by Sadie Waters
Rather than walking out of the room and leaving the mess so that she could chase Lil--and not catch her again--she sat down on the bed next to the old woman, took her hand, and began to sing an ethereal song in her native tongue.
At first, the woman became even more terrified, but then, as the words of the song Ember had been singing since the dawn of time began to work its magic around the woman’s mind, her eyes grew heavy. Mrs. Donaldson settled back into her bed, and within a few seconds, she was fast asleep.
As quietly as possible, Ember picked up the items off of the floor and put them back on the dresser. A few pieces were broken--a vase and a hand mirror. She put them in her pocket. It was better if people thought items had been misplaced, rather than broken in the middle of the night by unexplained means.
There was nothing she could do about the glass in the picture. She cleaned it up and hung the picture back on the wall without it.
With one more look at the sleeping woman, Ember set out to find her team, hoping they’d had better luck with the Scales than she had.
The Scale materialized almost exactly where Ember had predicted he would. Ryan was ready, standing in the shadows far behind where Lane was positioned. The other Ink didn’t seem prepared at all. Sometimes Ryan wondered how Lane even managed to run his own team as much as he flaked out during the hunts they’d been on together. Perhaps he did better when he was the one calling the shots, but when the Scale appeared in the shadows at the base of the building, Lane didn’t notice until after a ball of fire came flying at his perfectly coiffed hair.
“What the hell?” the Ink screeched, dodging out of the way at the last second. The Scale wasn’t waiting around for him to recover. He took off in a blur, shooting off to Lane’s left, away from Ryan, too.
Rather than giving chase, Lane shot a beam of light in his wake. It missed its mark, and by the time he actually started running, the Scale was almost a block away.
But Ryan had taken an angle and was closing in, cutting through cars as he crossed the street. Lane should’ve been ready to intercept. He should’ve been invisible, as Ember had told him to be, so the Scale wouldn’t have been tipped off. Now, the Ink was out of the foot race, and Ryan may as well have been on his own.
“See if you can turn him,” Jake said in Ryan’s ear. “I can’t keep up, but if he goes right one block, I can possibly head him off.”
“I’ll try.”
The Scale saw Ryan closing in and began to look for an escape route. He ran cleanly through a pedestrian who only detected him from the change in temperature and breeze. Ryan couldn’t do that. Not only could people see him if he was going slowly enough, he couldn’t pass through anything. If the Scale wanted to bleed into another wall, he could get lost in a building.
He wouldn’t do that, though, because then he could potentially be trapped. He’d keep running until he lost them. Then, he’d fade back into whatever shadow world he’d come from. If they wanted answers, they’d have to act now.
They were coming to a corner. Ryan needed to get ahead of him to turn him back toward Jake. He surged ahead, arching to his right. Since he was a Flyer and the Scale was a Thrower, he had the speed on him. The Scale started to turn and sprint in the direction Jake had hoped.
“Coming at you!” Ryan shouted.
“Damn. I’m not there yet.”
There was no way he could turn him twice. “Pick it up!”
The Scale was almost to the next corner. If Jake missed him, he’d be gone unless Ryan could swing back around and catch him. He kicked it into a higher gear, one that came from nowhere, and was about to hurl himself at the Scale when a beam of light came flying from the left of the monster as he stepped out into the street.
Jake’s fire hit the Scale squarely in the side. He had no idea it was coming and nowhere to go. He was caught in a tractor beam, which should give Ryan the opportunity to lock onto him before he could find a shadow to slip into. Ryan pulled his cuffs from his back pocket and grabbed ahold of a flailing arm, wrestling it behind the bastard’s back and clicking onto it. The Scale screeched, attempting to wiggle free, but Jake’s light was intense enough to keep him in pain, and he couldn’t fight his way loose.
Ryan managed to get the other cuff on and lock it into place so that the Scale couldn’t slip realms. As long as he had these cuffs on, he wouldn’t be able to fade into any shadows.
Breathing hard, Ryan kept his knee on the asshole’s back and sucked in air. Jake’s light faded. “Nice catch,” Jake said, offering his hand.
Ryan clasped it. “You got him. I just cuffed him.”
“You sent him right to me. Sort of.” Jake looked behind him. It wasn’t what he’d had in mind, but it had worked.
Lane appeared next to them looking pissed. He said nothing at first, only stood with his hands on his hips. Then, after fuming for a moment he said, “Now that this is taken care of, I’m going back to my team.”
“See ya,” Ryan said, wanting to remind him he’d done next to nothing.
Jake was nicer. “Thanks for your help, Lane.” He didn’t even sound sarcastic.
Lane gave him an annoyed wave without turning around and then disappeared again.
“Now, we need to get this asshole out of here and see what he knows.” Ryan stood, hauling the Scale up by his arm as he snarled and spit. He was a greasy, pale, ghastly looking dude with long claws and sunken eyes, but with the cuffs on, he was as harmless as a puppy, and Ryan was looking forward to getting answers out of him. One way or another.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ember ran down the sidewalk toward Ryan and Jake, glad to see she’d heard their communications right and they had the Scale in custody. The greasy looking demon wasn’t cooperative, and they were practically dragging him down the sidewalk. Luckily, none of the humans they passed could see the creature in cuffs.
“Where’s Carson?” Jake asked as she met them.
“Getting the car, son.” Ember chuckled at her own lame joke. Her glee at actually having caught the mark, despite Lane’s lack of effort, had her forgetting all about the fact that Lil got away, her favorite jacket had a big slash in the sleeve, and her arm had been bleeding.
“That joke was… sad,” Jake said with a fond smile. “It’s nice to see you in a good mood, though.”
She had to agree. It usually wasn’t her disposition to be happy for no apparent reason, but lately, she’d been more foul than normal. “Did either of you see Lil at all?”
“I didn’t,” Ryan said, his voice slightly strained from wrangling the Scale. “I was too busy chasing this jackass.”
“No, but then, if she was Blending we wouldn’t,” Jake reminded her.
“She probably was.” Ember thought about the situation for a moment. “Did Lane say why he wasn’t?”
“He didn’t. He just stormed off.” Jake shook his head. It was apparent none of them liked working with the other Ink. The only reason they had done so many hunts together was because of Ember’s close relationship with Ruby. She wished her friend could break free of Lane, but she seemed to see a side of him Ember didn’t. That, and she didn’t have another Ink to turn to at the moment. A Xana charger without an Ink was a recipe for disaster.
Carson’s black SUV pulled up next to the curb in a no parking zone, and the other two guys hastily shoved the Scale into the back seat before Ryan got in and Jake went around to the other side. Ember hopped in front, and Carson took off before drawing any unwanted attention from authorities or anyone else.
Not wanting the creep behind her, Ember turned in her seat, one knee up near the console. His powers were useless with the handcuff on. They were one of the many weapons Sorchas had that came in handy in these sorts of situations when they needed to prevent a Scale from disappearing. Now, they needed to find a way to get him to talk.
“Where to? Paul’s?” Carson asked, speeding through a yellow light.
“Yeah. The quicker we get him below ground the better.” Ember st
ared into the black eyes of the creature but saw nothing there. It always astounded her how they could suddenly become hollow, as if it was just a wax figure in the shape of a horribly grotesque man with poor hygiene.
“I doubt he’s going to say anything tonight,” Ryan pointed out. “It’s already 2:30. I bet Zach’s freaking out.”
“Did you wanna go home so you can hold him?” Carson looked at Ryan in the rearview mirror for a minute, and the other Ink thumped the back of his seat with his fist, making Carson chuckle.
Ember knew he was probably right. Even if Ryan hadn't been the one to say it, there was a good chance it would be true, but since he was rarely wrong about anything, she had to take that into consideration. “Let’s just get him in a cell, and we can see what happens.”
Her men nodded, and Ember turned around to see where they were headed. St. Paul’s Chapel was just a few blocks away. They were headed into a part of the city that was always crowded, no matter the time of day or night. Chances were, no one would mind them, though. It wasn’t like the typical New Yorker to see a group of people dressed in black leather and bat an eye.
Carson pulled into a reserved parking space near the back of the building. The entrance they needed wasn’t one parishioners would be using come Sunday morning. Only agents such as themselves were aware that the doorway even existed. In the three hundred plus years the building had been standing here, no human had ever accessed the door, let alone the steps that led down to the cells below, the place where the Sorcha of New York chose to do the majority of their dirty work.
The second the Scale crossed over onto church property, he began to hiss and writhe. It took all three of the guys to keep him upright. This wasn’t anything new; they all did it. In a way, Ember sort of liked to watch it. Any pain they went through from being on Holy Ground had been earned when they leapt out of Heaven to follow their evil leader. Listening to him groan was slightly melodic.
She located the door hidden in the exterior wall of the church and used her powers to get it open. Any Sorcha would be able to open it, but her powers were stronger than most, and though it was heavy and cumbersome, it swung free. Against his will, the Inks forced the Scale through the doorway. Ember pulled the door closed behind them and used her light to illuminate the dark stairwell that seemed to lead into the bowels of hell, a place the Scale would only wish he was heading to soon.
They descended five flights of stairs before they finally reached their destination. In the darkness, Ember could hear more hissing and moaning coming from some of the cells that lined both sides of the large room they’d entered. Who these other Scales were and which Sorchas had brought them here, she didn’t know, and she didn’t consider it her business either. Just as no one would mess with their prisoner while he was here, she was certainly not going to bother any of these monsters.
She glanced in a few of the cells as she walked by and recognized some of the gruesome faces looking back at her. Some of these demons had been here a long time. Either they were used as informants or had some information another Sorcha thought would be valuable and just hadn’t given it up yet. She hoped their friend, Greasy, would be more cooperative, but there was no telling how long it might take him to start talking.
They had methods to make their captives speak up, though, methods some other Sorcha didn’t like to use. Ember wasn’t above using her powers to get the information she needed, particularly from the bastard who’d ripped Myke’s neck open and tried to kill Zach in the middle of the street. No, this asshole was going to talk, one way or another. If he knew what was good for him, he’d make it the easy way. But he seemed like a real dickhead, so it would probably take some muscle.
Ember chose an empty cell and flung the door open so her guys could work him inside. He bucked and fought the entire time and kept the fight up even as Carson worked leg irons on to him so that Ryan could take back his cuffs. Then, they had to fight his hands into the wrist restraints. By the time they were done, all three of them were glistening with perspiration, and Ember’s mind had gone elsewhere.
“Don’t you be lookin’ at us like that right now, missy,” Carson said, noting her stare. “We’ve got work to do.”
Ember laughed and backed toward the cell door. As soon as her team was out, she clicked the lock, and listened to the Scale screech. He pulled against his restraints so hard, if he’d had human flesh, it might’ve mangled under the strain. But since he didn’t, and the chains were forged of the same material as the handcuffs, the asshole wasn’t going anywhere.
She folded her arms and stared at him for several minutes before she finally shouted, “The longer you do that, the longer this is going to take! Now, why don’t you stop screaming so we can ask you some questions.”
The Scale’s reply was a diatribe of obscenities and curses that would’ve made a sailor blush.
“Told you,” Ryan whispered in her ear. The feel of his breath against her cheek reminded her that she was tired and didn't want to be here.
“Want me to make him stop screamin’?” Carson asked.
Realizing Ryan was right, Ember said, “No, not tonight. If he wants to keep thrashing around like that, the only one he’s hurting is himself. Let’s go check on Zach.”
“You sure?” Jake asked. “I mean… I know none of his kind are coming down here to break him out, but….”
“But what?” Ember raised an eyebrow at the Thrower, wondering what he was getting at.
“But… we fought pretty hard for this guy. I’d hate to see something happen to him before we have a chance to question him.”
“Like what?” Carson asked. “Ain’t nobody ever lost a Scale down here before unless they dispatched them themselves.”
“No, I know. I just have a… funny feeling about this.”
For some reason, Ember did, too. With a sigh, she moved over to the lock she’d put on the cell earlier. Using her powers, she put a special energy around it, one that would only allow her to unlock it. Then, she closed her eyes and raised both hands in front of the cell. Whispering a specific prayer, she placed a shield around the front of the cell, one that morphed the energy of the cell so that it would create an impenetrable barrier that couldn’t be removed by anyone but her.
Finally, she pulled a small camera out of the interior pocket of her jacket, one so small it was hardly noticeable. She activated it with her energy and then leapt up and stuck it above the lip of the cell so that anyone who approached the cell would end up on the feed from the camera. It was motion activated, and the data would go straight to her phone.
“There. He should be fine now. I can’t imagine anyone would try to screw with him, but if they did, it would take some a lot more power than me to get him out.”
Since there were only a few Sorchas in the world with more power than Ember, and none of them resided in New York City, she felt fairly confident he’d be all right for the night.
“Goodbye, Grease Monkey,” she said, waving at him. “We’ll be back tomorrow to chat. You should stop screeching and consider what you want to say. It’ll go easier that way.”
With a shriek so loud and sharp Ember thought her ears might begin to bleed, the Scale begged to differ.
“I think that means go to hell,” Carson surmised as they walked back toward the stairs.
“He should know I can’t,” Ember noted. “But he can. And he will. Soon.” She couldn’t help but smile as she thought about sending him to where he belonged. First, she’d have to figure out what he knew about Zach, who else knew it, and how he was connected to Lil. That would be a lot of work, but she was confident she and her boys would get it out of him. One way or another.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Only Ruby and Jess were babysitting Zach when they got back to the apartment. The three of them were on the couch watching a movie, Zach asleep on Ruby’s shoulder. He looked so peaceful, Ember hated flipping on the lights to wake him up. Almost.
His head shot up off of the redhead.
Wide eyed, he looked around, drool wetting the corner of his mouth. “What the--”
“Sorry, Sleeping Beauty,” Ember muttered, not really meaning it. “Time to wake up.”
“So that he can go to bed?” Jess asked, shaking her head at Ember like she was a monster for causing the illumination. She picked up the remote off of the coffee table and flicked off the flat screen on the wall across from them.
Ember ignored the attitude. “Did Lane come by?”
“Yeah, but he didn’t say much. Just grabbed Tins and told her to come home, that you guys should be back soon. That was over an hour ago, though.” Ruby rubbed at a damp spot on the shoulder of her red satin shirt.
“We had to drop our friend off at church before we could come home,” Carson explained, wandering into the kitchen. Ember hoped he was making coffee… for her.
“Friend?” Zach perked up. “What do you mean?”
“You caught him then?” Jess asked, scooting to the edge of the couch.
Jake sat down in the chair closest to the kitchen. “Lane didn’t tell you?”
“No. He wouldn’t say anything,” Ruby said, shaking her head. “He seemed angry, so we didn’t ask.”
“I assumed that meant you didn’t have any luck,” Jess added.
“He didn’t have any luck. Bastard ran right past him.” Carson plopped down on the other couch across from where the trio was sitting, a beer in his hand, no coffee in sight.
“How did you get him?” Ruby wanted to know.
Ember took her jacket off, eyeing the rip. It would need to be cleaned. Her arm felt better though. “Carson and I went in, scared him out. He ran past Lane. Ryan tracked him down, steered him into Jake--”
“And I fried him,” Jake finished.
“Fried him?” Zach was obviously confused, having never been on a hunt before.
