Summoned to Die

by C L Walker

  We left him there, confused but active. He was trying to convince the village that they had to leave.

  Another angel approached us when we stopped beside a waterfall. She was going to die as well and I made her fall.

  We picked up more and more as we went, refugees from a war that hadn’t happened yet, but that they knew would. By the time we reached the plains heaven with the fish-people status we had over a hundred hollow men in tow.

  A plan had begun to form in my head, daring and stupid, and unlikely to work. But it was something, and if we weren’t going to fight back then we might as well give up.

  I stepped through the gate and arrived on earth, expecting to see the empty lot. Instead I was in a building and men had rifles aimed at me.

  “Ah, crap,” I said.

  Nothing was ever simple.

  Chapter 19

  I hadn’t brought anyone with me, in case something was waiting. I stepped back before any of the men could act.

  “Trouble?” Bec said.

  She was better, her emotions falling away as we got closer to earth. She still jumped when something unexpected happened, and when she thought I wouldn’t notice she gave me the strangest looks, but she wasn’t lashing out and she wasn’t smiling. She was getting closer to normal.

  “Some,” I said. “There’s a building on the lot now, and some very angry soldiers waiting for us.”

  “A lot of things changed while you were away,” she replied.

  “It would have been nice if someone had warned me.”

  “Surprise,” she said. The ghost of a smile grew on her lips, but it was gone quickly. “Just kill them all and let’s get out of here.”

  I shouldn’t have been surprised by her behavior; it was what I’d learned to expect from her. She had no trouble with me killing the men waiting on the far side because it was the quickest way for her to get what she wanted. It was how Bec was, and even as her suggestion dismayed me it was nice to see her getting back to normal.

  “I think I’ll find another way.”

  I collected some blood from the hollow men and powered the tattoos. They were happy to help, happy to do anything as long as it gave them guidance.

  “We’re going over,” I told Bec and Roman. “I’ll protect us and we’ll work out how to escape. Is there anything else I should know about, before we get there?”

  “No,” Bec said. “I think that about covers it.”

  I took their hands and had the tattoos prepare a shield. I took us through the gate and the shield sprang to life.

  “Freeze,” the lead soldier said. “Get down on the floor.”

  I knew the layout of the lot, where the next building started and where the street was. I raised my hand and launched a lance of pure magic at the wall behind us. It exploded, rocking the building and sending everyone else to ground.

  “Shall we?” I said, helping Bec up as Roman scrambled to his feet. We stepped through the hole into the open night air. Cars drove by on the other side of the large wall a few feet away.

  I picked them up, one under each arm. Roman fought me instinctively but Bec accepted it. I had the tattoos form a protective shield around them and then sped up, running at the wall faster than anyone watching could have hoped to follow.

  I leapt over the wall, landed in the street, and kept running. The cars were frozen in place, the pedestrians stuck in whatever pose they’d been in when I sped up. I was moving faster than usual, unsure what other threats might be waiting for us.

  Two blocks away and there still wasn’t anything to see, so I ran into an alley and slowed down. The world started moving around us again. Roman staggered away but Bec held onto me a moment longer before taking a step back.

  “That was cool,” she said, her eyes wide, trying to take in the whole world at once.

  “I have my moments,” I replied. “Did you keep the clothes?”

  She looked down, away, anywhere but at me. My heart sank as I contemplated doing what I had to without the power of Ohm’s blood to help me.

  “You threw them away?”

  “No,” she replied, still not looking at me. “They’re in ACDCs, but these army types are camped out there.”

  “That’s no problem,” I said. “We can take care of them.” She still wouldn’t look at me and it was starting to make me worried. “What is it?”

  She sighed and stomped her foot, then forced her eyes to meet mine.

  “I’m sorry I locked you away,” she said softly. She put her hand on my arm. “It was the right thing to do at the time. I thought so, anyway. I regretted it immediately.”

  “You’ve already apologized,” I said. I didn’t say I’d accepted her apology, but with Bec it shouldn’t have mattered.

  “I know, but while I’ve got all these feelings I thought I should say it again. I won’t feel it later.”

  “You felt it in the facility,” I replied. “You already told me, and you told me before someone messed with your emotions.”

  She smiled and it lit up her face. “You’re right. You’re completely right. I meant it then, too. I’m awesome.”

  “And she’s back,” I said.

  “This is really cute,” Roman said. “But I’d like to get back to my life, if possible.”

  “Then we have to take care of Erindis,” I said. “I’ve got a plan but I need the blood I stored with Bec. You don’t have to come with, but I think you should.”

  “Do you think they know who I am? The soldiers?”

  I liked the hedge-mage. I always had. He was honest and reliable when he wasn’t the victim of mind control. It didn’t hurt that his wild hair made me laugh.

  “Maybe,” I said. “Do you want to risk it?”

  “Bugger,” he replied.

  We walked to the bar, taking as many back roads as possible. I’d seen the coverage Doctor Keith had from street cameras and I knew they’d be on the lookout for us. If we stuck to the shadows and kept our heads down I hoped we could avoid them until we got to the bar.

  “I’d like to know what happened after I was gone,” I said to them as we crossed an empty street.

  “After I locked you away,” Bec said, proud of herself. “For which I am legitimately sorry.”

  “Yes, I get it. You’re really sorry.” I checked the street ahead of us before letting them use the sidewalk. “Now, I’d really like to know what’s going on.”

  They told me the story.

  In response to what I’d done trying to take out Bannon, Keith and his men had rolled into town. They’d tracked my movements and worked out all the hotspots; ACDCs, the lot, Bannon’s headquarters, and even the vampire court. They’d moved in and taken everyone involved.

  “But your lovely wife was sneaking around the city too,” Roman said. He was out of shape and the fast pace had him breathing heavily.

  “I don’t think she’s that nice looking,” Bec said.

  Erindis had been sighted a few times before the soldiers came in, hanging out with the dregs of the Chaos gang. Bec guessed that once they were all picked up Erindis realized the only way she was getting the locket was to get picked up herself, and then get rescued when she had what she wanted.

  She had an army but she wanted to be stealthy, and with Peter on her side she knew she could escape with ease. She’d pled her case to Doctor Keith and the rest was history.

  “Can she do what she says she can?” I asked. I hoped he’d say no, that it was insane to even attempt it, but I knew it wouldn’t matter.

  “No idea,” Roman said. “I know she’s been right about everything she asked me to do, except on the timeline. She thought she’d be done long before now.”

  “Why would Chaos follow her?” I said. “They were controlled by Bannon, same as you guys. Once he was gone they should have just gone back to their lives.”

  “Don’t know,” Bec said. “Don’t care, either. Hey, here’s something cool: I can kind of turn my emotions on and off. I wonder how long that will last.”<
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  We arrived at the alley ACDCs was on. There were no soldiers waiting for us, none of Keith’s minions ready to capture us when we stepped into sight. There were, however, nearly twenty vampires standing outside the door, leaning against walls and watching the night.

  I had the others hang back while I moved into view. I was still powered enough to deal with a score of vampires, if it came to it.

  “What are you all doing here?” I said, amplifying my voice a little to intimidate them.

  Artem stepped out of the group and lifted his hands in the air. “We’re guarding it, waiting for your return.”

  “Then let’s get inside,” Bec said, barging past me and pushing vampires out of the way to get to her bar.

  “Why are you here?” I said. “Really?”

  “Because we don’t know what to do,” the king of the vampires said. “We were hoping you did.”

  “I have a plan,” I said softly. “But I don’t think you’re all going to like it.”

  Chapter 20

  The vampires crowded into the small bar, but we took Artem to the back room. It was tiny, but he’d been there before and he knew what to expect.

  “I heard you broke out of the government holding place,” Artem said. He was tall and pale, with long black hair and a heavy black coat. He was a stereotype of a mysterious vampire, and he’d carefully cultivated the image.

  “We did,” I said.

  Bec sat on the bed in the small room and Roman sat in the chair before the desk, drinking coffee from the bar. That left little room for Artem and me, but we made it work.

  “Did you know about the place?” Bec said. “And, follow-up question, if you knew about it why didn’t you break everyone out?”

  “As far as I knew my people vanished,” the king said. “Until they returned and told me what was going on I was none the wiser.”

  “What do you need?” I said.

  “Yeah,” Bec added. “I’d like to know how long you’ve been standing out there.”

  “Every night for a week. Since you broke out and disappeared.”

  “It must be something important,” I said. “For you to wait that long.”

  “We’ve got nowhere else to go.” He looked at each of us, as though gauging his levels of trust. “Between Chaos and Section Thirteen, the streets aren’t safe for us.”

  Chaos was a street gang that had worshipped Bannon, the same man Erindis had stripped of his tattoos.

  “Section Thirteen is the government?” I said. He nodded. “They’re running you out of the city?”

  “They’re rounding us up and taking us somewhere. And if it isn’t them then it’s Chaos, who are still kicking around. Except now their leader is somebody else and they shoot on sight. The witches are in hiding because of the soldiers looking for supernatural types, but I’d almost welcome their help at this point.”

  “Where is Ashe?” I asked. Ashe was his second in command, or enemy, depending on the day of the week.

  “They got her the first week they rolled into town. I was hoping she’d turn up when the others did, but they’ve taken her somewhere else.”

  He didn’t seem alarmed by it, which surprised me. Then again, his entire image was an illusion; he just hadn’t wanted to portray anxiety about her.

  “So what do you want me to do?” I said. “You should get the witches on your side and fight back. Better yet, form a council or something and stop this sort of thing happening in the first place. Between you, you’ve got the power.”

  “That’s a lovely idea,” he said sarcastically. “I’ll get right on that. In the meantime I have barely enough people to monitor the streets, let alone fight back. And we’re losing people every day.”

  “And you want me to fix this for you?”

  He looked at his feet and shook his head. “I’ll owe you one.”

  “You already owe me at least one,” I replied. He looked up, ready to argue. “I fixed your rebel problem for you and I made a dent in Chaos. They’ve come back but that isn’t my fault. And I made you king in the first place.”

  “Say that louder so everyone outside can hear.” He lowered his voice. “They’ve really only just accepted me. I don’t need you getting them talking again.”

  “Fine, you made yourself king. In the meantime I think you owe me at least two, at this point.”

  “Then I’ll owe you another one.”

  “I can’t fight your war for you,” I said. “I can’t fight my own war. A big problem is heading this way and I need to do something to stop it.”

  “Let me help you with that, then,” he said.

  “I don’t think I need your help with it. I’ll give you a call if I do.”

  “Alright,” Bec said, standing and putting herself between us. “You, tall dark and bitey, are going to help Agmundr with whatever he needs, because it’s in your best interests to do so. Trust me on this. And you, tall…stubborn…and something, are going to help Artem, because it’ll mean a safer place for everyone, and less trouble if that wife of yours makes it to the gate.”

  I wanted to argue, but I could see the value in an army of vampires waiting for Erindis if she came through the gate to earth. I had a solution in mind, but she’d beaten me every other time I already had a solution ready to go. It might pay to have a backup plan.

  Then again, what I actually planned on doing next was going to take a lot of my time, and in the end I wouldn’t be available to help out.

  “I don’t know if I can,” I said. “I don’t know if I want to.”

  “I have spoken,” Bec said. “You might have favors coming out your ass from Artem, but I’d say you owe me a few big ones.”

  “I saved your life,” I said. “Twice.”

  “And it wouldn’t be in danger if not for you in the first place.”

  “You returned me.”

  “I said sorry for that.” She put her hand on my chest and looked up at me, fluttering her eyelashes inexpertly. “Remember how awesome I was?”

  She was back to normal, it seemed.

  “What do you need me to do?” I said to Artem, seeing as how I wasn’t getting a say in the decision.

  “Kill everyone,” he said.

  Roman spluttered, choking on his coffee. I just shook my head.

  Artem continued. “Don’t pretend it isn’t something you’re willing to do. I’ve seen the Chaos headquarters and the mess you left behind. I know you’re capable and willing.”

  “I’m not going to kill everyone. I’m not going to kill anyone.”

  “Then find some other way,” he said, showing his frustration. There was some anger there, as well. “You brought this on us. Everything has gone to shit since you turned up.”

  And there it was, the true reason he was here. Not for a favor, but for me to fix what I’d broken. And I couldn’t argue with him either. He was right; I had brought the danger to Fairbridge.

  “I can deal with Erindis, and that will probably deal with Chaos.” I took Bec’s hand off my chest. “But I can’t do anything about the government. Once everything else is taken care of then they’ll probably go away by themselves.”

  “Probably isn’t good enough,” Artem said.

  I yelled, putting some magic in it to make sure he heard me.

  “This isn’t my problem.”

  I was done with the vampire. I had bigger problems to deal with. The world had bigger problems to deal with than a vampire king without a kingdom.

  I focused on Bec. “Do you know what’ll happen if I don’t get started taking care of Erindis? Do you know the damage she’ll do?”

  “I know,” she replied slowly.

  “Then stop bugging me about this.”

  Now none of them were looking at me and I could feel the fear in the room. I understood it, too; when I got angry buildings got torn apart.

  “Listen,” I said carefully. “I’ve got to speak to Nikolette. I’ll mention that you could use some help with things.”

  “
I don’t need a witch helping me,” he snapped immediately.

  “Then you’re getting nothing.” I stared him down. The tattoos were charged enough that I could punch a hole in him to steal the power I needed to fight him. He couldn’t scare me.

  He glared at me for almost a minute, and I gave him the time. He had no choice.

  “Fine,” he said. “I’ll work with her if she is willing.”

  “Great,” I said, clapping my hands together. “Then it’s settled. Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to take care of some things. Bec, where are the clothes?”

  She had a secret chamber beneath the single bed in the room. She crawled on the floor, removed its cover and brought out the clothes.

  “You didn’t cover them?” I said. She hadn’t wrapped them in plastic or put them in a bag. She hadn’t done anything to take care of them.

  I took them from her hands and the tattoos practically leapt off my skin to get to them.

  “The blood is still wet,” Bec said. She wasn’t disgusted by it. She wasn’t anything.

  The tattoos absorbed all the power they could. It was like being electrocuted again, except every shock that ran through my body meant I was invincible. With the power of Ohm’s blood I had closed the gates to the heavens and hells. With it I had killed all the gods and destroyed armies.

  With it, I hoped I could do what I had never done before.

  “So,” Bec said. “What’s your plan to get rid of the little lady?”

  “I don’t think I should tell you,” I said.

  “Why? Is it gross? Because I really don’t like that bitch, so if it’s gross I’m on board.”

  “No.”

  I didn’t want to tell them, didn’t think it was a good idea. But they had a right to know, and I was going to need their help to make it happen so they’d find out anyway.

  “I…I’m going to kill myself.”

  Chapter 21

  Artem supplied a car that could get us across the city without being spotted. It was parked in the alley and Roman and I slipped into the back. The vampire driver knew where we were going and got on with it.