CHAPTER ONE
I had finally managed to get some peace and quiet, closing the door to my office, when Rabbit’s voice came over my phone.
I took a deep breath and let it out slow, gathering my thoughts and bracing myself for some fresh, new, impending apocalypse she was about to share.
“You have a visitor, Boss,” she said, her voice just this side of jovial. “He insists on seeing you even without an appointment.”
“I don’t get visitors,” I said, irritated. “Let me correct that—I don’t make it a policy of accepting visitors, especially unannounced and unexpected visitors. Definitely not here at the Church. Tell them I’m out for the foreseeable future.”
“He said you would say that,” she said. “Instructed me to tell you that it would be in your best interests to meet with him. He said to tell you he has his eyes on you. Really felt the need to emphasize eyes.”
I groaned inwardly.
Only one person ever had the audacity to call me by that nickname. If he was here, my morning had just gone from relatively tranquil to cataclysmic.
“Were those his exact words?” I asked, taking a long pull from my Death Wish coffee. “Where is he now and is he alone? Did you happen to see a small, electrical lizard with him?”
“An electrical what?”
“Never mind. Trust me, you would know if his associate was here.”
“His associate is a small lizard?” she asked. “Have I ever told you that you have some odd friends?”
“More than once,” I said. “Were those his exact words?”
“Those were his exact words,” Rabbit confirmed. “He acted like he knew you. I told him to wait in reception, but he wanted to tour the place. Said the Church has character, and that he could find you on his own. I was half-tempted to send him downstairs, but then he would be lost down there for who knows how long.”
“Not long enough.”
“Should I have stopped him? He looks dangerous…and homeless.”
“He looks dangerous because he is,” I said. “He looks homeless because…well, because street scruffiness is what passes for his style. You did the right thing. I’m sure he’ll work his way to my office shortly.”
“If you say so,” she said. “Do you know him?”
“I do,” I said, rubbing a temple to stave off the headache that was forming. “His name is Grey and he’s a Night Warden.”
“He looks more like a grunge,” she replied. “Night Warden? They’re still around? I thought they were all killed?”
“Not for lack of trying,” I said. “Grey belongs to the too-old-and-crotchety-to-die club.”
“Ahh, got it,” she said. “What do you want me to do? I could always have Ox escort him off the premises with extreme violence.”
“No,” I said with a sigh, knowing how futile that would be. Despite his appearance, Grey was one of the stronger mages I knew. Ever since his acquisition of a cursed blade, he had only grown stronger. Ox wouldn’t stand much of a chance against him. “Ox doesn’t deserve that kind of punishment—besides, he wouldn’t succeed. Grey is much more than he appears to be. He’ll find me…eventually. Thank you, Rabbit.”
“If you say so,” she said. “Shouldn’t all the Night Wardens be retired by now? He must be old enough to be a museum relic.”
“You would think they would have the sense to know when it was time to step away from the madness, but Grey never did have much of a sense of self-preservation,” I said, “or any sense for that matter—he still patrols the streets.”
“Wow, not bad for a senior citizen.”
Grey casually opened my rune-secured door and stepped into my office as Rabbit finished her last sentence.
“Show some respect to your elders,” he said, his voice gruff. “And I’m not that old.”
“Whatever you say, grandpa,” Rabbit snapped back. “I see he found you.”
“He did,” I said, looking at the door and motioning for him to fully enter my office. “I’ll take it from here.”
“Call me if you need anything, Boss,” she said. “I’m sure we can scramble up some Ensure or warm milk and pudding for your guest. Let me know if I should send up a blanket and some pillows too. I hear when mages get to his age, they like mid-morning naps.”
She laughed and hung up.
“Hilarious,” Grey deadpanned, “really.”
“You really should consider retiring, you know.”
“I will,” he said. “When I stop breathing.”
He sat in one of the chairs facing my desk and gazed around the office for a few seconds in silence.
“I like this headquarters better,” he continued. “Your place uptown felt too sterile. This place actually has character.”
He was wearing his usual—black T-shirt, jeans, construction boots, and over it all, a worn and beaten, runed-inscribed duster.
“This fashion sense of yours, senior citizen vagabond,” I said, “have you ever thought of upgrading this look to respectable, productive member of society?”
He gazed at me for a few seconds.
“You mean like you?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said. “Though, one could dare to dream.”
“Do you know why I dress this way?”
“Do I want to know?”
“Because, unlike some mages or some mage groups who have high-end headquarters, the threats I deal with are on the street,” he said. “I dive into the trenches, while some mages”—he looked around the office—“spend their time in fancy offices.”
“Grey as spectacular as it is to see you again—and it truly is the highlight of my day,” I said, gesturing and materializing another hot mug of Death Wish for him,“in fact, I’m comparing your visit to a voluntary root canal without anesthesia—I’m fairly certain you’re not here to pass judgement on my lifestyle. What’s going on?”
“Sebastian, you have a problem.”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, as he took his mug and raised it in my direction in a show of thanks, before taking a long pull.
“Not bad,” he continued. “That’s why I’m here.”
“My problem started the moment you walked into my office,” I said, working hard not to let anger creep into my voice. “Why are you here exactly, Grey?”
He placed his mug on my desk and stared hard at me. It was slightly unnerving, because I knew Grey possessed a tenant in his mind. I didn’t know if it was him or his psychotic goddess looking at me.
With my luck, probably both.
“This is why you do not get involved with dragons,” he said, pointing in my direction. “I thought you knew this. Everyone knows this. Don’t you know this?”
I paused at his words, but maintained my composure. If he was mentioning dragons, this could be nothing good. If he felt the need to come see me in person, the odds of whatever it was being horrific had just risen stratospherically.
“I know that somewhere in that convoluted mess you call a brain, there’s a point,” I said, keeping my voice even. “I would truly appreciate it if you made it.”
“Actually, you have two problems, Eyes,” he said, raising two fingers. “Both of them need to be dealt with yesterday.”
I sat behind my desk, and took a long pull from my mug. It wasn’t even dawn, and I knew it was going to be a long day.
He only called me Eyes, when things were beyond catastrophic, and he didn’t care about offending me, since he knew I absolutely abhorred that nickname.
I took another breath and kept it under control.
“What possessed me to ever give you the address to the Church?”
“Because you’re a smart man,” he said. “Besides, I would have found you anyway—Tiger owes me.”
I rubbed my temple again.
As much as I wanted to deny it, Grey was a good friend, a valuable asset, and I was thankful he had not surrendered to darkness. Despite his questionable actions and self-professed position of being a dark mage, he was what I would consider a good person.
His methodology left much to be desired, but outside of Char, no one was more connected to the street than he was.
In fact, he was probably more connected than Char; his reach touched the pulse of the streets. Char may have been an information broker, but Grey was a Night Warden.
Those who dwelled in the shadows, who worked and lived in the darkness, knew of Char and respected her. Those same beings knew Grey and feared him. Between the two—Char and Grey—I would consider him more effective at moving in the world of shadows and getting results.
He had a particular policy of hands-on interaction that struck fear in the heart of the night. Everyone thought twice about crossing Char, because her retaliations were lethal and far-reaching. It spoke to his threat level, that no one who walked the shadows thought about crossing the Night Warden.
I took another pull from my mug and stared at Grey.
If something happened on the streets, Grey either knew about it, or knew someone who knew. If he said I had a problem, it wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of how large.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
“How bad is it?” I asked. “I can assume monumental, since you’re here gracing me with your presence.”
He nodded and took another pull before answering.
“Have you spoken to Cynder?”
My blood ran cold.
“Grey…why would I need to be speaking to Cynder?”
Tiger walked silently into my office and stood in the doorway. Grey gave no indication that he had noticed her enter, but I knew him. He had probably sensed her while she was a level away.
“Shit, she didn’t tell you,” he said, followed by a few more curses. “Damn dragons, you can’t trust them, much less get in bed with them. What the hell were you thinking? You’re smarter than this. I know you’re smarter than this, Eyes.”
“What do you mean get in bed with them?”
He pointed at my hand and the mark that pulsed softly there.
“That, Sebastian,” he said. “You let Char mark you as part of her enclave?”
“Yes,” I said. “There wasn’t much of a choice involved.”
“There’s always a choice,” he said, without turning. “Right, Tiger?”
“True, Night Warden,” Tiger said.
“Keeping those claws sharp?”
“How do you even do that?” Tiger said. “I didn’t say a word. I was barely breathing.”
“I’m old and crafty,” he said. “Plus, you’re loud.” He kept his gaze focused on me. “You’re both Charkin? Are you insane? Why would you let her do that?”
I looked down at the mark that pulsed slowly, before nodding in response.
“Are you asking me as Grey, my friend, or Grey the last Night Warden of questionable repute?” I asked, my words measured and laced with danger. “The same one who unleashed an entropic dissolution in this city in a failed attempt to undo a cast, and then later on, bonded to a cursed blade which is currently the domicile of a psychotic, bloodthirsty goddess? Which is it?”
Tiger let out a small gasp and stared at me.
Had I taken it too far? Yes. He was my friend, but he did not have the right to question my choices, just as I didn’t have the right to question his.
He chose to unleash an entropic dissolution to save the woman he loved. He failed and she died, and it nearly cost him his life. Accepting the cursed blade wasn’t a matter convenience, I understood the circumstances and I would’ve done the same if it meant preserving my life. Did I feel it was wrong? Yes. However, that didn’t give me the right to question his choice.
As his friend, I was able to see the situation and respect his choice, even if I disagreed vehemently with the outcome.
I needed to make that distinction clear between us, or this conversation would devolve into violence, and I wasn’t certain either of us would emerge unscathed from that conflict.
Grey gave me a hard look and shook his head slowly, never removing his gaze from my face. After a few seconds, he glanced to the side and let out a long breath before turning to face me again.
“I’m asking as your friend, because if I was sitting here as a Night Warden, you wouldn’t have lived long enough to finish that sentence.”
We stared at each for several seconds before I nodded and gave him a curt nod.
“My apologies,” I said, raising a hand in surrender. “I meant no offense, nor do I question your judgment. You did what you felt was necessary in the circumstance, I’m not one to pass judgment on your actions. I would’ve done the same had the—”
“No,” Grey said, cutting me off. “You will not do the same. You can’t. The decision I made didn’t save Jade, and nearly cost me everything and everyone else.”
“I don’t understand—”
“Promise me, Sebastian,” he continued. “If you are ever faced with a choice like that, a choice where you know you can’t save her, that no matter what you do, there is only one answer: that you do the right thing.”
“Grey…you have my attention,” I said, keeping my voice calm, even as my intestines tied themselves into knots. I had never heard him speak this way. “What happened?
“Your lady, Regina, escaped the Eyrie.”
“Holy shit,” Tiger said. “What do you mean, escaped?”
“Escaped?” I asked, concerned. “I didn’t realize she was being held captive.”
“From where I’m sitting, there are a few things you’re not realizing,” he said. “I can’t believe Cynder didn’t say anything, but actually I’m not surprised because—dragon.”
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