by John Corwin
"The magical charge is running out," Elyssa said, her grip on my waist tightening.
"Looks like Kassus isn't having any better luck," I said.
The Arcane's carpet landed. Kassus stumbled off it and onto the road. A red car skidded to a halt just in time to miss the man. Our carpet lost more altitude. Kassus jerked the driver from the car, and got in. Tires screeched as the car raced into town.
I looked frantically for another car while the carpet slowed, drifting toward the ground. We might be able to catch Kassus on foot, but it would be much harder. How the hell did someone charge a magic carpet? I didn't see anywhere to plug it into an outlet. I thought back to the flying car and how I'd powered it. Planting my hand against the carpet, I closed my eyes, and willed aether to flow from me and into it. The fabric went limp and we dropped like rocks.
Elyssa cursed.
I looked down. Saw the ground rushing to meet us. This was going to effing hurt.
Power on, you stupid carpet!
I drew in a breath and blew out, willing power into the carpet. Energize! It went stiff. Caught the air. Shot forward just feet above the ground. I kept my hand on the carpet, pushing aether into it, unsure how to tell when it had a full charge.
A terrific rumbling sounded behind us. I whipped my head around to see the road churning behind us as if a mole the size of an airplane was tunneling beneath it. The upheaval shoved cars off the road, sent power poles leaning at crazy angles, and left a trench where the road used to be.
Kassus's car screeched around a corner. I shot above houses, aiming diagonally across the town. The leyworm changed course.
"How does that thing know where the baby is?" I asked Elyssa.
She shook her head, fear and wonder in her eyes. "Maybe the same way those things tracked that portable arch we used to escape from El Dorado."
I couldn't stop watching as a house literally bounced in the air in the leyworm's wake, breaking the structure in half when it landed. I looked for signs of life, praying nobody had been inside. More houses broke apart, collapsing as the earth bubbled then collapsed just as suddenly, shattering foundations and leaving nothing but rubble behind.
Kassus had to know he had nowhere to run, especially if the leyworm could follow him anywhere. His car emerged from the other side of the small town. I heard the motor roaring as he pressed the pedal to the floor. Slowly but surely, the car began to pull away. I willed more power into the carpet. It surged forward. Wind tore at my face, blurring my vision with tears. I pressed my lips tight and leaned into it.
Where is he going?
I looked back and saw the leyworm falling behind. It must be tiring. I couldn't imagine the amount of energy it took to move that much mass. The rippling earth receded, vanished. Had it given up?
Despite our extra speed, we weren't gaining on Kassus. I clenched my teeth, frustration building, rage simmering in my chest. He couldn't get away this time.
Get him!
My chest flared like an inferno. Heat blazed down my arm. The carpet shot forward. The scenery blurred for an instant, and we closed in on the car like it was standing still.
"Justin!" Elyssa shouted.
I didn't dare turn my head for fear of losing my concentration. I felt the fragile connection with my angel powers waver. The odor of burning rug reached my nose, and I knew we had to reach Kassus now or never.
"We're burning up!" Elyssa said, fear in her voice.
Not a lot of things frightened my ninja girlfriend that much, so I knew the situation had just hit code red. But I couldn't stop. Not now. The car was just twenty yards ahead.
I felt heat on my back. Felt the carpet going limp beneath us. I turned my head and saw blue flames sputtering in the wind. Nearly half the carpet was blackened or turned to ash and scattered in the wind. It lost power, and I knew this time I wouldn't be able to stop us from hitting the ground at horrific speed. Elyssa slapped her hands against my ribs. The nightingale armor grew webbing beneath my arms and between my legs.
"Hold your arms and legs out!" she said, an instant before spreading hers. The air caught in the webbing, and she glided away.
I did the same. The air slammed into me. Hot flames flashed past as the carpet plummeted to the ground. I slowed. For an instant, it felt like I was flying. Then I dropped. I tried to execute a roll when I hit the ground, instead landing awkwardly on a rock and twisting my ankle. I cried out with pain. Elyssa glided like a flying squirrel, ducked into a roll, and managed to miss the plentiful rocks before springing to her feet gracefully.
I stood, limping, and watched the car race away. "Son of a bitch! He's getting away again!" I tried to run, but my ankle was having none of it. I felt my face turning red hot. Felt my fists clench tight enough to crack my knuckles. Maybe if I manifested I could catch him. Maybe if—
The ground ahead of the car exploded upward in a rain of earth and rock. Gigantor bellowed loud enough to vibrate the air. Before Kassus could stop the speeding vehicle, the leyworm swallowed it whole. I heard the horn honk twice before the creature submerged into the ground and vanished.
"Oh, no," I said. "Please, no." My voice sounded weak. My knees gave way, and I dropped to the ground. Kassus was gone. Mom was going to die.
Chapter 40
I heard Elyssa speaking with someone. "Dispatch Custodians to these coordinates," she said. "Major cleanup." I heard her snap a picture. Felt her arms embrace me. "I'm so sorry, Justin. I'm so, so sorry."
I found the strength to look up from the ground and saw tears in her eyes. "Me too," I said. "Me too."
"I sent Shelton a picture so we can go home."
"Home to what?" I mumbled as my heart constricted with pain.
The portal opened a few minutes later. Shelton saw us and shook his head. "Why do I get the feeling there's a long story behind you two being in Australia?"
I couldn't muster a response. Defeat overwhelmed my will to do anything but mope as I rose to my feet and stepped through the portal and back into the mansion with Elyssa.
My phone rang. It was Cinder. I didn't feel like talking to him or anyone else for that matter. It rang until it went to voicemail. The portal winked out behind us.
"Are you okay?" Shelton said. "What happened to him, Elyssa?"
"We lost Kassus again," she said. "A leyworm ate him."
"Holy crab cakes in a public toilet," Shelton said. "Oh, man, I'm sorry."
"Mom's going to die," I said, and would have dropped to the floor if Elyssa hadn't held me up.
Another phone rang. Shelton pulled his out. "Yeah?" he answered. His eyes flashed wide. "Be right there." He gripped my arm. "Get back inside the omniarch circle," he said, indicating the silver ring on the floor.
I didn't have the will to resist.
"What's going on?" Elyssa asked.
Shelton grunted. An image of the El Dorado cave flickered into existence within the omniarch. I sighed, sucked in a breath, and walked forward.
It's over. I need to tell Mom goodbye.
Tears welled in my eyes at the thought. I reached deep down inside for the strength I knew was there. We'd done everything superhumanly possible to save her. After all was said and done, we'd lost the fight. I would miss Mom with all my heart. Hot moisture dripped down my cheeks as we walked deeper into the cavern. She'd put me through hell these past few months. She'd done the unforgiveable and abandoned her own child. But she'd done it to atone for letting her daughter be taken from her. Her actions had wounded me deeply, placing everyone I loved in mortal danger. Through it all, I knew she'd loved me. Maybe I was stupid for thinking so, but she'd made a choice no mother should have to make.
Despite everything, I knew one thing for certain.
I forgive you, Mom.
I could only hope she was still alive for me to tell her that.
I felt Elyssa's hands stiffen on me. "Oh my god," she said.
Looking up, I felt my own eyes grow wide. A crushed car sat before the two giant leyworms. The por
tal in the cave roof was gone, and Gigantor was back, coiled around the nursery next to Lulu.
Without thought, I raced to the car. I saw a black-robed form inside, pinned between the roof and the driver seat. On the passenger side, I saw a cupid wriggling. Kassus's eyes blinked open. He tried to move and couldn't. The bent door held his arm and leg from one side while the car roof pressed his body to the seat. Kassus screamed like a little girl.
"Let me out of here! Let me out!"
I leaned in, feeling an evil grin peel my teeth from my lips as I saw blood seeping from a wound in the man's head. I found one of Meghan's blood vials in the utility pack at my waist. Pressed it to Kassus's head and watched as the glass filled with crimson liquid. Elyssa wrenched the other door open, and took the cooing cupid back into the nursery as the leyworms, heads resting on the cave floor, watched.
"How does it feel to be trapped, Kassus?" I said in a low whisper. "How does it feel knowing nobody's going to set you free, that you're going to die in here?"
"C'mon, Slade, please. You've got to let me out. I-I can't stand tight spaces." A tear trickled from the corner of his eyes.
"I don't think so," I said, knowing full well I wouldn't let him die like this no matter how much I hated the bastard. "Enjoy your stay, you piece of crap."
"Let me out!" he screamed over and over until his raw voice faded into a whimper.
Elyssa and I were already running back through the portal. I closed it, reopened it in the Templar garage. Stepped through and ran for the container. Two Templar guards watched as I blurred toward the tractor trailer. I pressed the button on the vial and trailed blood down my finger, swiped it across the door seam. The doors swung open.
I saw the small form of my mother in a kneeling position on the floor, her arms and head secured in what looked like a medieval torture device, a black cloth over her eyes. I opened them with Kassus's blood, and tore off the blindfold. She sagged into my arms, her blonde hair spilling across her face.
"Mom," I said. "Please be alive. Please!"
Elyssa pressed her ear to Mom's mouth. She looked up at me, eyes heavy with regret, and shook her head.
I gingerly laid Mom's head on my lap, smoothed hair from her face.
Ivy looks so much like her.
Tears burned my eyes. Ivy wasn't going to lose her mom. We weren't going to lose her. I drew in a deep breath, feeling for the one thing I knew could save her. Flicking open my incubus senses, I saw the dim halo of light fading to a dull orange around Mom's still form. I latched onto it with my tendrils, reached down deep inside me and did what I had done so long ago for someone else I loved. I pushed essence through my tendrils and into her.
My efforts hit a wall. Black spots danced before my eyes. Was I tired, or was something in Mom blocking me? I redoubled my efforts. Still nothing. Thinking back to the feeling I'd had when energizing the carpet, I focused on my heart.
I love you, Mom.
I felt a flicker of heat. Essence pulsed along my tendrils.
Everything went black.
Unfamiliar faces flashed through my mind. Words, shouts, all incomprehensible, assaulted me. Emotions, thoughts, odors, all too fleeting to be anything but impressions washed over me in a confusing wave.
I hovered above a sea of bodies in a land of twilight. Humans in primitive leather armor surged toward an oncoming army. The front lines crashed together. Bodies flew through the air. My vision focused on the enemy charge. Fangs flashed, blood sprayed, and the human line melted under the onslaught of vampires and a variety of horrors I'd never seen.
Someone shouted words in a language I didn't recognize. Clouds in the gray sky opened and brilliant white light rained down on the vampires, splashing like molten liquid. I heard their screams even above the din of battle.
More images flickered past. People dying. Vampires leaping twenty feet through the air, pouncing their prey and killing them with vicious precision. Leviathan leyworms charging a line of Seraphim. The scenes ran faster until they were nothing but a blur. And then, a brilliant flash of light followed by absolute darkness.
I sucked in a breath.
I was back in the trailer, Mom cradled in my lap. Her eyes flashed open, revealing black orbs. She gasped, and her hands locked around my throat. I felt energy flood from me in a torrent. Felt my muscles go limp. Watched as brilliant light burst from my mouth. Before I could say or think anything else, consciousness winked into oblivion.
"Justin," said a calm, female voice. I felt a hand smooth my hair back. "It's Mom, sweetie. I'm here, and everything will be okay."
"Mommy," I said, snuggling into warm folds of fabric.
Mom?
I jerked awake. A curtain of blond hair hung above me. I saw Mom looking down at me, blue eyes smiling back.
"You're alive," I said, pushing up from the hard floor of the trailer. I hugged her as tears filled my vision. "I can't believe it."
"I'm sorry," she said, rocking back and forth in our embrace. "What I've put you through—" her voice broke.
"I forgive you," I said. "I was angry for a long time. But I have to believe you did it for a reason."
"I don't deserve your forgiveness," she said in a soft voice. "Your father and I put you and Ivy through too much. No matter the reason, no one should do that to their children."
Questions rose to my lips, but I pushed them away. The time for answers would come, but now was not the time or the place. Pushing myself to wobbly knees, I pulled Mom up. Elyssa stood nearby, her own eyes welling with tears. She smiled. Nodded. Everything was good.
For now.
Chapter 41
"Here's to the master of disaster!" Shelton said, raising a champagne glass in toast. "May he one day calm the hell down so we can lead ordinary lives."
"Hear, hear!" went up shouts around the long table in the mansion's dining hall.
I grinned, gripped Elyssa's hand, and fought down a wave of hopeless optimism. Friends and family crowded around the table. The Borathens had come, even Michael, who sat to his father's right. Nightliss and Katie grinned from across the table. Felicia and her boyfriend Larry sat next to Meghan and Adam. Stacey giggled as Ryland bit into a giant turkey leg while Cutsauce ran around the table yipping and begging for scraps.
Bruce's nephew, Darren, sat near Shelton. Apparently, Bruce had sent a picture of the Russian prison cell to Shelton. According to Shelton, rescuing the young man had been pretty simple, aside from finding him in the middle of using the toilet and the awkward situation of running through the portal before he had a chance to use toilet paper. I was happy I hadn't had to witness the scene and glad Shelton had held up his bargain with the surly Overworld Transportation Authority employee.
Adam pulled me aside after dinner. Shelton joined us.
"Thought you might be interested to know we figured out how to use the Alabaster Arch to get to the Grand Nexus," Adam said.
I felt my eyes widen. "You did?"
He nodded. "My program downloaded a lot of information on the research Darkwater and arch operators were doing on the arches. Apparently, there's a pattern you trace on the modulus, and it'll rejigger the Alabaster Arch's coordinates."
I remembered what the arch operator had tried to tell me the day we'd first run into Kassus and his men. "What's the pattern?"
"Remember when we accidentally appeared in the Grand Nexus?" Shelton said.
"How could I forget that?" I asked, my mouth going dry at the thought of control room full of cherubs.
"Yeah, well we noticed a symbol that looked a lot like the Cyrinthian character for zero, except instead of just the circle with the upside-down "V" in it, it also has a horizontal line across the center." Shelton took out his arcphone and displayed it for me. "Darkwater discovered this is the pattern you have to trace on the modulus before activating the Alabaster Arch."
"Why haven't they cleared it of cherubs then?" I asked.
Adam chuckled. "Did you see how many are in there? It'd be impossible witho
ut some serious manpower."
"Yeah," Shelton said with a nod. "No way we're going there until we figure out how to handle that horde."
I blew out a breath. "At least we know Daelissa can't get to it."
"Yet," Shelton said.
"Yeah." I grinned. "Awesome work, guys. We'll figure this out."
Shelton groaned. "Maybe we shouldn't have told him."
Adam laughed.
The Christmas party ran on into the night. I kept things casual, doing my best not to wonder about the dubious future which lay ahead. I went outside by myself, enjoying the cool breeze as it cleared my senses. The front door opened, and I turned to see Mom. She sat on the front stairs next to me, and pecked a kiss on my forehead.
"I'm amazed at what you've accomplished, Justin," she said, shaking her head slowly. "You've surrounded yourself with so many good people. Pulled them together despite their differences." She took a sip of wine. "I tried to do what I could on my own, but Daelissa always seems a step ahead."
"Ivy wants to come live with us," I said. "She was going to try to get Kassus's blood." Thomas Borathen had taken the Arcane into custody, locking him away in the specially built cells beneath the Templar compound.
Mom smiled. "I want to bring her here as soon as possible." She raised an eyebrow. "If that's okay with you."
"Yeah," I said with a grin. "I'd like that." A sigh escaped my lips as thoughts turned to someone else. "What about Dad?"
Her smile faded. "There's a lot you don't know about him. So much I swore an oath not to tell."
"Is he really an evil mastermind?" I asked. "Why would he suddenly decide marrying Kassallandra is a good idea?" Supposedly, he'd been betrothed to the red-headed Daemas before he met Mom. I wasn't so sure anymore it was the truth.
She took a sip of wine, and looked into the dark. "He wasn't entirely truthful to you about a lot of things. He's far more capable than he lets on."
"Can you elaborate?" I asked, tired of the word games that passed for answers.
