Christopher “Knox” Johnson – Clairvoyant. One of the Five aka uber-powerful, genetically-constructed, magic-wielding super soldiers. Designation: Cla5. Can see the future (but not his own), most accurately within a forty-eight-hour period. Uses a set of twenty-two oracle cards based on herbology and a basic tarot deck designed/inked by a witch to focus his sight. Can also cast simple witch spells. Magically inked blood tattoos tie him to the other four of the Five. Light gray eyes (which glow bright white when his sight is triggered). 5’11. White blond hair. Golden skin. Slim, but well-muscled. Often described as a ‘Greek god.’ Prefers to be barefoot and can be most often found in his extensive garden, or cooking comfort foods in his kitchen. Wields a short sword with gems embedded into the hilt that can hold magic such as sharpening or recall spells. DOB: August 27 (Virgo). Age 28 in Amplifier 1. Bisexual.
Lives with Emma aka Fox in Socks aka Amp5 and Paisley aka the demon dog on a 5-acre property in Cowichan Lake, BC, Canada. The farm was dubbed White Owl Farm by the locals (presumably because of Christopher’s hair colour).
Knox’s blood tattoos: T1 tied to Amp5/Socks, T2 tied to Tel5/Bee, T3 tied to Nul5/Fish, and T4 tied to Tek5/Zans.
Christopher first appeared in The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0) and is a main character in every other Amplifier book.
Christopher. Aka Knox. Aka Cla 5. Clairvoyant. From the Amplifier Series. With his white-blond hair, golden skin, and easy smile, Christopher comes across as charming, even friendly (despite actually being an uber-powerful, magic-wielding, genetically constructed super soldier). Unfortunately, his sight is easily overwhelmed and very triggered by proximity to others (even nonmagicals), so he most often confines himself to his garden or kitchen. Illustrated here by Memo using his oracle cards to sharpen his sight. Side note: the cards pictured in this sketch depict the reading that heralded Aiden’s arrival in Amplifier 1.Christopher. Aka Knox. Aka Cla 5. Clairvoyant. From the Amplifier Series. At his happiest with his sight clear and barefoot in his garden. Illustration by Memo.
MCD note: The Amplifier Series is set within the larger Adept Universe but can be read separately. The main series starts with Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1) but there are two prequels (bundled together) as well. Click here for the full/recommended reading order of the Adept Universe.
Excerpt. At Just the Right Moment is the twins’ prequel novelette, narrated by Gabby (click here for bio and illustrations). It is available in Moments of the Adept Universe 1, including this heartrendingly perfect illustration by Memo (another of my favs of the entire collection) (am I allow to say that about all the illustrations?).
Gabby protecting Peggy, as always and forever. Illustration by Memo, inspired by the novelette, At Just the Right Moment.
At Just the Right Moment
Moments of the Adept Universe 0.3
(Gabby 0.5)
February 2011.
Somewhere in Southern California.
My hand shook as I pressed a series of numbers on the pay phone keypad, reciting the sequence quietly as the others gathered around me did the same. My fingers felt weak, to the point of being useless. The handset was heavy, and painful where I pressed it against my ear. After the tenth number, we waited, pressed together, holding our collective breath.
Peggy, Matty, Sophia, and me.
We had gambled everything.
We’d been ready for a week, which was the best we could prepare without more notice. And in the end, only four of us went through the hole it had taken Sophia and me three months to create in the wards. A crack partially hidden behind a bushy lemon tree, and which had barely been big enough for Matty to pass through. He’d grown fast in the last months, taller and broader.
Which was part of the reason we were running without a full plan.
All I could hear over the telephone was an empty fuzziness, like a vastness stretching out from my ear into nothing. My heart was beating too fast. We’d only been gone for maybe ten minutes. But that was ten more minutes than we’d ever been off the property, let alone gathered around a pay phone at a gas station.
Peggy wrapped her fingers around mine, taking some of the weight of the handset. Then something clicked in my ear, and a man’s voice came over the telephone.
“Henry Calhoun,” he said cheerfully. His accent, we’d agreed, was Southern. “At your service.”
I’d prepared a speech. The other three had helped me with it. Sophia, being the oldest, was the best with magic — witch magic, specifically — and she’d told us we wouldn’t have much time to get out all the information that the cowboy sorcerer would need to find us.
They’d picked me to talk. Peggy could get overwhelmed with too many new people around. She could read minds, even of people without magic. Matty was always worried about sounding stupid, and Sophia was on watch.
Because we knew they would come for us.
They were probably already on their way.
All the prepared words emptied out of my head. I felt sick. Weak with fear. I was shaking with it.
But I wouldn’t cry.
I wouldn’t break.
“Hello?” the man — Henry — asked again. His tone was sharper. Less cheery.
“They’re going to kill Matty,” I said. The words were rushed, and my voice was a little thin, but clear. “They call it relocating, but we know … we know what they mean. And then they’ll move us. And you won’t be able to find us again.”
“What’s your name, little one?” Henry asked, all traces of cheer gone from his voice now. He sounded hard and a little fierce.
That should have scared me, that tone. But I knew — because Peggy knew — that Henry Calhoun would never hurt us.
He had come to inspect the orphanage that wasn’t really an orphanage three days ago. We’d thought he’d been there to rescue us. And Peggy said he was. But he was just looking for something really, really hard. Something called cause.
“Gabby, sir,” I said, feeling stronger. “They named me Gabrielle. I’m here with Matty, Sophia, and my sister Peggy. The others were … locked up. Or too scared to come with us.”
“Where are you right now?”
“The gas station two blocks down and three blocks over from the house. It was the first pay phone we found.”
I could hear other noises over the line, like Henry was moving. A door opening, then closing. Murmured voices.
“Someone is coming,” Peggy whispered.
“Humans,” Matty said, his voice a low growl. His shoulders were broad enough to block my view entirely. “Not Dave. Or Charlotte.”
“Gabby?” Henry asked over the phone. “That’s not … they’ll be able to track you.”
“We know,” I said.
“I’m coming to you right now,” he said. “But I’m two hours away.”
Pain crunched through my chest, then another wave of weakness ran through me. I tried to hide it from the others. “Two hours …” I whispered.
“They can’t get away from me now, Gabby,” Henry said. “But I need you to keep moving. And every time you find another phone, you call me again to check in. Do you … do you have money?”
“Twenty-seven dollars.” It had taken us three years to put it together. Usually the eldest of us held it, which in our case now was Sophia. Others had held it before her, and before they got relocated — killed, we now knew — they passed it down to the next eldest.
“Okay, okay,” Henry said, sounding like he was talking to himself, and maybe like he’d stepped outdoors.
It was my first time using a phone, so I wasn’t totally sure what I was hearing.
“Stick together as much as possible,” Henry said. “But don’t fight when they come for you, Gabby. Tell the others, don’t fight. If you fight, they will hurt you.”
“But Henry …” My voice broke, and I pressed my hand against Matty’s back. He completely blocked my sight of the rest of the gas station, standing guard. I dropped my hand. I had touched him without permission, and we didn’t do that to each other. “We have to fight now. They’re going to kill Matty. He’s getting too strong for them. He hurt one of the regular clients. They don’t like that …”
I glanced over at Sophia. Her face was hard. Her densely curly dark hair was pulled back with an elastic band. Sophia was a witch. She could generate electrical impulses. At fourteen, she was very careful to not reveal how strong that power had become.
Excerpt. In Less than a Moment is the second Kandy prequel novelette available in Moments of the Adept Universe 1, including this ridiculously perfect illustration by Memo (one of my favs of the entire collection).
Kandy. Werewolf, junior enforcer for the East Coast pack. Age nineteen. Illustration by Memo inspired by the novelette, In Less Than a Moment.
In Less Than A Moment
Moments of the Adept Universe 0.2
(Kandy 0.5)
March 2008.
A back alley in Boston.
Justin was dead.
I had dragged him behind an industrial garbage bin … or maybe it was for recycling. At least … I thought it had been me who had dragged him … blood streaking away from us into the middle of the alley …
Justin’s blood. From the three gunshot wounds.
They’d shot him in the back.
I thought they’d shot him.
Though it wasn’t yet clear to me who they were.
He’d gone down without a sound.
We’d been chatting and laughing … and …
Now Justin was dead.
Vaguely aware that I was panicking, I rolled him over, tearing his T-shirt so I could get a better look at his back. I accidentally scored his pale skin with wolf claws that I hadn’t consciously manifested.
Blood was just pouring out of him, pooling underneath him. I was crouching in it, kneeling in it. His warm lifeblood.
I’d thought … if I could remove the bullets … but the wounds were already blackening at the edges, a poison there spreading as dark veins of death.
Justin was dead.
Three bullets to the heart would do that.
Even to a werewolf.
If those bullets were silver.
And wielded by a sorcerer.
Sorcerer …
Even as I gently settled Justin onto his back, I whirled around, placing myself between him and the Adepts who were coming for us, hunting us.
No.
They’d already found us. Meaning we had no idea we hadn’t been the only ones doing the hunting.
Wait… had we been hunting?
No …
I touched my temple, then looked at my fingers. More than just Justin’s blood coated them. I’d been shot too. Now that I realized it, I could feel the gouge. It burned and wasn’t healing. More silver.
Had … had Justin shoved me out of the way?
Yes.
I’d darted back for him, dragged him to shelter.
But he was already dead.
The alley had been empty.
Seemed empty.
But it wasn’t.
I could smell the magic now … spells that they’d ignited at the same time as their shooter tried to take us out from behind. That power felt oppressive, like tight boundary spells often did. They’d sealed us in the alley.
So they could murder us.
The sorcerer I’d been expecting stepped around the garbage container, his gun trained low, pointing toward my heart. Black gun. Dark suit. White dress shirt, no tie. Clothing layered in protection spells. I knew. I’d been trained. Was in training.
The sorcerer’s brown eyes flicked to take in Justin sprawled behind me. Dead, I reminded myself. And for the briefest moment, the tip of his gun wavered, lowered.
As if he wasn’t going to shoot me.
The beast that lived deep within my soul tore through my human skin, shredding my clothing and sneakers. Bones shifting, pain streaking through me, I transformed far more quickly than I ever had before. Massive clawed feet scoring the pavement, teeth so large and jagged that I couldn’t effectively close my maw, I rose.
The sorcerer stumbled back, having to look up at me as I now towered over him. Belatedly, he remembered to try to pull the trigger. I crushed the gun in one clawed hand first. Then, clamping my other hand on his shoulder, I tore the offending limb completely off his body.
He screamed.
The protection spells on his suit weren’t rated for a werewolf in warrior form. At least not against my beast.
Suanmi: guardian dragon. Aka one of the nine. Aka the Fire Breather. Territory: Western Europe. Rumored to have taken Jiaotu (as well as his father) as a lover, possibly centuries ago. Drake’s guardian. Dark hair, usually in a bun. Pale skin. Golden-flecked hazel eyes. French accent. Loves vintage Chanel, and red-soled Louboutins. But is terrifying in her shiny black samurai gear and known to wield an extra long katana. The Fire Breather can literally immolate a demon with a single whisper (see Dowser 3). Looks 45 but is actually 600+ years old (older than Pulou but younger than Bixi). According to Jade, her magic tastes like chocolate cream-filled eclairs and toasted hazelnuts with a finish of whiskey.
Resides in the nexus. Nexus door: embossed fleurs-de-lis cast of yellow gold.
Suanmi. Dragon. The Guardian of Western Europe. Capable of immolating demons with a mere whisper, always really with a refined sneer, and a plot … or two. Sketch by Memo.
Suanmi. Dragon. The Guardian of Western Europe. Fire breather. Sketch by Memo.“Give me spells and sorcerers and demons from hell. Those, I could handle. But cupcakes and coffee with the fire breather? Not so much.” – Dowser 6
Qiuniu: guardian dragon. Aka one of the nine. Territory: South America. Possibly involved with Haoxin (see hints in Dowser 6 and Dowser 8). Dark caramel skin. High cheekbones. Deep brown eyes, also referred to as ‘melted milk chocolate’ (Dowser 5). Ridiculously gorgeous. Brazilian accent. The most powerful healer in the world. Known for administering that healing via a searingly hot kiss. Also, a poet and musician. “Qiuniu always somehow carried music with him wherever he went. I never knew the tune, but I could hear hints of it” (Dowser 4). Skilled at warding technology against magic. He has been a guardian for 100+ years, second youngest. According to Jade, his magic tastes like roasted coffee and Brazilian chocolate.
Resides in the Nexus. But maintains a residence in Peru, along with a silver Mercedes SUV. Nexus door: gold-carved handle, intricately carved bloodwood.
Qiuniu. Dragon. The Guardian of South America. Healer. Drop-dead gorgeous Brazilian – even Pearl Godfrey has a massive crush on him – but thankfully he can get your heart going with a single, searing kiss. Sketch by Memo.
Qiuniu. Dragon. The Guardian of South America. Playful and sexy, just don’t invade his territory or ask for a commitment. Has brought Jade (and Kandy with some help from her pack) back from the brink of death on more than one occasion. Sketch by Memo.
