The Veritas Guild Read online

  The Veritas Guild: Book One

  By Spring Horton

  Copyright 2019 – All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents, are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Prologue

  Dusk settled peacefully over the city of York. Clouds had been building steadily, coming in from the west as the sun made its slow trek towards the horizon. There were just enough rays left to create a beautiful, orange and purple sunset, before the sun disappeared behind the rain clouds and damp darkness overtook the evening. In the centre of the city, Marygate carpark was slowly starting to empty of its cars as people went home from their jobs, shopping, and other tasks. Dim lights came on in the narrow streets surrounding the car park. In the shadows something cowered. No one walking down the alleyways or getting into their cars noticed. No one human anyway.

  At the edge of the carpark, having just walked in from the Yorkshire Museum, a young woman stopped in her tracks and slowly turned her head to the side. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, but other senses within her had been put on alert as well. Eyes that weren’t quite a natural shade of blue, with an almost imperceptible ring of purple around them, widened in alarm. The woman sniffed at the air, and then quickly walked toward a car at the other side of the park. Before she could reach it though, she felt the ground shake beneath her. At least, that’s what she thought it was, until she looked down and realised that it wasn’t the ground, but the air. She’d been lifted, ever so slightly off the ground, and was being held there by a force she couldn’t see.

  Her heart began to beat wildly, and she turned her head to look at the spot where she’d first felt the disturbance. She couldn’t see anything or anyone, but she knew they were there. She could sense something dark and foreboding, as if it were just out of her visual range, something moving in the corner of her eye. She began to shake more, and the very air around here seemed to move in waves. Colours and shapes became distorted and the woman screamed out as she unleashed a set of hidden gossamer wings from her back. As she did so, she could just make out what looked like a dark, fluid shadow coming closer to her. Then, she was gone.

  Chapter One

  It started out like any other day at the Veritas Guild. The morning sun came up over the sleepy estate, nestled in the countryside just outside of York, England. But there was one resident of the Guild who’d been up long before the sun. In fact, they’d never slept at all. They sat in their quarters in a corner of the large mansion, bay windows facing the morning sun, pale light diffusing through thin, lacey curtains. When they noticed it falling onto the ancient book they’d been studying, they lifted their head to glance in its direction. Then they took off reading glasses they didn’t really need and walked over to the curtain.

  Dark, salt and pepper curls threatened to fall into their eyes, so they swept them back before sweeping open the curtains. A touch of a smile touched their lips at the sight of the rays breaking through a beautiful cloud formation. They clasped their hands behind their back and watched as nature woke up. Birds tweeted at the windowsill, as if wanting to join them inside, or perhaps sensing their true nature. They smiled down at them too, a touch of sadness in their amber eyes. It was an inevitable feeling, though, the feeling of seeing something beautiful you could never truly belong to.

  After a while, perhaps an hour, perhaps a millisecond, it was all the same to them, they turned away from the window, and started to walk back to the book. It had been written long before there was a Great Britain, and in a language hardly anyone recognised anymore. They were more than a scholar, though it was the cover story. Their name was Raziel, and they were searching for clues to something they’d lost a very long time ago.

  Raziel kept track of the time by watching the strip of sunlight move along the desk. They detested clocks, time at all really, but knew that after a couple of hours had gone by, they’d have to leave the sanctuary and join the rest of the Guild in its work. The entire roster of employees lived at the Guild itself, as their work was very important, and highly secretive. Raziel was an investigator, not that they’d ever be allowed to tell anyone outside of Veritas what it was they investigated, but it didn’t matter because they didn’t know anyone outside of Veritas anyway.

  With a sigh, Raziel closed the book, and stepped out into the hall, only to have their senses assaulted by the loud, bass beat of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” thumping through the walls. “Jesus wept,” they hissed under their breath. “Jack!” they yelled but their voice barely got any traction over the music. They took a deep breath and tried again, this time their voice ringing through the hall and making the walls vibrate. The music’s volume came down, and a door down the hall opened. A head with a bemused look on its face popped out from the doorway.

  “Lighten up,” a smooth, yet campy voice insisted.

  “Do you think saying it over and over is going to change anything?” Raziel countered.

  “Please, I hear you playing the exact same song late at night. The walls aren’t that thick.”

  Raziel’s mouth opened, and then shut again, and they tried very not to blush as they marched by the man’s door. When they heard laughing though, they turned their head to glare back, but the door was already closing, and as soon as it was closed, the volume went back up. Raziel quickly traversed the rest of the hallway and took the stairs down to the ground floor of the mansion. It was still early enough that they didn’t pass anyone, which they were grateful for. They’d already had enough interaction for one day and knew there’d be more soon enough. The long, spiral staircase seemed to keep going and going, and in a way, it did. The mansion had been built to some very interesting specifications.

  The staircase was wooden, with intricately carved handrails, and supports, a gold and cream coloured carpet, and the walls were a dark, ancient wood, with faded paintings hanging at odd intervals. Very few people knew who they all portrayed, but Raziel knew everyone, knew every inch of the Guild, and its complete history. They were one of its oldest members. They knew where all the bodies were buried, so to speak.

  Things weren’t nearly so quiet as they reached the ground floor. They passed the large foyer, with its imposing statue of the Roman goddess Veritas. They’d always found it rather impetuous but didn’t take the time to glance at it disapprovingly. Raziel was too busy noticing the rather conspicuous absence of someone else they should have been seeing at that time of the morning. They nodded at the doorman, putting on a polite smile that only, just barely, covered their underlying annoyance, as they rounded the corner toward the cafeteria.

  If Raziel had had a watch, they’d have glanced at it. Instead, they grabbed a simple breakfast of strawberries, cheese and rustic bread. Then they quickly took it and sat at a quiet table by another bay window.

  Back upstairs, in the members’ private quarters, Jack let the song finish playing and then played it a couple more times just for good measure. He and Raziel were the only ones on the second floor of this particular wing of the mansion. Seniority meant that they basically had entire flats to themselves, while some of the younger members simply had rooms to themselves. Even those were impressive, though. At one point, the Guild had been a large estate, own
ed by a very rich man, and had had an entire population of servants living upstairs, or at least, that had been the cover story. The truth was, the estate had always belonged to the Guild and housed its members.

  Jack would have loved the corner room as well, to stare out at the sunrise from the bay windows, but Raziel had already been there. Some joked that Raziel had always been there, that they’d built the Guild estate around them. Jack hadn’t truly minded, though, because he knew it would be a rare sunrise he was awake to see anyway.

  His quarters were an experience unto themselves, filled with fine Victorian clothes, and furnishing, expertly blended with more modern décor. The entire space screamed rarified dandy, though, and Jack had no issue with living up to expectations. After a lengthy search through his wardrobe, looking for just the right outfit for how the universe was speaking to him that day, he dressed, applied a bit of make-up, nothing too gaudy, just a touch to beautify his face, and then made his way down to the cafeteria. Both he and Raziel could easily have cooked for themselves in their quarters, but they rarely took the time.

  Jack took the stairs as if they’d been built especially for him, taking each step purposefully, and with the hopes that anyone watching would get a satisfying show. He smiled and nodded graciously, but never stopped to talk to anyone, especially not the underlings. Not that he actually disliked them, in fact they were the ones he ended up spending a lot of time with, he simply had a reputation to uphold, even if it was one of ill repute.

  From the cafeteria door, he spotted Raziel in their usual spot by the window, ignoring the world, and looking like their life was falling apart. Jack sighed. Despite their bickering, he and Raziel had been friends for a very long time, and he’d noticed that something had been bugging them for quite a while. He put on a smile, gathered up his breakfast, and marched in Raziel’s direction.

  Raziel looked down at their breakfast but could even plop a single strawberry into their mouth, they heard a familiar voice.

  “You know, if you had a pocket watch for that waistcoat, you could tell when it was the crack of dawn,” Jack said.

  Raziel grit their teeth, and looked away, their dark curls bouncing as they did so. “You shouldn’t be wearing that ridiculous hat in here.” They broke off a piece of bread and slowly chewed it up before looking back at Jack and his Panama hat. They supposed he should count themselves lucky. Yesterday the man had tried out a fez.

  “We’re in a public place, and besides it’s not ridiculous,” Jack complained, his own dark hair flopping into his face as he took off the hat.

  “We’re having a meal.”

  “Fine,” Jack pouted and slammed the hat onto the table.

  Raziel grimaced but knew there was no point in trying to explain that putting his hat on the table was actually worse than wearing it. “Where’s David,” they sighed. “I’m assuming, since he’s not here yet, that he’s not actually in his rooms.”

  Jack shrugged and pulled a piece off of his croissant before depositing it in his mouth. “You know David.”

  “Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Raziel mumbled and then their thoughts turned to their friend and colleague. They knew the man had been going through a rough time, even though David would never admit it. The tougher life got, the more the young man seemed to act as though everything was fine...and the more trouble he got into. They shook their head slightly, realising that they’d just thought of the man as young. Not that it was any different with anyone else; everyone seemed young to Raziel. When they looked back to their breakfast, they caught Jack staring at them with another bemused look and frowned.

  “What?” Raziel muttered.

  “You’re worried about him.”

  “Shouldn’t I be?”

  “Well, maybe,” Jack admitted, “but perhaps not constantly.”

  “I don’t,” Raziel insisted, a little too forcefully, and then grabbed up their breakfast.

  “Where are you going?” Jack called after him. “We have work!”

  “I’ll be in the office when you’re ready to actually do some.”

  Raziel and Jack’s office was on the ground floor of the Veritas Guild, in a wing no one else was granted access too or could generally even find, as their work was rather secretive. Jack liked to say that it was jealousy, but Raziel mostly thought it was fear. Either way, the secretive rooms suited them, except for the original lighting, but they’d...made some improvements years ago. The same diffused light Raziel so enjoyed from their room, streamed in through high windows that had never been in the building’s original design. It gave the room a warm glow, though it was still darker than the rest of the mansion.

  And ancient, heavy wooden door barred entry to anyone that didn’t have the key. There were no key cards, though, no retina scans or secret codes, just a simple antique key that no one else besides members of the team possessed. Each was unique. Raziel stuck the teeth in the ancient lock and turned it. It took quite a lot of force but Raziel barely even grimaced. The door, perfectly balanced on its hinges, swung open at the slightest touch, and they stepped in, glancing around. Despite the security of Veritas, people still underestimated it, and Raziel, and many had tried, and failed to learn the secrets of the Investigations wing.

  Though it was, technically an office, the Investigations wing looked more like a gigantic library. Bookshelves covered the walls of all three stories, with a wrought iron, spiral staircase leading to the balconies. On the ground floor, small tables with cushy chairs were peppered here and there and a large fireplace graced the back. Off to one side were private reading rooms. At the front of the room, through the door Raziel had just walked through, was a small entryway. It was here that employees and visitors alike were required to leave any vestiges of the outside world. No mobile phones, nothing digital, no cameras, were allowed into the Investigations wing.

  Not that Raziel was carrying anything like that anyway. Raziel simply walked straight through into the larger room. As they did so, they heard footsteps behind them.

  The footsteps were accompanied by a clearing of the throat, and a female voice saying, “Excuse me?”

  Raziel turned to see a young woman standing in the doorway, with Jack standing behind her, a bit of a smirk on his face. The young woman was short, with a round face, and large brown eyes, which currently had a rather puzzled look in them.

  “Is this the Investigations wing?” she asked.

  “I told her it was,” Jack insisted. “She wasn’t sure she believed me.”

  Jack chuckled, and Raziel frowned over at him before turning their attention back to the young woman. They took a deep breath. “Yes, this is the Investigations wing, and I’m fairly certain you aren’t supposed to be in here.”

  “No, actually, I am,” she insisted. “My name’s Katha. I’ve just been assigned to you.” She started to step forward, and into the library, but Raziel met her halfway, snatching a note from her hand.

  Raziel quickly read over the note, and then sighed and handed it back to her. Then they turned away and began looking over a pile of old books like the books were the most important thing in the world. “A new recruit. This is just what we need.”

  “Is he always this grumpy?” Katha said, leaning in and whispering to Jack.

  “Yeah, he pretty much is,” Jack answered.

  Raziel dropped a book on a chair and put their head back. “Give me strength.” Then they turned around, and gave the other two a polite, yet annoyed smile. “I am not grumpy, and I am not a he.”

  “Oh!” Katha exclaimed. “You look...well...”

  “Young woman, I am the Archangel Raziel, Keeper of Secrets, and Angel of Mysteries. I do not have a sex.” Raziel’s amber eyes flashed with a hint of anger.

  Katha’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. “Oh, I didn’t know. I’m...”

  Before she could say anything else, Jack leaned in and muttered. “He still wanted to look like one of the boys, though. I understand the sentiment.”


  “Well, I had to look like something,” Raziel countered, their tone beginning to sound like pleading.

  “And you are, my dear?” Jack asked.

  “Valkyrie,” Katha asked, glancing over at him. Her head came about to his conspicuous and ample bosom. Katha shook her head, wondering about the place she’d been sent to work. So far, she’d met a gender-neutral angel, and a man named Jack who had clearly defined breasts. Though, she doubted very much he was a human man. Humans were almost never allowed into the Guild. Her own people had plenty of transgender beings, but it left her wondering what would come next.

  As Jack brushed past her, and into the larger room, offering to show her around, she glanced up, and noticed that the angel was still watching her. She gave them a curious look, and Raziel suddenly looked away, looking a bit sad. She frowned and stepped closer.

  “Um, so, does that make you the boss?” she asked casually.

  Raziel looked down, a small smile crossing the angel’s face. Then they turned and looked at the woman. “How long have you been here?”

  “You mean...?”

  “In existence.”

  “Oh,” Katha said with an embarrassed smile. “You’re wondering if I saw the battlefield first.”

  “Something like that,” Raziel answered, the angel’s voice suddenly kind and soft.

  “No, this is my first time away from Asgard.”

  Raziel nodded knowingly. “I suspected as much.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Katha was defensive about being so young. She was an immortal being. Young was relative.

  The angel’s face fell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it as an insult. Quite the contrary.” They squirmed a bit, the jacket of the charcoal grey, corduroy suit rustling.

  Katha wondering exactly what Raziel meant by that, but she let it go as Raziel raised their hand and beckoned her to follow. She stepped into the larger room; eyes wide at the enormity of the library.