I swallowed hard, for the first time realizing I might die in this place. “I know my mother is alive. She sent my dog to me.”
“What is your dog’s name?” Mr. Fannin asked the question softly.
I kept my eyes on him as I answered. “Abe.”
Mr. Fannin came at me fast enough that I backed up, scared and unable to form some sort of response. Gone were my fighting skills I’d had only moments before.
But he didn’t hit me. He put a hand on the back of my neck and steered me through the room to the back wall and an open door in the wood paneling.
“So, you decided to talk to me in private, after all?” I looked up at him as we walked.
He shook his head. “If you are truly her son, then you are a prize. One that Mancini or Romano will use against your mother.”
The way he was talking gave me a little burst of hope. “Are you her friend, Mr. Fannin?”
He glanced at me. “Call me Killian. And I am a friend of your mother, yes, though I doubt she realizes it.”
We walked down a well-lit hall to another door that when opened showed us a huge back room. This was full of couches, chairs, a large TV, and at the back, a table covered with food. My mouth watered at the sight of the freshly laid out platters full of cheeses, crackers, meats, fruit and what looked like chocolates.
“Go ahead.” Killian gave me a gentle shove in the direction of the food.
I made myself walk to the table though I wanted to run. I kept looking over my shoulder at Killian. I paused at the table. I needed answers more than I needed food. I turned and faced him. “Can you help me get to my mother?”
He smiled at me. “I’m going to try and track her down. She’s been . . . busy.”
I didn’t think busy meant she’d been out getting groceries or something. “She was here in New York. I know she was because she sent Abe to me.”
Killian made his way to the table and picked up an apple, then bit into it. I followed his lead and took a large green apple and bit into the skin.
He motioned with his hand. “If she was here, then she was taking a dangerous chance to even get that close to you.”
I shrugged. “My mom is tougher than she looks.”
Killian barked a laugh and slapped a hand on the table. “That she is, lad. That she is. Who did Romano have watching you?”
“Rooster.” I took another bite and chewed while Killian nodded.
“That’s good. None of his guardians were set to watch over you then?” His eyes were serious, and I knew right then I would not want to get on his bad side.
“No.”
“You’re sure about that?” He leaned in. “Because those guardians of your grandfather’s . . . they be nasty, nasty creatures.”
The bite of apple seemed to dry up in my mouth. “I didn’t see any but Rooster. And a couple of his thugs.”
A sigh slid from him. “You can stay here with me, lad. I’ll get a hold of your mam, and we’ll see about getting you to her. Sound good?”
“Thank you,” I whispered, fighting a sudden urge to cry. This man didn’t know me, and I doubted he was as good a friend to my mother as he let on. But he was willing to help me. Unless he was going to try and use me, like my grandfather had.
“I want to talk to her, when you track her down,” I said. “I need to know she’s okay.”
Killian dropped into a chair so we were on the same level. “First, we have to find her. The thing is, lad, when the Phoenix disappears and doesn’t want to be seen, she’s pretty damn hard to pin down.”
I bit my lower lip, thinking. “What about my dad? Where is he?”
His face went blank as he looked at me. “Your father did die, lad. Your mother and you survived but your father did not.”
He didn’t say he was sorry, for which I was grateful. I stared at my shoes for a moment, tears dripping off the end of my nose. I’d grieved my dad for months, but that little bit of hope that he was still alive had made me forget the pain of losing him. To lose him a second time . . . the pain was harder to bear than I wanted to admit to this man in front of me.
He dropped a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You got your mother, lad. That’s more than you had a few days ago, I reckon.”
Killian was right. I wiped a hand across my eyes and nose and looked up at him, thoughts already bouncing around inside my head. “I know someone who might know where she is.”
Killian leaned forward. “And who would that be?”
“He was a friend of my dad’s. His name is Noah Black.”
Chapter Seventeen
Phoenix
Breaking into a Magelore’s lair was a difficult thing if you had time to plan, the proper gear and anti-spell equipment, maybe a spotter or two on the outside so you didn’t get ambushed from behind by one of the Magelore’s pets and an iron collar around your neck to keep their teeth at bay.
I had none of those things, and Vivian had snatched Simon like a kid stealing a chocolate bar from the corner store and running with it tucked in their pocket. What a bitch.
“What a bitch,” Dinah growled, echoing my thoughts. “Are we going after Simon?”
Even though my bullets had mushroomed against the door, I fired two more into the knob to see if the whole structure was immune. The rattle of the bullets against the knob reverberated in my ears.
“Fuck!” I raised a foot and booted it next to the handle of the door, putting everything I had into this kick, already knowing the outcome. Nothing happened. The door barely shuddered, and my frustration mounted. I spun around, looking for a window. There had to be an easier way in than through the front door. No lair was impenetrable. To my right was a huge pane glass window with bars set across it in a crisscross pattern. I ran my hands over it. Even if I broke the glass, the bars were so closely set there was no way I’d be able to get in.
“He saved your life. That’s why you’re trying to save him, isn’t it?” Eleanor asked.
“Yeah.” I sighed. His life didn’t hold a candle to Bear’s, but I owed him. And there was still Talia to find.
I broke into a run, jogging down the length of the massive house. Simon may not have been my choice in a partner, and even a few days ago I’d have just left his ass with Vivian. But he’d saved my life, which meant I was going in there and making the Magelore regret ever taking him.
The walls of the house were thick, and the windows were covered with metal bars. I slapped my hand against a chunk of plastered wall and a low laugh rumbled around me. I did a slow spin to see a lumbering crocodile sneaking up on me. One of Vivian’s pets, most likely.
“Please, let me kill it!” Dinah said from her holster. “I’ll get it right in the brain pan.”
I obliged and pulled her from her holster, then aimed at the tiny spot on the top of the croc’s head and squeezed the trigger. The bullet drove in deeply, and a spurt of blood shot up like a water main under pressure. Dinah crowed. “Again!”
The crocodile shook its head and took another step toward me, and another. I backed up until I was pressed against the house. “What the ever-living fuck is this fresh hell?”
I took off running once more, leaving the crocodile in my wake. I did not have time for this shit, we were so far off track of Genzo, it was going to be days before we got to him. Days we didn’t have if my internal clock was correct. I could feel time ticking down as if it were in my very blood. We had to hurry, which meant there was no time to make this a clean kill or rescue.
Fear sliced upward through me and I used it to propel me faster through the thickening bush and sloshing swamp that spilled up around my ankles. The shadows of the big trees that grew close to the house made me jittery and I kept searching them for the Shadow’s minions. Waiting for one to step out and grab me. My heart rate soared and my body felt sluggish even though I pushed with all I had. I couldn’t let the apparently un-killable croc get close, but I didn’t want to dodge too deeply into the shadows either as the sun continu
ed its course toward the horizon.
“Easy, Phoenix, the Magelore is working her spells on you,” Eleanor said from her holster.
I drew a breath, Eleanor’s words slowing me down. “Thanks, I needed that.”
“Of course,” she said. “Her spells are subtle. It’s why she’s survived this long.”
I made my feet stop moving even though my adrenaline demanded I run until my lungs gave out. “How do you know this?”
“I saw the paperwork on her back when you looked it over,” Eleanor said.
Dinah sniffed. “She always had the better memory of the two of us.”
Another time I would have been impressed with Eleanor’s recall ability. I’d read those same papers on Vivian over twelve years before, and could not recall reading about Vivian’s subtle magic. Which meant that either Eleanor knew Vivian before whatever had stuffed her soul into the guns, or I’d missed something on the paperwork.
Eleanor was not the only one with a wicked memory recall. “Sure thing.”
Behind me came the sure shuffling slide of the massive crocodile. I glanced back the way I’d come. The crocodile was about twenty feet away, its mouth open, bits of flesh hanging from its teeth, and it was picking up speed. Its skin was a dark gray, and I distantly wondered if it was already dead and that was why the bullet did nothing.
“The roof, try the roof,” Dinah suggested.
I looked at the side of the house where I stood. A trellis covered in a flowering vine reached up above my head. That could work; anything to get me out of reach of a not-dead, dead crocodile.
I grabbed the rough wood and started to climb. A roar of anger behind me did not slow me, or twist me around to look like some stupid heroine in a horror flick. A crocodile that could take a bullet to the brain and keep moving was not normal and I didn’t need to verify it was an ugly fucker in whatever shape or form it took.
I scrambled up the trellis, tearing through the flowering vine as I went. I reached the edge of the roof when my makeshift ladder shuddered underneath me. I pushed off with my feet and launched myself into the air as the trellis was yanked away from the wall, flipping me forward. The roof was pitched at a steep angle and I fought to stay on it, digging in with fingers and toes. Finally, my backward slide slowed and I managed to curl around to look back.
The crocodile stood on its back legs as it crept up the side of the fucking house like a giant goddamn salamander.
“Fuck me.” I scooted farther up the roof on my ass before twisting around to my hands and knees. I pushed up to my feet and carefully made my way across the roof.
I needed a balcony, of which I’d seen several on the second floor. None of them had bars as far as I had been able to tell. I ran across the roof line, checking behind me every few seconds. Just in case that motherfucking croc picked up speed once he was on the roof.
“Any luck?” Dinah asked.
“Not yet.” I headed to the middle section of the house where the balconies had been plentiful. I made my way to the edge of the roof and peered over. There to my right was a balcony with the door open and long curtains blowing out.
And voices I recognized. Even better.
I tapped both Dinah and Eleanor through the holsters, a note to stay quiet.
Behind me was the shuffle of clawed feet on the roof. I turned to see that the croc had gotten within ten feet of me.
Fast, quiet, big, and dead. Not a good combination for me. I sat on my ass and scooted to the edge of the roof while the crocodile came at me, hissing and snapping its tooth-filled jaws. I let gravity take over as I slipped over the edge of the roofline and onto the deck of the balcony.
I landed in a crouch and crept forward to the doors, listening.
“Do you hear something?” Simon said. “I think you should probably check it out. Nix is going to come for you.”
“Stop squirming. She won’t get through my pets and I want a good fucking. I haven’t had a man in months.” Vivian all but purred the words.
From her holster, Dinah snickered low, and I tapped her again, reminding her to stay quiet. I used the curtains as cover as I slid through the doorway, still in a crouch. I moved with the floating gauzy material, one ear on the balcony and the other on the scene playing out in the room.
“I really don’t think this is going to work out well for you,” Simon said with more than a hint of panic in his voice.
“Your hands are tied up. You can’t kill me without touching me with them. I think we’ll do just fine.” Vivian laughed. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
Simon gave a grunt and then a low moan. “Fuck you.”
“That’s the plan, lover,” she whispered.
A thunderous crash cut them off as the croc fell to the balcony, still in search of me. I grinned to myself. I couldn’t have planned it better if I’d tried. I held my spot to the side of the door, hidden in the shadows and under the moving curtains as Vivian rushed past me.
She screamed at the croc in Creole. The world slowed. I stood. The curtains blew out around me as I lifted both Dinah and Eleanor. I squeezed their triggers in tandem, aiming for the back of her head and neck. The bullets slammed home and Vivian’s body jerked forward as if she’d been hit by a truck. She fell on top of her croc, who promptly snapped his massive jaws around her middle and shook her side to side.
Beggars couldn’t be choosers and he’d gotten his meal.
“Nix, if you don’t mind, I’d really like to get the fuck out of here,” Simon called to me, but I kept my eyes on Vivian’s body as I backed toward the bed where he lay.
“Yeah, me too, but I also want to make sure she doesn’t come after us.” Because Magelores didn’t die by bullets or fire. Far as I knew, there was only one thing that did the trick. Lightning, and I had none of that on me.
I tucked Dinah back into her holster while she groaned about not getting to do more damage, then grabbed a knife from my boot. I kept my eyes on Vivian’s body as I worked around the room so I was on the far side of the bed. I could cut Simon’s one hand free and then he could do the rest. Peripheral vision told me he was naked from the waist down, and despite the fear Vivian induced in him, she’d been making him very happy.
Another time I would have laughed. But I had no doubt she wasn’t dead, and a not dead, very angry Magelore full of blood lust was about as dangerous as things came.
Almost on cue, a groan rippled from her.
“Hurry,” I said as I pulled Dinah out once more. I fired two more shots into Vivian’s head where she dangled from the croc’s mouth, the boom of the guns rattling the room. I missed my silencers.
“You don’t think she’s dead?” Simon slid from the bed, grabbed a pair of pants, and had them on in a flash. I wanted to warn him about the zipper, but again, another time.
“Ready to run?” I asked as I worked my way around the bed again.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Simon grabbed my arm. “You can’t mean to go out through the window. That croc and Vivian are right there.”
I looked at him. “The house is a maze made of spells and myst magic. I can’t guarantee I can get us all the way out. That window,” I pointed in that direction, “is a sure thing to the outside world.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “She healed my ankle, so I suppose that at least will help.”
That it would.
“I’ll draw the croc in farther. You duck around.”
“I’m the abnormal; shouldn’t I be taking the chances?”
“Do what I say. Now!” I shoved him to the left and I went to the right.
I got close enough to the now-squirming body of Vivian that I could grab her foot. She was still very much trapped in the croc’s jaws and that made me bold. I gave her a tug and the croc shook her again. She groaned. “I’ll kill you, Phoenix. Somehow, I’ll kill you.”
“Sure thing.” I tugged her again. The croc shook her hard, threw its head back and tried to take her into its gullet ass first. I couldn’t help t
he laugh. “I know it won’t kill you, but you are going to have a bitching story about being eaten and then shit out by a croc, still alive.”
Her scream rent the air. The croc lifted its head and opened its jaws, and in that split second, she flew out of its teeth and tackled me to the ground.
“Simon, go!”
I rolled with Vivian as the croc swished its head side to side, searching for its lost meal.
“I got it by the tail!” Simon yelled, and the croc let out a hiss as it whipped around. I couldn’t see anything else as Vivian planted her hand on my face, clawing the edges with her fingertips as if she’d rip it right the fuck off.
I drove my right fist into her ribs, feeling them give way under my blow. Again and again, I hammered her as she dug harder into my face. Pain rippled through my skull as if she were boring in with drills and not nails and fingertips. Teeth gritted, I pulled my knife and rammed it upward into her chest, searching for whatever worked for a heart. She wasn’t even trying to stop me, which freaked me out worse than if we were truly fighting. Whatever she was doing to my head, I had to stop her and stop her now. I twisted her around and was on top, straddling her chest. Her hand was like an alien parasite I couldn’t dislodge no matter what I did.
I grabbed Eleanor and stuck her muzzle against Vivian’s wrist. “Blow her fucking arm off.”
I squeezed the trigger over and over, hot blood splattering my face, fragments of bone biting into my bare arms and then I was loose from a screaming, spitting Vivian. I yanked her dangling hand from my face and threw it at the croc. He snapped it up with one gulp and I wiped an arm over my face.
“You think you could survive being chopped up and fed a piece at a time to him?” I stared down at Vivian as she lay on the floor in front of me.
She smiled and waved her stump in my direction. “You are not what you seem. I always wondered what your blood held, and now I know.”
Blood of a Phoenix (The Nix Series Book 2) Page 18
