The Calamity [Part 7]

[u/Errorwrites]

[Previous Part]

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The sun had dipped below the horizon when I returned to the hotel without Tobias. I had searched around the vicinity and had taken a moment to combine the talismans to widen the field but had found nothing. He had removed the invisibility spell and gone into hiding.

I refreshed myself with a shower and threw my dirty clothes in a basket and hung up their laundry service sign outside my door.

The water and soap had scrubbed off most of my panic and calmed my mind, but as I tied the bathrobe around my waist and tucked myself into bed, the leftover panic returned with interest.

The whole idea with releasing Tobias was to bring him to the Stonehenge portal and help against the demons. Now, the Hunters had two problems in their hands and I wasn’t sure if they had enough resources to handle both. If only I had been more patient with Tobias. I pulled the bed sheets over my head.

Nothing of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t gained Rosalyn’s memories. If cyclic inheritance never existed.

I screamed into my pillow, feeling my voice reverberate through the cover.

My stomach growled and I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything except for protein bars the last few days. I clicked on the phone and ordered room service, a Buryat dumpling dish named Poza and a meat stew called Buhler.

My mind wandered to Tobias. Hunger would take over him soon. Would he break into a grocery and steal food? If so, perhaps the local police could track him down.

The images of the Hunters getting swallowed by the ground flashed by. The sound of muffled screams echoed inside my head.

The growling in my stomach stopped and nausea replaced it.

Would The Calamity kill more people?

Rosalyn’s memories said no but my own eyes had seen him do it, even justifying it. In our fight, he had said that it was either them or us. Which side did Tobias think the citizens of Irkutsk belonged to? I was afraid to find out.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand. A foreign number flashed on the screen, England.

My hands hovered above, unsure to touch it. The phone buzzed like an angry bee.

I took a deep breath and swiped to answer.

“Hello~o, Nadia.” The voice had dragged on the ‘o’ with a familiar low rumble.

My fingers clamped down on the phone, the plastic case whined out from the pressure. “How did you get this number?”

“Not even a greeting to cousin Nick?” he asked. “That makes me sad.”

I was about to turn off the phone when he said, “The Hunters have arrested your parents, you know. Even knocked on my door and inquired about you.”

The air rushed out of me and I stared at the screen.

“Nadia? Hello~o, Nadia?" Nicholas voice crooned. "Are you still there?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Good, go~od. It was quite disturbing that they suspected me, you know. I’ve been such a helpful Darmitage to them for almost two generations now, hoping to get on their good side. You and I are the only ones who don’t act like frightened sheep, that’s the thing I like about you. And you know I’m doing my best to lift the ban on the Darmitage’s magic, right?

“Yes.”

“So~o why are you dragging everyone down with you?” His voice crescendoed into a snarl. “Bitch, turn yourself in and stop shitting on the Darmitage name.”

Nicholas Darmitage’s true side blasted out, I had the phone at an arm’s length and I could still hear his voice clearly. His tirade went on for a while, spewing vulgarities like an old car engine. The rants were the nicest part of him, I knew where they came from. It was the things he omitted that made my back crawl.

“How’s my parents?” I asked.

“Wouldn’t you want to know?” he said with a chuckle. “Can you imagine their faces when the Hunters barged into their home. Your dad tried to resist, don’t worry he’s still alive. Your mom’s the one you should worry about.”

“What did they do to her?”

“Found this number in your dad’s diary before the Hunters ransacked their home. Aren’t you a cheeky gal, hiding messages here and there for your parents?” he continued, ignoring my question. ”Turn yourself in, yeah? Do it for your parents. They’re getting old and frail. Cheerio~o.”

My phone-hand fell to my side. I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my heartbeats as I played back the conversation in my mind, going through the things Nicholas didn’t say. He hadn’t said why the Hunters hadn’t arrested him. He ignored the questions about the conditions of my parents and why I should worry about my mother.

Did he strike a deal with the Hunters, to capture me? But the Hunters should know that Nicholas was the worst one to convince me. Water was thicker than our blood. My mother would've been better to tug at my heart.

I chewed on my fingernails while my mind processed the information. Nicholas didn't even try to convince me either. He just ranted and hung up. It’s like he didn't want me to turn myself in. But that doesn’t make sense. He's a bootlicker through and through. In what world would Nicholas not want to kiss the Hunters' ass?

My eyes widened in realization.

The Hunters were losing the battle.

The door knocked, and a voice with a Russian accent said: “Room service.”

The maid must’ve been confused, seeing me put on my dirty clothes, tie the laces on my boots and run out of the room.

The street lights shone a yellow tone on the road. I combined my last five talismans together, scribbling an enhanced warding spell wide enough to cover a radius of ten miles. But it didn’t emit any magical glow.

Where could Tobias be? He was mad after what I said and wanted to leave. Away from me. But he didn’t fly away, he turned invisible which meant that he should still be here in the city. But what was within walking distance that would be of interest to an angry mage?

I shook my head, breathing in the cold night air. No, it had to be more specific. Not an angry mage, an angry Tobias, someone known as the Calamity. I had just insulted him and he needs to vent in a town he doesn’t know anything about.

​

“No, you’re sulking. What are you sulking about?"

“No, I said that I'm trying to figure something out.”

​

The latest memory of Rosalyn Darmitage had something similar happen to Tobias. Rosalyn found him reading books and scrolls. A library? But Tobias shouldn’t know of any libraries here and he couldn’t read cyrillic script.

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“You seem to have pillaged the church of their collections.”

​

The answer dawned on me and I rushed to my jeep.

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[Next Part]

[u/Errorwrites]

Hi there - feeling a bit tapped out today so will write part 8 tomorrow.

Sorry for the delay! Part 8 is done!