by Andy Hyland
We stood in the same room, except this one looked like it hadn’t been lived in for decades. The bookshelves were bare and rotted, the carpet threadbare and faded. “How did you..?”
Julie held out the pendant that hung round her neck. A silver feather. “Gift from the boss. I can’t use magic, but I can use this. No idea why. Must be some metaphysical distinction in there somewhere, but if it works, it works.”
“But you did…” I gestured around. “From there to here. The accuracy. You can slide directly from there to…”
“Dark Manhattan? Sure. Makes getting your bearings easy. Benny thinks it’s interesting. He said that before the shift, you had to find the right doors to step through – everything was a fixed point. But now, with Dark Manhattan being a kind of echo, you can move between the same points anywhere you need to. Like walking through a mirror. That’s how he put it. I was making a coffee, then I heard David shouting, then the door wasn’t there anymore. I got out before he saw me. Just moved over here.”
“How did you know I was there? You came back for me.”
She looked at the silver feather again. “Something else it does. I can feel what’s in the same areas on the other side of the veil. Unintended effects I guess. Whenever this was crafted, nobody had thought that the Fades could hold an echoed world like this.”
We looked at each other. I shrugged. “I guess your mission is over.”
“Looks like it. Let’s get the hell out of New York. What? Why are you looking shifty?”
“I’m not looking shifty. And getting out is a great idea. For you.”
“Why not us?”
“Because he’s killing people. And now he’s lost all control and he’s going to kill more. For some reason he’s considered untouchable, and I get the feeling that if I don’t do something here, then nobody will.”
“Then let nobody do it. Let it all go. I’m a rich bitch now. We’ve got resources. We can travel, have a life. A good one. Please, Malachi.”
I couldn’t meet her eyes. “There’s other stuff going down as well. If we had all the time in the world, and we could sit down and talk, then maybe I could make you understand. But we don’t have time. So I’m asking you to trust me.”
“And afterwards? After all this?”
“We’ll carry on together. We’ll make sense of everything. Somehow. We’ll make it work. I’ll make it work.”
She sighed and turned away. “But you won’t leave, will you?”
“Maybe one day I will. But honestly, in the near future? No. Part of me – a big part of me, wants to run away, but I can’t. I’d like to tell you everything you want to hear, but I won’t lie to you.” She turned back and raised her eyebrows. “That’s not fair,” I protested. “Sure, I’ve hidden stuff, and you know damn well why. But I’ve not lied. And I won’t.”
“I see. Come on, let’s get to Benny’s.”
Turned out that once you got your bearings, Benny’s in Dark Manhattan was four streets south of Central Park, and to the west. I looked over into the park as we moved stealthily downtown. Over here, where the sun never reached down, it seemed a dark and foreboding place. A place where the wild things would prowl. And it struck me with near-absolute certainty that if the ratten horde was here at the borders, that’s where they’d be camping out.
“You okay?” Julie asked quietly.
“Fine. Let’s keep walking. Faster.”
I kept my eyes moving, making sure I looked up as well as around, but nothing gray was crawling that I could see. We were breathing hard by the time we reached the door, and I shoved it open, pushing it shut behind Julie once we were in. Small groups stood huddled around the place, speaking in low tones, clutching their drinks. It was never a normal drinking hole, but it used to be a refuge, a hiding place from your worries. Now it seemed that the cares of the worlds had followed everyone inside.
Benny was at the bar. He looked up, slightly surprised to see us together. Without a word he pointed in the direction of the back room. I took Julie’s hand and she squeezed mine. Reassuring. I needed that reassurance right now. Once out by the stairs, we found the door to the back room shut. I briefly considered knocking, but then decided I’d had enough of asking permission, so I twisted the handle and opened it. A small act of rebellion, but it felt pretty damn great anyway.
Mercy was inside, along with the leather-clad woman I’d met after my spying session on David’s meeting. They were at opposite ends of the room, and if it wasn’t a face off then it was a good impression of one. Mercy stood resolute, hands clasped on the top of her black walking cane, chin high and face pinched. The other woman had her hands on her hips, blue eyes wide and glaring.
“Are we interrupting something?” I asked. “I certainly hope we are.”
Leather woman looked over, then did a double take. “You. Her? Contact was -”
“Any plans you had are out of the window now, love. He’s onto me, and he knows about Julie. The man is a hurricane and he’s out of control.”
“You’ve met?” Julie asked, looking between us.
“Not formally. More of a brief chat by the river.”
The woman stood up straighter. “Tabbris. Of the Host.”
“I guessed that part,” I muttered. “Look, whatever you thought you were going to do isn’t going to work. Send your guys in now. You don’t want to kill him for whatever reason, that’s fine. But take him into custody, or whatever you have that’s like that. Get him off the streets before people die. Because they are going to die.”
Tabbris slammed her hand against the table, sending a thin crack snaking across the surface. “That cannot be done. You think we wouldn’t have brought him in already if that was an option? My hands are tied here.”
“Who ties the hands of the Host? Really?” I asked.
“We tie our own hands sometimes. When we need to.”
“Then untie them?” Julie suggested.
Mercy shook her head. “Malachi, you’re banging your head against a brick wall. The Host is bound on this. So, unfortunately, is the Union.”
“But I‘m not. Or am I? What’s the deal?”
“I am aware that you are a potential threat to David,” Tabbris said through gritted teeth. “As such, if you take direct physical action against him, to wound or kill, or if anyone associated with you -”
“Yeah, I get you’re covering the loopholes. But what would actually happen?”
“You would be stopped with lethal force,” said Mercy. “And if you succeeded, there would be penalties. You accepted the terms.” She glanced at Julie. I got the message.
“Great.” I leaned back against the wall. “Can you tell me what he is? Nothing about him is making sense. His magic is strong – he’s a beast – but it’s like he doesn’t know he’s doing it.”
“He’s unhinged,” said Julie. “When I first went in there he was teetering on the edge. The past week he’s got worse.”
The silence was deafening. “You can’t even tell us anything, can you? What kind of deal did you make here? What was so vital that you gave away every line of defense we had?”
Tabbris and Mercy looked at the floor.
“Wonderful. Okay, I get it. I’m on my own.”
“We’re on our own,” said Julie. Then she turned to Tabbris. “I take it I’m finished?”
“You worked to our satisfaction,” Tabbris said, nodding. “You played your part. The deal is done. But not the other matter we spoke of.”
I looked at Julie but she avoided my gaze.
“You’ve got to give me something,” I said, almost pleading. “There’s got to be something you can tell me.”
Mercy looked hard into my eyes. “Malachi. You already have what you need to know. Time to get on with it.”
“You won’t need that anymore,” Tabbris said, reaching forward and taking the Trueflame pin from Julie’s jacket. She threw it to the floor and crushed it with her boot. A tiny, broken electronic chip slipped out.
“They bugged me?” said Julie. “You knew this, and you didn’t tell me?”
“Easier to act naturally if you didn’t know. David never used it himself – only the recruiters used it to keep an eye on you. They can’t trace you to the Fades, and it’s not as if you went anywhere out of the ordinary apart from that.”
Julie and I looked at each other. “I need to go,” I said.
“I’m coming.”
I thought about telling her to stay put, but one glance at her eyes told me that was a waste of time.
“Remember the conditions,” warned Mercy. “They’re not playing games here. David is untouchable.”
“I’ll think of something,” I said, slamming the door behind me.
“If we head north, then slide…” suggested Julie once we were outside the bar.
I shook my head. “I’m not moving in the Fades any more than I need to. Something’s here. I don’t want you coming back until I give the all clear.”
“Trying to give me orders?”
“Think of it as a really good suggestion that’ll keep you alive.”
“I’ll consider it. Fine, let’s slide here.”
We came through the veil and ended up outside a Starbucks. I flagged down a cab, which happened to be manned by Rick.
“Hey, man. Where you going to?”
“Home. Make it fast.”
“Sure thing.” The cab pulled away sending grit and dust flying back from wheels. “Hey, you know you asked me to look out for those missing kids, word on the street?”
“Sorry Rick. Appreciate it but not the time. Can we catch up on this later?”
Julie looked quizzically at me, but I shook my head. “First things first.”
We made it to the apartment, and I took the stairs three at a time, Julie keeping pace behind me.
The front door was swinging open slightly, and I felt the faint echoes of the alarm rune. Must have been set off an hour or more ago. “Stay back,” I whispered to Julie, who promptly ignored me.
They’d made it five steps inside the hallway before the hexes caught them. They were Unaware and had no magical defenses, so the mesmer and paralyzing hexes hit hard. Kim had gone first, Ron looking nervous as he trailed behind her. They stood rigidly, frozen in place, eyes glassy and relaxed, almost serene.
“This is what you do to people who break in?”
“Usually it’s worse. They got off this lightly to save wear and tear on the carpet and paintwork.”
“What do we do with them?”
I thought about it. They weren’t doing any harm here. Would David be tracking them? Who knows, but I had a suspicion he wouldn’t need to. He’d met me, got into my head. If he was going to trace anyone he’d probably come straight after yours truly himself, and cut out the middle men. I looked at Kim’s face, which seemed even worse since I’d last seen her, only a few hours ago. The skin was now parchment-dry, blood leaking between deep cracks. Gently opening her mouth, I peered inside and saw that she’d got more teeth missing than she had left. Not something that you get to grow back. Ron still looked outwardly healthy, but when I opened his lips a stench of decay hit me, rolling upwards from deep down in his gut.
“They’re safe here,” I said, finally. “Safer, probably. Maybe if they’re here they’ll be out of harm’s way and he won’t be able to drain them further.”
“So we’re leaving them?”
“Of course not. They’re in the way, for one thing. Come on, help me out.” We dragged them into the living room and put them on the sofas. It didn’t look entirely comfortable, because their bodies still held the posture of their standing positions. Still, the cushions were comfy, and when the paralysis finally started to wear off they wouldn’t fall and hurt themselves any further.
“How long until they’re back to normal?” Julie asked, slightly breathless, as we finished lying Ron down.
“Normal’s a relative term. The only true way back for them is if we stop David. Even then, there’s a good chance it’s too late for Ron. But if you’re asking when they’ll be alert and free to move, I’d say a few hours at least. Can’t say for sure exactly – it varies from person to person. Weight, constitution, magical ability. That sort of stuff. There’s nothing here worth stealing – nothing they’ll find anyway. Either we can get back before they snap out of it, or they’ll wake up and go, and I’ll track them down later.”
I looked over to the kitchen, wondering if we had time to grab a coffee, and my blood froze. Small wisps of black smoke were creeping through from the hallway, touching, sensing, crawling forward. They were joined by strands that curled down from the ceiling and upwards from the floor.
“What is it?” Julie asked, following my gaze, confused. She clearly couldn’t see it.
“He’s here. David’s here. Or his monster is. Whatever way you look at it, we’re screwed.”
Chapter fifteen
Think, think, think. Who was he most likely to target? The pretty girl he’d been crushing on or the bastard who’d stolen her away? An educated guess pointed clearly to me. I threw my phone to Julie and leapt for the door. “Call Zack. Tell him to meet me at Becky’s. Tell him if he takes his time he’ll be cleaning me off the walls. Sorry – joke. Sure I’ll be fine. Call him now. Hurry.”
I sprinted through the hallway, feeling more than seeing the smoke turn as I passed, reaching back after me, stroking the skin on my face as I ran past. Two flights down I glanced behind me. Yep, definite shadow-smoke creepy stuff tumbling down the stairs after me.
Luck was on my side, and Rick’s cab was still pulled up to the sidewalk while he checked his phone. I yanked the door open and jumped in. “Drive. You’re heading for North Moore Street, between Hudson and Greenwich. It’s life or death.” He looked round at me, wondering if I was kidding. “Seriously. Life or death. Mostly mine, so move and move now.”
“Don’t need telling twice, man. Here we go, but if anything happens to me, I expect full fi-nanc-ial recompense. You get me?”
“I get you, and you’re covered. And look,” I said as we screamed off and I was thrown backwards against the seat, “if I shout stop, you stop right away. It means I need to jump and run, but I swear I’ll pay you.” Good chance if that happened then I wouldn’t be around to do so, but there was no need to complicate things with that kind of information right now.
Traffic caught us at a couple of bottlenecks. I kept moving round in the seat, checking the windows obsessively. Would a giant funnel of cloud pour down the road behind us and slip into the cab through the windows and the metalwork? No idea. This was a first for me, as it happens.
“Here’ll do,” I said, as we reached the end of the block. I threw whatever notes were in my pocket at Rick, hoping they’d be enough to cover the fare and the extra he’d expect for the help. Then I was out, running while looking behind me. Straight into a streetlamp. A small gang of teenagers laughed as I fell straight back onto my ass, nose bleeding from the impact.
Physical pain and embarrassment were nothing compared to the terror that was welling up in my gut. I’d seen what this thing could do, and in my current state I was helpless. Either Zack got here in time or he didn’t. I’d chosen Becky’s place for a few reasons. Firstly, because David was now probably crazy enough to send that thing after me in a crowded place, and I didn’t want innocent bystanders getting their throats slit on my account, like that poor guy at the radio station.
Secondly, I might be able to activate the security at Becky’s place, which might – might – hold off that thing. Truth be told I had no idea of the details of what she’d got set up around the place. But if I did that, would it turn back and go after Julie? Decision, decisions.
And finally, there were enough magical artifacts around Becky’s place to take down a legion. Whether any of them would help me right now was the big question. So all in all, it wasn’t a great plan, but it was still a plan, which at short notice is all you can ask for, really.
“Malac
hi? Malachi!”
I turned round. Arabella was standing half a block away. Even from this distance she didn’t look good. No cuts or bruises, but her whole posture sagged. She was drained – too much action and not enough sleep. And she was in trouble. Everything about her screamed “HELP” in blazing neon letters. She held her arms out to me, like I was a father who could sort everything out with a cuddle.
“Get away!” I screamed at her, and pointed in the other direction. “I’ll find you, but get away, and get away now!” If the shadow caught up and found two of the Aware standing round, who’s to say it wouldn’t have a crack at us both?
Arabella looked at me like I’d stabbed her in the gut, and then turned and jogged off, looking over her shoulder, her eyes hurt and accusing. Damn it. No time to think of her now. At least she was clear. And here was Becky’s place.
I sprinted up the stairs and in through the main door, slamming it behind me. Then I was rifling through the shoebox Becky had left me, trying to make sense of her scrawled notes on the security runes. Too late. Black smoke was pouring through the door and the floor with a purpose. Forming, writhing, getting it all together pretty damn quick in case I decided to run again.
With security eliminated as a viable option, I turned to the artefacts. They were strewn everywhere, and I had no idea what half of them even did. A few bags had notes and instructions attached, but time wasn’t on my side and I threw them out of my way. I picked the bag of whizz-bangs, the psychic shock grenades. Worth a try.
The first whizz-bang was blue, but as far as I knew the color schemes were there because Becky got bored easily, and not because they marked them out for certain uses or specialties. I gave it a flick and threw it where the shadow was strongest.
It went off with a flutter and a blast of air, and the smoke dissipated. Trouble was, without a ward to shield myself from the effects, I didn’t feel too great myself. I threw another, then another. By the time the third had driven the coalescing shadow away once more, I was nearly out on my feet. They were working, but after thirty seconds or so the shadow would try to re-form. If I tried a fourth, it could put me out of action, spread-eagled on the floor and dribbling onto the carpet. Thirty seconds later I’d be easy prey for the beast. I didn’t fancy lying there while it pulled my eyeballs from their sockets. Rather go out on my feet, even if the fight was hopeless.
