Infernal Games (Templar Chronicles Urban Fantasy Series) by Joseph Nassise Page A

truck.”
    The
two men came together and embraced, slapping each other on the back and
laughing in the process. They were opposites in a way. Riley was tall and
muscular, where Cade was average height and wiry. Cade was white with a head
full of hair, where Riley had shaved his skull several years ago and was dark.
Despite their physical differences, they had a lot in common intellectually and
spiritually. Cade was genuinely glad to see his friend and former teammate; it
had been awhile.
    As
they pulled apart, Riley said, “Hear you told the Preceptor to put it where the
sun don’t shine.”
    “Yeah.
He’s lucky I didn’t show up to deliver the message in person.”
    “Wouldn’t
that have been a sight. Can’t imagine why he thought you’d just drop
everything and come running back to help out, but I’m glad you’re here now.”
    Cade
knew that tone and snipped Riley’s hopes right in the bud lest there be some
confusion later. “I’m here to take a look around and give you some advice.
That’s it. Nothing more; nothing less.”
    “Right.”
    Cade
turned and looked at the building a few feet away. It didn’t look like much,
just an old warehouse. Then again, true evil never did look the way you
expected it to look. In some ways, that was a sure sign of its power, to blend
in with everything around it and hide from scrutiny until it had spread like a
cancer through the space around it.
    Cade
noticed that Riley was making an effort to look everywhere but at the building
and alarm bells went off in his head.
    “Something
I should know about?” he asked.
    Riley’s
shrugged. “I don’t know. Something just doesn’t...feel right.”
    They
were talking about the Necromancer. Of course it didn’t feel right. He said
as much to Riley.
    But
the other man shook his head. “It’s not that,” he said. He was silent a
moment and then added, “The whole thing just feels staged. Like I’m missing
something obvious and it’s gonna come back and bite me in the ass. You ever
get that feeling?”
    All
the time , Cade thought, but didn’t say anything, not wanting to interrupt
Riley’s flow of thoughts.
    “I
mean, I’ve been in places where the Necromancer has used his particular brand
of magick and it always leaves a certain residue in the air, a greasy feeling
that just kind of hangs about. Some of it’s him, some of it’s the nature of
the magick he uses, but whenever he’s tried to do something, a ritual or a
spell or a working of just about any kind, that feeling is there.”
    He
glanced at the building and Cade realized it was frustration, not fear that had
Riley so agitated.
    “That
feeling in the air is gone, if it was ever here in the first place. And given
what’s inside that room, it should be here. Should be here in spades . But
it’s not. And that makes me think I’m missing something.”
    Cade
frowned. He trusted Riley and it wasn’t all that often that the big man was
wrong. At least not about something important like this. Now, more than ever,
he wanted to see inside the warehouse.
    “Still
not going to give me an specifics, huh?”
    Riley
shook his head. “I’ve done enough already to prejudice your opinion. No sense
making it any worse. There are several bodies and a fair bit of blood, but
that’s all I’m going to say for now. We can talk more once you’ve had a chance
to take a look.”
    Fair
enough, Cade thought, fair enough .
    “All
right, let’s do this then.”

CHAPTER
EIGHT
    ––––––––
    R iley
led Cade into the warehouse and past the shipping containers toward the rear of
the building. Several of the other knights called out to say hello; many of
them had served under Cade at one point or another and still respected him as
both a knight and a warrior. Those who had not, who might see him through
different colored lenses, wisely chose to keep their opinions to themselves.
This was the Echo Team, after all, and the prestige it enjoyed now was due
entirely to