Sorcerer Rising (A Virgil McDane Novel) Read Free Page B

pay me because of this , I would bring the Heavens down on his head.
    But the fire was spreading, smoke filling the warehouse. Cruder would be coming and for all I knew Leo was the smoke.
    I took one more look at the dump truck. It would probably survive the fire, but that wouldn’t help me one damn bit. There was no way I could get it out of here. The Guild would find me in minutes. Worse, they would be crawling all over this place in the morning. I couldn’t take the ore. It was set in the real world now, no longer Aether.
    Two solid weeks of back breaking labor, Inhaling far more Aether than I was meant to, watching my back for the Guild, dodging lightning bolts.
    For nothing.
    I cursed my luck as I ducked out of the warehouse.
     

    CHAPTER TWO
     
     
    Jersey’s head split like a melon . I grimaced, ignoring the splatter of blood as it landed at me feet.
    Rasputin Teplov, the Tin Man, stood over the body, examining his handiwork. In his hand he held a bloody woodman’s axe made from a single piece of gray metal. He snapped his fingers and one of his bodyguards, a massive example of a man dressed in a sharp, pinstriped suit, handed him a handkerchief.
    The Tin Man’s attention strayed from the corpse, to the kneeling figure who just an hour ago had threatened me. He made a show of wiping down the axe blade as he paced in front of the thug.
    Teplov was a small guy, not that I’d ever bring that up, just barely over five and a half feet tall, with a slight frame and very little muscle. He had to be in his early fifties but he carried his age well. His face was narrow with sharp blue eyes that barely peaked out over his small, silver spectacles. A clean, gray beard lined his jawline, perfectly sculpted. Controlled, like everything else about him.
    When the blade was spotless he spoke, his thick Russian accent playing a harsh counterpoint to his smooth, almost bored demeanor. “Matthew, I am going to give you a choice. Samuel did not receive this choice. Do you understand why?”
    Mathew nodded, though he looked like he was going to be sick. “He didn’t obey. He was chaotic.”
    Teplov nodded approvingly. “That is correct, Matthew. Under no circumstances should this night have gone as it did. I do not approve of the manner he behaved, it was reckless. You on the other hand, did what you could, but your lack of foresight was an agent of chaos. What do we strive for, Mathew?”
    “Order,” the thug said quickly.
    “That is correct,” Teplov said. “So let me present you with your options.” He knelt down so that he was eye level with the dock worker. “One: we say nothing more of this. You go back to work as if nothing happened. But, if you fail me again, you allow this type of failure to repeat itself…” He trailed off, shrugging. Two of his bodyguards were already cleaning the mess and dragging off the body. “Or you can make a sacrifice, a show of commitment to your position within my organization.”
    “What kind of sacrifice, sir?” the thug asked, not meeting his eyes.
    Teplov’s bodyguard raised his hand, which was missing his ring finger, all the way down to the bottom knuckle. It was a nasty scar and…damn, I could sure see where this was going.
    The kid nodded, setting his jaw. He held out his hand. I had to give him that, the kid had stones.
    Teplov nodded back to him. I won’t describe what happened next, you get the idea. The man was led away minus a finger, probably counting his blessings that he got to walk at all.
    Teplov’s axe melted away into what looked like a mix of metal filings and water vapor until nothing remained but the scent of ozone. My skin tingled as the manifestation reverberated through the air.
    My turn. Yay…
    Teplov looked over his spectacles at me. Everything about him was tidy and neat. From his grey Armani suit to his perfectly combed silver hair, nothing was out of place. And that was what defined Teplov.
    See, and this is really going to blow your mind,