The Effaced: Chapter Forty-Two (Patreon)

There was a muffled puff of air as a privacy enchantment enveloped the man, Rhys, Hadiya, and me. The man shook his head sadly.

“I am disappointed in you. You failed to uphold the spirit of our bargain, Rhys. As such, I have allowed Abraham to continue rigging this trial.”

“What do you want?” I asked. It wasn’t polite or nice, but at this point, I struggled to care.

“Ah, ah, ah,” he said, as if chiding a very young child. “That is not how one speaks to me.”

“I… apologize,” I said. “How might we rectify this situation.”

“Better,” the man said. “It is quite simple. Miss Hadiya Abbas, stop trying to destabilize our economic structure, both with lobbying and with your research. No more ‘aura tattoos’. Your CFO has already complained about your spending, no? Stop it. You have an aura.”

He turned to me.

“You are going to remove Abraham and the Arenamaster. Both are drawing far too much attention. We had planned for far more subtle methods, and the sparse percentage points of extra energy that this is providing are not worth it.”

“You mean kill them?” I asked.

I would prefer to not kill either of the two. I wanted to pretend that I’d entirely left Mist behind me. But I knew that I could do it.

Worse, I knew that I’d be able to sleep at night, even if I killed both of them.

“Yes. Do so in a way that ensures that Abraham’s body will never be found. We will provide you with

“I won’t kill the Arenamaster’s indoctrinated child,” I said. “You can throw me in jail before I do that.”

“My dear boy, you will not be sent to jail. You would be sent to prison, which is far worse. But that is fine. We have no need for Zone, Mist, and Deepwater to be killed.”

His words hit me like a blow to the stomach, but it also explained things. Someone had sabotaged the spellcraft holding the structures at both the hotel and the hospital. I hadn’t considered it, but of course there was another version of Zone there to disable all of the enchantments.

Deepwater…

They had been the sibling I had been closest to, other than maybe Zone, and even that was a maybe. The original Deepwater had died during the invasion of EC-Six in the arena. And while nothing could bring them back, I hadn’t thought there would be anyone carrying their legacy or powers. For some reason,

Finally, the Nexus member turned to Rhys.

“The tablet that you gave us has some interesting applications of sacrificial magic,” the man said. “As well as some aspects we do not fully understand, even with your notes. We will have your help with reassembling as much of the spellcraft as needed.”

“That’s fine,” Rhys said. “But… it won’t work, you know that, right? The spellcraft doesn’t work that way.”

“We are aware,” the man said. “We do not plan to create a super-mage. Rather, we need this spell for its other applications.”

Hadiya, who had been staring at the man as if he’d grown a second head, finally spoke.

“We need my research,” she said. “Elucidate Labs is important to keep the country running at a global stage, and I’ve consistently scored highest in innovation and discovery out of everyone who works there.”

“We would prefer to have your brain,” the man said. “I don’t deny that you’re intelligent, Miss Abbas. We do not need your politicking to save the people who choose to live in the undercity and not pull themselves up.”

I felt my fingers twitch at the phrasing.

“No,” Hadiya said. “I like you Axel, and I’m sorry, but I can do so much more for the…”

The man removed a set of papers from his suit jacket, then passed them over to Hadiya.

“Your notice of termination from Elucidate Labs,” he said.

“You can’t do that,” she said. “My performance ha—”

“I can,” he said. “More accurately, your CFO and COO both can do it. And they have. Of course, I could forget to deliver this to you, and put in a good word with both of them.”

I felt a faint chill come over the back of my neck as I remembered what Egress had said to me not so long ago – don’t try to negotiate with him, it will just make him angry. Hadiya didn’t seem to get the notice, however.

“Three years without lobbying, and I’ll cease my research on the tattoos,” she said.

“No.”

“Fi—”

“This is not a merchant stall where you can barter for a better deal,” the man said flatly. “You will accept my terms, or you will lose your job and watch as Axel goes to jail.”

“You let Axel bargain.”

“I let Axel clarify a point on which I was not clear. If I wanted any of her children dead, then I would have Axel kill them. Am I understood?”

Hadiya was quiet for a moment, then muttered something under her breath.

“I could not hear that, Miss Abbas,” the man said. “Please speak up.”

“Fine,” Hadiya snapped. “Fine, I’ll stop.”

“Excellent,” the man said. The field dissolved around him, and he turned and walked into the courtroom.

When the fifteen-minute break concluded, Aiden began his defense. He began slowly, first presenting my alibi working on the ship, clearly expecting the prosecutor to object.

But something in the air had changed. The judge did nothing as Aiden continued to explain why, for several reasons, I could not have been the one to kill Senator Ermonte. The prosecutor didn’t even twitch as Aiden essentially attacked the terrible interview he’d had with me, explaining how it was illegal, immoral, and incorrect.

As Aiden began to explain how Abraham had been pulling strings in order to turn me into a scapegoat, the judge finally spoke.

“Mister Pine, please stick to the facts. In the evidence you submitted, there is nothing to indite the honorable Abraham Tahmid. While it is true there was a traced telegram, the source is unknown.”

That seemed to throw Aiden off his game.

“I… do not remember that, your honor. May I present the exhibit in order to refresh my memory?”

“Of course.”

Aiden removed the manilla folder and began flipping through it, reading aloud from the traced telegrams.

They had been altered. I didn’t know how, but I could guess the why.

Every instance of Abraham had been scrubbed from the records. Even the profit sharing and seed money invested in the Arenamaster, the illegal donations he had accepted via his shell corporations, and the very mention of his room number on The Malapert had been scrubbed clean.

What was left was a mountain of evidence that someone had been pulling the strings on the constables, messing with my life, and setting me up to be a scapegoat. The who was simply mysteriously gone.

Interestingly to me, both of the captains that Abraham had been controlling were still listed by name, though I doubted much would come of it. The enchanter who’s shop had provided the now-dead Horse with the means to take the shot that killed Senator Ermonte was also still in the file, and I thought there was a slightly better chance of that enchanter being held liable.

But it didn’t matter, because neither of the names had been left in for justice’s sake.

No, it was far more likely that the names had been left in as a reminder to Hadiya, Rhys, and me: we needed to be good little tools, because if we showed even the slightest sign of turning against Nexus, they would dispose of us through any means needed.

It sent a shiver down my spine. The power that Nexus held was even more terrifying than the power of Archmage Davalier, or any other archmage, known or unknown. It might be less directly applicable in combat, but the soft power they held could make or break lives a hundred times over.

When it came time for the prosecutor to cross-examine me, he rose and spoke.

“No questions, your honor, only an apology for my abhorrent behavior before.”

There was murmuring in the jury at that, and I shifted uncomfortably. Aiden looked slightly baffled, but they moved into their closing remarks, where the prosecutor stood.

“Allow me to say I have made a grievous error of judgement. In light of the reviewing of case materials, I implore the jury to choose not guilty.”

Then he sat down again. That set the jury rumbling, and Aiden looked even more disconcerted, as if he’d never had a case as strange as this one. He gave his closing remarks smoothly, reminding them of my alibi one last time before they left to closed council in order to make their final decision.

“I don’t know what you did,” Aiden said under his breath to me while we waited. “But it was well worth it. I’ve never seen such a sharp and sudden turnaround. Who is that man?”

“Someone very powerful, who is very invested in making sure things run smoothly,” I said, trying to be a little flattering in case he or Egress was listening in.

“Well, whatever deal you struck, it was worth it,” Aiden repeated himself. I gave him a smile that couldn’t touch my eyes.

“I sure hope it is,” I said. “Archangels above and Thrones below, I hope it is.”

It took less than twenty minutes for the jury to come back with a verdict, and one of them stood.

“We find Axel Font not guilty on all charges,” she said.

“Court adjourned,” the judge said, banging her gavel against the bench. As we trickled out, the man from Nexus stepped up next to me.

“I hope you see that, so long as you work with us, you are in good hands,” he said. “Remember your end of the bargain.”

“I understand,” I said. “I don’t know where the Arenamaster will strike next, but I will do everything I can to stop her.”

“Good man,” he said. “We will send you the information we have.”

He clasped me on the shoulder and gave me a grandfatherly smile, then turned and left.

“What was that about?” Kelly asked.

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” I said, waving my hand. Hadiya, Rhys, and I all exchanged a look.

“Okay,” Kelly said agreeably. “Can we get food? That took forever.”

“That was actually very, very short,” Aiden said. “I expected it to take three or four more days, honestly.”

“Really? Ugh, I can never be an attorney,” Kelly said. I laughed a bit, while Rhys paid Aiden, and then we went out for dinner as a group. Jessica’s husband joined us, and I felt shockingly relaxed as we settled in at the twentyith story steakhjouse that Rhys had chosen.

“I will pay you back, just as soon as I’ve wrapped up my business,” I told him quietly. “Between the suit, the meal, paying the remaining legal fees…”

“They’re not loans, they’re help,” he said. “You’ve got the difficult part.”

I pursed my lips, but didn’t argue with him. I did, however, reaffirm my choice to pay him back when I could.

Other than that, the night went well. As we ate, and it began to really sink in that I would be able to return to my own apartment without having to worry about being accosted by the constables, I started to relax.

“It’s still probably best if you stay at Rhys’,” Kelly pointed out when I brought it up. “They might not stop you, but they’ll watch, and Rhys has wards.”

“That’s true,” Rhys said. “You’re welcome to stay.”

Jessica opened her mouth, then shut it with a smile.

As the night went on, even Hadiya, who was clearly frustrated about not being allowed to lobby anymore, relaxed and indulged. After a few glasses of wine, she started to flirt with Jessica, despite the fact that my brother-in-law was right there. He took it in good humor, at least.

When we finally left the steakhouse, we said our goodbyes. Jessica hugged me tightly and passed both Kelly and me four more buttons – all one-use wards. Hadiya took a rickshaw back to her place, while Rhys, Kelly, and I walked.

When we got back, Rhys opened the door for us and unlatched the wards, then announced he was going to shower and head to bed. I headed towards the guest room, and stopped dead in my tracks.

Sitting on the guest bed was a manilla envelope, just like the one that Nexus had given us on Abraham. Attached to it was a note, in very neat, almost inhumanly perfect handwriting.

“Here is some relevant information on the Arenamaster. – E.”

I let out a slow breath as I felt the knot form in my stomach. I might have been found not guilty of the crime that had started this all off, but I was not done. And Egress had made it clear that she could get into Rhys’ apartment whenever she wanted, wards or no wards.

I put the papers to the side of the bed and swallowed thickly, then started to change.

Hunting down a corrupt member of the Overriding Judiciary Council before he could continue to turn his control against his peers, and stopping the most dangerous witch and demon I knew would be quite the task.

But it would have to be a task for the Axel of tomorrow.