by S. M. Boyce
A dagger appeared in her hand, made from the same brass-like metal as her shield. A few clockwork cogs were embedded within the glistening hilt, and the elegant blade curved toward its tip. It was cool to the touch like a river rock, and its appearance derailed her completely.
Shit, this is new.
Her concentration lost, the dagger disappeared, and a hailstorm of fire crashed into her. She sailed back, skin singed by the flames, and landed hard against a parked car. Its alarm went off, adding yet another note to the chaos. She slid to the ground, nursing her arm as the world tilted around her. She tried to stand, but it was as if everything shifted to the left each time she tried. She fell against another car, head throbbing.
Everything that followed was a blur. Someone grabbed her. A car door slammed shut. An engine roared to life, and somewhere in the midst were sirens. Screeching tires. A man’s familiar voice cursing loudly. And then, finally, nothing but the soft sound of a pop song playing on the radio.
Victoria could barely think. She wanted so badly to shake off the wounds, to shake off whatever had happened to her. She wanted—
“Holy. Shit.” Audrey's voice.
“What? What is it?” Victoria said, slurring.
“Your arms, Victoria! What the hell is happening to your arms?”
Vision starting to clear, Victoria stared down at her arms. They were almost black as soot, burned and charred by the flames. Blisters covered the skin like boils, but she couldn’t feel a thing. As she watched, the dark soot began to lighten to her normal skin tone. The blisters faded, smoothing away until her familiar skin covered her arm, not a scar in sight.
As the burns disappeared from her body, the ringing in her ears faded. It was as if her body had reset, returned to normal. Within a few minutes she sat up straight, bones cracking and realigning in her back. One popped into place at the base of her neck, sending a delightful shiver down her spine.
She flipped down the passenger seat visor and studied herself in the mirror. She looked good as new, save for the singed clothes on her otherwise perfectly healthy body.
Gaping, she just stared at Audrey, not altogether understanding what had just happened. Someone blared their horn, and Audrey corrected the car, arms locked and shoulders tense as she stared out the front windshield and drove through the Seattle suburb.
“We got lucky, Victoria,” Audrey said.
“What are you talking about? We lost him.”
“We lost—are you kidding me? I nearly lost you!” Audrey shouted, knuckles white from her grip on the wheel.
Victoria leaned back, surprised at Audrey’s tone, and she didn’t know what to say.
Tears filled Audrey’s eyes. “I thought… When that fire hit you, I thought…I really thought I’d lost my best friend, Victoria. Whatever this thing in you is, we don’t understand it. You can’t control it. And you cannot go after this guy again until you can.”
Victoria frowned. “Don’t you dare tell me what I can and can’t do!”
“Listen to yourself! You’re being an absolute idiot!”
“Hey, we didn’t die.”
“Victoria!”
Victoria groaned and stared out the window, not wanting to look at Audrey. As houses whizzed by a bit too quickly for a back road, her mind cleared. Guilt slowly piled onto her shoulders, weighing on her heart.
That had truly been reckless.
“I’m sorry, Audrey. I wasn’t thinking.”
“No, you fucking weren’t.”
Victoria rolled her eyes. “I already said sorry, Ma.”
Audrey grumbled nonsensically for a moment before raising her voice loud enough to hear. “We should get the hell out of this city.”
“What? But he’s here! I just need to practice. I’ll get the hang of it. I’ll—”
“No! Come on, V. I hadn’t seen this guy before, so I didn’t know any better. He’s deadly. He’s a killer, and he wants you. And probably me. He didn’t look very happy when I shot him.”
Victoria smirked victoriously. “Serves him right.”
“Look, V, I don't think we should attack him again until we know more about what's really going on,” Audrey said quietly.
Victoria grimaced.
Audrey smacked her palm on the wheel. “I’m serious. We need to get to Fairhaven. We need to find this Folly fellow and figure out what it is your parents discovered. We need information, not an attack plan. Not yet.”
Victoria sank into her seat and crossed her arms, staring out the window as she scowled. She couldn’t deny how badly their asses had been whupped back there in the parking lot. The more she thought about it and the more she stared at her now-healed hands, the more she had to agree. This was too much to process at once, and Luak had far more experience with magic and this world of Oriceran than either of them. They needed answers and information before they went after him again.
Armed with nothing but her hatred, some crystals, and a weird-ass magical artifact Victoria didn’t understand, they would find Fairhaven. Luak’s days were numbered…
…as soon as Victoria could figure out how the hell to kill him.
Chapter 6
About four hours after the incident outside the bank, Audrey reclined the passenger seat of her car and set her sock-clad feet on the dash. The warm summer day filtered through the sedan’s open windows as they cruised on the southbound I-5 freeway. She was grateful Victoria had been willing to listen to reason. Now, a few hours and a supplies trip later, they had already put fifty miles between them and the psycho killer stalking Victoria.
Hopefully.
Victoria drove, one elbow on the driver-side door as she rested her head against her fist. She stared through the windshield, head bobbing a little bit to the slow and catchy song on the radio. This moment, right here, was the antidote to everything they had experienced thus far. Peace. Quiet. A luxurious moment of calm.
It was great to see her friend happy, if only for a brief window of time.
Audrey glanced through the back window at the empty road behind them as they sped toward Olympia, Washington. Their hometown had long ago disappeared over the horizon. And after the day Audrey had had, good fucking riddance.
Her stomach rumbled. “Hey, you want to stop for Mexican in a bit?”
“And have to deal with you farting for an hour after? No thanks.”
“Mean. So mean.”
Victoria chuckled.
Audrey tapped a drum solo against her door, humming along with the vaguely familiar song on the radio. She recognized the chorus, but that was about it.
Unfortunately, only the letter from Mr. and Mrs. Brie and the bag of crystals had survived Luak's attack. It meant they didn't have the directions to Fairhaven anymore, and that spelled trouble. Thankfully, Victoria had scribbled what little she could remember from her scan of the spiral notebook on the back of the letter. It wasn't much, but it would work.
Hopefully.
Funny, Audrey was usually the jackass, not the optimistic one.
Still humming, Audrey tilted her head ever so slightly to look at a passing sign and caught the vague gray silhouette of someone in her backseat in her peripheral vision. She screamed, turning in her seat to find a man with skin as white as the lines in the road beneath them. He had pointed ears not unlike Luak's, and long blond hair fell like silk threads over his shoulders. He slumped in her backseat, legs spread as he examined his nails.
Audrey, on impulse, grabbed one of the full water bottles under her feet and threw it at him. He didn't flinch, didn't even move. It sailed straight through him, rebounding off the backseat cushion.
Victoria slammed on the brakes. The car skidded, wheels screeching, drifting a bit as she slowed to a stop on the empty highway. She spun, unbuckling her seatbelt as she put some distance between her and the stranger who had appeared so suddenly in the car with them.
“Who the hell are you?” Victoria cocked her arm as if ready to throw a punch.
Audrey gestu
red at the strange man in her backseat. “What, you think you can punch him? Did you not see the water bottle sail right through him?”
“Yeah, I missed that. I was busy not driving off the road.”
“Can the sarcasm, V. This magic shit is freaking me out!”
“It’s not like I—”
“Carry on. Don’t mind me,” he interrupted.
Audrey hesitated, and Victoria lowered her arm as they both studied him. He took a deep breath and let out a long, slow sigh, never taking his eyes off the windshield.
“Who are you?” Victoria repeated.
“I'm really quite harmless. My name is Shiloh, and I'm connected to that,” without looking away from his nails, he pointed toward the blade embedded in her arm.
Victoria frowned, rubbing the dagger with her thumb unconsciously as he spoke. “What do you mean?”
“I go where you go. I see what you see. I’m connected to you, and you to me.”
Audrey frowned. “What are you, a freaking ghost poet?”
Victoria shushed her and returned her attention to Shiloh. “You’re connected to this thing? What is it?”
“Does it matter? You'll probably die soon, just like all the others.”
“Hey!” Audrey shouted.
Shiloh shrugged and looked out the backseat window. “Just my luck, too. Not a big fan of people, and yet I meet so many.”
Audrey looked at Victoria, shrugging her shoulders a bit as they did the thing where they could talk without speaking. What the hell is up with this guy?
Victoria scoffed and rolled her eyes. Hell if I know.
Audrey nodded subtly toward him. Think he’s dangerous?
Victoria hesitated, eyeing the bored man. She pursed her lips, eyebrows raised. I have no fucking clue.
Audrey sighed.
Their moment of panic gone, he did in fact seem fairly harmless. Altogether useless, but harmless. Audrey sank back into her seat, tilting a bit toward the front windshield but never letting Shiloh out of her sight. He continued to sulk, chin almost to his chest as he sat in silence.
Victoria slumped in her seat and tugged her seatbelt back on, shifting the car into drive and slowly accelerating again. They drove in silence with only the music to keep them company, its steady rhythm pumping through the speakers. Every now and then Audrey would look behind her, and she caught Victoria doing the same.
“I don't like this song,” Shiloh said, lying down and stretching out across the backseat as though he owned the car. He set his feet by one of the windows, ankles crossed.
For a second, no one did anything. Then, slowly, Victoria changed the station. A heavy metal song came on, the vocalist screaming as the drummer banged out a solo. Shiloh began to gently bob his head, always out of tempo.
Victoria and Audrey glanced at each other, and Audrey couldn't help herself. She laughed.
One magical artifact fused with her best friend? Check. One psycho serial killer on their tail? Check. One weird-as-hell ghost-elf haunting their car?
Why the fuck not?
Chapter 7
Toward the end of the first day of driving, Victoria pulled into a gas station so they could refuel both their car and their stomachs. It was important not to stay long in one place, at least not now.
Audrey hopped out of the car and whipped out a debit card. “I got this, V. Can you find us some food?”
“None for me,” Shiloh said in the backseat.
Victoria flinched, and Audrey jumped at the voice. They both stared at the ghost in their backseat, then shared a fleeting glance as Audrey rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I figured, Legolas.”
“My name is Shiloh, human girl. Get it right,” he said, cheek resting on his fist as he stared into the dark sky.
Victoria shook her head, biting back a grin. “Thanks for handling the gas, Audrey.”
As she stepped out of the car, Victoria's skin crawled with discomfort and the vulnerable sensation of being watched. Her eyes scanned the rest stop, taking in every detail she could. Blue sedan parked by the door. Two people in the cabin, plus one kid in the back seat, judging by the small head. The only other car was a beat-up green SUV tucked out of sight in the back corner by the dumpster, probably an employee’s based on its location. Inside, only two silhouettes meandered the aisles. No one waited at the cash register.
The hairs on her neck stood on end, and she gritted her teeth harder with every step she took toward the store. Nothing new. Ever since she had seen Shiloh in the back seat and learned that there was a ghost—or whatever—attached to this strange thing shoved all up in her arm, she felt as if someone were standing over her shoulder and watching her every move.
It screwed with her mind, not to mention her nerves.
She entered, a blast of air conditioning hitting her in the face as a bell jingled. Rows of Twinkies, beer, and power drinks led the way toward the blue restroom sign hanging in the back of the store. She needed to wash her face and take care of some of the sweat sticking to her from a day on the road.
As she pushed open the ladies’ room door and surveyed the scene, she couldn’t help but sigh with relief. Empty. Two stalls. One sink. Red light flashing on an empty paper towel dispenser. The door slammed shut behind her, and she locked it to give herself some privacy. Palms on the filthy counter, she leaned against the sink and stared at her reflection in the foggy mirror.
Same honey-colored skin. Same green eyes. Same pale-pink lips. And yet, she felt like a different person. She examined her arm, still safely hidden by her long-sleeved shirt, and fanned the sweat still clinging to her neck. She gingerly lifted the sleeve to study the relic that had given her these strange powers. The metal tendrils of the dagger’s hilt were fused seamlessly with her skin to the point where she almost couldn’t tell where one started and the other began. She noticed a few twinkling jewels embedded in the brass, something she hadn't registered before. Rubies, from the look of it. Strangest of all, the hilt had four gaps in it that showed the linoleum floor clear through her arm. No blood. No bone. Nothing. Just open space.
No wonder her dad had always worn long sleeves. This thing freaked her right the hell out.
A stabbing sensation burst through her chest at the thought of her dad, at the thought of him on the living room floor, burning with the house. She gritted her teeth, both enraged and horrified. All at once, she wanted to both hide and kill.
The shield appeared, cutting through the sink and taking her to her knees with its weight. Water spewed into the bathroom from the broken faucet, hitting her square in the face. She blubbered, trying her best to breathe as she fought to wrench the heavy shield from the floor. Instead, she fell hard on her ass, cursing all the while.
Once again, the shield disappeared as quickly as it had come as soon as she lost her focus. She sat in a puddle of water in a gas station bathroom, a stream of water hitting her in the face. Hands guarding her eyes, she crawled toward the water turnoff valve at the base of the sink and twisted the knob. The torrent ebbed, and she spit out water as she heaved for air.
She surveyed the damage. Half an inch of water slowly drained into the dip in the floor by the first toilet stall. Shards of the porcelain sink littered the bathroom, a hefty chunk resting in the far corner. Little black specks of who-knew-what floated in the makeshift lake she had created, and she studied her hands in disgust.
Her cheeks burned with anger. She needed to figure out how to control this thing, how to—
The shield appeared again, cutting through the pipe just below the water turnoff. The water blasted her in a relentless stream all over again. She cussed as loudly as she could, choking again on the water, hands out to shield herself.
Faintly, she heard Shiloh sigh.
***
The gas handled, Audrey perused the cookie aisle as she waited for Victoria to finish up in the restroom. She faced her toughest dilemma of the day: snickerdoodles or chocolate chip?
The squelching smack of wet sneakers on a hard
surface caught her attention. She pulled herself away from the cookies just as Victoria, head held high, emerged from the bathroom and headed down the next aisle as if she weren't dripping wet. Her long-sleeved shirt clung to her body, hair sticking to her face like strands of spaghetti as she sucked in a deep breath.
A slow smile spread across Audrey's face before she could help herself. She gave her friend a once-over, wondering what the hell had happened. But before she could say anything, Victoria stopped in front of the clerk and grabbed one of the pens by the register. She scribbled something and handed him the paper. “Send me the bill.”
With that, Victoria passed through the front doors and into the night, the clerk's gaze following her deliberate movements. His jaw slowly dropped, and he snapped his head toward the back bathrooms.
Oops, that was Audrey's cue. Time to go. She tossed the cookies back onto the stand and hurried outside. They could find food somewhere else.
Jogging across the gas station lot, Audrey hopped into the passenger seat as Victoria plopped into the driver’s side, still dripping. She stared straight ahead, turning the car on as if nothing were wrong.
“You, uh, want to share with the class?” Audrey grinned.
Victoria hesitated, shivering a little. “I'm fine.”
“She broke the sink because she can't control that shield,” Shiloh said.
Audrey and Victoria flinched at the same time, both tilting their heads toward the ghost as he once again appeared without warning. In her surprise, it took a second for Audrey to fully process what he had said.
When she did, she burst out laughing.
“Shut up,” Victoria said softly, but she chuckled. They caught each other's eyes, their giggling intensifying the longer neither of them spoke. Audrey brushed away the tears in her eyes, core hurting from the laughter.
“Hey, you!” a man shouted, his voice muffled by the closed windows.
