A Fire in the Heart Read online

  “I think I can control myself,” Uriel drawled. “Curiosity is winning over dislike right now.”

  “Good.” Raziel shot him a grin. “Ondrass! Adramelek!” he yelled.

  “What is it?” Ondrass asked.

  “I need you two to come with us,” Raziel said.

  The two Archdemons joined him by the door.

  “Where are we going?” Adramelek asked.

  “CERN.”

  Ondrass blinked. “What on Earth for?”

  Raziel smirked. “Ah, that, my fiendish Archdemon friend, is exactly the question. Take the location from me and let’s go.”

  “Don’t look at me,” Uriel said to the two Archdemons. “He’s up to something, hell if I know what.”

  “Well, this will be an interesting distraction from reading computer screens,” Ondrass said with a shrug. “Lead on, Raziel.”

  Raziel moved, teleporting to the main visitor’s entrance of the facility, which stood on the border of France and Switzerland. There were two guards with weapons at the gate, and both of them let out shouts of surprised pleasure to see Raziel.

  “It’s good to see you both,” Raziel said, shaking the hands of the two men.

  “It has been some time,” one of them said. His French accent was very thick.

  “I know. Things have been busy. Is Professor Blanc in today?”

  “He is. These are your colleagues?” The other man’s accent was less thick, and he indicated Uriel, Ondrass, and Adramelek with a nod.

  “They are. Could we go in and speak with the good professor?”

  “Of course. I will radio and let him know you are coming. Jean will open the gate for you,” the second man said.

  “And I will give you visitors passes too,” Jean said. He ducked into the guard hut and emerged a few moments later with four passes on lanyards. “Here.”

  “Thanks.” Raziel took them and handed them out to his companions.

  “You can go through,” the second guard said. “Le Professeur is waiting for you.”

  “Many thanks,” Raziel said. “Come on,” he added as he led the way to the gate that was slowly opening.

  “Tell me, Uriel,” Ondrass said from behind Raziel, “does he ever explain these little plans of his prior to engaging in them, or does he like to haul along others to witness his genius without a prior briefing?”

  “Usually the latter,” Uriel said. “But he does get around to explaining things eventually.”

  The four of them walked into CERN, and Raziel cast his companions a quick look. “Uri gave me an idea,” he said as they walked. “This synthetic magic that our coven of doom is using, it might have been created by science.”

  “Why didn’t you say that before we came here?” Adramelek asked.

  “Because I was thinking about theoretical physics and organic chemistry, so I was slightly preoccupied,” Raziel said.

  “And this professor is gifted in these areas?” Ondrass asked.

  “Yes. He is the leading authority on creating new energies out of existing ones and applying advanced techniques. Things like UV light on various compounds to create ways to clean up drinking water or infrared at certain frequencies to alter the physical form of something.”

  “I suddenly wish Uphir were still here,” Adramelek said. “He’d understand all of this.”

  “But we killed him, so he isn’t,” Ondrass said. “C’est la vie.”

  “I know.” Adramelek shook his head. “Where do we find this man, Raziel?”

  “He’s in the north wing, sixth floor. I think you’ll like him, Adry. His mother’s Russian.”

  Adramelek grinned. “I do like the Russians.”

  “I know,” Raziel said. He felt positively buoyant now, Uriel’s confused suggestion having set off a train of thought that Raziel had not even considered. He knew that most of his Brotherhood and, indeed, most of angelkind did not understand even a tenth of what he did, but he also knew, too, that he could become so blinkered in his focus on something that he could miss the obvious. Uriel’s question had shattered those blinkers so that now Raziel was almost convinced that his frequently angry lover was absolutely right.

  Something had been done to scientifically alter the magical gifts of the coven working with Transom—TCC Corp. Magic was not something tangible, after all, so Raziel was almost positive that it had to be something done on the basic DNA of each individual witch within the coven, rather than on the magic itself. Somehow, their DNA had been altered, just enough to change the way their magical gifts worked. Finding out how would help Raziel to figuring out a way to combat it or, if he was very lucky, a way to reverse it.

  They went into a large building made of glass and chrome, light and airy and with a trickling fountain that ran alongside one entire wall. Plants grew in profusion, and the air was cool and full of the scent of life. Raziel breathed deeply as he led his companions along a gently curving corridor bedecked with vines bearing bright purple flowers toward the elevators.

  Together, they entered the glass-paneled elevator, and Raziel pressed the button for the sixth floor. As the doors whooshed shut, Raziel leaned back against the glass wall and gazed at the LED that lit up the floors as the elevator ascended. He could hear Ondrass and Adramelek bantering with Uriel, but he didn’t join in, too focused on his theory, and the more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that he was right.

  The elevator came to a stop, and the doors hissed open. Raziel marched out, the others following him, and walked briskly down another corridor, taking long, rapid strides. He could hear Uriel muttering about having to jog to keep up, but he didn’t slow his pace. Finally, reaching a section of the space that wasn’t made of glass and instead had wood paneling and doors, Raziel made his way to a door marked with the number eight and knocked.

  “Come in, Raziel.” The voice that answered his knock was familiar. Raziel grinned and opened the door, leading his companions into the large and cluttered office of Professor Blanc.

  “Professor,” Raziel said, walking over to shake the man’s hand warmly, “it’s so good to see you again.”

  “And you, dear friend.” Professor Blanc’s hair was as white as his name, and his face was lined with wrinkles. His brown eyes sparkled with wit and intelligence, and he smiled fondly at Raziel. “It’s been so long.”

  “I know. I’m sorry about that.”

  “No, no, I quite understand. The work takes as long as it takes, and we lose track of time sometimes.” Professor Blanc looked around. “Now, this would be Uriel, I recognize him from your descriptions. It’s a pleasure to meet you, my boy.”

  Uriel nodded and extended his hand for the professor to shake. “Likewise.”

  “And this is Ondrass and Adramelek, Archdemons who are our allies and have been moderately useful from time to time,” Raziel said.

  Ondrass rolled his eyes. “Droll, Raziel. It’s a privilege to meet such a learned man as yourself, good professor,” he said, and Professor Blanc beamed and shook the Archdemon’s hand.

  Adramelek, however, pressed his palms together and uttered a short phrase in Russian. Professor Blanc gasped, and then he bowed deeply. Adramelek stepped forward, and the two men greeted each other in the traditional Russian manner, kissing each other’s cheeks three times.

  “I am overwhelmed by such august visitors,” Professor Blanc said, sitting down after the greetings and introductions were over. “How can I be of assistance?”

  Raziel sketched in what had happened, and the professor’s face grew grimmer and grimmer with each moment. And then Raziel told the professor his theory, and beside him, he heard Adramelek gasp, “Fucking genius!” and he saw Ondrass, opposite him, shake his head, his expression one of amazed respect.

  “How did you come up with this?” Ondrass asked.

  “Uri,” Raziel said. “He asked me why things couldn’t be altered with science, reminding me that things have, in the past, been altered with science.”

  “It’s so
simple, I can see how it would have been easy to overlook,” Adramelek said. “We were focusing solely on the magic, not the coven itself as individual entities.”

  “Quite so,” Raziel said.

  “I’ve heard of TCC Corp.,” Professor Blanc said. “They came here six months ago to do a recruitment drive. I don’t think they got many takers. Most people here at CERN aren’t interested in developing new technologies for limiting access between realities because most of us don’t work in that field.”

  “Six months ago?” Uriel frowned. “Dammit. That was before the kids went to Hell Mountain in Yaak.”

  Ondrass frowned as well. “You’re right,” he said.

  Raziel scowled. “They’ve been planning this for a very long time,” he said.

  “You thought that already,” Uriel said. “That they’d been at this for ages.”

  “Yes, but I do like to be confirmed in these things. Professor, would it be possible to do what I theorized?”

  “Change the DNA of a magic user so that their magic becomes entirely different to what it started out as? Possibly. Theoretically, yes, it could be done. We are, after all, approaching the end of the twenty-first century, and despite not many advances in science or technology during the Seventy Years War, we are certainly making up for lost time now. Yes, I think it would be possible to work out the relevant experiments required to form the compounds and treatments necessary.”

  “So would there be a way to reverse it?” Raziel asked. “Or freeze it? Something?”

  Professor Blanc pursed his lips. “Perhaps. I would need to know the energy signature of the magic used.”

  “Easy.” Raziel went over to a whiteboard nailed to the wall and picked up a black marker. He began to write down the equation for his friend, muttering to himself.

  “You are certain of this?” Blanc asked as he stood beside Raziel. Raziel hadn’t heard the man join him, as focused on the equation he was writing as he was.

  “Yes. I managed to get a good smell of the emissions, and there were scorch marks on various things that I analyzed. It’s—”

  “When did you do that?” Uriel asked.

  “Hm? Oh. While everyone was setting up for the meeting we just had.”

  “I didn’t even notice you’d gone.”

  “It didn’t take me that long,” Raziel said.

  Uriel shook his head. “Doctor Science,” he said.

  “Yes, yes, I am.” Raziel turned back to Blanc. “What do you think?”

  “I think that we should order some food from the lovely café in the next town, as we will be working on this through the night.”

  Raziel grinned. “Awesome.”

  Ondrass sighed. “Adry and I will go and get some food and drink. I think we’ll just be in the way while you two work out the necessary science. Naturally, I wish to see this being worked as an experiment once you have calculated things.”

  “Oh, naturally,” Raziel said. He couldn’t stop grinning. This was exactly what they needed, and the potential to stop the coven from wreaking havoc all over the world, destroying angels, demons, and monsters without care or concern, filled him with purpose. This was what he’d been created for, after all. To ferret out the secret and the hidden, the mysteries and the unknown, and bring them all into the light.

  It didn’t hurt that he enjoyed this sort of work, either. Raziel loved science and math, even though he knew that most of his kind had no idea about either one. But he soaked this sort of thing up like a sponge, relished the mental challenge of it, the sense of achievement when something progressed from theoretical to proven. This was Raziel’s passion, the one passion he allowed himself that was not Uriel. Science and Uriel, Raziel thought, as he turned back to the whiteboard and the alluring equations scribbled upon its surface. Science and Uriel were all that he, Raziel, Archangel of Secrets and Mysteries, needed to be happy.

  He heard Uriel sigh, which was followed by the sounds of things being pushed aside onto the floor. Raziel shot his beloved a quick look over his shoulder and saw that Uriel had cleared a stack of books and papers from a chair and set them down on the floor in a neat stack. Now he sat down and stretched out his legs, watching as Raziel and Blanc worked on this new theory.

  Raziel turned back to the work and smiled to himself.

  17

  BAXTER SAT back and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. He felt as if he was going cross-eyed from staring at the computer screen for too long. Words had ceased to mean what he thought they did; there was so much dry reporting in the files Liam and Declan had stolen from Bangor.

  Angelique set down a cup of coffee beside the laptop he’d been using. “How’s it going?”

  “Slowly. Thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it.” She pulled up a chair and sat down beside him. “Have you spoken to Danny since he had his fit about the Voodoo stuff?”

  Baxter shook his head as he swallowed a mouthful of coffee. He cleared his throat and sighed. “No. He’s been avoiding me. Mind you, Lily hasn’t said anything to me, either.”

  Angelique huffed. “She’s ignoring me, too. But I could hear them arguing before, yelling at each other. They were fighting about Lily’s time in Hell.”

  “Dammit,” Baxter said. “That’s Declan’s fault, you know. He put the idea into Danny’s head that she was hiding something from him.”

  Angelique looked around and then lowered her voice. “I don’t think he was wrong.”

  “What, you think Lily’s hiding stuff?”

  “I don’t know, Sugarpuff, I really don’t.” She leaned back. “This job is making us all super tense. And this crap we’re reading is beginning to freak me out.”

  “Is it? I can’t understand half of it,” Baxter admitted.

  “Okay, well, to sum up, Transom began with this idea of closing the gates between Earth and all the other realities and making sure that no one who wasn’t born or made on the planet stayed on it. Then these experiments began to try to create creatures to guard the gates. A side effect of those experiments was the discovery of a serum that could eliminate a shifter’s ability to shift. Forever.”

  “What?” Baxter stared at her, shocked.

  “Yeah. And you remember that diary that we read when we first went to Yaak? The one that Liam and Declan found in the fire-spotting tower?”

  Baxter nodded.

  “Those scientists, the ones who seemed to have escaped from the labs in the mountain, they were the ones who developed this serum that eradicates shifting abilities. The report I just read details how they were tracked after they escaped—and they escaped after starting a fire in their own lab to destroy their research—and Transom’s people took them out and stole their data.”

  “So… the serum stuff, that actually exists?”

  “A prototype of it does, yeah.” Angelique ran a hand through her long, dark hair. “I’m scared, Bax. Really scared. We need to be pack right now, not fighting between ourselves. We need to be united. Because if we aren’t, we’re weak, and we’re vulnerable to being caught and used in experiments with this serum.”

  “Have you told Michael this?”

  “I did. He was… well, he was pissed.”

  “Damn.” Baxter was stunned. The enormity of what TCC was doing hit him like a punch to the gut. “Hey,” he said, as a thought came to him, “what about witches? Or the other monsters?”

  “I haven’t read anything about them. I don’t think they’d want to piss off witches, they’ve got their own pet coven.”

  “Yeah, but what if they want to get rid of the other witches and magic users so there isn’t any competition? What if that’s part of this serum, too? I mean, shifting is a magic thing, so you tell me, and witches are human, too. What if they want to get rid of anything remotely touched by magic and make Earth a magic-less planet?”

  Angelique stared at him, wide-eyed. “I’m calling Michael.” She dug her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans, and Baxter watched as she placed the c
all. Although he couldn’t hear Michael’s side of the conversation when he answered, Baxter could definitely hear Angelique. He got the impression that Michael hadn’t considered this aspect of the work that TCC was doing… and that Angelique’s theories were making their boss both angry and upset. When Angelique ended the call and tossed her phone onto the table, she sighed.

  “He’s pissed, huh?” Baxter asked.

  “Oh and how.” Angelique let out a humorless laugh. “Goddamn. You want to spar for a bit? I need to work out the tension.”

  “Sure. Beats staring at a computer screen. I think it’s making me go blind.”

  Angelique lightly swatted his shoulder. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Let’s get the whole pack up onto the roof to join us,” Baxter said as he got to his feet. “Let’s get everyone together and do a bit of hand-to-hand, talking and stuff. There’ll probably be crying in there too, but I’ll put up with that for the good of the pack.”

  “You’re so giving,” Angelique said.

  “You know what? I am amazing that way.” Baxter grinned at her. “Seriously, though, we should get everyone together. You’re probably right about the potential for trouble if we aren’t united, and I damn well hate feeling like this, this whole walking on broken glass because half our pack are too highly strung to just speak their minds.”

  “You talking about Danny or Lily?”

  “Both.” Baxter started toward the door.

  “Okay, well, I’ll go along with it. I may end up punching someone in the face, though, so there’s your warning for surprise violence.”

  Baxter held the door for her. “Jelly, with you, I always assume there’s going to be surprise violence.”

  Angelique rolled her eyes at him, and then she laughed. This time, it held more humor. “I don’t think I’ll take that as an insult. I think that’s a good compliment, especially coming from you.”

  “Live to serve and all,” Baxter said. He followed her through the door and out into the corridor. “Where are the rest of our pack mates?”