“It’s a little late, don’t you think?”
“No,” said Brynn.
What are you doing? Silver Horse demanded.
Sunset Horse said, Do you think it matters anymore? The flaw was there from the start.
Gold Horse said, I don’t like this. Let it be and things will settle down.
I made a mistake, Earth Horse whispered.
You all did, said Brynn. You only ever see the worst result of human love. How could you not?
As they approached the campsite, she called, “Jennifer! Cat wants to talk to you.”
In a low, angry voice, Cat said, “And what do you want me to say, Brynn?”
Jen and Yejun glanced back, and Jen said, “Of course,” with only a little tremble in her voice.
Brynn stepped away from Cat. “Just the two of you.”
“Whoops,” said Yejun and turned away. He called as he speed-walked back into town, “I’m going to go inspect those magic rose bushes.”
Brynn started to follow him, but Jen said, “Brynn! Stay, please.”
“Um,” said Brynn. “I don’t know—”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Cat. In a few long strides, he crossed to Jennifer, put his hands on the sides of her head, and kissed her. After a moment, Jen put her hands on his elbows and leaned in. The kiss continued just long enough for Brynn to regret not escaping, and then Cat released Jen.
“I love you,” he said roughly, and turned away.
In a quiet voice, Jen said, “I wish that were true.”
Cat froze, his head down, but Brynn could still see the look of anguish spasm across his face. Slowly, he turned back to Jen.
She lowered her gaze and stumbled over her words. “I wish you loved me for real? I wish you loved me freely. Not because you were made to love somebody.”
His eyes blazing and his voice furious, he said, “I was made to love somebody, and it wasn’t you.”
Tears spilled out of Jen’s eyes. She wiped them away with her palms, but kept coming. “I know it wasn’t me. How could it have been somebody like me? I’m nobody. I was never anybody. A wizard’s assistant, that’s all.”
Jen’s tears wiped Cat’s anger from his face. He twitched toward her and pulled himself back. Blankly, he said, “Why won’t you believe I love you?”
“Because you’re a dream, Cat. You’re… you’re too perfect.” Jen said and gasped as she tried to suppress her tears.
“Bullshit,” said Cat, his voice hardening.
Brynn wrapped her arms around herself, rocking on her heels, completely uncertain of what she ought to do. Why had Jen asked her to stay?
Don’t do anything, said Earth Horse.
“You’re a dream,” Jen repeated. “And at some point you’re going to wake up.”
Cat’s jaw clenched. “Is that what it will take?” A silver sizzle traced itself around him and there was the first hint of the pressure of a celestial’s active aura.
Do something! cried Sunset Horse, and Brynn agreed.
“And then what?” she blurted. “What happens once she believes you love her? Does that solve anything? Does she fall into your arms? Is that what you want?”
The silver sizzling vanished and Cat gave Brynn a startled look. “No! I’ve never wanted that.”
Liar, whispered Sunset Horse, but Brynn didn’t repeat that. Jen fixed her gaze intently on Cat. She barely seemed to be breathing.
Cat dragged in a deep breath. “She’s not a prize,” he muttered. “She’s not mine. I’m hers.”
“What if I was?” asked Jen abruptly. Her tears were gone.
“What?” said Cat, completely off-balance for the first time in all the time Brynn had known him.
“What if I was yours?”
“You’re not an object,” he said weakly.
“And you are?” Jen said, very calm now.
He brought his hands to his hair, digging his fingers in. Then he dropped them and said, “If I have to be.”
“What if I was yours?” repeated Jen, inexorably.
“Don’t!” His hands twitched, and he stepped back and half-turned away.
But Jen wasn’t letting him get away. She advanced on him, and his breathing became fast and shallow. “You never want anything from me,” she said. “Not even a cup of coffee. How can you love me if you don’t want anything from me?”
She didn’t reach out for him, didn’t touch him, but she stood close enough to embrace him if he reached out. He stood frozen, save for the rise and fall of his chest.
Finally, he spoke, his voice barely more than a whisper. “If I thought you were mine, I would want everything from you. Better we not go there.”
Masters, said Sunset Horse, in exasperation.
Jen looked at Cat, unmoving. Waiting.
He brought up his hand to her cheek, ran his fingers over her skin, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “If you were mine, no horse, no word, no law could keep me away from you. If you ran, I’d find you. If you died, I’d still go after you. I’d tear down Heaven itself to get to you.” He dropped his hand back to his side. “So. Better we not go there. Better I’m yours, and you’re free to do whatever you please.”
Still, Jen looked at him. Almost pleadingly, he said, “Tell me again I don’t love you.”
“No,” Brynn burst out. “Ask her if she loves you.”
Silence fell. Jen stared at Cat, searching his face patiently.
Cat seemed paralyzed, color draining from his face. Only his mouth moved as he reached toward different words and fell short. I don’t… Do you…
At last, very pale, he said, “What do you want from me?”
“Hold me.” The words broke out of Jen like water from a dam, and she leaned into his chest.
Bemused, Cat wrapped his arms around her.
Humans are too complicated, complained Silver Horse.
Are we letting this happen? asked Gold Horse.
We didn’t stop anything, Earth Horse said.
I did, responded Gold Horse firmly.
Then Jen lifted her head from Cat’s chest and put her hands on his face. “Be more. Sen always wanted me to be more, and I never understood. I do now. Be more and see if you still love me then.”
Oh hell, said Sunset Horse.
The bloodstained faerie and the burning ghost cuddled near the swing set of the school, while AT and Amber had invented seven variants on tic-tac-toe in the black ash, including the ‘Nod wins via paw print’ version.
Above them, Haliel frowned at her book, her quill continuing to scritch as she embellished what she’d already written. Capricorn sat stylishly on a jungle gym below her, watching Haliel, the lovers, and AT and Amber, her head moving like a curious bird.
At one point, Haliel raised her head, looking into the distance. At the same moment, Amber felt an unwelcome pressure against her bond with the horn. She froze.
Haliel said, “Is that…?”
“Not yet, Haliel!” said Capricorn. “But if you want to go see, I’ll go with you!”
Haliel narrowed her eyes. “You’d ruin it somehow. You’re like a destiny vandal or something. I’ll stay here, thanks.”
Capricorn smiled and bounced on her toes.
AT shook her head and whispered, “I’m not very impressed by the Angel of Joy up there.”
Amber gave AT a shocked look. “She’s amazing. Look at how she gets everybody wound up.”
AT shrugged back. “I don’t like the demon either, but I’d put my money on him in a fight between the two.”
Amber completely failed to parse this, and settled for, “It’s not always about fighting, AT. Also, why did you settle on ‘him’?”
“Seems better than ‘her’ for ‘too delicious to trust.’” She gave Capricorn a narrow look, and Capricorn gave her a cheerful little wave.
Then Imani partially rose, looking down at her lover sprawled beneath her. She once again appeared human, although fire flickered like wings along her naked shoulder bla
des. “I remember this too well,” she said softly. “Days of passion, days of distraction, while Tucker’s hatred grew. And then it all came tumbling down, and you left me to their attacks. How could you?”
The school playground shimmered around them, faint traceries of a house twinkling and fading. Shadows of people moved across the ground, and male voices jeered. A moment later, a siren’s wail and more male voices, and five gunshots, rapid-fire.
Imani tilted her head, listening, and stroked her nails down Gale’s bloody chest. “Was this your love?”
“It was my failure,” he said flatly. “I was in the labyrinth on my lord’s quest. I didn’t know until too late.”
Silence reigned for a long moment, Imani drawing designs in the blood. Then she sighed. “Words I’ve heard before. Such unlucky gods.” Bending her head, she kissed Gale lingeringly, before saying, “Shall I punish you only because you were unlucky, handsome god?”
He put his hands on hers, and Amber tensed in case this was the precursor to Gale once again empowering the haunt.
“It would be a gift,” he whispered.
Imani was still. Something in the haunt shifted, and afterimages danced around Imani and faded. In an odd voice, she said, “Punishment…”
Then, slowly, the ghost shook her head. “You are, and always have been, a distraction, just as you first told me I was.”
“I was wrong,” he said fiercely. “You are everything.”
Imani was still, and then she rolled her head back, lifting her face to the sky. “Sometimes. Sometimes I am.” The fire at her back flickered into her Hellqueen dress, though she remained kneeling atop Gale. “What was your love when I died, Gale?”
He exhaled. “My love was the fire.” For the first time, regret tinged his words.
Imani pulled her hands free but once again bent close to him. “I never asked to be your everything. I won’t be. But I was everything to her, to the child I chose, and carried, and nursed and dressed and taught. They took everything from her, everything but her life, and then you, who said you loved me, took that.”
She stroked his hair away from his anguished face. “I would hurt you forever, but you want it so much. Unlucky god, with so many roles to play…”
“I want to be with you,” he whispered. “I want to die with you.”
“Do you think I want to be with you?” Imani said. Her face shifted, and he reached up to touch it.
“Yes,” he said gently. “I know you do, or this would be much easier for you.”
She pulled away from him and stood up. “Where’s Charlie, Gale?”
Amber sighed and muttered, “Here we go again.”
But before Gale could give his traditional answer, a new, young and clear, said, “Mom?”
Part IV
27
The Return
The velvet darkness of Severin’s space was different, even in the brief time Branwyn was there. It was warm, of course. But the scent of roses filled her nose, and the old armchair that had resembled hers was gone. And then a window swept over them and the dim dreariness of Imani’s haunt replaced everything.
A woman floated in the air above a spectral playground, her legs curled under her, and it wasn’t Imani. She had perfect blonde hair and a giant book on her lap, in which she was writing with a feathered pen. Except for the lack of wings and the presence of yoga pants, she was practically the stereotype of an angelic observer.
Below her, leaning on a jungle gym, stood a black-haired figure in a hat and a snappy suit that Branwyn would have happily worn herself. That one saw their arrival and lifted a finger to their mouth with a secretive little smile as they turned their head.
Beyond them, Imani rose over Gale as he sprawled in the dust. Nearby, Amber and AT watched them intensely, while AT’s dogs all twisted toward Severin with flattened ears.
Silently, Severin put Charlie on the ground, but kept his hand on her shoulder as he looked over the angel and her dark-haired companion.
“Where’s Charlie, Gale?” asked Imani, in a high, sweet, dangerous voice.
“Mom?” said Charlie.
Everybody—Imani, Gale, the angel, AT, Amber—looked at Charlie. Imani’s mouth yawned open as if she was about to wail. Instead, as if a magic curtain had been opened, Imani Hellqueen vanished, replaced by Imani the woman, in a pair of old cut-off jeans and a faded t-shirt. She had warm brown skin, hazel eyes and a pensive look.
“Charlie,” she said softly. “Come here.”
Severin’s hand stayed on Charlie’s shoulder and the little girl hesitated. “You’re dead, aren’t you, Mom?”
Flames flickered in Imani’s eyes. “I died… They took me from you, Charlie.”
“But I’m okay, Mom. Nobody hurt me.” Charlie’s voice trembled. “You were so worried for me, right?”
“Gale burned you,” Imani whispered.
“No!” said Charlie urgently. “No. I’m right here.”
“Come to me, then,” said Imani, and stretched out her arms.
But Severin kept his hand on Charlie’s shoulder, even when she tried to pull away.
“You can come to her, Imani,” he said harshly. “But she’s not going to you. You can’t take her with you.”
“I can’t reach her,” said Imani plaintively. “She should be with me. She needs me.”
This was not the beautiful reunion Branwyn had been hoping for. She remembered the Saint’s warning and pulled out her hammer, holding it lightly in one hand as she started trying to imagine alternative solutions to the problems arrayed before her.
Brynn shifted uncomfortably as Cat and Jen stared at each other. Jen said, “I loved Sen so much, Cat, ever since I was barely more than a child. I was so happy with her: taking care of her, helping her, being with her. And she loved me as well. I know that. But when you came along… she… she cared for you too.”
Cat opened his mouth, and she put her hand over it, her words speeding up. “That was fine. You weren’t the first. But I… wanted you too. And that made her so happy! She said once she wanted to send the two of us on a trip together, just us… and I didn’t understand. I never understood when she tried to encourage me to be… more. More than just hers.”
Jen dragged in a breath, and there was a sob breaking under her words as she said, “But I don’t want you to—”
The haunt changed and Brynn squeaked despite herself as the flow of souls off her skin shifted again. This time, it was very definitely moving faster. Much, much faster.
“Something’s happened,” she cried, as Cat and Jen looked around and broke apart. She saw a flash of Imani in her mind’s eye and realized at least part of what was going on. “Branwyn and Rhianna are back with Imani’s daughter!”
Then she took off running, pulling the full power of the Wild Hunt over her for the first time since they’d drained the haunt. She could feel Cat and Jen following her, feel Amber and AT ahead of her, and Yejun coming in from the north.
Skidding to a stop near the ghost of the school, she stared hard at Imani as the rest of the Hunt pounded up behind her. She was vaguely aware of Branwyn and Severin standing with a little girl, distantly noticed that Rhianna had wandered off somewhere, but otherwise, Imani and the haunt filled her senses.
“This isn’t good,” she said. “I think cutting Gale free broke something.” She clutched at her arms as if she could stop the soul energy from escaping.
Imani was strange now. The shadow of the Hellqueen version hovered behind the human version, attached to her but not driving her. But the human version was wrong too. Though it looked like her true self, it too was part of the corrupted haunt, and the haunt was hungry.
“It’s dangerous for mortals. Branwyn and the kid shouldn’t be here,” added Brynn. “And where did Rhianna go?”
Amber darted over. “Should we just eat her now, then?” she said sarcastically. “I mean, if we’re not going to let her talk to her kid…”
Brynn covered her ears. “No! That’s not
her talking, anyhow. It’s the haunt, it’s a trap.”
Amber frowned. “That may be… She didn’t talk like that before when she was herself. I was wondering why…”
Cat said, “Severin brought them; he can take them away again. They’ll be safe.”
“But will he?” asked Jen. “Or is he going to feed them to her?”
“I might be able to help the real Imani talk,” said Yejun slowly. “But I don’t know if it will last. I don’t know if it will matter. If Brynn’s right, Imani may not be driving this thing anymore.”
Frustrated, Brynn said, “But who is?”
“Tucker,” said Amber flatly. She glanced around the town. All the other ghosts were gone, but the shadows had become far more substantial.
“A whole town?” demanded Jen, frowning.
“That might explain some things,” said AT moodily. “We never really dug into whose haunt this was.”
Flatly, Cat said, “It’s Imani’s. She’s the one Shatiel cared about. She’s the keystone. We’re not freeing anybody else until we free her.”
Amber and Yejun exchanged a pointed look. Then Amber said, “You might as well give it a try, Yejun.”
Branwyn touched the gem in her hammer thoughtfully and watched as Imani’s image flickered and wailed, “I want my daughter.”
Off to one side, the Wild Hunt coalesced into their collaborative huddle, speaking in those rapid, incomprehensible half-sentences they’d used before. Clearly they’d also detected some kind of snag in the proceedings.
Charlie watched the ghost of her mother with a puzzled expression. Branwyn said, “Not how she usually acts?”
Shaking her head slowly, Charlie said, “My mom should be a good ghost. She’d want me to be safe. She’d be yelling at Severin for bringing me here, I bet.” Charlie looked up at Severin. “Where’s my mom for real?”
“She’s here,” he said grimly. “Trapped under all the bullshit Shatiel and Gale piled onto her.”
Fury Convergence Page 36
