Authors: Edward Lazellari
“I got my memory back same as everyone else,” Tilcook said. “I was on my way to the hotel to parley with Mal, you know, catch up on what’s doing, when this thing went down and the cops cordoned off everything. Only way we could reach you was through these tunnels under Park Avenue. It’s all hush-hush. Roosevelt used to use these tracks so no one knew he was in a wheelchair. Drove the car right off the train with him in it into the freight elevator and onto Forty-ninth Street. That’s how we brought the cars in.”
“How do you know about it?” Malcolm asked.
“Sometimes I need to move merchandise from here to there … on the down low. Ya know?”
“So you went from kitchen help to crime lord?” Daniel asked. The boy was a little too much in awe of Tilcook for Cal’s taste. To the world at large he was known as the Debonair Don. The man flaunted the law for years, killed hundreds, if not more, in mob hits and territory battles, and was not a worthy role model for a prince of Aandor.
“Crime? What crime?” Tilcook said, gesticulating his wrist back and forth while holding his thumb against his fore- and middle fingers. “I’m a businessman. I look out for my interests. It’s all perspective.”
“Boss, the police are moving into the hotel now,” a thin, older fellow said. He wore a royal-blue Adidas track jacket over his black retro bowling shirt and had brown eyes and slick black hair that was too uniformly dark to be natural at his age. A weak chin hovered over the cords of his neck that drooped against his tanned, leathery skin, the kind that betrayed one’s love of too much sun. The toothpick in his mouth shifted back and forth when he spoke. He wore only one pinkie ring compared with some of the others and his bracelet and chain count was also tasteful by comparison.
“This is my—ah—business associate, Tony Two Scoops.”
“Yeah, definitely
not
a crime lord,” Daniel said to the group.
“So what do we do about this
oobatz
magician on the Chrysler Building?” Tilcook asked. “He’s bad for business. I got boys working in this hotel.”
“Uh, boss…,” said Tony Two Scoops, nodding toward Daniel.
“Later,” said Tilcook, waving his lieutenant away.
“The boys … we gotta know our stake.”
“What stake?” said Cal.
Tilcook ignored the cop and turned to Daniel. “Your Highness … me and the boys, we’re in a little trouble. Kind of wore out our welcome around here.”
“We’re looking at twenty to life for some of our—uh—
business methods
,” said Two Scoops, pronouncing it
mehtuds
.
“Nowhere we can go no one’s gonna recognize us, see?” Tilcook continued. “So we was talkin’ these past few days since I got my marbles back … there might be other worlds to explore, where a man can settle down and enjoy his old…”
“Where a man might enjoy his ill-gotten gains and escape justice,” Cal interrupted. “Things are too hot here and you want to tuck tail and run back to Aandor and bring your toadies along.”
“He may not have put it quite that eloquently,” Mal said. The dwarv was irritated. “Jesus H. Christ, Cal—the man just saved our lives.”
“Please!” cried Reverend Grey. “Do not take His name in vain.”
“He robbed and murdered his way up the food chain,” Cal said to his sergeant at arms. “And just when, after years of effort and millions of dollars, the law catches up with him, he wants to disappear into another universe like a Criss Angel act.”
“That’s about right,” Tilcook said. He puffed on his cigar.
“How many people have you murdered?” Cal asked Tilcook sharply.
“Probably less than you back home,” Tilcook said. “Funny thing about murder … it’s okay to kill your stepfather with a table leg and walk away from the consequences, but if you’re protecting your livelihood…?”
“Self-defense is an appropriate use of deadly force,” Cal said angrily. “Daniel was only in that situation because the idiot screwed up the identity spell.”
“Agreed,” said Tilcook, with a Cheshire cat–size grin. “I’m only in my situation because of screwed up magic, too—and I been defending myself for thirteen years. So whaddaya say? You can do worse than havin’ La Cosa Nostra watchin’ your back when there’s some whackadoo magician gunning for ya.”
A tremor shook the platform, triggering a cascade of worried glances around the group.
“My lord, Dorn resumes his attacks,” Lelani said, a bit uncertainly.
“Wait a minute,” said Allyn. “
Everyone
felt
that
tremor; am I wrong?”
“But with the shields gone, aren’t we dog meat?” Daniel asked.
“There’s so much iron and concrete insulating us down here, there’s actually some measure of protection,” Allyn said.
A second vibration shook the platform.
Daniel turned to Tilcook. “Yes,” he said. “You have a deal.”
“Now wait a minute!” Cal said.
Not this again.
It would have been much easier if the boy were still an infant.
“You wait a minute,” Daniel told his captain. “I never met any of you people before last night. You’re telling me some pretty tall tales, falling over yourselves to want to help me. And all these people are asking for is favors from, or a trip to, a kingdom I’ve never seen or even believe exists, all for some promises you all admit I have the ability to deliver, and you expect me to employ some kind of impartial judgment on what favors I accept and don’t when my life is in danger?” Daniel said in one adamant, exhausted breath.
“This Dorn is never going to stop coming after me. The goombah squad usually asks for money for protection, of which, I am completely tapped out of at the moment. Do you know how lucky I am that Dominic Tagliatore and Tony Two Scoops just want a ride out of town for the privilege of saving me from an—what was that word…?”
“
Oobatz,
” said Tony. “Mean’s
crazy
.”
“From an
oobatz
wizard perched on the Chrysler Building, that—in your words—is ‘never going to stop coming after me.’”
Cal had a head full of responses to Daniel’s rebellion, but the volume of his arguments defied orderly reason and power of conviction. The kid was a survivor, and where as Callum saw Daniel’s successful reclamation as the conclusion of his current mission, Daniel looked to his continued survival as an open-ended escapade. Cal couldn’t make the prince accept his authority as the captain of his personal guard. And who was Cal to lecture … by rights, Daniel could promote Malcolm or Tilcook to general on the spot and put them in charge of his protection.
The third tremor felt like a minor earthquake. Dust and rubble dropped from the ceiling and clanked on the roofs of the cars they’d brought back down.
“The prince has spoken,” said Malcolm.
“What about Dorn?” asked Allyn. “We can’t leave him be anymore, Cal. He’s getting more desperate and willing to hurt many people to get what he wants.”
“How long can Catherine remain safely in his custody?” added Scott.
Cal grimaced. Stubbornness was his family trait as well. He hated to admit Malcolm was right. “Dorn has to die,” Cal said.
They all looked at Cal in silence—the guardians fully understanding what it meant for the captain, both personally and morally, to advocate this course of action. Cal had never been one to seek violence. He was simply the best there was at responding to it.
“He can’t be left alone to rain this kind of terror on people,” Cal continued. “Prince or no prince, this earth must be rid of Dorn of Farrenheil.”
Malcolm and Tilcook nodded in accord.
“But we get Daniel off this island,” he added. “I’m not bringing the prince anywhere near this fight.”
“I got a place in Upper Saddle River,” Tilcook said. “Walls, security cameras, Dobermans, and a crew of jacked-up beef heads with Uzis. You have my word, Cal; me and the boys will defend the kid with everything we can throw. So long as you take all of us with you when you go back to Aandor.”
“Done,” said Mal.
“Wait a minute,” Cal said.
“For what, Cal? For gods’ sakes, Dorn’s on the Chrysler Building with a river of magic to power his spells. There’s no telling what he’ll throw at us next. These tremors are not a coincidence.”
“We can shut Dorn down,” Allyn said.
Everyone looked to him, almost relieved that someone had a plan. Allyn bent down and used his iron rod to scratch a map of New York City into the platform dust.
“When Lelani destroyed the henge anchor in Central Park, she set free the lay river on its natural course through the city. I am speaking metaphorically, of course—the energy flows through multiple realities weaving in and out of universes. The main one in this area is part of the same branch from upstate where we originally came into this universe … we’re ‘downstream’ of it and it runs through Manhattan island lengthwise like a braided river, splitting into offshoots, some wide and others meandering trickles. But I got a good feel of the course from the copter ride and the roof of the hotel. If I get ‘upstream’ of it—here,” he said, pointing to the Bronx, “I can divert its flow; dry out the braid that feeds Dorn and maybe divert its course into another branch. One that would give Lelani the advantage.”
The ground shook again.
This time it was followed by the sound of screams filtering through the venting grates that led to the streets above. In the blackness of the tunnel, they heard scraping of the heavy metal coverings coming off their manholes, the clang of metal hitting the tunnel walls. The familiar howls of the golems echoed down the track. Everyone looked at each other in terror.
“This plan is logical,” Lelani said quickly. “If I were to take position here”—she pointed to another area in Midtown along the second main branch of the lay river—“I could counter Dorn. Forbidden magic requires a lot of power. His store would dwindle while I drew his ire, and while he’s distracted, you could all escape.”
“No,” Cal said. “I’m going after him.”
Lelani looked as close to panicked as Cal had ever seen. “My lord, it would be suicide to go up against a wizard of his caliber, much less two if you count Symian, without a wizard of your own. If we could but reach Seth…”
“The idiot’s gone AWOL,” Cal said. “We can’t depend on him. Even if he were here, what good is he? Seth’s been getting by on luck so far. He has no talent for magic, for fighting…”
“The boy’s been hobbled by an enchantment,” Allyn said, defending the boy.
Lelani’s eyes grew to pleading dimensions. “My lord, even if what you say is true, even if Seth were incompetent and was killed in the attempt, tactically, it is still the correct move. A wizard would draw the attention of the defending wizard. He would have no choice but to address the attacking wizard, leaving the soldiers to battle among themselves with no interference. Wizards aren’t omniscient, but they are paranoid about someone one-upping them when distracted. You need a wizard with you…”
Cal put his arms on Lelani’s shoulders to calm her down. He gazed deeply into her eyes and said without words that he hadn’t any choice. He had to do this as a husband reclaiming his wife, a father reclaiming the mother of his child, as an officer of the city of New York defending his jurisdiction, and as a knight defending his prince. Live or die, he would go and engage the enemy tonight.
“He will be most vulnerable when his power is used up,” Lelani said. “Perhaps I can distract him when you storm the building.”
“We don’t even know that Cat and Tory are there,” Colby said.
“Not important,” said Malcolm. “We kill him, game over. I doubt most of the henchmen have any love for Dorn. We have a bigger bargaining chip than they do. They’ll trade Cat for their lives. It’s like chess.”
Cal was not pleased to hear his wife spoken of as a game piece, and yet Mal spoke truly. Dorn would not relent. Tilcook would flee with Daniel and defend him with his life, mostly for his own interests. It was the best plan they could concoct on the fly. And it sure was about time he retrieved his wife.
“Yes,” Cal said. “Til, let Colby take a couple of your men to The Plaza … just in case Cat and Tory are still being held there.”
“Wait,” Lelani said. She rummaged through her satchel for something and came up with a polished egg-shaped black stone marbled with red streaks, which she handed to Colby. “Keep this opal with you for protection.”
“Prote … from what?”
“Symian cast the spell that made you what you are. Should he be vanquished, you might die along with him. This enchanted stone will act as a surrogate and maintain the spell just in case.”
Another tremor hit, the worst one yet. More metal covers flew off their manholes and the howls of the golems shot an icy streak of fear down everyone’s back. There were more this time … a lot more.
“Everyone move!” Cal said.
And they took off.
CHAPTER 44
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
The streets were sheer anarchy. The golems crawled up through the manholes, service tunnels, sewer drains, and basements, smashing through asphalt in some cases—hundreds down the canyons of Manhattan’s grand avenues and streets as far as Lelani’s eyes could see. People ran in every direction, into each other, panicked and unsure of sanctuary and ignorant that the creatures’ objectives did not involve them. The beasts, once engaged, though, defended themselves viciously against assaults whether intentional or not.
A city bus swerved to avoid a burning car—it smashed into two golems as they climbed onto the street from below, and the beasts retaliated, shattering the windshield, killing the driver. The bus careened into a diner. Police fired upon the creatures, incurring their retaliation and spurring them into a frenzied bloodlust like angry wasps disturbed on a scorching afternoon. It was worse than anyone could have imagined.
Lelani had seen anarchy like this once before—the invasion of Aandor City. It had been only two weeks since that day for her. She’d experienced enough anarchy to last her lifetime, and she wondered what offense her gods ascribed her that she should continuously witness episodes of carnage on these massive scales. And how, she wondered—how would she stop a sorcerer of her world from killing her cohorts and thrusting this city into further pandemonium?