Tommy nodded. “You ever heard of anything like this?”
“No. I didn’t even know you could kill yourself with your own magic. I’ve never heard of anyone doing it. Not even rumors.”
“Someone wants humanity to be afraid.” The lift doors opened, and we both stepped out into the walkway beyond.
I glanced out of the windows that lined the walkway. We were several dozen feet above the ground, and the busy employee parking lot beneath the walkway was full.
“Everyone got their holiday canceled,” Tommy said, clearly noticing what I was looking at.
We left the walkway by passing through a set of double doors, where two more security guards waited for us. Tommy nodded a greeting to them both, and I followed suit. I didn’t recognize either of them, but I found it always paid to say hello to the people who were trying to protect you.
It took a few minutes of walking, and another lift ride, before we reached the top floor of the larger building, which was home to Tommy’s office and very little else. There were a few meeting rooms, all of which appeared to be empty, but no one in the corridor, or guarding the entrance to Tommy’s office. Tommy pushed open the door and beckoned me inside.
Tommy’s office was massive. It was big enough to house a small family without any problem. Windows lined one side of the building, giving impressive views of the surrounding area, while the opposite side contained bookshelves and a door to a private bathroom.
Dozens of pieces of artwork sat on the walls, most of which were science fiction or fantasy based. More than one of them was of a Star Wars character or scene. A few were even signed by the actors. In one corner sat an exact replica of Darth Vader’s costume.
“That’s new,” I told him as several of the occupants of the room turned toward us.
“Had it custom-made,” Tommy told me as we approached the group seated around a large conference table.
“And it stays here,” Olivia finished before kissing Tommy on the lips. “I have to put up with enough of his . . . quirks at home.”
“I’m certain he wears it around the office,” Diana said with a laugh. “I think he wants to chair board meetings while wearing it.”
“That’s a slight . . .” Tommy paused. “Okay, that would be really cool.”
Diana hugged me, the scent of whatever fruit shampoo she used on her long, dark hair filling my nose. “It’s good to see you, Nate. I’ve been busy with our new recruits and haven’t had much chance for socializing.”
“How are they coming along?” I asked.
“Well,” Zamek said. “Kasey and Chloe were miles ahead of the others in the beginning, but the rest of the group is catching up. You should come see them again.”
“I will,” I promised him. Tommy had set up a small, covert team that consisted of Kasey, Chloe, and several others who were off Avalon’s radar. Chloe had wanted nothing to do with Avalon after the death of her father and the subsequent arrest of her mother, Mara, but Tommy had asked her to do a job for him, and I hadn’t seen her since. A few months ago Tommy asked me to come over and observe the new recruits, and I’d been impressed. I’d spent a few months helping out with the training, but the longer I was there, the more jeopardy they would be in, so I’d left them to it. I was glad to hear it was going well.
Zamek dropped down from the chair he was on and offered me his hand, which I shook. He was one of the Norse dwarves who had helped us escape from the realm of Nidavellir. Once a dwarven realm, and ally to Avalon, it was now ruled by blood elves, a species that lived to cause death and misery.
“How’s the tablet translation going?” I asked. The tablet in question was one of the reasons we managed to escape from the blood elves. King Arthur’s brother, Kay, had been using it to jump from the Earth realm to Nidavellir and back again. Unfortunately it only took its user from one exact spot in this realm to one exact spot in the other, and until we managed to figure out how to move the spot in Nidavellir away from the blood-elf stronghold, there was very little chance of rescuing the remaining dwarves holding out in Nidavellir.
Zamek shrugged. “I can’t figure out how to change the teleport destination. I went back twice and ended up in the middle of the blood elves both times. It wasn’t a fun experience. It’s hard to translate, and even with Nabu helping, it’s slow work. Three years of research and we still haven’t managed to figure it out. We know how to get to Nidavellir, but not how to get the rest of the dwarves out of there without starting a war we might not be able to win.”
“I’m sure they’re okay.”
“Oh, I know they are,” Zamek said with a smile. “We left the blood elves something to think about, and I think they’re going to be more concerned with their own problems than my people. We’ll get to them eventually.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder as an act of understanding. “Still wearing the leather armor, I see.”
“And carrying these two axes,” he said, meaning the battle-axe on his back and the one-handed axe that hung from his belt.
“It’s taking him time to adjust to not having to fight every day,” Tommy said.
Zamek took a deep breath. “It’s a strange thing, not having to worry about blood elves attacking every day. Not having to go out and forage for supplies. Good, but strange.”
“We will figure out the tablets eventually,” Nabu told me as he shook my hand. At one point, Nabu had been considered the Mesopotamian god of wisdom, although in reality he was an och, a rare species and one of the few who were genuinely immortal. He was smart, and cunning, sometimes to his own detriment when he felt that keeping secrets worked better for him. Some of those secrets had come back to bite him on the ass. He was several inches taller than me, with long, dark hair that cascaded over his shoulders. His beard was neatly trimmed, and looked like he spent time and effort to achieve the effect. He wore an expensive gray suit that I was certain had cost a lot more than I would have felt comfortable spending on one item of clothing. I liked him, and I’d fought alongside him several times, but I wasn’t certain I trusted him not to keep secrets again. He tended to work several moves in front of everyone else and thus expected people to know things he knew without having to tell anyone. It made for the occasional difficult moment when everyone really did catch up and wanted to know why he didn’t mention anything.
“Hi, Nate. Care to join the meeting of the minds?” Irkalla said. She leaned against Tommy’s wooden desk, a wry smile on her elegant face. She wore a simple pair of jeans, a red T-shirt, and black trainers, and still looked refined. Irkalla was a necromancer, and one of the most powerful I’d ever met, with maybe only Hades outclassing her, and even then I wasn’t 100 percent certain she wouldn’t be able to take him.
Irkalla walked over to me and hugged me tight. “It’s good to see you again.”