by HP Mallory
“Of course, not all the spirits that were trapped inside the urn fled upon its opening.”
“Not all of them fled?”
“Oh, no, Mademoiselle Harper, there was one spirit who was of a far more benevolent nature, symbolized by its taking the form of a diamond.”
Nicolas’s eyes got a bit more watery in the dim light of the shower room. “It was the spirit of Hope, the one force in this universe equal to love. Without Hope, a man is condemned to a fate far worse than here.”
Perenelle raised her finger at Nicolas again. “As are women, n’est-ce pas?”
Nicolas replied, “A mere figure of speech, dear wife. You are correct, of course.”
I started tapping my fingers on my blade’s hilt. “So whatever happened to this Hope spirit?”
Nicolas shrugged as he began to stand up. “That is something no one knows. However, if Cardinal Cauchon is any indicator, there are many who would pay very dearly to find out.”
Perenelle also stood up and stretched out her back. “I am unconvinced the ploy you used to make Cauchon leave us alone was still a wise course of action, Nicolas.”
Nicolas twisted his torso back and forth, presumably getting all the kinks out of his back. “I could either deliver what Cauchon believed was the true Hope Diamond or become his unwilling prisoner. At the time, I saw no better option.”
I gave the hilt a hard tap with my finger. “That was why the Simoniacs were raiding your place when Manfred and I came by.”
Perenelle nodded unhappily while pulling out vials from inside her leather apron. “I believe so. It is probable that the cardinal decided to use our most convincing fake in an attempt to protect his people from the Spites; and it failed utterly.” She glared at her husband. “It is even more probable that I am married to a man who lacks basic good sense. A clever man, I imagine, would have moved our laboratory to a safer location after Cauchon’s visit.”
By then, Nicolas was pulling out his own vials. “Had we followed through on such a course of action, we would have incurred the wrath not only of the Malebranche but of Alaire himself. Both were very explicit in their instructions to stay where we were.”
I held up my hand like I was still in school. “Wait… Why would Alaire care where you were? I thought he just gave you your ingredients so that the Malebranche—”
Perenelle cut me off with the pop of a vial stopper. “The Malebranche has no knowledge of our arrangement with Alaire. And if you are as acquainted with him as I believe you must be, you would surely know that Alaire is anything but a generous man.”
I felt a knot lodging in my gut. “What was his price?”
Nicolas made a point of keeping his eyes fastened on the floor while he spread his powders. “In exchange for supplying us with the necessary reagents for our work, we must find both the lost Spite and the true Hope Diamond. Why he seeks such things, I cannot say.”
Me neither but I could make an educated guess. As long as both of those things were floating around, Alaire couldn’t control the Spites. But if he had them in his custody…
Once again, Perenelle interrupted my thought process. “I believe we are ready to put you in contact with your friends. Do you possess any material things that connect you to either of them?”
I pulled out my blade and looked into its mirror quality reflection. “Tallis forged this for me. And it’s got some odd properties unique only to it.”
Nicolas clapped his hands in delight. “Magnifique! It sounds like the perfect instrument to reach out to him. When would you like to perform the ritual?”
I gave the door one last glance. “There’s no time like the present.”
Following their instructions, I lay down in the middle of the elaborate circle they’d been drawing while we were talking. They positioned themselves opposite each other in the circle and said a number of phrases that sounded like Latin. Then Nicolas rounded the circle three times, holding up my blade while he chanted. He passed the blade over to Perenelle, who walked around the circle three more times in the opposite direction. She used the tip of my blade to touch my forehead.
A split second later, I lost consciousness.
“So that now in tears thou mourn’st!”
-Dante’s Inferno
SIXTEEN
TALLIS
While it was hard to tell, with the buildings in such ruins, I think we were mayhap three blocks from Custer’s camp when we finally came to a halt. Everyone was too fatigued to do more than pant breathlessly. Me gutsack also chose that moment to remind me how little I’d stuffed into it. Much as I longed to tear into the provisions we’d secured, we had to get to a safer place.
Being just as short of breath as the rest of us, the handsome woman called Addie didnae seem too happy about it. “C’mon, we gotta keep moving!”
The stookie angel, panting like a dog, pointed down the wrecked street. “Hey, go for it, Ms. Hottie-Patotty. But the rest of us gotta actually get some air into our lungs first.”
The way Addie’s eyes narrowed at the angel, I knew it wouldnae end well for him. “You know, the longer I’m around you, the harder it is for me to believe you’re actually an angel.”
“Must be like how hard it is fer me ta believe that in life, you looked anywhere close ta how good you look now, huh toots?”
Next thing I knew, Addie charged him with some type of Karate-Ninja kick and the angel was flung across the street into the nearest wall. The breath he was sae keen on enjoying, was knocked out of him in a rush. Addie marched over—probably to kick him—when I got in the way. That made her turn her glare upon me.
“Oh, you want some too, hairball?”
As impressed as I was that me bigger size didnae intimidate her, I was nae in the mood to play games with a slip of a lass. “Yer point’s been made, lass. Leave it be.”
The other lass who was quite muscled—Kay—gently tugged at Addie’s arm. “If you’re serious about not wasting time, we’re doing exactly that.”
Meanwhile, the stookie angel slowly picked himself up off the ground with help from the lad, whose name was Harry. The angel nodded his thanks and looked over at Addie.
“That’s some mule kick ya got there, Xena.”
Addie’s eyes darted ‘tween him and me. I shook me head ruefully. “Dinnae look a’ me, lass. Tha’s the closest tae nice he ever gits.”
The wee fellow walked past me in a huff. “Thank you very little, Conan!”
Harry, meanwhile, was riveted on every nook and cranny for the first sign of trouble, while clutching two boxes piled high with food close to his chest. Watchfulness was a virtue in a situation such as ours. But the kind of distress I witnessed from him was just as bad as if he were oblivious to his surroundings. Jeanne must have agreed for she put a hand on his shoulder that made him jump.
“It will be some time before General Custer’s troops catch up with us, mon ami. They have just suffered a severe rout, and we have deprived them of much-needed supplies, not to mention they have many wounded to attend to.”
Harry relaxed a wee bit but he wasnae completely convinced by Jeanne’s wisdom. “B-B-But won’t they come after us eventually?”
I nodded at him. “That they will, lad. So if everyone’s got their breath back, Ah’d say we best be movin’ oan.”
Kay gave me a sour look as she scrunched up her face. “Where? Nobody said jackshit about where this ‘wizard’s place’ is located.”
Jeanne gave the horizon ahead of us a careful sweep with her eyes. “We still have some distance to cross yet. And, as Addie noted, we will get no closer to it by staying here and arguing.”
Addie threw open her arms as if she wanted to embrace Jeanne. “Thank you!”
The stookie angel opened his mouth to make a remark he’d regret. I shook me head at him and pointed to our guide. He gave me a disgusted look and mouthed, “Fine!” before doing what I had hoped he would: shutting his geggie.
Harry remained close to Addie and Kay, his posture
revealing he had no business in a place like this. All three were carrying the foodstuff boxes. The stookie angel walked behind them, studying the rear ends of the lasses. Harry fell behind until he walked alongside me. I glanced down at his burden. “Want me tae take that load off yer hands, lad?”
Harry looked up at me. “Nah, I’m good.”
“As ye like.”
He smiled. “Besides, for all I know, you’d just run off with whatever’s packed in here.” Then a wee smirk took over his lips. “With all that extra hair, you’d probably trip if you tried to run. I mean, Jesus, man, haven’t you ever heard of scissors or a razor?”
I smiled at him, hoping the shape of me lips emerged from the overgrown beard. “That’s the sort o’ thing ye can expect when ye been locked oop in a dungeon fer months on end.”
His face went from smirky to sympathetic in an eye blink. “Ah, shit, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
I cut him off with a shake of me head. “Ye meant nae harm, Ah know. Anyway, ye an’ yer friends wound oop in mooch the same state as the blatherin’ angel an’ Ah did, aye?”
His face tightened. “I still think there was more I could have done, more all of us could have done to at least try to fight them.”
I nodded at the back of Kay. “The strong lass ahead seems tae disagree with ye.”
The lad looked at the ground. “And she’s probably right. I just don’t wanna believe it.” He looked up at me then. “See, back when I was alive, deals were my thing. There wasn’t anybody I couldn’t talk into or out of something. I just had this natural instinct to be persuasive, you know?”
“Aye.”
When he saw my nod, he continued talking. “So when I wound up in that home office nightmare they called Afterlife Enterprises? I figured ‘Cool… beats a burning lake of fire by a mile. So maybe I can talk my way outta this.” He dropped his hands back to his side as he looked up. “And the funny thing is I was thinking that I nailed it. I laid down my conditions and the guy I’m talking to says it’s no problem, making me think I’m getting the better end of the deal.”
‘Twas practically Besom’s story from point to point. I could see where this conversation was headed. “Then it came time tae do the job an’ ye found out why AE was so generous, aye, lad?”
The lad’s eyes returned to the ground. “I didn’t even get close to the soul I’m here to Fed-Ex back up top. I’m not here two minutes before I get caught by these worm dudes with whips.”
“The Mephits.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he said. “Next thing I know, I’ve got new friends in the same situation and a job I absolutely hate.” He looked at me with guarded suspicion. “So… are you and the homeless angel gonna make us pay for bailing our asses out?”
I shrugged. “Ah dinnae know… how good are ye at coottin’ hair?” The panic in his eyes gave way to a smile.
He pointed at Jeanne. “So what’s her story?”
I decided not to tell him Jeanne was Joan Of Arc. I figured if she wanted that information known, she’d have told him herself. “The most Ah can say is that she’s been down here a long time an’ she’s guided by somethin’ she dinnae like tae talk aboot.”
Harry put his finger on his chin and started tapping it. “When it comes to this army stuff, she seems to know her shit.”
“Nae arguin’ that. Ah’ve had me own share o’ battlefields an’ she knows as much as Ah do. Still, Ah’d feel better knowin’ exactly where we’re goin’, same as ye.”
“You’re telling me you don’t know where we’re going?”
The lad gave me a sharp look and I held up a hand. “Ah’m followin’ her jist the same as the rest o’ ye.”
Harry exhaled a breath out his nose. “Better not tell that to Addie. The last thing she needs to hear is that nobody’s got a handle on our safari guide.”
I was about to answer him when the world suddenly started spinning. I faintly heard a humming in me sword just before I stumbled. I felt meself falling down and Harry was quick to try to stabilize me but I was too large and weighty and caused him to stumble alongside me.
Then all turned to black…
***
I found meself nestled in a meadow of soft, green grass. I looked up and saw the clear blue sky above me. I used me arm to brush the rest of the dirt away. I couldnae ignore a nagging feeling that this felt familiar. I wondered why until I caught a glimpse of me lost and beloved Fergus Castle in the distance.
I only came to this living memory of me home in times of true need. It never failed to remind me of the man I once was.
I pulled meself from the ground and began looking about. No crackle of radio static … everything around me was just as I remembered it. Usually this dreamscape meant I would be visited by Besom but now I was alone. And as I sat upon the damp earth, I found meself sorely wishing me Besom was nearby.
At the thought, I spotted a person far away and down by the loch. ‘Twas mere seconds before this person began racing towards me and when she came into view, I recognized me Besom. She smiled and waved while shouting something but I was too far away to hear her words.
At the sight of her, me legs started moving on their own, quickly going from a walk to a full gallop charge. She crossed half the distance between us before I finally swept her up in me arms. The thrill of feeling her lithe body was divine, and I almost uttered a prayer of thanks to whomever made it possible.
“Lily,” I whispered and the happiness within me heart was impossible to keep within.
After I twirled me wee lass ‘round a few times, she seized the back of me neck and forced me neck down. I gazed upon her, never wanting to break the path of me eyes for she was so beautiful. I had missed her. Oh, how I had missed her.
Before I could comment, her lips were on mine. And then her tongue was in me mouth. But even if me mouth weren’t full of hers, I wouldnae complain. Just to behold her, to feel her within me arms—it was enough. The memories of our last time together surged forth in a rush.
“Lily,” I repeated her name and held her to me, never wanting to let go of her again.
“Tallis,” she said and pulled away from me, smiling up at me as I held her head in between me hands. I wanted naethin’ more than to just look upon her, to fill me eyes with her so I could convince myself she was real and she was safe.
Her first words were a bit of a puzzle. “I can’t believe that worked!” In true Besom fashion, she shook her head and contradicted herself in the next breath. “Well, I mean, there was no reason to believe it wouldn’t work. The Flamels looked like they knew what—”
The mention of the surname made me interrupt her. “Ye dinnae mean Nicolas an Perenelle Flamel, do ye, Besom?”
Lily’s face took on an expression I’d come to know well. She was worried she’d made a mistake. “Yeah, uhm… they’re not secretly bad people, are they?”
I laughed, a deep and full feeling releasing through me. “Nae… they’re good folk, when all’s said an’ done. If it weren’t for that treatise Nicolas pooblished in—”
“He said the work he did on the Philosopher’s Stone wasn’t really his. Nicolas just transcribed it for… someone else.”
I gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “I never said it were, lass. Just that pooblishin’ it was the reason why he an’ his wife wound up in the morgue. Speakin’ o’ the Eighth Circle, I’m guessin’ that’s where ye are right now?”
She let out a shaky breath. “Yes.” She looked about herself for danger we both knew wasnae there. “After the way I left, I’m pretty sure Alaire wants me back worse than ever. I took off with his prize spirit.”
I felt me teeth clenching at the reference to me former passenger. “Has Donnchadh—”
She put up her hands. “I’ve got him under control, for now anyway. Now… what happened after Alaire threw you out of the castle?”
We spent the next few minutes relating our adventures. Besom was proud beyond words that the wee angel saved me hide back in th
e Asylum. She even muttered, “Maybe there’s hope for the little lecher yet.”
For me own part, I was properly impressed with me Besom. She had nae only managed to keep Donnchadh in check but she had also survived a plane crash, captured the Red Baron, and applied all me lessons of bladecraft to a fight against six demons and humans.
When we finished swapping anecdotes, Besom’s face took another look I’d come to know well: deep thought. “If I’m reading between the lines correctly, it sounds like Alaire is supplying both sides of this civil war. He helped the Flamels by providing ingredients for their alchemy, which only aids the Malebranche. But if Bill’s right, it sounds like Alaire’s also funneling arms down to the Council of Simon through those dummy shipments.”
There was still one other part of this puzzle that Besom had no way of knowing. “Maybe nae jist arms, lass. There’s nae many demons that will follow mortal souls, especially ones that were their prisoners nae so long ago. Fer such an arrangement, the orders moost come from someone far greater than them.”
To her credit, she understood fairly quickly. “Like, say, the current Master of the Underground City giving them an ultimatum?”
I smiled. “The very same, Lily, me love. Weapons are a good start fer any fight. But even without ‘em, the likes o’ those worm beasties would overwhelm any human troops in nae more than a fortnight.”
Besom took her right hand away from me and rubbed her temples as though she were overwhelmed. “But why do any of this at all? The weapons, troops, and infrastructure… everything is getting wrecked the longer this war goes on. Why doesn’t Alaire just back one side or the other and be done with it?”
I shook me head. “Nae, Alaire learned tae fight from the bastard Romans. Divide and conquer was how they prevailed… Git the enemies fightin’ against each other, weakenin’ the other through a long battle an’ then sweep in tae take the territory o’ the winnin’ side afore they can regroup.”
