Brynn, holding the angry ghost by one hand, said in a trembling voice, “Branwyn, where is Rhianna? You need to tell me right now so I can make sure she’s safe—”
“She’s not here,” said Severin curtly. “She’ll be showing up later.” And once again, Branwyn wanted to kick him. Then again, the answer was complicated. At least, she hoped so.
“Hold that thought, Brynn,” she said quickly. “Hopefully we can get this sorted out before she gets back.”
Charlie peeked around Severin and said sadly, “Mom…”
The Hellqueen Imani stilled her monstrous thrashing at the sound and turned toward Severin. “Why is she still here, Severin? Why? Do you hate us both? Did you bring her here to torture me?”
Severin said acidly, “I really wish I’d dealt with Tucker before Gale. They wouldn’t have needed any other villain for their little story.”
Cat joined them. “In that case, I have good news for you.”
Capricorn and Yejun entered the huddle, Capricorn pausing to take back their hat and jacket from Branwyn. She hadn’t been particularly careful holding them, but as soon as Capricorn put them on, they looked perfect again.
Severin gave Cat his flat look. “Oh?”
“I’m going to cut Imani out of the haunt,” said Cat, twisting his hand to show off his weird super-dense knife. “The haunt will fight back. We need to weaken and distract it.” He met Severin’s gaze. “Previously we treated the haunt as an extension of Imani. But it’s not, is it, Brynn?”
Brynn, still outside the huddle because she was keeping Imani away, said, “It’s more than four hundred additional souls, most of which are fully charged up again.” She swallowed. “It’s a town that killed to keep its secrets, even the secrets they hated.”
“Imani isn’t holding them anymore, either,” said Yejun. “Well, not tightly. They could escape if they really wanted to.”
“They just don’t want to,” said Brynn, her eyes dark. “How can they be so—” She clamped her mouth shut as Imani turned toward her.
“They’re wicked,” hissed Imani. “Slow and weak and small, but all twisted up and see the chains they weave for each other.”
“All of them?” asked Brynn in a small voice.
“Let’s find out,” said Cat, and his voice was almost cheerful in comparison. “Those that have lingered because they feel bound by the community might move on if staying became particularly unpleasant.”
“You still talk like an angel, remnant,” said Severin, but his shark smile was cracking across his face.
Scare the shit out of them, Severin, Branwyn thought, remembering the Court of Stone again.
Cat’s eyes narrowed. “Be the true devil of this hell they’ve constructed, kaiju.”
“What’s going on?” demanded Amber, popping up where Capricorn had been standing a moment before. AT wriggled in beside her.
“Severin and AT are going to divide the ghosts into those who’d like to be free, and those who prefer the haunt,” said Cat. “I’m going to cut Imani from the haunt. You’re going to blow the horn once Imani is safe.” His gaze went to Brynn.
“And I keep holding Imani?” Brynn guessed.
Slowly, Cat shook his head. “She’s resisting you. She can’t resist this.” He lowered his gaze until he was looking at Charlie, still peeking around Severin’s back. “Can you help us, Charlie?”
“Um,” said Charlie nervously. “Help how?” When Severin tried to push her back behind him again, she dodged his hand. “How?”
“Hold Imani’s hands,” said Cat simply. “Tell her you love her.”
“Um,” said Branwyn. “Isn’t Brynn trying to stop exactly that right now, because the haunt wants to eat her?”
“She’ll need protection,” agreed Cat. He looked at Severin, who was still smiling, or at least baring his teeth. “Some protective charms would help.”
Severin’s smile vanished. “Not from me, they wouldn’t.”
“Ah,” said Cat. He glanced around, spotted Capricorn talking to Jennifer, and looked away.
Yejun said diffidently, “I could probably protect her. Not with charms, but, you know, my way.”
Severin gave Yejun a hard stare. “How the hell did you make it through childhood, kid?”
“I relied on spite,” said Yejun casually. “Are you going to let us do this?”
Severin crouched down beside Charlie. “What do you think?”
Charlie scowled. “You brought me here ‘cause we were going to sort this out. Now you’re waffling?”
Severin countered, “I said I’d take care of you. Right now, taking care of you means getting you out of here, not letting some freak babysit you.”
Charlie shook her head. “He’s not a freak. He’s cool. Unlike you.” She pushed her way past Severin and took Yejun’s hand. “All I have to do is hold my mom’s hand, Mister?” she asked Cat.
Yejun, startled by Charlie’s hand in his, turned his head to Severin. But Severin seemed unbothered by Charlie’s words or choice. He rose to his feet and looked past the group, out at the haunt, his shark smile creeping back onto his face.
“That’s all you have to do, but you can’t let go, no matter what,” said Cat.
“Okay,” said Charlie. “I’m good at that.”
“Do you have a role for me, or should I improvise?” Branwyn finally asked, holding her hammer in both hands. It still had a single remaining soul charge in the black diamond, and it quivered on the edge of release.
Cat shrugged. “You and Brynn hold on to what you’ve got and be ready for things to go wrong.” He glanced up at Haliel, who gave him a thumbs up as he added, “They probably will.”
“I’m going,” said Severin. “Don’t dawdle, AT.” He darted away, his glittering aura cutting through the haunt’s gloom. In the distance, a low moan rose.
AT hesitated, glancing at Cat. When he nodded, she and her dogs ran off in a different direction.
Branwyn studied Cat. Something about the Wild Hunt had changed since she’d gone into Faerie, and it centered on the tall blond man. Everybody else watched him like he was a bomb about to go off. Everybody except Jennifer, who had her gaze firmly fixed on Capricorn.
But Severin had accepted his plan. And Branwyn knew she’d need to do something whenever the beast of fire and thorns returned with Rhianna. Probably best to reserve her strength for that. But it left her uneasy. Cat had a plan for her, she was certain. He was too smart to leave her power on the shelf. But he obviously wanted to keep that part a secret. Why?
“All right, Charlie,” said Cat. “Your turn. Go to your mother.”
Charlie looked at the apparition in the ballgown. “It’s like a Halloween costume, right? Like she’s put on a costume and forgotten how to take it off?”
“Smart kid,” said Amber.
Yejun took off his sunglasses and said gently, “I’m going to keep my hands on your head, Charlie.”
Charlie nodded absently and walked over to her mom, Yejun close behind her. As soon as she was within reach, Imani reached out for her daughter: not the mother’s embrace, but a hungry, mindless flail.
Charlie flinched as her mother’s hands passed through her. But a line appeared between Yejun’s brows and faint luminescence flickered around the little girl. Then Charlie took a deep breath and grabbed her mother’s hands.
Before, Brynn had clearly been serving as a channel for the ghost and the living child to touch each other. This time, Yejun was doing something different. Charlie’s faint glow deepened, coming from beneath her skin. Branwyn was uncomfortably reminded of the glint she’d seen in Rhianna, although she couldn’t identify why.
“Come out, mom,” whispered Charlie. The ghost twitched more, but didn’t pull away from Charlie. “You can do this, mom… Mom?” Hesitantly, she started singing a lullaby.
Slowly, the real Imani emerged from the Hellqueen version, like she was surfacing from deep water. The Hellqueen dress shredded away from her, but the pieces hov
ered behind her, each one reaching out for the woman.
The real Imani, but not entirely. She didn’t speak this time, and her gaze was far away. But she quieted, until she was still, her hands limp in her daughter’s. Branwyn’s skin crawled at Imani’s blind eyes, as she remembered her journey through what the faeries had called the belly of Death, remembered clinging to the pain of her burning tattoo.
Quietly, Brynn slipped her hand into Branwyn’s. Branwyn hadn’t even noticed her releasing Imani, so caught had she been by the memory of clinging to life. She dragged in a breath, her fingers tightening on Brynn’s. She hadn’t felt Rhianna in the belly of Death. Hopefully the bond between mother and daughter was stronger.
Cat moved behind Imani, his blade out. He stood there for a long moment, before saying, “Branwyn?”
“Already?” muttered Branwyn and glanced at Brynn. Her little sister’s face was pale and when Branwyn tugged at her hand, Brynn didn’t let go.
“I’m not letting you wander off too,” said Brynn fiercely.
Branwyn tightened her hand again. “All right.” She towed her sister closer to Cat. “What’s wrong?”
Cat looked down at the strange blade in his hand. “It’s… resisting.” He offered it hilt first to Branwyn. “You’ve done well with blades before.”
Amber, still clinging to the Horn, called, “I warned you, Cat—” and shut her mouth.
Branwyn almost laughed at his description of her past with blades. “I don’t like working with weapons,” she warned him. “I probably can’t do any more than you can.”
“The Ragged Blade isn’t a weapon,” he said. “It’s a tool. Please take it and see if you can do what I can’t.”
Branwyn closed her fingers around the hilt.
It was neither artifact, nor Machine. If there were nodes buried in the blade’s wildly dense layering of Geometric lines, she couldn’t detect them. But despite that lack, there was an awareness in the blade. It spoke to her, and she didn’t understand. It felt good in her hand though.
It needed something. Not the forge of her soul, which it didn’t seem to notice. Something else…
She thought she heard Severin’s distant whisper. It didn’t matter though. She’d been asked to do what only she could do. She just had to understand how to connect to the Blade. Connect to the Blade, like Rhianna had connected to the haunt.
Dreamily, she wrenched her other hand away from Brynn and brought her palm to the blade. It had been her unscarred palm, but now the edge of the Ragged Blade delicately parted her skin and tasted her blood. Then it spoke to her again.
Is this right?
She saw new lines all around her: lines completely independent from the Geometry, lines where the indivisible could be sheared apart, never to join again. But although there were lines through everything, the Blade found most of the lines repulsive. A few were neutral, and even fewer attracted the blade.
She could see the line to separate Imani from the haunt. It repelled the blade as she focused on it.
Is this right? asked the Blade once again, the words carrying their own context. Cat had an ulterior motive in separating Imani from her haunt, and the Ragged Blade refused to be used for its wielder’s benefit.
Yes, Branwyn thought.
Then help me, said the Blade, and Branwyn leaned on the Blade, driving it against the repelling line.
Brynn twisted her hands together as Branwyn went off into her working headspace and cut open her own hand. This was not what she’d signed up for. This was not what she wanted to watch. And Rhianna was—but surely she’d know, right? If Rhianna was dead, she, Brynn of the Wild Hunt, would have to know. Truly know, not just have a horrible suspicion that wouldn’t go away. Right?
I hate this, she whispered to the horses.
There is nothing good about today, said Earth Horse mournfully.
This isn’t what we’re supposed to do, fretted Gold Horse.
Sweat along her brow and blood flowing freely from her hand, Branwyn pushed the knife out and down. It moved slowly, and Imani’s flickering resumed as Branwyn cut.
“Steady,” whispered Cat. “Keep holding her, Charlie. This will work.”
Branwyn cut and cut. It took what seemed like hours. The moaning of the haunt became a low howl, and Brynn could feel terrified souls fleeing into the sky and the great beyond. Technically, that was good: a goal achieved. But she couldn’t feel like it was right, not the way it was being accomplished.
“Mouse alert,” said Amber nervously, and added, “Oh, I guess that’s me.” Brynn looked where Amber was looking. A red rose of fire was blooming deeper in the town.
Sharply, Cat said, “That’s not a mouse. Amber, you have to keep it away from Branwyn and Charlie.”
Amber sighed and tucked the Horn away. As she did, Brynn said, “What about me? What is it?”
“I don’t know,” said Cat, hurriedly. “The bane from the ark, I think. And if it comes to it, yes, you keep it away from them too, if you can.”
Twelve souls, Brynn remembered. But shouldn’t it have them already? Why would it come back without them? She looked closely at the creature forming: long legs, long nose, bushy tail, a mane of fire. Her breath hissed between her teeth as she saw.
It had four souls: four souls that had escaped the Haunt and it had recaptured; three souls from Tucker… and Rhianna. And now it was back where it’d started, following the last soul in Branwyn’s hammer and ready to acquire seven more souls after that.
Amber ran over to the bane and then hopped backward as a paw came down where she’d been planning to stop. “That’s a lot bigger than a mouse!”
Brynn stood, stunned into stillness. How could Rhianna be one of the bane’s souls? Why hadn’t Branwyn told her? Why hadn’t Brynn herself known? What good was any of this?
“Oof,” said Branwyn, as she finished her long cut. “Ouch…”
Imani shuddered all over, and Charlie’s song hitched although her grip on her mother’s hands never faltered. Abruptly the shadows of the haunt grew long and thick, and Brynn felt the last of the soul charges on her skin lift away. Darkness flashed from Branwyn’s hammer, too. She hardly cared.
“Branwyn,” she shrieked, furious, terrified, despairing. Amber was struggling with the bane, but the bane seemed to be playing with Amber rather than truly hampered.
“What?” said Branwyn, startled. “Oh,” she added as she saw the beast. Anguish twisted across her face and her grip tightened on the Ragged Blade. “Maybe I can…”
Cat said, “And now is exactly when I need Amber. Hmm.”
The Ragged Blade vanished from Branwyn’s hand. She stared down at the absence. “Oh, come on!”
“You’ll have to run, Branwyn,” said Cat. “Bait it away. It can’t interrupt Charlie.”
“Is it dangerous now?” asked Branwyn, surprised. “I thought Rhianna… oh.” The bane knocked Amber over and looked around.
“It’s dangerous,” said Brynn, wiping her nose. “It needs eight more souls, Branwyn.”
Branwyn shivered before plunging past them all. “Hey,” she shouted. “Over here!”
Let us out, said Earth Horse, and suddenly he was commanding rather than depressed. Now you let us out, Brynn.
“Yes,” Brynn said. She raised her arms, and color exploded around her. The horses emerged from her running, all but Sunset Horse. Silver Horse charged to Branwyn and slid to her knees, scrambling to her feet when Branwyn was only half on.
Black Horse and Gold Horse followed Silver Horse, but split around the giant bane, circling it and then charging it. Red Horse went to Amber, Earth Horse bucked in place and only after that did Sunset Horse step out, and stand absolutely still.
Brynn, please, said Earth Horse. Jennifer.
With a jolt, Brynn realized Jennifer was barely visible in the distance, running away from the school with Capricorn beside her. No, not away from the school, to the post office where the ark rested still. “What’s she doing?”
&nbs
p; Something scary. Something related to the demon. She won’t listen to me. Brynn! And Earth Horse nudged her so hard she almost fell down. She caught his mane, and he started moving, dragging her with him as he followed Jennifer.
“But—” began Brynn. But Branwyn. But Rhianna. But Cat… But Earth Horse was frantic, terrified. He needed her.
Go, said Sunset Horse. You’ve done all you can here.
Brynn went.
Her sister’s horse danced under Branwyn, and she tried very hard to stay on. The beast of fire and thorns bounded forward, and the silver-maned horse skittered to one side, staying out of reach.
When the horse had first knelt for Branwyn to mount, she’d thought the creature meant to help her flee. But apparently that would have been too easy. Instead Silver Horse was using her as bait, just like Cat had suggested: staying close enough to keep the beast more interested in Branwyn than Charlie.
Branwyn was still dazed from her experience with the Ragged Blade. Her hand hurt, and her chest ached. For a moment she’d thought she could use the Ragged Blade to free Rhianna from the beast. But no sooner had she thought it than the blade had vanished from her hand.
Silver Horse hopped to one side as a taloned paw flashed out, and Branwyn almost toppled off. The beast sat back on its haunches, looking puzzled. Its nose twitched, and it turned back toward Charlie and Imani. Silver Horse stomped her foot, and suddenly Black Horse and Gold Horse charged in from the sides, whirling and kicking the beast.
It was a well organized attack, but it had little impact on the beast. It growled like thunder and caught Gold Horse with one paw, sending the horse flying. He recovered like a gymnast, but stayed away, moving warily. Black Horse dodged another paw and backed off.
Once again, Silver Horse danced in place, but the beast gave her a confused look and once again turned toward Imani and Charlie.
“It can’t see me very well when I’m on you,” Branwyn whispered. Silver Horse flicked her ears back and somehow sidled right out from under Branwyn. She landed awkwardly on her feet and stumbled as the beast’s attention snapped back around.
Fury Convergence Page 38
