp. pointed nose. I hadn’t seen any sign of fangs from him, though there were other vampires on whom I wasn’t able to see fangs. It was possible he didn’t reveal them as often as some. He was well dressed, in a dark suit, and he had taken off the sunglasses he’d been wearing when we were in the car. Now he was staring with eyes so pale as to be almost gray.