A Dream of Ashes: An Ava James Mystery (Chronicles of the Modern Mystics Book 1) Read online

  “How’s Canus?” I asked. “That arm looked bad.””

  “He’ll survive,” Buck said. “They took him.””

  “I need to call the Enclave—Moira, she needs to know,” I said. “Before they call the Enforcers.”

  “Franco called them,” he said. “That Lewis is a bastard.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” I said. “Who did he get?””

  “Julius,” he said with finality.

  “Julius? Are you sure?”

  The pit of my stomach flip-flopped at the mention of his name. Julius was a sadistic sociopath with an ego the size of Manhattan. He was also one of the best Enforcers in the Enclave.

  I’m going to need help. The unsanctioned kind.

  He nodded his head as he kept looking through the cabinet.

  “You need to get scarce fast, Ava,” Buck said. “I’ve heard stories about him. He’s a null and he collects trophies. The Enclave won’t touch him because he’s so good, but he’s twisted.”

  “I’ve heard the rumors,” I said. “All full-grade Enforcers are null, Buck. He’s just one of the worst.”

  A nagging question wouldn’t leave me alone.

  How did someone suppress the wards on the Rhino?

  Ghost the Warder guaranteed all his work. I was still breathing because of it. It was ironic since his wards had just tried to erase and save me simultaneously. I needed to pay him a visit.

  “Can I make the call from down here?” I asked.

  “No, it’s too shielded down here,” he said. “Same reason the calibrators didn’t pick you up.”

  “I’ll go upstairs, then,” I said. “This can’’t wait.”

  “Yes, it can, because you’re going to need this,” he said as he stepped away from the cabinet with a pendant in his hand.

  “What’s that?”

  “This is a Black Heart crystal,” he said as he handed it to me. “You have to charge it, but it can hide you from auric scans for a short time before losing its charge.””

  “How long does it keep its charge?”

  He shrugged at me. “Don’t know. It’s different for each person. You will have to try it and see.”

  “No user manual?” I said while putting it on.

  “Right, all mystic artifacts come with handy user manuals so you can avoid exploding yourself,” he said. “Where is the fun in that? All I know is that it can hide your aura.””

  It was a nine-sided crystal of obsidian with the same gold writing I saw on the floor etched in the center. It hung from a silver chain and I could sense the energy it contained.

  “What does it say?” I asked. “It’s the same as that one.””

  I pointed to the floor behind us. He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

  “You can’t read it?” he asked.

  “If I could, I wouldn’t ask.”

  “It’s the Rhyme of Nine—do you know it?”

  “Every mystic knows it, since we learn it as children,” I said.

  “Good, so once you understand the Rhyme, you will understand the crystal,” he answered. “For now just wear it all the time and it should keep you mostly hidden.””

  “What do you mean, mostly?”

  “It doesn’t make you invisible,” he said. “It only diffuses your auric signature, making you hard to track. If Julius sees you, he will shoot you.”

  “Does it do anything else?” I asked. “I mean besides ‘mostly’’ hiding me?”

  “It has other properties, but those will be unique to you,” he said. “Unlock the Rhyme.”

  I put on the crystal and felt it pulse against my chest. I knew why they called it a black heart.

  Buck stepped on the nonagon in the floor and a door opened on one of the far walls. I could see a brightly lit tunnel leading away from Sylph’s.

  “You need to leave, before they come back,” he said. “I’ve helped you as much as I can. That will lead you out and drop you on Fourteenth and Sixth.”

  “Thank you,” I said and gave him a hug. “I should be able to use the Rhino to get to my Uncle Seb’s. I just want to call Moira first.”

  “PTF towed it when they took Canus,” he said.

  “They what?” I asked, angry. “If they try and open her…the failsafes. A lot of people are going to get hurt.”

  “Franco gave instructions not to,” Buck said. “I’m surprised it’’s still intact after that explosion.”

  “Part of the design. Ghost is a genius.”

  “Use mass transit,” he said. “It should be safe. Don’t make the call until you are out of the tunnel. It won’t go through otherwise. Give my regards to Sebastian.”

  “Thank you, Buck,” I said and headed into the tunnel.

  “Don’t thank me,” he said. “Find whoever did this and stop them.””

  “I will,” I said as the door closed behind me.

  FIVE

  THE TUNNEL LED me out into the basement of one of the many buildings that lined Sixth Avenue and Fourteenth Street. I opened the door and expected a barrage of void bullets to crash into me. Every Enforcer carried void weapons. No mystic was immune to their effects. They were the same weapons I carried. As far as I knew, I was the only mystic in the Enclave who carried them, outside of the Enforcers. My truncheons were not lethal, unless I wanted them to be, and my guns were always a last resort. Both were safer than my fire.

  I merged with the walking traffic and headed east to the subway. I would have to take the orange line to get into Queens and my Uncle Seb’s house. I placed a finger by my ear and called Moira.

  “Ava, where the hell have you been?”

  Her words were clipped, which meant she was livid.

  “Trying to stay alive,” I said. “Someone bypassed the wards on the Rhino and tried to kill me.”

  “I sent you to the scene to get me a reading…a reading,” she said. “Not to attack the commander of the PTF.”

  “I didn’t attack him,” I said. “Someone else did.””

  “I read the reports and saw the damage, Ava. You need to come in. The Enclave will be lenient.”

  “What do you mean…lenient?”

  “The victim…They processed the auric signature of the blast. It’s yours.”

  The world tilted under me for a few seconds.

  “Mine?” I said. “Do you hear how crazy that sounds? I was on a case when you called me.”

  “I know that is what you said, but this happened hours before I called. Carlo went to the location you gave and found nothing. No victim and no suspects. Not even a trace of blood.”

  “I left two suspects zip-tied on the ground,” I said. “Next to a young girl one of them had turned into Swiss cheese, and you tell me Carlo found nothing?””

  “The alleyway in question was clear, according to his report.”

  “He’s lying,” I said. “Check it again. Send someone else.””

  “Why did you do it?” she asked.

  “Are you serious right now?” I almost yelled, drawing looks from the people around me. I could feel my power flowing away from me and took a few breaths to calm down. The last thing I needed was an explosion in the middle of a crowded sidewalk.

  “Deadly serious, Ava,” she said, her voice icy. “You need to come in before Julius brings you in.”

  “I’m not coming in, Director,” I said. ““If Julius comes near me I’m sending him back in a body bag.”

  “Ava, don’t be foolish, you are outclassed,” she said. “You don’’t stand a chance against him. If you continue on this path, the Enclave will designate you dark and a kill order will be issued.”

  “Dark…You know me,” I said, my voice trembling. “I would never do this.”

  “I’m trying to help you, Ava,” she said in a soothing voice. “Come in and we will sort this out. Help me help you.”

  I heard the distinct whine of the Shadow engine. It was still several blocks away. She was keeping me on the line until they could pinpoint my
location.

  “You bitch,” I said. “You were stalling.”

  “It’s for your own good,” she said, all pretense gone. “You are too dangerous on the streets. I knew it was a matter of time before something like this happened.”

  “You what?” This time I did yell. “Something like what?””

  “You’re unstable, and a liability.”

  I heard the words but they weren’t registering.

  “Your family name can’t help you now,” she said. “We have enough of a case to strip you of your powers.”

  She was talking about a mystic cleansing. The Shadow was getting closer.

  “Triangulate on her last position and close in,” I overheard her say. “Use extreme prejudice.”

  I took off the earpiece and dropped it in the bag of a woman who walked past me. I ran down the stairs to the subway and disappeared in the crowd.

  I stood in the sea of people on the crowded subway platform and tried to control my racing thoughts.

  How did everything get so out of control?

  I walked to the end of the platform and leaned my head against the wall. The cool tile felt good on my skin. I looked down the platform and saw him just as he fired. My world slowed down and the tile next to my head exploded into fragments. A few of the shards cut my face. The screams were overwhelming as the people around us scattered. It took me a few seconds to filter out the noise. In the center of the chaos stood an Enforcer. The image of his dark bodysuit with the red sword emblazoned on the left strangled the breath from my lungs.

  Their tracking is getting better.

  He held a gun in one hand and a thin device in the other—an auric calibrator. He was pointing the calibrator at me when he took aim again.

  I drew my guns out of reflex but didn’t have a clear shot. Too many people crossed my line of fire. A problem the Enforcer chose to ignore.

  “This is Darius,” I heard him say. “I have the suspect in my sights. Repeat, suspect is in my sights.”

  “Do not proceed—await Enforcer command,” answered a voice. “Wait for Julius before engaging.”

  “Negative, suspect in flight, will attempt to apprehend,” he said.

  “Stand down, Darius,” the voice said. “Stand—”

  He fired again and missed. If he was a null or experienced, I would have been bleeding out on the floor. I heard the rumble of an approaching train and saw the headlights in the distance.

  So much for standing down. Darius didn’t feel like waiting and neither did I. Julius was close, which meant I needed to put distance between us. I holstered my guns, jumped down into the tracks as Darius fired again and missed, exploding more tiles. I ran down into the darkness of the tunnel and crossed over to an adjacent set of tracks. I still couldn’’t understand how they had found me.

  The Black Heart. I didn’t charge it.

  I let my power flow around me, but it didn’t seem to affect the crystal around my neck. Was it broken? I grabbed it in my hand and tried to send power into it. I felt the energy wash over it, but nothing remained in the crystal. Behind me, more shots rang out, peppering the wall near me. Darius was persistent. Maybe the crystal had a trigger—a phrase or word that would activate it.

  The Rhyme. Could it be that simple?

  I whispered the Rhyme of Nine under my breath and felt the crystal shudder in my hand. I could feel power flow into it. Around me, the air shimmered briefly and then returned to normal. I kept running down the tunnel until I came to the next station. A train was entering the station across the platform. Once the doors opened, I jumped in and settled into one of the large benches. As the train left the station, I saw Darius exit the same tunnel I had used and step into the station, looking confused. He tapped the calibrator several times and looked around. The train rumbled away from the platform and headed to Brooklyn. I looked around at the empty subway car, and let go of the breath I was holding. I was alone.

  SIX

  IT WAS A familiar sensation, being alone. I had never had a large circle of friends. The only family I knew was my Grandfather Ichigo in Japan, who had passed several years ago, and my Uncle Sebastian, who had raised me. The Enclave would be watching Uncle Seb, and I needed to make some calls before I headed home. I walked the streets of Brooklyn until I found what I was looking for—a phone store. I bought a prepaid cell phone, paid cash, and made sure none of the cameras got a good look at me.

  I activated the phone and made a call.

  The call took longer than usual. I knew it was being routed through several hubs and bounced over the continent before connecting to one of the best gray hats on the planet. The Enclave considered him a high-level threat. One they would eliminate—if they could find him. This is why he never met face to face.

  “Rafe, it’s me,” I said into the silence. “I need help.””

  “The mystic of the hour,” he said. “I have you all over the place. South Enclave says you cremated a mystic on Fourteenth and then tried to retire the commander of the PTF. Too much caffeine?”

  “You know me better than that,” I said. “I only kill when necessary.”

  “I know not to make the necessary occur.”

  “Someone wants me out of the way.”

  “In the worst way possible, it seems,” he said. “What do you need?”

  “I need information and access to a cache,” I said.

  “What kind?”

  “A M.A.C. if you have one close.”

  M.A.C. stood for money, ammo, and communications. I was running low on the first two and needed a better phone than the burner I held now. Rafe had geocaches all over the city for situations like this. How he managed to keep them all hidden was a secret he never shared with me.

  “Coordinates sent to your poor excuse of a phone,” he answered. “What kind of information?”

  “I need to know if there is another Fire Mystic in the Enclave, one off the books, maybe an operative?” I said. “Check North and South.””

  He whistled low. “You want me to infiltrate one of their most secure servers to find a Fire Mystic that may not exist?”

  “PTF says my signature was on the victim on Fourteenth,” I said. “A Fire Mystic did that, and it wasn’t me. I need to see that report.”

  “That will be difficult,” he said. “PTF is paranoid about their security.”

  “Too difficult for you?” I asked. “Should I call someone else?”

  “There is no one else to call,” he said. “I am your best and only hope; besides, you give me the best distractions. Call me back in fifteen from a new phone. Anything else?”

  “Someone bypassed the wards on the Rhino,” I said. “I need to know who could do that. It should be a short list.”

  “Aren’t we making all sorts of interesting friends today?” he said and gave a short laugh. “Call me later.”

  The line went dead. I checked the coordinates and headed to the cache. I made sure to destroy the phone first by melting it to plastic scrap. The hide was a few blocks from my location on the roof of a building as part of the HVAC ductwork. I opened the box and found void magazines for my weapons and a roll of hundred-dollar bills. Next to these sat a black, sleek, next-gen sat phone. Behind the phone, a thin tablet rested against the side of the box. I grabbed the contents, filled the interior pockets of my coat, and headed downstairs. It was late afternoon and I wanted to get off the street. I checked my aura and saw the shimmering effect of the crystal around my body.

  Still hidden. Good.

  I needed to get to Queens and my Uncle Seb, but I wouldn’t do that until dark. The crisp winter air kept most people off the street as I headed into a new version of an old coffee shop to make the call. The white noise of conversation and utensils surrounded me as I sat in a back booth and ordered a Puerh tea and some food. It wasn’’t Buck’s famous chocolate brew, but it was drinkable.

  I pressed the call button on the phone and held it until it connected.

  “I have bad news and
worse news,” Rafe said. “Can you talk in that nouveau dump?”

  “Yes,” I said and looked around to make sure no one was paying undue attention.

  “First the bad news,” he said. “If there’s another Fire Mystic in the Enclave, North or South, they have him or her so well hidden I can’t find any trace.”

  This is bad. If Rafe can’t find the Fire Mystic, it means an outside operative.

  “Shit.”

  “I’ll keep looking. If this mystic exists, then a footprint exists as well,” he said. “I’ll find it.”

  “If it’s not in the Enclave, then it’s a freelancer,” I said. ““Which makes no sense.”

  “I was able to get the report for you,” he said. “I’ll send it to the tablet. It’s what you already know. In addition, how they think it was you. Lewis is a big fan of yours, it seems.”

  “President of the club,” I answered. “He hates all mystics and our abilities.”

  “Ah, a rhabdophobe, how pleasant,” he said. “He seems to be fixated on you. My condolences.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “What’s worse?””

  “Check your tablet.”

  I pulled out the device and placed it on the table where I could see it but still keep it away from prying eyes. A news report came up in the news feed. A construction worker had fallen to his death in midtown.

  “This is important how?” I asked, not seeing the connection. “These guys get hurt all the time. It’s a risky line of work.”

  “You’re watching the PTF spin,” Rafe said. “Said worker was an Earth Mystic, which makes sense considering his occupation.”

  “Earth Mystic?” I asked. “Says here he died in a fall.”

  “No, he didn’t die in a fall,” he said. “They found half of him roasted at a site with that construction cement in his lungs and stomach.”

  “Impossible,” I whispered. “Earth Mystics don’t make a habit of eating or breathing cement.”

  “That’s not the worst part—well, it is…for him,”” he said. “They found one of your little glow sticks covered in his blood near his body.”

  My hands shot to my thighs and rested on my truncheons. Both were still in place. As far as I knew, these were the only two in existence.