Cloak Games: Rebel Fist (23 page)

“So if not trouble,” I said, “what brings you here?” 

“This,” said Corvus, and he reached into his jacket and drew out a small brown envelope. I opened it and blinked. There were hundred dollar bills inside the envelope.

A lot of hundred dollar bills.

“Sergei Rogomil had a great many bounties on his head,” said Corvus. “Nora and I thought it fair to split the money with you three ways, and the Firstborn agreed. Take this money with the thanks of the Shadow Hunters, Miss Moran.”

“I will,” I said. I wasn’t about to turn away the money, given how often I ran into financial problems. It would pay for a lot of the rebuilding on the Marneys’ house. “Thank you.” 

Corvus shrugged. “Thanks is not required. You earned it. Though I am curious about something.”

“What’s that?” I said.

“You killed Rogomil,” said Corvus, “and many of his soldiers. Do you regret it?”

I started to say something glib, and then fell silent. He looked so gravely serious. 

“No,” I said at last. “Not in the least. I’m not a saint, Corvus. I know I have it in me to kill in cold blood.” I gave an angry shake of my head. “But you weren’t at the mall that morning. You didn’t see all the children there. Or all the people he murdered in Madison. The rat bastard got what he deserved, and so did his soldiers.” I met his gaze. “I have a lot of things on my conscience, but Sergei Rogomil and his soldiers are not one of them. Not now, not ever.”

Corvus nodded. “Then you understand something of what it is to be a Shadow Hunter.” 

We stood in silence for a moment. 

“You know,” I said at last, “you should stop that.”

“Stop what?” said Corvus.

“Calling me Miss Moran,” I said.

“Would you prefer Katerina Annovich?”

I laughed. “Look, you know who I am, and you haven’t screwed me over with the information. Call me Nadia. You can do it. It’s a very short name.”

“Only if,” said Corvus, “you cease calling me Corvus. I do not particularly care for the name.” 

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re the one who gave me that name.”

“In hindsight, a grievous error. I will call you Nadia, if you call me Riordan.” 

“All right,” I said. “Riordan.” 

Riordan MacCormac inclined his head to me. “Thank you. Look after yourself, Nadia. You have my phone number in case you require assistance…or if you learn anything more about the Dark Ones or the Forerunner.”

“Yeah,” I said.

He turned to go. He knew my name, knew about Russell, knew about Morvilind, and had not hurt me with that information. That information gave him power over me, and he had not used it to hurt me.

My mouth went a bit dry.

Maybe I could trust him a little further. 

“Hey,” I said. “Riordan. Wait.” 

Riordan stopped and turned. I pulled a pen and a bit of paper from my sweatshirt and scribbled down a number. “Here.”

“What’s this?” said Riordan.

“My phone number,” I said. “In case you want to give me a call sometime.” 

“If I need your help?” said Riordan.

I shrugged, growing uncomfortable. “I mean…if you wanted to give me a phone call. See if I was free for an evening.” 

“Then…you are giving me your phone number,” said Riordan, blinking in surprise. 

“Yes,” I said. “I believe that is what I said.” 

For a long moment he stared at me. 

“Are you sure that is a good idea?” Riordan said. “You were not wrong when you said trouble follows me. And…some of the things Morvilind said about me were not untrue…”

“I get it,” I said. “Look, I’ve…um, well, made some bad decisions. So I can’t blame you for that. And…come on, Riordan. Seriously. You said trouble follows you around. When was the last time you met more trouble than me?”

He blinked, and then threw back his head and laughed louder than I had yet heard from him. 

“Not recently,” he said. “Keep your phone charged, Nadia Moran. Who knows? I might have an evening free the next time I am in Milwaukee.” 

“Maybe I’ll have that evening free,” I said. “Who knows?” 

He smiled once more, tucked my number into his coat pocket, and drove away.

I grinned and walked back to the house, humming to myself as I retrieved my hammer. Maybe I shouldn’t have been in a good mood. Russell still had frostfever. I still had to do whatever Morvilind wanted, and everyone in Milwaukee had almost died.

Still, it could have been so much worse. 

Epilogue

Kaethran Morvilind walked alone in the darkness of his vault beneath Lake Michigan.

Nadia Moran didn’t know about this place. None of the shadow agents he had trained over the last three centuries had ever found out about this chamber. Some of them had come close, but most had gotten themselves killed before they realized the truth. He had only been forced to kill two of his agents to prevent them from learning about the vault.

Nadia, he suspected, might be the third one. 

She was very clever, her wit fused to boldness and competence, and her magical potential was much greater than she knew. The travails of the last year had made her stronger, and she had the ability to grow even more powerful. 

It was a risky balance. As she grew stronger, she was of more utility to Morvilind…but the risk of rebellion increased. 

No matter. Sooner or later she would be killed carrying out his will. And if she rebelled, he would simply kill her and start over. Fifteen years to train a replacement would be an annoying but minor inconvenience. 

He put the matter out of his mind.

The Cruciform Eye rested upon his worktable, painting the vault with a sullen crimson light. Morvilind rarely indulged his emotions, but he did feel a certain satisfaction looking at the glowing sphere. He had been looking for one of the Eyes for a long time now, even before Tarlia had been driven from the homeworld and he had found Earth. Centuries of searching…and then the idiot Archons had simply carried one into his grasp. 

Idiots, idiots, idiots. 

Morvilind’s lips thinned. 

Well, the fools would get what they deserved in the end. They all would. For Kaethran Morvilind would save the Elves, no matter what it cost. 

No matter how many humans he had to go through to do it.

Two other objects rested upon the table. One was the clay cuneiform tablet that Nadia had stolen from Paul McCade, and the other the Ringbyrne Amulet that she had taken from Jarl Rimethur. Morvilind picked up the amulet and looked at the twenty human slaves he had purchased from the debtors’ court, all of them naked and kneeling upon the floor, motionless in the grip of his magic. 

He was going to have to use up a lot of slaves before this was finished. 

“It is time,” said Morvilind, “to begin another series of experiments.”

Once the screaming was done and the blood cleared away, the results were quite promising. 

THE END

Thank you for reading CLOAK GAMES: REBEL FIST. Look for Nadia's next adventure, CLOAK GAMES: SHADOW JUMP, to appear in 2016. If you liked the book, please consider leaving a review at your ebook site of choice. To receive immediate notification of new releases, 
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