Blood Codex

Chapter 46

Cameron drove expertly through narrow streets lined with stone walls, small shops and buildings built right up to the edges. Tourists milled about, some cars moving slowly, causing Cameron to brake and downshift to roar past at the first chance. People angrily shook fists and yelled abuse as they went. Crowley had watched Landvik’s car skid around hard and come powering after them, but lost sight of it quickly. He knew they were not at all far behind.

A small red car with its hazard lights blinking and the hood up appeared as they rounded a shallow bend. Traffic in the other direction blocked the way. Cameron stood on the brakes, the tires squealing, making several people jump and hurl fresh abuse.

“They’re right behind us!” Crowley said tightly.

Cameron nodded. “I know.” He revved up and forced the Discovery into an unbelievably tight turn given the size of the vehicle and headed into a right turn.

“That was the only road back to the causeway,” Rose said. “There’s no other way off the island.”

“Again,” Cameron said with a tight smile, “I know. Going to have to try to go around.”

He continued to wind too fast through the tiny village, steering subtly left and right, trying not to kill pedestrians. Crowley trusted the man’s driving skills, but not so much the likelihood that a member of the public wouldn’t do something stupid. People tended to react in bizarre ways when they were scared. He was tense, sitting forward, hands on the dash. He leaned back repeatedly, watching for Landvik in the wing mirror, but couldn’t see the man’s large black Lexus.

Cameron made a hard left, presumably attempting to double-back toward the causeway, but braked hard. Landvik’s Lexus was parked a hundred meters ahead, facing them. The passenger door popped open and one of Landvik’s heavies rose up, leveling a gun at them as he did so.

Cameron spat an eloquent curse and slammed the Discovery into reverse. He hammered backwards, grabbed the handbrake and made a skillful bootlegger turn, especially impressive in such a narrow space. As the Discovery slewed around, the shattered back window exploded inwards in a ringing shower of glass as a bullet whined into the car and tore up the ceiling fabric above Crowley’s head. Crowley ducked reflexively and Cameron cursed once more. A knot of wide-eyed tourists and stationary cars blocked the way to their right, which led back to the causeway in the direction they had first tried to go. Crowley saw Landvik’s car powering up behind them as Cameron turned a sharp left, heading away from the village.

As they went, some of the cars began to move again and there were screeching tires on the wet road and shouts of abuse as Landvik’s car was momentarily blocked. As the people shrank with distance, Crowley saw Landvik’s man waving his gun around, tourists fleeing, and the cars once again trying to back up, but getting in each other’s way in the small available space.

“Why is he so desperate for you?” Cameron asked, eyes focused on the road ahead. “Crowley said he didn’t want you, just information.”

Crowley turned again in his seat to see Rose. “That’s right. Did you give him anything?”

“Apparently I did,” Rose said. “Honestly, I can’t remember much of the ritual. It’s all a weird blur. But I gave him enough info to bring him here. He’s keeping me around in case he needs to delve deeper into my memories.”

“For what?” Crowley asked. “Have you found out yet what the point of all this is?”

Rose let out a small, humorless laugh. “He thinks I can help him find Mjolnir. You know, Thor’s Hammer?”

Silence fell in the car but for the rush of tires on the rain-soaked tarmac.

Cameron eventually let out a chuckle and Crowley said, “Seriously? Thor’s Hammer? That’s some serious comic book bollocks, isn’t it?”

Rose shrugged. “Is it?”

“It has to be. It’s a ridiculous idea!”

“Well, normally I would agree,” Rose said. “But then again, a few days ago I thought the idea of extracting past life memories was ridiculous.”

Crowley stared at her for a moment, having to accept there was some truth to what she said. “That really happened?” he asked.

She nodded. “Something happened. I experienced things I simply have never known about before. I didn’t just remember them, I re-lived them. It was uncanny. Terrifying.” She winced and Crowley realized there was a memory of considerable pain in there somewhere too.

The road they followed cut across a wide open space, grassy fields to their left, water to the right. They were fast approaching a lonely crag, the silhouette of a castle standing atop it, striking against the slate sky.

“This road is a dead end,” Rose said.

Crowley’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously? No junctions?”

Rose shook her head. “I’ve been to the island a few times, I know it quite well. This road leads there, to Lindisfarne Castle, and nowhere else.” She narrowed her eyes. “But you know what? I’m feeling strangely drawn to it. The feeling I had during the ritual, a kind of visceral longing… I can’t explain it, but I’m feeling it again now.”

“Well,” Crowley said. “Looks like we have no choice but to make a stand there.”