by Steve McHugh
Sky placed it on the table beside her with care, as if concerned she might need it at a moment's notice.
"How long have I been out?"
"About twelve hours. You're lucky he didn't kill you. Hell, we're all lucky he didn't kill everyone."
"So, what happens now?" I ask. "Do you have any back-up?"
"I've sent a telegram. They should be here within the next twelve hours, and then tomorrow we need to go to Kilnhurst and end this. The lich won't be back here tonight. He lost a lot of his forces last night and he'll want to rethink his strategy. But we're working on making the fort more secure for the time being."
"So until the evening, what are we meant to do?"
Sky pushed herself away from the table she'd leaned against and grabbed my shirt, pulling me toward her in a hard kiss.
"What was that for?" I asked once we'd finished.
"We almost died last night, and we might die tonight. I'd rather feel alive for a bit longer, unless you have any objections."
"None spring to mind."
She smiled a wicked smile and pulled my mouth back toward hers once again.
"You could have done this before the whole knife thing," I pointed out as Sky removed her clothes and dropped them to the floor.
"Sex first, discussion after," she said as she unfastened my belt.
I removed my already open shirt and threw it onto the ground, before stepping out of my newly freed trousers. I grabbed Sky and picked her off the ground with one arm supporting her body as I licked her nipples, causing her to moan.
I turned us both around and laid us on the bed, tracing my hands down her taut body as we continued to kiss hungrily. She reached down between my legs and pulled me into her, arching her back and letting a deep moan out as I moved.
We moved in time, slowly at first, but were soon lost in the moment of passion until we let out one final cry of pleasure at the same time and collapsed against one another, both our passion and our fear of the unknown spent. For the moment.
Chapter 28
"Can I assume your little visit to the Silver Room went well?" Tommy asked as he entered the conservatory in Hades' kitchen the next morning.
I glanced up from the huge plate of fresh fruit and meat, and threw an apple in Tommy's direction. "All good, Tommy," I said with a smile.
"You were down there for eight hours. Hades said he dragged you unconscious from the room a few hours ago and put you on the sofa to sleep it off. No after effects?"
I knew Tommy was fishing. He was worried that maybe I'd let the nightmare corrupt me on a permanent basis. "I'm not turning into a nightmare," I told him.
"But you did see it, or hear it, or however that works."
I stuffed a strawberry in my mouth. "We had a conversation, yes. Apparently my increase in power means that I can use more magic before I need to worry about it resurfacing. A lot more."
"It told you that?"
"Yes. It wants me to use magic, to get stronger. The stronger I am, the stronger the nightmare will be. It has no reason to lie or to try and deceive to me. I'm not even sure if it can."
Tommy speared several pieces of bacon from my plate and stuffed them between two slices of bread. "It's living magic. I'm pretty sure it can do whatever the hell it wants."
"Maybe you're right, but it won't be taking hold anytime soon." Since it had taken control over a hundred years previously, when a lich had almost beat me to death, I'd begun to think of the nightmare as something more than an evil entity that wants to control me. I had no evidence to support my thoughts, and if I went to anyone about with them they'd have me sectioned, but everything I've always been told about nightmares felt off compared to reality.
"So, did you find out anything else on this trip?"
"Nope, that was pretty much it," I said, pushing the half-full plate away from me.
Tommy grabbed the plate before it was even out of my hands for even a second and commenced feeding a moment later. "Why did you take this trip, Nate?"
"I needed to talk to Hades about getting help. And I wanted to know what my true power level was. I can't go into a fight not knowing what I can do."
"There's more to it than that. What's going on, Nate?"
I told him about how Hades said I may be able to perform some kind of necromancy.
Tommy's reaction was mostly one of indifference, although he did stop eating, so that was something. "A necromancer? That's not something I expected."
"Me neither, and it's not confirmed. But I killed that ghoul with magic, and there’s no way I could do that without necromancy. But I still have no way of knowing what type of necromancy or how to use it effectively."
Tommy stared at me. "What aren't you telling me?"
I sighed softly. "The last time I fought a lich, it almost killed me. With ease, Tommy. And when that bastard appeared in front of me in front of the police station in Winchester, I would have gone for him if Reid hadn't charged in. But after, when I was thinking about what could have happened if he'd decided to end me there and then, I just felt afraid. For the first time in a long time, I was scared. Because I know I can't beat him. I know it with the same certainty that I can say the sun is hot and water is wet. And not knowing what I was capable of anymore only added to that fear. Which is why I had to come here and find out."
"You've been scared before," Tommy said.
"That's true. But mostly, I'm scared for others. Scared I won't get somewhere on time, or not be able to get everyone out of a situation in one piece. I'm frightened of failing other people. But with a lich, I'm scared for myself, too. I already know that if I go up against it, I'm going to fail."
"But you're still going to try and stop it, right?" I turned to find Kasey standing in the doorway. "I mean, you're going to fight," she said.
"Yeah," I said with a gentle nod. "I'm going to fight. I have to. I can't let fear stop me from doing what I know is right. And I won't let anything keep me from stopping more people getting hurt."
"But if you're afraid, why don't we all just run and hide."
"Because if we do that, we're leaving something evil to have its way with whatever it wants. And I won't let that happen. And I know your mum and dad won't either. I fight because if I don't, I'm not the man I thought I was. So, yeah, I'm afraid of this thing. But that just means I'm going to try harder to beat it. Because fear should never be a reason for not doing the right thing."
"You promise?"
"I promise I'll fight with everything I have, Kasey. And with Hades' help, we're going to make sure that once we find it, it won't hurt anyone else, ever again."
"Thank you," she said and turned back into the house.
"I guess I should thank you, too," Tommy said, when his daughter was out of earshot.
"What, for that?" I gestured to where Kasey had been standing.
"No, well… yes, but not just that. For what you did on the plane. For allowing Kasey and me some time alone. Thank you for that. She needed to talk to someone."
"You thought it would be me, didn't you? That's why you brought her?"
"I figured that you'd get the ball rolling, yes. You didn't see her face when she saw Olivia in hospital. She crumpled like paper. She stayed so strong for Olivia and me, but I could tell she was breaking apart. She needed to get that out. It would have eaten at her otherwise."
"You're a good dad," I said, and poured each of us a glass of orange juice from the large pitcher on the table.
"That I am, my old friend." Tommy laughed. "Although, any future boyfriends are going to learn to fear the werewolf who answers the door."
"You're allowing boyfriends? Wow, that's very progressive of you."
"I've gotta learn to give a little."
"No, don't do it," Hades said, as he sat beside us. "Just tell them she knows me, that we're very close. It's surprising how many boys didn't want to go out with the daughter of Hades."
"You never even had to dissuade them," Persephone said, kissing her husba
nd on his forehead then sitting beside him.
"I had a whole spiel written. There were smoke and mirrors. I was going to raise spirits, actual spirits right in front of them. Maybe even a zombie. I didn't get to use any of it."
"To be fair, Hades," I said. "When most of your children were of a dating age, it was several hundred, if not a thousand years ago. I don't know about you, but I don't recall a whole bunch of school dances in the middle ages. Hell, there weren't even many schools."
"Good point," Hades said with a smile. "But, Tommy, if you want to use my plan, it's all yours."
"Why are you all laughing?" Kasey said as she entered the conservatory.
"Parenthood," Tommy said. "Something you don't have to worry about for a very, very long time."
Kasey gave her father a stare that suggested the conversation had better change and soon, before she was sick.
Tommy's mobile started ringing, and he excused himself from the room to go answer it, as Persephone and Kasey arranged their next visit's itinerary with great enthusiasm.
Hades motioned for me to join him outside, so we stepped out into the cold just like we had the night before.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
I explained what I'd already told Tommy about the nightmare and my time in the Silver Room, leaving out my thoughts about just how evil or not the nightmare might be.
"I assume you'll be going back soon," he said. "A necromancer will meet you at Avalon's Winchester office within the day. I don't know who it'll be yet, but they'll be there. With or without Avalon's clearance."
"Nate," Tommy called from the conservatory door. "We've got a problem."
I jogged back to Tommy, who stood back to let Hades and me into the room. "What's going on?"
"We need to get back to Winchester. That was Olivia. The prison there was attacked a few hours ago. It looks like the lich was involved. Olivia has only just received word from the human police. There are large numbers of prisoners missing or dead. Nate, this sounds like a bad one."
"How long before the jet can fly?" I asked Hades.
He picked up a cordless phone from the table next to him. "Twenty minutes. I'll get everything arranged."
Chapter 29
True to Hades' word, we were all back in his jet within twenty minutes of Tommy's phone call from Olivia. There was no Scotch to ease my flight on the return leg; I didn't need any. All I could think about was how the lich had attacked again so soon after trying to have Olivia, Agents Reid and Greave, along with me, killed. And it had attacked a prison. What could possibly be so important that it would attack a prison with a huge population like Winchester’s?
The four hours in the air went by quickly, we were soon landing at the same secluded base we'd left the day before. There was a quiet concern that was easy to spot not just on Tommy and Kasey, but the flight staff, too. They knew something was wrong, and even if they didn't know all the facts, I doubted Hades would normally have had them ready the jet so quickly unless it was a dire emergency.
"I'm taking Kasey home," Tommy said. "Will you be okay going by yourself?"
I swung onto my bike, which was still in the hanger where I'd left it. "I'll be fine. I’ll get Olivia to call you when I see her."
Kasey waved as she and Tommy got into his car and drove off; leaving me alone with the jet's flight crew and the maintenance team, who were getting the jet ready to fly again.
I placed my helmet on and pulled down the visor; letting the bike roar to life, before taking it out into the early morning sun.
My mind wandered during the ride to the prison, I had no idea what I was going to find, but I was glad that Kasey wouldn't be there to see it. I'd been younger than her when I'd seen my first dead body, but that didn't mean it was okay.
The police presence outside the prison was extensive. They'd blocked off the entire road to the front entrance, with the LOA using the human uniformed police to deal with crowd control.
A large group of people were milling around on the road to the prison. They got in my way as I rode toward the barriers that had been placed to stop the curious. The press were out in force, too, trying to take photos, or busy talking into microphones about the developing story.
I stopped the bike near a haggard looking policeman who didn't appear too happy at having to tell one more person to bugger off. I raised the visor on my helmet. "I'm Nate Garrett. I'm here to see Director Green," I said before he could tell me to leave.
He didn't acknowledge that he'd even heard me speak. Instead he picked up his radio and spoke into it for a second, then listened to the reply.
"You can go in," he told me after replacing the radio on his belt. "Straight through into the parking area."
He pointed the direction and I thanked him. I dropped my visor and passed several more officers, until I rode under a huge stone arch that marked the entrance to the prison parking area.
I'd used my phone to do some research on the prison during the flight back. The prison itself was an imposing structure, consisting of one large building and two smaller ones. Sixty foot walls topped with razor wire encircled the entire prison grounds. And there were only two exits. One was a service entrance for the various vendors and employees to come and go during the day, and the other was the main visitors entrance.
I stopped the bike at the visitors' entrance and switched off the engine, removing my helmet and hanging it from the handlebars as someone shouted from behind me, "You took your damn time."
"Hi, Olivia," I said. "Nice to see you, too. Takes a while to fly from Canada."
Olivia marched over to me and opened her mouth to say something, but instead her shoulders sagged and she leaned against the nearby wall. "Sorry, I'm just tired. How are Kasey and Tommy?"
"Good; Tommy took Kasey home. I told them you'd call."
"So, did you manage to get us any help?"
"A necromancer should be here in a few hours, maybe sooner depending on where he or she is coming from."
"And with your necromancer in tow, we should be able to stop this thing, right?"
"That's the plan. Now, what happened here? Tommy said that a bunch of prisoners are dead or missing"
"I'm at a loss for words." Olivia rubbed her eyes, the past few days had clearly been hard on her. "You need to see this for yourself."
Olivia led me through the prison entrance, which was guarded by another uniformed officer who nodded to us as we walked past. A series of corridors later and we reached a heavy-duty door, made of steel and painted blue. It was the last gate to freedom for those locked up inside. Olivia unlocked it with a key and a buzzer sounded from above us as she pushed it open, ending when the door was closed once more.
We continued on; passing a small breakroom where several LOA agents were talking with a few of the prison guards.
We went through another two heavy doors, and we were in the prison itself.
"How many wings are there?" I asked.
"The prison is made up of one central hub, that's the smaller building we just walked through. That hub feeds into five spokes, all of which house the prisoners, and a sixth much smaller spoke, where they keep the supplies. Each spoke is capable of keeping about five hundred prisoners, along with the various guard facilities, waiting rooms for visitors, interview rooms and the like. All of the spokes are independent of each other; to travel between them you need to come though the main hub.
"The wing we're currently in houses those who are considered highly dangerous to themselves or others. There are thirty four-guards working exclusively in this spoke on every shift. Each shift is ten hours long; overlapping so that there's never a complete change of guard all at once."
"It looks quiet here." I glanced around the magnolia walls and blue and white tiled floor, which probably hadn't been changed in decades.
"We've not reached where we need to go yet. There's a large hall at the far end of this building. It was considered a reward for prisoners to be allowed to work in there."
>
"What did they do?"
"The usual metal and wood work. There's a library, too. Most of what happened earlier took place in that part of the prison."
We walked along one row of cells and down yet another long corridor with barred windows down one side. A second corridor intersected it, and the lack of lighting down that hallway gave it an eerie quality.
"What's down there?" I asked Olivia
"There's another security door and after that, a second guard checkpoint. Beyond that are the solitary confinement cells. Not everyone in this place is able to play with others. The most dangerous prisoners were housed down there."
"Were?"
"You'll see in a minute."
We walked on, and before long I noticed blood smears on the walls, continuing through the closed doorway at the far end of the corridor.
"You need to be prepared for what you're about to see." Olivia's words were spoken with such trepidation that I was certain walking the other way would spare me a lot of misery. Unfortunately, my path was set and walking away was no longer an option.
Olivia stopped walking a few feet back from the open door.
"You're not coming?" I asked.
"I have no intention of stepping foot in there again if I can manage it. There's a door on the opposite side. It leads to the cells. I'll meet you there. And here, you're going to need these." She handed me a pair of shoe covers, which I quickly put on.
As Olivia walked away, I wanted to mock her, to say something to break the tension, but I bit my tongue. It didn't feel right.
Instead I turned and pushed open the door.
The stench of death hit me like a train as I stepped through the doorway. The first thing I saw was the remains of… of a human, although considering how little was left of him, it was hard to be sure. Dozens of bodies littered the large area, their blood and gore soaking the floor and walls.
The machinery the prisoners had worked with was scattered in pieces around the room, deep dents in the wooden walls testifying to the violence of its destruction. Some bodies lay over their workstations, others had clearly tried to get away and were caught before they reached anywhere near freedom.
