by Sienna Skyy
Forte squinted at the horizon. “We’re gonna need to go get help. Need a new tire and some lug nuts. Might as well get a new wiper blade while we’re at it. Shannon and I can start pounding sand if you wanna hang back here and look after Jamie and Bedelia.”
Bruce shook his head. “It may not be safe out there.”
Forte shrugged. “I don’t think we have a choice, do you?”
Bruce took a deep breath and grit his teeth. Forte was right. And the longer they delayed, the more time Enervata had to get at Gloria. He strode back to the van and retrieved the map with the berry-juice symbols on it. “Here, at least take this.”
Forte squinted at the symbols. “The bugs might come back, you know. What if you guys need the symbols back here?”
Bruce rolled his eyes toward the blood-smeared van windows. “We got four copies.”
20
OHIO
CHARLES’ SHOES CRUNCHED THE GRAVEL along the shoulder. “You were great back there, you know.”
Shannon cocked her eye. “What, fighting the giant insects?”
“When you picked up that nail file, I thought you were crazy. But you were like Bruce Lee with that thing.”
“Never underestimate a girl with a nail file.”
She stole a glance at him, and saw a trickle of sweat working its way from his hairline. The sky shone white with haze.
She waved the map printout at the distance. “How far do you think till we find an auto store?”
Forte squinted at the endless expanse of fields. “Well, remember how you were telling me you’d have to figure out a way to get some exercise during this road trip cuz you’d be sitting around in the van all day?”
Shannon snorted. “Did I say that?”
“Yeah. Something tells me we’ll get all the exercise we need looking for an auto parts store.”
Shannon scoffed. “Be careful what you wish for. . . .”
“What else do you wish for?”
Shannon’s brows arched. “Huh? What do you mean?”
Charles shrugged. “You know, what do you wish for now?”
“You mean aside from a chili dog?”
“That goes without saying.”
“Well, let’s see.” Shannon wrinkled her brow. “I wish for Bruce’s fiancée to get home safe.”
“What about after that?”
“After that, I think it’s time for me to focus on my career again. See about doing the comedy club circuit in Ann Arbor.”
“What about your home life?”
The questioning made Shannon feel self-conscious. Her rocker boy didn’t usually ask questions like this. She decided to kick into her radio DJ safe mode. “Homey life? Guess I need to slippity-slide on into that so I could wish for something to put in it. Wow, this map’s a mess. Got any idea what the freaky symbols mean? Think I saw’m once before at a football game when a plane flew overhead and smoked’m out in skywriting. Lions won for once that night. And no mosquitoes.”
Charles pursed his smile. Shannon always thought he looked like Mickey Rourke circa Nine 1/2 Weeks when he did that. He took the map from her, flipping it over from symbol-side to map-side and back. “You’re right, this is a mess. Good thing we don’t need it to navigate.”
Shannon frowned, dropping the DJ act. “Wait a minute. Turn that thing over again. Look at that.”
Her fingernail hovered over Ann Arbor, Michigan, where berry juice had seeped through from the other side. “There’s a stain over Ann Arbor. And one over Dayton, too.”
Forte brought the map close to his eyes. “That’s not really Dayton. It’s closer to Cincinnati.”
“Where are the other berry stains?”
“This one is just outside of Portland, Maine, where I met up with them. That one’s New York City.”
Shannon grew eager. “Oh my God, does that mean we’re supposed to go to New York?”
Forte shook his head. “Wow, I don’t know, babe. They started in New York.”
“Well any way you slice it we’ve made all the right stops, so we’re all definitely supposed to be here. But what about the pillars?”
They scrutinized the map, but aside from the four berry stains, it showed only mottled blots from blood and dirt.
“I don’t know.”
Charles handed the map back to her, and Shannon folded it carefully. “I can’t wait to show Jamie. Another day or two of walking and I’m sure we’ll make it at least as far as a tree.”
Charles snorted. “Well, looks like signs of civilization up ahead.”
A couple of warehouses dotted the road in the distance, and beyond them, barely visible, a gas station.
“Thank God! Now maybe I can score that chili dog I’ve been wishing for!”
“I know what I wish for.”
Her eyes darted up and sideways to him. “What?”
He cocked his head with his easy smile. “Less wasted time in my life. More of it spent with you.”
She gave a start and the flush that crept up her neck had very little to do with the blazing sun. She waved. “You just like me because with my motor mouth you never have to carry the conversation at parties.”
He shook his head, smile still holding. “You always do that to yourself.”
“Do what?”
“Never mind. Come here.”
He grabbed her hand, stopped her, and placed his fingers at the top of her spine. “Over this past year, every time I see you I want more of you.”
“I—you’re just—”
“Shut up, babe. I’m telling you that I love you.”
He kissed her and she was grateful that he did so with his eyes closed so he could not see the glistening at her lashes. For so long she had both longed for and dreaded hearing him say these words. She’d dreaded them because she knew it would start a whole new chain in her life, one she was afraid to begin.
He whispered it again into her hair. “I love you, Shannie.”
“I love you, too, Charlie.”
And with arms wrapped around each other on the side of the road, dotted with bug guts, scrapes, and bruises, Shannon felt an overwhelming sense of joy.
NEW YORK
“This woman, Gloria. She has an active brain. I would almost find it a disappointment to lose her company.”
Isolde nodded. She could only imagine how such a thing might manifest. Two hundred years ago, Enervata had taken Sileny into service because she had helped to betray her mistress. But she too had delighted him. For all the good it did her. Her sharp-tongued wit—the very element that caused Enervata so much amusement—ultimately led to her tortured current life when the Macul tired of her irreverence and took her mouth.
Isolde suspected that Enervata’s infatuation with Gloria would inevitably sour in the same way. Considering the young woman’s strong-willed temperament, she would eventually misspeak and then feel the full extent of his wrath. Perhaps Gloria and Isolde both would one day find themselves sisters in misery in the Hall of Amusements.
Isolde shuddered.
“I would prefer it if I were not in such a hurry in this business of turning her,” Enervata continued. “I am rather enjoying the game, much more so than with any of her predecessors. This Gloria, she’s a complex one.”
He regarded Isolde. “Do you know we were speaking the other night, having a perfectly rousing conversation, and she abruptly removed herself to her quarters?”
“As the heart is inclined, there ensues a fickle mind.”
He turned from her. “Yes, so very reminiscent of the sordid affair between you and Rafe, isn’t it?”
Isolde’s eyes alit with rage. Had he not turned his back to her at that moment he might have witnessed her bared teeth. How she longed to taste the flesh beneath his throat, as she had recently tasted that of her own kind.
“Did you dispatch your soldier of plagues to them, Isolde?”
She breathed slowly, willing herself to a more functional state.
“An insect swarm, they are
stranded now but they will re-form.”
“So much for your prized soldier. She will answer to me, then. I presume you’ve exercised extreme caution. The male, Bruce, must remain alive.”
Isolde did not reply. Enervata seemed to take no notice of it.
In truth, Isolde had not used caution. She had been reckless. The hordes of insects could very easily have killed any or all of them, including the young man, Bruce. Since Rafe’s demise, Isolde could not seem to conjure any sense of prudence.
Hedon’s hulking form darkened the archway.
Isolde sighed. “And in the spirit of plagues maligned, we now receive Lieutenant Swine.”
Enervata turned.
Hedon snapped, “Mouthy little cunt for someone who can’t speak above a whisper, aren’t you?” He stepped from the archway and into the incandescent light of the main hall. His clothing hung torn, blood streaked his skin, and black smudges rimmed the underside of both eyes and were beginning to swell.
In conjunction with the notched nose Isolde had given him, the black eyes now added to his piggish appearance. Isolde threw back her head and laughed with hissing glee.
Enervata stepped toward him. “Hedon, what has happened?”
Hedon swung his arms and looked away. “Unfavorable news to report, I’m afraid, master. Lost two men today.”
Enervata’s lips peeled apart. “What did you say?”
Hedon swallowed. “As you know, we been watching Kolt’s subjects and working to infiltrate his operations. Today we were ambushed. Dinno how they spotted us. Made off with two of ours.”
Enervata spoke through his teeth. “You mean they killed two of ours.”
Hedon began to lick his lips, but seemed to lack adequate saliva to do so and bit inward instead. “I wish I did mean that, master. I wish they’d’ve just killed’m. I managed to kill one of our lads before they carried him off. But I couldn’t get t’other. They’ve got’m now. Alive.”
Isolde raised her brows. Kolt did not keep a Hall of Amusements, certainly not one as notorious as Enervata’s, but no doubt he would employ similar tactics.
Empurpled with outrage, Enervata advanced toward Hedon.
Hedon raised his hand and spoke swiftly. “I’ve taken care to make sure my outfit is largely kept in the dark. They won’t get much out of him, will they?”
Enervata’s lip curled around one word. “Much?”
“He only knows he’s been trying to infiltrate Kolt’s operations, and I daresay that comes as no surprise to them. Knows nothing about our bond-recherché, except . . .”
Enervata’s face loomed inches from Hedon’s. He said nothing.
“Well,” Hedon continued, “that’s the other thing I have to report, master. The word’s out about the bond-recherché. Several other factions have caught on to it, what with all that ruckus along the highways.”
He shot a sour expression toward Isolde.
“Giant insects, please! A little subtlety maybe next time, dearie?”
Enervata’s eyes flamed. “Are you reporting to me, Hedon? Because you seem to be addressing Isolde. Never have I known such chronic failure!”
Hedon’s jaw worked, but no words escaped.
Isolde steeled herself for Hedon’s punishment. She disliked him and delighted at the notion of his elimination, but Enervata’s capacity for cruelty surpassed even the palate of a blood-lustful canteshrike like herself.
Though Enervata had no room to lose another Pravus, let alone a lieutenant, his fury often outshone discretion. Hedon would pay, of this Isolde was certain; would pay in epic suffering. The only remaining question was whether that suffering would be followed by the blissful release of death.
But Enervata turned away from Hedon. His fury seemed to dissipate suddenly. He rubbed the knuckle of his claw over a book on the library shelf. “I suppose it was only a matter of time before they found out.”
Isolde and Hedon both gaped. Their eyes met in a moment of uncharacteristic camaraderie, marveling at Enervata’s nonchalant acceptance of the news.
“In the matter of Kolt’s philanthropist, Jonathon Raster, I will take steps to publicly sully his reputation.”
Hedon cleared his throat, his voice hopeful. “Very good, master. That might awaken his bleeding heart enough to make him think twice about who he’d become if he gives in to Kolt.”
“Indeed,” said Enervata, turning. “But more important, the media will fixate on him and he won’t be able to get away with anything radical when he’s under their microscope. Now as for our travelers.”
He turned to Isolde.
She spread her hands. “I’ve stymied them now but they’ll likely regroup. And they’ll find the place where the ash trees grow blue.”
Enervata shot a frown to Hedon. “We must wrap up this business with Kolt so we can throw our resources into blocking these travelers. Isolde, use all means necessary to prevent any further progress.”
She nodded even as he turned his back to her. Her eyes narrowed. No bloodshed, no fire, not even a striking blow. Neither to her nor Hedon. Enervata had killed valuable servants over less disturbing news than he’d received just now. Strange how his fury seemed to shrink. His rage had always been his most potent source of power.
And he hadn’t even caught her negligence, though she went to no trouble to conceal it.
He’d been too busy mulling over the shifting temper of a doomed young woman with long black waves of hair.
21
OHIO
BRUCE BANDAGED JAMIE’S ARM AND LEG with torn T-shirts and Bedelia fixed a square of gauze with ointment and medical tape at the back of her neck. Jamie was glad she’d packed the first aid kit years ago in anticipation of this very journey.
Jamie displayed a tired smile. “I always said mosquitoes love me. Now I know.”
She poured bottled water over the blisters that practically enveloped Bedelia’s leg. Jamie’s strength had slowly come back to her since Forte and Shannon had left on foot a couple of hours ago. Though still a little dizzy, she didn’t say as much to Bruce or Bedelia. Primarily she was just famished. Fortunately, Shannon and Forte had called on the cell to say they’d not only gotten the parts they needed, but had managed to get a lift from someone who’d recognized Forte and was eager to help out.
“We must be getting closer to the pillars. Between the bugs and that hailstorm, things are heating up.” She gently blotted Bedelia’s leg with a paper towel.
Bruce gave a grim nod. “Yeah, makes you wonder what’s in store for us when we do find them.”
“And then we’ve still got to find your Gloria. Thank you, dear.” Bedelia nodded at Jamie, wincing as she unrolled her torn trouser leg back down over her ankle. She tilted her head sideways. “We’re going to make it through this just fine. This monster won’t be able to stand up to us. We have each other. Demon negativity never pays.”
Jamie lifted her brows, a smile forming on her lips.
Bedelia hunched her shoulders. “I suppose I’m just guessing, aren’t I? I guess I don’t have any idea how ancient battles between good and evil go. But I would imagine all that negativity wouldn’t pay. My experience is that it never does.”
They fell quiet for a few minutes. Jamie ruminated over what lay in wait for them over the next few days. The stakes were going up, no question about it. Up until now, Jamie had felt certain that she could handle anything the quest threw at them. The incident with the bugs threw her for a loop, though.
Bedelia broke the silence by patting Bruce on the leg and asking, “What’s Gloria like?”
Bruce looked away.
Jamie knew what he was thinking—what he’d been thinking every time he thought about Gloria since the quest began. She decided to answer the question for him. “She’s smart and really strong. When she’s hot on something, she goes after it down to the miniscule detail. Like when she threw the surprise party for Bruce’s birthday.”
She grinned at Bruce. “She was like a maestro. Had the apar
tment decked out, all the food, and a plan that got Bruce out of the house, got all of his friends there, and got him back for the big surprise without his suspecting a thing. She thought of everything.”
Bruce nodded, his expression warm. “She’s that way with everything. You should see her at work.”
Bedelia smiled. “What does she look like?”
“She’s . . . wait, you tell me. What did the Gloria in your dream look like?”
“In my dream, Gloria was a real beauty. Not like my sister ever was, bless her heart, though in her day she was pretty in a different way. In the dream, she was Spanish-looking with long, wavy black hair. Big brown eyes with thick lashes. Wide smile.”
Bruce raised an eye to Jamie and then punched the buttons on his cell phone. He handed it over to Bedelia. “Sounds like my Gloria. Take a look.”
Bedelia rummaged in her pocket for her glasses and then peered at the image on the tiny screen. She nodded, then looked with wide eyes over the rims at Bruce and Jamie. “Exactly.”
She returned the phone and then pointed at the two of them. “You know, I was surprised to hear about your fiancée when I first met you. I thought for sure you two were together.”
“We are,” Jamie said, “just not that way. We’re practically brother and sister. Oh, we tried on the idea of getting together when we were still in school, but it felt way too weird.”
Bruce nodded. “Yeah. Way too weird.” He flicked his eyes over to her. “No offense, Tink. You know I love you like crazy, right?”
Jamie smiled warmly.
A car approached and they all turned to see if Forte and Shannon were inside. No such luck. But as it whizzed by, a bit of paper swirled up and landed in Bedelia’s lap.
She picked it up and held it out to Jamie and Bruce. “Hey, look at this napkin. ‘Sal’s Place: Best eats in three states!’ Ha, I could use the best eats in three states right about now. Blue Ash, Ohio, it says.”
Bruce lifted his chin at the road. “Well, it’s either a sign or just some cheesy advertising. It looks like it’s time to find out.”
