“Don’t start that again, Dad,” Becky said.
“I’m only saying they should make the coffee a little more convenient for those of us who are stuck here.” Her father stopped and grimaced. “I’m sorry, kiddo. I don’t mean stuck—”
“It’s all right,” Emma said. “I really appreciate you being here. All of you. I’m sure Dan does too.”
To emphasize the point, she gave her father a hug, followed by Becky. She barely stopped herself before she started to cry. “I’m so lucky to have you all. I know I haven’t always been the easiest to live with, but you’ve always stuck by me and supported me. I love you all so, so much.”
They all came together for a group hug. Emma wished her mother and Dan had been around for it as well. She would have to say separate goodbyes to them. One way or another, everything was going to end for her life in this timeline tonight.
After she managed to untangle herself from her family, she forced herself to smile. “I better go see Dan before I lose it completely.”
“You want us to come with you?” her father asked.
“No. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you guys in a few minutes.”
She plodded down the hallway to Dan’s room. She tapped on the door in case he was indisposed at the moment. No one answered. She opened the door a crack to stick her head inside. The room was dark. He must be asleep.
She crept across the room, over to his bed. He was asleep and otherwise seemed in good shape. Too bad she couldn’t let things go for a few days longer so they might go home together. But she couldn’t do that; things had gotten too far out of hand already.
She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you,” she whispered.
“The pain’s not finished yet,” Marie Marsh growled.
***
As the light in the room came on, Emma grabbed the nearest object handy, which turned out to be a bedpan. She hurled it at Marie, who had popped up from the opposite side of Dan’s bed. Marie managed to duck the bedpan, but that was the distraction Emma needed to lunge forward and grab Marie around the neck.
Without the armor, Emma struggled to bring Marie down. Though she didn’t look it, Marie possessed a wiry strength from her work at the rest home, which often required her to turn over or otherwise support patients much bigger than her. They grappled for a minute, until Emma finally managed to wrap a leg around Marie’s and then kick it out from under her.
With her arm still in a sleeper hold around Marie’s neck, Emma kept Marie’s face pointed at the ceiling. Despite all this commotion, Dan was still asleep, which Emma took as a bad sign. “What did you do to him?”
“I just gave him something to help him sleep,” Marie said. “I didn’t want him to interrupt us.”
“What were you planning to do? Make me an old woman again and take me to another safe house so I’d be out of the way when your friends finish whatever they’re doing in the park?”
“Maybe. I might have let you go if you told me what you did with Veronica. What did you do to her? How did you get her out of the house?”
“She got me out of the house.”
“She couldn’t have. She wouldn’t leave me.”
“She wants to go home, Marie. To her parents. She doesn’t belong here with you.”
“Yes she does! She would be dead without me. I saved her.”
“Marie, you have to stop this. I know you care about Veronica, but this has gone too far. You need to take her home.”
“No! I won’t ever let her leave!” Despite that she was in a sleeper hold and barely able to breathe, Marie smiled. “There’s nothing you can do about it, either. I’m the only one who can send her back and I won’t do it. No matter what you do to me.”
“I’m not going to do anything to you, Marie. I know you’re still a good person. I know you don’t want to hurt anyone. And I know in the end you’ll do the right thing because you love Veronica and you want what’s best for her.”
“What’s best for her is to stay here.”
“Is it?”
“Yes. She’s safe with me. Or she will be, once everything else is settled.”
“You mean after your friends have taken over the world? How safe is she going to be then?”
“Very safe. They wouldn’t hurt one of their own.” Marie began to laugh the kind of laugh reserved for the truly deranged. Maybe she had finally gone around the bend with Veronica gone. “Don’t you see, Emma? I’m not a good person. I’m one of them. A demon. The only salvation for me is to open the gateway and let them in.”
“What gateway?”
Marie’s smile faded. She must have realized she’d said too much. “I won’t tell you anything else.”
“Indeed she won’t,” the Watchmaker said from behind Emma. She heard the distinctive click of a pistol’s safety. She turned around and gasped.
In front of the Watchmaker, positioned as a human shield, was Emma’s mother.
***
Emma jerked Marie up to her feet to use as a shield of her own. “Mom! Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, baby, but I think you should get out of here.”
“She’s not going anywhere,” the Watchmaker said. “Not until she gives me young Marie. Then the two of you can go free.”
“I doubt that,” Emma said. “As soon as I let Marie go, you’ll shoot both of us.”
“Now, young lady, you know I don’t want you dead. I might just have Marie use that eye of hers on you. Perhaps this time you two could share a crib?”
“Emma, what’s he talking about? Who is this man?”
“This man calls himself the Watchmaker. He’s responsible for those attacks across the city. Marie is helping him.”
“What do they want with you?”
“Mom, there’s something you should know. Have you heard about that vigilante on the news? The one they’re calling the Scarlet Knight?”
Mom’s eyes widened. “You?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, Mom.”
“It’s all right, baby. Everything will be fine.”
Emma had heard her mother speak in that same overly calm voice before, in their wrecked car that night thirteen years ago. That night her mother had left her in the car to call for help. She had done that despite she knew she would probably die, in order to draw the criminals away from Emma. But this time she wouldn’t die. This time Emma would save her.
She tightened her grip on Marie’s neck. “Drop the gun or I’ll kill her.”
The Watchmaker sneered at this. “An obvious ploy. You can’t kill Marie. The Scarlet Knight does not murder innocent people.”
“She’s not innocent. And from what she says, she’s not people either. Are you, Marie? It would just be disposing of another of your demons, wouldn’t it?”
“Perhaps, but we both know you aren’t the killing sort. You might as well let her go and beg for mercy. If you’re convincing enough I might let you remain old enough to talk.”
Emma met the Watchmaker’s eyes for a moment. Then she sighed. “I’ll let her go, but only if you let my mother go.”
“So she can alert the police?”
“What difference will it make? They can’t stop you.” She loosened her grip on Marie’s neck and then shoved the girl to the floor. Marie lay in a heap and gasped for air. “Now, let my mother go. You don’t need her anymore.”
The Watchmaker shrugged and then shoved Emma’s mother to the floor. Emma bent down to help her up. As she looked up, she found the Watchmaker’s pistol aimed at her face. “It occurs to me that it would take some time to find another Scarlet Knight. Much too long to interfere with our plan. So, I suppose your usefulness is at an end.”
The gun fired, but Emma didn’t feel any pain. It wasn’t until her mother sagged against her that she saw the hole in her mother’s chest. Warm blood gushed from the wound, to soak into Emma’s clothes and coat her hands. “Mom?”
“I’m sorry, baby,” her mother whispered.
“I love you.”
“Don’t go, Mom. Don’t go. Please.”
But it was already too late. Her mother’s body went still. The Watchmaker had taken this scene in, but now he aimed his gun at Emma again. “So touching, but so pointless.”
Emma leaped to her feet faster than if she had the scarlet armor on. She slapped the Watchmaker’s pistol away with one hand and then tackled him. He tried in vain to protect himself, but there was little he could do as she hit him time and again. Blood stained his nose and jaw, both of which she had probably broken. Her own hand was cracked and bloody, but she didn’t notice the pain. She might not have been able to avenge herself on Estima and French, but this time nothing would stop her.
Then the Watchmaker’s eyes changed into the yellow eyes of a demon. With a roar, he threw her off of him, into the wall. As she lay in a heap, she saw the Watchmaker get to his feet. His body began to change, his frame becoming wider and taller until the seams of his clothes tore open. His skin turned scaly and then dimmed until it was black. His face was the last to change; his jaw narrowed and teeth sharpened. A pair of horns like those of a ram sprouted from his head. A tail uncurled to coil up on the ground; the tail ended with a point that looked deadly. Lastly, claws extended from his fingers and toes.
“Mekka lekka weep ninibaum,” Emma mumbled. The scarlet case appeared at her feet. She didn’t have time to put the armor on, so she opened the case and found the Sword of Justice. The sword glowed in the Watchmaker’s presence.
His yellow eyes narrowed at her. Then a pair of leathery wings unfolded from his back. “Another time,” he growled.
He grabbed Marie with one clawed hand and then burst through the window of the room. Emma hurled the Sword of Justice, but she was too late. By the time she got over to the window, she saw only the bat-like silhouette of the Watchmaker heading for the park.
Emma called the Sword of Justice back to her hand. She dropped it on the floor as she knelt beside her mother. “I’m sorry, Mom,” she whispered. “I let it happen again. I’m so sorry.”
Someone pounded on the door. The Watchmaker must have locked it on his way in. “Emma? What the hell is going on in there?” Becky shouted.
Emma stood up and then went over to the case of armor. They still hadn’t gotten the door open by the time she had put it on. She collected the Sword of Justice and then went over to Dan’s bedside. He looked unhurt. Thanks to whatever Marie had given him, he’d slept through the whole thing.
She bent down to kiss him on the lips. “Goodbye,” she whispered.
Then she threw herself out the window.
Chapter 28
Sylvia wished she had brought a jacket before she had left home. She’d forgotten how damnably cold Switzerland could be, even at this time of year. Up in the mountains it hardly ever got warm, not warm enough to melt all the snow.
She grumbled to herself what a stupid idea it was to locate a boarding school up here. Then again, Milton’s School for Girls hadn’t always been a school. It had originally been a monastery. That was until the monks of the order had disbanded in the 18th Century. Against all common sense—at least in Sylvia’s mind—Regina Milton had swooped in to buy the place and turn it into a boarding school.
Sylvia tramped through the snow and muttered a string of curses. She had never liked this place, not even during the brief period she had taught here in its early days. The cold and remoteness of the location was made even colder and more remote by Regina. Sylvia didn’t look forward to the conversation they would have this time.
She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She spun around, already prepared to unload on whoever had snuck up on her. But there was no one there. She turned back around and gasped.
An elderly Asian woman stood in front of her. “Damn it, Hisae, you scared the shit out of me.”
“Your reflexes have dimmed. You have not been keeping up with your training.”
“I’ve been a little busy lately.”
“There is always time for a warrior to keep her body in shape.” Hisae squeezed Sylvia’s left bicep and then touched Sylvia’s hair. “You look as you did when they first brought you to me: young and soft, yet determined.”
“I don’t suppose we could have this conversation someplace warmer?”
“If you wish.”
In a flash they vanished to a room that contained a single bed, a few artifacts from Hisae’s native Japan, and not much else. It was at least warmer. Hisae sat on a cushion and then motioned for Sylvia to sit across from her. A pitcher and two cups appeared between them. Hisae poured some brown liquid into each cup. The old woman stopped and then smiled. “You may drink. It’s sake, not tea.”
“Thanks. I could use a little pick-me-up,” Sylvia said. She sipped from the cup of warm rice wine. She began to cough from the strength of the alcohol. “How old is this stuff?”
“It predates that misguided attack on Hawaii,” Hisae said. “I have been saving it for you. It’s been too long since we spoke.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just the way we left things—”
“You do not need to apologize. I know of the pain in your heart.” Hisae set her cup down. “Now, what brings you here?”
“I’m sure you already know. There are demons running wild in Rampart City. It’s gotten too big for Agnes and I to handle. Too big even for the Scarlet Knight. We need some help, and who better than you?”
Hisae stared at Sylvia for a moment and then nodded. “I will help you, but it is not the demons we need fear the most. It is the girl.”
“You know about her?”
“Have you and Agnes not realized yet you cannot keep secrets from the coven? We know of Marie Marsh and what she’s done.”
“And you didn’t think to do anything about it?”
“There was no need, but now, as you say, things are worse. I fear she has become lost and that makes her very dangerous.”
“So what do we do? Run a stake through her heart?”
“We will know what to do, when the time is right. For now, let us enjoy this sake and then we will go to your city.” She raised her cup. “Once again we will fight side-by-side against great odds, like the samurai.”
“Yeah, great,” Sylvia grumbled.
She stiffened when she heard a knock on the door. Hisae patted Sylvia’s arm. “Do not worry, it’s only your sister.”
It turned out Hisae was right. Agnes poked her head through the door and smiled. “Hello, dears. Is this a bad time?”
“What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the archives?”
“I’m afraid I had to tell a little white lie for Emma’s benefit.”
Sylvia saw the sense in this. If Marie used that eye of hers on Emma again, it would be best if Emma didn’t know where they’d actually taken the girl. “You’re getting tricky in your old age.”
“Thank you, dear.” She turned back and said in a higher voice, “It’s all right, dear. No one in here will hurt you. These are my friends.”
Agnes led Veronica into the room. The little girl clutched her doll like a life preserver. “You remember Sylvia, don’t you, dear? And this is our friend Hisae Chiu. She’s from very far away, in Japan. Did your teachers ever show you where that is in school?”
Veronica nodded, but didn’t say anything. Sylvia wondered if the girl had ever been this close to an Asian woman before. Rampart of her day hadn’t been the most multicultural place yet, especially for a girl of privilege. Agnes patted the girl’s shoulder and said, “Don’t be shy, dear. Everything is all right.”
“Hello,” Veronica mumbled. She looked up at Agnes. “Mrs. Chiostro, can we go home now?”
“Not yet, dear. Once Marie comes to her senses, then she’ll take you home to your mama and papa.” Agnes led the girl over to a cushion so she could sit down. Agnes sat beside her and then turned to Hisae. “Regina thought it would be best if Veronica stays in your room. That way none of the students will see her.”
“Cheap bi
tch couldn’t even give her a guest room?” Sylvia said.
“We both thought that would help keep Veronica’s presence here to a minimum. Unless that will put you out, Hisae.”
“No, Sylvia and I will be returning to Rampart shortly. The girl is welcome to stay here as long as she wishes.”
“I don’t suppose Regina or any of the others volunteered to come with us?”
“I’m afraid not. She promises if things get out of hand—”
“By then it’ll be too late,” Sylvia grumbled. “I always knew she was a coward. The whole lot of them.”
“Do not scorn those who do not have the warrior’s heart,” Hisae said.
“Yeah, fine. We don’t need their help anyway.” Sylvia pushed herself up off the floor and then went over to hug her sister. “We’ll try to keep Emma out of any more trouble.”
“Keep yourself out of trouble too, dear,” Agnes said.
Sylvia only snorted at that. She bent down to look Veronica in the eye. “You take good care of my sister while I’m gone. Got it?” Veronica nodded and Sylvia tousled her curly hair. “That’s a good girl.”
Then she and Hisae vanished back to Rampart City.
***
Emma used the cape to slow her descent enough to land safely on the sidewalk. She startled a couple of orderlies on a smoke break; they tossed their cigarettes and ran. Emma followed after them, though only as far as the alley, where she found the motorcycle still parked where she’d left it.
By now the Watchmaker and Marie would be almost to Robinson Park. She wished at times like this Merlin had thought to add flight to the Scarlet Knight’s abilities. It would certainly make it easier to get around the city that way.
She kicked the bike to life and then roared out of the alley.
She got a block before she stopped the motorcycle. Overhead she saw a swarm of demons arranged like a flock of Canada geese. They were all headed to Robinson Park. Somehow she would have to get through them if she wanted to reach Marie and end this.
Tales of the Scarlet Knight Collection: The Call Page 50
