by Eden Crowne
“Who told them about me in Paris, Amber? Who?” I called desperately.
I started to run after her. Julian grabbed hold of my shirt, jerking me back. “Don't. They will hold you prisoner until you weaken. You must stay by me.”
“Oh, Miss Carpenter?” Chen waved to get my attention. “Your mother Grace said to be sure and say hello! She sent you this.” He tossed a small box into the air. It landed roughly halfway between us and them.
Amber Lynne reached Chen and together the two walked away, arm in arm.
Chapter 38
Lies of the Heart
“Wait, I'll get it.”
He'd have to, I couldn't have moved if my life depended on it. Mind reeling, I sank to the ground as my legs turned to jelly. My mother. What did Chen mean about my mother?
Julian cautiously approached the small, brightly wrapped box, nudging it with the toe of his boot before picking it up. He pulled his hexagram talisman out and waved it around in the air. Apparently satisfied, he carefully tore off the paper before handing the box to me.
I looked up into his eyes, not sure whether I should take it or not.
He pushed the box forward. “Chen said it was from your mother, what does that mean?”
That's right. Julian didn't know the sad details of my family soap opera. Nor did the Club. I never said anything about it to any of them, I was sure.
“Hurry, open it. We don't have much time and Albert even less!”
I flipped open the box. Just when I thought life couldn't hand me anything else, guess what? Inside was the gold and red broken heart charm that had been missing from Mom's keyring. My dad had the other half. Still carried it with him after all these years. They were inscribed, “Grace” and “Robert.” He had her name and she had his. Even in the half light, I could clearly see his name etched into it.
What could it all mean?
Julian bent down to rest one hand on my shoulder. “Chen, the Club, they're messing with your mind, Alexandra. Hoping to frighten and confuse you even more. Now go, help Albert.”
He was right. He had to be. Lies. The Club was nothing but lies. Tossing the box, I stuffed the charm into one of my pockets. I pulled myself over to Albert on hands and knees. Something sharp cut into my shin and I saw my moon pendant lying on the ground. Hastily, I shoved it in with my mom's charm before taking Albert's hands in mine. They were very cold. The whole interchange after Vanessa's capture must have lasted only a few minutes, though it seemed hours since the fighting stopped. The flashing lights of an ambulance and probably police cars, or wait, we were on the Base, must be MPs, were slowly drawing closer. I could just now hear the whine of the sirens.
Julian ran from body to body sprinkling them with some sort of powder. He flicked a lighter and flames burst from the corpses, reducing them to ashes in seconds. The smell was terrible. The cat thing didn't approach any closer. It paced back and forth as though held back by an invisible wall. Fur bristling, it kept snarling at Julian and letting out hair-raising yowls. It seemed even bigger than when it first got out of the case.
Julian ignored the beast. The burnings finished, he came to kneel on the other side of Albert, carefully removing the long knives from their hidden springs. “Fewer questions for the MPs. We are lucky, actually, that they chose the U.S. Naval Base for this battle. The Americans will have paramedics.”
“And Japanese don't?”
He shook his head. “Japanese do not like to take responsibility. Especially for a life. They want the weight of the hospital bureaucracy behind them in case something goes wrong. All Japanese ambulance personnel are allowed to do is lift, carry, and drive. Useless. People die all the time because they cannot get immediate treatment.”
“That's stupid.”
“I can't argue with you on that.”
Albert's eyes fluttered open and he coughed.
I wiped the blood from his lips with shaking hands. I was trembling all over, a delayed reaction perhaps to all that had come before. Albert could die, right here, right now. The tears started again as I thought of the half-Daemon, lead singer of the Albert Einsteins and his naughty velvet soft tail. I remembered him standing there, hands on his hips, telling Savan off in his drawling English accent. Seeing him in front of the school lounging next to that sexy blue sports car, watching him teasing Blaze or erupting into fury, knives lashing out with deadly accuracy in my defense.
“Kiss me, Alexandra,” Albert breathed so softly I could barely hear.
There was no way I would refuse him, not here, not like this. I was crying full out by then and it was hard to stop sobbing long enough to bend down and place my lips on his. He reached his arm up and wound it in my hair. With my tears running down both our cheeks, I kissed him. His breath tasted sweet and warm despite the blood, his sunny scent reached up to wrap itself around my senses in a dizzying embrace. The kiss lengthened, slowly transforming into something more. Not just two mouths meeting in fear and pain. A strange, indefinable sensation spread from my lips to cloak my body in a shadowy, silken touch. The fingers of one hand, seemingly of their own accord, reached out to stroke the singer's hair, twine around those dark, soft waves. His jaw pressed closer and I didn't resist. He finally broke off, gasping, from pain or perhaps something more. The kiss had definitely left me breathless.
The ambulance pulled to a stop almost on top of the two of us. I looked up and flinched to see Julian's eyes staring down. Hard and sharp as the knives he had taken from Albert. His lip curled and I thought he was going to snarl at me. Or maybe Albert. I wasn't sure which of us had ignited his temper or why. A pair of burly paramedics in uniform piled out of the ambulance with a stretcher and a pack of equipment. Julian broke off glaring at me and spoke to them.
“Please don't die Albert,” I whispered again, my mouth once again close to his. “Please. I'll do anything.”
I felt his lips move into a little smile.“Anything?”
I choked back the sobs. “Yes, anything you want Albert. Anything. Just don't die.”
“Tell me you love me. You don't have to mean it, just say it like you do.”
With only the barest hesitation, I sighed the words, “I love you, Albert Pantera.”
His eyes closed and the paramedics moved me gently but firmly out of the way. I didn't know if Albert heard me or not. The men were fast and efficient, trained for combat probably and terrible wounds. The Daemon was fitted with an IV and an oxygen mask and loaded onto the stretcher in record time while one paramedic relayed data nonstop into his radiophone in a link with the hospital.
The man with the radio looked at us briefly. “Any allergies?”
Julian shook his head. “No, none. Penicillin is fine. And his blood type is O negative with an Rh factor.”
The guy looked momentarily surprised. He had broad dark features and a short, military haircut. “You're sure?” His voice sounded a little skeptical.
“Absolutely. I study medicine.”
“Thanks. That saves time. We'll take good care of him.”
“His tail!” I said in a sudden panic to Julian, watching Albert disappear into the back of the ambulance. “They'll see his tail!” One part of my mind wanted to laugh hysterically at myself. Albert was bleeding to death from a sword wound and I was worried about the paramedics outing his Daemon half.
Taking my hand in his, Julian said gently, "No, they won't. He has shadow magic on him, put there by his father at birth. All that shows up are a few extra bones in his cocyx, the tail bone there at the base of the spine. The flesh and muscle of his tail winds around his thigh and down to his calf blending invisibly into the skin, and the barbs lay flat. No one sees it unless he allows them to.”
“X-rays?”
“Hush, Alexandra. It is the least of our worries.”
“He's flat lining," one of the paramedics shouted as the doors closed, leaving Julian and I standing there in the dark.
Two towering, helmeted American MPs loomed between the ambulance and us a
s it pulled away, sirens screaming. I hadn't even noticed their arrival. They were so big, I could hardly see around the broad chest of the one near me.
“Don't you two move,” said the enormous man. “I want words with you.” He spoke over the radio, motioning the other MP closer.
Nearby, the cat creature howled so loudly the hair stood up on the back of my arms. The MPs, both of them, turned simultaneously to stare. It howled again and I had an idea.
“Oh dear God, it's back! That's the thing that attacked our friend,” I cried, waving my hands frantically in the direction of the beast. “Please don't let it hurt us any more!” The MPs certainly couldn't doubt the honest ring of fear and panic in my voice.
The beast yowled a spine-tingling series of notes up and down the scale. Instinctively my brain – just like our ancient human ancestors – knew what that sound meant. My reaction was to run far and fast in the other direction. The soldiers were made of sterner stuff. Drawing their guns, they motioned for us to stay there, moving warily towards the beast.
That was all the distraction we needed. Linking my arm with his, Julian pulled the shadow magic around us. Within that dark shroud, we moved silently away, leaving confusion in our wake. There was still Vanessa to deal with.
Our rendezvous point with Blaze and our prisoner lay about a quarter mile from here: a barge waiting repair in the naval yards. Nearly there, a single crow circling overhead flew down to land in a rush of wings. It hopped directly over to Julian, rasping out a few throaty caws. In its thick beak it held a small cylinder. The crow placed the tube at Julian's feet. Cocking its head, the bird regarded us with a black-eyed stare as Julian picked up the tube and popped off a little cap. Inside was a tightly rolled piece of paper. Giving a twitch to its feathery tail, the crow flapped its wings and flew out of sight.
“Chen?”
Julian nodded.
“What does it say?”
“Fuck the Council. Berlin.”
“I guess he really doesn't like this Baldur guy.”
“Or the Council. Club politics sometimes work to our advantage.”
We went to confront Vanessa. What the next step was I had no idea.
Chapter 39
State of Prey
The barge smelled of blood and sulphur.
Before our eyes Blaze fell in a crumpled heap like a puppet with the strings cut. Vanessa, screaming in triumph, waved a dagger above her head, the remnants of the Fudo cord falling from her. Lightning flashed illuminating her face, bloodied, exultant, no longer even remotely recognizable as the laughing girl I thought I knew.
Vanessa had not gotten to whatever age she truly was without strong survival strategies. Bodies lay ripped and torn around the Shadow Hound. Goblins, dozens of them it looked like, had come to the aid of their mistress. All dead now,but their purpose achieved.
With a cry of rage, Julian threw himself at the Soul Eater in an eye-popping jump that took him across the barge as though he were flying. Vanessa, screaming curses, leaped to meet him. The two sorcerers crashed together with the fury of missiles detonating. I was standing at ground zero and the shock wave as they crashed together threw me across the deck. I landed with bone jarring force against a jumble of rope. Blood running from my nose and ears, I lay gasping for breath while mayhem raged around me. The enhanced strength from Julian's potion was draining away with every drop of my blood. Mortal girls are not meant to stand so close to such supernatural power. There was no where to take shelter and anyway, I would not, could not, desert Julian. Bracing myself against the bulk head I crawled painfully to my feet.
Vanessa and Julian were screaming spells like banshees. In such close quarters the magic coalesced into a raging black funnel cloud that threatened to envelope them and the ship. That meant me as well. Swirling around and around, the spells crashed and rammed into each other again and again trying to push the other back. The noise was deafening, nearly drowning out the clap of thunder heralding the storm's return. Rain poured down with such ferocity, I had to shield my eyes. Blaze was hurt, badly probably, yet there was no way I could get past the two sorcerers and across the barge's long deck to reach him.
Using a terrible word, Vanessa hurled Julian high up into the air directly into the path of one of the massive overhead cranes lining the dock.
“Look out!” I shouted, knowing it was already too late.
Julian's head smashed into the long metal arm of the crane. Tumbling over and over, he fell limply to the deck with a sickening thud.
Vanessa crowed exultantly.
I had one phrase left of the four Julian taught me. It was now or never.
Hurling the curse at her with all my power, I was undone by the cat thing. It must have followed us. Maniacally howling, the beast pounced at the precise moment I threw the words at Vanessa, hoping to sink its teeth and claws into someone. Whether that was Julian or Vanessa I couldn't tell. Cat-thing's trajectory took it unerringly and most maddeningly directly into the path of my phrase. The curse grazed the beast with a shower of sparks, electrifying the creature in mid-jump. Its hair and tail stood on end like a cartoon cat struck by lightning. The thing fell to the deck practically on top of Julian where it twitched and jerked spasmodically as though attached to an electric current. The spell was very powerful. The cat-thing only slowed the magic down for a moment. Unfortunately for Team Lexie, that fraction of a second was enough time for Vanessa and her supernaturally-enhanced powers to dodge the magic bullet. Up into the air she kicked and spun in a mind-bending twist of somersaults. Landing, untouched by the magic and perfectly poised, she thrust her hands up in the air, mimicking a gymnast's finishing pose before the judges.
“Perfect ten.” She gave me a smile that was all teeth before twisting it into something else. Something cruel and frightening.
Vanessa couldn't kill me if she wanted to collect my soul. Unfortunately, as Savan said, that didn't mean she couldn't do a lot of hurting. She looked very much like she wanted to do some hurting now.
The rain became an almost blinding blanket of water. Dimly, behind the Soul Eater, I saw Julian pull himself up off the deck. Vanessa seemed to sense it as well. She judged me no threat, and laughing wildly, turned to face Julian. In her hand she held her own talisman. A mirror, I could see now, fastened to her wrist by a silver chain. Julian was still shaking off the effects of the blow from the crane arm. I didn't think he was ready to face her.
I'd used all four phrases. Julian said they would only work once. Out of magic and out of time. The single white feather was still tucked under my shirt, in my bra next to my heart. Without quite understanding why, I took the feather out and whispered, “Please.”
Vanessa, looking over her shoulder and away from Julian, saw me waving my little white feather in the air and laughed. She always seemed like the kind of girl who knew her value and she believed she was worth a hundred of me at that moment.
Instead of fear, I felt anger. A terrible searing anger over all that had been done to me, to Albert and to poor Blaze. I burned inside and out with such rage that I ignited the air around me. Searing orange and red flames flared out, blazing with magic. Pulling back my arm, I threw the white feather like a dagger.
The unlikely weapon flew straight and true, plunging itself squarely into Vanessa's back as if shot from a cross bow. Thrown off balance, her curse spun awry to burn a hole through the side of the ship instead of Julian's chest. Her mouth was wide open in reaction to the searing pain of the magical feather blade. Julian needed only that split second's advantage. The word he had summoned forth the night before in the ceremony lay ready in his hand. Through the haze of magic pulsing over the deck, I could feel its power loud and clear. Leaping over the wild, spasmodic twitching of the demon cat, Julian put the word into Vanessa's mouth with one final curse. Her mouth shut with a snap. Her eyes bulged as she tasted the terrible power of the spell. Frantically she clawed at her face, unable to remove the magic sealing her lips shut.
Rivulets of b
lood began to pour from her nose, ears and then, most horribly, her eyes. Her beautiful face transformed into a mask of pain and terror. This word from the Japanese kami at Meiji Shrine was terrible. At Julian's apartment I asked him what it was and he had refused to tell me. Now, I never wanted to know. Blood pulsed from her arms, legs, and chest as the dreadful spell shredded Vanessa from the inside out.
Hers was a horrible death.
More horrible than I could ever have imagined.
Images of our times together, laughing, talking, sharing confidences, flashed through my mind. Evenings at the Peninsula clinking cocktail glasses; shopping for lipstick and eyeshadow in Harajuku. All the tiny bits and pieces of what once was a friendship. It didn't help knowing it was false, knowing she would be much happier to have me laying there bleeding to death. Like Savan's treachery, that sort of reality took time to sink in.
Julian watched as her body convulsed. His face appeared to be carved from stone, not a muscle moved. I spent a lot of time over the past few weeks staring at Julian Lake, yet at this moment, his expression was unreadable to me. After an eternity of time, with a terrible gurgling gasp, she stopped breathing, her eyes glazed over and the stare fixed. The magic spent, her mouth sagged open slackly, blood pouring from it to pool around her head, staining her long beautiful hair scarlet.
“Is it over?” I gasped, staggering to Julian's side, desperate for the night to be done at last.
“Almost.”
Julian barely uttered that word before Vanessa's body began to twitch and jerk on the floor of the deck. I gave a hysterical laugh as it reminded me of the electrically charged cat-thing twitching from my spell. I laughed and laughed and laughed. Slipping the hexagram in one pocket and sheathing his jagged knife, Julian came and took me in his arms. “Hold on, Alexandra. Hold on.”
The awful hysteria was like bile in my throat until, finally, I began to cry in great, ragged sobs. Though a little of the terrible fear and tension washed away with the tears, I thought that if Julian let me go, I would fall to the deck, unable to stand. He seemed to sense it too, holding me tighter, whispering words of comfort. Slowly my heart began to hurt less and I could breathe a little more easily.
