Jonathan Moeller Novel Excerpt Tuesdays: CLOAK GAMES: SHADOW JUMP
It’s Jonathan Moeller Novel Excerpt Tuesday! Today we have an excerpt from CLOAK GAMES: SHADOW JUMP.
The name “Armand Boccand” came from a truly egregious mispelling of a name I saw on an insurance form once.
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“Did you bring the tablet?” he said.
I swallowed, desperately trying not to show any of my fear. He would not respond well.
“No,” I said.
He stared at me in silence for a full minute, and I forced myself not to look away. His eyes were cold in that gaunt, alien face, colder than the air in the duct, colder than the blast of the winter’s night.
“Why not?” he said.
I knew my answer would determine whether or not I lived or died.
“Someone else took it before I could take it,” I said.
“Who?” said Morvilind.
“I don’t know,” I said. “He was a human man. Caucasian, probably English, about thirty or thirty-five. Blue hair, brown eyes, about six and a half feet tall.”
Morvilind raised his white eyebrows. “Did he overpower you and take the tablet?”
“He was a wizard,” I said. “He used a spell I had never seen before. It made him disappear and…”
“What?” said Morvilind. His voice was flat, hard.
I started talking faster, unable to stop myself. “It wasn’t a Cloaking spell or another illusion, I would have detected it. It looked…it looked almost like a rift way to the Shadowlands, but I don’t think that was it. I…”
“His name,” said Morvilind, eyes narrowed. “Did he use a name?”
“I don’t think it was his real name,” I said, “but he called himself Armand Boccand.”
Morvilind went still, and my terror redoubled. His face had become a cold mask, his eyes blazing.
He was angry.
I had only seen him truly angry once before, on the day of the Archon attack upon Milwaukee. Two Archons had made the mistake of attacking him, and their attacks had so offended him that he slaughtered all of their orcish soldiers and butchered the two Archons. It had been a terrifying display of power, and in my bones I knew he was about to direct that wrath at me.
At least it would be quick.
Then Morvilind let out a hissing breath, and I blinked in surprise.
He was furious…but he wasn’t angry at me.
He was angry at Armand Boccand.
“Tell me precisely what happened,” said Morvilind.
“I infiltrated Lord Castomyr’s Thanksgiving banquet, as you commanded,” I said, trying to force my exhausted, spinning brain to put my thoughts into order. “While I was there, Boccand approached me and asked to dance. I thought he was a Homeland Security agent or one of Lord Castomyr’s security men, but he left me alone after the dance. I then entered Lord Castomyr’s vault, and as I walked towards the tablet, Boccand appeared out of nowhere. He said that I would make the perfect patsy for the crime, took the tablet, and vanished using that spell. The alarm went off, and I hid myself for two days in the ventilation system. Once the guards had relaxed, I escaped and made my way back here.”
Morvilind said nothing. He was glaring, but not at me, at something only he could see.
“I warned him,” he said. “I warned that fool what would happen if he crossed me again.”
“My lord?” I said.
“Get up,” snapped Morvilind, stalking back towards his work table. “There is work to be done.”
-JM