The Black Amulet Read online

  He remembered the name on the pad. It seemed even more obvious what to do now. Going to see Du Clement was the best option. What else could he do? No ordinary person could help with such an extraordinary problem. It was worth it, decided Ed, even if it meant returning to the Badlands.

  Yes, and it’ll be good to see Ruby, won’t it?

  ‘Don’t get your hopes up,’ whispered Ed. ‘I ain’t gonna be casting no spells with her. I just need some answers to be able to get rid of you.’

  FIVE

  Victor Brynn had propped open the back door before starting to mix the brown paste for a special tonic he was preparing. He wanted to make sure he could hear Ruby digging in the herb garden after instructing her to plant a new crop of rosemary bushes. Planting at dusk, he’d told her, when she’d complained about doing such a chore, imbued the herb with extra energy, meaning the vials of salt and rosemary they were going to make would be extra strong and a useful weapon against a lot of creatures.

  As Ruby’s complaining had turned to exasperated grumbling, Victor Brynn had merely pointed a finger in the direction of the garden, making it clear she had no option. He knew he was strict, but that was because he wanted her to learn as much as she could about being a Badlander. Secretly, he hoped Ruby might gain enough knowledge to shake up the High Council of the Order and show them the Ordnung needed to change and allow girl apprentices. But he hadn’t told her that yet. There was still a long way to go before she was ready to face the Council.

  He paused to listen to the distant clang of Ruby’s spade, then waved his hand at the lights in the kitchen, asking them to brighten a little more, before returning to his wooden bowl. The tonic was to help him with the aftereffects of being a No-Thing, a Badlander turned so rotten inside that using magic depended on drinking the blood of living things.

  Despite being rescued from such a pitiful existence, Victor Brynn hadn’t recovered fully. He still suffered ferocious episodes when his body would crease up with pain and glisten with cold sweats as the dark hunger for blood rose up. Such longings came without warning. So much so, in fact, that Victor Brynn believed a bubble of poison from the Witch’s bite that had turned him into a No-Thing was travelling up and down his body, trying to force him back into the foul creature he’d once been.

  He stirred the paste harder to make it as smooth and shiny as possible and then he stopped as he heard another noise besides the distant chime of Ruby’s spade in the garden. Someone was in the cottage, walking down the hallway. Striding down, it seemed. Victor Brynn put down his mixing bowl, his fingers flexing out of sight behind his back, conjuring up little white sparks of magic. Nobody was expected. No one ever was.

  When he saw Thomas Gabriel peer round the door, Victor Brynn tutted and picked up the mixing bowl again. ‘I thought we agreed you’d let us know in advance if you were coming by. You gave this cottage to Ruby, but the Order still believes it’s yours and I’m doing my utmost to keep her a secret from them, remember?’

  ‘Sorry.’ Thomas Gabriel shrugged and shuffled his feet. ‘How’s her training going?’

  Victor Brynn mixed a little harder as he thought about that. ‘You know what she’s like. I’ve got her digging in the garden to instill some discipline.’ He raised his head and smiled as they both heard the distant sound of the spade hitting the dirt.

  ‘I meant how’s she managing without being able to do magic?’

  ‘She’s learning, slowly. What about you? Who’s been appointed to replace Simeon as your Master?’

  ‘Randall Givens.’

  ‘I see,’ said Victor Brynn, raising his eyebrows. ‘I imagine not the most patient of men. Those who’ve made it as high up the Order as he has rarely are. But I daresay you’re learning a lot from him, especially when it comes to using magic. He’s very skilled as far as I recall.’

  ‘That’s why I’m here.’

  ‘Oh?’

  Thomas Gabriel listened to the distant chime of Ruby’s spade as he wondered how to say what he wanted. It seemed his courage was being dug out of him too.

  Victor Brynn raised an eyebrow again.

  ‘Well, I’m . . . I’m having a bit of trouble with magic,’ said Thomas Gabriel.

  ‘And you’re too embarrassed to ask Givens? Well, ask away, if that’s why you’re here. Magic’s a tricky beast. Is it your control? The Anglo-Saxon? I don’t get a chance to discuss magic with Ruby for obvious reasons so I’d be delighted to help. Why don’t you tell me about the last time you used it?’

  ‘I don’t . . .’ Thomas Gabriel looked at the floor.

  ‘I won’t bite your head off. What do you want to know?’ Victor Brynn smiled and waited for the boy to say something.

  Thomas Gabriel licked his lips. Victor Brynn’s kind, smiling face made the words harder to find. ‘What . . . what was it like being a No-Thing?’

  The man’s smile flickered and then vanished. He set his mixing bowl down and wiped his hands on his apron and then looked warily at the boy. ‘Have you been bitten by a creature? Is the magic inside you infected?’

  Thomas Gabriel shook his head. ‘No. But just tell me,’ he asked again. ‘What’s it like? Is it as bad as they say in the books?’

  Victor Brynn observed the boy in silence, weighing him up like a difficult word he wasn’t sure how to pronounce.

  ‘Being a No-Thing is the worst thing in the world,’ he said finally. ‘Not just the thirst for blood but the magic gone rotten inside you, telling you to do horrible things. You can’t say no to it because it’s in control of you. But you’re a Badlander, Thomas Gabriel, and that makes you magic’s master. If it’s not doing the things you want it to, you need to be strong. Hasn’t Givens taught you that? Wear an undersync if you must. Meditate. Without a clear mind, the magic will twist you in knots. You’re in charge. Remember that. You Commenced and allowed it into your very being and the magic must always be grateful for your sacrifice.’

  Victor Brynn conjured some white sparks round his fingers. ‘Magic is yours to command now you’ve Commenced.’ He made a little fist and hurled a few white sparks and made the spoon in the mixing bowl start stirring on its own. ‘Go on, tell the magic in you to stop the spoon. Tell it to do what you want. That it must obey you.’

  Thomas Gabriel raised a shaky hand and conjured some sparks, but they died away before he could cast the spell.

  ‘It’s nothing to do with controlling the magic,’ he whimpered. ‘It’s me. I wasn’t meant to Commence. I took my Master’s key without his blessing before he died and now the magic in me’s fading and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.’ He reached into his pocket and took out the invitation that Givens had handed him. ‘I’ve got to pass a test in front of the High Council and they’re bound to find out what I’ve done and punish me.’

  There was nothing but the ticking of the clock on the white invitation for a moment as Thomas Gabriel looked at Victor Brynn. ‘So tell me how to become a No-Thing. At least I’ll still be able to do magic then.’

  Victor Brynn opened his mouth, but, before he could say anything, a small bat glided down from a window ledge high up and landed on the floor. It flickered and flapped on the ground and then changed into a pale, gaunt-looking man with dark hair and long, pointed fingernails.

  ‘Greetings y’all,’ it said in an American accent. ‘I couldn’t help bu-rrt overhear yuu-rr convuurr-sation. Now, luckily f-uur you, boy, I am at liberty to help yuu-h. I just gotta deal with the old man fu-rst. I’ve had maa-h eye on him f-uur a day or so now.’ The Vampire grinned. ‘Been saving him up till I was real hungr-ee.’

  It strode across the room towards Victor Brynn who managed to gather his thoughts fast enough to fire a white shot of magic from his hands. But the Vampire morphed back into a bat that dodged the bolt easily and flew towards the man’s neck, its claws clamping down onto the white skin.

  It hissed and bared its teeth as Victor Brynn staggered back, hitting the table hard and stumbling to the floor. Before the bat could take
a bite, Thomas Gabriel’s One Eye shot out of his coat pocket like a missile and barrelled into it, knocking it from Victor Brynn’s throat.

  There was a terrible screeching and flapping as the two small creatures fought on the floor. When the One Eye lunged and missed, chomping on air with a huge SNAP! of its teeth, the bat fluttered up to safety on the window ledge and looked down with beady green eyes.

  The One Eye gave a little scream and followed. Yet, by the time it arrived, it met a man perched on the ledge. The Vampire plucked the One Eye out of the air and squeezed so hard something cracked. The hand opened and the One Eye dropped to the floor, landing with a small, ugly noise, and lay motionless.

  Before Thomas Gabriel could rush to the poor dead creature, Victor Brynn caught hold of him and dragged him out of the room. The boy found himself pinned to the wall, the man’s fists gripping the lapels of his herringbone coat so hard he was lifted up onto his toes.

  ‘Listen to me! I have no idea how this Vampire got here, but that’s for another day. We need to work together now if we’re going to stay alive. You have to focus. Forget about your meeting with the High Council,’ he said, glancing down at the ticking invitation Thomas Gabriel was still holding. The boy nodded and put the piece of white card back in his pocket and readjusted his coat.

  ‘Well, ain’t this ah pri-tty pick-el!’ shouted the Vampire. ‘We all ga-hn dun and got off on the wrong foot, sirs. So why don’t we try start-ing urgaain? My name is Thaddeus Squire and I ah-m pleased to make the acquaintance of you gentlemen.’ The creature sniggered. ‘I s’pose you already guessed what I am? But I ain’t one of y-uur regulation Vampires. On account of being old, I picked up a few extra tricks along the way. You boys wanna find out wh-ut they are?’

  ‘Quiet!’ shouted Victor Brynn. ‘Whoever you are, you made a mistake coming here.’

  ‘Is that so? Seems like I’m in exactly the right place for what a-hh need. Ain’t that right, Thomas Gabriel?’

  Victor Brynn turned and looked at the boy. ‘Don’t listen to it,’ he whispered. ‘It’s focusing on you because you’re young and impressionable. It thinks it can trick you. It’ll use léasspellunge, empty talk, to try and fool you.’ Victor Brynn shook Thomas Gabriel. ‘Are you listening, boy!’

  ‘Don’t be so-h hard on that th-uur kid. Being young ain’t a crime.’ The Vampire laughed. ‘Sorry fer interrup-ting, but I got the sort of ears that pick up all kinds ah things. I can even hear y-uur hearts pumping round all that bl-uurd. I want me some of that by the way when we’re done talking. Jabbering makes me thuurr-sty.’

  Thomas Gabriel watched Victor Brynn peering round the door frame, weighing up the situation. He was dimly aware of the Vampire rabbiting on, talking about the different centuries it had lived through and how Badlanders were the same in America and Great Britain, too stuck up for their own good. But the boy could also hear something else as well. It was a voice inside him, crisp and clear. The Vampire was in his head, talking to him beneath all the chatter just as Victor Brynn had warned him, but it was difficult not to listen to it.

  I can give y-uh what y-uh want, Thomas Gabriel. All I gotta do is bite y-uh and turn that magic in y-uh bad. That way y-uh’ll end up a No-Thing like y-uh want. I’ve turned a few Badlanders bad back where ah-m from and boy, I reckon they l-uurved being a No-Thing much more than being a Badlander. So just give up the old man and I’ll see y-uh right with one little bite. One nibble to the ne—

  ‘Thomas Gabriel!’ Victor Brynn was shaking him. ‘Did you hear what I said? Are you ready?’

  The boy blinked.

  Reel the old man in for me. I’ll make sure the magic’ll never leave y-uh.

  Thomas Gabriel nodded and stood up tall.

  ‘Very well,’ said Victor Brynn. ‘Even after making the fengnett with seolfor, I’ll still need your help.’

  Victor Brynn muttered some words under his breath and then flashed a hand open and shut four times, firing out a little silver spark each time that shot into the air to make four corners of a square. ‘Cnyte,’ muttered the man and a net made from silver began to weave itself into existence.

  A net to catch a Vampire or wh-uun to catch y-uur dreams in, Thomas Gabriel? It’s him or me. Y-uh know what I mean? Tick . . . tick . . . tick, that invitation of y-uurs is countin’ down, remember? So what’re y-uh gonna do, Thomas Gabriel?

  Victor Brynn grabbed hold of one side of the net. ‘Get the other corners, boy!’ He lowered his voice. ‘The net will draw the creature in once we reveal it and stretch it out. It won’t be able to resist its song. Ready?’

  ‘Ready,’ said Thomas Gabriel.

  Ready then?

  When Victor Brynn moved towards the doorway, Thomas Gabriel didn’t, and held on tight. The net pulled taut, but the fine weave was too strong to tear. Instead, Victor Brynn was jolted off balance and pinged backwards before Thomas Gabriel let go, causing the man to tumble to the floor. The boy threw his half of the net over him, catching Victor Brynn like a fish in the fine mesh. The man screamed as the Vampire shot down from its perch and landed beside him. It took Victor Brynn’s head in its powerful hands and opened its mouth, revealing two white fangs.

  Before the creature fed from the body, it asked Thomas Gabriel to remove the silver net from around the dead man because it was an encumbrance, exerting a force on the creature it didn’t like, which was putting it off its food. So Thomas Gabriel unwrapped Victor Brynn.

  Balling up the net, he opened the wood-fired oven and shoved it in. As he stared at the flames through the glass, a little part of his brain unlocked and he started to remember who he was and what he was. He heard the sucking sounds of the Vampire feeding behind him and it felt like he’d woken from a dream as his mind became his own again. How could he have done such a thing? He took a small step towards the back door through which he could see the garden, all in the dark now the sun had gone. He couldn’t hear the sound of Ruby digging in the garden and wondered where she was and why she hadn’t heard anything and come running.

  He took another step.

  Behind him, the sucking noises stopped.

  ‘Y-uh okay, boy? I forgot about y-uh for a while th-uur, what with eatin’ and all. Multeye-tasking ain’t never been mah strong point.’

  Thomas Gabriel heard the Vampire standing up.

  ‘Boy, I gotta th-urst on. So why don’t we just fu-rrget about y-uh being a No-Thing so y-uh can come and be mah deessert instead?’

  As the Vampire advanced towards him with shiny red lips, Thomas Gabriel racked his brains for a spell, anything that might be useful. Now was the time he needed the magic in him the most.

  SIX

  Once the sun had gone down, the air had grown chilly surprisingly quickly, and Ruby had jammed the spade into the earth and left it there. She’d planted about half of the rosemary bushes, which, she decided, was enough. So she’d snuck round the cottage out of sight of the kitchen and fetched a jar of imps from the VW camper van in the outhouse. The vehicle had belonged to Maitland and was never used by Ruby or Victor Brynn, but was useful for storing items.

  After letting the creatures out of the jar, she’d instructed them to finish planting the rosemary. Once they’d trooped off to do as she asked, Ruby had let herself into the cottage through another door and gone upstairs. She needed a pee and wanted to warm up. But most of all she wanted a sit-down. Her legs and arms were sore from digging and she’d grown two ripe blisters on her right hand.

  So she’d lain on her bed and shut her eyes. She hadn’t meant to doze, but she’d slipped into a nightmare in which she’d encountered the Vampire from the night before. Waking up in a panic, sweat prickling on her brow, Ruby heard screaming coming from downstairs and pinched herself to check if she was still dreaming. But she was very much awake.

  As she’d crept out of the room and tiptoed down the stairs, she’d heard an American voice, which she recognized instantly, and shivered as she wondered what had happened to Victor Brynn. Going closer to the kitchen
doorway, she got her answer.

  The man’s body was lying in the doorway to the kitchen. His face was white, a look of fear frozen on it. His eyes had been sucked deep into their sockets. There were two puncture wounds in his neck, red and raw. Ruby felt the world wobble around her, but she couldn’t afford to let Victor Brynn’s death get in the way of what she needed to do now.

  It was hard, though, and her knees shook. She heard the Vampire talking to someone, but she didn’t care who it was. Instead, she turned and ran to the study.

  Quickly, she searched the desk drawers for the golden brooch and a vial of Vamp Venom she’d made up following her run-in with the Vampire, hoping for the chance to prove she could take on such a creature again one day and win. And now here was that chance. But Victor Brynn was dead. Dead!

  She opened the walnut case that sat on the desk with a shaky hand and took out the gun, stuffing it into her waistband, telling it to be quiet as it complained about being woken up.

  As she crept towards the kitchen, Ruby heard the cries of Thomas Gabriel alongside her own jumbled thoughts . . . How had the Vampire got here? Had it followed her?

  She drew out the gun and it tensed in her hand when it saw Victor Brynn’s body in the doorway and heard the Vampire in the kitchen.

  ‘I’m with you, Ruby,’ it whispered. ‘Think hard about what you need to do.’ Ruby gripped the gun so tightly it seemed to be holding her up and she was glad it was her friend.

  ‘Y-urr gonna give me that neck of y-urrs, boy!’ shouted an angry American voice.

  Ruby peered ever so carefully round the door and saw Thomas Gabriel sitting inside a rather misshapen transparent sphere. His arms were clasped round his knees and his head was buried deep in them.

  ‘That bubble ain’t gonna last!’ shouted the Vampire. ‘Y-uur magic’s fla-hhky – I heard y-uh tell the old guy. So why make it hard on yuhr-self?’ The Vampire poked at the sphere with a crooked forefinger, creating a hollow sound. Little sparks ran over its surface and the whole thing juddered and creaked as if ready to collapse.