Modern Sorcery: A Jonathan Shade Novel (24 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“I have good news and bad news,” I said as I entered the hotel room.
 
We’d elected to go to a hotel in spite of my fear that if Ravenwood knew we were alive, he’d kill anyone to get to us.
 
Technically we were currently risking the lives of all the people in the hotel as well as everyone within a one-block radius.
 
Kelly argued that no matter where we went, we’d be putting people in danger.
 
I had suggested camping up in the mountains where we’d be the only ones at risk, but Naomi’s idea of camping was staying in a hotel room.
 
She countered with the reassurance that Ravenwood had just laid out a massive amount of magic and would certainly need time to recover.

Kelly stood by the window, casually flipping a knife around in her hand while Esther watched.
 
Kelly slipped the blade into a sheath as I came into the room.
 
Naomi, who had been reading, marked her place and set the book aside.

“Good news first,” Naomi said.
 
“I need to hear something positive right now.”

“Sharon found a ritual that will work to destroy Ravenwood.”

“Bad news?” Kelly asked.

“The only way it works is for someone to die.”

When I explained the ritual to them, they were a little skeptical.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Kelly said.

“It will never work,” Naomi said.

“You’re all wet,” Esther said.

Okay, more than a little skeptical.

“I just report what I discover,” I said.

Naomi sighed.
 
“Ravenwood isn’t going to just stand there and let us perform some silly ritual.
 
On top of that, in order for it to work, he’d have to be separated from his magic, which isn’t going to happen.
 
I know a spell that might work on a low-level wizard but certainly not against someone like him.
 
And don’t forget that he has several Sekutar tucked away.”

“It’s all I could find.”

“We’ll have to find another way.”

“I’m open to ideas.”

I sat down on one of the beds and turned on the television.

“Can you see if they have a Charlie Chaplin movie on?” Esther asked.
 
She loved watching the old silent movies.
 
I had kept DVDs of Chaplin and Buster Keaton movies at the office, but now I’d have to replace them.

Hell, we’d all have to replace everything.

Kelly turned off the TV.
 
“You need to find a way for me to kill Ravenwood.
 
Nothing else matters.”

“I found a way.”

“A way that will work.”

“I have a headache,” I said and fell backward onto the bed.

The hotel room door exploded into toothpicks, and two Sekutar warriors darted inside.

“Finally,” Kelly said.
 
“Something to kill.”

Three more warriors raced into the room.

Kelly whipped out her knife.
 
There was no way we could handle five warriors in an open space, but the hotel room was cramped, which meant their swords wouldn’t be of much use unless they wanted to cut each other.
 
That said, the room was too big for us to protect Naomi.
 
I figured the hallway would be even more cramped and we’d have a better chance out there.

I rolled off the side of the bed away from the warriors and grabbed hold of the mattress.
 
I jerked it up and charged at the intruders, trying to drive them back into the hall.

A sword poked through the mattress, nearly skewering me.
 
Kelly threw herself against the mattress, and we pushed the five Sekutar backward.

“Ideas?” I asked.

“Run,” Esther said.

“Not much chance of that now,” I said.

Another sword punched through the mattress and drove right through Kelly.
 
She had her back to the mattress, so she looked down at the sword protruding from her stomach.

“Goddamn it,” she said.
 
“I liked this shirt.”

Naomi stood behind us.
 
Her hands glowed.

“Let them through,” she said.
 
She looked pissed.

Kelly pulled herself off the sword, and we tossed the mattress into the bathroom.
 
We both hit the floor.
 
As soon as we were out of the way, Naomi let loose with a powerful blast.

The warriors flew backward like fleas in a hurricane.

Naomi dropped to her knees.

“She needs some time,” I said.

“Let’s give it to her,” Kelly said.

I grabbed a blanket from the floor and tossed one end to Kelly.
 
We used it to sweep a warrior from his feet.
 
I twirled an end around him, trapping his arms, and kicked his head through the wall.
 
It slowed him down for a moment, but he tore off the blanket and joined the fray long before we were ready.

Kelly snap-kicked a kneecap; then they were on us.
 
We punched, kicked, bit, and clawed.
 
But it was two against five, and those aren’t good odds even if the five aren’t magically engineered assassins who feel no pain.
 
Kelly was lucky; she didn’t feel pain either.
 
I, on the other hand, felt every jab, kick, and punch.
 
I tried to use open-hand techniques because punching these guys, I was likely to break my hands.
 
I used the edges of my hands, chopping, and tried to grapple with one of them.
 
He laughed at me and kicked me through the wall.

I tried to pull myself out, but he grabbed me and slammed me against the ceiling then threw me to the floor.
 
I lost track of what happened at that point.
 
I know Kelly kept fighting, and she gave as good as she got.

By the time I could shake the cobwebs free of my skull, I saw that four Sekutar warriors held Kelly off the ground, each of them gripping a separate limb, and still they struggled to keep her.
 
The fifth warrior had me pinned to the floor with a heavy boot on my chest.

I watched helplessly as a man who looked like a grown-up fat kid from Gary Larson’s
The Far Side
cartoons walked toward us.
 
I knew from the way he held himself that it was Ravenwood possessing an engineer.

“Shall we kill them?” one of the warriors asked.

“In due time,” Ravenwood said.
 
“I want Jonathan to see this.”
 
He stood in the doorway.

He smiled as Naomi threw everything she had at him.
 
He stepped aside as the blast tore a hole in the already damaged hallway wall.
 
He kept smiling as he entered the room.
 
I couldn’t see him now.

I heard him say, “Oh, the pretty, little ghost is still among us.
 
How nice to see you.”

I couldn’t hear Esther’s reply, but I suspect she told him where to stick it.
 
Next thing I knew, Ravenwood dragged Naomi into the hallway.

She fought him every step of the way.
 
Once they were both within my line of sight, Ravenwood nodded at me.
 
“Watch how she stops struggling.”

Sure enough, she stopped struggling, and the engineer dropped to one knee.

“Oh,” Ravenwood, now in Naomi’s body, said.
 
“This is much better.
 
I can use magic again.”

The engineer looked up at Ravenwood.
 
“Am I free for real this time?
 
My wife will be worried.”

“This time?” I asked.

The engineer looked at me, took in the warriors, then held my gaze.
 
He looked scared.
 
“He made those old men shrivel up and die while I watched.”
 
He looked back at Ravenwood.
 
“You’re going to kill this woman now too?
 
Why?”

Ravenwood shrugged.
 
“Sadly it seems that the wizards today are unable to handle the levels of magic I want to use.
 
Perhaps this body will be better.”

“Can I at least say good-bye to my daughter?” the engineer asked.

“No.”

I watched helplessly as Ravenwood folded his index finger over his middle finger.
 
He drove them through the engineer’s glasses, shattering the lenses.
 
His fingers plunged through the man’s left eye and into his brain.

“Now that’s just nasty,” the Sekutar who held me said.
 
He smiled.
 
“I like it.”

“I appreciate that, Brand,” Ravenwood said.

Ravenwood knelt before me, and it was a little disconcerting to see Naomi and to hear her voice speaking the words.
 
“It was so nice to see you, Jonathan.
 
I wish I could remain here to witness your death, but the authorities will no doubt arrive soon, and I have better things to do than waste my time on them.
 
Look at it this way.
 
At least you know your girlfriend got to live longer than you.”

He ran Naomi’s bloody fingers over my cheek then stepped past us toward the hall.
 
“As soon as I’m gone, kill them.”

“With pleasure,” Brand said.
 
“We’ll meet up with you as planned.”

Ravenwood gave them a salute then took the stairs.

I tried to turn a bit.

“Oh, yes,” Brand said.
 
“Struggle all you like.
 
It makes no difference to me.
 
How do you want to die?”

“You’re giving me a choice?”

“I’m a good sport,” Brand said.
 
“Shall I break your neck or drive a sword through your heart?”

“I have a better idea,” I said, trying to get my feet against the wall.
 
“Let’s just call this a draw and all go to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner.
 
My treat.”