“Leave me alone,” I seethed at the bird. Virginia took a step back from me. She must have thought I meant her until I looked up. I could see the fire in my eyes reflected in hers and she joined me on the floor. She wrapped her arms around me and started to chant something. I didn’t know the words but slowly it became the only sound I was hearing until I knelt still, frozen in her arms.
“Two weeks,” she murmured against my hair, “you just need to fight for two more weeks.” I let her hold me and rock me back and forth slowly. She’d never been this soft with me before, she’d always been the Miyagi to my Daniel-san and in that moment I wanted to forgive her everything just so I wouldn’t lose another person in my life. I felt tears hot and wet on my cheek, I might have broken down right then–curled up into a foetal ball till all of it, the pain, the disillusionment, the fear rolled away to nothing–if it hadn’t been for the howl that ripped through the night. A howl that made Virginia release me and go running for the nearest ward point.
Chapter Seventeen
I ran to the window to look out. I stumbled as I felt the magic of the ward snap into place and caught myself before I could hit the floor. I gripped the window ledge and pulling myself up peered over the edge through the glass. A large grey wolf that I had to assume was the source of the howl was stalking down the pebble drive towards the porch. When he got close to the magic his hackles rose and a loud low growl escaped between his teeth. A whip thin tawny wolf joined him taking his left flank and a brown one appeared on his right. The brown was favoring his right front paw and I knew the man I’d seen with the broken arm had forced himself or been forced to re-don his wolf form. An hour or so of healing and the leg looked more like a bad sprain rather than a break. The brown wolf threw back his muzzle howling at the sky while the tawny one joined the grey in growling and digging ruts into the drive with his front paws. Virginia came to stand behind where I was crouched next to the window, thinking.
“Care to explain what is going on?” she asked.
“They want the boy. I’m not sure why. I can’t risk that, they don’t just want to kill him to stop what he’s here for. It’s politics, I don’t really understand more than I’m being paid to keep the boy safe.”
Virginia nodded and walked towards the attic door. I pulled myself up from my crouch to follow her. We went down to the second floor parlor. LeBron and Sorin were both sat up on their relative couches sending darting looks at the window. Sorin threw off my coat and ran over to wrap his arms around my legs. I let my hand rest on the top of his corkscrew curls to reassure him. LeBron tried to get up but Virginia waved some power in his direction forcing him down.
“You, young man, are not going anywhere.” LeBron grumbled but conceded that he could not fight her magical influence. I grabbed my coat making Sorin put it on, it swamped his hands in the sleeves and met his feet but it would keep him warm.
“We need to leave,” I said scooping him up into my arms and turning to Virginia, continued. “As mad at you as I am right now I still don’t want to push them into introducing a car into the front of your house.”
“I would prefer it not to come to that too. Come with me, there is a back way out of here.” Virginia led the way back down to the hall and round the stairs to a door to a closet. She pulled it open and tugged the cord for the light. When it was illuminated it was filled by coats, outdoor shoes and a pair of men’s Wellingtons. Virginia bent over the floor pushing bits and pieces out of the way to reveal a metal hoop in a section of the floor. It was a trap door. She pulled it up and a set of steps led down.
“You have a secret tunnel under your house?”
“This will not be the first time this house has been under siege, child. It comes out into the woods south of here past Perrynunn close to the route to town.” I nodded and she reached to the shelf pulling out a torch that she lit handing it to me.
“Thanks. Inc? Anton? Time to go.” I called to them, they both appeared from the living room Virginia put her hand on my arm.
“Your friends would be safer if they stayed here.”
“I know but they can’t stay, they’ve got to be in my place by dawn to get them home safe.”
“Shall I warn you again about using your apartment like a gateway?”
“No, I know. Take care of LeBron for me.” I threw the torch into Anton’s hands. He fumbled it but caught it before it hit the floor. He looked at me sharply. “Okay people, down the hole.” Incarra jabbed Anton in the back when he didn’t move and slowly they went down the stairs together. I cupped the back of Sorin’s head so it didn’t bang on anything and followed down after them. I heard the clunk of the trap door go down behind me. Anton was swinging the torch back and forth over thick brick walls that were hung with cobwebs like curtains. He recoiled at the sight.
“Well at least it only goes one way,” I mumbled to myself and quickly urging them forward raced down the tunnel. The tunnel ended in two wooden doors that banged open against a stone out crop that was the end of the brick. We were in the middle of the woods, the trees grew up all around us shielding us from sight and anything coming for us from sight. I knew roughly where we were and Anton swung the torch across the thick trunks illuminating where a path snaked through the trees heading for a clearing I knew well. On the other side of which was the road to town.
“Where now?” Incarra asked following the beam of light as it bounced around the area. It bounced because Anton was shaking.
“We take that path over there,” I said. “We have to hurry before they catch our scent on the air.”
“Who?” they asked in unison. I shook my head holding Sorin tight to my body. Adrenaline was coursing through me so the boy didn’t seem as heavy as he had before.
“You don’t really want to know that. Let’s go. The sooner we get into a more populated area the safer we will be.” I took the torch from Anton and flashed it across so I could see Incarra’s face. I gave her a look that told her to watch Anton and keep close to me. She took that look very seriously, gripping him tight by the upper arm and steering him through the trees after me. I could hear the howls of wolves through the leaves and it sounded an awful lot closer than it should have been. I started to sprint for the clearing, Incarra and Anton close behind me. I could hear their footfalls on the dirt and bracken. The clearing was large, round and empty. I remembered the last time I was here; to use the hot spot this area concealed to do a massive searching spell trying to find some lost vampires and Magnus’s sister, Bethany. The spell had gone massively wrong when the demon behind everything had sent enough power back along my spell to nearly kill me. It wasn’t one of my finer moments by anyone’s standards. Jareth had carried my unconscious self all the way to Virginia’s house. I wondered for a minute if that was not perhaps one of the moments that Jareth had found me attractive, quiet and still in his arms. I shook my head. Now was not the time to focus on that weird highlight of the past few days. I made it to the middle of the clearing when I stopped dead hearing a rustling from my left. I turned so that torch light focused on where I heard the noise and I used the same arm to usher Incarra and Anton to stand behind me. They ignored my ushering and stood either side of me. Sphynx boy sidled out of the trees. His face was blackened on one side and his right arm too. The skin was blistered and bloody, he was far less attractive then he had been and I’d not thought him that attractive to begin with. He saw me, his ravaged face distorted more unpleasantly as his lips curved into a snarl. I turned to Incarra and passed Sorin into her arms, she took him clumsily and darted a look at me. I thrust the torch back into Anton’s hands.
“Get behind me,” I demanded pushing at her and at Anton. Incarra brought her head close to mine. Sphynx was starting to walk towards us menacingly.
“Cassie, he’s huge. What are you going to be able to do against him?”
I turned to her and I could see the fire in my eyes reflected in hers and I flexed my arms feeling the fire roll up them from my hands to my elbows.
<
br /> “Just get behind me.” Incarra took a step back and behind me, grabbing Anton and pulling him with her. I didn’t need the torch light with my arms aflame; I could see every twitch of muscle as he stalked forwards. I felt my breath make my bosom heave, his eyes dropped as he continued forward and I could almost see the dirty thoughts cross his mind. Before they had just been lusty but now they were tinged with more violence, he wanted to seriously hurt me. I felt a thrill of fear run through me, my life was in danger, I could feel it there in his eyes. I blinked as the sepia vision was back. I could see him take a step before it happened and then his first move. He threw a punch at me but I just wasn’t where he expected it to land. He stumbled and I punched him with my fiery fist, he hit the ground and I could see the sizzle of what skin had already healed where it had connected. He growled staring up at me clawing the dirt as he struggled back to his feet. I circled away from him pushing Incarra and Anton towards the road. I saw him leap towards me and I dropped to tackle him around the waist throwing him back away from my friends. Of course this meant that for a moment I was dazed and on top of him, which was a dangerous place to be. His fist slammed into my gut. I rocked back onto my knees then continued to roll back so that as he tried to push over me, the underside of my boot connected with his chin. He went back and I scrambled to get back to my feet. I looked in the direction of Incarra and Anton.
“Run! Go!”
“Cassie,” said Incarra hesitating.
“Please, do as I say. Run. I’ll be right behind you.” They turned and headed for the path leading out of the clearing. I was dragged back off my feet by hands wrapped around my braid. I dug my heels in trying not to go as he pulled me towards him. I struggled, I didn’t want to go but I couldn’t pull away without hurting myself. His arm went around my waist. His fingers had shifted to long knife-like claws that threatened the skin just under my thin top. I could feel his excitement pressed against my back and his foul hot breath against my skin.
“I’m really going to enjoy this,” he snarled and his claws pierced the fabric of my shirt and my skin. I could feel the blood trickling down my stomach to the top of my jeans. I cried out with the pain and ground my heel into his instep. He growled and thrust his claws deeper into my flesh. I threw all my strength into my elbow and into his ribs and ripped his arm away. His other hand was still gripping my braid, it pulled tight as I tried to run and he swiped at me with his clawed hand. I felt myself fall forward at the sudden lack of tension. I wrapped a hand to stem the blood but it pushed between my fingers to dribble down my nails and drip onto the ground as I fell against it. My hair fell around my face, sticking to my cheek. I pulled myself up groping down my back for my braid. It wasn’t there. I turned slowly in horror. He was clutching my braid in his hand and looking shocked at where he had sliced it in half detaching it from my head. I screamed as rage overcame me.
Of all the things my mind had run through that this man could do to me, humiliating, degrading violent things, none of them made me as angry as this. He dropped my hair in the mud backing away from me as the flame spread up my arm, around my shoulders till it covered my entire torso. I threw all that fire at him, like a concentrated tunnel of fiery fury and rage. It threw him back into a tree burning a starburst-like pattern in his chest and breaking the tree in twain. I was breathing heavily at the end of it. I scooped up my hair, my dignity and ran after my friends as fast as my feet could carry me.
* * * *
I felt sick when we made it back to my apartment. Incarra tucked Sorin up in the bed in the spare room so that he could get some sleep while I collapsed on my back on my bed. I pressed my hand over the wound on my stomach trying to slow my breathing. Incarra opened the bedroom door coming into check on me. She gasped when she saw the red on my fingers.
“Jesus, Cassandra. Where’s your first aid kit?”
“In the bathroom,” I wheezed. Tears were in my eyes but that was because I was more upset about my hair. Another piece of my identity had been stripped away. Incarra indented the bed as she knelt next to me, she pulled out bandages and a damp cloth in her hand. She pried my fingers away wiping at the blood under them. She cleaned it away, a puzzled expression appearing on her face.
“How could such little scratches bleed so much?” I looked down at the puckered pink marks across my abdomen. Another day and it’d be gone. I’d have to keep it covered or it would really freak Incarra out.
“Tape and gauze,” I said sitting up. Incarra dug around in the first aid kit till she pulled up what I’d asked for. I held the gauze to the wound while she taped it down for me. Once it was in place I pulled myself to my feet stripping off my top tossing it towards the bin.
“How’s Anton?”
“Curled up on the couch trying to sleep a little I think. He wants to go home.” I pulled a drawer of the dresser open looking for a long sleeve T-shirt.
“Soon as the sun comes up,” I said pulling a black long sleeve tee out sporting a religious slogan-Don’t fear God’s love. He’s not got anyone pregnant for 2000 years. I pulled it on carefully, took a deep breath and looked at my hair in the mirror. It was a ragged uneven mess.
“Dude, I’m sorry,” Incarra said from behind me. I pulled the rest of my braid from where I’d stuffed it into the pocket of my jeans and lay it on top of my dressing table. I stroked my fingers along the length that was still intricately wound together. I mourned its loss; it was like losing a much beloved appendage. I remembered how long it had taken me to grow my hair. I was fourteen when it reached my rear and I’d started braiding it. My mother used to have me sit between her knees while it was wet, she’d spray it with de-tangler and slowly and carefully brush the tangles out. She had always loved my hair, which was one of the reasons why, even though it would have been more convenient, I hadn’t cut it. Now that too was gone. It was like a cruel hand of a fate slowly pulling out the threads of the tapestry that was my life. I wondered what would be left when fate was done with me.
“Who was that guy?” Incarra asked. I turned towards her walking towards where the balcony doors were, and pulled back the curtains to look out at the sky.
“It’s best if you don’t know. I’m so sorry. I never wanted to drag you into my weird little existence but I can and will do what I must to keep you from falling any deeper than you are.”
“But what if I want to help?” she whined and I shook my head.
“You have no idea what you’re saying,” I grumbled tersely and watched as the first peels of light shone over the horizon shoving back the gray of the sky and sending a shiver rolling down my spine. The entire apartment sort of quivered with the energy and Incarra sat rubbing the goose bumps off her arms.
“What was that?”
“That was the sign that it should be safe for you and Anton to return home now.” Incarra got up and as we both went into the living room, Anton rolled over on the couch to look at us. I walked to the front door and undid all the latches I’d slammed across to make sure that Anton had got the hint to stay put this time. I pulled the door open and looked over the railing in the corridor and down. Everything was normal again. I looked back into the living room.
“Okay. You can go home now.” Anton was quick to his feet and would have been out the door if Incarra hadn’t have grabbed his arm to make him wait. She knew I had something to say to both of them. “I’m so sorry I dragged you into my mess. I’ll understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore. Call me, if you want to talk.”
Incarra nodded but Anton looked solemn and unresponsive. I let them get into the elevator before I felt brave enough to take my eyes off them and close my front door. I was so afraid I would never see either of my friends again.
Chapter Eighteen
Sorin was so deep asleep and we were safe on the normal side of my worldly equation that I felt alright to leave him alone in the apartment. I wasn’t going far. I got some very strange looks from people as I walked along the street. I could see on their faces that
they were wondering what had happened to me. What got me the most was the look of horror on the receptionist’s face at the beauty parlor as I walked in. Curl up and Dye wasn’t that far from my apartment and I knew-from the huge sign they had in the window-that they took walk-ins. Business was slow and they would take what they could get.
“I need some help,” I said tugging on the uneven length of hair next to my face, as if the condition of my hair wasn’t obvious enough. The girl nodded at me wordless. She swallowed hard and leaned around the plastic partition that was behind her desk.
“Deanne?”
I heard a woman excuse herself for a second and peer around the partition.
“Janice, Helen is taking walk-ins today, I’m fully…” She stopped speaking when she caught sight of me. Her mouth dropped open, if she’d been a cartoon it would have hit the floor and her tongue rolled out till it hit my shoes. Once she regained her composure, she looked sympathetic.
“You poor thing. What happened?”
“There was an accident, my hair got trapped and it had to be cut to release me.”
“Where was it before?”
I illustrated where the length my hair had been before and she winced like she could feel how much that had to have hurt me. She tapped a comb against the side of her smock.
“We’ll fix you up in no time, honey. Helen, we’ve got an emergency.”
Another woman appeared from the back of the shop. She was wearing tall boots with black leggings tucked into them and a long top that had large pink blossoms on it and a stylish belt around the middle. She had short, cropped blonde hair and looked to be in about her forties, her makeup was bright but expertly done. The only bad thing about her was that her perfume reached me before she did. She had exactly the same reaction that Deanne had but she recovered quickly. I looked her dead in her pale blue eyes.
Inhuman Heritage Page 16
