Authors: Nicholas Kaufmann
The doubts crept back into my mind on the tail of a headache. How could I be Lucas West if what Reve Azrael said about me was true? If that terrible power was mine all along? She had to be lying, that was all. Lying was what Reve Azrael did. Time and again, she had tricked me, manipulated me for her own reasons. What she’d said was impossible. Lucas West made sense. The rest of it didn’t.
And yet, hadn’t the oracles said Reve Azrael knew the truth about me?
Seek out the Mistress of the Dead. She knows. She knows all who have passed through the dark that separates the cities of the living from the cities of the dead.
“Jordana,” I said slowly. “There’s something I need to know—”
“Can I see it?” she interrupted, still looking at the fragment. “I’ve read all about the Codex Goetia, but I’ve never seen the real thing.”
“Wait,” I said. “First, tell me something. Tell me how Lucas—”
Jordana rolled to face me again. She kissed me, and whatever I was going to ask her melted away faster than ice in a New York City August. My headache disappeared, too.
“Please can I see the fragment?” she asked.
I nodded. She took the triangular slab of metal out of my coat and stood up. She smoothed her skirt over her stockinged legs, then crossed the room to sit on a stack of copy paper cartons. She studied the fragment, turning it in her hands, admiring its details. Her blouse was still unbuttoned, revealing the dark red bra against her olive skin. I had trouble keeping my eyes on the fragment.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s everything I thought it would be. The craftsmanship is remarkable. Some demonologists say the Codex Goetia dates back to 900
B.C.
, but others say it’s even older. Some claim it’s not actually from Tulemkust, that it’s not even from our world. Whoever broke an artifact this old and this beautiful should be in jail, or worse.” She placed her hand flat against the fragment. “The metal looks like copper or brass, but it’s not, it’s something else. There’s almost a subtle vibration to it.”
While she inspected the fragment, I managed to take my eyes off her and sit up. I glanced at the supply room door. We’d locked it from the inside so no one would find us, but now that the fragment was out in the open I was getting nervous. It was only a matter of time before someone came looking for a legal pad or a fresh pen or whatever it was office workers came to supply rooms for. It would be awkward enough to explain what we were doing in here half-naked without also having to explain why we had a priceless, antique artifact with us.
Jordana studied the lettering on the fragment’s face. “None of these are Nahash-Dred’s name. It must be on one of the other fragments. How close are you to putting the Codex back together?”
“Not as close as I’d like,” I said. “Arkwright still has the fragment he stole from us, and there’s one more fragment still hidden somewhere out there. Isaac and the others are probably already trying to find it.”
“Lucas, you
have
to bring me all three pieces,” she said. “I told you, the Codex Goetia won’t work unless it’s whole. There’s no other way to banish Nahash-Dred back to his dimension.”
“I’m sure Isaac’s got a handle on it. I just…” I paused, sighing. When I spoke again, it all came spilling out of me. “I just want to be normal. I want to forget about it all, the demons, the supernatural conspiracies, the infection. I don’t want this life anymore. I want to be Lucas West again. I want to go see my parents. I want to be with you and live a regular life.”
“You can do that,” she said. “You can have that life again—
we
can have that life—but you need to bring me the fragments first.”
The headache slipped back behind my eyes. I rubbed my forehead. Something wasn’t right. It felt like my thoughts were trying to force themselves through a solid wall.
“Isaac can do it without me,” I managed to say.
“No, he can’t. None of them can. They’re not like you. You’re stronger than they are. You’re the Immortal Storm.”
I groaned, the pain in my head growing sharper. The Immortal Storm. I hated that name. Hated everything that came with it.
“Without the Codex Goetia, there won’t be anything left for you to go back to, Lucas,” Jordana said. “Nahash-Dred is no joke. They call him the Destroyer of Worlds for a reason. He will annihilate all life on earth if we don’t use the Codex to banish him.”
She was right, there would be no life to go back to if Arkwright unleashed Nahash-Dred on the world. If I wanted to reclaim my life, all I had to do was save the world first. No pressure.
“You’re going to have to find the other fragments, and fast,” Jordana said. “In the meantime, I’ll hold onto this one. I can study it while you look for the others. Maybe I’ll find something that can help.”
I stood and took the fragment out of her hands. “No, it’s safer if I hold onto it.”
“Let me keep it for now,” she insisted. “Please. I can study it. I’ve
been
studying it, but only in books. This may be my only chance with the real thing.”
I picked up my trench coat and slid the fragment back inside the interior pocket. “I can’t. It’s too dangerous. Arkwright is out there right now looking for it. I don’t want to put you in his crosshairs. Remember what I said before about not taking your usual route home tonight.”
“Stop worrying, I’ll be fine,” she said.
“He’s dangerous, Jordana. He wants to destroy the world. You can’t reason with someone like that. He’s got nothing to lose. Arkwright has already killed people to get this far. He won’t hesitate to kill more if he has to. Please, just for now, just until this is over, start taking different routes home. Do it for me.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll be careful, I promise. Just please let me keep the fragment.”
She walked into my arms and kissed me. Her body pressed against mine, so soft and warm. For a moment, I lost myself in the sensation. I wondered if I was overreacting. Jordana was a demonologist, after all. She was the only one who knew how to use the Codex. Letting her study it couldn’t hurt, could it? There might be some hidden clue, some other way to banish or defeat Nahash-Dred we didn’t know about. Maybe I
should
let her keep it. Why had I thought it wasn’t a good idea? I couldn’t even remember. I started to reach into my trench coat again to pull out the fragment.
A man’s voice came from the hallway outside, calling Jordana’s name. Damn. Someone was looking for her. I’d forgotten her office was right around the corner.
Jordana broke away. I came to my senses and left the fragment in my pocket.
“Damn it, not
now,
” she hissed under her breath. She started buttoning her blouse quickly. She looked angry enough to kill her coworker for interrupting us. I almost felt sorry for the poor guy, except I kind of wanted to kill him, too.
“I’d better go before they find us in here,” I said, straightening my disheveled clothes. I pulled on the trench coat. “I’ll get a new phone from Isaac. Call me when you’re home. I want to know you’re safe.”
“Just go,” she said. She sounded angry, but I didn’t know if she was angry at her coworker or at me for not letting her keep the fragment.
I opened the door quietly and peeked out. The hallway was empty, but I heard footsteps coming my way from the direction of Jordana’s office. I ducked down the hall in the opposite direction. I took the long way around the office, eventually finding my way back to the reception area. The Bay Ridge Harpy glared at me from behind the desk, snapping her gum like she was cocking a revolver.
I rang for the elevator, stepped inside, and pressed the lobby button. It didn’t sink in until I was halfway down how close I’d come to giving Jordana the fragment, despite my better judgment. I’d lost myself somehow. It wasn’t the first time, either. I’d felt it in her office, too, when all the questions I’d meant to ask her died on my tongue. I’d felt it since the first time we met.
Why did I never feel in control around her?
* * *
When I got back to Citadel, I found Isaac, Bethany, and Gabrielle seated around the big table. Calliope’s notebook and Isaac’s laptop sat on the table between them. When they saw me, they got up and came over.
“My God, man, are you all right?” Isaac asked, sounding relieved. “What happened?”
“I had a run-in with Reve Azrael and her revenants, but I’m fine,” I said. “I got the fragment back.” I took it out of my pocket and put it on the table. “She knows about the demon. She knows about Arkwright. She knows about all of it.”
“Does she know the name Arkwright is using now, or where the demon is?” Isaac asked.
“I don’t know. She was definitely holding something back. She knows more than she’s saying. But one thing’s for certain, she doesn’t like Arkwright any more than we do. She offered an alliance, but it came with the usual caveat: rule over a city of the dead by her side. I told her no.”
“I’m guessing she didn’t take that well,” Bethany said.
“About as well as I expected,” I said. I filled them in on the rest of it—Reve Azrael’s lair under the city morgue, the Prometheus Arch, and the fire. I didn’t tell them what Reve Azrael had said about the power being mine, not Stryge’s. I still didn’t know if that was true or just a ruse.
“We tried to find you,” Bethany said apologetically, “but the trail went cold at the FDR Drive. All we found was this. It still works.” She took my cell phone out of her pocket and handed it to me.
I felt like I was seeing a long-lost friend again. “Thanks.”
“You’re sure you’re okay?” Bethany asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Gabrielle snickered. “I bet you are, Casanova.”
Surprised, I raised my eyebrows. “What?”
Bethany glared at Gabrielle. Then she turned back to me and said, “You’ve got lipstick on your neck.” She pulled a white cloth handkerchief from her pocket and passed it to me.
Embarrassed, I rubbed my neck with it. The handkerchief came away with a smear of red. Damn. I must have looked like a fool sauntering in here like that. I stuffed the handkerchief in my pocket. I was pretty sure Bethany wouldn’t want it back.
“After I got away from Reve Azrael, I went to see Jordana,” I admitted.
“No kidding,” Gabrielle said, still grinning.
“Why?” Isaac asked. “Why didn’t you come back right away?”
“I had questions that needed answers,” I said.
“Did you get them?” Bethany asked.
“Not exactly,” I said. I thought again about how I seemed to lose my will around Jordana.
“All I want to know,” Gabrielle said, “is whether that bitch Reve Azrael is finally dead.”
“I wish I knew,” I said. “She could be. It was a hell of a fire. Revenants make damn good kindling.”
Gabrielle steeled herself before asking her next question. “What about Thornton’s body? Did it—did it burn, too?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see his body anywhere,” I said. “But there’s something I need to tell you. Something important.” She looked at me, curious, waiting. They all did. I took a deep breath, hoping they wouldn’t think I’d lost my mind. “I didn’t see Thornton’s body, but … I saw Thornton.”
Gabrielle knit her brow in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“He was there,” I said. “His ghost, or spirit, or whatever you want to call it. It was him, in wolf form. He led me out of the catacombs to safety. There’s no way I would have gotten out of there without his help. Trust me, I know how this sounds, but—”
Gabrielle cut me off with a chuckle. She wiped a hand under one eye, smearing a tear against her cheek.
“He’s okay,” she said, relieved. “Even dead and gone, he’s okay. I knew that, or I hoped it was true, but to have proof…” She broke down, covering her face with her hands.
“Calliope tried to tell me Thornton’s spirit was following me, but I didn’t believe her,” I said. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it to you. But after this, I thought you’d want to know.”
“Hell yes, I want to know,” Gabrielle said, laughing and crying at the same time. “I’m such a fool. Things have been turning up around my apartment for weeks now, things that were important to both of us. I thought I was losing my mind.” She pushed up her sleeve and looked at the brown leather bracelet around her wrist. “He’s been with me all this time, and I didn’t even know it. But what is he doing here? Why isn’t he on the other side?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But there’s something else. I don’t know how to explain it. At one point, Thornton passed through me and I—I saw something. It was like I was somewhere else for a moment. I saw Calliope and Thornton. She was in a trance. He was whispering things to her, and she was writing them down in the notebook.” I turned to Isaac. “We know Calliope could talk to the dead. We know it was the spirits who warned her about Arkwright’s plan. But we never stopped to ask who those spirits were. I … I think it was Thornton. I think Thornton is the one who warned her. I think he’s the one who set all this in motion.”
The others didn’t speak. They stood around the table in stunned silence for a moment.
Finally, Gabrielle said, “I don’t see why you’re all so surprised. It sounds just like him. Still trying to save the world, even after he’s dead.”
“Thornton,” Bethany said, shaking her head. “Even now, he keeps surprising me.”
“Join the club, hon,” Gabrielle said. “Now you know why I wanted to marry the man.”
* * *
Erickson Arkwright had a fragment of the Codex Goetia. So did we. That left one last fragment to be found. It turned out Isaac, Bethany, and Gabrielle had been hard at work trying to find it while I was gone. On the whiteboard, they had crossed off all the clues we already deciphered. Only two were left.
Three hidden pieces
Eternal voice and inward word
Erickson Arkwright
Mariner lost at sea
Beneath the monuments
Look to the Trefoil
The Angel of the Waters
Codex Goetia
“Who is the Angel of the Waters?” I asked. “Is it a person, or another monument?”
“We figured that one out while you were with Jordana getting your, um, questions answered,” Gabrielle said, suppressing a chuckle.