Dark Horse

by E. A. Copen

  I glanced back toward the house, knowing he was right. This wasn’t just about taking out Typhon. I needed to stop Loki and somehow get through to Emma too, restore her to who she used to be. Pony was right. I needed all the help I could get.

  I walked back toward the house and placed the glasses on the edge of a barbecue grill I never used. “I know how to take out Typhon. At least part of it. Odin mentioned something about sacrifices. I believe he probably meant souls. That’s why he’d need the Horsemen. We’re the only beings capable of removing souls from the living. I know I can take those souls and ingest them to make myself more powerful, but I also recently learned I can put them in other things too. Inanimate objects. They imbue the object with extra power and somehow... It doesn’t completely destroy the soul in the process.”

  “And you know all this how?” Pony’s shoes scraped against the concrete patio as he turned around to frown at me.

  I slid open the back door and grabbed my iron staff from where it leaned in the corner, gripping it with both hands. “Josiah taught me to do it after Loki made me kill Hades.”

  “Damn, son. Is it...?” He gestured to the staff.

  I nodded and planted the end against the concrete, giving the metal a slight push of magic. Normally, iron didn’t hold magic well. Had the staff been pure iron, it never would’ve held the soul of a god, let alone the others I’d probably need to infuse into it. But this one had been recast in the days after I’d killed Hades, infusing it with bands of silver, which did hold magic really well. Josiah held onto the soul in a special box he had in the meantime, and once it was recast, he showed me how to use the soul to enchant the staff itself. Every time I picked it up, I could feel the weight of Hades inside, his fiery power just begging to be unleashed. I had to resist using it though.

  As far as Loki and everyone else knew, Hades was dead. Though I’d destroyed his body, his soul was still well and good. I had planned to transfer it out of the staff into something else, but we hadn’t figured out how to do that.

  I had figured out how to summon the god’s spirit, however. Talking to Hades was about the only thing that kept me sane after I lost Emma. He was a good guy, even if he wasn’t too happy with how I’d stabbed him in the back.

  A cloud of smoke hissed out of the staff into the air, swirling around me like fog. The power of his soul tugged on my magic and I loaned him more of it, allowing him to manifest as a ghost-like form just to the right of me.

  Pony blinked, removed his glasses, polished them with his t-shirt and replaced them, blinking again.

  Hades stretched and grinned. “Good to be free.”

  “Don’t get used to it.” I pointed with my thumb back toward the house. “She’s only out for a little bit. I’ve only brought you out to talk strategy. I don’t know how much you heard while you were chilling in there, but I think it’s time we brought you up to speed.”

  Hades had kept up with most of it, which meant explaining things to him didn’t take near as long as it had with Pony.

  He nodded once and raised a hand. “Say no more. You need the soul of a god for your sacrifice, and you’ll have it.”

  I frowned. “You do realize I can’t guarantee your safety. I don’t know if the spell will consume your soul, change it, or if you’ll still be you on the other side. There might be no coming back.”

  He rubbed his chin and nodded. “That is a possibility. But if I do nothing, thousands of humans will die. Hundreds of thousands. What then? When the Titan has finished with humans, he’ll come for the gods. He cannot be allowed to continue on his path of destruction. It only makes sense that I volunteer.”

  “There are other gods in New Orleans,” Pony said solemnly.

  “Dozens,” Hades agreed. “But none that you will find in time, and none that would willingly help you. Tell me, what do I have left if not this one opportunity for a great battle?”

  “Persephone,” I said. “You have your wife.”

  Hades’ face sobered. He closed his eyes and turned away, shoulders sagging. “Yes, the love of my immortal life. If the spell destroys my soul, I may not see her for quite some time. But eventually I will be reborn and true love will always bring us back to each other.” He made a fist and slammed it into his palm. “But if Typhon goes unchecked, even that could be destroyed. No, I must help you, Horseman. It’s the only way I can be certain that one day Persephone and I will be reunited.”

  I raised my hands. “Well, hold off on stabbing yourself through the heart, Romeo. I still need to find out exactly what this entails.” What I didn’t tell Hades was that I wasn’t giving up on looking for another god to use. He might’ve been a disembodied spirit now, but he was still my friend and I’d feel like shit if I had to reduce him to an ingredient for a spell. There had to be someone else, something else I could do. I just needed time to find it.

  Hades nodded and pounded his fist against his chest. “Whenever you’re ready, Lazarus, call me. I’m with you.”

  “I appreciate the sentiment, but for now, maybe just lie low. Beth and Emma still don’t know about you, and if Loki finds out I reneged on our deal by keeping your soul from passing on, he’ll have my head.” I tapped the staff on the concrete.

  Hades’ form swirled, turning into a pale fog before rushing back into the silver bands of the staff.

  I sighed. “Well, that takes care of the god.”

  “And the human.” Pony removed his hat and held it gently between two fingers.

  I closed my eyes and turned away. I didn’t want Pony to volunteer. I didn’t want to have to use anyone. But if I had to take someone, he was an ideal candidate.

  “It’s a better way to go than the other way,” he said, his voice quiet. “Maybe I can do something right for once, huh? I won’t take no for an answer, Lazarus. You need me. Guess I don’t deserve it, but that’s all I want. For all this pain and misery to have meant something.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t do it. Not to you.”

  “Not even after everything I done? Think of your sister, boy. Get angry if it helps.”

  I still couldn’t. Yes, there was part of me that was angry, part of me that hated him even, but I couldn’t just pull out Pony’s soul. The man had raised me for Christ’s sake. I owed him more than that.

  “Tell you what.” He was closer now. Hands reached out and patted down the collar of my shirt, straightening it. “You make your phone calls and sleep on it. I’ve got a few arrangements to make in the meantime. We’ll catch up tonight. How about dinner at Bubba’s?”

  I offered him a tired smile and a squeeze of the shoulder. “Sure thing, old man, as long as you let me buy.”

  “Nonsense. Might as well spend it while I can.” He grinned at me and limped back toward the house.

  I watched him walk away and tried to imagine a world where I didn’t have to ask my friends and mentors to lay down their lives to save the world, a place where faerie wars didn’t exist, and every day wasn’t just another apocalypse waiting to happen. I supposed the world had always been like that and I just didn’t know it. Pony had done his best to shield me from the worst of the magical world growing up. I owed him more than I could put into words.

  But then he’d used his power and connections to cut a deal with Lucifer Morningstar, trading Lydia’s life for his.

  We all made mistakes. I just hoped I could fix things and maybe, just maybe, the next generation of kids who grew up with magic wouldn’t have to grow up as rough as I had.

  Chapter Ten

  I called Moses first because he was a local call and set up a meeting for later that evening at Paula’s. He asked if I’d made any progress trying to figure out how to help Emma. I eyed her prone body on the sofa and told him sort of. We could discuss it in person. He agreed and hung up. Maybe seeing her old partner would help.

  I didn’t know how to get through to her other than that when I accidentally drained some of her life energy, I felt Loki’s spell unravel just a little bit. It wa
s definitely magic holding her prisoner. If I could just figure out how to undo it...

  But that had to take a back seat to our bigger problem. There’d be no point in saving Emma if I couldn’t save New Orleans from Typhon. That meant I needed all four Horsemen.

  It was late afternoon in New Orleans, which meant it was early morning in Tokyo according to the online time converter I used. Any sane person would probably still be asleep, but not War. I knew better than to think Haru would sleep in. I imagined he was the sort to get up early and go for a fifteen-mile run before meditating under a waterfall or something crazy like that. Whatever he did, it made him a certified badass. The only person I’d ever seen come close to his level of skill with the blade was Sir Foxglove.

  Wouldn’t that be a fight? I thought to myself as I dialed the international number. I could sell tickets to that one and probably make a fortune. The two of them were probably the two most skilled swordsmen alive. Good thing both were on my side.

  Unsurprisingly, Haru did not answer the phone. I didn’t have a direct line to him, but rather to the little mountaintop temple where he apparently lived. Service up there was spotty, though, so I couldn’t call him on a normal phone, either. I had to break out the satellite phone if I wanted to talk to Haru, which meant I didn’t bother very often. In fact, I’d never bothered.

  “Moshi moshi,” cawed a familiar male voice. He continued chattering on in Japanese a moment before the phone creaked, banged, and another voice cut in, this one deeper and more angry.

  The second guy apparently took the phone away from the first. “Ah, hello?”

  “Kaage-Sensei!” I really hoped I’d guessed right. The Tengu were hard to tell apart and they tended to get upset when you got them mixed up. Kaage was the more irritable one of the two I’d met before, at least I thought that’s how it went.

  The Tengu hesitated, then sighed. “No, this is Karasu-Sensei. What can the humble Tengu do for the Pale Horseman?”

  “Is Haru available? I’d really rather speak directly to him, if that’s okay.”

  There was a moment of silence on the other end. “Um, no.”

  I shifted the phone against my ear. “No? No what?”

  “No,” Karasu repeated. “It is not okay if you speak directly with Haru.”

  “Okay, why not?”

  “Word has reached us that you are in close contact with Loki, are you not? And that you have slain a god at his request. The balance has shifted, and your actions explain what’s happened.” Karsu’s voice was grave. “I am sorry, Lazarus. We bear you no ill will, but we cannot be of assistance.”

  “Wait a minute!” I shouted before he hung up and hoped I wasn’t too late. “Does the name Typhon mean anything to you?”

  “Typhon.” The Tengu whispered it like a curse. “Is this the reason for your call?”

  “Give me five minutes to explain my position. If you don’t like what I have to say, you can walk and I won’t ever contact you or Haru again.”

  “Very well, but we cannot do it now, not over the phone.”

  “How then?” I shrugged, though he couldn’t see.

  “I will send someone when I’m ready. Follow her directions and she will bring you to us.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “And Karasu, don’t take too long, okay? I’m running out of time to stop him as it is.”

  “We will take your time limit under consideration,” he confirmed and hung up.

  I sighed at the satellite phone and put it away to rub my aching eyes. Sleep called but I had one more phone call to make.

  I’d saved my call to Foxglove for last, mostly because it was the one I was least looking forward to making. Not that we didn’t get along. It was sort of a requirement of the job that a court king and his knight agree on things to some degree. But Foxglove was intense, and a hardline do-gooder. He wouldn’t approve of my teaming up with Loki’s Valkyries, even if it was to save the city.

  For the last few months, I’d had Foxglove deep in fae research, looking into spells that might undo whatever Loki had done to Emma. The last time I checked in on him, he hadn’t had any luck, but maybe I had a clue now that could help direct his research better.

  Foxglove would also want to meet in person and have me hold court to explain things. He was big on government transparency, which was fine when I wasn’t facing a deadline. I couldn’t stop to explain every little thing to everyone. Sometimes, being a monarch meant making an executive decision and sometimes it downright sucked, letting everyone all up in your business.

  I sighed and dialed him on the cell.

  He picked up on the second ring. “I’ve no updates, my king,” he said, his tone irritated.

  “I’m not calling about the research. Well, not completely.”

  “Well, then I hope you’re calling to explain why you were seen with two of Loki’s Valkyries around town early this morning. I’m getting tired of trying to keep the rumors under control.”

  I winced. Someone must’ve seen us. Yet another issue I had with being King of the Court of Miracles. Fae everywhere were watching me now, just waiting for me to screw up. My little court was the underdog of all courts, the butt of every courtly joke. They would’ve loved nothing more than for it to fold and for the uppity human who started it to go back to his pathetic life.

  Yeah, to say I wasn’t well liked was an understatement. When the fae don’t like you, they gossip about you. Endlessly.

  “About that...”

  Foxglove sighed. “Please tell me this isn’t going to turn into a PR nightmare for me and Paula to contain.”

  I counted on my fingers as I spoke. “One, technically Paula’s still part of the Shadow Court until whoever is in charge there releases her from her oaths, so she doesn’t have to do anything for me. Two, I’ve got a very good reason. Three, I think of it as an opportunity, not a detriment. How do people expect me to kill Loki if I’m not allowed to get near him or his people?”

  “I believe the concern isn’t that you may infiltrate his inner circle so much as that you’re easily influenced. He does hold the woman you love hostage.”

  I glanced up at Emma who’d just sat up, blinking slowly. Before she could turn around and spot me, I got up and shut the bedroom door. “It’s a spell, Foxglove. I touched the threads of it earlier. I’d been using a lot of magic to control some ghosts and drained my reservoir completely. She broke my circle and touched me. I...I sort of drained away some of her life by accident.”

  “You what?” Foxglove asked, incredulous.

  I ignored him. “But when I did, I felt part of the spell unravel. Not much, more like I frayed the ends of it. I think it can be undone. Question is, how can I undo it without hurting her?”

  Foxglove was silent for a moment, lost in thought. “In theory, a particularly skilled Spellweaver could remove such a spell, but the only Spellweavers I know of work for the Shadow Court.”

  That was a problem. Paula aside, the Shadow Court didn’t much care for me. I’d killed their queen, and the guy who tried to take over after she died. When Shadow launched an assault on Summer, I helped mount the defense. Because of Remy being in Faerie at the time, the end result was that hundreds of Shadow Fae died, more than the court had to spare. Now weakened, and at war with a court run by my own flesh and blood, there was no way anyone from Shadow would meet with me.

  I shook my head. “We’ll have to find another way.”

  “You could always ask Loki to undo it,” Foxglove quipped dryly, “since you’re on speaking terms now.”

  “Yeah, we’re best buds.” I rolled my eyes. “Come on. The only reason I’m working with the guy right now is because what’s coming is worse. There’s a Titan offshore, headed this way and ready to blow New Orleans off the map. Loki stupidly set it free, thinking he could control it, but it turns out that controlling a Titan of Chaos is like trying to bottle time. You just can’t do it.”

  He sighed on the other end and I imagined him leaning back, a doubtful e
xpression on his scarred face. “Let me guess. You’ve got a plan to kill it.”

  “Not kill it exactly.”

  I gave Foxglove the short version.

  He was silent for a long moment after I’d finished. “You need the life of a fae, freely given.”

  “Yeah, I don’t like it any more than you do.”

  “If you command it, it would not be within my power to decline.” His tone was careful.

  I blinked and then slapped myself in the face. “No, I don’t mean you or anyone else in our court for that matter. What kind of a king do you take me for? I wouldn’t ever just command someone to die. I’m not a monster.”

  He let out a relieved sigh. “It wouldn’t be unheard of for a monarch to do so, my king. Titania and Mab did so frequently, and even the Light Court isn’t blameless when it comes to that.”

  “But...in Faerie...”

  “Before Remy, we didn’t die often. But a monarch can draw from the power of his or her court, whether from an individual or the court as a whole. Draw too much, and we waste. Death would be kinder.”

  I filed that little bit of information away for later, though I had no intention of ever drawing power from the people in my court. Most of them weren’t even fae, but humans who just happened to be drinking at the bar that night. Half of them had no concept of what they’d signed up for except for free beers while court was in session. They were privy to the supernatural, but only on a very basic level and I did my best to keep it that way.

  “I was kind of hoping Remy would have a solution. Maybe someone in the dungeon who’d been sentenced, or something. Do you think you can get a message to her and get back before sun down?”

  Foxglove snorted. “Are the borogoves mimsy?”

  “Uh...”

  “Never mind. I suppose I shouldn’t expect a human to have any knowledge of fae ornithology. The answer is yes, my king. I will go and return before dusk settles on your lands. I assume you wish me to make a report this evening at court?”