Chapter 60

They moved quickly ’round the corner Amaryllis had indicated, and there it was, at long last, the house with the black door and lantern that Peter Reynolds described.

Asmodeus drifted lazily along next to them. “YOU KNOW, ME STARTING TO LIKE YOU.”

“No you’re not.” Alastair took a step forward, wanting to be as far away from the demon as possible.

“ME IS.”

“You’re just trying to lull me into a false sense of security so I let my guard down. Then you’ll try to eat me.”

“HMMM. MAYBE.” The demon grinned. Its teeth were sharp. “MAYBE NOT. WE FIND OUT?”

“Not interested.”

Alastair took another stride forward, trying to put more distance between them, but Asmodeus followed. Like a shark stalking prey.

“MAYBE WE WORK TOGETHER. ME, YOU. ME GIVE YOU BIG JOB.” He rattled his chains. “THESE HURT. ME NOT WANT THEM. YOU MAKE GO AWAY, ME EATS ANYONE YOU WANT.”

“Not on your life,” Alastair said. “You must think I’m really stupid, don’t you?”

The demon chuckled.

The square in front of the house was eerily quiet.

“No undead,” Amaryllis noted, scanning the area. “No rioters either. Completely empty.”

“Feels like someone’s home,” Sebastian added. “Do you sense it?”

Alastair did.

The boundary around the house crackled with magic. There were wards on top of wards keeping anyone unwanted away. Which didn’t bode well, because that suggested someone allowed them to get this far in the first place. Someone knew they were there.

Before anyone could make a move, the black door opened, and Marcus Gold stepped out, impeccably dressed as always. His hair was neatly parted and he carried a cane with a gold handle shaped like a fox.

“Good evening,” he said, as if nothing out of the ordinary were happening at all. “How’s your night going?”

“It’s not been the best,” Alastair snapped. “Thanks to you.”

“You know, it took you so long to find us, we thought you’d given up. We were so sure we’d provided enough information. But I imagine you’ve been busy. End of the semester and all.”

That took Alastair aback. “What?”

“Oh, come on, lad. You’re clearly a smart man—headmaster and all. We’ve been watching your work. Surely you can put it together.”

“You wanted us to find you?”

Gold scoffed. “Obviously. Do you think we’re complete fools? We could have set up anywhere. But chose right here, holding your headmaster almost directly under your nose. Thought you would have figured it out, but it was taking too long. Even after we kidnapped that gentleman. When we realized it wasn’t you, we figured we’d use the opportunity to our advantage.”

“But—why? Why keep him here? Why try to get us out here? Why not just kill us? You had plenty of opportunities.”

“Well,” Gold said, twirling his cane. “Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I still have hope, you know? I’ve said it before—and I know you don’t believe me—but I hold nothing against you personally, Mr. Meade. I think we can resolve this relatively amicably. Perhaps over dinner? I’ve got some sherry open inside. Very good. Are you a sweet sherry man or dry?”

“I have no idea,” Alastair growled.

“Come on in, then, and find out. Even your little familiar friend can come, if he reduces himself to a reasonable size. We like his kind. They are… helpful to the cause.”

The demon chuckled. “ME LIKE HIM.”

“I don’t want to have sherry with you,” Alastair said, teeth gritted. “I don’t want to have dinner. I don’t want to work with you at all. Now, where’s Headmaster Ozelius?”

Gold sighed. “Is that really your problem to solve? My issue with Ozelius doesn’t concern you. I’ll tell you what, go back to Glimmerglass, have fun in the woods, build—oh, I don’t know, campfires—cook s’mores, all of that. Live a wholesome life. You seem the type. Surely, the thought has occurred to you.”

It had—but Gold was the last person Alastair would confide that to.

“No.” Alastair shook his head adamantly. “I’m here to stay, until Headmaster Ozelius returns, at least. And not a moment before.”

Gold pressed his cane to his chin. “If you insist on doing things the hard way—”

Six black-robed mages stepped out, joining at Gold’s side. The last one held a long silver chain. He pulled on it hard—and Ozelius stumbled through the threshold behind him and fell to his knees on the cobblestones.

The headmaster was in bad shape. His long beard and hair were yellow and matted, and his eyes were hollow. He’d lost a lot of weight. A cheap, dirty muslin robe hung loosely on his blood covered shoulders. When he reached out to steady himself, his arm was as thin as a broomstick.

Eloise rushed toward him, but one of the Dark Mages stretched out a wand and knocked her back with a well-directed Moving Shield spell. She staggered a few feet and almost fell before she was able to catch herself.

“Let us talk to him!” she shouted. “He’s sick!”

“Talk away,” Gold said amicably. “I’m not here to stop you doing that. Just maintain your distance.”

“Alastair, is that you?” the headmaster croaked. “You came. Did you take the job?”

“I did.” Alastair’s voice cracked as he tried to hold back tears. The sight of the man in this state was too much to handle.

“None could have done it better, I’m sure. I’ve thought of you often since you left. You had so—so much potential.”

“This is sweet,” Gold said.

Alastair gritted his teeth.

“No matter,” Ozelius said, waving it off. “I’m sure we can talk about it later over a glass of brandy in my office.”

Gold and his friends laughed.

But Ozelius went on as if he hadn’t just been held captive for nearly an entire school year. “I should never have made that trip without an escort. The moment I left Watermere, they had me—two days out from the city, on the road north. I’m just glad to have you back. So many years—we can pick up where we left off. I’ve got some thoughts. Some things you might be good for. Politics, maybe? The government has need of men like you. Or you can come work at Emberstone for good.”

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Gold caught his breath. “The old man sure has plans for you, doesn’t he?”

“Let’s discuss it later?” Alastair said. “First, we’ll get you out of here—”

“No you won’t,” Gold said mildly. “We’ll be holding onto him, I think. We’ve been using his power—he’s a veritable treasure trove of it. Not tapped out yet. Unlike all of you, I think.”

“We’ve got a lot of fight left,” Alastair said, unsure it was true.

“Cut it out, Marcus,” Sebastian said, looking almost green.

“Ah, Mr. Shelley.” Gold stepped forward. “Thinking we are on a first-name basis. How disappointing you’ve turned out to be.”

He snapped his fingers and one of his robed figures snatched Sebastian.

“Leave him alone!” Eloise shouted. Then she was nearly toppled over as Asmodeus used the distraction to his advantage to pull against his bonds.

“You are all like children,” Gold said. “What is stopping me from just killing you all, here and now?”

“Perhaps the same thing that’s stopped you every other time,” Alastair said.

“Ah, but things are different now, aren’t they? You can’t see reason. You’re blinded by… what, morality? Honor? Something else?” He glared at Amaryllis.

“I wouldn’t recommend trying us,” Alastair warned, raising his wand.

In the blink of an eye, Gold whipped his cane around, catching Alastair’s hand. Alastair’s wand flew against the brick wall and clattered to the ground.

Alastair sucked in a breath and grabbed his wrist with the other hand.

Gold gave them a cool look, assessing them one by one. “That’s a risk I think we can take. You’ve all been fighting for a long time, haven’t you? Unless you’re willing to come to terms—”

“No,” Alastair said through gritted teeth. “You don’t—”