Ritual of the Broken (Haunted Hearts)

Chapter 20

Chapter

Twenty

O llie stood in the cemetery as the claws of darkness drew long between the rows of tombstones. Shadows pulled as if some great being sucked in a breath, urging the shadows along as if they were the smoke from the creature’s lungs.

“Oliver,” the voice called, almost sounding like it came from everywhere at once.

And Ollie was sure he knew what it was.

He turned and saw that he was the only person still standing in the cemetery. Where everyone had gone, he had no idea. Had the beast gotten them all?

The thing behind him called him again.

He turned to face it. At first, it was a darkness that mounted over him like some great horror. The same black mass that he and Adrian faced at the cemetery.

But then, a dim, red light filtered through.

“Oliver.”

The thing was far taller than he recalled, towering over Ollie. Only something was off about it, something that wasn’t there before.

“Ollie, wake up,” the voice said to him.

He opened his eyes and sat upright. He looked around, almost wild-eyed, and found himself in a bed not his own.

A ball of light hovered near the footboard.

“There you are,” the voice said again. “And in a compromising position, it seems.”

Emmerich.

“What the hell do you want?” Ollie asked the ball of light. Rather, a communication sphere like those used in the Archives, only this one allowed two-way communication. “How did you even find us?”

Next to him, Adrian stirred and sat up, rubbing his eyes. The blanket covering him fell, revealing a very distracting chest and pretty much everything else Adrian had to offer. “What’s going on?”

“I’m the one who got you a healer, remember? Nyla gave me an update.”

Of course she did. He should have known he couldn’t fully trust her. “Well, then answer my first question.”

“I suggest you two get dressed,” Emmerich said.

And, apparently Emmerich sprang for the components that gave him the ability to see through the sphere.

“You could have just called,” Ollie said, reaching over to the nightstand to grab his phone. It read 6:57 a.m.

“What do you think I’m doing now?” Emmerich’s voice came back. The amusement laced within caused Ollie to grind his molars. “I need to see you. It’s about your case, about the sigils.”

Right. The runes. The whole reason they ended up here in the first place. “You’re seeing us now.”

A chuckle. “Yes. Quite a bit more than I bargained for.”

Next to him, Adrian flipped a sheet across his legs to cover himself up.

“Can’t you tell us over the… sphere?”

Emmerich made a sound. “This is too sensitive to talk about over the sphere. Anyone could be listening. You and Detective Keller should come to the Archives.”

Ollie forced himself to breathe slowly. “Okay. How soon?”

“Sooner rather than later,” Emmerich said. “We have much to discuss.” And then Emmerich’s communication sphere winked out.

Adrian grunted as he flopped back down onto the bed. “So you guys can just send spying spheres wherever you want?”

“Not really,” Ollie said. “They only work in short distances and in places where the wards are tuned for it. The Aetherium Forums are attuned to it.”

Adrian reached up and pulled Ollie to him. “You’re saying we probably should’ve done what we did back at my place.”

Ollie smiled and leaned back against Adrian’s warmth, laying his head on his shoulder. “If we do it again, I’d say that’s probably the better plan. ”

“If?”

Ollie craned his neck to meet Adrian’s gaze. “I’m not opposed to ‘when.’” He grinned. “I’m not opposed to when being right now.”

For a second, Adrian appeared as if he was on the same page. But then he glanced around the dim room. “Maybe we should wait until we’re out of here.”

Ollie sat up. Adrian was right. If Emmerich was expecting them, he could pop back in at any moment wondering where they were. But at least there was a distinct possibility there would be a next time with Adrian. It wasn’t love. It was way too soon for that. But he could definitely live with another night with the weight of a ridiculously hot werewolf on top of him.

“Right. Then let’s get dressed,” Ollie said.

They walked through what qualified as a medical ward in the Aetherium Forums. The rooms weren’t typical hospital rooms, and there weren’t many medical staff wandering the hallways. They passed other mages, some of them dressed in uniforms that identified them as part of the healing staff. But it was otherwise calm with plants and vases on tables at various points along the hallway and even a tray set outside one door, similar to the food service tray they were given in Adrian’s room.

“This is a hospital?” Adrian asked.

Ollie shrugged as they walked. “For the Synod. This is my first time really dealing with the Synodian healthcare system.” His family always had to rely on their own personal care. Luckily, his mother was decent with home remedies, magical and otherwise.

But one thing occurred to Ollie as they walked down the long hallway. No nurses, doctors, or even mage healers had bothered to come into the room when Adrian was supposed to be under observation.

They reached a desk at the end of the long hallway, which appeared to be an upscale nurses’ station, and they stopped to see if Adrian needed to check out.

The woman sitting there looked up from a book open in front of her. When she saw both Ollie and Adrian, her eyes widened, and her cheeks turned a healthy shade of red. “Leaving us so soon?” She quickly looked away again.

“We have an appointment in the Archives,” Ollie said.

With a nod, she reached over and pulled a file from a tiered polished wood file organizer. “Just need to sign a couple of things.” Ollie noted that she still blushed furiously as she put some pages in front of him. “As a Synod mage, you will need to sign for him. He can’t sign himself out.”

That apparently didn’t sit well with Adrian. “I’m going to see if they have a vending machine,” he said, and he wandered away from the counter.

The nurse watched him, and her neck worked in a visible gulp as she bit her bottom lip. “I trust our patient is feeling much better,” she said to Ollie. She almost smirked .

That confirmed something. Now it was his turn to blush. He put an elbow on the counter and leaned closer. “Tell me, do you have a monitoring system in the rooms up here?”

A smile broke out on her lips as she stared at Ollie for too long. “Why, yes. Yes, we do. Wards in the rooms allow us to keep a close eye on all our patients on this entire ward. It’s much more efficient than having to check in each room like in a mortal hospital.”

Ollie straightened. His face grew hot. “Oh. Well, that’s something that would’ve been nice to know.”

“Yes,” she continued. “And when there’s any activity such as a rise in vital signs, it alerts all the on-duty staff so everyone can stay abreast of what’s happening in a patient room.”

“All,” Ollie repeated.

“All,” she said.

“What’s going on?” Adrian said beside him. Ollie hadn’t heard him approach. He carried a bag of chips and a canned beverage.

But Ollie couldn’t look him in the eye just yet. “Well, thank you for your service,” he said to the nurse.

“And thank you for making the night shift interesting,” she said with a sly smirk when Ollie slid the paperwork back over to her. She gave Ollie a covert wink and leaned close. “I’m not usually into were-types,” she said in a whisper. “But that one…” She blew out a breath.

Ollie was sure his cheeks were about to explode from all the heat there. But still, he leaned in closer as well. “I know, right?”

Finally, she laughed. Ollie did too. He couldn’t help himself.

“What was that about?” Adrian asked as they walked away. The press of his mouth said he’d probably picked up their conversation with that damned werewolf hearing of his.

“Nothing much,” Ollie said. His face still felt hot. “I just found out they, uh…” He wasn’t sure he wanted to tell him when Adrian had just gotten to the point where he seemed okay being around mages. But he also didn’t want to lie to him. “Well, they, uh, have ways of monitoring the rooms of their patients.” Ollie gave Adrian a pointed look as they walked. “Visually monitor the rooms.”

“Oh,” Adrian said. Ollie was surprised he took it so well. But then Adrian’s eyes grew wide. “Oh!”

“Yeah.”

After a moment, Adrian spoke up. “I guess it’s a good thing we decided not to go for a morning round.”

“Yeah,” Ollie said. They emerged into the main section of the Aetherium Forums. “Kind of hot, though, isn’t it? It’s like a magical OnlyFans.”

Adrian said nothing until Ollie turned to find him staring. A smile spread on his face. “Okay, yeah. Kind of hot to think somebody witnessed all that. Sort of makes it feel like…”

“Like it’s even more impressive. ”

“Yeah. Exactly.” Adrian grinned, and he bumped shoulders with Ollie. Ollie bumped back.

“And they all got to see it. The whole night staff, I think.”

“Oh. Wow.” Adrian said. “It wasn’t recorded, was it?”

“Why? You want copies?”

Adrian scoffed. But then he said, “Maybe.”

Ollie laughed.

The Archives were dimly lit when they entered. Morwen was not present this early in the morning, and Ollie was glad. He had little desire to deal with her. The subdued atmosphere contrasted sharply with the world outside. A hush pervaded, as if the knowledge stored in the countless books and scrolls demanded silence at this early hour. Ollie continued in and down the stairs, with Adrian close behind. The man at the desk seemed to expect them, and he let them pass this time with few questions.

As they approached Emmerich’s desk, Ollie tugged self-consciously at his shirt, attempting to straighten it. He could feel Emmerich’s piercing gaze studying him even before he looked up. Their eyes met, and for a brief moment, a myriad of emotions flitted across Emmerich’s face—surprise, understanding, and was that... jealousy?

“Ollie,” Emmerich began, his voice dripping with false nonchalance, “Didn’t even bother to change clothes since I last saw you, I see.” His gaze switched between both of them. “Must’ve been quite a couple of evenings.”

Ollie stiffened, but kept his voice steady. “What did you find, Emmerich?”

Emmerich’s eyes lingered on Ollie’s attire for a moment longer before turning serious. “The sigils,” he said, laying out a parchment on the desk. On it were the familiar dark symbols, their very presence sending a shiver down Ollie’s spine. “I discovered their meaning. This one,” Emmerich pointed to the first sigil Ollie and Adrian found, “refers to the Soul of the Tormented. It’s a soul who is a slave to need.”

“Addiction,” Adrian said.

“Yes. Exactly,” Emmerich said. He pointed to the second sigil. “This sigil is meant to mark a soul embattled by despair.”

“Like grief?” Adrian said.

It made Ollie think of Ellie Barnes sleeping in her recently deceased child’s bed. Adrian was right. That was the connection between both Zachary and Ellie.

“Yes. Grieving. That fits even better,” Emmerich said. “But the most important question I have is, have there been others?” He looked between both Ollie and Adrian.

“What do you mean?” Adrian asked.

“I mean, detective, are these two murders the only two that you’ve found that were marked with sigils of any kind?” Emmerich’s tone gave Ollie concern. He was used to Emmerich being forceful and demanding, but there was an urgency there that Ollie hadn’t heard before .

“How can I know that?” Adrian asked. “Do you know how many murders happen in Chicago on a daily basis? We average a new murder every single day, often more. If there was, it may not even be in my district. Another detective probably has it.”

Ollie stared at Emmerich. “What are you getting at, Emmerich?”

He referred to the papers laid out on the table in front of him. “These two sigils, taken separately, are powerful in their own right. They are power sigils that mark a soul for harvest. Oftentimes, a mage involved in darker arts might want a soul to empower something, like an enchantment of an item or perhaps to keep in a stone as a sort of magical battery. There was a time thousands of years ago when souls were sacrificed in such a manner. It would be easy to dismiss these sigils as the workings of a dark mage for a selfish, solitary purpose.”

Ollie’s eyes narrowed as he watched Emmerich. “Except...”

Emmerich’s gaze took on an intensity, and he nodded. “Except, see here?” He pointed to two markings on each sigil that were in approximately the same place and at the same angle. “I assume you studied enough during your rituals coursework to understand what this means.”

Ollie peered closer. “It means these two sigils are connected, that they’re part of the same ritual.”

“Correct!”

Adrian made a sound like a growl behind him. “What kind of ritual?” he asked .

Emmerich moved toward a pile of books, old texts with some that looked to have come from a time even before modern written language, preserved by the wards in the Archives. He pulled an open book free from the stack, one that looked more recent, within the past three hundred years or so, and flipped it open to put it down on the table. He turned it around so Ollie could read it.

It was handwritten like a journal entry. Or a mage’s book of shadows.

The language was ancient, a subdialect he recalled studying in school. “My Yllisian is rusty,” Ollie said as he took a closer look. “It says, uh, ‘The Ritual ...’” That was the easy part. “‘The Ritual of the Separated...’ no, ‘the Severed...’”

Emmerich let out a breath. “It’s called The Ritual of the Broken.” He flipped a few pages. When he turned the book back around to face Ollie, Ollie could see it. But Emmerich pointed them out anyway. “This book isn’t even logged in official records. I had to bend some archival rules to retrieve it. But it is the only place I could find these two sigils appearing together.”

Ollie studied the page where Emmerich pointed. The two sigils were there, and they were in a list broken up into two parts. The first was a grouping of four. “I recognize these words,” Ollie said. “South, North, West, and East.”

“Yes,” Emmerich said. “And the order is significant. The first symbol you gave me was for North, and the second you sent me was for West.”

It started to click for Ollie. “Those are the second and third sigils in the list,” he said. He looked at Adrian. “That means there was probably another murder tied to these two that we missed, one that occurred in the South.”

Adrian ran a hand through his hair. “That’s not my district. I wouldn’t have been called in on it.” The frown on Adrian’s face told Ollie he seemed to almost take it personally. “Are we sure the murder even took place?”

“If this ritual is being performed, the first murder has to take place. There is no doing things out of order in this ritual.”

“We’ll have to look into it,” Ollie said.

“We’d be better off focusing on the one that’s going to happen,,” Adrian said. “There’s still one more soul harvest to take place.”

“The one in the East,” Ollie said.

“Two more harvests, actually,” Emmerich said.

The comment startled him. “Two more?”

Emmerich pointed to another symbol farther down the page. “The last harvest takes place in the center of the points.”

Ollie turned back to Emmerich. “What is this ritual for?”

“It’s an opening ritual,” Emmerich said.

“Opening for what?”

“A door.”

“I’m going to regret asking this,” Adrian said. “But what comes out of the door?”

Emmerich pointed to a place on the journal set off like a quotation. “The word here has a stronger meaning, but the closest translation is something called the Vanguard.”

“Like the beginning of something?” Ollie asked.

Adrian groaned again. “Or the troops moving at the head of an army.”

Emmerich picked up another book. “I was able to cross-reference the Vanguard in The Libram of the Cosmic Architects.”

“That sounds like a light read,” Ollie said.

“It was the only passage that seemed to fit what is being described in the journal,” Emmerich continued. He read the quoted part of the text, translating as his finger moved across the page. “And lo, from the ancient gateway shall emerge the Vanguard, first among the heralded, to prepare the path. When the land is made ready, the Queen, both sovereign and divine, shall descend. In Her wake, the Boundary shall fall, the old world shall crumble to dust, and from its ashes shall rise a new dawn, both an end and a beginning.”

“Well,” Ollie said, crossing his arms. “Doesn’t that sound fun.”

Adrian put both hands on the table and leaned forward. “What I want to know is why. If we can get to why someone would want to let this Vanguard through, then we start looking for who this might benefit. That’s how we catch the asshole behind it all.”

“It’s to remake the world,” Emmerich said.

Staring at Emmerich, Adrian’s frown deepened. “Apocalypse. ”

“That’s original,” Ollie said, rolling his eyes. “Why do these things always want to end the world?” Ollie turned the journal around to face him and tried to read more of the text.

“This is a ritual created by mages,” Emmerich said. “The goal is to reforge the world into a place where magic and mortals are more in balance. Mages would be able to shape the direction of the world after this ritual is complete and the King returns.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Adrian said, his tone laced with sarcasm. “Someone wants to unleash this ‘Vanguard’ and usher in a new era where mages rule supreme?”

Emmerich’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not about ruling, detective. It’s about restoring balance to a world that has become painfully one-sided.”

“But the Boundary will have to fall,” Ollie said. “You read it right from that book.” He gave Emmerich a narrow-eyed stare. “I assume you studied enough in your Basic Cosmology coursework to know the ramifications of that.”

Emmerich lifted his chin, and his lip did that little curl thing that said Ollie touched a nerve. That was a pleasing turn of events.

“What happens if the Boundary falls?” Adrian asked.

“Oh, you know. Worlds clashing together, dragons roaming the streets, everything that’s ever haunted your dreams allowed to set foot into this mortal realm,” Ollie said. “The usual.”

The book in Emmerich’s hand slammed closed. “Well, of course nobody wants that to happen. The Boundary must not fall. But my point still stands that the balance in this world has shifted to the point of tipping unless something can be done to stop it.”

Ollie rolled his eyes as Emmerich spoke. He’d heard that tone too many times when they were together, the condescension, the haughtiness. Briefly, he considered throwing the journal at him. Instead, he turned the page and tried to read more of the ritual notes, his brows furrowing together as he tried to translate the text. The Yllisian was coming easier as he continued to read.

There was more about the required souls and perhaps an explanation as to why these particular souls were required. He couldn’t be sure with just a cursory glance. As his eyes moved down the page, he noticed something scribbled in the margin. He peered closer at it.

A symbol. One he’d seen before that looked vaguely like a leaf or a fish. Along with the handwriting.

“They want to restore balance by bringing darkness and evil into the world?” Adrian scoffed. “Yeah, that sounds like a real balanced approach.”

“You’re oversimplifying it,” Emmerich retorted. “The mortal realm has become stagnant, disconnected from the fundamental forces that shape existence. Magic is the lifeblood of the universe, and by cutting it off, we’ve crippled ourselves. The mortal realm is dying. It needs better stewards.”

Adrian leaned forward, his eyes burning with intensity. “Or maybe the mortal realm has evolved past the need for arcane mumbo-jumbo, and they learned to rely on their own strength.”

“Your arrogance is astonishing,” Emmerich sneered. “You think you’ve transcended the very forces that birthed you? Magic is woven into the fabric of reality, detective. It’s inescapable.”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed as he turned to Emmerich. “Careful, mage. You’re starting to sound like a true believer.”

Emmerich lifted his chin and met Adrian’s gaze, which caused Adrian to growl. Ollie put a hand on Adrian’s arm in an effort to calm him down.

“It’s not a matter of belief, werewolf,” Emmerich said, unflinching. “We’ve all grown up in a world that allows us only a fraction of what we are capable of. I’ve felt it. I imagine you’ve felt it too. Power is so close we can taste it, except there is something in the way.” Emmerich paused. He touched the closed Libram of the Cosmic Architects. “Of course no one wants to bring evil back into the world and let it roam free. But a ritual that seeks to lessen the stranglehold does have a certain elegance to it, don’t you think?”

Adrian moved closer. “I think there’s enough magic in this world already,” he said. His voice was a growl. Emmerich straightened and didn’t back down.

Ollie reached over and pushed a stack of books so they fell over onto the table in front of where he sat—where they would cover the journal. As the books scattered, Ollie slipped the journal out from underneath the pile and put it inside his jacket.

Emmerich whirled around as the books scattered, some falling on the floor. He made a sound like he might be choking. “Ollie! You idiot! These books are invaluable!” At least it broke the tension…

“Sorry!” Ollie stood up and reached for the books as if he planned to help clean up. “The sound of you talking down to everybody has me jumpy.”

Emmerich fixed him with a glower, one Ollie was used to—and that he’d grown a lot of armor against over their years together. Ollie only lifted his chin as he met Emmerich’s stare.

“Just leave them,” Emmerich said with a frustrated wave of his hand.

Ollie looked to Adrian. “We have an idea where to start,” he said. “We should go.”

Adrian shot Ollie a look. “But we need to figure out?—”

Ollie held up a hand. “Let’s just go.” He stared at Adrian, met his gaze, and hoped for the best that Adrian would somehow connect with his mental telepathy—which he didn’t have but that he really could have used right about then. The journal felt like it was slipping pressed between his upper arm and ribs inside his coat. Besides, he really wanted to get the hell out of the Archives—and away from Emmerich. For more reasons than just the journal he planned to steal.

To his relief, Adrian nodded. He turned.

Ollie followed. As he did, he sent some of his focus into his bracelet and called up his shields. He eyed the doorway as he walked through for any sign they would flare to life to stop him from stealing the book. He was either going to get away with this, or he was going to be in a world of hurt.

No wards flared to life, and the old man at the door didn’t even look up as they passed. That was… lucky.

He wasn’t going to ask questions. Ollie hurried out of the Archives next to Adrian.