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  “He’s being reckless,” Amaymon said, mirroring my grin. “Just like a cornered animal.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “I think this Knightmare guy threw a monkey wrench in his plans. Because maybe the Knightmare is after me. But I think not. I think he’s after Greede. And he’s targeting me because of my connection to Greede.”

  “Your conclusion makes sense, Master Erik,” Mephisto said. He gave my sister a look. “And with the Cassiopeia’s coordinates we can finally strike at the heart of Greede’s empire.”

  “What’s the Cassiopeia?” I asked.

  “For a while now we have been trying to unearth Greede’s centre of power,” Gil said. “The nexus of his business. All that money and those resources need to flow through somewhere. But Greede is smart. He found a way to keep his assets constantly in motion and away from our eyes.”

  “Water,” I said. “It’s a ship.”

  Running water played havoc with most tracking spells and your garden variety Thaumaturgy. Once again I found myself in awe of my sister’s magical prowess. She was a damn surgeon of magic, whereas I was little more than a sledgehammer. It must have taken her years to set up the kind of tracking spell potent enough to find the ship. Not to mention the mortal shielding, your run-of-the-mill military grade encryption, firewalls, and location scrambling.

  She nodded. “The Cassiopeia, and no, she’s not a ship. She’s an aircraft carrier. Decommissioned but fully functional.”

  “Holy shit,” I said. “That asshole really has all the money in the world.”

  “Not once we take it out,” she said. “Mephisto, assemble a strike team and-”

  “No,” I said. “Send me.”

  “What?”

  “Send me,” I repeated. “Greede himself will likely not be there, and even if he is, if I take him by surprise, I have a good chance of taking him. You know I’m right. Send your men and they will be little more than cannon fodder—send me, and we can take Greede out.”

  “And the Knightmare?” she said. “It could follow you.”

  I grinned.

  “I’m counting on it. If it wants a fight, I’ll give it one. Or it’ll see we’re on the same side, and help me kick Greede’s ass,” I said. “Either way, we get both birds with one stone.”

  Gil nodded. “Very well. Assemble your team and get ready.”

  “Me and him,” I said, cocking my head at Amaymon. “Abi’s following another investigation.”

  Gil shook her head. “Not enough.”

  “Do not worry, Master Gil,” Mephisto said. His grin unsettled me. “I have just the right agent to send along with them.”

  Chapter 11

  The Cassiopeia sat a few miles outside of Humboldt Bay, far enough outside of US territory to escape any prying eyes.

  Also far enough to pose a problem as to how we were going to infiltrate it. This was the hub of Greede’s empire—no doubt it was going to be well-armed and well-protected, both magically and physically.

  So we had to think outside the box.

  Nay, outside the plane.

  I watched the clouds rush by below me, as Luke the Pyromancer opened the cargo door to the charter plane we were on. He gave me a thumbs-up.

  I flipped him off.

  Luke was a recent ally, formerly one of Greede’s lieutenants who had seen the light. Since then, he’d been one of my sister’s top agents. Me and this guy had a history—most of it of us punching each other.

  “Two minutes till drop-off,” he yelled over the rush of the wind.

  Amaymon clapped my shoulder. “You look like you’re about to hurl.”

  “No one said anything about jumping off planes,” I yelled. “Do you remember what happened the last time I jumped off something?”

  “You were thrown off,” he pointed out.

  “Same fucking difference,” I said.

  “One minute,” Luke yelled. “You’ll be fine, Ashendale. Just don’t die this time or your sister will have my ass.” He glanced down.

  “Drop off in five, four, three, two!”

  He grabbed the railing and launched himself out the plane. I watched him as he disappeared from sight.

  “Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  “Relax,” Amaymon said. “Just don’t forget to grab hold of that coat of yours and think about wings.”

  “Thanks, Amaymon. Really fucking helpful.”

  He winked. “De nada, boss.”

  I watched the demon throw himself backwards, falling headfirst out the plane.

  “Asshole.”

  I sucked in a few deep breaths. Then I exhaled, strung a long a litany of curses and wrenched my eyes shut as I stepped off the plane.

  The first thing that gets you is the weightlessness. And it’s not pleasant. You feel your guts wobbling and rising up, your entire body goes rigid in panic, and the wind stings your eyes (even if they are shut).

  Then, if the fall is long enough—and this one certainly was—you start rationalizing.

  Most people open up a parachute at this point, or start praying to whichever deity they once believed in.

  We had no parachutes.

  I saw Luke use his flames to jet himself through the air, looking like a very casually-dressed Iron Man.

  Amaymon seemed to manipulate gravity and landed on the ship light as a feather, grinning the entire time.

  I grabbed my flapping coat and focused really hard on the charm my sister had added to it less than an hour earlier.

  A pair of ethereal cyan wings sprouted, barely visible beneath the sun. They followed my hand motions and with my arms held outstretched, they flared out on either side.

  Immediately I felt a strain on my back as the wind resistance halted my fall.

  But I was still falling.

  I listed to one side, thinking that if I spiraled down, the landing would be gentler.

  I was wrong.

  The spin sent me off-kilter and by the time I had realigned myself with the boat, I was coming in too fast.

  My feet cycled in the air, looking for purchase. The deck came up to me and I felt something halting my fall. The momentum sent me crashing forwards, and my arm flailing did nothing to slow me down.

  My head met a steel panel, and then I had no idea what happened.

  “Oi! Erik, wake up.”

  Luke hit my face again, and I grabbed his hand.

  “I’m awake,” I said.

  “Awake enough to fight?”

  “Awake enough to kick your ass if you slap me again.”

  Amaymon’s grinning face loomed over me. He offered me a hand.

  “He’s all right.”

  I checked myself and made sure everything was still attached. The wings were gone.

  Good—I really hated flying.

  Grimacing, I reached under my coat and behind my back, where Djinn was sheathed horizontally along my belt. I pulled it out.

  Luke eyed the blade. Yeah, he remembered the sword.

  “Let’s get this shit over with,” I said.

  “That’s the spirit,” Amaymon said. He splayed his hands on the metal panel I had knocked myself out on.

  It was a door.

  “Two bogeys,” he said.

  He slapped the door. Two chunks of metal ripped out, and shot right into the heads of the two soldiers—identical to those my sister employed—and wrapped around them. Their screams were muffled and within seconds they were unconscious.

  “No killing,” I told Amaymon.

  He sighed and snapped his fingers. The iron masks around their faces flaked off.

  Meanwhile, Luke set two of his fingers on fire and blazed through the lock like a blowtorch.

  He walked in, fingers still glowing softly. I knew he could shoot lasers from his hands, and since we needed to be stealthy, he was going to run point and take out any scouts.

  He nodded—the coast was clear.

  “We need to split up,” he said, removing his bomber jacket. He turned it over. Several C4 explo
sives were strapped to the back. “Our priority is to clone the servers onboard, take control of the ship, and disable it from motion.”

  “It’s a freakin’ aircraft carrier,” I said. “I hope you brought a map.”

  “No need,” he said. “I memorized the schematics.”

  “I’ll take the bombs,” Amaymon said.

  “You sure?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I like blowing shit up.”

  “That’s why I’m asking. We need to be stealthy.”

  Amaymon rolled his eyes.

  “Promises, promises,” he said, snatching up the plastic explosives. “Fine. I’ll stealthily make my way down and set the bombs.” Then he gave us a sinister smile. “But won’t your job be easier if I created a distraction?”

  I glanced at Luke. “Can’t hurt,” I said.

  “Give us ten minutes,” he told the demon. “After that-”

  “Let loose the dogs of war?” he interjected happily.

  “Something like that.”

  Amaymon elbowed me. “Remember when we used to beat this guy up? Now he’s on our team and shit. Hah! Funny how things turn out!” He waved at us. “Have fun, you two.”

  I watched him leave, and then looked at Luke.

  “He does that.”

  “What?” he asked.

  “Make things awkward.”

  Luke shrugged. “Wanna ignore it and take over an enemy aircraft carrier instead?”

  I grinned and swept Djinn forward, making a menacing whistling noise.

  “After you.”

  Chapter 12

  “Hey guys.”

  The two soldiers halted in front of Luke, who waved at them. It took them a few precious seconds to raise their weapons. Two bolts of angry red light shot from Luke’s fingertips, one destroying the nearest soldier’s gun, the other shooting through his chest.

  At the same time, I slipped from behind them, and wrapped an arm around the second soldier.

  “Go to sleep,” I said, applying the choke.

  Wordlessly, Luke grabbed the first soldier and dragged him into a vacant cabin. I threw mine in as well and shut the door.

  “Let’s hope no one goes snooping around,” I said.

  The Cassiopeia rocked violently, listing first to one side, then to the other.

  “Yeah, I guess we’re good on that front,” I said.

  “I rather hope the demon doesn’t sink us before we complete our mission,” Luke said.

  We ran along a corridor.

  “Up ahead,” he said.

  We pressed up against a wall and watched as three panicked soldiers opened a cabin door and ran inside. I heard voices from inside, the tone of men of war getting ready for action, along with a movie playing in the background.

  “Soldiers’ quarters,” Luke said. “Looks like it’s these three cabins.” He gave me a look. “Ambush?”

  “Not if we strike first,” I said, hefting Djinn. The blade glowed softly. “You go right, I’ll go left.”

  He nodded. We stood in front of the cabin doors, hands and swords glowing.

  I slashed at the door, Djinn cleaving through the steel like a hot knife through butter, and shouldered my way in. The door fell on the nearest soldier, slamming his head to the ground and knocking him out.

  I vaulted over the knocked-down door, dodging a single bullet from the guy at the very back, and kicked out the legs of a third soldier. He fell and caught a burst of gunfire meant for me. I pushed the now-dead guy towards another soldier before he could reach his weapon and stabbed Djinn into his foot. He screamed and I swept my fist beneath his chin, knocking him out.

  As the shooter at the back reloaded, I threw Djinn at him, impaling him through the chest. The last soldier reached for his radio and I leapt onto him. I managed to wrench his arm away from the radio. His fist met me in the face and I felt my bottom lip start swelling. I moved my head out of the path of another punch, grabbed the radio, and smashed it into his face.

  Gunfire erupted from the entrance as more soldiers joined. The cabin was cramped as it was, and with all the bodies lying around, I had nowhere to go. I rolled to safety, but bullets still dug into my coat. The protective charms deflected the kinetic energy from the first bullet, but I saw tears in the fabric. A bullet sliced along my ribs, while another tore a gash along my neck, but both were just surface wounds.

  Summoning Djinn, which was still impaled in the soldier on the opposite side of the room, was going to take too much time. Instead I extracted my gun and fired. The bullets punched into the soldiers’ armor but they did not go down.

  Okay, then.

  Magic it was.

  I channeled power into the gun, amplifying the bullets’ penetrative power. The first shot blew the guy to pieces as if I had thrown a grenade.

  “Holy shit,” I muttered.

  Finesse was always an issue with me, but this was just ridiculous. There had been ten times the power I had meant to put into that shot.

  However, the momentary pause gave me time to lunge towards Djinn, pull it out, and throw a streak of energy that pushed the soldiers out into the corridor.

  Where Luke was waiting.

  His hands were splayed and smoking. Two jets of fire erupted, incinerating the soldiers into ash. Fire spread along the ceiling, and a fire alarm wailed.

  “Oh great,” I said, sheathing my gun. “Just what we need.”

  “You going to stand there and judge, or you wanna move?” he snapped, already running along the corridor.

  I muttered something foul and followed him. Luke stopped before a reinforced door with a lock that was about as thick as my arm.

  “Looks like they wanna keep whatever’s behind there a secret,” I said, raising my sword. “I’m getting curious.”

  Luke held my arm. “Let me. This requires precision, Ashendale.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  Luke pressed both hands on the door and the acrid smell of melting metal filled the air. I covered my nostrils and mouth with the collar of my coat, hoping I wouldn’t start retching.

  The door became a puddle and we slowly stepped over it.

  “Well, well, well,” I said.

  The blinking lights of all the servers were hypnotic and lulling, almost beautiful were it not for the fact that every single terabyte contributed to Greede’s evil empire.

  “This is me,” Luke said. “I’ll copy everything and destroy the servers.”

  “Need a hand?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Stick to the mission.” The boat rocked again. “Before your demon finishes his.”

  “Where’s the control room?” I asked.

  “Up ahead. First on your left, then right, then another left.” Luke sighed. “It’ll be heavily guarded.”

  I grinned. “Good. I like a challenge.”

  The soldiers saw me just as I saw them.

  I had followed Luke’s instructions to the letter and encountered no resistance. Smooth sailing.

  Turned out that all the remaining soldiers were lying in wait at the entrance of the control room.

  The war cry that escaped my mouth accented the blaze coming from Djinn. Gun fire erupted in my direction. I held my sword in front of me, pumping magic into it to enlarge the blade into a makeshift shield. Several bullets punched into my coat, shredding past the charms and the fabric until they bit into my skin.

  Still I kept charging forwards, roaring, until I crashed into them. All the pent-up magic exploded from Djinn. I was flung to the side, up became down, and left became right, and it took me a while to shake my head clear of stars and swirling birds.

  Coughs and moans and clinks of weapons.

  I roared, Djinn ablaze, heart pounding, adrenaline surging through my system. My hands and feet moved on their own, honed by hours of practice.

  I began cutting them down.

  When I finally pushed through to the control-room door, I threw a crescent beam of power, just as someone threw a grenade in my direction. They mistim
ed the arc and the bomb went off before it hit me, but I felt shrapnel and fire tear through my body.

  The ringing in my ears faded once my healing started taking effect. Pieces of shrapnel were expelled from my flesh. Bones, muscles, and sinew knitted themselves together again.

  When I could focus my eyes again, I saw several dead people, torn to mincemeat because of the grenade.

  Movement from the side.

  Three Black Ring Society wizards and adepts charged up their magic.

  “Shit,” one of them said. Purple electricity crackled in his hands. “That’s the guy.”

  “Kill him while he’s down,” yelled another.

  A stream of shadows leapt from the consoles and sliced into my arm. I dodged, a superficial cut on my shoulder, and threw myself at the guy. Purple lightning punched into my back, making me stumble. I rolled, extracted my gun and fired at him, slaying him instantly.

  The shadow guy stepped on my hand, locking my gun down, and raised a fist. The shadows formed a pike.

  I sliced with Djinn at his hamstrings. He screamed, his magic dissipating harmlessly as he fell down. I grabbed his head, tilted it backwards and smashed the pommel of my shortsword into his face.

  Repeatedly.

  The third guy lunged across the room. I fired at him. The bullet caught him in the back. I saw his hand reach up, fingers wrapped around a small lever, and pulled.

  The loudest alarm on the planet went off.

  “Warning,” came a loud voice. “Intruders on board. Self-defense protocols activated. Please evacuate immediately.”

  I heard a loud crunching noise behind me, just as a gate fell down where the entrance had been, sealing me inside.

  “Self-defense protocol?” I muttered. “The hell is that?”

  A loud roar came from behind me.

  I turned.

  “Oh. That’s what you meant.”

  Chapter 13

  Light emerged from a sigil that appeared beneath the creature, a beast that had formerly been one of the Black Ring Society members.

  The body swelled and grew, dark muscles roping around bones, until its shoulders surrounded the dead guy’s head. Its limbs ended in long spikes, each as thick as a car tire. The headless hulk fell forwards on all fours. The tips of its spikes stabbed the ground, punching little holes in the floor.