Modern Sorcery: A Jonathan Shade Novel Read online

  It probably didn’t matter anyway. It’s not like I could put them back together.

  I moved behind the crumbled counter that resembled a wet bar. The weak light from my phone revealed an odd-looking, bent stick. I reached down and picked it up then realized it was a severed arm that had been burned to a crisp.

  “Charming,” I said and dropped it. I kicked some debris out of the way and found more charcoaled body parts. I guessed they were the remains of the wizards who acted as custodians of the other crystals. So far it seemed Naomi had at least told us part of the truth. I wished I knew what she was going to tell Anselma. Would she tell the old bat the whole truth? She did respect the High Council, so for her it was like being sent to the principal’s office in grade school. Only worse, I guess, since technically the High Council can strip wizards of their station and incarcerate them in specially constructed cells. Maybe if Naomi told them the truth, all the wizards could team up and stop Ravenwood and I could take the rest of the week off.

  Somehow that didn’t seem likely.

  The phone light went out, so I pressed a button, and the screen glowed again.

  I wondered if I should sit down and wait for them to come back. That way, I could carry on the ruse that magic affected me. Of course, that meant I might be waiting for hours. I figured, screw it. When they came back and found me gone, my escape would just be a mystery. I stepped through the barrier and moved back the way we had come.

  When I reached the Dragon Gate, I leaned against the wall across from it and gazed into the flames for a time. Could it destroy Ravenwood? If so, was there a way to get him to come down here? I didn’t think he’d accept an invitation, but I stored it away as a possibility. Still, I knew I needed to find a way to deal with him without the gate. I needed something that would work no matter where I faced him.

  I took the elevator back to the corridor that led to Starbucks, and when I had a decent cell signal, I heard the beep signaling the arrival of a text message.

  I flipped open the phone to read the note. The one-word message was from Naomi: Help.

  “Hey, Phil,” I said as I entered the DGI building. “Get that raise yet?”

  “Oh, shit,” Phil said. He took a step back from his station and found his back to the wall.

  “Don’t worry; Kelly’s not with me.”

  He seemed to relax a little. “You know I’m just doing my job here, right?”

  “I know.”

  “You don’t have an appointment.”

  “I know that too. But I’m here to make an appointment.”

  “Really?” he said, clearly not convinced.

  “Buzz Anselma Kaiser and tell her Jonathan Shade is here to see her.”

  “Ms. Kaiser is in Switzerland.”

  “Phil, I already know she’s here.”

  “She doesn’t meet with regular people, Mr. Shade.”

  “She’ll want to see me,” I said. “Tell her I’m with you in the lobby.”

  He hesitated.

  “Go on, Phil. You can do it. I have faith in you.”

  He sighed and picked up the phone. He pressed a button and waited then said, “Jonathan Shade is here to see you.” He frowned. “No, ma’am. He’s standing right in front of me.” More frowning. “Yes, ma’am. I’m sure it’s him. Okay.” He gave me a look that started with impressed then shifted to what I took to mean sorry you’re about to die. “She says to go on up. She’s in thirteen-oh-seven.”

  “Thanks, Phil.”

  I took the elevator and ran through the extra procedures to get to the thirteenth floor. Al and Cantrell were waiting for me when the doors opened.

  “Hi, guys.”

  “How the hell did you get out of there?”

  “Ancient Chinese secret,” I said.

  “Secret my ass,” Frank said.

  They led me to Anselma’s office.

  Esther met me outside the door. “They took Naomi away. Be careful with the old tomato in there. She’s one cranky bearcat.”

  When Al opened the door, Anselma rose and gave me a nod. The office consisted of a simple, wooden desk with an intercom system and a telephone. Anselma’s helmet and baton sat on the edge of the desk. There were two chairs and a huge window behind Anselma with a beautiful view of the mountains to the west. There were two more chairs perched against the wall on my side of the room. One of them held the backpack with Esther’s typewriter.

  “Be seated.”

  I moved the backpack to the floor and sat down.

  Anselma waved Al and Frank off.

  When the door closed, she studied me for a moment and said, “There’s more to you than meets the eye. I’m impressed.”

  “You should see me on the dance floor.”

  “Don’t push her,” Esther said. Esther stood by my chair, and if she weren’t a ghost, I’d have thought she was about to have a heart attack.

  Anselma didn’t seem upset right now, though. She seemed almost amiable. “I’d like to thank you for trying to help us in this matter. If you’ll send Naomi’s invoice to us, I’ll see that you’re properly compensated for your efforts. That said, we don’t require your assistance anymore.”

  “Where’s Naomi?”

  “She’s safe.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  “Mr. Shade, surely you can appreciate that we have rules here at Dragon Gate Industries and when those rules are broken, there are ramifications. Naomi broke so many rules that she faces serious consequences.”

  “I’m sure she does,” I said. “And I’m sure she’ll be delighted to do penance for years to come once the Ravenwood situation is resolved.”

  “Go home, Mr. Shade. That is all.”

  “Not quite.”

  “Don’t,” Esther said.

  I leaned back in my chair and spread my hands. “See, I don’t work for you. Naomi hired me.”

  “And as she works for us, by extension, so did you.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry, Aunt Selma, it doesn’t work that way. I was hired on personal business.”

  “Anselma,” she said, unfazed. “But if you must refer to me, it should be as Ms. Kaiser. And Naomi’s business was not personal.”

  “Naomi hired me to help her, and at the moment, I’d say she needs my help.”

  “Mr. Shade, if I call for security, your exit from the building will not be pleasant.”

  I was about to say something clever but alarms blared.

  Anselma stabbed at an intercom. “What’s happening?”

  “We don’t know,” a tinny voice said. “The wards are going off but nobody’s there.”

  Esther stepped through the wall.

  “Uh-oh,” I said.

  “What?” Anselma said.

  “I think you’re about to lose your job.”

  “Shit,” Esther said, returning to the office. “Turn around, Jonathan.”

  I looked behind me and saw Blake Ravenwood’s spirit phase through the door.

  “We meet again,” I said.

  “Meet again?” Anselma said, a hint of panic in her voice. “I don’t see anyone.” She grabbed her baton from the desk.

  Ravenwood glanced at me. “Don’t worry, Shade. I’m here for her.” He darted forward and grabbed Anselma.

  Her eyes went wide, and she tried to struggle for a moment—but only for a moment. Then she dropped the baton. She tilted her head to one side then the other.

  “This is better,” Anselma said.

  Only now it wasn’t Anselma doing the talking.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Ravenwood—in Anselma’s body—walked over to stand before me. He nodded to Esther, and she took several steps back. Ravenwood held out his hand—or Anselma’s hand—as if for a handshake.

  “It’s quite all right, Mr. Shade.” It sounded like Anselma, of course, but as I knew it was Ravenwood, I wasn’t sure how to react. I mean, Ravenwood was a man, but he was in a woman’s body. Most men would probably just spend hours feeling their bre
asts, but Ravenwood simply wanted a handshake.

  “What’s all right?”

  He dropped his hand when I didn’t take it. “Everything will be fine,” Ravenwood said. “Give me a minute and we’ll talk.”

  I still didn’t know how to react, so I just said, “Okay.”

  Ravenwood looked at the desk. “All this technology is amazing. Back in my day, all of this would have seemed like great magic.” He punched a button on the intercom. “Al and Frank, I’d like to see you, please.”

  Ravenwood leaned against the desk and waited for them.

  Al stepped into the office and looked over at me then at Ravenwood, but of course he thought he was looking at Anselma. “Ms. Kaiser, would you like me to escort Mr. Shade out of the building now?”

  “Not yet. He and I have some business matters to discuss,” Ravenwood said.

  Frank entered the office. “What’s going on?”

  “Frank, I’d like you to bring me a bottle of Chardonnay and two glasses.”

  “Hold up,” Cantrell said. “You and Shade are gonna have drinks?”

  “I’m thirsty.”

  “Pardon me for saying so, Ms. Kaiser, but I ain’t never seen you drink.”

  “You’ve rarely seen me at all, Mr. Cantrell. In fact, you wouldn’t be seeing me now had Mr. Davidson been able to do his job properly.”

  Al winced at that.

  “I’ll get your drinks,” Frank said.

  “Thank you,” Ravenwood said. After Frank left, Ravenwood turned to Al. “Bring Naomi Miller back here.”

  “But I just—” Al bit off his words and nodded. “Very well.”

  “Thank you.”

  Al looked confused as he left the room. Ravenwood closed the door behind him then faced me. “I’m quite impressed with you, Jonathan. May I call you Jonathan?”

  I shrugged. “Most people do.”

  “You certainly upset Al, Frank, and the woman I now control.” He looked up for a moment as if searching his thoughts. I’m pretty sure he was searching Anselma’s thoughts, though, because he said, “You impressed her with your escape from the underground laboratory.”

  “That’s nice. What do you want?”

  “From you and your ghost friend? And your Sekutar?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I really don’t want anything from you. You’re welcome to go back to your normal life, and as long as you don’t get in my way, you and I will have no problems.”

  “I don’t trust you.”

  He laughed. “If I were you, I doubt I’d trust me either. However, the stories about me are greatly exaggerated. While it’s true that I have a command over magic that the wizards and sorcerers of this age can’t begin to fathom, you have to remember that when wars which forge nations and civilizations are waged, history is written by the winners. My colleagues teamed up to overthrow me, so they painted me as some maniacal buffoon with delusions of grandeur.”

  “More like a crazed killer who wants to rule the world.”

  “Not the entire world,” he said. Then he stopped and crossed the floor to open the door. Frank entered with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

  “Your drinks,” Frank said.

  “Thank you,” Ravenwood said. “I’ll call you if I need you.”

  “I don’t really work here, you know,” Frank said. He threw me a dirty look and exited.

  Ravenwood filled the glasses and passed one to me. “Please drink with me,” he said.

  I accepted the glass.

  He raised his glass in a toast. “To unsolicited assistance in regaining one’s former glory.”

  I held up my glass. “To beautiful women, football, and unlimited wealth.”

  He tapped his glass against mine, sloshing some wine on the floor, then downed it in one gulp. I took a sip and set my glass on the desk while Ravenwood poured himself another.

  “Drink up, Jonathan.”

  “I have to drive,” I said.

  “Be careful with the giggle-water,” Esther said.

  Ravenwood smiled at her. “Your beauty is intoxicating, my dear woman, though I do prefer women with longer hair.” He leaned his spirit face out of Anselma’s head and tried to plant a kiss on Esther’s cheek.

  Esther jumped back. “Sorry, pal, bank’s closed.”

  “Please accept my humble apologies for laying a hand on you yesterday.”

  Esther turned away from him and moved to stand behind me. I knew she wanted to say something, but since Ravenwood could see and hear her, she kept her mouth shut.

  Ravenwood slammed down another glass of wine, poured a refill, and slammed a third. He staggered a bit when he went to pour again. “Okay, perhaps I should slow down. This body is not accustomed to fine beverages.”

  “So,” I said. “What now?”

  “Now?” He blinked a few times, and Anselma’s body wove from side to side. “I think I’d better sit down.”

  He set the bottle down on the desk a lot harder than he’d intended then tried to carefully place the glass on the desk but knocked it over, spilling wine all over the intercom system. He maneuvered around the desk, turned, and let Anselma’s body drop into the chair, leaving his body still standing, his legs still inside Anselma. He laughed.

  “We can still talk,” he said. “I’ll just have to stay here. You asked what happens now, and I say that really depends on you. I’m right where I want to be. I can run this organization and work my magic. I’ll want a different body. Something strong and male.”

  “So you’re going to kill Anselma.”

  “No, I’ll simply have her step down after she assigns another sorcerer to replace her. I will then take that sorcerer’s body, and all will be well.”

  “You think she’ll just step down?”

  “Until I was freed, she was practically retired and Al Davidson ran this council. So yes, I think she will. If I must kill her, that’s all right, but I doubt that will be necessary. Still, none of this affects you, Jonathan. And as for the rest of the normal people, they won’t know the difference one way or the other. Wizards, sorcerers, and the like have always coexisted with normal people. Our destinies are separate and rarely intertwine.”

  “What about Naomi?”

  “She and her father released me, so she deserves to reap some benefits. I’m happy to promote her.”

  “You killed her parents.”

  He shrugged as if it were of little consequence. “The woman was going to tell Al about my release. I had to prevent that because I had too much to learn. Too much to do. I couldn’t allow the wizards of this time to reimprison me.” He shook his head. “Sadly, if I’d known how little they could do with their magic, I wouldn’t have wasted the effort to kill her. As for her father, I had nothing to do with his death. I was using Al Davidson’s body at the time.”

  “You tried to kill Naomi.”

  “I sent one of her father’s warriors to get the crystals because I didn’t know they’d all been destroyed. I didn’t know that until you found the pieces in the subterranean caverns.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “I was there, Jonathan.”

  “I’d have seen you.”

  “Yes, if you’d bothered to look up.”

  “Look up?”

  “I followed you, always keeping above and behind so you didn’t see me. It’s amazing how people never look to see what’s above them. So yes, I saw the shards and knew I was free. I was so disoriented when I was released, I could never have found my way back there without your help. Oh, someone’s coming. I’d better see if I can rouse this body for a moment.”

  He sat down and leaned back into Anselma’s body. He forced her eyes open just as Al knocked on the door.

  “Enter,” Ravenwood said.

  Al opened the door and escorted Naomi into the room. I got up and thought Naomi might rush into my arms, but she only nodded to me.

  “Will there be anything else, Ms. Kaiser?” Al asked.

  “No, thank you.”<
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  Al started to go but stopped at the door. He eyed me then looked at the wine glasses, one of which lay on its side.

  Naomi took a deep breath. “What now, Ms. Kaiser? Did you decide my cell was too big?”