Pain, the voices said to Beth. More suffering. More hurt.
“I . . . I need you, Beth.”
Looking at her now, Beth had never seen Anna look so disconsolate.
“I need a friend, Beth.”
Who protected you from your Walt Hawkins? the host demanded. Was she there for you?
But the music wasn’t so fierce now. It still tore at Beth’s thoughts, trying to keep her from thinking straight, but she was becoming stronger than it.
Ever since we met, Beth said, she’s been there for me. Let her go. Let them all go.
This is the killing time, the voices replied.
I won’t let you do it.
How can you stop us?
Beth swallowed thickly. Maybe . . . maybe I can’t. . . but you’ll have to kill me first.
We can’t harm you—you’re one of us. You’re a part of us.
Then let them go.
You’ll never be able to return.
I don’t want to return. Close the door that the music opened and let us all go.
There are other doors.
Beth nodded. She could feel the press of the host around her, begging her to remain. She could feel the fury, touching her thoughts like the angel she could be, reminding her of all she would lose. The peace of the wasteland. The freedom from hurt. But none of that was worth the price. None of it was worth becoming the same as the people that made you a victim in the first place.
There’ll always be other doors, she said softly, so long as people treat each other the way that they do. Just close this one. Let us go.
The music was just a faint hum, tickling the back of her thoughts now. The host touched her—hundreds of hands, brushing her with a feathery lightness, fading one by one, until only the presence of the angel was left.
I pray the world treats you more gently than it has, little sister, the angel said. But I fear it won’t.
Then she let Beth go.
3
WE’RE STANDING IN hell, Ned thought as he watched Anna pleading with the creature. The burning building made an apt backdrop.
He’d finally thrown his weapons away, not so much because he thought Anna was going to convince the creature to spare them as he knew they weren’t going to be effective, anyway. Not against something that could start up a blaze like that. Not against something that totaled people the way the corpses had been fried. Not against a monstrosity like that.
He wasn’t ready to go down without a fight, but he figured it was Anna’s play, she was carrying the ball, and he’d let her run it her way. If that meant tossing away the guns, fine. They were tossed. But he still had his hands, and when that creature came to fry him, he was going to take his fist and ram it right down that fucking boa-constrictor mouth. Just watch him.
They were nuts to have crossed over in the first place. What the fuck had he thought they were going to accomplish? And Anna . . . Jesus, Anna dying here. . . . Just thinking of that creature frying her had him ready to go pick up the shotgun and give the goddamned thing a couple of loads straight in the head, anyway.
It was just then that he noticed the quiet.
The building was still burning, the sound of the flames as they ate the air hadn’t diminished one bit. But the music was gone. And the creature . . .
The fury was gone.
It was a woman again. A shining woman. A frigging angel.
Her chest was swelling—no, she was drawing back and something was falling out of her. . . .
Slack-jawed, he watched Anna’s roommate tumble from the floating angel. She drifted to the ground, landing on her knees, gaze fixed on Anna’s face, while behind her, the angel rose higher into the smoky air. Higher still. He craned his neck to watch her go, a shining image against the black smoke.
Then she was gone.
He looked at his partner. Grier had as stunned an expression on his face as Ned knew was on his own.
“Does . . .” Grier paused, cleared his throat. “Does this mean we won?”
Anna knelt on the ground and reached for Beth, holding her tightly. Tears brimmed in Anna’s eyes, then she burrowed her face in Beth’s shoulder and wept. Beth wrapped her arms around her friend and held her in a protective embrace. The sensation of being needed was unfamiliar to her, but it was the best validation that Beth could have had to tell her that she’d done the right thing.
“Is it over?” Ned asked her.
When Beth turned her battered face toward him, he saw in her features the faces of a hundred domestics he’d caught—all those bruised women carrying the unhappy wounds of their painful liaisons. But there was a strength in this woman’s face that belied the pain she had to be feeling. By all rights, hurt as she was, she shouldn’t have been able to move, let alone hold and comfort Anna, but she was doing both.
Ned’s heart went out to her courage.
When she nodded in response to his question, he let out a sigh. His partner collected their weapons while Ned stood beside her and Anna.
It was over. That was all he needed to know for now. He didn’t know what had happened, or how they’d pulled it off, but at least it was over. He could find out the hows and whys later.
He was just starting to wonder how they were going to get back when he felt a familiar sensation.
Flicker.
For one long moment it was like they hadn’t gone anywhere. The fire still raged. The air was thick with its smoke. But then Ned realized he was right up near a huge fire truck with a man in a turnout coat and helmet staring pop-eyed at him. Red lights swept the buildings in circular sweeps. Crowds pressed against barricades, trying to get close to the excitement.
“What the . . . ?” the fireman began.
Ned just grinned at him. They were back. All four of them. He helped Anna and Beth to their feet.
“How the hell are we going to explain any of this?” Grier asked.
Before Ned could answer, a pair of uniforms came running up, drawing their weapons.
“Police,” Grier told them.
He carefully laid the handful of weapons on the pavement and fished for his ID. Beside him, Ned put one arm around around Anna’s shoulders, the other around Beth’s.
“We’re going to make it,” he told them. “We’ll help each other.”
“Starting right now,” Grier added, turning toward them as one of the uniformed policemen took his ID. “I’ll handle things here, Ned. Why don’t you see about calling an ambulance?”
Ned nodded his thanks, then led Beth and Anna to the nearest patrol car to make the call.
Angel of Darkness Page 22
