Amber Smoke

by Kristin Cast

  “You must be gentle with this, my son. It is dear to me. It is the only one of Tartarus’s crystals that has not been tainted by the curse.” Maiden’s face remained wet with tears. “We have imbued it with the last of our realm’s magic, beauty, power, and light.”

  Alek looked down at the talisman. The soft pink crystal looked like an icicle wrapped in delicate silver thread. “I will keep it close.”

  “Remember, the power to find the Oracle and end this curse is within you,” Mother said. “But you must do it before the final pool in the Hall of Echoes drains completely. With so much evil freed, we must not be left blind to the happenings in the Mortal Realm.”

  “I am ready,” he assured her. “I will find her and put an end to this.”

  Crone covered the talisman with her hand, followed by Mother’s, then Maiden’s. Together, Mother, Maiden, and Crone spoke. “We shall see you soon, my son.”

  Seven

  Eva’s screams were outmatched by the beating of her heart. It ferociously pounded against her ribcage and filled her ears with rhythmic pulsing.

  “What do you want? You can have my keys, my wallet.” She tossed her keys, and they landed next to her clutch in the passenger seat. “I don’t have much money. Take it. I won’t tell anyone.” Her voice shook and cracked as she choked back tears.

  “I don’t want your money or your car.” He surprised her with his calm and friendly tone. “I just want to spend some time with you, Eva. You know, talk. Get to know you a little bit better.” He slid his hand along the driver’s side door until his fingers found the lock. It clicked into place, and Eva flinched with the sound. “I hear there might be a boy or two at this party that you’re interested in. But I can see why you don’t want to invest too much time in any of them. It’s just like the men of your generation to let you walk to your car alone at night.”

  Her breathing became more erratic as she spoke. “H…How do you know my name?”

  His pants scraped against the backseat as he brought himself closer to her. “I know your family very well. Intimately, actually.” The interior of her car shrunk with every word he uttered. “You know, a relationship doesn’t need to lead to marriage for it to be successful. I’ve had a lot of very successful relationships. I could give you some advice if you’re interested.”

  His voice sounded familiar, but her thoughts raced and she couldn’t place it. Instead, she focused on the image in the rearview mirror. He lunged forward. Eva’s entire body clenched, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “No, then, on the advice? Well, maybe later, after you’ve gotten a bit more comfortable.” His fingers gently combed the ends of her tangled hair. “This a new color?”

  Eva sobbed and shook her head side to side. “Please, don’t. I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “It’s okay.” His rough finger wiped at the tears streaming down her cheek. “I like it, don’t worry. It looks very natural.”

  “Please don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me.”

  “Eva, what have I done to make you think I want to harm you right now? I’ve been nice. Asked questions about your night and given you compliments. I even offered you advice. That’s a lot more than most fathers do these days. I know your father is out of the picture. I thought you’d appreciate this.”

  Thoughts flew erratically through her mind. She knew she only had a limited amount of time to free herself. Slowly and without moving the rest of her body, she walked her fingers to the window control levers on the door. She felt around for the raised edge of the door lock control pad. Without hesitation, she pushed the unlock button. With the command, all of the locks popped up as they released. Eva pulled away from her assailant and, leaning all of her weight on her car door, she tore at the handle and pushed it open. Her knee smacked the pavement as she fell sideways out of the car and onto the street. She scrambled to her feet and hobbled away from her car.

  Poorly lit office buildings lined the street, all closed for the long weekend. The road was empty of cars and foot traffic, and it seemed like miles to the lively party she’d just left. Streetlamps sparsely dotted the sidewalk, each only casting a small circular patch of light on the ground below. Downtown Tulsa had never looked so dark and dead.

  “Help!” Eva sobbed as the city she loved turned its back on her.

  The car door creaked open behind her, and his shoes hit the pavement with a soft thud. “Eva, what are you doing? Weren’t we close to reaching some kind of common ground? I may not be as hip and young as you, but I think I’m okay. Nothing to run away from, that’s for sure,” he called.

  The stiff shoes she’d taken from her mom made it impossible for her to gain any ground, and she tripped and fell to the concrete before reaching the curb. Two sets of straps came up from the sole of the shoe and wrapped around each ankle, secured in place by a small buckle. Her hands shook wildly as she dug at her feet to unclasp them, but the rigid straps only squeezed her feet tighter. “Please, please, please,” she begged before abandoning the effort to free herself from the bulky shoes.

  Gravel dug under her fingernails as she clawed the street with her hands. Fighting the stiffness and pain in her knee, she crawled forward. Small rocks bore through the thin skin of her knees, leaving behind bloody craters.

  His shoes grazed the ground with each step. The scratching sound of his soles on the street got louder as he marched closer. Her limbs shook as hope drained from her body.

  Tears dripped into her open mouth. “Somebody help me!” Her raw throat felt like it would bleed from her screams. “Please!”

  No one came to her defense. Tulsa’s vacant night remained black and still.

  “Shhh, it’s entirely too late for you to be so loud.” His thick shadow crept over her body. “Settle down. Eva, this is happening and it’s not a bad thing.”

  Her teeth chattered uncontrollably, and she clamped her mouth shut to keep from biting her tongue.

  His shoes stopped next to her, and his shadow felt heavy across her back. “Will you roll over for me? Please? It’s hard to have a conversation with the back of your head.”

  She complied and rolled to her back. His image blurred through her tears, and she blinked rapidly to clear her eyes.

  “There. That’s better, isn’t it?” He crouched down next to her and examined her knees. “They look pretty bad. We’ll have to clean them up so they don’t get infected. Don’t want you all scraped and dirty before we even get home.” He gently brushed away the gravel embedded in her knees.

  Eva kicked and felt the power of another burst of adrenaline surge through her body. “Don’t touch me!” she shrieked and flailed her arms toward the face of her hooded attacker. Desperately, she scratched and dug at whatever her fingers touched. She pulled at the fabric of his sweatshirt before he turned his face away.

  “I’m trying to help you,” he said, wrapping his hand around her swollen knee. He gripped her joint and pushed it toward the concrete. Eva let out a sharp squeal and recoiled.

  “This played out so much differently in my head,” he said with a sigh. “Can I share something with you?” His grasp tightened around her knee. “I thought we would share some kind of connection, you know? Now I feel a little foolish. But I guess that’s why you shouldn’t make up what first meetings are going to be like. They never quite live up to your expectations.”

  The muscles in the back of Eva’s knee stretched under his weight. She tightened her jaw and readied herself for the excruciating pain.

  “That’s kind of how I felt the first time I met Lori.”

  The mention of her mother flooded Eva with fear, and she forced her body to still.

  “My mom?” The words came out as tiny squeaks.

  “That’s right. I know so much about you.” He cleared his throat. “Now, what do you want to do about this little situation we’re in?”

  “I’ll stop.”

  He released his grip on her leg. “Thank you. You are everything Lori said you’d be.” The dark hid his face,
but she heard a smile in his voice. “Now, we need to get you off of this dark, dirty street and someplace safe. How does that sound?”

  Okay. She mouthed the word, but couldn’t get her voice to leave her body.

  “Excellent.” He rose to his feet and offered her his hand. “Take it. It’s not going to bite.”

  Eva pressed her back into the pavement and prayed for it to open up and swallow her whole.

  “Didn’t we sort this out? You do what I say, and I won’t make veiled threats against your mom. I think I’m being reasonable.” His shoes creaked as he crouched back down to her side.

  She nodded and gave him a shaking arm. He grabbed it around the wrist and yanked her to her feet.

  “Ahh!” She howled as pain cut through her body. “My knee.” She stood on one leg, bending the other knee to keep her weight off of it.

  “I know. Just try to fight through it. Pain builds character.”

  “I can’t,” she whispered, tears streaking her face.

  “That’s okay. It’s something that builds over time.” He crouched down, threading his arm under hers. He pulled her against his chest before bending down to scoop up her legs into his free arm. Her stomach churned, and the contents threatened to fly out of her mouth as his musky scent wafted up her nose.

  He carried her over to the passenger side of the car and grunted as he balanced her weight to unlatch the car door. The car’s dome light flashed on, and he slowly lowered her onto the passenger seat. “There’s always so much crap in girls’ cars,” he said collecting the items she’d thrown on the seat.

  With his body stretched across hers, he fastened her seatbelt. “Safety first, as they say.”

  Eva’s eyes met his. The light illuminated his face as he removed himself from the car.

  “Bill?” she croaked. Fresh tears filled her eyes with prickly heat.

  “Eh, more or less.” He brushed off the question and made sure her appendages were securely in the car before shutting the door.

  Bill climbed into the driver’s seat, fastened his seatbelt, and turned the key in the ignition.

  “Bill, why are you doing this?” Eva’s voice came out so hushed she didn’t know if he heard her.

  He adjusted the rearview mirror before he spoke. “I really didn’t think you’d be that surprised to see me. You had to know everything your ancestors did would eventually catch up with you.”

  Eva thought back to what she knew about her family. “I…I don’t understand.”

  “Eva, you can trust me. You may think you can’t, but you can. I realize how absurd it sounds, but I’m actually the good guy here.” He laughed loudly. Eva tried joining him, but it came out hollow and hoarse. “You don’t have to play the whole Midwest girl act. Better yet.” He lifted his hips and fished something out of the front pocket of his pants. “These are for you. They’ll help with any pain and make it easier for you to sleep. It is important that you remain alert tomorrow, not nodding off.” He held his hand out in front of her face. Two small blue oval pills rested in his palm.

  Eva shook her head and pushed her body into the corner between her seat and the door. “I don’t want those. I’ll be good. I promise.”

  “It’s not about you being good. It’s about you being comfortable.” He pinched the pills between the index finger and thumb of his other hand and pressed them to her tightly pursed lips. Eva grunted against the pressure of his fingers, determined to not let the pills into her mouth. Bill let out an annoyed sigh and grabbed under her cheekbones with his free thumb on one side and remaining four fingers on the other. He squeezed and pulled her face closer to the center of the car. Her body followed unwillingly. He again forced the pills against her mouth. Eva couldn’t fight his strength and her lips parted. His salty fingers pushed between her teeth and dropped the pills on her tongue. Their bitterness made her gag. He pinched closed her nose and the flesh around her lips. “Chew before you swallow, Eva. They’ll work faster that way.”

  She chewed until the pills disintegrated into a foul tasting paste. He let go of her face and Eva gasped. Bill reached into the backseat and brought back a bottle of water. One of many that Eva had left there.

  “Those probably don’t taste very good. Here, wash them down. You should start to feel better very soon.” A smile sliced his face. Eva averted her eyes and leaned her head on the passenger window.

  The car pulled onto the street as she watched her reflection in the side mirror. The pills took hold, and her body felt like heavy mush. She pictured herself giving up, dissolving into a puddle of despair, and splashing onto the floorboard. She tried to combat the cloudiness cloaking her thoughts.

  What has my family done? What have I done to deserve this? No answers appeared, and Eva let the passing white street lines lull her to sleep.

  Eight

  Alek’s heart fluttered with excitement as his mothers filled the talisman with enough energy for a round trip journey to the Mortal Realm and, hopefully, enough time while there to fulfill his mission. He took a deep, calming inhale and readied himself for transportation. If only landing his body was as simple as locating the nearest runway. During his training, he hadn’t quite figured out how to make any of his arrivals exact, something his pride wouldn’t allow him to reveal to his mothers. They repeatedly told him the key was concentration, and that he must allow his entire being to fill with thoughts of his destination. Unfortunately, fantasies of battle and locking up the evil he had trained to destroy always seeped through, clouding his focus at the last moment.

  “I cannot allow anything to shift my focus.” His jaw clenched with determination. “Eva, Eva. My thoughts are with Eva.” He let his voice fade to a whisper, repeating his mantra on an internal loop. The air crackled around him as the heaviness of his mothers’ hands and the firmness of the ground below his feet began to fade.

  His extremities tingled with anticipation. This is where your true journey begins. You will succeed, and your home will be restored.

  His heartbeat quickened as warm air encircled his body and pinpricks of electricity popped off his skin. All of Tartarus’s escaped evil will learn to fear you as one by one they are destroyed and sent back to their cells to rot. He clenched and unclenched his fists.

  The force of him tearing through to the Mortal Realm electrified the air of his new surroundings. Like a comet, he burned through the cushion protecting one realm from the next. The space around him illuminated and forced its way through his closed eyelids.

  His hand flew to his talisman. “Eva!” he shouted, trying to force his destination back on track.

  Metal slammed into his back. The impact forced the air out of his lungs and made his vision spin.

  “Fuck me,” he croaked. Chunks of glass snuck into his pants as he hefted his butt out of a destroyed sunroof. He rolled out of the large crater and over the mangled metal. “I fucking hate cars,” he mumbled, flopping to the pavement. Glass and pieces of plastic dug into his back.

  He caught his breath and hefted himself off of the ground. He brushed beads of glass from his hair and studied the perimeter for bystanders. The night remained still, and he walked briskly away from the totaled sedan.

  “David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center?” The white stone sign loomed at the edge of the parking lot. “Criminal Justice Center? Why would Eva be here?” He wrinkled his brow and brushed more debris from his shoulders. “I did this. Thinking of my coming victory instead of focusing on the task at hand.” Anger swelled in his chest. “Think, Alek. You have been given the tools to find her, now do it.”

  He clasped the talisman and mindlessly rubbed his thumb over its smooth silver thread. “Tartarus and the Mortal Realm are depending on you.”

  Trust yourself. Mother’s words snaked into his thoughts. Let the new power inside you be your guide. It will search for the new Oracle. He calmed and relaxed into her guidance. You must only trust yourself.

  “Thank you, Mother,” he whispered before tucking the amulet into hi
s shirt.

  He focused on the new power tickling his lungs. “Eva, find Eva. Find the Oracle. She is your true master.” Pain bit at his chest as the magic swirling in his body roared to life. “Lead me to her.”

  The power surged with an aching ferocity, pulling him down empty streets until he reached a set of large glass doors. An awning stretched overhead with the words Ambassador Hotel written in thin swooping letters.

  “This looks more promising than David L. Moss,” Alek muttered to himself. He stepped through the open doors and followed signs pointing him to the guest services desk. His time in the Mortal Realm thus far had taught him that people who stood behind desks usually had some answers, and ideally were the ones he sought.

  “Hi, welcome to the Ambassador Hotel. Are you checking in?” The petite woman standing behind the counter asked with a pleasant smile.

  “No, I am here to find a woman.”

  The attendant’s smile faded. “Sir, I don’t think I can help you. We’re not that kind of establishment.”

  “Oh. Wait, no. That’s not what I meant.” Alek blushed. “I know the woman I’m looking for. Her name is Eva. I am almost certain she is here.”

  The clerk put up her pale hand, signaling for him to stop. “I’m sorry, but I still can’t help you. I’m not allowed to give out guests’ room numbers. If you know the full name her reservation is under, I can call the room for you. But it is after two thirty in the morning. Unless she’s with the party that moved up to the fourth floor, I don’t think she’ll be awake to answer.”

  “The party?” Alek swallowed against the heat in his chest.

  “Yes. A few students from the university bought out the restaurant. There was a new deejay. And lots of drinking.” She frowned and scrunched her tiny nose like she smelled something unpleasant. “It was all very loud.”

  “I’ll go to the fourth floor and make sure she’s not there. How do I…?” He pointed to the ceiling.