Sally’s head hung low, but as we approached, calling her name, she raised it up to look our way.
She was alive, but she looked like shit.
Whatever cuts or abrasions she’d suffered during her abduction had been cleaned and bandaged, but I could still see evidence that she’d been worked over. Both her eyes were blackened and a section of hair on the side of her head had been burnt away, the scarred skin beneath it raw and ugly.
Worst, perhaps, was the glazed look in her eyes. It was almost the same as if she’d been compelled, although that was something these new vamps weren’t capable of. So that meant magic.
“Unchain her,” Sheila ordered, her voice cracking, a shell of the former authority she once commanded as the Icon.
The rest of us gathered around Sally. She blinked a few times, then finally appeared to notice us. “About ... fucking time.”
“I said release her!”
Komak nodded and two of the guards left their station to do as they were told. As Sally was freed, I stepped in to support her, looping her arm over my shoulder.
Christy stepped in front of us and stared into Sally’s eyes, her gaze unreadable. Finally, she said, “We need to get her out of here.”
“Hold on...”
She rounded on Komak. “No, you hold on. I said we need to get her out of here and I meant it. No negotiations while we’re still in this tunnel. And if you don’t like it, you can...”
“Come on.” Sheila positioned herself on Sally’s other side to help me support her. “We can talk more once we’re back in the main chamber.”
Sally glanced at her groggily and then turned toward Tom, her eyes widening as much as they were capable. “I see ... the gang’s all here.”
Yep. We were one big family again. Problem was, I had a feeling happy didn’t exactly fit into the equation.
♦ ♦ ♦
“They dug pretty deep, didn’t they?” Kelly asked, examining Sally closer once we were back in the outer chamber.
I’d given Sally the Cliff’s Notes version of Tom’s resurrection along the way to help pass the time – leaving out a few key details due to the presence of unfriendly ears.
Now that we were out, I wasn’t sure our position was any better. We were still trapped deep underground. The only difference was we had more room to maneuver if need be. But hey, if Komak decided to plug us now, at least his people might need to aim a bit.
Christy nodded. “Yeah. They definitely forced their way in and went deeper than they should have. But I think she’ll be okay.”
“It was necessary,” Komak replied, his tone betraying no emotion. “You should be proud of your friend. She put up a hell of a fight. It took three Magi to finally pull the spell out.”
“Proud?” Christy hissed. “You raped her mind.”
“We did what we had to. We didn’t know that the spell she had was useless.” He grinned, looking predatory despite the lack of fangs. “But you’re here now. So in the end, it all worked out.”
“Not yet.”
Uh oh. I was afraid she might do this.
“I will remind you,” Komak said, his tone turning dangerous, “we have a deal struck under parlay.
“You yourself said the old ways are dead.”
“And you are heavily outnumbered. I could easily have those chains filled again, with you this time.”
Sheila made to speak, but Christy held up a hand. “And what would that get you?”
“You think your will is stronger than hers?”
“Like ... hell,” Sally sputtered, apparently too far out of it to understand things like basic diplomacy.
“Ask anyone here who knows me.” Christy glanced at a few of the Magi present. “Mind magic is one of my specialties.”
“So?”
“So,” Gan replied, speaking up, a smile on her face. “Did you think the witch would come down here without having put precautions into place?”
I turned to her. “Precautions?”
Christy didn’t seem pleased at Gan’s revelation, but she nodded. “A kill switch. You try taking what isn’t yours and you’ll end up with nothing.”
From the look on Kelly’s face, she didn’t seem surprised by this either. I so hated being left in the dark. “Um, kill switch as in wiping the spell from memory?” I asked.
“No,” Gan explained. “A protective ward – a construct, if you will – placed inside her waking mind, designed to destroy it all.”
I was kind of afraid that’s what she meant.
“Whoa. Hardcore,” Tom muttered.
That was an understatement. I turned to her. “Are you insane?”
Christy smiled sadly at me. “Not at all. I simply stacked the deck. And I’m not convinced I want to run the risk of any of this happening again. We sacrificed too much to go back to the way things were.” She glanced toward Tom. “No matter how much I might want to.”
“You sound like you’ve already made up your mind.”
When she spoke again, however, the steel in her voice had melted away. “I thought I had.”
“Not following,” Tom said. That made two of us.
Christy ignored him, though, turning toward Ux and Hershel. “You just want to go home. And all you’re asking for is a second chance at life.” Finally, she glared at Komak. “If they’d all been like you, I would have made sure you ended up with nothing. I have no desire to see monsters such as yourself in power ever again. But I believe now that the majority of those down here have good intentions.” She turned to Sheila and put a hand on her shoulder.
Herschel nodded. “We do.”
“Home,” Ux said quietly, his eyes moist ... although that might’ve just been his natural state.
Komak, for his part, kept his cool. “So you’ll hold up your end?”
“Yes, but there are conditions.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“Absolutely not.”
“Fine. Then kill us all. You’ll get nothing.”
I shared a glance with Tom, who shrugged. Asshole. He knew bullets wouldn’t do dick against him. Mind you, if we bought it, he’d be stuck here for all of eternity with nothing but dirt to keep him company.
“Be reasonable,” Hershel said.
Christy’s conditions had been both simple and direct. Komak and his people needed to step down. She wanted him and his followers disarmed, including the jackboots guarding the passage out of here. Once that was done, she would conduct the ritual with a circle of three other Magi: Kelly, Hershel, and Liz. I had a feeling that last one was a bit of extra insurance. If something went south, Christy could ensure Liz went down with the rest of us.
Following the completion of the spell, whether it succeeded or not, Komak and his people would be the first to leave. Where to? Christy didn’t care. She wanted them gone. After that, well, I guess we’d see.
“I don’t trust her,” Komak complained.
“Nor should you,” Gan replied. “But I will remind you, the honor of first treachery fell to you and your minions.”
Oh yeah, I’m sure that would go a long way toward helping our cause.
Fortunately, Sheila stepped in. “You may not trust her, but I do. For the sake of your people, those who are broken waiting to be made whole, I’m asking you to have a little faith. If not in her, than in me.”
Talk about Irony 101. The Icon, the enemy of both vampires and the Magi, was now negotiating on their behalf, trying to save them much as she’d saved humanity five years ago.
I still wasn’t happy at how things had ended between us, but I understood. She was trying to balance the scales she’d tipped all those years ago. While I couldn’t exactly forget what had happened, I could forgive ... assuming we didn’t all die horribly first.
As we stood there, tension running high among us, there came the faint sound of gravel crunching, followed by a low hum.
What the?
I turned and saw Jasper – Komak’s vampire toady – approaching us ... on a Segway
, of all things. These guys really had thought of everything.
He waved at us, looking both agitated and excited. “The last one! We just got word. They’re about ready to open it!”
Christy blinked a few times at the sight, then turned to Komak. “It would appear the clock is ticking. The ritual will take some time to set up and perform, so I would highly suggest you make your choice now. Your fate is in no other hands but your own.”
SPLIT THE PARTY
Komak looked like he would have enjoyed nothing less than ordering his men to open fire on us. Human-ish he might be now, but in his mind he was still a centuries-old vampire – arrogant and not fond of taking orders.
Being told to suck it up wasn’t unheard of in the old vamp hierarchy, but it always came from those higher on the food chain. To be told that by someone not in a position of power was a hard pill to swallow for those used to being masters of the night.
Finally, a look of disgust upon his face, he unclipped the walkie talkie by his side and spoke into it. “Master Team, this is Dracula...”
Dracula? Oh yeah, that settled it. Five years of mortality or not, this guy definitely thought his shit didn’t stink.
“...You are to lay down your arms and surrender them.”
If he’d been in possession of his supernatural strength, I had little doubt he’d have crushed the radio to powder, so hard was he gripping it. But instead he kept talking, ordering his men out of the tunnel and letting them know Hershel was now in charge.
Mind you, I didn’t know Hershel from a hole in the wall, but he at least seemed the lesser of evils. If worst came to worst I could always tell him I saw a crackpipe in someone’s tent.
Komak drew his pistol, spun it in his hand and, in what I can only assume was a show of good faith, handed it to Christy.
For a moment, I was half convinced she’d simply plug him and be done with it. Mother or not, Christy could be scary as all hell when she wanted to be. And with the past beginning to catch up to us, I began to see signs of her old self peeking through her exterior.
However, she simply accepted the weapon and stuffed it into the waistband of her pants.
“If you need someone to keep that warm for you, just let me know,” Sally offered.
Oh boy.
Tom leaned in toward me and whispered, “Chicks with guns are so hot.”
“Is there anything you don’t find hot?” I whispered back.
“Dude, my dick’s been in limbo for five years. I almost find you hot.”
I leaned away, giving him some serious side eye.
“I said almost.”
Jasper didn’t seem too happy about any of this – no surprise there – but he did as told, especially once Christy reiterated that time was of the essence. With the final ley line tapped, there would be a finite window of opportunity to perform the spell. I wasn’t sure how long that would be, but the more Komak’s lackeys dicked around, the smaller that window would become.
Ux recruited a few folks, busy stacking supplies, to wait with him at the tunnel entrance and relieve the guards there of their weapons. Hershel took Komak’s walkie and began relaying orders into it as the rest of us prepared to head back toward the inner chamber.
“I need to go ahead and get ready,” Sheila said.
There were no objections, so she commandeered Jasper’s Segway, looking kinda embarrassed while she climbed on board, and started back ahead of us.
Before she got out of earshot, I called to her, “Good luck!”
The smile she threw back suggested she appreciated the words of encouragement.
I’d meant them but, truth be told, good as things appeared to be going, I also had a feeling we’d all need it.
♦ ♦ ♦
For as long as they’d apparently been planning this, chaos still reigned in the inner chamber. Excitement filled the air and the denizens of this place – mages and more – ran to and fro, some of them seemingly with no idea what they were doing.
“It looks like ... Christmas Eve at Macy’s,” Sally said with a pained wheeze. We probably should’ve asked for another Segway. She was in rough shape, and it would also have been kind of funny, too. Nevertheless, if she was feeling strong enough to quip, then that was a good sign, even if I suspected a long hospital stay lay in her future.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Except these merry little elves shoot death rays instead of candy canes.”
She chuckled then coughed. “Ugh. I need ... to rest. Sit me down over there and go on ahead.”
“No way.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I can carry you.”
“You carry me?” She rolled her eyes.
“Come on. You don’t weigh a lot, old and brittle as you are.”
She glared but, with me supporting her, it didn’t leave her in a good spot to elbow me. Timing is everything. “I’m serious, Bill.”
“Fine.” I raised my voice. “The rest of you go on without us. We’ll catch up.” Christy opened her mouth, probably to protest, but I shook my head. “You need to do this. We’ll be okay.”
She locked eyes with me, no doubt happy for any excuse to tell Komak to take a flying fuck off the nearest stalagmite.
Much as I wouldn’t have minded that, I still wanted to make it home alive. Extenuating circumstances aside, I was no hero. I had no intention of dying for the cause. “We made a deal. You’re the only one who can see it through. Trust me, we’ll be fine.”
After what seemed a near eternity, she pulled the gun out of her pants and handed it to me. “Be safe.”
She leaned toward me, but I held up a hand, remembering that a certain someone was way too close for comfort, and I didn’t mean Tom. “Save it for after.”
Christy wasn’t stupid. She understood. “Okay,” she whispered. “It’s a date.”
Well, that was certainly promising.
She turned and started walking away with the others. I half expected Gan to plant herself by my side, because nothing would make this situation more wondrous than her trying to crawl up my ass. However, she instead kept pace with the group headed toward The Source.
Who knows? Maybe the little nutball was finally taking the hint. Go me!
I eased Sally down onto a nearby crate just as Tom stepped up to us.
“Just for the record,” he said, poking a spectral finger into my chest. “It is not a date.” He, too, turned and began to walk away. After a few yards, though, he stopped in his tracks ... almost as if he’d hit an invisible wall. Spinning on his heel, he marched back. “Come on, man! I want to see this shit.”
“So then go.”
“I can’t. I’m tethered to you like your personal gimp.”
“Thanks. I really needed that image in my head.”
Sally let out a sigh. “This is like the Amityville Horror, only stupider. And what does he mean you’re tethered to each other?” After a moment, she shook her head. “You know what? Scratch that. I really don’t want to know.”
“Oh please,” he replied. “Like you didn’t cry at my funeral.”
“It was a high pollen count day.”
“You were bawling like a baby,” Tom said with a grin. “And you know it.”
She turned to me. “You should ask if any of these magical morons moonlight as exorcists.”
“Play nice, you two.”
“Oh, speaking of which, where’s the other chucklehead?” she asked. “I kind of figured, with shit going down like it is, you three would be tied at the hip again.”
“Ed?” I offered my apologies on his behalf, explaining where he was and the precious cargo he was in charge of.
“Smart.” Sally took a deep breath, sounding a bit stronger. “Glad to hear you guys didn’t bring the tyke along. She doesn’t need to be a part of this. But I’m still surprised you agreed to it.”
“It was the only way to save you.”
Sally smiled, but then lowered her voice, not that anyone else was close enough to eavesd
rop. “Christy’s got a plan to stop this from happening, right?”
I shrugged.
“She does, doesn’t she?”
“Um, not really.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” She started coughing from the exertion. I stepped in to help her, but she waved me off. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“You’re not...”
“Seriously, what the fuck are you all thinking? Do you really want to deal with vampires, Sasquatches, and God knows what else again?”
“We won’t be.” I explained to her our hypothesis that, outside of divine intervention, the spell only had enough juice to open things a crack. It would allow the Magi a modicum of power at best and the vamps barely any at all.
“And you’re sure this asinine theory is sound?”
“Christy thinks it is.”
“And him?” She gestured at Tom.
“If my woman says it’s going to work,” he said, “I trust her.”
“Not that, genius.” She turned to me. “What happens to him?”
“Um, I don’t think any of us really know.”
“Glad you thought this through before coming down here. You really are lost without me.”
I shrugged. “You have no idea.”
“Oh, shit!” Tom cried. “Me!”
“Huh? Me what?”
“Dude, we need to get moving. Remember, she’s going to toss me into that orange jizz and see if I go all rock monster or not.”
I quickly turned to Sally. “That’s not exactly what we’re hoping will happen.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What’s the difference? His head is already full of rocks.” Then, after a beat, she said, “Go.”
“I can’t...”
Sally made a face that suggested what she was about to say was hard for her to digest. “Will it help him?”
“Um, I guess. It should hopefully at least make him better than he is now.”
Strange Days (Bill of the Dead Book 1) Page 24
