Summoned to Die Read online

  Summoned to Die

  by

  C.L. Walker

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Epilogue

  Authors Note

  Chapter 1

  “Agmundr, vochex.”

  It was her voice, calling me from the darkness. Her voice, which I never wanted to hear again. Her voice, that caused my heart to beat faster.

  “Agmundr, vochex.”

  The world was a blur of endless white, with only a single humanoid form in it. Nothing had resolved yet and nothing was real, but I knew who was waiting for me.

  “Agmundr, vochex.”

  Erindis, coming into focus as my body formed. She stood in a circle of blue light within a room of white. I glanced around us at the white walls, roof, and floor. I couldn’t see where the illumination was coming from but it was total, and it lit my wife in an unflattering way.

  She left the odd blue-lit circle and made her way around me, glaring at me as she did. She was as beautiful as ever, tall and strong, with her long blonde hair tied up and wearing an expensive suit. I felt drawn to her despite what she’d done. Despite what she was very probably doing again.

  She completed her circuit and returned to the blue circle. She lowered her head and mumbled the closing words that I had never heard.

  “Where are we?” I asked when she was done and the summoning ritual was complete. “Why am I here?”

  For most of my life this was the point when I began my campaign to end the life of my master. I should have done the same with her, after the last time she’d summoned me. I should have known better than to worry about her.

  “It’s done,” she called out to the room. She was still glaring at me, still angry.

  “What’s happening, my love?”

  I had chosen the wrong words and I saw it on her face right away. She went from glaring and angry to furious and advancing on me. She was tall but I was seven feet of muscle, and people didn’t often cross a room with the violent intent I saw in her.

  She slapped me, hard, then stood still, daring me to hit her back. I had never struck her in my life but she behaved as though she’d won a victory against me. She smiled at my confusion, seemingly happy that I didn’t know what the hell was going on.

  “Where is Bec?” I said. “The others?”

  James, the young oracle boy, had last held the locket that imprisoned me, but Bec had been there. Bec had been in charge, deciding to put me away again after the destruction I’d caused facing Bannon. If Erindis now held the locket it meant something had happened to Bec.

  “Your girl is fine,” my wife said. “Be a good boy and she’ll stay that way.”

  Now I reacted, anger welling in my chest in a way her actions hadn’t caused. Now I wanted to hit her back, or punch a wall, or something.

  “Why are you doing this?” I said again, barely keeping my emotions in check. For me, it had been mere moments since I was betrayed by the people I trusted, and hours since I’d fought my greatest enemy and almost died. I was still in that place, still ready to fight. It might have been a year, or a thousand years, for Erindis, but not for me.

  “I’m doing what I’ve always done,” she said. “What you’ve forced me to always do.”

  She blamed me for her life and she was right. I’d given her eternity and she resented me for it, preferring a cold grave thousands of years ago. She was crazy.

  “What you’ve always done?” I said. I still hadn’t moved from the circle I’d been summoned to, but she had barely stopped. She watched me as though searching for an opening to strike.

  “Make deals, hide, survive. What you’ve forced me to do since you made your damned deal with the devil.”

  I didn’t want to rehash her problems, and I didn’t have to. She’d made a mistake summoning me.

  I faced her and smiled at the sudden panic in her eyes. I let her calm down, just for a moment, then reached out and wrapped my hand around her neck. She began to object and I lifted her from the ground, cutting off her air.

  She tried to speak, tried to tell how I couldn’t do what I was doing. She wanted to tell me she was my master and I had to obey her, or at least not hurt her. She wanted to explain to me the parameters of a curse I knew better than she ever could.

  She grew weaker, her defensive flailing slowing until it stopped. I put her down, supporting her as her legs failed her. I watched her pretty face as the puffiness faded and she returned to life.

  “You can’t do that,” she said. “I am your master.”

  I held her head to keep her from trying to get away, and whispered in her ear. “You’re immortal, my love. I can’t kill you.”

  “You can’t hurt me,” she said.

  “I think I’m helping you, because you’re very confused and it’ll get you killed in the long run.”

  It was the twisted logic I’d used for millennia to defeat my masters; they could tell me what to do and they could expect me not to directly kill them, but I got to interpret their orders and I could arrange their deaths if I was smart enough. As long as I could justify my actions within the rules of the curse I could do anything, and I had become a master at justifications for harming the arrogant people who summoned me.

  She pulled away from me but I kept her close for an extra second, just to let her know I was choosing for her to step away. Or maybe I just wanted to hold her again; I didn’t know yet.

  “Where are we, Erindis?”

  “The government took an interest in your actions in Fairbridge,” she said as she went back to pacing the room. “They’d like to work out how you can do what you do.”

  She was looking for something, or waiting for someone. The situation wasn’t going according to plan but she didn’t want to appear weak in front of me so she was trying to hide it. I was starting to piece together the situation from the scraps on hand, and it didn’t look good.

  “So you jumped into bed with them, same as Invehl.”

  She didn’t like my words and started to object, but she was old enough to know I was baiting her. She went back to pacing.

  “The last time I saw you there was a pyramid,” I said. “And an army?”

  “That was a long time ago, Agmundr.”

  It could have been a thousand years, or a million. Neither of us would have aged. But if the government was interested in what I had done in Fairbridge then it couldn’t be more than a few years. She was trying to hide it from me, but she wasn’t very good at obfuscation.

  “You know how I can do what I do,” I said. There was a door in one wall and I knew what would be waiting for me on the other side. “Tell them it’s magic and move on.”

  “They’re the government,” she said, still circling me. “That isn’t how th
ey work.”

  I thought I could break the door if I hit it hard enough. There would be people on the other side, guards and such, but I was quick and strong and they would have orders to take me alive. Not using lethal force on me would be a problem for them.

  “Are you going to order me to listen to them? Because it didn’t go well for your last partnership.”

  “You’ve got no power in those tattoos of yours and you’re not getting any, either.” She was treating me like an enemy and I didn’t like it. I still hadn’t decided whether to treat her like any master, or continue treating her specially.

  “It’ll be tempting for them to see what I can do with some power, though, won’t it?”

  “They aren’t that stupid,” she said, but I had her thinking again. She looked worried.

  “I can crush a tank while I’m making coffee,” I said, talking more to the walls than to her. “I think they’ll be interested.”

  “Stop it, Agmundr.” She stood before me, fearful and angry. I’d said something that touched a nerve for her and I didn’t know what it was. Yet.

  “Think what I’ll do when they eventually give me the strength to finish you.”

  She tried to hit me again and this time I didn’t let her. I caught her arm and squeezed, feeling bone grinding in response. She grimaced, then gasped, and then she screamed.

  The door flew open behind me. I was ready. I turned to face my enemy, ready for bullets or magic, or even wild demons. I might not win, but I was prepared to go down fighting.

  The guns the soldiers held shot sharp barbs that buried in my tattooed skin. A moment later it was like I’d been hit by lightning.

  I collapsed on the floor, jerking and wriggling, and Erindis leaned over me to glare and try to look like she’d won.

  I reached out and touched her leg. Despite the pain I had to laugh as she fell to the floor beside me.

  Chapter 2

  I woke up in a jail cell. It was a nice jail cell – it wasn’t a dungeon beneath the ground somewhere – but it was still a cell.

  No windows and blank white walls, with a metal bed and a thin mattress. The metal door had a small hatch in the middle I assumed would be for food. Some clothes had been left on the bottom of the bed for me.

  I ached everywhere. Getting shocked by three guys who wouldn’t let go of the trigger wasn’t an experience I wanted again any time soon. What I wanted was to find them and cave their heads in.

  I sat up and tested that everything was working, stretching and flexing each muscle group in turn. The tattoos were dormant, so any damage I picked up was going to heal slowly. I had to make sure I was in the best state I could be, so I could make use of any mistakes my captors made.

  The last time Erindis had summoned me it had been for Invehl, the god of envy. He’d given me free rein to roam his facility, trusting that with Erindis as my master I wouldn’t try anything for fear of her getting hurt.

  Whoever the new guys were didn’t have the same idea. They were being careful, like posting the guards outside the room I’d been summoned in. Invehl had trusted his soldiers, had in fact let me fight them just to find out what I could do. I didn’t think I was going to be afforded the same chances this time.

  I got dressed and sat on the bed. The lighting was constant and there was no switch to turn it off, so I had no idea what the time was or how long I spent staring at the door. When I finally heard the bolt on the far side slide open I jumped in surprise.

  The man who entered reminded me of Phil, another of my former masters who’d died horribly. He was short, for the time period, and wore a rumpled suit. He was a little overweight without it slowing him down, and his head was clean-shaven. Though he reminded me of Phil, he looked like less of an asshole.

  “Mr. Agmundr,” the man said. The door slammed shut behind him and he leaned against it. He had a clipboard in his hands and he crossed his arms over it.

  “Just Agmundr,” I replied. “If I had a last name it would be Smith, I guess. My father was a blacksmith.”

  “And when would that have been?” He was smiling but I didn’t think it showed any malice; he was simply excited to speak to me.

  “A long time ago.”

  “The seventies? The fifteen-seventies? The Pleistocene, perhaps?”

  “Your history is wrong,” I said. I didn’t know what the last time period he’d mentioned was referring to, but I knew they’d lost tens of thousands of years of history during my various times trapped in the locket.

  “A long time ago, though, am I right?”

  “You know you are.” I was keeping my tone as neutral as I could, but I was still angry. I was always angry, but more so when people locked me in a box and then quizzed me without explaining themselves. It was a sensitive issue of mine.

  “I’m hoping we can get along,” the man said. He gestured to the bed, asking if he could sit. I nodded and he collapsed, putting his leg up so he could turn to face me. “This is an exciting time.”

  “You shouldn’t be in here with me,” I said. “And you shouldn’t be so close.”

  He looked around for a moment, puzzled. I thought he was faking it, which irritated me more. He then turned back, as though he’d found what he was looking for.

  “You’re threatening me, right? Oh, Agmundr, you don’t have to threaten me. And it won’t do you any good, anyway. We know you’re dangerous, it’s why you’re here. And I am completely replaceable. Hurt me and someone else will come. Hurt them and yet another person will turn up. There are a lot of us, and we aren’t valued that highly.”

  “If you think that will stop me from breaking you to alleviate my boredom, then you’re very mistaken.”

  “No, Agmundr, I’m letting you know that we are in this for the long haul. We’re not going anywhere until we get the answers we want, and neither are you.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “Yes,” he said. “We will.”

  “So are you done now? Are you going to leave?”

  “I was hoping you’d answer some questions, if that’s alright?”

  “You first. Where am I?”

  “I believe it is called Research Facility Gamma.”

  “That doesn’t tell me anything,” I snapped. “You might as well have said it was the orange building. Number three.”

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you any more than that.”

  He didn’t look sorry, and I got the feeling from him that he could tell me whatever he wanted. I got the feeling he was more important than he wanted me to think he was.

  It was useless information, though. I stored it away for later.

  “Why am I here?” I said. “And don’t be vague. Be really specific.”

  He thought about his answer for a moment, which was a good sign. It meant he was taking me seriously. This was always a good idea.

  “We came to investigate what happened in Fairbridge,” he began. “We discovered some vampires and a few confused people who thought they were angels. They were hurt and they told me that you took their essence. Took so much of it, in fact, that they are now permanently weakened.”

  That hurt. I’d lost my mind looking for Bannon and James and I’d used the hollow men badly. I hadn’t expected them to be hurt for longer than it took their angelic power to heal them, however.

  “We heard some amazing stories about you.” He was a child with a toy, beaming, giddy at the thought of sitting with me. “Some people said you flew away after you tore the building down.”

  “And you believed them?” I said.

  He chuckled. “Of course not. But then this woman storms into the city looking for you, surrounded a group of soldiers that have been…enhanced somehow. They’re stronger and faster, and it isn’t a drug or special training or anything. They are literally just…better.”

  “So you captured her,” I said.

  “Naturally. And she told us some wild stories too, and she made an offer. You, in exchange for some help and some manpower. I don’t
know where you met her, but she’s a smart woman.”

  Erindis had gone back to her original plan: selling me to the nastiest bidder. At least she was consistent.

  “How did you get the locket?” This was what I really wanted to know: what had happened to Bec, Roman, James, Buddy, the others. They’d had my prison, so unless they handed it over I knew something bad had happened.

  “I think you’ve asked enough questions for one day, don’t you? It’s my turn.”

  My hands itched to start punching. I wanted to shake the answers out of him, but that wasn’t going to be productive. Not yet.

  “Tell me how you tore down the building,” he said, looking at his clipboard. “The real story, not the magic weirdness version.”

  “I’m not telling you anything until I get an answer to my question.” I said each word slowly, so he’d understand me.

  “You don’t want to defy me,” he replied. “Not now. Not here. In this place I am in charge, and I decide everything about your circumstances. Work with me and you can live a good life while you’re here. Work against me and things will be…less pleasant.”

  “Answer my questions or I’ll tear your head off and deal with the next guy.”

  “This is very disappointing.” He didn’t look disappointed; he looked angry.

  Good, I thought. Angry people slipped up.

  He stood and waited by the door, staring at me, puzzled. He wasn’t scared, which was telling, but he didn’t like the way I’d spoken to him. He was used to having more authority, and I could see what was going to happen next in the way he held himself after my threat: he was still confident, still in control. He’d torture me next, or withhold food for a few weeks. Something to make himself the top dog again.

  He’d already given me something, whether he knew it or not. When he’d spoken of the investigation he’d said he’d traveled “here” in reference to Fairbridge. So we were in the city, or near it. He hadn’t referred to Erindis as my wife, had in fact told me he didn’t know anything about our history. He’d tell me the rest, in time. I had patience.

  “Are you going to keep staring?” I said. “Or are you going to do your job and get answers out of me?”