Kitty Saves the World

by Carrie Vaughn

  I breathed and moved slowly.

  They were still talking. My voice came out groggy when I said, “I can’t understand you … do you speak English?”

  They stopped. I felt like the speakers should be right next to me, but I couldn’t see them. Their air felt thick, like I had to swim through it.

  “She’s awake,” the male voice said, and I recognized it. It was right at the corner of my memory …

  “Are we taking her home?” I recognized her voice, too.

  “No, she has to stay, to stop the thing. We just have to watch her until the others get here.”

  “That may overstep our bounds. We can only interfere so much—”

  “If that jerk can bring her here, we can watch over her,” he said decisively.

  “He isn’t even part of our mythology,” she muttered.

  The man was almost cheerful when he said, “Yeah, it’s all just a big old muddle now. I blame globalization.”

  I knew those voices. I knew who they were.

  A figure stood among the trees, cloaked and regal, long black hair draped over one shoulder, her dark eyes shining and pale lips pressed in a thin smile.

  “Anastasia,” I breathed, and ran. I stopped short before pouncing on her for a massive hug because I was suddenly afraid that if I touched her, she would vanish, this strangeness would all disappear.

  From behind her emerged the man, Chinese like her, slender, young looking, with wild black hair and an infectious smile. He wore an embroidered silk tunic, a far cry from the jeans and T-shirt I’d last seen him in.

  “And Sun,” I said. My eyes leaked tears. Sun Wukong. The Monkey King. For real.

  “Hey,” he said, raising a hand. “You’re a mess, kid.”

  “I know,” I whined.

  “What a strange road we’ve traveled,” Anastasia said. She had a beautiful face, the finely wrought features of a figure in a Chinese painting. When I knew her, she’d been a vampire, born in the Song dynasty as Li Hua. I didn’t know what she was now. She’d followed her goddess Xiwangmu, Queen Mother of the West, into another world. Sun Wukong—we all called him Sun—had been there, too. And now they were here. To help, I hoped.

  “Where are you? Where is this? What’s going on?” My own voice was low, scratching, like I was getting over a cold, but clearing my throat didn’t help. I sounded like a wolf speaking through a growl.

  “We’re between worlds, of course,” she said.

  Between worlds, sleeping and waking, human and animal, alive and dead.

  “Are … are you okay?”

  She tilted her head, looking amused. “Are you?”

  “I—I don’t know. I think I just dumped Lucifer into a geyser. Not that that’ll stop him.”

  Sun said, “There’s a war on, and this is only one small part of it. We’re all caught up in it. But you’re really caught up in it.”

  “I brought it on myself. I could have walked away.”

  More gently Anastasia said, “I’ve been sending you as much help as I can.”

  “Thank you, thank you so much for that.” I reached to squeeze her hand, but pulled back, because my furred arms and clawed fingers startled me all over again.

  She said, “He’s here, he’s close, and you don’t have time. Remember this: stop the spell, not the man. Stop the spell.”

  I finally did touch her, to brush her sleeve, to reassure myself, but my hand passed through her.

  “But I don’t know how, I still don’t even know what he’s doing—”

  Sun was moving back into the trees, into the shadows. “I’ll help. Look for me.”

  “Okay, okay—”

  “Stay safe, stay strong.” Anastasia’s ghostly hand closed over mine. I wanted to grab her, hold her, keep her close. But that didn’t seem possible.

  “Anastasia—I miss you. I need you!” She was the strongest woman I knew. She’d been fighting Roman for almost eight hundred years. The wind ruffled my fur, and a howl built up in my throat.

  The wind knocked me over, spat dust in my face. As I’d learned whenever Ashtoreth appeared: when doors opened between worlds, wind blasted through. My fur couldn’t keep me warm, my feet didn’t stay grounded.

  I tried to shout again, but I couldn’t see her anymore, I couldn’t see anything, and the wind was driving daggers into me—

  * * *

  THEN I woke up, for real.

  It was daylight. The same day or the next day, I didn’t know. Weeks might have passed, but I didn’t think so. The world was still here, the sun was still shining. I curled my fingers—regular fingers, with flat human nails—and they dug into the soft dirt of a springtime forest. I heard birdsong, and everything smelled clean, of rich earth and growing things, air moving through pine trees. I could rest here, curled up naked under a half-rotten tree trunk, just breathing, forever.

  When I finally looked myself over, I appeared to have a bad sunburn. The burned places were tender, annoying but not crippling. The blisters on my feet had faded. I ached, but didn’t hurt.

  In a sudden panic, I clapped my hand on my chest and found the coin on its cord, right where it should be. I hadn’t lost it. But I didn’t know what had happened to my wedding ring. Back with my clothes probably. I tried not to despair.

  I shivered. The spring air this far into the mountains and wilderness was still cold. I could survive it. But really, I needed to find some clothes. And a phone. Right now.

  Look for me, Sun had said. I didn’t know where to start.

  The spell, Anastasia had said. Stop the spell. Yes, of course, that was what we’d been trying to do all along. I was in Yellowstone now, and I assumed Roman was, too, so I supposed I was closer. I remembered her smile, the ghostly touch of her hand, and wanted to cry. I needed her—why couldn’t she be here to help me?

  Because she was summoning allies. She was rallying the troops. That needed to be done, and she could do it. Right.

  I moved cautiously, alert for the least sound, smell, or flash of movement, knowing full well that if Lightman appeared, it would be suddenly and with no warning. The coin protected me, but only to a point.

  The world around me was soothingly normal. The sky was clear and blue. Nice day out. A river ran nearby—its smell had drawn Wolf, the freshness of it had signaled safety. Some distance beyond it, visible from the slope of the hill I was on, was what looked like a major road, two lanes, well paved. This was promising. I followed the river downstream, knowing that it and the road would eventually lead somewhere useful. I found a bridge to cross and watched for cars—didn’t see any. It might have been too early in the season for much traffic in the park.

  After a few minutes of walking, I picked up the pace, moving in a Wolfish lope. I didn’t have time to waste.

  Half an hour later, an old beater pickup truck rumbled past. I was sweaty, grimy, and still naked, so I ducked back behind a tree, trying to decide if I should leap out and shout for help, possibly shocking the driver of said truck to death. At best, the driver might call the police and race away from the crazy naked woman. But it might actually stop, and it might actually have a phone I could use. And maybe a blanket or an extra coat. I wasn’t about to go back for my own clothes.

  I was still debating when the truck swerved up ahead, did a U-turn, and roared back, parking on the shoulder near my hiding place. So, for good or bad, I’d been spotted. Still unsure, I waited.

  The driver got out, shaded his eyes, and peered into the woods. I clapped my hands over my mouth to suppress a squeal.

  “Sun!” I said, moving into the open, waving. He smiled and waved back. He was back in jeans and a white T-shirt, and seemed all too normal.

  Unselfconscious, I ran to the truck and bounced up against it so we were looking at each other over the hood.

  “I had a dream,” I said. “You and Anastasia were there. Was that real? That was real?”

  “More or less.” He winked.

  I glared, and he threw me a blanket from the cab
of the truck.

  “Do you also happen to have a phone on you?” I asked, wrapping myself with the blanket and knotting it in place. Wearing a blanket like a muumuu wasn’t much better than being naked, really.

  He winced. “You know, I don’t. Never been able to get the hang of those things.”

  “Why bother, when you’re a divine being?” I said.

  “Exactly!” He grinned.

  “You do know we’re trying to stop the end of the world here, right?”

  “Yes. And there’s a ranger station up the road, they’ll have a phone. Get in.”

  So I did.

  * * *

  I SLUMPED in the truck’s passenger seat. The vinyl was cracked, stuffing coming out. Rock chips marred the windshield, and the thing didn’t appear to have any heat. Sun said it was what he could find on short notice, and besides, he liked it because it had personality. Who could argue with that? He’d been kicking around Chinatown in Vancouver when Anastasia came to him and asked for help. Now he was here.

  The sun was getting low in the sky. I didn’t even know if it was the same day anymore. I wouldn’t really worry about Roman until nightfall—he could only come out after dark. He hadn’t triggered the volcano yet—obviously. But how much time did we have?

  I asked Sun, and he said, “Traveling between worlds like that is messy. Not instantaneous. I’m pretty sure it’s the same day you got grabbed—the day of the earthquake in Denver, right? We still have time.”

  The road widened to a series of small gatehouses, with what looked like an administration building on the side, painted dark brown and rustic looking. Sun pulled the truck into a tiny parking lot off to the side. I’d spotted a ranger moving around inside the first gatehouse. That seemed to be exactly what the immediate situation called for, someone in a uniform whom I could ask for help.

  I looked down at myself, bundled in a gray military-grade blanket and nothing else. My scalp itched, and I still looked like I had a wretched sunburn from being dunked in a steaming-hot pool of water. Really, there wasn’t going to be a good way to do this. Desperation trumped self-consciousness. I needed that phone.

  “You coming with?” I asked Sun as I pushed open the creaking door.

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” he said.

  I walked across the asphalt, barefoot, edges of the blanket flapping. Sun walked at my side. He might have been coming along for the entertainment value, but I felt marginally more confident with him here. I knocked at the door of the gatehouse. The woman opened it, and her eyes only widened a moment before she said, “Ma’am, do you need help?”

  I took a deep breath. “Yes. Yes I do. Can I use your phone?”

  * * *

  RANGER LOPEZ took us to an office in the nearby administration building. She was thirty-something, brusque and professional, looking stern in her uniform. She sat us down in plastic chairs and offered coffee, which Sun turned down but I pounced on, politely as I could. I might have looked like a wild woman emerged from wilderness, but I didn’t have to act like one. Lopez kept glancing at us sidelong, lips pursed, obviously trying to figure us out. She asked few questions—I told her my name, that I’d gotten lost and Sun was a friend helping out, and it was a long story. I wasn’t sure how she’d take it if I said I was a werewolf. I definitely wasn’t going to say anything about how I’d gotten here.

  She gave me the phone I’d asked for. At the same time, she went to another phone, another line, and spoke softly—not so softly that we couldn’t hear. She’d called a supervisor and was explaining the situation, asking what she should do about me. I even heard bits of the reply—had I been doing anything illegal? No, not that Lopez could tell. Did I need hospitalization? Hell, if they tried to take me into custody I could just run. Did Lopez suspect anything untoward going on between Sun and me? Lopez just wasn’t sure.

  Yeah, I could imagine what this looked like from the outside, but I had more important worries at the moment.

  I called Cheryl first.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Cheryl, what’s up?”

  “Earthquake, can you believe it? The kids are convinced the roof is going to fall. And how about you? Besides frazzled. You’re sounding kind of frazzled.”

  Oh hell, yeah. “Frazzled. That’s a word for it. Cheryl, I need you to do something kind of crazy. I need you to get Mom and Dad, Mark and the kids, everyone, into a car and drive south. Get out of Denver, get out of the whole state if you can.”

  “What? Why? I mean, that is crazy, but why?”

  How to explain it all as briefly and sensibly as possible? If … when … the Yellowstone hot spot blew, the seismic blast would affect a huge area. The debris cloud would reach even farther, raining ash and rock, spreading poison gases. Denver was in that path. I didn’t know how much time we had, I didn’t know if it was even possible to evacuate everyone who would be affected by this—the entire Great Plains and Midwest, for a start. Selfishly, I figured I could try to save at least one family: mine.

  “I think something’s going to happen, something bad,” I said. “I may be wrong, but just in case, grab the essentials and drive south.” South, out of the range of the blast. I hoped.

  “Kitty, what’s going to happen—”

  “A volcanic eruption.”

  “You’re right, that’s absolutely crazy.” But she sounded stressed. She believed me.

  “Do you trust me, Cheryl?”

  “Yes. Of course I do.”

  “Then just do it. If I’m wrong you can kick me later.”

  “Kitty, are you okay? Are you in danger?”

  I was sitting right on top of the volcano. “Don’t worry about me, just get everyone out of Denver. I’ll call you when I know more.”

  “Kitty—”

  I hung up, because I didn’t have anything else to say. What else was there to say? I didn’t want to spend more time going around in circles about whether or not I was crazy.

  “We’ll stop it, Kitty,” Sun said gently and with confidence. “I’m sure we’ll stop it in time.”

  “Yeah. But … it’ll make me feel better.”

  I made the next call. The phone rang once, twice, more, and I thought my head was going to burst until finally he picked up. “Yeah?”

  “Ben?”

  “Kitty! Holy shit, where are you? What happened? I smelled the brimstone but it was over by the time I got to the back of the building, and—are you okay? Kitty—”

  “I’m fine, I’m alive,” I amended. “There’s so much crap going on I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Where are you?”

  Another deep breath. I was forgetting to breathe. “I’m in Yellowstone.”

  “Right, good, okay.”

  I blinked. “What do you mean, good okay?”

  “That’s where we thought you’d gone. Tina and Grant tracked you. And Anastasia—I guess she found a way to let them know. We’re on the way, somewhere in BFE Wyoming, still a couple hours away. Can you hang on until we get there?”

  I started crying, silent, stressed-out tears. “Yeah, I think so. Sun found me here—you remember Sun? Ben, something really terrible is about to happen. I called Cheryl and told her to get the family out of Denver.”

  He paused and said, “So it’s happening, for real?”

  “I don’t know. I met … is Cormac with you? Tell him I met the Caesar commanding Dux Bellorum.”

  “It’s bad, I take it?”

  “It’s very bad,” I said.

  “Kitty, just hold on. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  I didn’t want to hang up, but we had to. I scrubbed tears off my cheeks, and Sun held my hand. By then, the ranger was watching us. She’d listened in on my conversation this time.

  She said, “Ms. Norville, what do you think is going to happen?”

  The end of the world … “You’ve got a lot of geologists monitoring the park, right? A lot of seismographs. You track earthquakes and stuff pretty ca
refully, right? Has there been any increase in activity? Has anything changed?”

  Her smile was wry and long suffering, like she got asked this question a lot. “I know everyone likes to talk about what would happen if the caldera blew, and I know geologically it has to happen sooner or later. But I really don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

  “Okay, yeah, but say it was going to happen, oh, tonight—would there be any warning?”

  “This is all just speculation—”

  “I know. Tell me.”

  “There’d be an increase in seismic activity—earthquakes. There’d be a measurable bulge in the crust, and probably a drastic change in thermal activity.”

  “Like, the geysers would all go off at once or something like that?”

  “Or they’d all stop. My geologist friends say that’s when we really need to worry, is if they ever all go quiet.”

  “And there’s been nothing like that?”

  “Let me make a call to a buddy over at Old Faithful.”

  We waited. I chewed a fingernail. Glanced out the window just in case Lightman came striding up the road. He didn’t, not yet.

  “Hey, Roy,” Lopez said. “When’s the last time Old Faithful blew? Half an hour ago? So it should go off again around”—she glanced at the clock—“four fifteen, yeah? Great, thanks.” She smiled at me. “Geysers are normal. Feel better?”

  Oddly, I did. Whatever was going to happen, it hadn’t started—or it wasn’t about to finish. We had time. While it was still daylight, Roman couldn’t be out causing trouble. And Lightman couldn’t, not by himself, or he’d have done it already. He needed pawns, Ashtoreth and an army of vampires and werewolves.

  In the meantime, I was still snuggled in the office chair, wrapped in a blanket.

  “Thank you for not calling the cops on me,” I said to the ranger.

  “No worries. You just seem lost, not crazy.”

  Small comfort, there.

  Sun asked, “Is there a restaurant or diner around here where we can get something to eat? And maybe a place to pick up some clothes?”