Cracks in Reality (Seams in Reality Book 2) (12 page)

Tonya leaned forward. "Why did she show you this? It seems a little odd for one sorcerer to incriminate herself in front of another."

"Vivian and I were, uh, romantically involved."

Andrew stared in disbelief.
You slept with her,
he thought,
and now you're ratting on her?

"I gather the romance has ended," Tonya said.

Morris nodded. "She told me she had 'outgrown' me. Bitch. The director promised I could have her seam if she went to prison."

Tonya looked at Webster. "Really?"

"It seemed a reasonable reward for his cooperation," Webster replied. "The seam would need somebody to guard it anyway."

Andrew was disgusted. Morris was stabbing his ex-lover in the back just so he could steal her seam.

"I don't like the kind of message you're sending," Tonya said, "but that's another discussion we can have in private." She turned back to Morris. "Is there anything else you want to say?"

"Yes," he said. "Vivian Bernard is a threat to everybody around her. Her experiments with sprites are out of control. She needs to be locked away for the sake of the safety of the community. I urge the Tribunal to act swiftly and justly."

Andrew rolled his eyes.
Scumbag.

"Thank you for your testimony," Webster said. "You may go now. Close the doors on the way out."

Morris hurried out of the chamber. He closed the big, wooden doors firmly.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Andrew spoke up.

"Do you actually believe that guy?" he said.

Tonya gave him a sharp look. "Excuse me. I don't believe the Tribunal gave you permission to speak."

"Sorry." He gulped. "May I speak, please?"

"Of course."

"That guy has an axe to grind," Andrew said. "Vivian dumped him, and now he wants her seam. You can't trust a word he said."

"We're not idiots," Tonya said. "All of us are capable of recognizing biased testimony, but it's enough to warrant further inquiry. I move we assign this investigation to Andrew and Charley as their final exam."

The other judges nodded and murmured in agreement.

"Huh?" Andrew said. "What just happened?"

"You two will uncover the facts of the case," Tonya said. "Go to Vivian and interrogate her using truth sorcery. If she's guilty of the charges, bring her to justice. If she resists, subdue her. You have the permission of the Tribunal to employ whatever measures you deem necessary, including the infernal arts."

"You want me to fight her?"

"If she doesn't cooperate."

"What if I accidently injure her?" he said. "Or even kill her?"

"That's a possible outcome. We'll expect a full report, of course. Be prepared to justify your actions."

Andrew turned to Charley. She stared back at him with wide eyes.

"Vivian is a skilled sorcerer," Keene said, "and she might be expecting unfriendly visitors. I suggest a very cautious approach."

His wrinkled, ruddy face was full of concern. He was wearing a black dress shirt with silver buttons which gleamed in the bright light.

Andrew could hardly believe the Tribunal was serious. The assignment went far beyond a mere exam. He might actually have to fight and kill another human being.

"Is this really a good idea?" Andrew said. "Do you usually send apprentices for something like this?"

"No," Tonya said. "It's a job for a master, but these are exceptional circumstances. You need to prove you can handle an ordinary sorcerer before we send you after Blake. But just to be safe, I'll tag along and observe from a distance. If the situation comes unglued, I'll intervene. The danger will be real though. I might not be close enough to save your life an in emergency. I'll be there simply to prevent a disaster from spreading."

He grimaced and looked at Charley again. "What do you think?"

"This idea scares the crap out of me," she whispered. "I don't know if we're ready."

"We can refuse to go. Tonya can take us back to Chicago for more training."

She glanced at the Tribunal. "That may not be a good idea. I don't think this assignment is optional."

Andrew looked at the stern faces of the members of the Tribunal. They were waiting for an answer.

He had some confidence he could handle the job. Tonya had just put him through two months of combat boot camp, and his skills in that area had grown enormously. He was now at home on the psychic battlefield. Manipulating the minds of others had become as easy as changing the oil in a car. His innate talent as a war mage multiplied his capabilities. It was possible he could even beat Tonya in a straight-up fight now.

Andrew was much less certain about Charley. She had an amazing gift with physical sorcery, but combat wasn't her thing. At best, she could support him in a fight, and at worst, she would be a liability.

"I'll go alone," he whispered.

"No." She shook her head. "We're a team."

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"That's sweet, but I'm not a helpless princess that stays at home while her knight in shining armor rides into battle. I went through the same training as you."

"You don't have the same talent," Andrew said.

Charley gave him a hard look. "My talents are different but still useful, and frankly, I don't trust you on your own. You need a woman around to tell you when you're acting like a typical dumb male."

"I don't...."

"Really?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Well, maybe I do sometimes. Sounds like you want to go."

She looked at the Tribunal again. "What I want is irrelevant. We were both told to go."

Andrew sighed. He didn't like the situation, but Charley was right.

He faced Webster. "Where does Vivian live?"

"Atlantic City, New Jersey," the director said. "You're leaving immediately."

* * *

Andrew looked out the car window at green marshland on either side of the highway. He had never been to Atlantic City before. He had just found out the city was on a sandy barrier island out in the Atlantic Ocean. Bridges crossing marshes and open water provided access.

Charley was in the back with Andrew, and he gave her a reassuring smile, but her eyes remained wide with anxiety. He wasn't feeling very confident either. Neither of them had ever done anything like this before.

Dan was driving the car, and Tungsten was riding shotgun. Tonya had rented her own vehicle to emphasize her lack of participation in the assignment. She would just be a distant observer. Andrew sensed her energy a few hundred yards back on the highway, and he wished she were closer.

The car left the marsh and drove swiftly past houses on both sides of the highway. It was cold outside, but there was no snow on the ground. The branches of the trees were bare. The neighborhood looked rundown, but it wasn't quite a slum.

Dan drove down the wide, straight highway at a speedy pace. Eventually, it turned into a regular avenue, and Andrew saw the casinos of Atlantic City ahead. The biggest was a tall, thin, bluish building with a giant white ball on the roof. It was at least fifty stories tall.

"What's that big one?" Andrew asked.

"The Revel," Dan said. "It opened in 2012 and went bankrupt in 2014. It was built just in time to catch the economic implosion of Atlantic City. Too many casinos and not enough gamblers. Investors lost billions. The whole area is in a severe depression."

The car continued south until Andrew saw four or five more major casinos built along the shore. The Taj Mahal had one of the biggest parking garages he had ever seen. It filled an entire city block and had eight levels. He wondered if the garage ever filled up. Building such a monstrosity seemed the height of arrogance to him.

Dan turned right onto Atlantic Avenue. Andrew caught glimpses of the blue ocean at the far ends of the streets. He saw sand but no people.

"Everything needs a fresh coat of paint," Charley said.

Andrew nodded. The architecture of some homes and shops reminded him of rural towns he had seen in the Midwest. Bricks were laid in interesting patterns. Bay windows facing the ocean were common. He saw no indications of new construction, and some buildings were boarded up.

The car finally arrived at Elberon Avenue. According to the short briefing Andrew had received in Washington, Vivian Bernard lived on the block.

Andrew used his inner sight to scan the area. "The seam is there." He pointed to a large brown building. "And I'm also sensing a sorcerer near it. Must be Vivian."

"No," Charley said. "There are two sorcerers."

He checked again and discovered she was right. The two sorcerers were close together and almost indistinguishable from a distance. One had substantially more energy than the other.

"I bet the stronger one is Vivian," Andrew said.

"We'll see."

Dan parked on the street, and everybody got out. A light breeze carried damp, chilly air. Waves crashed onto the beach in the distance. Andrew smelled the saltwater.

The team went around to the trunk and opened it. Their luggage was inside, but more importantly, they had brought extra weapons. The BPI agents already had side-arms in holsters, but they wanted more. After checking for witnesses, Dan strapped a revolver to his right ankle, and he hid a long knife under his left sleeve. Tungsten put a pair of Micro-Uzis in holsters under the back of his jacket. He could draw both weapons simultaneously by reaching back.

Everybody was already wearing Kevlar vests. The tight-fitting body armor trapped sweat and made Andrew want to itch.

"Is this really necessary?" he said nervously.

"Standard procedure when arresting a sorcerer," Tungsten replied in a patronizing tone.

He handed .380 caliber GLOCK pistols to Andrew and Charley. They both looked at the guns uneasily. Weapons training had been part of their boot camp, so Andrew knew how to handle the pistol, but shooting at a paper target and shooting at a person were very different things.

The pocket of his winter jacket was nice and big. He made sure the safety was on, and he slipped the gun into his pocket. Charley didn't have such a convenient pocket, so she was forced to wear a holster under her jacket. She positioned her gun high on her side where it wouldn't show.

Andrew noticed a black sedan parking well down the street. Tonya stepped out. She was hiding her energy now, so her arrival came as a surprise to him. She stood by her car and watched with her arms crossed.

"The boss is here," Andrew said.

Charley looked over her shoulder at Tonya. "Oh. Good."

"She didn't seem that worried about us walking into a deadly situation."

"She is worried. She just wants us to rely on ourselves this time. This is our assignment."

Andrew faced the huge, four-story building where Vivian lived. It had an exposed concrete frame which had probably looked cool decades ago, but to his modern eye, the style was ugly. Gray-brown bricks filled in the rectangular spaces to form walls. Plywood covered most of the windows, and many of the remaining windows were broken. A pigeon flew out of one window as he watched.

According to his briefing, the building had been constructed in the 1960's as a vacation condominium complex. The beach was just a short walk away, but the complex was far from the casinos, limiting its appeal. In the 1980's, it had turned into a nursing home with a reputation for low cost but questionable care. Ten years ago, a massive fire had killed sixty-five residents. An arsonist had set the fire, but the owners of the building had also been held criminally liable for leaving the fire alarms and sprinklers turned off.

Andrew saw plenty of smoke stains on the brick exterior. The center section of the building was blackened, and the seam was located exactly where the damage was worst. A chain-link fence surrounded the entire property. Signs read, "KEEP OUT - CONDEMNED."

"It looks like the seam is on the third floor." Andrew pointed. "Vivian and somebody else is very close to it."

"Are you sure?" Tungsten stared at the spot where Andrew had pointed.

"Yes. My inner eye can see it clearly."

"I've always wondered about that. Can you see normal people through walls?"

"No," Andrew said. "Just sorcerers and seams. They emit special energy that I'm sensitive to."

"Vivian is probably the same, right? She knows you and Charley are out here?"

"I expect so."

Tungsten furrowed his brow. "That's unfortunate. There is nothing you can do to make yourself stealthier?"

"Master sorcerers like Tonya can hide their energy, but it takes years to learn that skill. Charley and I didn't have enough time."

"Blake can do it?"

"Yes," Andrew said.

"That puts us at a significant disadvantage."

"He carries a portable seam with him, and that's impossible to hide. We'll see it from a distance."

"What if he doesn't have the seam?" Tungsten said.

"Then he'll be powerless. If he wants to hide from us, he'll have to give up his magic and fight like a normal man."

"I see."

A blue sedan drove up and parked on the street behind their car. Three more men in blue suits stepped out, and Andrew had expected them. They were BPI agents from the New York office and were the team directly responsible for the seam in the nursing home.

A man in his forties with red hair walked over to Andrew and Charley. "Hi. I'm Agent Runic. You're the sorcerers headquarters sent?"

Andrew nodded.

"How old are you?" Runic said in a suspicious tone.

"I'm eighteen. Charley is nineteen."

Runic looked at the other agents with an expression of incredulity.

"Don't worry about our age," Andrew said. "We've had special training. What's the situation in there?"

Runic faced the nursing home. "Vivian has been living like a hermit for months. She never leaves her seam for more than a few minutes. She has all her food delivered. We've stayed out of the building lately. She made it very clear she wants us to observe from outside."

"Sounds like she's hiding something."

"That's our theory. We've been expecting trouble."

"Who is the second sorcerer?" Andrew said.