by Ilana Waters
Yet he still wasn’t gone. I put every ounce of magic I had into making the lemniscate. I couldn’t even see the crystal anymore with the orange light swelling around it. Sweat poured down the sides of my face. Every muscle in my body was pulled so taut, it was like being wound up from the inside.
I could barely keep my eyes open; the light was too bright. I could no longer see the visions. The lemniscate’s magic was so strong, it made the whole cavern vibrate. I was sure that at any moment, I’d collapse, and Oblivion would come roaring out of the mirror in his true form to devour us all.
Then it happened.
It was like an explosion made of light. I heard my parents, Arthur, and Philip cry out, saw them shut their eyes and turn their heads away. It felt like the lemniscate was wrenched from my grasp, and a huge burst of magic threw me backwards. The entire room shook with the force of it, sending stalactites crashing down. When I hit the ground, the air was knocked out of my lungs, and for a moment, I couldn’t move. But I managed to lift my head just long enough to get one last glimpse of Oblivion.
The smoke was churning and swirling inside the mirror, like a living thing attacking itself. Oblivion’s red, hateful eyes became smaller and smaller, until they disappeared completely. His screaming was equally unearthly as the music I’d heard inside the lemniscate, but far less pleasant.
Then the mirror shattered, but not outwards. All the pieces of glass seemed to fall on the inside except for one, which shot out and landed a few yards from me. Then there was nothing left of the mirror but the gilded frame leaning against the cavern wall. I heard Oblivion give one last anguished howl. At least, I think he did. The sound wasn’t like anything from a person or an animal. But whatever it was, it faded away slowly, echoing throughout this world and the next.
Everyone who’d been hanging on the wall instantly fell down, all conscious except Nocifari. After Oblivion’s punishing screams, the sudden silence of the cave sent a ringing through my ears. The lemniscate’s light seemed to swallow itself in one gulp. The crystal did the same, leaving the stone rattling around until it finally came to a stop. With no other magic light, the cavern instantly went dark. My head fell back and I closed my eyes.
After that, fate was kind enough to remove me from consciousness. Whether I’d passed out, slipped into a coma, or died was all but irrelevant to me.
Chapter 24
I opened my eyes. Everything hurt.
I was on my back, lying on something soft. I lifted my head a few inches. It felt like trying to hold up a boulder using only my neck. Images were fuzzy, sounds muffled. Slowly, they became more distinct. I saw a mirror and dresser across the way, a window with curtains open to nighttime Rome below. And as I mentioned, I had pain in places I never knew existed. But that meant—
I still had a body. I was still alive.
The sounds I’d been hearing grew clearer. They turned into honking horns, a TV on somewhere, a familiar voice. I was in a bed, and Titus was standing over me, arms folded.
“I said, ‘Good evening, Joshua.’ ” The corner of his mouth lifted into a smile. “You look like hell.”
I smiled back weakly. “Everyone needs a hobby. Wait, is everyone still alive? Where am I? What time is it?”
“Just after sunset.”
“I’ve been asleep all day?”
“You’ve been asleep for three days,” corrected Titus. “You’re in your room at the Hassler. And yes, everyone is alive.”
My head fell back on my pillow. “That’s a relief. But . . . three days?”
“After Oblivion . . . well, we all came back here, and Abigail healed the injured as best she could. Her magic informed her that you would survive; you just needed rest.”
Ah, so I had passed out then. Or had sort of a faint-coma combination. Either way, it was better than death. I sat up. I wore a fresh shirt and was covered by bedsheets. Titus had several scars along his throat where I’d burned him with the crossbow bolt. He saw me look at them. Our eyes met, but we said nothing. Then Abigail walked in.
“Titus, do we have any more of those—Joshua, you’re up! Titus, why didn’t you tell me?” She took my face in her hands and kissed my cheeks.
“Mom, please.” I blushed, and Titus rolled his eyes.
“And you’re doing so much better than before.” She gave me a handheld mirror from the nightstand. “See?”
I hesitated before holding the mirror in front of me. After the changes I’d undergone in the past several days, I was afraid to look. But the face staring back at me wasn’t a demon’s. My skin was still thin and sallow, and there were bags under my eyes. But those eyes were green, not black, as Oblivion’s had been the last time I saw him. And I could see the flesh coming back into my cheeks. Somehow, it was my face again. My soft, pasty, humanlike face.
“Not bad.” I handed the mirror back to Abigail. “No doubt the result of your mending magic.”
Abigail waved away my compliment. “Well, it had to be done, since Oblivion took his healing abilities with him.”
“He couldn’t have left them as a parting gift?” I tried to shift positions. “Ow. Just this once?”
“Just this once?” Abigail echoed. “There’s not going to be a second time, mister. I mean it.” She poured a glass of water from the bedside carafe and handed it to me.
“Yes, Mom,” I said solemnly. “No more internalizing demons, I promise.” I took a sip of water. I didn’t realize how thirsty I’d been. And I was starving. But I was free. I was myself again.
“Peterson should never have categorized the ring of Numara as a power source, Arthur,” I heard Philip say. “It’s a ritual object; it belongs with the anthropological references.” I looked at my parents.
“What are Arthur and Philip doing here?”
“I keep asking myself that,” Titus said. “Something about Arthur wanting to make sure you were all right. He and Philip brought several books to argue over while they waited for you to rouse yourself.”
“I’ll go tell them. They’ll be so excited. Boys!” Abigail stood in the doorway and called into the living room. “He’s awake!”
I saw Arthur jump up from a couch. “It’s about bloody time!” He smiled broadly. “C’mon, Philip. Joshua’s awake.”
“Fantastic,” Philip grumbled, slowly getting out of his seat. “I’ll alert the press.”
I was relieved to see that both PIA members looked much better. The cuts on their faces from the coffee-table fiasco were gone. Arthur must have let Abigail heal them after all. I wonder what Philip had thought of that. I smiled to think of him squirming while Abigail crushed herbs and said magic words to make his face right itself.
The bruise that had been starting on Arthur’s hand from my stabbing attempt was gone. Philip had a light yellow bruise where I’d struck his jaw, and his arm was in a sling. His glasses had been repaired, and he boasted his usual jacket and waistcoat. But for the first time since I’d known him, he wasn’t wearing a tie, and his top shirt button was undone.
“The cracked ribs were easy,” Abigail said when she saw me staring at Philip. “But I told him the arm will take a little longer.” She rubbed his shoulder. “At least you don’t have to wear a cast, right?”
“Erm, right,” he said. “Thanks again.”
“So, how are you feeling, Josh old boy?” Arthur clapped his hands and rubbed them together. With everyone standing around my bed, I felt a bit like Dorothy at the end of The Wizard of Oz.
“I’m better. Relieved to see you all are as well. Oh, God—Nocifari!” I almost dropped the water glass. “Did she . . . is she . . .”
“Fine,” Philip said. “Abigail worked some kind of witchcraft on her while she was still unconscious, so she isn’t doing too poorly. I took her back to the PIA. The doctors say she’ll make a full recovery.”
“Despite all those injuries?”
Philip shrugged. “She’s one tough bird. Of course, she has no idea what really happened after s
he passed out. I informed her that I badly wounded you, then saw the demon get sent back to hell. When the smoke had cleared, so to speak, I told her you disappeared, though not literally.”
“She bought that?”
Philip shrugged again. “She has no reason not to. I’m a loyal member of the PIA whom she saw in a battle to the death with a demon. She knew I wanted him gone as much as anyone else. We concurred that you must have either run away—in your demon-free body—or been destroyed along with Oblivion. She was only disappointed she didn’t get to send him back herself, naturally.”
“Naturally.”
“I did remind her that she was lucky to be alive.” Philip tried to scratch his injured arm, and winced. “You can imagine how well she took that. Anyway, my story should keep you safe from other curious PIA members—”
“Thank you, Philip.”
“—until you show up somewhere else in the world doing something equally stupid.”
I gave him a tight smile. “Couldn’t have done it without you, Phil. I assume we can trust you and Arthur not to breathe a word of these incidents to anyone?”
“And bring the full force of the PIA’s wrath down on us when they learn we were involved?” Philip asked. “No, thank you. I’ve got a good head on my shoulders, and I prefer to keep it there. Though based on the way I said I trounced you, they did offer to train me as an elite demon hunter. I’m considering it.”
“Yes, what about the PIA’s further involvement in this, or ‘wrath,’ as you put it?” Titus asked.
“There shouldn’t be any, Aurelius.” Arthur took his glasses out of his sweater pocket and polished them on the sweater’s hem. “As far as the PIA is concerned, the case is closed. Ms. Nocifari will be assigned elsewhere after she recuperates.”
“She’s really going to continue demon hunting after nearly dying?” Abigail asked.
“It’s who she is,” Philip said simply. “It’s what she does. Even after you tried to—” He looked at me, then looked away. The others glanced at each other, but said nothing.
“Er, right.” I cleared my throat. “About that. I’m sorry that you had to see me in such a state. That I hurt you all.” I looked at Abigail and Arthur. “The things I tried to do.” I looked at Titus. “And I’m sorry you had to hear about the things . . . the things I wanted to . . .”
“Joshua, we know that wasn’t you,” said Abigail. “That was something that was done to you.”
“And there would’ve been much more of it if Oblivion had had his way.” Arthur put his glasses back in his pocket. “Oh, and you’ll be happy to hear, Joshua, that there have been no more bizarre, weather-related phenomena or building collapses in Rome. No more sudden natural disasters around the world, either.”
“And thank God for it.” Abigail shuddered. “I mean, can you imagine if those unspeakable things Oblivion showed us actually came to pass?” Then she turned to Philip. “And Joshua’s right when he says you were a large part of preventing that.”
Philip looked at my mother and blinked several times. “I don’t understand how I did anything. I tried to stop you—” he jutted his chin at me, “Oblivion, that is—and you both thrashed me. Soundly.”
I took a long sip of water. “If you hadn’t given me that blow to the head and knocked me down, Oblivion’s spell never would have been broken. I’d almost completely absorbed him at that point. I only managed to snap out of it and fight him because I regained my sense of self. Without that, you’d be seeing hellfire out the window right now, presuming Oblivion didn’t raze the Hassler. No, Philip, she’s right. You did more than you will ever know.”
“Yes, good show indeed.” Arthur nodded. Even Titus gave a grunt of approval. I felt like telling Philip that, coming from my father, this was the equivalent of a ticker-tape parade.
“Well, erm, yes, I suppose.” Philip turned pink and adjusted his glasses.
“Your grandfather would surely be proud,” Arthur said. “His efforts helped save the world from an evil madman, and so did yours. Only his triumph involved defeating Hitler and yours was a bit more . . . otherworldly.”
“Yes, and no one but us will ever know,” Philip muttered.
“But you got the chance to be brave, to do something important.” I looked pointedly at Philip. Then I sent a message only he could hear. No one who helped saved the world can say their life doesn’t have meaning. Philip seemed taken aback for a moment, then gave a begrudging nod.
“And sometimes the world’s greatest works go unrecognized.” Arthur patted Philip’s injured arm, and Philip made a face. “Besides, when you become a full-fledged demon hunter—”
“I said I was considering it.”
“Regardless,” I coughed, “having rescued humanity together, we have a newfound respect for one another. Right?”
Philip gave me a withering look. “Let’s not get carried away.”
“Saved humanity . . . indeed, we witnessed some very historic events a few nights ago.” Arthur looked around the room. “In all the history of the PIA, Joshua, you are the only known person to expel a demon from himself. Of course, we can’t put that version in the records, more’s the pity.”
“Hear that, Father?” I said. “Not bad for a weakling, eh?” I managed a grin, and was shocked to see my father smile in return.
“Maybe now, you can enjoy the rest of that vacation time,” Abigail said to Arthur.
“Yes, who knows?” Arthur agreed. “There may be demons to destroy in places as far off as Tahiti. Though I’d have to practice my lemniscates before I packed.”
“Lemniscates,” Titus murmured. “To think, after all that time, we finally found out what that bloody thing was. And why the crystal was glowing.”
“Wait.” I froze. “Where is the crystal?”
“Right here.” Abigail slipped her hand into the folds of her skirt, retrieved the crystal, and gave it to me. I heaved a sigh of relief, my fingers turning the stone over and over.
“And here’s another thing I thought you’d be interested in.” She pulled something else from her skirt. “Careful. It’s sharp.”
I furrowed my brow, then realized it was the last shard from the demon’s mirror. “Was there any other evidence of Oblivion in the cavern besides this? I mean, after he was destroyed?” I asked.
“None,” replied Philip. “Unless you count the mirror frame, which we left there. And we don’t know that Oblivion was truly destroyed. All we know is that he was sent back to his realm.”
“What?” My face fell. “After all that, I didn’t even kill him?”
“Well, he wasn’t exactly alive to begin with,” said Arthur. “Not in the physical sense. That’s why he was trying to take over your body, remember? So essentially, I doubt anyone can really kill him.”
“Great,” I groaned, closing my eyes and leaning back. “All that pain and horror for nothing.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, dear.” Abigail sat down beside me and took my hand. “You did stop him from taking you over, then destroying the world as we know it. Pretty good for a day’s work.”
“But how can we be sure he won’t try to come back?” Titus turned to Arthur.
“Ah, we can’t,” said Arthur. “We’ll just have to keep an eye out for him. But now that he knows that Joshua knows how to expel him, I doubt he’ll try to get in again that way. ‘Don’t go trying to use the same route twice,’ or so I once heard. And I wouldn’t wonder if he wasn’t a little intimidated. I mean, a mage who can open mystical doors!”
“I doubt I can take all the credit,” I said. “Coming through such a door myself all those decades ago probably had something to do with it. Perhaps some of its magic stayed with me.”
Abigail nodded. “Stranger things have happened. I mean, your father and I met and fell in love.”
“No doubt a diabolical plot by the gods to destroy us,” he muttered. Abigail blew a sharp puff of air at his neck. Titus made a face and
slapped the spot.
“So, Oblivion was solely responsible for Joshua being born?” Abigail looked down at my hand. There was a tinge of disappointment in her voice. “It wasn’t love that did it?”
“Oh, it was love, all right.” Arthur nodded. “Love . . . and a demon.”
After that, Arthur and Philip started packing up their books to leave. Abigail forced me to eat so much food, I felt like I was a goose and she was making foie gras. I stayed in bed and called George to let him know what happened since we last spoke. I debated telling him about the tsunami and earthquake’s connection to Oblivion, but in the end, decided he might as well know.
“Well, that was nerve-racking for a while,” he said. Abba music blasted on the other end of the line. “Glad to hear you’re on the up-and-up. And that the demon is, ah, where he belongs.”
“Yes, everything’s pretty much back to normal.” I peered into the living room, where my parents were telekinetically wrestling the remote control back and forth. “Or whatever passes for normal around here.”
“At least there won’t be any more natural disasters that aren’t, you know, natural. And no more innocent coffee tables will have to die,” George said. He’d been quite amused when I told him about the repeated damage to the suite.
“No, the whole place has been cleaned up. Again.” Indeed, the coffee table had been replaced for a third time.
“The staff there must be dying to know what’s going on,” George said. “So, it turns out you’re a magical door opener, eh?” He gave a long whistle. “I must say, I’m impressed. Any chance you could fix my garage clicker?”
“Hilarious,” I replied. “And no.”
“And imagine, Philip didn’t turn out to be nearly the prick we thought he was,” George said. I watched as Arthur tried to take a book from Philip, who kept holding it out of his reach.
“Oh, I don’t know, mate. I’d say there’s still plenty of prick to go around. Hold on. I think they’re talking about me in there.”
“—defeating a demon, anyway,” Arthur was saying, finally snatching the volume from Philip’s hand. He tightened the straps of a bag bursting with books. “Pretty good for a mage, eh? Of course, it was nearly the last of that one.” He jerked his head towards me.
