Another set of stairs and we were in the Cavern, striding toward the Athenaeum. Our steps echoed in the main hall, and Vic popped her head out as we passed by.
I could tell when Vic recognized the shifter. Her eyes widened and her mouth went slack. She stepped fully into the hall to watch our progress with her mouth agape, only wearing a t-shirt and holding a beaker of Woe’s pink drink. The Librarian would have already scanned Mara. We would receive his update once inside.
An ever-present blaze burned in the fireplace, and a digital cat rested on the hearth.
“New pet?” Jason asked.
The whir of the holograph emitters sounded as the Librarian materialized beside us. “A new subroutine,” he answered.
Jason raised an eyebrow. “For your girlfriend?”
“She read a book on them, and now she wants one.” The Librarian’s mustache twitched. “I’m building it for her. They don’t have them in her world.” He turned to Jane, and a green light moved over her. He scowled. “Avian shifter? New pet?”
I cleared my throat.
Jason’s lurched when the words hit him. His eyes widened, but he gave an almost imperceptible nod. To which question, I wasn’t sure.
Jason put up a hand to stop the Librarian’s next question. “Meet Jane Jones. She’s going to help us find Lev’s family.”
“My son,” I corrected.
Jason gave a sad smile. “His son.”
I didn’t hold out any sort of hope that my mortal wife could be found. Even if she had survived to an old age, her lifespan could never have matched my own.
Records stated Anne had died of influenza at our home in New Berm, and I didn’t doubt them. However, I still didn’t know what had become of my boy.
As much as it pained me to imagine him as a confused teenager, discovering his shifting ability on his own, my genetics might have kept him alive long enough that he would still be around. Perhaps even in New Berm.
I slipped my hand into my pocket and rubbed my thumb along the curve of the sperm whale’s hewn back. He might still be alive. The pipe dream fueled me.
I stepped forward, tugging Mara with me, in the hope I’d be able to distract the Librarian from pursuing the issue. “Have you met Mara?”
The Librarian’s gaze traveled from Jason to me to Jason again.
“Nice to meet you,” he said to Mara, offering a nod. “I would shake your hand, but…” The Librarian held up a translucent hand. “I haven’t yet solved a recent matter-conversion equation glitch.”
He tugged a pocket watch from his pinstriped suit pocket, and he smoothed a thumb and forefinger over his still-twitching upper lip. “I’ve had a long night of research. Perhaps it’s time for me to retire.”
Jason shook his head. “Impossible. Jane is going to walk through Mara’s memories, and we need your assistance. I need you to monitor their vitals and record the process.”
Indecision skewed the Librarian’s face, and he paced in a figure eight around the furniture. He generally avoided confrontations at all costs, and I was sure he was imagining Woe’s rage over Jane’s presence. “Has this been discussed?”
“At length,” Jason said, drawing out the words, his warning clear.
Confusion crossed Jane’s face, and her eyebrows knit together as she took a step backward. “Is there something wrong?”
“No, no, no, nothing wrong,” I said, praying the Librarian wouldn’t say anything to contradict me.
The timidity in her question brought the Librarian up short. “No, of course not,” he said. “Let’s get started, shall we?” When everyone agreed, he said, “I’ll call Vic—” he tugged on his mustache “—so you can explain… this… to her.”
A few minutes later, the mechanism on the door clanged and then spun. The hatch swung open and banged against the wall behind it. A frowning Vic burst into the room, holding the same beaker from earlier, but now she wore pants. Her gaze traveled slowly around the room until it stopped on Jane.
“You’re still here,” she said.
Jane sighed. “Where else would I go?”
“Anywhere but New Haven City.” Vic’s voice dripped with malice.
I moved forward, stepping between Vic and Jane. I lowered my hands to Vic’s upper arms. “Jane is going to help me retrieve a clue about my son.” My voice cracked as my feelings worked their way up to block my ability to speak. I swallowed. “My son, Vic.”
Jason let go of Mara and approached Vic. He had known her for years, but I didn’t know how Vic would react to this latest scheme. Woe and Vic were best friends, and Vic was big on loyalty. The only way it would work was if Vic’s loyalty to me took precedence over her loyalty to Woe.
“We need the information in Mara’s brain, and we need your help, Vic,” Jason said.
We couldn’t worry about Woe and ignore an opportunity because of Woe’s vendetta. Even if the clue fizzled out for me, we might find out something valuable about the Boss.
“Help me find my son,” I implored her.
Vic stared into my eyes. That close, I could see the flakes of gold in her irises as she considered my request. “Your son?” She caught her bottom lip in her teeth.
I nodded. “Mara cannot remember the important details on her own, but Jane agreed to help her reach those memories. Like Arún did with Jason.”
Vic moved closer, lifted her hand, and whispered, “Woe?”
“Doesn’t know a thing,” I answered in a whisper. I reached for her hand, hoping she wouldn’t abandon us when we needed her. “And Jane believes we have Woe’s permission.”
“Jason lied.” Criticism colored Vic’s words.
“For me,” I said. “Jason lied for me. For my son. For an answer.” I cleared my throat, trying to dislodge the island that blocked it. “For closure,” I whispered.
“Do you have any idea what this could cost us?” Vic laid a hand over her chest, her exhale ragged.
“Do you have any idea what it will cost me if we don’t do this?” From far away, the anguished whale song coursed through my memory. “Our kind never forgets. We mourn the absence until the peaceful depths claim us. I would give anything to have either of them in my life again. No matter how often I’ve sought a hero’s grave, death always spits me out.”
Until I’d parked myself in my favorite chair to wait for the end of time.
But I didn’t say those words out loud. I couldn’t. I had no family, and I could no longer slip beneath the waves. I don’t think any of them understood the abyss that swallowed me.
Vic stood, wiping her own tears from her cheeks. “You’re asking me to betray my friendship with Woe.”
“No,” I said. “I’m asking you to have mercy on me. Woe will understand. Even if she doesn’t at first.”
Vic pressed her lips together. After long moments, she sighed. “I’m in.” She offered her hand. “I’ll help.”
My shoulders sagged, and I released the breath I didn’t know I had been holding.
“Thank you for agreeing,” Jason interjected.
“I’m not doing it for you,” Vic snapped before she turned away from him. “I’ll be back. I have to get my stuff.”
The Librarian appeared in a digital lab coat, holding a clipboard, and a pen. “I’m glad that’s settled,” he said. “Let’s get the chairs moved into position.”
Jane and Mara hovered nearby as I moved my favorite chair closer to Jason’s desk. He moved his desk chair around to the front of the antique mahogany bureau. I reached for Mara and drew her to me, pressing a kiss against her temple. “You can sit here,” I whispered against her ear.
Jane glanced at Jason, and he looked away. She cleared her throat and plopped down on the squeaky leather seat.
Jane bit her lip. “Have you done this before?”
Jason grimaced and ran his hands over his buttons. “Arún did something similar with me.”
Jane looked about ready to bolt until Mara laid her hand on Jane’s. “Thank you for helping Lev.”<
br />
Mara’s words to Jane squeezed my heart, then filled it up until I wanted to burst. I had never expected to inspire such feelings in another.
Vic returned, carrying a laptop connected to suction-cup sensors that trailed behind her like octopus arms. She had donned her own pristine lab coat and goggles. Placing her computer on Jason’s desk, she held up the largest of the sensors. “Ready to get started?”
Jane offered a wan smile.
Mara patted her arm and said, “I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.”
“Stop grinning like a fool,” Jason muttered at me under his breath, elbowing my middle. Pride swelled my chest. No matter Mara’s fear, she voluntarily ventured into the unknown for me.
“You’re just jealous,” I chuckled. I wasn’t about to let the booted sourpuss beside me dim my happy mood. Feminine companionship wasn’t something I had a right to expect of Mara, but the possibility tickled my fancy. I intended to enjoy it as long as it lasted.
Vic stuck sensors all over Jane’s skull and then Mara’s.
Once Vic finished, Jane scooted her chair directly in front of Mara’s and placed the index and middle finger of each hand over Mara’s temples. She stared into Mara’s eyes. “Ready?”
“Yes.” Mara swallowed. Her voice wasn’t much more than a whisper.
Jane sat up. “I’m sure Mara noticed this already, but there will probably be some overlapping in our memories. Mara will remember bits of things from my mind, and I will from hers. I can recall the lives of nearly all those that I’ve ever linked to.”
I thought of Mara’s Winged Warrior comment, the one that had unnerved Jason. That was probably the explanation, particularly since Jane must have Arún’s memories still in her head.
I laid my hand on Mara’s shoulder and squeezed.
“Here we go.” Jane’s eyes fluoresced a bright lavender, and Mara’s eyes clouded. She convulsed, straining toward Jane.
“Mara,” I breathed and grabbed for her, already determined to call the whole thing off, but a groan burst from her lips.
“Lev, stop. Let me do this.” Her voice sounded strained and other-worldly, but I took a step backward.
Mara convulsed again.
“I’m trying to be as gentle as I can,” Jane said. “This isn’t normally what I use my power for.”
“Are you recording?” I asked the Librarian.
The holographic man fumbled with his clipboard and then began writing furiously.
Long moments ticked by as they sat like that, each locked into the other, sorting through Mara’s memories together.
“Ah,” Jane said, finally. “I’ve found the carved figure again, but… There’s something else.”
Mara gasped and squeezed her eyes closed.
“Someone planted the information.”
All eyes trained on the two women at the center of the room. The Librarian still recorded the proceedings.
“Her heart rate is becoming erratic,” Vic said. “You need to hurry, Jane.”
Jane nodded, her dark hair falling over her face. “A woman gave it to her and made up the story. Kidnapped from…”
Mara whimpered.
“On a watery world.” She scowled. “Stormy.”
A tear rolled down Mara’s face, tracing her jawline and coming to a stop on the tip of her chin. Another followed. And then another.
“Hurry,” I growled. “How long does it take to find a memory?”
“Longer than you’d think, Bulldog,” Vic said. “Mara has a lifetime of memories in there. We don’t ever really forget anything; our brains just forget how to find the information.” She met Jason’s eyes and shook her head as she tapped her screen.
“I’ve got it,” Jane gasped. “I’ve got it.” She yanked her hands away from Mara.
Mara slumped forward, and I rushed toward her, catching her just before she fell from the chair.
“I’m fine, Lev. A little dizzy,” she pressed a hand to her middle, “and nauseated.”
“Do you remember any more than you did before?” I cradled her against my chest.
“It’s like waking up from a dream. I remember parts of it, but it’s fading too quickly for me to keep it all.”
“Maybe you’ll be able to hold onto more this time.”
Mara shrugged. “It’s as jumbled as before, but maybe there are more pieces.”
Beside us, Jane wobbled in her seat. “I got it. It’s an alternate reality.” For the first time since I’d met her, her face broke into a real smile. “I even know how to get there.”
As quickly as the smile came, a scowl replaced it. “But that’s not all.”
“I saw it, too,” Mara whispered.
Jane stood and glared down at Mara.
Jason marched forward. “What? What did you see?”
“Raishana, the Octupine City, under the Hurricane Sea,” she said.
That knocked him back a bit. But before he could answer, there was a squeak in the corner of the room—the familiar sound of the door opening.
Oh no.
That could only be…
“Vic, are you in here?” Woe’s voice rang out. “I came for my fizzy…” Her voice died away.
A chorus of gasps filled the room. The Librarian dropped his clipboard and dissipated in a cloudy burst of light. Mara and Jane were still woozy from their experience, but even their faces reflected Jason’s horror.
“Woe, meet Jane,” Vic said, and then she put her hands on her hips and spun to face Jason.
Jane was the first to recover. She jumped to her feet and rounded on Jason. He was moments from reaping what he’d sowed.
An ashen Woe stood at the door, her mouth open as she stared at the shifter in our midst. Sorrow rolled off her in waves.
“And Jason becomes my Judas,” she murmured.
I shuddered as I stepped between Woe and Mara.
There was only one word for what happened.
Boom.
19
Unwelcome
Woe
Our Lady of the Park, Catholic Cathedral, New Haven City
My whole body trembled with the emotional impact of the tableau. They’d let the shifter into the house. Our house and the old bird wore a smile.
Sitting with my friends as though she belonged.
Her.
There she was. I could kill her.
Or die trying.
If I moved quickly, they would all be too shocked to stop me. She wouldn’t kill anyone else I loved. Shaking, everything turned red and faded away until she was the only thing I saw.
Launching myself across the room, I landed on top of her, ripped the glasses from her face, knocked her from the chair and pulled Vic’s laptop to the floor behind us. Someone cried out, but I didn’t stop.
I refused to. I wanted this moment. My fists connected with the shifter’s chin.
She grunted, placing her hands on my shoulders, holding me away from her until she could pin me beneath her gaze.
She tried to kill him. She didn’t lift her hands but whimpered as I decked her again. My hands settled around her neck, and I squeezed with all my might. The skin beneath my fingertips turned white, and I could feel her pulse pounding under my palm.
“They told me you knew.” Jane choked out the words, and she frantically scratched at my hands. Her bottom lip quivered, and her eyes bulged.
The words took root in a lull in my thoughts. Wait.
She didn’t come here. They invited her.
What was I doing?
Peace. I wanted peace. Not this. Recalling the sunrise, my grip loosened.
Jane bucked upward, throwing me off her just enough that she was able to roll out from beneath me and scramble away.
Jason grabbed my shoulders and pulled, but I broke free and darted after Jane.
“What are you doing here?” I yelled. I grabbed Jane’s ankle, and she tripped.
I yanked on her leg. “Summon your shift.”
I had to see her lavend
er eyes. I wouldn’t hurt a defenseless woman. I couldn’t. I’d fought against that. I repeated my command.
Jane groaned but did not retaliate. I waited for her to fly at me, for her hands to brush my forehead and the white flash that would mean brain death was imminent. The white flash didn’t come.
I tackled her then, and my breath left me in a grunt as we landed in a tangle on the thick carpet. Straddling her, I slammed her head against the carpet. “Summon your shift.”
Jane’s serene expression did not change. She could eat any of us anytime she wanted. Now that I was close enough for her to consume me, but her eyes never fluoresced. She did nothing.
No white flash. No reason to defend myself.
Nearby, Jason watched, his eyes so wide I could see myself inside them.
Me… attacking the other woman while the other woman did nothing.
The revelation pricked my heart. If she would defend herself…
My upper lip curled into an ugly snarl, and I summoned the only magic I had. A shadow fell over her as my wings blocked the light from the fixtures on the ceiling.
Jason’s mouth slacked, and he stared upward at my iridescent feathers that filled the air above us. “They’re beautiful,” he whispered.
“Jason, do something,” Lev bellowed.
Arún’s gift would be a fitting end to the shifter. My mouth twisted into a smile even as pain tore my heart. Hell hath no fury like an angel’s wings.
“Don’t you care if you die?” I growled.
“Kill me, if you must.” She wrapped her hands around my wrists and moved my hand to her neck. “I owe you more than just my life.”
Her soft hands were ice in the heart of the furnace of my fury. Peace. Not this.
Yet I raised my wings higher and relished the power that coursed through me. Vengeance was within my reach, and the shifter meant to let me have it.
My chest heaved from the war within me. “Why?”
She blinked. Once. Twice. “A blood debt is a serious matter.”
But she didn’t know that Arún wasn’t dead. Only away. I owed no blood debt.
Leviathan's Rise Page 11
