[M__M 03] Misery Loves Company

by Tracey Martin

  “Hi, is this Jessica Moore?”

  The voice was vaguely familiar. “Yes. Is this Shawna?”

  “Yes. Yes, it is.” Her voice sounded higher than I remembered. Taut. Like she was scared shitless.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, fine, yeah. You said to call if I could think of anything, and I did. It’s just…wow, this is kind of scary, you know? I’ve been thinking about what you said about those other vanity addicts, and I’m freaked out.”

  I closed my eyes, steadying my breathing. I needed to project calm so she held it together, but damn. I needed her information. “Okay, just relax. What do you know? Anything you tell me is going to help keep you out of danger. I’m at Gryphon headquarters. If you know the names of the people involved, we can head out immediately.”

  That wasn’t exactly truthful, but we could do something. I’d call Bridget the moment I got off the phone with Shawna.

  “I’d rather not talk on the phone, you know? Could you come here, to me? I have questions too, and I’d feel safer doing this in person.”

  I grimaced, not liking how long the travel would take. But then, I’d made a good start on my research task. I could afford to follow leads on Eric’s case. “Okay, sure.”

  “Alone?”

  “If that’s what you want.” I had no one with me anyway.

  “It is. It’s just, you know, I feel like an idiot about this whole addiction thing, and talking in front of Gryphons…” Her voice trailed off in a nervous laugh.

  Hence why Bridget hadn’t wanted to send Gryphons to the support group meeting. “Yeah, sure. Give me the address. I can leave now.”

  Shawna gave me an address in one of the outlying towns, and I hung up. After looking up the directions, I sent Bridget a text to let her know I was following up on a lead, and headed out.

  Gunthra and her Vessels were going to have to wait a little longer.

  Shawna lived on a quiet street about half an hour outside the Greater Boston urban sprawl. I found her house easily and parked my Dragon’sWing next to a sign by her driveway that advertised her yoga studio. Without the rumble of the motorcycle’s engine, the air was eerily peaceful.

  The street dead-ended at an elementary school, which throughout the summer had a playground doubling as a park. Kids shouted as they raced across a baseball diamond. I tore my attention away from them and traipsed past the white farmhouse to the carriage house in the back. Shawna had said she’d be in her studio stretching because it kept her calm.

  I knocked once on the large door, and no one answered. Noticing it was slightly ajar, I pushed it open. The hinges creaked, and the scent of sandalwood incense wafted outside.

  “Shawna?” I stepped in and discovered an enormous and airy space. Part of one wall had been hung with mirrors, but the ceiling was high and open. Another temporary wall divided the room, and a desk stood in front of it, as did a stereo that was playing relaxing music.

  Shawna herself sat on one of the mats by the mirror doing some pose that required her to touch her toes. Her chest rose and fell with peaceful breathing, but she made no move to acknowledge me.

  “Shawna?” Annoyance colored my voice, and I spoke louder. She might be meditating or whatever, but she wasn’t deaf, and she’d asked me to drive all the way out here.

  When she didn’t answer a second time, suspicion cooled my blood. Shawna had sounded one breath from a heart attack on the phone, but this did not seem like the reaction of a scared woman.

  Now it was my turn to get worried, and I swore silently at my stupidity as suspicion hardened into certainty. She’d lured me out here, and I’d walked into a trap.

  With one hand, I reached for my knife. With my other, I took out my phone.

  Still, nothing happened. Maybe I was being paranoid, but so what? I’d call for Gryphon reinforcements. Just in case. Every sense on alert, I adjusted my grip on my knife so I could bring up the Gryphons’ phone number.

  That was when they struck.

  Sylphs, at least three of them. They were white-and-silver blurs in my vision, decked out in some serious charms to make them move so fast. Before I could finish dialing, the phone flew from my hand. I swore again, not so silently this time.

  One of the sylphs went for my knife, but I managed to maintain my grip. Ducking as a pale object streaked by me, I swung out my arms and slashed at anything within my vicinity. Someone cursed. All at once the blurs formed into people.

  There were three as I’d first guessed, a woman and two men, although with sylphs it could often be hard to tell the difference. They circled around me at a safe distance. None appeared willing to get too close, although they were armed as well.

  Blood rushed by my ears. Three on one—not good odds, especially when they had speed charms. The only point in my favor was that the sylphs had seen Misery’s black blade and were wary of it. But dragon shit on toast—I’d been tricked by a sylph. My opinion of my intelligence took a hard blow.

  I swallowed, regathering my wits before they had a chance to regroup. “What did you do to Shawna? Is she a ghoul?”

  The taller of the two men gave me a deranged smile. He stood closer than the others, but the knife he held was longer than Misery, as was his reach. “She served her purpose and is being punished for her insolence.”

  “Which was what? Why try to get me here?”

  He raised a perfectly formed eyebrow. “To see if you’d come. Assym told you to leave this Gryphon business alone. When he found out Shawna had spoken to you, he decided to test you. See if you would take his advice.”

  Great. Just what the world needed. Sylphs that were growing brains. “So I’m here. What does Assym expect, a trophy for you to take back and prove it? None of you seem eager to get any closer.”

  I spun slowly in place as I spoke, trying to get a better bearing on my surroundings. Eventually the sylphs were going to remember they had the upper hand and attack again. One knife versus three, and all that. I needed something else to defend myself with, but the carriage house held no promises. The walls were bare and the floor empty.

  “You’re going to drop the knife and come with us,” the sylph said. “We’re taking you back to Shadowtown.”

  “Um, no. You want the knife, you’re going to have to pry it from my hand.” I backed my way into the wall opposite of the mirrors and adjusted my stance. Now they would all have to attack from the same side, and unless they moved together, there was a good chance I’d get in a couple hits first, even with their charms. We were far from Shadowtown, and they’d be in deep shit if they hadn’t brought anything with them to stop the bleeding. Those wounds wouldn’t clot on their own.

  The sylphs, on the other hand, wouldn’t want to kill me because Assym wanted me alive. They’d have to be careful not to do too much damage.

  This realization didn’t even the odds, but it made me feel a bit more confident. Judging by the sylphs’ faces and their reluctance to attack, they’d had the same thoughts. I hoped like hell that my less-than-cowed reaction was pissing them off. Angry people made dumb mistakes.

  The sylphs glanced at each other. How soon until the tall one ordered the others to disarm me? It didn’t look like anyone was willing to volunteer.

  “I can make you drop it,” the tall sylph said.

  I bent my knees, keeping loose. “I’m trembling. So have at it, or are you afraid you’ll damage me too much for Assym?”

  Drop the knife.

  The words slipped through me, cool and sharp, like taking an icicle to the brain. Chilly hands seemed to wrap themselves around my chest, constricting me. Since they were too wary to attack me physically, the tall sylph was attempting a magical assault instead.

  Do it. Listen to me. Make this easy on yourself. You can’t fight three of us, and you can’t fight Assym. You know it, Jessica. Cooperate and you won’t get hurt. Y
ou need us.

  My muscles clenched. Every instinct screamed at me to fight, to throw off this sylph’s hold on my soul. I could do it too. In spite of the insecurities the sylph fed into my head, I was stronger. I had more resistance than they’d be expecting because I wasn’t human.

  Get… But I cut myself off even as I prepared to throw all my willpower at the sylph.

  I didn’t need to release his stranglehold on me. I could use him. Use his power. Maybe he knew where to find the sylphs who’d fled the other day, or which goblin had attacked Eric. But to find out, I needed to let him in completely so I could take control.

  Breathing heavily, I sank to my knees, cold with terror. I could do this. I’d done it before, but I so did not like the idea of doing it again.

  Above me, the sylph grinned, sensing my will collapsing, and his icy, magical fingers probed what was left of my resistance. I closed my eyes, struggling with my own revulsion at letting him forge a bond with me.

  “Assym wants her,” the female sylph hissed. “You can’t have her.”

  “I’ll release her to him when we get back. She’ll be easier to deal with this way.” The sylph lowered his blade, returning his attention to me. “Won’t you? Be good, and put down the knife.”

  My grip tightened on the handle, but only for a moment. Listen. Obey. Let him in.

  This wasn’t like when the red-eyed fury had made a play for me. His power had been strong and hot. The power washing over me now was cool and steady. Then, I’d been hurt and badly. I’d also been filled with rage. Giving in had been easy because my body had wanted nothing more than relief from the pain and an outlet for my vengeance.

  This time, my body rebelled. There was no pain relief in this sylph’s touch, only humiliation. But if I could do what the sylph asked, that would be enough. I would open myself to his power completely, and that was what I needed, loathsome as it was.

  My hand trembled, but I set the knife on the mat.

  Good, weak little human.

  The act of obedience blew open our connection. The bond between us formed and solidified. As I had the first time, I could see it in my mind’s eye, a circuit of glowing power between us.

  I reached out with my will and grabbed at the connection.

  As I raised my head, the sylph shuddered, but whether from the force of my pull or the shock, I didn’t know.

  More—that was all I understood. I needed more.

  I yanked harder on his power, and the circuit changed direction. Cool and forceful, the magic poured into me and over me like the wind. Hair lifted off my neck, and my pores tingled. I let it fill me, propelling me to my feet, and that was all I could do to keep from raising my arms and throwing my head back in delight. I was caught in a windstorm, carried above everything by a glorious gust of sheer power.

  I was a goddess, and the three sylphs in front of me gawked, immobile with panic. Unbidden, laughter bubbled up from my lips. I barely felt my body move as I reached down and picked up my knife. It was as though my head—my soul—was disconnected from the rest of me. It was almost too much.

  Yet the sylph didn’t break our bond like Red-eye had. With Red-eye, my burst of power had been put to immediate use and then cut. For whatever reason, the sylph was too stupid or too in shock to release me. I was going to burst as a result unless I did something to expel this energy.

  So I struck. Physical activity had worked last time. I hoped it would again.

  The female sylph scrambled away as I snatched at her arm, and she dropped her knife. By the time I kicked it away, her male counterpart had recovered his wits. Bewildered, he lunged for me with his weapon, and I dodged easily. His speed charm was nothing to the magic that I controlled. He seemed to move so slowly, so clumsily. One swipe of my arm and he flew back several feet. He landed with a cry, and the woman shrieked.

  “What the hell happened? What did she do?”

  I ignored them. They weren’t a threat any longer, and I pushed the sylph who’d addicted me in the chest. “Where are the sylphs who attacked their addicts? Who has Shawna’s soul? Which goblins are you working with?”

  The sylph’s jaw worked, but no words left him.

  “Answer me.”

  “Cut her loose,” the woman yelled at him.

  “Answer me!” My voice echoed off the ceiling like a burst of thunder, but he still didn’t respond.

  Shit. Had I taken too much power from him, or was he in some kind of magical shock? I didn’t know how to control this.

  The woman yelled his name and ran over to shake him.

  I grabbed her arm. “Answer my questions.”

  She clawed at me, so I sheathed Misery and snagged her other arm too. It was ridiculous how weak and insignificant she felt in my hands. I could snap her in two on a whim. “I don’t know,” she whispered.

  Annoyed, I tossed her toward the other male. She landed on her side with a thud. Retrieving Misery from my sheath, I advanced on her, but a flash of white flew by in my peripheral vision. She screamed.

  I gasped as my connection to the first sylph shattered. Power drained away in an instant, leaving me lightheaded and swaying on my feet. I felt its remains crackling over my skin, but I was empty inside—a sad and hollow letdown that made me think of a junkie coming off a high.

  Then Misery slipped in my grasp, and I snapped back into myself. Danger. Without the connection, I was only Jess again. But as I spun around to face the sylphs, two of them dashed out of the barn in another blur. The door slammed in their breeze.

  I let them go and focused on the sylph who’d addicted me. He remained on his knees, unmoving with his back to me. As I took a cautious step forward, he fell over. His head landed at an unnatural angle, and the mat began to pool with blood. So much blood.

  That’s why the connection had broken. The other male sylph must have had a salamander fire-forged blade and slit his friend’s throat.

  Clasping a hand to my mouth, I stumbled backward until I found my phone. Luckily, it had landed on a mat so it wasn’t damaged, and I finished dialing the Gryphons before I got sick.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  My simple quest to ask Shawna questions turned into hours of post-sylph murder cleanup. The Gryphons, including Bridget, had arrived with alacrity, but I had a lot of explaining to do.

  The easy but unfortunate parts related to Shawna. The dead sylph, on the other hand—that was complicated. No one truly doubted me when I said I hadn’t killed him. Why would I deny it? The Gryphons wouldn’t care, not much. As long as I claimed he’d attacked me, they’d call it justified self-defense.

  I should have done that, but I hadn’t been thinking clearly. Upset over Shawna and disturbed over what Assym’s next move would be, I’d failed to think through my explanation. The Gryphons knew I had freaky magic, so I’d forgotten they weren’t aware of the extent of its freakiness. They didn’t know I could reverse a pred-addict bond, and I wasn’t ready to tell them.

  I rested my head on my knees, sitting on the warm grass by the carriage house. No longer could I hear children playing on the school grounds. Only Gryphon voices filled the air. They’d cordoned off the area.

  Bridget squatted next to me. “Jess, you really need to be clearer about why that sylph is dead.”

  “I told you. One of the other sylphs killed him because he was doing something stupid and they were scared.” I brushed dirt off my jeans and stood. “I’m not sure I should say anything else until I talk this over with Agent Kassin.”

  “I thought you didn’t like him.”

  “I don’t.”

  And yet, here I was using him as an excuse. It was the least he could do for me. Hell, he might even thank me for not spilling my guts about what had actually happened. My entire existence had been concocted in secrecy, after all. Surely, the extent of my power was part of that. Not that I would be pleased
for Tom to find out about it, but realistically, that had been bound to happen. I couldn’t avoid him forever, and I owed him a conversation.

  Bridget smoothed the wrinkles from her shirt. “Fine. He’s due back soon, and we’ve got enough issues with the case at hand for me to worry about. But once this report is filed, you know the director is going to have questions about your nonanswers.”

  Ugh. No doubt. “Won’t be the first time I piss off Olivia.”

  The sound of a car pulling into the driveway ended our conversation.

  “That must be Shawna’s family,” Bridget said.

  Peachy. It sucked being a bearer of bad news, but since I’d known Shawna—however barely and briefly—I felt responsible for telling her family what had transpired.

  It was late afternoon by the time I was ready to leave, and as happy as I was to get out of the way, returning to Shadowtown was not an appealing thought. Why, oh why, had I chosen to live around so many people who hated me? My only consolation was that the two sylphs who’d gotten away had seen what I’d done to their friend. Maybe Assym would also be scared and keep his distance.

  Yeah. And salamanders might spit water.

  To top it off, I’d lost hours upon hours of research time, and my head was in no place to return to dusty books.

  I rode straight home, parked my bike and went to The Lair. It would be busy by now and only getting busier, but I wasn’t ready to return to my research, and I sure didn’t feel comfortable being home alone. Besides, I’d texted Lucen to let him know what had happened, and I wanted to talk it over. More than that, I wanted to stay at his place tonight.

  Paulius was behind the bar, as was usual on a Saturday, but I didn’t see Lucen. Sauntering over, I waved to catch the bartender’s attention.

  He came over a minute later. “Lucen’s not back yet if you’re looking for him.”

  “Not back yet? Where is he?”

  “He left you a message. He told Dezzi what happened to you with the sylphs, and she called him and a few other people together to discuss the situation. I don’t know what they’re up to, but he left about thirty minutes ago, and I don’t expect he’s going to be back for a while because he called in help to cover his shift.”