Blood & Magic by George Barlow Read Free Book Online

joke.
    “Magic? You really expect me to believe that? Why not just say the bad guy is a yeti and Scooby Doo helps you solve mysteries?”
    “It’s the truth!”
    “Well, go on then, make yourself invisible or conjure a cat. Prove it.”
    “Oh sod off, this is why our kind avoid humans, you are so entangled in your own media-induced ideas of things.”
    “I thought you said I wasn’t human?”
    “You’re not. You’ve seen a Grol, care to explain that? Or what about your red-eyed friends? Any explanation? You are going to need to trust me on this one.”
    “But magic? Come off it and I’m a… what did you call it?”
    “An Inquisitor.”
    “Okay,
why
am I one? And how did I not know about this before? Surely I’d be turning people I don’t like into toads all the time by accident.”
    Gabriel didn’t look impressed by the last comment. He took a long pause before speaking and, as the silence continued to linger, the lift slowed to a stop. The doors peeled open to reveal a circular tunnel, lights coming to life around them as before.
    “No reason Henry. You get these abilities at random, and tonight your cards came up.”
    The involuntary eye movement and flash of sadness across Gabriel’s face told Henry that was a lie.

- Chapter 7 -
Distractions
    Tiles stuck to the walls in small clusters, revealing chipped concrete and the hints of rusting girders. It felt oddly familiar, walking through the maze of tunnels, amongst the smell of stale water and concrete. After a few minutes of walking, the tunnel opened to reveal a platform and, as the facts clicked into place, Henry cursed at himself for not realising where they were sooner. This was an underground station, or more accurately, one of the abandoned underground tunnels. The platform was empty, spot lights were all that pierced through the darkness, catching the faded white of an underground sign that read
Aldwych
.
    “Where are we going?” Henry said.
    “Does it matter?” Gabriel said.
    “I didn't think these tracks connected to anywhere.”
    “You knew about these tunnels?”
    “Yes, I read about it, but-”
    “Of course you did.”
    They walked the length of the platform, stopping at the end. Gabriel crouched on the floor, swung his legs over the edge and jumped down onto the tracks.
    “Come on, or do you want me to point the gun at you again?” Gabriel said.
    “We are walking on the tracks?”
    “Do you have a problem with that?”
    Henry did as he was told.
    Gabriel took a flashlight from his jacket and walked off into the darkness of the tunnel, as the lights of the platform shut off behind him, Henry running to catch up. They had walked for about twenty minutes in silence, when the tunnel opened up ahead.
    “We wouldn't normally go this way, but you would cause too much damage if we travelled via the normal routes,” Gabriel said.
    “How do you figure that?”
    “As part of this
gift
you have, you emanate a sort of energy. This is how they tracked you at the hospital. I injected you with something to neutralise it, but it doesn't last long. When you're new, you generate more energy than we can mask. Anyway, the devices we use to hide this place wouldn't cope with the amount of energy you're producing going through them, they'd blow out, which would cause us no end of trouble.”
    “Who tracked me down? What do you mean devices? And where the hell are we?” Henry said.
    “Questions, questions, questions! You'll get your answers soon enough.”
    “Sure as hell I will,” Henry said under his breath.
    Henry and Gabriel climbed up a long flight of stairs through the narrow passage at the side of the platform, the steps slimy from the water dripping overhead. At the top of the stairs was a small catwalk above a network of pipes leading to a metal door, rusted over entirely.
    Gabriel took a small key from his pocket and delicately, as if mending an antique clock, turned it in the lock. With a cry, the door swung open.
    Beyond the door