by C. B. Miller
I knelt next to Megan. “I swear to you, neither of us are after the power you were promised. You look like you’re in a lot of pain,” I said softly.
Eyes still closed, she nodded weakly. “The pain is part of the process. He vowed that it would make us stronger.”
“Do you feel stronger Megan?”
“No,” she admitted softly.
“We can help you, like we helped Rebecca, but we’ll need a sign of good faith from you. Something that means we can trust you.”
“How do I know you aren’t lying too?” She sneered.
“I’m being straight with you. I don’t have a way to prove to you I’m not lying right now, or that we won’t leave you to your fate as soon as you give us what we want. Trust is in short supply between us, but it needs to start somewhere. I don’t blame you for being tricked into all this. I just want to bring him to justice because he’s going to hurt a lot of innocent people, and we can’t do that without you. Help us, help you.”
She let out a wheezing gasp and her good eye flared open as she seizure. The three of us exchanged worried looks, and Robert and I eased her own to her side, while Alex propped up the pillow under her head. Robert pulled me way when I moved to hold her down, shaking his head, and started a timer on his phone. Nearly a minute went by and I gave Robert a worried look as I stood. He motioned for me to stay.
“It’s not quite worrisome yet. Relax.” He intoned.
Another minute passed before the episode passed and she slowly came back around. Robert readjusted her bedding and backed away.
“You promise to heal me?” Her voice was faint, barely a whisper as she fixed her good eye on me.
“I promise to do what I can.” The Grey’s warning flashed into my mind and I pushed the thought away. That was a last resort.
There was two of them. One old, one young. The older man, ummm...” Her voice trailed off as her focus drifted“I, I can’t remember his name. I knew it. I know I knew it. But it’s just blank in my head. His friend... I. His name is gone too.” She a line of worry creased her forehead as she looked at each of us in turn.“Why can’t I remember their names? Why can’t I remember their faces?”
“The older man. He was the one behind everything, I can tell you that much. The younger one talked a lot with Bertha. The ritual was of his design, and he drew up the plans from what I could tell. He’s the one that brought us the Umbral Conduit after slaying her circle.” Megan paused waiting for a reaction or a sign from anyone else in the room. Robert was doing his best to be unseen and comforting to Megan. Alex stood there, rigid as she stoicly drank in in Megan’s every word.
Breaking the awkward silence that fell across the room. “So how’d you know about the Erukzakir’s Judgment?” I asked.
“I don’t know. The men brought her, unconscious to our new sanctum and spoke of a poorly guarded artifact. We’d been working with them for weeks, and our powers grew exponentially during that time. With the raid. If one circle fell, our rose..” The words spilled from Megan’s lips hurriedly, like she wanted to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything as she spoke before she drifted incoherently again.
“So Bertha knew last week Eden was going to move Erukzakir’s Judgment?”
Megan focused on me again and nodded
“Is there anything you can remember about these other men? Desperation crept into Alex’s voice
Megan pulled in a ragged breath and let out a phlemy cough. She closed her eye, and her brows furrowed together “Umm, the older one. He was heavy set, and older feller in like his 60s or something. He has thinning gray hair but it’s long. Falls past his shoulders and he usually wears a pony tail. Blue eyes and a wide smile. White guy, missing a few teeth too. Maybe five foot eight? “
“And his companion?”
She smiled and her entire expression softed as much as her condition allowed. “He was hot. Gorgeous, sandy brown hair, slightly tanned skin, brown eyes that seem to just devour you in its depths. We talked a few times, and he was a real charmer. Listened to me about whatever I had to say. Made me really sad to learn he was gay, but I guess I should have seen that coming. He was the first guy I felt comfortable around in a long time.. I don’t know if they were a couple but he virtually worshipped the older man.“
“What about anyone else?” Alex asked. Her body was coiled from tension and her jaw was set, belying the calmness in her voice.
“No, nothing. I know they introduced themselves. I can remember them doing it. I can remember Bertha talking about them too. But everything is just a jumble. It’s like I’m underwater every time they say something important. The younger guy had an important job, I’m pretty sure he was an actor or something. I vaguely recall talking with Bertha about seeing him on the TV.” Megan said.
It wasn’t much to go on, but it was something. Generic good-looking guy that was on the TV for some reason. I clenched my jaw and then forced my entire body to relax. None of her answers should have surprised me. It’s how the supernatural community has kept to the shadows throughout history, it just typically doesn’t work as well on other beings with access to magic. It was a terrifying thought that this thing and its summoner could hide themselves in plain sight so well.
“What happened to the Umbral Conduit?“
Megan wheezed. Her good eye opened halfway and it searched the room unfocused for a few seconds before closing. “We had a number for emergencies. I was given an address, a bar, where I was to meet up with a woman.” She whispered.
My heart leap into my throat as she spoke and I resisted the urge to interject my own questions. I needed to hear what she said rather than lead her responses. Maybe there were larger vampire players besides Eden involved, and this Jamaal character MacKenzie works for.
She took in another ragged breath. “Her name was Elisabeth, Marybeth, or Elizabeth. Something with Beth in it.. I met up with her and handed it off. She told me to lay low and they’d be in touch when things were calmer. This was the only safe haven I had access to, and when I started to feel like that. They never responded.”
She grimace and murmured,“It feels like something is eating the words in my mind as I try to recall them.” Megan shuddered and Robert grabbed another sheet from under the bed, spreading it over here and attempted to soothe her.
Pain washed over Megan’s body and blood splattered next to her face as she coughed.
“What is that?” Alex was pointing at the blood Megan had just coughed up and I could see that there was a tiny bit of movement in it. Peering closer I realized that there was a tiny spider-like creature pulling itself out of the blood and attempting to scurry away.
The Aezzai young were already starting to escape.
Robert dabbed the blood from Megan’s mouth and chin, smashing the Aezzai with his free hand. “Spiders, she’s been coughing them up since she got here every once in a while. From what she said, she thinks it has something to do with the magic Bertha was learning from the men over the past few months. She noticed that there were a lot more of the eight legged freaks around Bertha’s and her own apartment. Also, she used to have arachnophobia. They don’t bother her any longer. “
“That may be what is wrong with her as well. She’s deteroriating and not responding to any of the rituals we know to speed healing. In fact we stopped because of the black stuff in her veins. It got deeper in color is the best way to describe it, and if I had to guess there are a lot more of these spiders inside her. Samantha was trying to reach out to a mage with healing magic that she knows but can’t reach him.”
Robert eyes flicked between Alex and I as we stared at him with a mixture of terror and sadness. He slowly looked back to his hand and examined the tiny archanid body.
“Those aren’t spiders are they?”
We shook our heads.
“Crap-cicles.” He muttered.
“I know I am going to regret asking this but why do you think there are a lot more of the Aezzai young?” I asked bracing myself for his
answer.
Wordless he removed the sheet from her legs and pointed. Her skin rippled and ungulated as hundreds of tiny things moved just under the surface of her skin.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I recoiled at the sight and sucked in a sharp breath. Alex put her hand on my shoulder and subtly pulled me away as Robert replaced the sheet. It was the gentle touch one gives another when you know the person in front of you is going to die. Even though I had no real attachment to Megan, it was an oddly calming gesture by Alex. I didn’t have a ton of sympathy for Megan, I didn’t know her, and well we definitely got off on the wrong side of things.
This looked like a terrible way to die, however.
I turned and looked at Alex. As if knowing the words that were on the tip of my tongue, she shook her head slightly and looked past me to Robert. He sat next to her, and stroked her hair reassuringly.He mumbled something to her as he got up and turned to us.
What little hope Megan had turned into abject fear in her eye. Robert had tried to block her view of us, but my reaction must have destroyed the shred of hope she had been clinging too.
Robert motioned for us to follow him, and Alex turned her attention to Megan. “Thank you. I meant it. We are going to let you get some more rest Megan. Be strong. I need to talk to everyone upstairs about our next steps.” She reassured.
I wasn’t sure what to say to Megan in this situation so I smiled as best I could. It must have looked fake, I couldn’t feel any joy behind it.
With that we turned and filed out the room.
The conversation upstairs halted as we entered the dining room. Tabitha slept soundly in the corner in one of those small portable rocking seats. In that moment, I envied her innocence and that she was 1blivious to the chaos surrounding her.
Alex sat down at the table, a grim look across her face, and scanned the wizards’ faces. “When you said she wasn’t well, I figured it was like Rebecca’s condition. What I saw down there is not something that I have ever seen and only recently learned about. It’s not good. Have you ever heard of the the Aezzai?”
Tony’s face drained of blood, and he grabbed his wife’s hand in death grip. She returned a concerned look and he swalled hard. Robert and Gregory exchanged bewildered looks and focused on Tony as he stammered.
“They are some arachnid-like monster that wears humans like a skin-suit. They are creatures of forbidden magic. Not much is known about them other than they are particularly vain and generally establish cults to feed their ego, their magic, and themselves. The cults provide them with Also, it provides them with options for a new host when it is time to change bodies.“
Alex’s eyes open wide and her jaw dropped slightly at Tony’s knowledge, and I had to admit I was surprised as well. It was more information than even The Grey had shared with us, and that made me wonder if he was just ignorant of this or if he held something back.
“Those aren’t spiders she is coughing up, or that are moving underneath her skin. Those are Aezzai young. There’s no polite way of putting it, but it’s how they breed. Like spiders they will consume each other until only a few large ones survive and then they will consume her, and it will be an agonizing death. It is an agonizing death. Just look at her. “
She looked each of them in turn.
“There’s no way to save her. We have to burn before those things can grow any further.”
“There has to be a way, nothing is impossible!” Tony pleaded, looking at Alex and me.
Alex bowed her head and her shoulders slumped. “With the right spell we can accelerate their cycle. The process forces their cannibalistic birthing, and when done early in the cycle results in fewer and weaker Aezzai. I’m sorry. Rebecca wasn’t as far as long as Megan is, and it took the two of us plus Markus The Grey to kill one Aezzai young, As advanced as her condition appears, we might face five or six healthier young.”
I placed my hands on the table and stood. “Killing the Aezzai with fire seems like the only wayn according to the lore. If there was another way, I would be all ears but the havoc just one of these things is dealing tells me this is the smartest option. I’m all ears though. Tony, you seemed to know some things about the Aezzai that was unknown to us.”
Tony couldn’t hold back the tears in his eyes as a few drops rolled down his face. Evidently they must have been close. I don’t see a family resemblance either. Not my business.
“That’s all I know about them. It’s been over a thousand years since they’ve been seen, and the records are sparse to say the least.”
“Damn. So much for you having current information on these bitches.” It wasn’t the time or the place to debate who knew what when. Who knew if we could trust any of this information?
“You work for a vampire. What if they … turned her?” Samantha spoke up softly.
Her companions whirled around and stared at her in shock. My jaw dropped at her suggestion as well. Mortal magics and undeath didn’t mix well. There were ways with the Blood to reclaim one’s magical abilities, but those that were successful were a rare breed. At least as far as I understood.
“That’s just another kind of death!” Gregory cried out.
“But it’s not death. She’d still be here, and wouldn’t the change kill those things?”
Before their frayed nerves caused more of an outburst, I slammed my fist on the table. It cracked and everyone turned their attention to me at once. I glowered at the group as the room quieted.
“Any options my mistress might offer are probably... well who knows if what she can do would even work. And Gregory is correct, it is another death of sorts, and that would be a choice we thrust on her, not something she chose of free will. There are costs to Conversion beyond just the loss of her magic.” I said softly.
Magic eating monsters were even further out of my depth than magic using humans, or even magic using vampires. Plus, the chances of getting a house call were slim to none I’m not sure if Eden would appreciate bringing a bunch of baby spider monsters home.
Readuing the room, Samatha and Gregory were both shocked and shook by our words, while Tony seemed to be griefstricken. Robert had a strange resigned calmness and had yet to offer his opinion or even a single word yet.
Gregory placed his head in his hands and shook. “How can you even suggest we do something like that! That is just inhumane!”
I walked around the table and placed a hand on Gregory’s shoulder. “Necessity doesn’t care about our fancy morals man. I’m not a fan of the fire part either but you can’t tell me she’s not suffering”
Gregory nodded and I gave his shoulder a light squeeze before walking back to my seat. An idea popped in my mind and I froze mid-step, turning to look at Robert. “I’m not trying to be a dick, but how long do you think she has? Do you think she’ll make it till tomorrow?”
Alex gave me a look that said we didn’t have until tomorrow but I ignored her as I waited for Robert’s response. He drummed his fingers on the table for a moment.
“She probably has two or three days left if I had to guess.”
“Good! It’s time for a hail mary, but we’ll have to wait till nightfall. I need a phone or a computer. I need to send a text to someone.”.
Alex handed me her phone, and I fired off a message, hoping I remembered the phone number correctly. I opened up her email, and started typing away when Gregroy interrupted.
“What are you doing?”
I finished the email and hit send, handing Alex her phone with a satisfied grin on my face. “I’m calling in a favor, and if I’m right we just might be able to save Megan. At the very least we’ll spare her a death by fire.”
This might be an opportunity for others to owe me favors for a change. Just have to wait for a certain someone to wake up.
I plopped down in my chair and leaned back. “So, who’s hungry?”
***
Everyone, even Alex argued with me for the next hour about my plan but in the end, it was going to cost me
more to try. Even a slim chance to save Megan was better than burning her alive, or letting the Aezzai consume her. We needed to wait till nightfall anyway as all roads point to Elizabeth it seems. We ad to wait a few hours till dusk and once my plan succeeded or failed, we could hopefully head out to find her.
With a long night ahead of us, and multiple assurances we weren’t going to be murdered or mutilated in our sleep, we accepted their offer of a place to rest. They had another spare room, and I had to wonder if these guys did on-demand bed and breakfast thing on the side or if they were just good hosts. It was like a top-end hotel, with a large king bed, its own private bathroom, and all the amenities I could think of.. Alex claimed she didn’t need to rest, and I didn’t fight her about it. I laid down on the side closest to the door and eventually sleep took me.
We woke up a few hours later about a half hour after dusk. There were eyes on me and I jolted away expecting Alex to be staring at me creepily or something. Instead as I popped up in the bed, I woke Alex next to me. She was swearing, saying something about, “... absolutely not.” when she saw why I woke up so suddenly.
Standing above me in all her creepy glory was Sunshine.
“ That was quick Kaedin, although it looks like you game may not be as good I hoped. Are the clothes for modesty or was it just cold in here?Don’t tell me you like this one enough to wait?“ She purred.
Alex blushed at her words. Grinning I swung myself out of bed. “A gentleman never tells Sunshine. Never.” I winked at her. “For once I’m glad to see you. I thought you might like the opportunity to snag another dekgrat from me. I’m, if you can that is.”
She gave me a knowing smile and hopped off the bed, “I have to say I am intrigued. Let’s see, when was the last time you asked for my help? It doesn’t matter. Let me see what I have to work with.” She grinned and cocked her head at Alex..
“Oh, Alex. This is Sunshine. Sunshine this is Alex. Sunshine is.”
