The security guards fell at the almost inaudible sounds from Virginia Dare’s wooden flute. She kept one awake, mesmerizing him with an ancient Native American lullaby, and he obediently turned off the security cameras, disarmed the alarms and opened the gates to allow her and Dee inside. The soothing lullaby ended with a single piercing note, which dropped the guard unconscious to the floor, face twisted in agony.
The Magician stepped over the crumpled body, looked around at the sleeping guards and nodded in approval. He turned to regard the flute, tilting his head to one side to look at the hints of a spiral design running the length of the instrument. “I’ve always been fascinated by your flute,” he said. “You never told me where you got it.”
“No, I didn’t,” Dare said firmly, and turned away, forestalling the discussion.
Dee followed the woman through the empty Tower of London. “A gift from your master, perhaps?” he persisted.
“I don’t have a master,” she said slowly; then she glanced over her shoulder, eyes cold and angry. “But you know that, of course.”
“Oh, that’s right: you killed him.”
“Only a fool kills an Elder,” she snapped. “And I’m not a fool… unlike you!”
Dee shrugged. “You’re referring to Hekate? What’s done is done and cannot be undone. And technically, I did not kill her-the Yggdrasill fell on her.”
“You always were a master of weasel words, John,” Virginia said softly. “Even Shakespeare said you should have been a playwright. I heard you had an encounter with him and the Saracen Knight, and that you didn’t come off too well,” she added with a sly smile.
Dee fell into step beside the immortal. “You knew they were in the city?”
“I make it my business to know whom I’m sharing the city with.” They were back outside under the night sky, and directly ahead of them was a red-and-black-paneled Tudor building. The sound of water slapping against stone was clearly audible, and the air smelled damp. “Shakespeare has been here since the sixteenth century; Palamedes comes and goes.” Dare walked across the flagstones, completely silent in flat leather moccasins. She leaned on the metal rail and looked down into a pool of black water; then she pointed over to where an arched opening in the opposite wall had been sealed with a heavy-looking metal gate. The two halves of the gate sagged in the middle, and through the struts a second black pool rippled like oil. “And you are now about to tell me that the entrance to the Shadowrealm is in the pool behind that gate?”
“It is. You’ve never been here?” Dee asked, surprised.
“I have never had your dangerous curiosity,” she said.
The Magician smiled. “We learn through curiosity.” Leaning his elbows on the metal rail, he looked at the barred entrance to the pool. “If I could use my powers, I could-”
“If you even think about using your powers, you will draw everything in this city right here,” Dare reminded him, “and this time, I won’t rescue you.”
Dee looked at her quickly. “You? Rescued me? Is that what you think you did?”
Virginia twirled the flute like a baton in her fingers. “I rescued you. You might have been able to fight one or two of them-but there were hundreds of the creatures closing in on you. Every cucubuth clan in Europe must be in the city. I even saw some rogue Torc Madra in there, and you know how dangerous the dogmen are. You would have been captured, and most of you would have been delivered to your masters.”
“Most of me?” Dee swallowed hard at the sudden image.
Virginia’s smile was savage. “I’m sure they’d have taken a few bites out of you on the way. Just a little taste.”
Dee shuddered. “I hate cucubuths.”
“And you can be assured that at this moment, they hate you too. Your enemies are multiplying by the hour.”
“You’re their enemy too,” Dee said.
“Not I.” Virginia twirled the flute again. “They never even saw me. They’ll blame you.”
Dee shook his head in admiration. “I had forgotten what a ruthless foe you are. We should have joined forces generations ago; together we could have ruled the world.”
“We still can,” Dare agreed, “but right now you need to work out a way to open the gates. We’re being watched.”
Dee didn’t move; only the sudden tightening of his shoulders betrayed his tension. “Where? Who?”
The woman nodded into the reflective black water in front of them.
Dee looked, staring hard, before finally saying, “Two birds, flying high… and yet birds don’t fly at night, and certainly not in perfect circles.”
“Too high to see what they are,” Virginia said, “but I’ll wager they’re ravens.”
“Ravens?” Dee licked his lips nervously. “Well, there are ravens in the Tower of London…”
“Whose wings are clipped so they cannot fly,” Virginia reminded him. “These birds are not natural. Which means…”
“Odin’s birds,” Dee whispered.
“Which also means that Odin’s wolves, Geri and Freki, are probably not far behind.” Virginia smiled sweetly. “What are they called, again? Oh, yes: Ravenous and Greedy. I’m so glad they’re not hunting me.”
Abruptly, the English Magician’s aura blazed bright yellow around him, painting the walls in amber light and black shadow; the stench of sulfur polluted the night air.
“What are you doing?” Virginia Dare cried in alarm. “You’ve betrayed our location!” Even as she was speaking, the sound of distant howls and triumphant screaming filled the sky. The cucubuths had awakened.
“I killed Hekate and destroyed the World Tree,” Dee snapped. “Odin loved her. He won’t want to capture me for the Elders, he’ll want to destroy me, and he’ll take a long time doing it. The time for subtlety and subterfuge is past: we need to get out of here now!” Dee’s yellow aura rolled off his body and onto the dark water, instantly freezing it to foul yellow ice. The Magician leapt over the edge of the rail and landed surefootedly on the frozen surface. It creaked, and a tiny network of cracks appeared beneath his feet, but it held. The Magician looked up at the woman. “Last chance to make up your mind.”
“Have I a choice now?” Dare’s pretty face twisted into an ugly mask of rage. “I’m tainted with your stink.” She sailed lightly over the edge of the rail and landed beside the Magician. Stepping close, she pressed the end of the flute against Dee’s throat, pushing hard against his Adam’s apple, driving his chin up and his head back. The Magician tried to swallow, but failed. “Do not betray me, John Dee,” Virginia Dare whispered. “Do not make the mistake of adding me to your list of enemies.”
“I made you promises,” Dee gasped out.
“Make sure you keep those promises: I want to rule this world.”
Dee started to nod… but suddenly became aware of the two huge ravens plummeting silently out of the night sky, pointed beaks and razor claws extended.