Note: All characters are 18 years or older, some are way older. I have been fighting a sixty page piece that was supposed to fill this spot, but it won. So I am jumping ahead in the timeline a little and will post the other once I beat it into submission. Working title on it is currently 'The Lost Year'. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to comment and vote.
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Preface: It has been three years since I recovered the Heart of Ashurbanipal. The nightmares that plagued me have been vanquished and are more or less a thing of the past. I have left my posting in Japan for Paris and the promise of safety and the possibility of answers to question as yet unasked. I have taken a small apartment in a fine neighborhood. It has a coffee house, several interesting shops and a bakery. My only constant companion now is my A.I. familiar Feng, a gift from a former lover and dear friend.
Part One: Path of the Inquisitor
I kept the double doors that open onto my balcony open at night. I did this so that when I wake up I can smell the delicious scent of fresh baked bread waft in on the morning breeze. My alarm woke me up promptly at six in the morning. I didn't open my eyes I just took a deep breath and inhaled that glorious smell that makes this apartment worthwhile.
"Goddamn I love the smell of fresh baked bread," I said and reluctantly sat up.
"You have said that for the last three mornings," the sleepy voice said next to me.
"Marie, you are spoiled," I told her. "You grew up in Paris."
"True, but damn it man do you have to praise the morning so fucking enthusiastically?"
"I will get you a cherry muffin and a cup of coffee," I said. "Will that appease that foul mood of yours?"
"MMMMMM, you weren't calling my mood foul last night while you were fucking my brains out." She said as she rolled onto her belly. "My poor pussy is still quite sore mon ami"
"J'adore that fine pussy of yours and you know it," I said as I rose and threw on my clothes from last night. "Remind me I need to go by the laundry and pick up my clean clothes."
Marie just lifted her arm and shot me the bird as I slipped on my shoes. I walked the two flights of stairs down and crossed the street. The sign on the door said closed but I walked in anyway. The bell above the door rang and Veronica, the owner's lovely granddaughter, came out to greet me.
"Bon Jour Louie," she said smiling as she always did. "What can I get you today?"
"Run away with me and I will show you the world," I said as I always did when I greeted the buxom teen.
"Alas Monsieur, if I did, it would break my grand papa's heart. Now, tell me what you really want."
"Well, in that case, I suppose I will have two loves of seed bread, a cherry muffin and three blueberry pastries."
"Cherry you say, that tart must still be warning your bed," Veronica said curtly.
"Are you jealous," I asked and she smiled and winked at me.
She filled my order and I noticed when she turned around that the top two buttons of her blouse were suddenly undone. I could just make out her youthful cleavage as she had intended. I paid for my goods and kissed her hand before I left. I bid her a good day and decided to kick Marie to the curb after breakfast. Things were beginning to look promising with the young Veronica, very promising indeed!
I carried the brown bag containing my bake goods to the coffeehouse and ordered two large coffees to go. Daniel, the middle aged barista, always took good care of me since my advice on women had panned out so well for him. His fiancé was proof that I was a talented matchmaker. He handed me the cardboard holder with my two cups of coffee and a free double shot of expresso. I spotted Tina, his Italian fiancée, and winked at her as I left. I returned to my apartment and found Marie coming out of the bathroom. She was wearing one of my t-shirts and a smile. I handed her the muffin and coffee and I was rewarded with a peck on the cheek.
"Still sniffing around that young girl," Marie asked as she sipped her coffee.
"Yep," I said biting into my pastry. "I think I have made some real progress thanks to you."
"Me, I have never even spoken to her. She is a child. She can't be more than nineteen, hardly a suitable lover for a man like you."
"Doesn't matter," I said. "I am leaving Paris soon anyway."
"Leaving," Marie repeated frowning. "I thought you were going to finish out the summer here?"
"That was the plan, things change," I said as she ran fingers through her wavy blonde hair.
The silence that followed was awkward and tense. I sipped my expresso as her mood worsened even more. I could feel the disappointment smolder into anger and that kindled into a full blown rage. She rose up and began a long ass tirade about men and how they are born to destroy everything and everyone they touch. It ended as all her rants did with her on my lap and hugging me fiercely.
"I haven't repaid you for your kindness Louie," she whispered in my ear.
"I didn't do it for payment," I told her for the umpteenth time. "I did it because I wanted to."
"I owe you my life," she said kissing my cheek.
"If you really want to help," I said and her eyes met mine. "I need two errands ran. I need my laundry and I need you to pick up a parcel at Sal's."
She nodded and laid her head on my shoulder. I held her close until she was ready to get dressed and go out for me. I watched her get dressed and smiled as she stepped out the door. I let out a sigh of relief. Thank god she was going to Sal's for me. The place was being watched night and day now that the Ordo Malleus had arrived. The fucking witch hunters were on my trail and I had to be careful and discreet. I could leave the city easily enough but I had to have the parcel first. I finished my coffee and half a pastry before I hit the shower and washed up.
I dried off after my shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. I paced the floor wondering if they would intercept Marie or not. The waiting was horrific and I absently twisted the platinum and diamond ring on my left hand. It was the ring that I had been given back in the states. The ring was my most prized possession. It held the crystalline core for my digital familiar Feng. The twisting must have alerted her to my dire impatience.
"Louis you are pacing, again," she said as she appeared.
She hovered over the little round table that marked the virtual location of both my living room and my dining room. It was a tiny apartment. Feng appeared weightless as she floated. Her hair was a kind of sapphire cloud around her head and the black skin tight suit clung to her quite nicely. I had personalized every aspect of her appearance to the tiniest detail. I liked the silvery circuit design that covered both sides of her body suit. It accentuated her assets quite nicely. But it was her raw beauty that I had really outdone myself. The heart shaped face with the upswept almond shaped eyes the color of frost, her petite nose and small mouth with their full pouty lips. Her ethnicity was a perfect blend of Irish, Thai and Elf. The pointy ears were a definite giveaway to the latter origins.
"Louis, someone is coming," Feng said as she sat up and regarded the front door.
"I'm back," Marie said as she stepped inside. "No, I wasn't followed."
She walked over to the table and set down the small package wrapped in brown paper. My laundry she was good enough to place in the closet. Feng watched Marie move around the apartment but Marie could not perceive Feng. It was complicated but involved eye drops and an injection at the base of my skull. The only external hardware I possessed to access Feng was my ring. Marie took her seat at the table and finished her meal.
"Thank you," I said and she smiled at me.
"Are you going to show me what I retrieved? I hope it isn't drugs or anything illegal."
"No, it is something I haggled for with that old fart. We went round and round for over a week before he settled on a price. I think in the end it was more about the haggling than the money itself."
I saw the expectant look on her face so I picked up the package and opened it. I methodically removed the wrapping first. The box was made of some sort of dark wood. There was a deep and lustrous texture to it and it was inscribed with an intricate Celtic knot on the lid. A simple silver clasp held it shut and when I opened it Marie let out a gasp of astonishment.
"What is that?" She asked.
"It is an uncut gemstone," I said and she narrowed her eyes at me disapprovingly.
"I can see that but what kind of stone is it?"
"Orakulum," I said. "It is a very rare volcanic mineral."
"Never heard of it," she said. "But it is gorgeous."
"Just wait until I have it cut," I told her and she smiled.
I heard the cock of the pistol's hammer. I shook my head and looked over at the silenced .45. She made a gesture for me to hand over the stone. Again I shook my head and brought the protective spell into my thoughts and focused on it. There are many ways to cast a spell. This particular method was developed by the Hashashin, Middle Eastern assassins. It is where we get the word assassin from. They mastered the art of hanging spells. You could look at it like this. You cast 99% of the spell and hold off on the very last syllable. The number of spells hanging depends upon the skill of the mage. In my case I have ten hanging at any given time. Most of them are defensive, two are killing spells.
