Stolen Compass (The Painter Mage Book 4) (15 page)

W
e called the police
. Well, the sheriff, really. When Jakes pulled into my driveway, the blue bubble of the cruiser lights catching the light from the front of my house, I didn’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed that we needed his help. With this, I suspected he actually
would
help, not like some of the other times I’d asked.

“What is it, Morris?” Jakes asked, stepping out of the cruiser.

“Well, Jakes, we missed you. Thought we should apologize for what happened back there with Tom, and you know, tell you that a miniature mage is running through town and planning to join whatever battle is intended for Conlin.”

“You released him?” Jakes asked. His eyes darted to Devan and then to Taylor.

“Not us,” Devan said, raising her hands out in front of her. “When Ollie gets a bug up his ass, you know how he is.”

Jakes looked like he wanted to smile but then shook his head. “Why call me?”

I motioned to the truck. I had complete faith that Devan would get it running again, but for now, we couldn’t go anywhere in it. We could try going by foot, and with Devan and Taylor—especially modded as she was—they might even reach where we needed to go before we could riding with Jakes.

“Little Nik. He decided to give the truck a makeover.”

“You know where he’s going?” Jakes asked.

“Not really, but Devan has her scout out there, so we should be able to follow that. I suspect they’re going to end up in the same place.”

Jakes studied me, his face as hard as usual. “They cannot cross. The ways around here are guarded.”

“I’m not so sure of that, big guy,” I said, going to the passenger door of his cruiser. “They got over here, didn’t they? And besides, I think we know of a crossing they might use that you don’t know about.”

Jakes waited for Devan and Taylor to get into the car before he followed.

The car was as I imagined every police cruiser. There were plush cloth seats, and the inside smelled of a floral air freshener. I would have figured Jakes for something manlier, something like pine or sawdust, or maybe just let the car get all funky. The radio crackled softly, but didn’t seem to be tuned to any particular channel. A computer was mounted on the dash, with the cover closed. I turned so I could see behind me. Devan and Taylor sat in the back seat, behind a wire mesh screen. I smiled at them and waved.

“Suits you pretty well, Devan,” I said.

“Careful, Ollie, or I’ll pull this off and wrap it around your head.”

I suppressed my grin and turned back to Jakes as he climbed in and settled behind the wheel. “She probably could, too.”

“She could,” Jakes agreed.

We pulled out of my driveway and sped down the street. Jakes didn’t flip any sirens on, which disappointed me a little. There weren’t many other cars out at this time of night.

“Where are we going?” Jakes asked.

Devan closed her eyes for a moment. The medallion went cold, so I knew she used her magic. “North. Outside of town,” she said.

“Not the park?” Devan shook her head. “Are they already making a play for the crossing?”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Devan said. “Why would they go that way when there’s the risk that my… Oh shit, Ollie.”

I glanced over at her. “What is it?”

“Why else would they want to come out this way at this time? What if they knew my father was going to return?”

“They wouldn’t attack him, would they?”

“Why not? We know his magic is probably changed on this side of the Threshold. What better way to get to him.”

“Ah, damn. Now I’m going to have to help your father.”

Jakes looked over at me, somehow not having any trouble steering the car as he did. We pulled around a curve in the road, the car accelerating as we made our way out of the city. We passed the sign welcoming people to Conlin, the sign my father had some hand in creating, though I still didn’t quite know what it did. Protection of some kind, most likely, but with my father, that could mean anything.

Scenery turned from the scattered houses and farms along the edge of town to the trees that would eventually come together and form the park along the Cotton River. I didn’t exactly know where we were going and trusted Devan to guide us. The car raced up a hill, and suddenly, I no longer needed Devan’s help knowing where we were headed.

“Guess we’re nearly there,” I said.

Power thundered from the park, the kind only found with a doorway opening.

Jakes floored the accelerator, and we went flying down the road.

“We’re going to just blast in there without knowing what we’re facing?” Taylor asked.

“We know what we’re going to face. And it’s not good,” I said. I turned toward Taylor so I could see her reaction. There was a part of me curious about what she’d do when faced with what was coming. I’d seen her when attacks came before. It wasn’t like Taylor was afraid to mix it up when things started getting dangerous, but sometimes she could be almost
too
eager. “This will be dangerous, Taylor.”

She seemed to half-smile. “Of course it’s dangerous. We’re talking about creatures that think to steal from the Elder, who are strong enough to steal from the Elder.”

I looked over to Devan. She only shook her head.

As I started to turn back around in my seat, the car crashed into something. The front end dove down, tipping the rear of the cruiser into the air. Devan grabbed for the wire screen between us and gripped it tightly. Taylor crashed forward into the wire.

Jakes spun the wheel frantically, and we came to a stop on the side of the road. Somehow he managed not to roll the car. He kicked his door open and sniffed, his nose elongating as he did. “Careful. There’s a hunter here,” he snarled. Faster than I could think, he flung the door wide and shifted out of it, streaking away.

A hunter. I suddenly remembered the way Devan’s nose had crinkled in the storage shed, and the darkness I’d seen at Tom’s. But why hadn’t I been attacked? Or Taylor?

“Guess that means we should be ready,” I said.

Devan tried her door but it wouldn’t open. She grabbed the wire screen and ripped it free, crumpling it and setting it next to her as if it were nothing more than cardboard. Taylor groaned and sat up. Blood spilled from her forehead where she’d struck the wire, leaving a patterned indentation. Devan helped her across the seat.

“Go,” she urged me. “I’ll stay with her until she’s able to move. You need to go and help Jakes.” She pressed a small oval into my hand. “Use this and follow her. She’ll lead you where you need to go. Don’t let them take the compass across the Threshold.”

“No promises,” I said.

She grabbed my hand as I started out of the car. “Stay alive.”

“All right, that one I’ll make.”

The car had stopped on the down side of a hill. I couldn’t tell what we’d hit, but it had crumpled the front of the car. There wasn’t any sign of what we’d struck, almost as if it had appeared out of nowhere.

I grabbed two charms, making certain they were the ones I intended. One was a circle charm and would provide me with a quick and dirty protective ring. The other was the Agony charm that would create enough of a blast to take down almost anything. I hoped I didn’t need it, but I wasn’t about to risk running into the woods without some way of quickly defending myself. Out there would be someone working for the Trelking—probably Devan’s brother—but also someone for the Druist Mage. And then Nik. He was sort of the unknown.

A path led away from the road and down the slope toward where I suspected the river to be. The oval stone Devan had given me pulsed softly in my palm. It took a moment to realize that it guided me along.

I made my way down the dark path as carefully as I could. I didn’t want to stumble across whoever might be out here, but a sense of urgency pushed me forward. If whoever had the compass reached the crossing, then their side had a distinct advantage. I wasn’t certain what the Trelking wanted of the compass—probably nothing more than to keep it away from the Druist Mage—but I had no doubt what the Druist Mage intended to use it for. If it could mask his efforts from the Trelking, the war on the other side of the Threshold would flourish. And it had already spread to this side of the Threshold.

Worse, now there seemed to be a battle for the shardstone. Whoever controlled it would be incredibly powerful. The balance would be unsettled, and I didn’t think I’d like whatever happened then.

Another explosion lit the night, this one down the path and not all that far from me. Power sizzled in the air from it.

I slowed and made my way along the path more carefully now. Hopefully, Jakes and the other shifters were out there. If not, then I didn’t like my chances, not if there was a hunter out here.

The stone stopped pulsing. Was that a good thing or bad?

Power built near me, and I dropped just in time. A streak of fire shot past me. I held out the Agony charm and squeezed, releasing the ink. It shot away from me and into the air. With an infusion of power, the ink exploded in a ring of power, more than what we’d followed to the river.

I waited a moment before standing carefully. Was that it? I doubted the charm would have been enough, not against one of the Trelking’s people, especially not if it was Devan’s brother. From what I remembered, he was particularly talented, much more so than most of the Te’alan. And the attack wouldn’t have stopped a hunter, either.

When nothing more came, I continued down the slope toward the river. I could hear it now, burbling softly as it whisked along. It would pass north of the city. The Parch River ran along the south side of the city. Eventually, the two would meet and mingle as they continued their steady flow.

I felt the burgeoning power as I reached the river. Whatever was building was coming quickly, and was strong enough that I wouldn’t be able to stop it.

A snarl of dark fur leapt through the trees and crashed into a shadow in front of me. The hunter. Jakes was a massive in his shifted form, and powerful, but the hunter he collided with was equally large.

“Keep them away from the doorway, Jakes!”

A snarl answered, though I didn’t know whether Jakes was answering me or just struggling with his fight. The shadow slid away from the trees, and Jakes followed. When they cleared the triangle formed by the trees, I pressed on the other charm I had, expelling a ring of black ink into a cloud that I sealed with power.

The effort of holding this circle was lessened by the fact that I’d used black ink. It was times like this when I chose black intentionally, preferring it for my predilection for the ink. I no longer questioned that
I was predisposed toward black. It was the color of destruction, of death. I simply tried not to think about the why.

Something moved near me and I spun.

“Oliver.”

The man standing across from me was a little taller than Devan, but not much. He had a slight build and stood before me angled, almost as if ready to strike. A short sword hung from his waist, glowing softly. His eyes matched the glow. Unlike Devan, his skin didn’t take on the soft yellow sheen as he used his magic on this side of the Threshold.

“Brand.” I used his common name. Devan had once told me his formal name, but it wasn’t one I could easily speak. I hadn’t seen him in years, long before he went to the front. “You’re still alive. You know, Devan was pleased to hear that.”

He stepped forward and I tensed. He was
inside
the circle with me. Shit.

“De’avan has always chosen strangely,” he said. “But it is not mine to decide.”

“Yeah, she’s slumming it.”

His face didn’t change. He took another step. Behind him, I caught sight of two large items. One was the compass. The other made my breath catch. Agony.

“Your father didn’t need me at all, did he?”

Brand smiled. “Father? Did he send you after this, as well? Explains why you’ve been such a pest.”

I didn’t think we’d been pests at all; just a few steps too late the entire time.

But if Brand wasn’t after it for his father…

My eyes glanced to the base of the sculpture where I suspected the shardstone was stored, and then caught on the smear of dark ink on his fingers. Everything started to click into place. “You were after the shardstone for yourself. That’s why you crossed. That wasn’t another painter at the storage unit, was it?”

Brand stopped and rested one hand on his sword as he considered me. “You showed me that there is power in the work you control. I only borrowed it.”

“That kind of power isn’t really meant for you,” I said. “It will twist you—”

Brand slid toward me in the blink of an eye, faster than I could react. “Do you think I have learned so little?”

Adazi had thought the same thing, but I’d seen what happened to him. When truly magical creatures like the shifters attempted to use painter power, it twisted them. I don’t really know why; it must have something to do with their magic, that painter power is drawn to a different type of magic, or maybe it’s like crossing the Threshold. When you use that kind of power, it twists the painter.

My hand dropped into my pocket, and I prayed to the gods that he didn’t see what I did. “I’m pretty sure that you haven’t learned nearly as much as you think.”

“Brand?”

Devan’s voice caught him as he started to move. He turned and faced his sister. “De’avan. I see you’ve changed, as well.”

“What are you doing?” she asked. Her eyes focused behind him briefly, recognizing as quickly as I did that he’d taken the compass and, somehow, Agony. Where was Taylor? “Did Father send you here?”

Brand sneered. He stepped a pace toward Devan, as if debating who he would attack first. It was a measure of just how much he’d changed that he considered attacking her at all. “Father thinks to control everything, thinks he sees everything, but he hasn’t seen this.” He smiled at her. “Oliver was quite helpful when he taught me the way painters drew their power. There are ways with this painter’s power that I can obscure myself from Father.”

Devan glanced at me. I didn’t have to ask to know what she was thinking.

“What did you need in the storage shed?” I wanted to delay him, to give Jakes a chance to appear. I started a slow circle, building the pattern as I went. I already knew why he’d gone to the shed, especially if he thought my father had stored something there that could be useful. But how had he known about it in the first place?