He was grateful when Emily said something, and Hayley pulled the van over to the side of the road. Alex hurried out of the van, forewarned by the internet and braced for the cold.
The internet had not mentioned the wind, which turned his jacket into a fluttering sail at the first opportunity. They were standing amid green fields, beneath a sky so uniformly grey that they could have been back in Central. The sea loomed large on Alex’s right side; a fenced manor house imposed itself on the gentle landscape, standing like a sentinel between them and the ocean. The house was surrounded by a stone wall crowned with clusters of razor-like protrusions, punctuated with cameras.
It all hardly seemed necessary to Alex, given the location.
The house was old, and seemed short to Alex, given how wide it was, no more than two stories but extending for what seemed to Alex to be a city block in a nearly perfect rectangle. It was made of fresh-stained wood and prehistoric rock and showed a history of expansion, the southern wing uncomfortably modern in comparison to the English-style manor to which it was attached. There was a gate, and behind the gate there was a fountain filled with murky, still water. Alex could see at least one black car through the gate, but the driveway was wide and there was presumably a garage, so it was impossible to estimate the estate’s population.
To Alex, the place looked big enough to hold a hundred people, and he felt his stomach turn over at the thought of what they were about to do.
“Maybe we should have apported directly after all,” Emily said, surveying the muddy track ahead of them gloomily. “It’s a bit of a mess, isn’t it?”
Leigh shrugged and started off.
“Chandi told you not to wear shoes you liked,” the vampire said. “You didn’t listen, did you?”
“No,” Emily said, glancing down at her tapered riding boots. “I did not.”
“I should have listened to Chandi,” Eerie said, looking sadly at her neon sneakers. “They are doomed.”
“I got you,” Alex said, bending down in front of her. “Hop up.”
Eerie hesitated for such a brief interval that an observer would have been forgiven for thinking she had not hesitated at all.
She was only a little heavier than he expected, but Alex was clever enough not to remark on it. He leaned forward slightly and put his hands beneath her thighs, she wrapped her legs around his waist and put her arms loosely around his neck, and then started down the road, his shoes squelching in the black mud with each step.
It was not exactly easy going, but Alex was careful not to so much as breathe hard.
He slid his hands back a little bit, so that they cupped her butt. Eerie giggled and squeezed him with her legs.
“Hey,” Alex said, an idea striking him. “Did you plan this?”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“You must have known about the mud, right? You should have known not to wear anything you liked.”
“I, uh, I maybe kinda knew,” Eerie admitted quietly. “A little.”
“Then why…?”
“I wanted you to carry me,” Eerie said. “It always happens in your cartoons.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Alex laughed. “I never noticed.”
“I watched them all, and I noticed everything,” Eerie said. “I took notes.”
“I sort of wish you hadn’t done that.”
“Do you wish that I hadn’t watched the perverted ones?”
“Yeah,” Alex admitted, his cheeks hot despite the cold wind that abused them. “That’s it.”
“I wasn’t bothered. I think being interested in that sort of thing is normal.”
“I wish you didn’t feel like you needed to try so hard,” Alex said. “You can just be yourself.”
“How can I? That person does not exist,” Eerie said. “Do I have to get down now?”
“No, you’re fine,” Alex said, shifting her weight slightly. “I don’t mind at all. Is it what you hoped for?”
Eerie leaned her cheek against his shoulder while she thought about it.
“The carrying is actually sort of uncomfortable,” she admitted. “The offer, though, was very cool.”
“Is it that uncomfortable? I can set you down…”
“No, it’s okay,” Eerie said. “It’s not bad, and anyway, I seriously don’t want to ruin these shoes.”
He carried her down the lane, ploddingly steadily through the mud and steering around puddles. The land on either side was fenced off, but looked to be planted with nothing but grass, which grew lush and long. Hayley waited for them about halfway to the manor, leaning against the fence and looking up at the mountains, her back to the sea.
“Why are you carrying her?” Hayley gave them a puzzled look. “Is she hurt?”
“She’s fine,” Alex said. “You can ask her yourself, you know.”
“Yes.” Hayley matched his slow pace. “I know.”
Hayley said nothing as they plodded toward the manor.
“What’s wrong?” Alex adjusted Eerie’s position on his back. “Why are you here, anyway? You told me you wouldn’t help. You said you had to report to your parents.”
“Emily asked me to come,” Hayley said, turning away. “I don’t want to talk about my family.”
“That’s all? She asked, and you just decided to help out?”
“I’ve helped the Rescue Alex from the Outer Dark Club before,” Hayley said. “It’s not that strange.”
“You’re an Auditor, though.”
“So are you. Right?”
“I don’t know,” Alex said. “I haven’t decided.”
“Make up your damn mind,” Hayley said. “This isn’t a good time to be wishy-washy.”
“I know.”
“Just be glad I’m here,” Hayley suggested. “You’ll need the help.”
“Oh,” Alex said. “Thanks, I guess.”
No one said another word until they got to the gate, where Emily and the rest waited.
“They must know we are here,” Emily said, smiling like that was good news. “I suppose that makes the next play theirs.”
“They better make it soon,” Leigh said, impatient and vastly underdressed. “I don’t feel like standing outside all day.”
“They will,” Emily assured them. “Any moment now.”
The gate rumbled open, moving so slowly that it seemed reluctant to admit them.
Gaul and Lóa Thule waited for them in front of the house, standing not far from the silent fountain, flanked by a pair of grim-looking retainers in plain suits and sunglasses. Hope Loring sat on the front steps to the manor with a cup of tea, a pink cardigan pulled tight around her shoulders, and gave them a little wave as they entered.
Gaul looked the worse for the wear, with bandages around his head and a sickly pallor, but Lóa appeared to be in even rougher shape. Her slightly swollen head was wrapped with her own set of bandages, but she had added a pair of aluminum crutches to the ensemble.
“This is that club I’ve been telling you about, Uncle,” Lóa said. “They have the most ridiculous and adorable name…”
“It is not ridiculous,” Eerie said. “Just a little outdated.”
“Welcome to my home,” Gaul said, with an air of total indifference. “May I invite you inside?”
“This isn’t a social visit,” Emily said. “We have a question.”
Gaul looked back at Hope sharply, but she just shrugged.
“I had expected that you had come for my head,” Gaul said. “I admit that this is a surprise. I’m frankly intrigued. What is it that you want to ask?”
Emily nodded to Eerie, who took a deep breath and then stepped forward.
“You know a way to deal with the Church of Sleep,” Eerie proclaimed. “Not the one that I know already, either. A different one, that maybe only you know. I’m not sure about that last part, actually, but I’m pretty sure that the first part is true.”
“I don’t believe that I know anything you don’t about the Church,” Gaul said, th
e gentleness in his voice meriting a look of surprise from Lóa. “Isn’t that why you arranged this? Isn’t that what Mr. Warner was intended for from the start?”
“Not that way. The other way,” Eerie said, folding her arms. “The secret way that only you know. We’ve always gotten along, haven’t we? You were scary, but you were also nice. I cooperated with all your tests, didn’t I? Even though I knew what you were doing, I still did everything you asked me to, because you were nice. Can’t we get along still?”
Gaul adjusted his glasses.
Against every expectation, he laughed. It was a dry sound akin to the rustling of leaves, only just audible, but there it was. Lóa stared in amazement while their servants shifted uncomfortably.
“You have always been a favorite of mine, Eerie, so I don’t mind telling you,” Gaul said fondly. “I’m not certain that it is such a secret, however, and I doubt very much that I am the only one to whom the idea has occurred.”
Eerie gave him her best glare, which was entirely ineffectual, and waited.
“Mr. Warner and his unique abilities would still be crucial, of course,” Gaul said, giving him a nod of recognition that made Alex instantly nervous. “You intended him to take your place with the Church, I assume, but I believe that there might be another method. In your time in the Outer Dark, Eerie, you must have witnessed the reaction that occurs when Ether comes into direct contact with the Outer Dark.”
“Yes,” Eerie said. “It burns and becomes black mist.”
“This is all theoretical, but I’m relatively confident that, if the Church were to be somehow transported into the Ether, that would create a reaction dramatic enough to displace the Church,” Gaul explained, reverting to the voice he had used in the classroom. “It would badly disrupt the Ether, obviously, but it might be enough to temporarily delay the Church’s manifestation.”
Everyone stared. Gaul coughed apologetically.
“You want Alex to open a breach to the Ether big enough to swallow the Church,” Eerie said. “Wouldn’t that destroy Central?”
“I did say that it was dangerous, didn’t I? I have not been idly interfering in your plans, Eerie, I am attempting to prevent you from inviting disaster,” Gaul protested. “That said, despite my reservations, I think the reaction would be local. Central, or at least most of it, would survive.”
“You said temporary,” Emily said. “What sort of time would this buy us?”
“Long enough for your purposes,” Gaul replied. “A century or two, perhaps.”
“That won’t happen in vacuum,” Hayley said. “What will happen to the Ether, and Central, if that was done, Gaul? What would happen to the world?”
“They would all be impacted to various degrees. It is impossible to estimate the extent, but as I said, I think it might be survivable.” Gaul shrugged. “Not that I am suggesting you do it. Quite the opposite, you can expect my wholehearted opposition. I am merely answering a question.”
“How?” Eerie stepped forward, Alex grabbing her arm. “How do we do it?”
“It is not particularly complicated,” Gaul said. “You said it yourself – Mr. Warner would need to open a massive breach into the Ether, large enough to absorb the Church. The rest should take care of itself. Though I do think that the consequences for Alex would be dramatic. Assuming he survived the exertion, which is doubtful, such a usage of the Absolute Protocol would require a tremendous amount of sleep in compensation. It could be years before he woke again.” Gaul fixed Alex with his eyes, blue rimmed with pink. “It could be a number of years.”
“No way,” Eerie said quietly, allowing Alex to tug her back behind him. “Don’t say that.”
“I’m not worried about losing a little time,” Alex boasted, feeling a bit like a hollowed gourd. “I’ve done that already. Where does the Church show up, anyway?”
“It was meant to be in the Outer Dark, but it was displaced,” Emily said, shaking her head. “I’m sure you remember Marcus’s rose garden.”
“His absurd act of principal,” Gaul said, with a look of disgust. “An entirely pointless gesture.”
“I don’t know,” Emily said. “I thought the flowers were nice. Either way, my sources think it will manifest somewhere at the Academy.”
Eerie frowned and looked away.
“It’s the most important place to you, isn’t it?” Emily smiled at her. “That’s probably why.”
“Where, though?” Alex asked. “The Academy is big.”
“We won’t know until it happens,” Emily said. “Someone went and eliminated all the precognitives, except for our friend Chandi Tuesday. Didn’t they, Gaul dear?”
Gaul offered a weary glance in place of a glare, but Lóa looked angry enough for both.
“Is that it?” Hayley asked. “Did we cover everything?”
“That’s all I needed,” Eerie said, pulling at Alex’s arm. “Can we go now?”
“Not quite yet,” Alex said, standing firm. “We have one last piece of business.”
“Yeah,” Leigh said, bouncing from side to side like an impatient athlete waiting for a whistle. “Maybe you should wait outside, Eerie.”
The Changeling shook her head and tugged on Alex’s arm.
“I’d really rather not do this,” Emily said. “It won’t settle anything.”
“I don’t care,” Alex said, gently brushing off Eerie. “I still wanna do it.”
“I think I do, too,” Lóa said. “If I understand you correctly.”
“She can come with me,” Hope said, taking Eerie by the arm and ignoring her protests as she pulled her away from Alex. “I think it’s better that we don’t become involved, don’t you think?”
“Wait! I want to stay!” Eerie wailed. “Where are we going?”
Hope pulled Eerie past the amused Thule personnel, toward the steps of the manor.
“You better not pull any shit,” Alex warned, watching nervously. “If you do anything to her, I’ll…”
“Eerie will be just fine,” Hope assured him, adding an empath’s ingratiating smile. “I give you my word. We’ll just have a nice cup of tea and a chat while the rest of you have your little disagreement. Fair enough?”
“Do what you like, Hope,” Lóa said, shaking her head. “We’ll handle things here.”
Hope shut the door to the manor firmly.
“Now that that’s settled,” Emily said. “Do we really have to go through the motions?” She gave Gaul a look of disapproval. “You know as well as I do that this is pointless.”
There was a minor disturbance, as air was displaced by new mass, and then Egill Johannsson stood beside his family, looking flushed and a bit scruffy, as if he had just been in a scuffle.
“Hello, Uncle,” Egill said. “Lóa. I do hope I’m not late?”
“Not at all. Your timing is perfect,” Lóa said. “You were saying, Miss Muir?”
Alex concentrated, and whatever warmth had been in the air disappeared. He put one hand on Leigh’s shoulder, resting the other lightly on Emily’s forearm.
The Thule retainers went for their guns.
Leigh cracked her knuckles.
“Fuck it,” Alex said. “Let’s go.”
A circular barrier appeared about the Thule Cartel, characters of an unknown language spinning about them in a livid violet that made Alex’s eyes sting.
Hayley closed her eyes, and Alex felt his telepathic defenses bolster.
Leigh charged, bounding across the courtyard, her nails extruding into talons. A Thule gunman managed to get off a couple rounds from his pistol before she collided with him, sending the gun flying. A split-second later, his arm followed, severed at the shoulder.
“This isn’t right at all,” Emily said, turning about. “Is it?”
Alex wanted to ask what she meant, but he was already running for cover.
***
Eerie pressed against the window while Hope helped herself to tea and cookies, not at all interested in what was happening outsid
e. She watched Alex dive out of the way of what looked at distance to be a school of shimmering minnows, but what she knew to be a cloud of tiny razors. He managed to get beneath the worst of it, but red blooms blossomed across the back of his shredded shirt.
Eerie whimpered and wished that she could do something, but her protocol had stopped working the moment she was pulled inside the house.
She thought that had something to do with the boy sitting at the end of the table, glancing at them occasionally during pauses in whatever mobile game he was playing obsessively.
Hope noticed the look.
“That’s Benji,” she said fondly, nodding at the boy. He was dusky, with close-cropped hair and a pleasant-enough face that frequently contorted with frustration as he played. “Benjamin Thule, the adopted son of Brennan. Only seven, but already a prodigy in protocol suppression. Isn’t that right, Benji?”
The boy did not look up or acknowledge her words in any way. Hope laughed and reached for the kettle.
Eerie turned back to the window. In time to see Alex scramble behind the dormant fountain, while Thule gunman peppered the stone around him with submachine gun fire.
She thought about trying for the door, glancing at the stern man and woman who stood on either side of it. She remembered the way the woman had shoved her, when she tried the last time, sending her to the floor and bruising her backside, and thought better of it.
“I tried to intercede on your behalf, you know,” Hope said, pouring a cup of tea for Eerie. “Back at the Academy. I was always appalled by the way you were treated.”
“That’s nice,” Eerie said. “It wasn’t so bad, I think. I liked the Academy.”
“You knew how it would work out, didn’t you?” Hope smiled. “That must be nice.”
“I didn’t know anything,” Eerie said, refusing Hope’s offer of a seat. “I’ve just done what I thought best.”
Through the window, Eerie watched while the Thule Cartel and Emily and her friends stared at each other in front of the manor.
No one moved, and no one seemed to speak. It was very strange.
The Church of Sleep (Central Series Book 5) Page 70
