The Templar commander nodded. “It seemed a prudent course of action, considering our mission, but it was slow going. We were spread out, looking for you, covering as much ground as we could while trying to attract as little attention as possible.”
“Did you run into any more trouble?”
“We came close,” Meg said. “Saw a few cops off in the distance. Also, one of the Templar heard some moaning from down an alleyway, thought it might be you guys, and just barely managed to escape from a pair of zombies.”
“We were about to give up hope, continue on and try to fulfill the mission without you...”
“This is the good part,” Veronica interrupted.
“Oh shut up,” Meg said, although the smile on her face betrayed she was quite pleased with herself. “I’d been scrying with no luck, except for one quick blip from the others a few hours back.”
“The others?” I asked, letting hope slip into my tone.
Meg’s grin widened. “Yep. We were just ducking behind some dumpsters, waiting for a pair of cop cars to turn down the next block, when I got a tingle in my head. Anyway, I drew a quick circle in the muck around me ... which was super gross, in case you’re wondering.”
“And?”
“And it was Christy. Sounds like they ran into some real shit up their way. Couldn’t quite catch all of it, but there were a lot of different flashes – vampires, forest folk, that skinny guy ... what’s his name?”
“Ed?” I offered. “He isn’t hurt, is he?”
“Nothing like that. It’s just that he was wearing a loincloth for some reason.”
“A loincloth?”
“As I said, it was a little jumbled.”
“What about Bill?” I asked, perhaps a little more eagerly than I’d meant to. The sly glance Meg gave me in return told me it wasn’t missed.
“There was a lot going on, but the main gist was they were fine and closing in on the city limits.”
I let out a relieved breath I hadn’t been aware I’d been holding.
Kelly and Veronica high fived, echoing what I was feeling.
“That brings us back to you guys,” Meg continued. “It was a big ball of nothing, and then all of a sudden I felt a distant surge of power. Then another. There was no flipping way that wasn’t magical, so I suggested we try to trace it to its source.”
“A lucky thing for us,” I said.
“Yeah, funny how lucky it was.” She glanced sidelong at Kelly, but said nothing further.
Knowing we were delving into potentially sensitive waters, I added, “The important thing is we’re back together, our friends are okay, and there’s still hope we can pull this off.”
“Yes, Blessed One,” Bernadette said. “There is, however, no denying that our enemies know we are here.”
I thought about that for a moment, then smiled. “You’re right. So there’s no point in pretending anymore. Tell your men to put on their cloaks. The time for stealth is over. It’s time to go to war.”
CHAPTER 22
“How are you feeling?”
I continued swinging my sword, parrying an imaginary foe, the weapon almost humming in my hand as it cut through the air. Thank goodness Bernadette had managed to retrieve it after we’d been ambushed. “Right as rain.”
It wasn’t a lie for a change. For the time being, the doubt inside of me had retreated, letting the power of faith and the confidence that came with it fill any and all voids it left behind.
Our group was back together again. We were closing in on our goal and had received word that our friends to the north were all fine. It was as good as things were going to get. We needed to press our advantage. We weren’t going to get a better chance.
I sheathed the weapon, my fingers dancing across its grip, and turned toward Kelly. “How about you?”
“You tell me.” She held up a hand, and a ball of green flame coalesced above her outstretched fingers, danced there for a few seconds, and then winked out of existence again. “Feels good to have my mojo back.”
“I’m sure Veronica feels the same way.”
“Definitely. She was on the verge of going all basket case. Not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but she can be a bit jumpy.”
“I’ve noticed. But she was with Meg. Can’t they just,” I lowered my voice, “sync up?”
“Yeah, but it takes away from Meg’s reserves to do so. Also, she can get seriously bitchy about someone else ‘suckling off her magical teat,’ as she would put it.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the metaphor. “So what did you tell her about that power surge she felt?”
“I said that there must’ve been another catalyst nearby somewhere because all of a sudden, poof, I was all charged up again.”
“Think she bought it?”
“Not really, but it’s plausible enough and she’s not one to question gift horses.”
“Good enough.”
“It’ll have to be,” she replied before turning serious. “I won’t lie, though, I was a bit disappointed.”
“In me?” I got a sinking feeling where this was going. I glanced around to make sure nobody was close enough to eavesdrop. Fortunately, they were all busy with final prep. “Listen, it’s...”
“No, in how your power affected me ... or didn’t.”
“Not following.”
“I was hoping, y’know, that I’d maybe get a little of your confidence boost along with the fireworks. But nope. I mean, Veronica wears her emotions on her sleeve, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified right now. All of this...” She spread her hands wide. “This is a lot more than anything I’ve ever run into. People are saying this is the end of the world, for Christ’s sake.”
“So they are,” I replied, a sad smile creeping onto my face.
“Anyway, I just wish I was a bit more like you.”
It was all I could do to not laugh. “You don’t think I’m afraid?”
“You’re the Icon.” She held up her fingers in air quotes. “The last blah-blah-blah of humanity.”
“Don’t believe the hype.”
“I thought you were supposed to be fueled by self-confidence, belief. That’s what faith magic is all about.”
“Yeah, and to a degree that’s true.”
Kelly didn’t say anything, an expectant look upon her face. I debated whether or not to go any further.
Oh screw it. She’d trusted me with her secret. In for a penny. Besides, maybe it would do me good to get things off my chest. Having so much expectation heaped on one’s shoulders eventually became a crushing weight. Though I’d only had my power for a relatively short time, I was already tired, oh so tired.
“In the beginning it was. All true, I mean,” I began. “Someone had professed their faith, for lack of a better word, in me and...”
“Who?”
“Don’t interrupt,” I chided. “I thought long and hard about what they said and decided if someone else could believe in me, then it was time to do it myself. That was it. It seemed such a simple thing at first. I woke up the next morning, and it was like I was a different person. I felt different. Heck, I even thought I looked a bit different.” I pointed toward my eyes. “But most importantly, I was unstoppable. I can’t even say I felt that way. I knew it.”
I tapped my fingers on the pommel of my sword as I spoke. I hadn’t even realized they’d crept back down there. “For a while, I let it consume me. That new person took over. And you know what?” I lowered my voice, not wanting the Templar to overhear. “It was pretty goddamned awesome. For a while, everything I did seemed to go in my favor. It’s like the old adage, attitude trumps ability.”
“Sounds pretty great.”
“It was. But then, ironically enough, I began to see the chinks in my newfound armor on the very night my powers first manifested.”
I thought back to Bill and I walking along the dark city street, our hands occasionally brushing against each other, but never quite grasping. A small surge of annoyance at this f
inally pushed me over the edge, and I decided to make the move that I kept waiting for him to make. And then there came the flash of light, the heat. When it cleared, I saw him, but it wasn’t him. I’d hurt him, I knew that, but I hesitated to help when I saw the black eyes, the fangs, and – worst of all – the way his skin rippled as if there was something else lurking just beneath it trying to burst free.
It only lasted for a second and then he was gone, tearing down the street at a speed that should have been impossible. I wanted to chase after him, but I stopped when I realized that helping him wasn’t the only thing on my mind. It was crazy, but a part of me embraced what had just happened. I actually wanted to run him down and finish what I’d started. A need to hunt, to fight, and to kill filled me, and all of it seemed focused on him, a gentle soul that had never done me any harm.
“Along with the confidence comes a desire,” I continued, trying to explain without going into either the details or the shame I still felt. “That desire manifests itself as a need for action. Sometimes that action is to help, but sometimes it’s to hurt. The confidence is there, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be frightening, too. Anyway, after that, I sort of lost myself for a while. Days spent trying to figure out what had happened, making sense of it, all while working myself to exhaustion.” Unsaid were the nights spent staring at my phone, my insides warring with me, the rational side wanting to know if Bill was okay, the rest insisting I make sure he wasn’t for reasons that weren’t clear at the time.
In the end, the need to know trumped everything else and I found myself acting like some kind of crazed stalker. I used my contacts at our old job – a call to our shared manager, under the guise of being social, to see how things were going with the team, learning he’d been on a conference call with Bill just an hour earlier.
It hadn’t been enough, though, and later that day I found myself paying off a cabbie while I sat in the back of his car down the block from Bill’s apartment. Three hours later, well after the sun had set, he emerged with his roommate Tom. The sigh of relief I let out at seeing him whole, however, was quickly overshadowed by a primal anger rising from somewhere deep inside of me. I didn’t stick around to find out what it meant. I ordered the driver to take me away. As we drove off, I said a silent goodbye, expecting it to be forever this time.
How was I to know he’d come looking for me?
Kelly turned and glanced behind her toward where the others were gathered. We didn’t have much time before we moved out, and at that point focus would be the name of the game.
Realizing I’d gone silent for several seconds, I continued. “My powers flared up a couple of times after that. A few by accident, and once or twice when I tried it out myself. It was that former that I think got me noticed, because the Templar approached me not too long after. I’m not entirely unashamed to say I grasped their lifeline with a death grip. I learned their ways, that the world was full of more than I’d ever imagined. I embraced my role in it. I became what they wanted me to be – the Icon, the Blessed One. I let that confidence fill me, pushing all doubt away. I would save humanity and drive the darkness back into the shadows. Fear was for normal people. I was beyond it.”
“Sounds like a pretty okay deal to me. So what happened?”
Before I could answer, Bernadette’s voice rang out. “We are ready to move out, Blessed One. Just give the word.”
“Give me a minute,” I shouted back, before lowering my voice to the barest of whispers. “What happened is I let that confidence blindly lead me by the nose and ended up getting a bullet to the face for my troubles.”
CHAPTER 23
“Oh my God.”
“Exactly. Pain, fear, mortality. All of that stuff, it doesn’t go away. It was just buried, suppressed. This power, it’s almost like a drug. Well, it turns out that a fifty caliber to the head is one hell of a quick rehab.”
Kelly’s eyes scanned me, no doubt searching for evidence of a gaping hole that should have been where my face was.
“It didn’t do anything on the outside. My powers saw to that, but it was close. Too close. I thought that was it. So much for the last defender of humanity, killed on her first real adventure all because she decided to hold hands with the guy who was supposed to be her mortal enemy.”
Kelly stared for a moment before realization shone in her eyes. “That guy, Bill. He didn’t...”
I let out a laugh. “No. He wasn’t the one who shot me. It was a vampire named Remington, specially hired for the job. It was stupid of me, sloppy. I thought the fight with him was over. I thought everything was fine.”
“But it wasn’t.”
“No.”
“I mean, it wasn’t your fault.”
“I know.”
“Doesn’t sound like it was his either. Bill’s, that is.”
“I never...” My voice trailed off. What I had been about to say was a lie, at least partially. I didn’t blame Bill, that was true. The problem was, I associated him with it. He was the Night Spawn, the Freewill. I was the Icon. If ever there was an oil and water combination, it was us.
I couldn’t shake the sense that by thumbing my nose at it all, allowing myself to have feelings for him, that maybe the bullet had been less Remington and more fate reminding me that it wasn’t to be.
“That’s why you froze up earlier. I thought it was just surprise or maybe you ate something that didn’t agree with you.”
I smiled sheepishly. Despite the sword at my side, for a moment I felt very much like the scared girl who’d run away to New York City rather than face down her bully of a boyfriend. That seemed to be my forte: pretend to be the person everyone expected me to be only to run away when it didn’t work out. “Yep, turns out the legendary Icon isn’t quite as bulletproof as she lets on.”
Kelly let out a low chuckle. “Everyone is afraid of something. Hell, you should see me around spiders. I’m surprised I haven’t burned down any buildings yet.”
“Except I’m not supposed to be afraid. Everyone thinks I’m...”
“Well, then maybe you need to stop being who everyone else thinks you should be and just be you.”
“I’m not sure me is enough to win this.”
“Maybe not, but a little fear makes you smart enough to think before you rush in. In my book, that more than makes up for blind faith.”
I glanced up and saw Bernadette walking our way. There was so much more I wanted to say. Once the floodgate broke, it seemed the confession didn’t want to end. Unfortunately, we were out of time, so I had to settle for, “Thank you. You have no idea how much I mean that.” I paused, then added, “Just do me a favor and...”
“Hey, now we’re even. We both know each other’s dirty little secrets.”
“So we have something we need to trust the other with.”
“Yep,” Kelly said with a wry smile, “or blackmail each other with. Whatever works.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Bernadette insisted on gathering her people for a prayer before we moved out. Over twenty men, all wearing bright scarlet robes, knelt before her. I’d demurred on the request and instead stood back, looking around at the quiet street and the buildings surrounding us. This time I saw the occasional flutter of blinds and caught glimpses of curious faces as they ducked out of sight. The Templar must have been quite the sight for anyone watching.
Well, it was time for them to know they could stop hiding, that there was once again hope in this city.
“They look like the fucking Spanish Inquisition,” Meg commented.
Okay, so maybe there was an equal chance of us scaring the crap out of anyone watching from above. In the long run, it wouldn’t matter so long as we were successful. Speaking of which... “Anything new from Christy?” I asked her.
“Nope. Been quiet. We tried reaching out while everyone was unfolding their Superman capes, but nothing. Not even a buzz of acknowledgement.”
“You still have your cell on you?”
“I tried that
, too. Service works, but no answer from her end.”
“Can I borrow it?”
Meg handed it over to me. “Go nuts. I have unlimited minutes.”
I tried Bill’s number. My fingers fumbled, and I tried again, finally getting it right on the third try. I held it up to my ear and realized I had no idea what to say if he did answer. “Hi. I hope you’re all right. Sorry about almost burning your face off,” didn’t quite seem like it would cut it.
While I was pondering this, his voice began to speak into my ear. I almost whooped for joy, but then realized it was just his voicemail. Elation turned to disappointment and when at last it beeped, all I could think to say was, “Call me.”
Talk about lame. I kissed the poor guy, set him on fire, and then ran off – and that’s the best I had.
I was about to hand the phone back to Meg when I realized there was another option: Ed. I dialed and listened to the ringing, thinking at the very least I could leave him a slightly more coherent response – when the line clicked open.
Though there came no greeting, I could hear someone breathing.
“Hello? Ed?”
A loud screech sounded on the other end, almost causing me to drop the device. I put the phone to my ear again, wondering if perhaps it had been interference when I heard more. Hoots and grunts. What the hell?
There came the sound of more shuffling and then an animalistic roar before the line was finally disconnected in a strange clanking sound ... almost as if the phone had been smashed.
“Everything okay?” Meg asked.
“No,” I replied blankly as I handed her back the phone.
“What?”
“Honestly, I have no idea.” My mind, though, was racing to put form to what I’d heard. It had sounded like they were in a zoo, but that made no sense. What did, unfortunately, was something I didn’t want to contemplate. If Bill had changed again. If his darker half had somehow taken over.
I realized I’d started glowing at the thought of him transforming again. Though he’d taken steps to subdue his so-called Dr. Death side, bring it under control, we all knew it was risky. If he’d lost control, put the others in danger...
Shining Fury: from the Tome of Bill Series Page 10
