Torchlighters

by Megan R Miller

  With that, she dove out of the window, beating her wings to get a higher vantage point. She saw the moment the sniper realized she was there and turned to fire and gave a hard flap. Wind kicked up in the yard and Ophelia closed the gap between them, tucking all eight limbs in and diving through the window. She and the sniper went down in a heap.

  Ophelia’s claymore clattered to the stone ground of the watchtower room, and she got a grip on the rifle. The next few moments were a pattern of push and pull as they grappled with it.

  The woman was not weak, but Ophelia’s arms had gained strength from years of fighting demons and wielding a sword that was just a little over four feet in length. The sniper never stood a chance.

  Ophelia beat the butt of the gun against her face once and heard a satisfying crunch. When she pulled it back the woman’s nose had been broken, but she was still awake and groping helplessly. Ophelia thought of Danny and crunched her with the gun one more time. This time she lost consciousness.

  Ophelia threw the woman over her shoulder, took up her claymore in her free hand and left the rifle where it lie. Joey would want to deal with her personally, she knew. The bitch who pulled the trigger was going to answer for it. The thought made her chest ache in a way that she knew would break her if she let herself think on this for too long.

  The interior of the house was in chaos by the time Ophelia reached the front door. She dumped the unconscious woman just inside and kicked what was left of the door closed before stepping into the kitchen.

  Sam had been disarmed and pulled a long bread knife from the wooden block. His left hand was bleeding and he held the knife in his right, beating his one pair of wings hard as his target’s bullets littered the kitchen tile. He didn’t stop until he heard the click of dry fire and drove the bread knife up and under the gater’s ribs. She nodded approvingly at his patience.

  “Where’s your sister?” she asked.

  “The sitting room,” Sam said. “She was blocking the door and a few of them ran that way. Back door’s in the kitchen, though.”

  There was a somber look on his face, like he understood the weight of all these bodies in a way his father and brother didn’t. She reached out and squeezed his shoulder before turning to the sitting room.

  Ely was sitting in one of the armchairs, her wings arced out behind her on either side of the back, with three bodies lying on their backs making the wounds that had killed them obvious. Ely had come in through the eye. From what Ophelia could see, it didn’t look like there was a drop of blood on the carpet.

  There was a man on his knees in front of her with his head bowed as he blubbered.

  Ely looked up as her mother entered then glanced back to the man.

  “Now tell her what you told me,” she said.

  The man lifted his head. He had to have been younger than Ely was. The boy, Ophelia corrected with a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  “Vivi said to come and keep you busy,” he said. “She said you wouldn’t be expecting it, that it would be an easy job. She said…she said if we lived we could go.”

  “Keep us busy to stop us from what?” Ophelia asked.

  “The summoning,” he said. “She’s been working with this mad woman. It just keeps getting worse and anyone trying to desert gets a bullet between the eyes and I just wanted to go home. Please.”

  Ely looked up at Ophelia.

  “Did you get the shooter?” she asked.

  “She’s in the hall,” Ophelia said. “Still alive.”

  Ely stood and looked at the boy.

  “On your feet,” she said. He looked up at her with clear terror on his face and Ely walked into the hall without stopping. He followed her with clear numbness and Ophelia watched as Ely opened the front door and looked at him expectantly.

  “I don’t…” he said.

  “She said if you lived, you could go,” Ely said. “So go. I’m not responsible for what happens to you if you go back to Gater territory, though. We have safe houses on the waterfront. Give me your hand.”

  He hesitated, but only for a moment before she took his hand in hers and pulled him closer. She shoved his sleeve up and silver seraph’s fire licked at her index finger as she drew an elegant “E” on the meaty part of his forearm, burning him.

  “You’re free to do what you want from here,” she said, “but if you tell them you are mine, they will let you in. You can stay until this blows over and after that. We’ll talk about it. Now go.”

  Ophelia didn’t have to look to know that Joey and Callum were coming down the steps. Tess’s feet were lighter and slower as she joined them.

  “Lock her in the basement,” Joey said. Ophelia glanced up to see Callum gathering the unconscious sniper in his arms. “Is there anything else anyone needs?”

  After a silence, he continued.

  “Good. Tess?”

  “Sir?” she asked.

  “Do you want to see this through to the end?” he asked.

  She took a breath, then paused. Ophelia could see her really thinking over her answer. Good.

  “Yes,” she said, finally.

  “Then take your time to call up whatever you need,” Joey said. “Ely, give her the name of your angel. When you’re finished, we’ll go.”

  Gate Street was unusually silent as they approached. There would ordinarily be someone waiting outside, people standing on the corner, at least some that weren’t affiliated with the Gate Street Players. Instead there was one man, sans his usual breastplate, that Callum hadn’t seen since he escaped Hellwatch custody earlier that week.

  “Tin Can,” Joey said, by way of greeting. There was steel in his voice and Callum came up behind him at his right hand to back him up. It’s where Danny would have stood if…he pushed that thought away. There would be time and now was not it. “I hope you’re not planning on trying to stop me.”

  “Stop you?” Barghest asked. “No. I want in.”

  They stood a small distance from one another, Barghest towering over Joey with a firm expression on his face. Joey extended a hand without a word and Barghest gripped his forearm.

  “Truce,” Joey said. “This once.”

  “This once,” Barghest repeated, and turned his gaze to Ophelia. “One more fight for old time’s sake.”

  “What happened?” Ophelia asked. She came up at Joey’s left.

  Barghest exhaled and turned to look at her.

  “They’ve got Augury,” he said. “Started sending me pieces of her. I’m not going to handle this one like a law man.”

  “I’ll have your back,” Ophelia said. “They killed Danny. We have things to make them answer for too. How did you know to come here?”

  “A nightingale owed me an answer,” Barghest said, and that seemed to be enough for Ophelia.

  “You should have worn your breastplate,” she said.

  “This isn’t Hellwatch business,” he said.

  “That sense of honor might get you killed someday,” Ophelia said. There was no bite in it.

  “If you have my back, that day won’t be today,” he said. His eyes fell on Callum for a moment, and he could see the assessment on the older man’s face. He straightened. Whatever Barghest might have said, he apparently thought better of it.

  Behind him, Tess cleared her throat.

  “Ely’s back,” she said. She was right. Ely was moving between two rows of buildings with a cylinder tucked under her arm. Tess frowned. “You said you were getting summoning supplies.”

  “I did,” Ely said. She popped the lid off of the cylinder and drew out a ream of paper with a circle already printed onto it.

  “Contraband,” Barghest remarked.

  “It won’t be for long,” Ely said. “The Mayor herself is about to test it and prove it isn’t dangerous.”

  “I haven’t been elected,” Tess said.

  “Doesn’t matter, we all know where this is headed,” Ely said. “Go on.”

  Tess gave Barghest an almost hesitant look bef
ore unrolling the page. Callum glanced around and picked up some rocks—more like chunks of broken brick—off of the road to set on the corners and hold it flat while Tess worked.

  “What you are about to see is not for the faint of heart,” Ely mused. The smile on her face seemed genuine.

  Tess drew a pen from her pocket and started to fill in the details of the circle. Before long, there was a glow from the page, a flash of light, and the creature that hovered in the alley with them sent a legitimate chill running through Callum.

  “Do not be afraid,” the beings voice said, though he couldn’t imagine where it came from. He couldn’t see a mouth anywhere on it.

  It appeared to be a wheel of arms with dozens of eyes along the curves of them that gazed out in all directions at the assembled group.

  “I brought two more,” Ely said, pulling them from the tube.

  “Is this the one that lost her grip on that Rhakshasi yesterday?” Barghest asked.

  “We didn’t have proper materials and it was an emergency,” Tess said, her cheeks going scarlet. Callum put a hand on the small of her back.

  “It was legal,” he said.

  “And none of that matters right now because we need to get going,” Joey said. “Do what you need to do. Ely, where are those tunnels you found?”

  “This way,” she said. She glanced back to Callum with a slight eyebrow raise and he dusted off his vest.

  “I’m going to wait back,” he said. “Tess needs someone to watch her back while she’s summoning.”

  Ely started to walk and Joey wasn’t long in following. Callum kept his footing and watched down the alley while Tess filled in details on her print off circle.

  “Are you holding up alright?” he asked.

  “That will matter more when we’ve stopped what’s coming,” Tess said. “If any of us fall apart right now it could mean the entire city. Sometimes the stakes are just too high to fall apart.”

  She glanced up at him and tried a smile. He could tell it wasn’t real, but appreciated the effort all the same.

  “I’ll fall apart after,” she said.

  “I’ll be there to catch you when you do,” Callum said.

  “Assuming you’re not falling apart with me,” Tess said, and took a step back from the circle.

  Callum cracked a little smile.

  “Then I guess we’ll have to catch each other.”

  His mother had left a carpet of bodies on the ground by the time she put her wings away and his father came into the room to meet them. Barghest was on the rightmost side of the room with his hand around the throat of an underling Ophelia hadn’t managed to put down.

  When Joey entered with Elysia, Callum and Tess were right behind them. Everyone stuck together. Sam wanted to say that was good, but they had not seen what he had seen a moment ago.

  “We think the ritual is going on down that way,” Sam said. His heart was hammering like a piston. He gestured to the left. Joey looked to the right.

  “One thing first,” he said, turning and heading in that direction. Sam followed at a brisk walk.

  “Dad,” he said, reaching for his father’s sleeve. He wasn’t fast enough to stop Joey from pulling the door open and revealing Corvin Verida.

  His forehead was damp with sweat and his eyes widened to see Joey as he pressed himself against the back of the empty storage closet.

  “Give me your gun, Sam,” Joey said.

  “No,” Sam said.

  Callum started to cross the room with a pistol already in his hand. Even as he passed it over, Sam pushed his way under his father’s arm and stepped between them, his arms out as far as the little space would allow. It was a terrible moment to realize he was claustrophobic.

  “What the hell are you doing, Sam?” Joey demanded. “He’s one of them.”

  “He hasn’t done anything,” Sam said. His voice was dry and quiet, but he knew his father could hear him. “He got me out of some shit before. We’ve been friends since we were kids. I’m not going to let you put him down like a dog.”

  His mother had turned to watch, now, and they were even drawing stares from Barghest, behind her. Elysia frowned from over Joey’s shoulder and her words echoed in his mind.

  The person who will suffer the most will be you.

  “After all the shit that’s happened? After Callum and Danny? What makes you think he didn’t have anything to do with it?” Joey asked.

  “I know,” Sam said, firmly. “I’ve been talking to him the whole time. I’m not moving. I thought I lost a brother earlier this week. I just lost an uncle—you actually did lose a brother, Dad. Please don’t take Corvin from me, too.”

  Joey stared hard at him for a moment.

  “We’re gonna talk about this later,” he said, and then he turned to go.

  “Yeah,” Sam said. “I expect we will.”

  Corvin’s hand slipped onto his from behind him. As his family walked away, Sam turned and pulled Corvin into a tight embrace. They were both shaking. Sam didn’t want to let him go.

  “We have to stop this,” Sam said.

  “I think it’s a little late for that,” Corvin breathed.

  “No,” Sam said, “I mean whatever ritual is going on down there.”

  Corvin nodded as he came to understanding.

  “I…yeah,” he said. “Alright, I’m coming.”

  “Are you sure?” Sam asked.

  Corvin touched the side of his face and did his best to smile. Sam loved him all the more for that.

  “I’m sure,” he said. “Come on, let’s go save a city.”

  The tunnel was right where she thought it would be, hidden behind a cluster of trash bins. Her angel hovered at her shoulder and bobbed at her as it passed, shedding dim light around itself. She had to figure it would have been brighter to someone without angel eyes.

  The tunnel was tight and quiet enough that every step echoed over the bricks. When the rest of her entourage came through the opening behind her, she knew there was no chance at all that they wouldn’t be heard on the other side. That was fine.

  She kept moving, her steps quiet, behind the angel.

  “I have to admit I did not expect you to call to me so quickly, child,” they said.

  “I had a need,” she said. “And I won’t bother you again after this, you have my word.”

  “I believe you,” Corinthiel said. “Should you break your word there will be dire consequences.”

  Ely chuckled.

  “I had expected no less,” she said. “A favor for a favor. That is fair.”

  Corinthiel bobbed again. A light emanated from the end of the tunnel and Elysia skipped ahead to get a better look. There was an opening into what appeared to be a wine cellar, and a cluster of five Gate Street Players inside.

  Ely took a sidestep from the entrance and gave the angel a nod. The wheel of arms gave a spin and they disappeared into the doorway.

  A beat later, the screaming started.

  Joey came up at Ely’s shoulder and quirked a brow. She tried a smile and lifted her blade, using it to catch a glimpse of the reflection of the fight.

  “There’s a door on the right side of the room,” she said. “Go directly for it and don’t look to the left.”

  He didn’t need to be told twice, and he didn’t ask questions. Joey headed right, and Ophelia followed shortly after. Ely glanced back, repeated her instructions to Sam and Barghest, and followed her mother with her head down. She was relatively sure the light would not be harmful to her eyes, but she wasn’t about to risk it.

  The tunnel ahead of them was long and twisting, but every turn led into a dead end of a room and only the one behind them had been full of people. With the noise they were making on the way there, there was no sense in taking it slow. The alarm had, no doubt, been sounded.

  “Joey Trezza,” a voice said from up ahead. Ely remembered that voice. Vivi had been there the night she met Dorian, had tried to warn her off. Vivi had sent her daughter to break
Dorian’s hands for crossing her and Vivi had sent that sniper to put a bullet through Danny’s head.

  She realized with a sharp twist of her guts that Vivi had probably sent that sniper to kill her father and the woman had simply missed. Ely wasn’t sure which was worse.

  She started to take a step forward but her father put a hand across her collarbone.

  “I’ve got this one,” he said. “Go on ahead. Whatever they’re doing down there we need to stop them.”

  “I’ll have his back,” Ely said. “You three go. I promise I won’t interfere unless I have to.”

  “You wouldn’t have a prayer if you both came at me at once, and you’re all fools if you think I’m letting a single one of you by me,” Vivi said.

  “Bold of you to think you can take us all,” Barghest said, flatly. He reached behind his back to clutch at the hilt of his claymore, maintaining eye contact with Vivi for a moment as she eased down.

  “Go, then,” she said. “Lena won’t have any trouble dealing with just three of you. Are you sure you don’t want to run along with your mother, girl?”

  “I’m sure I want to see this,” Ely said, folding her arms and leaning against the wall to emphasize the point. It was a very Joey Trezza move, and she caught her father’s smirk when she did it, proving the gesture hadn’t been lost on him.

  “Well, you heard the girl, Vivi,” he said. Ophelia walked right past her with Barghest and Samael close behind. Elysia prepared to give witness, and, more subtly, prepared to snake that little gun out of her over sized boot if things started going poorly for her father.

  The second Sam was out of sight, Joey’s arms ignited to the shoulders. Vivi started forward, murmured an incantation and pulled the air out of the world around him.

  Ely blinked at her. She hadn’t known Vivi Verida was a witch.

  Even hellfire needed oxygen to keep burning, and deprived of it, Joey’s fire went out relatively easily.

  “Ah-ah,” Vivi said. “We’re going to conduct this fight like normal thugs, aren’t we?”

  Ely could see the problem with that immediately. Joey started to retort and it was immediately evident that he couldn’t breathe. Her fingers itched, stretching for the gun in her coat pocket, but Joey moved quickly and closed the gap between himself and Vivi.