Minutes to Midnight

by Phaedra Weldon

  I shifted in the tight space. "You know me?"

  "Yeah. You're Darren McConnell. You…you were the Wraith's boyfriend."

  I half expected who ever this was to say I was Rhonda's lover—which I apparently had been. But not… No one other than Nona had actually come right out and told me Zoë and I had been lovers. "You met me when I was with Zoë?"

  "I was your doctor."

  "My doctor?"

  "Yeah…when you were in that vegetative state. When parts of the book went missing because of your Familiar."

  I stared in the dark at her shadow. I…what? "Miss…I…what vegetative state? What…what did my Familiar do?" The curious part of me, the part that was desperate to fill in the lost year, wanted to question her more. It wanted to shake her for answers to things she had. But the survival side of me—the one listening to the noises outside—suggested there would be a better time for this. Like…later.

  Then a beat later I thought, because of my Familiar? What the hell does that mean? Parts of the book went missing?

  Ripp'n Jack the Lamia roared outside and smashed something with his pipe.

  She gasped. "You really don't remember, do you? I heard the rumor—before I left the Society. Was it what she did to you, or what the Angel did?"

  I pulled my arm again, but she kept a firm grip. "Can you let go? You're cutting off the circulation."

  "I wish I could. I really do." She cleared her throat. "Can you tell me? Was it her?"

  "Her?"

  "Rhonda. The reason you can't remember?"

  "No. It was the Angel. She wiped an entire year away. I can't even remember Rhonda. Well I remember her and I remember Zoë. It's just my memory of them cuts off when they helped me at the bar with the Shadow People."

  "Wow. That explains a lot, really."

  Rippin' Jack made a large noise outside the mausoleum so we both crowded around the small window. I could just see him near the archway, still whacking at things with his pipe.

  "Look," I said as I tried one more time to pull my wrist away from her. "You used to work for the Society. Okay I get that. But what are you doing here?"

  "I got…I got another job, so to speak. It sounded like a good one, you know? Great pay, and I got to spend time with someone I used to…admire. But then it all just sort of…fell apart."

  I looked away from the window and saw her profile in the shadows. "I'm sorry. I really am. But right now, worrying about a bad choice or a bad job isn't going to get us away from that crazy Djin."

  "No. I think if we just let it burn up its host, it'll eventually tire itself out."

  "But won't the Djin just jump into another Lamia?"

  "There aren't anymore. That's the last one." She turned to face me. More shadows. "She hates you, you know. But she still loves you too. In fact, she won't let anyone else love her."

  I narrowed my eyes and held out my right hand in the darkness. "Who hates and loves me?"

  "She does."

  "She…who?"

  There was a pause as Ripp'n Jack beat some other piece of concrete to a dusty pulp outside.

  "My maker."

  I ignited the spell I'd had in my head into my right hand. A small light appeared, no bigger than a marble. It lifted up until it was even with her face.

  Her eyes caught my attention first. They were pale colored, her pupils black dots in the center. Her skin was smooth under the harsh light from my tiny sun. I didn't recognize her. But I wasn't surprised either. I really didn't remember anyone from the Society of Ishmael.

  What I did recognize were the blood stains along her thick lips. Most of her lower lip was shredded and it looked as if she'd done the damage herself by chewing on it. Hard.

  I realized in that instant I was sitting in a mausoleum with the Ghoul we wanted to find.

  My instant reaction was to pull away. But she held onto my wrist like a vice and grabbed at my throat with her other hand and pinned me to the door. The light fell and went out. "Sshh. I don't what him to find us."

  I tried to respond and once again, I couldn't. What was it with women trying to choke me?

  She eased her hold on my neck but didn't let go. "Just a little pressure, Darren, and I can render you unconscious."

  I licked my lips as I swallowed. "So…what was your name?"

  "Lucy Mullhaly."

  I nodded. "And you were turned into a Ghoul by a Revenant. I'm assuming this wasn't one of Mephistopheles's friends?"

  "No."

  "Does this Revenant have a name?"

  She took a deep breath and whispered, "Charybdis."

  My jaw fell. The first time I'd heard that name was when Hob told us about her, before Mike, Sam and I traveled to Alfheim.

  There is a truly mad queen that rules this world. She is known as Charybdis.

  I'd stiffened because the name sounded like a Revenant. "Hob, is she a Faerie?"

  I don't know. But I do not believe they were born here. Their lands are far from Alfheim and they do not wander into the business of the Faerie.

  "The Queen of the 'Pheral."

  Lucy jerked a little, as if surprised. "You…you do know of her?"

  "I've heard of her. But I don't understand why she would hate me and love me. I don't even know her. But I can pretty much assume she's not from the Abysmal." I tried to move but she tightened her grip. "Please…can't you let go of me? So you're a Ghoul. You haven't tried to bite me, so I'm assuming you can't. And it explains how you know Ripp'n Jack's got the last of the Lamias because you made them."

  She nodded but she still didn't let go.

  "So…" I listened to the bashing outside for a second. "If you and Ripp'n Jack are working for the same Revenant, then why are we hiding in here? Why did you pull me away from him?"

  Lucky leaned in close and I realized where the smell was coming from. Her ripped lips were starting to decay. "I do not obey the same master as that vile creature. My maker doesn't like him."

  "So…your Revenant didn't use the bodies your Lamias made to create an Earth Banishing pentagram?"

  "Yes. She did."

  I had to rethink a second. We'd all been moving on the idea the Djin and the Revenant were working as a team.

  But they weren't. Same goal, different employers. And both of them wanted me.

  "So Lucy…" I shifted again but her grip was pretty firm. "What do you plan to do once Ripp'n Jack runs out of steam—or if he does?"

  "Take you to my maker. She's waiting in the Peripheral for you. And there she will keep you, until you go mad. And once mad, she believes you will take your place beside her."

  I stared at her shadow. Okay. I was so not going to stick around here. My odds with Ripp'n Jack were much better.

  "Please don't hate me, Darren McConnell. But she took my kids. She threatened them if I didn't drink from her and create those abominations. And if I bring you to her…" I couldn't see her face but I knew she was smiling. "She'll let me see my kids. She promised she'd make me human again and give them back to me. I just….I just want my son and daughter back, Mr. McConnell. Please…"

  I knew Lucy would never be human again. Nick Shay, Jason's Ghoul, had explained that much to me. Once the transformation was complete, a Ghoul's soul was locked to their body until the truth death took them, either from decapitation or by fire. If Lucy's maker ever denied her blood, Lucy would go mad. And from the look of her lower lip, I was assuming that had already happened. Her maker was using her, toying with her, torturing her.

  And as for her children…I was pretty sure they were already dead.

  No matter how much I wanted to help her, I wasn't going to go quietly back into the Peripheral for some crazy ass Queen. No…I'd already dealt with one of those with Maab.

  I asked the book for an answer. Any kind of answer. I could burn her where she sat, but the smoke would suffocate me in the small space. And the bright light might grab Ripp'n Jack's attention. I needed something quieter.

  Subtler.

  The book
stirred in my chest before I saw it in my mind's eye. The pages flipped and rested and I looked down. I saw the words but didn't really understand how that would help. I didn't want to say them, but the same force that wielded the sword now moved my tongue.

  "Ana essuti sabatu anna abnu."

  Reorganize unto stone.

  Lucy gasped just before it happened. The power took her quick and she released her hold long enough for me to get free and scramble away as far as I could, which was only a foot or so. I heard the crack and crunch of stones being pressed beneath a truck tire. With a quick word I threw the small marble of light back up and slapped my hands over my mouth.

  Lucy's transformation was half finished when I realized what I'd done. Her skin, her eyes, her hair, her arms—even her tattered lip—hardened and cracked as it became stone. And not just any stone. It looked as if the spell gathered up the natural elements around it as her color grew more gray and she stopped moving.

  When it was all done and the sounds of crushed gravel stopped, Lucy Mullhaly was nothing more than a stone statue of a woman reaching out into the darkness for children she would never see again.

  What…the hell…had I done?

  THE ART OF THE DEAL

  I got out of the mausoleum as fast as I could and kept low. I crept along the side of the area where Rippin' Jack was making a big-ass mess. I hated to see what the groundskeeper was going to make of this in the morning and I didn't want to think what the family buried in that mausoleum was going to go through when they saw the new stone addition on the floor.

  The sight of Lucy reaching out was going to haunt me for a while. Something nagged in the back of my brain about what I'd done. Some part of my conscience wasn't happy. It was ashamed. And afraid of the power and the potential of the Grimoire, something I was just starting to understand.

  I waited for the lumbering and quickly rotting zombie to slow down. Rippin' Jack's overshadowing was taking a toll on the zombie's body, faster than I think it would have happened normally. Most of the neck skin and muscle was gone now. It hadn't fallen off like a regular zombie. It looked like it was burning away. From the inside. Which explained the aroma of fried chicken in the air.

  I regretted not asking Lucy if she'd seen Mike or Raven. Seeing Raven's boot by the bones filled me with dread. If she was dead, then what had happened to Mike? Was he trapped in the Peripheral with Stella? I made a quick plan in my head. It was stupid and far fetched, but I figured if I could get into the Peripheral, I could find them and we could find Hob. If we got back through that Cairn, we wouldn't suffer any sickness.

  Right?

  It was time to get this over with.

  "Hey! Rippin' Jack! You wanna calm your ass down?"

  The zombie stopped in mid-swing—or, rather, he stopped swinging at his intended target even though his body followed through. He looked around in the darkness. "Guardian!"

  "You just stop with the pipe. We need to talk."

  "We have a hire, you paid your price. But your hire can't be fulfilled until I fulfill the one now!" He sounded frustrated, angry. And I guess I would be too if freedom was right in front of me but unattainable because of someone else. Here he'd thought if he captured me, he would be free. Then the object of his hire tasks him again.

  It sorta sucked ass.

  "I know. And you have to deliver me in irons to the first hire. What if…as part of my hire, I'll give myself up to you after you tell me who hired you."

  "Oh no, no. Confidentially was required when she paid with my name. The same would go for you. No one else will know what you task me with—only you haven't tasked me yet."

  "Do I do that now?" He was right—I'd paid the fee by using his name, but I never gave him the job.

  Ripp'n Jack lowered his pipe and stood still. "You could. But I can't accept it now if it conflicts with my present job."

  Meaning I can't ask him to set me free. I can only do that after I'm delivered, and I figured he'd be long gone by then. I was going to have to get creative. I wiped at my forehead with the back of my right forearm. April wasn't usually too hot in southern Georgia, but when I added my nervousness and terror, it generated a bit of heat. I was sweating bullets. No, not bullets: bazooka rounds. "As far as you've told me, your hire with your boss only includes delivering me. Did they tell you to kidnap Stella Rosenberg?"

  He paused, his head tilted to the side as if he were listening to voices. "No, I wasn't told to take her. It was a suggestion."

  "From your boss?"

  "Yes. They suggested taking Stella to lure you out. But you know that."

  That was true. I did. "Was it your idea or your boss's idea to take Mike or Raven?" I was going on the assumption the bones next to Raven's shoes weren't hers, but someone else's.

  He leaned his head to the side. "It was mine."

  Okay. Good. "So, if you think about it, Stella's freedom, Mike's freedom, and Raven's freedom aren't subject to your present job. Those kidnappings were decisions you made because you weren't ordered to." Come on, pea-brain…put it together.

  Abruptly he reached out and put a hand on the half-broken cross tombstone. "You're right. Freeing them is my decision."

  "Right. So, if I ask you to make sure all three of them get out of the Peripheral by way of the Maab's Cairn, you'll do it as my task for you."

  "Why through a Faerie Cairn?"

  I didn't want to give that bit of information up just yet. "That information's not up for grabs, and since Maab's not there anymore, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

  "Right, right…" He laughed. I didn't like the sound of it. "I see what you're doing. And I like it, Guardian. You've taught me something."

  What did that mean? My heart pounded. Teaching a Djin wasn't in the plan.

  "So my decision is this." He moved to the arch and stepped through, suddenly disappearing as if walking into an invisible rip.

  Huh. I remained in my hidey place and waited a few minutes. When I didn't hear anything other than the distant traffic and a catbird's call, I stepped around the azalea I'd been kneeling behind.

  Abruptly the portal shimmered and Rippin' Jack in his zombie suit reappeared. I heard the clink of heavy metal before I saw the oxidized iron manacles in his hands. He dropped them on the ground in front of the cross. "You can see these, Guardian. I know where you're hiding. And because you've shown me how easy words can be manipulated, I'm going to weave the two hires together." He laughed.

  Crap. I think I just taught him the art of the deal.

  "So, what I propose is that you put those on and I take you in so you can see me free your friends. And once they're in the Cairn, our deal is finished."

  I realized I'd screwed up. I don't know why I thought I'd avoid going into the Peripheral but I had. I knew when I stepped over that threshold Gabriel would know it. And she would hurt Zoë. I didn't want this. I so didn't want any of this.

  "I need to make a phone call," I said as I neared the columns where Ripp'n Jack stood.

  "You think you can call for help?"

  "No, I'm calling someone to make sure you get them through the Cairn to the other side. I'm making it a part of my deal with you. If they don't walk out of there alive and healthy, you have to spend an eternity in Queen Maab's dungeons."

  I didn't really think me tacking that on at the end would hold. But it did. I could see it in his rotting face. His jaw worked back and forth—I could see his tongue through the open skin. Finally he nodded. "Fine. That's part of the deal. They will be alive and healthy."

  Even as I dialed the number I worried about the way the deal was worded and tried to come up with a loop hole he might worm through. But, regardless, I had no intention of staying in the Peripheral. If he screwed me over, I'd make it my life's work to hunt him down and lock him in a four in by four inch box until the end of the world.

  And the scary part was…I already knew the spell to do that.

  The beep came on Jason's voice mail. "Jason, it's Dags. Look, do me a f
avor and check on Zoë for me, okay? Just make sure nothing happens to her for the next few days. I'll call and explain when I can." I disconnected and dialed another number. After voicemail picked up, I left a quick message and shoved the phone back into my pocket.

  When I looked around, Ripp'n Jack wasn't there. I approached the arch and stood in front of it. I took in a deep breath and started forward as I heard Rippin' Jack burp directly behind me just before I felt the bite of iron chains loop around my neck.

  FRESH MEAT

  The transition into the Peripheral this time wasn't as smooth and dramatic as it had been that morning in the alley between the two pubs when I faced Ripp'n Jack's first host.

  What really made this little trip even less graceful was my less-than-agile fall forward when my feet tangled in the chains manacled to my ankles. That, and Rippin' Jack pushed me. When my shoulder smacked painfully against something hard and cold and not the dirt and grass of Bonaventure, I took a look around. We were long gone from the cemetery. We weren't even in the haunted woods from before. A regal hallway of slick obsidian-black stone stretched out in front of me, and then behind us. I got a good look at the shimmering gate we came through as my captor pulled me up by the chain fastened to the collar around my neck.

  "Guardian's not so graceful, is he?"

  Truth was, the moment the chains touched my skin my energy level plummeted. It was like being in that cage in Jack's basement all over again. I'd really thought I felt bad because of the drug he'd used. Now I knew it was the iron. Iron did this to Faeries…not me! I wasn't a Faerie! What in the hell had Brendi done to me by making me taste that foul bitch's blood?

  "Not when he's trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey," I muttered as he righted me and I found my feet again.

  The collar had a long chain he kept hold of. My wrists were bound in manacles behind me with a short chain between them, and my ankles were similarly treated. The chain connecting them was maybe twice as long as the one between my wrists, but still not long enough for me to make a run for it. Thus, the trip into the 'Pheral.