by Clayton Wood
“Come on Gideon,” Bella urged, jostling Gideon’s shoulder. But he just stared up at the ceiling. “Wake up!”
“It’s over,” the Collector growled from where he lay on the floor a few yards away.
“Shut up,” Bella retorted, turning to glare at him.
“It’s too late,” he pressed. “You’re all going to die.”
Bella stood then, swaying as the castle seemed to shudder again, Miss Savage’s song growing louder and more insistent. She took a step toward the Collector, reaching under the neck of her uniform to feel her mother’s amulet there. She pulled it out, letting it rest on her upper chest, just above the canvas of her chest-painting. Another step forward, and a bright light began to rise from the Collector’s body, streaming into the amulet.
The Collector’s eyes widened.
“Collector…” Miss Savage called out from across the room, breaking from her song.
“Play!” he snapped.
Bella paused, then turned back to Gideon, kneeling down and reaching into his chest-painting to retrieve his magical lantern. She tossed it straight up to the ceiling.
“Eruptus!” she cried.
Light exploded from the lantern, sending a shockwave that slammed into the stain-glass windows above the shelves. They shattered, allowing rays of silver light to shine through. Bella caught the lamp as it fell, placing it back in Gideon’s chest-painting. Then she glanced at Myko.
His fur glowed ever-so-faintly in the moonlight.
Miss Savage resumed her song, one so haunting that it sent a chill through Bella. The whole castle shuddered, books and artifacts clattering on the shelves around them. Each note threatened to scatter Bella’s thoughts, filling her with a sense of impending doom.
Bella grit her teeth against the awful music, turning back to the Collector, still lying on the ground, his right arm and leg ruined. She held her mother’s amulet before her, watching as white light appeared around him once again.
“You murdered my mother,” she accused, taking another step toward him. “You hunted me and my Grandpa for ten years. You tried to kill me!”
He said nothing, just lying there.
“Why?” she demanded. “We never did anything to you!”
“You didn’t,” he agreed. “He did,” he added, pointing at Gideon.
“He never wanted to hurt you,” she retorted. The Collector’s jawline rippled.
“Do yourself a favor,” he replied. “Don’t believe a word that man says. He believes every lie that comes out of his mouth.”
“You’re the murderer,” she countered.
“At least I’m honest.”
“Well so am I,” Bella retorted, taking another step forward, then another. The white light around the Collector brightening, leaping toward the amulet in a steady stream. “You’ve hurt everyone I love,” she accused. “And I’m going to make sure you never do it again.”
He stared down at the light rising from his body, swallowing visibly. But he did not back away.
“You Painters and Writers play God,” he declared, gripping his sword tightly. “You make us obey you. You design us so we have to love you.” He shook his head. “It’s not right.”
“You killed my mother,” Bella shot back. “That wasn’t right, but you did it anyway.”
“She was just like the rest of them,” the Collector argued. “She was worse.”
“You don’t know the first thing about my mother,” Bella retorted. The Collector gave her a grim smile.
“Neither,” he replied, “…do you.”
Bella stepped closer to him, even as Miss Savage continued to play. Her violin’s notes came faster and faster, a chaotic jumble that somehow fit together, a symphony that shook her to her very soul…and shook the very floor beneath her. She lost her balance, stumbling to the side.
“Gideon never told you about her, did he,” the Collector pressed, his eyes going to Gideon, who was still laying on the floor, unconscious. “He never told you what she was.”
“Shut up,” Bella ordered, catching herself. She took another step forward, and the light coming from the Collector grew brighter. The Collector grimaced in pain, dropping his sword and clutching at his chest.
“You know why?” he pressed. “Because he was ashamed of her, just like he’s ashamed of me. And you.”
“I said shut up,” Bella repeated. More light shot out from him to her amulet, and he cried out in pain, gripping his chest tightly.
“He never told anyone about…you,” he gasped. “If his precious Pentad learns that he married a Necromancer and had a child with her, they’ll…reject him.” He gave a cruel smile. “And if there’s anything he cares about more than you, it’s his…reputation.”
“Shut up!” Bella screamed, lunging at him. White light burst from his entire body, shooting forward into her amulet. The heart-shaped ruby glowed bright red, absorbing the Collector’s life force. The Collector cried out, collapsing onto the floor, his face twisted with pain.
And as Bella watched, his hair turned gray, then white, his skin thinning and becoming ever more pale. The fine wrinkles in his face deepened rapidly, his flesh drooping from his bones.
She swallowed, feeling sick to her stomach. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she did not back away.
“You won’t stop,” she realized. “So I have to stop you. I have to make sure you never hurt anyone I love, ever again.”
Miss Savage slashed at her violin, and it screamed out in wrathful agony. The whole castle shook, books falling from the Collector’s shelves, dust raining from the ceiling. Cracks appeared in the floor and the walls, the stone torn apart by Miss Savage’s terrible magic.
“Stop,” the Collector gasped, his flesh sagging horribly, his eyes sinking into his skull. Bella shook her head, taking a step closer.
“No,” she replied. “You won’t use my kindness against me. You don’t deserve it.”
Gideon stirred, waking up…then sitting up. He stared at the Collector, then at Miss Savage…and Bella.
“She’s bringing the whole place down!” he realized, scrambling to his feet. The room shuddered, huge cracks forming in the domed ceiling high above. Hunks of stone rained down to the floor, one of them missing Bella by mere feet. She stumbled backward, the white light streaming between her and the Collector winking out.
“Come on,” Gideon urged, grabbing Bella’s arm and pulling her away from the man. “I’ll handle him.”
“No,” she retorted, resisting him. “He killed Mom! He…”
“Trust me,” Gideon insisted. He pushed Bella away gently. “Myko, protect her,” he ordered. Then he went to the Collector’s side, kneeling down.
The Collector’s elderly face was twisted with pain, his right forearm bloodied and broken, his right leg bent at an impossible angle.
“Come to…put me…in my painting?” he gasped. Gideon shook his head.
“No.”
“Don’t pretend to care about me,” the Collector spat. “You never did.”
“I’m not pretending anymore,” Gideon replied. The Collector glared at him.
“Another one of your…lies.”
“You were right,” Gideon confessed. “Right about me. Right about how I never truly loved you. How I fooled you – and me – into believing you were Xander.”
“How…comforting.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t let him go,” Gideon stated. “I never should have made you.”
The Collector smiled grimly.
“Too late.”
“I should have kept his memory alive here,” Gideon continued, pointing to his heart. “Not in you.”
“You can always…make another,” the Collector countered. Gideon shook his head.
“No. It’s time I let Xander go.”
There was a sudden banging on the door nearby, and moments later, fragments of shattered porcelain shot under the door, flying up to form the Doppelganger. The porcelain Familiar opened the door, and Simon stepped
through. The boy’s eyes widened when he saw the Collector…and Gideon.
“Sir!” he cried, rushing to the Collector’s side. Gideon backed away from them, holding his cane out to defend himself. But Simon merely knelt before the Collector, staring down at him in horror.
The Collector reached up with his good hand, grasping Simon’s hand. Simon bent down, and the Collector whispered something in his ear.
Simon nodded, then stood, retrieving the Collector’s sword. He placed it in the man’s left hand. Then he looked up at his Doppelganger…and nodded.
The Doppelganger sprinted toward Bella and Gideon, leaping at them with its bottle held high!
A flash of silver light shot across the room, slamming into the Doppelganger and sending it flying into the wall. It shattered…and none other than Myko materialized nearby, landing on all fours on the floor…perfectly healed.
“Myko!” Bella cried, her heart soaring.
But the pieces of the Doppelganger flew back together, re-forming the powerful Familiar. It lunged at Gideon, and Myko went to intercept, standing between the two and growling at the Doppelganger.
“Let me handle this,” Gideon requested. Myko paused, then stepped to one side. The Doppelganger burst toward Gideon, swinging its bottle at his head with frightening speed.
Gideon held up his cane to intercept the blow…and the Doppelganger’s arm stopped as the bottle connected with the cane. In fact, the Familiar’s entire body stopped, its momentum completely neutralized.
The Doppelganger swung at Gideon again, this time with an overhead chop. Gideon slammed the butt of his staff into the floor, then held up his cane to block again…stopping the Doppelganger’s momentum instantly. Again and again it swung, and each time Gideon blocked, then discharged the stored energy into the floor. Such was the magic of his cane that the impacts caused no damage whatsoever to the Doppelganger or its bottle.
Every attack was simply – completely – neutralized.
The Doppelganger went berserk, leaping at Gideon to tackle him. Gideon raised the butt of his cane, tapping it in the chest…and temporarily freezing it in mid-air. Then he tossed one of his thigh-paintings onto the floor below it.
“Apertus!” he commanded.
The Painting unrolled itself…and the Doppelganger fell straight toward its painted surface.
“No!” Simon shouted.
The Doppelganger spontaneously exploded into countless fragments, flying back to Simon’s side. The pieces coalesced, re-forming the Familiar.
Gideon tucked his cane into his armpit, thrusting his left hand outward. His glove shot toward the painting on the floor, picking it up and flying it right at Simon…painted-side first.
Simon’s eyes widened, and he didn’t even have time to react.
But the Doppelganger did.
It grabbed Simon’s wrist just as the painting enveloped the boy…and yanked him out of the painting before he was fully trapped. Gideon’s glove moved with them, however, sending the painting after them like a heat-seeking missile.
Miss Savage’s violin shrieked, a sound so awful that Bella screamed, hunching over and covering her ears. A single note that blasted Gideon’s painting away from Simon, and shattered the ceiling and walls. They crumbled, massive stone fragments falling toward all of them.
Simon grabbed Miss Savage, holding up one arm to block a falling piece of rubble. The Doppelganger burst into fragments that flew toward the Collector. But instead of striking him, the fragments covered him…and formed a suit of armor around him, so that the Collector was inside of it.
And as Simon flew upward into the air, carrying Miss Savage toward a huge hole in the ceiling above, the Doppelganger leapt upward to grab its master’s ankle. All four of them disappeared through the hole…just as the room utterly collapsed.
Bella felt the floor shudder under her feet, then start to sink downward, even as a huge section of the ceiling broke free from high above, falling right toward them.
“Gideon!” she cried.
“To me!” Gideon shouted. Bella and Myko rushed to Gideon’s side, and he shoved his cane into his chest-painting, then took off his hat, turning it upside-down. He reached inside, throwing something upward.
“Anulus!” he cried…just as the huge hunk of ceiling slammed into them from above.
Chapter 52
Bella screamed, throwing her arms upward…and then felt herself hurtling forward through the air. Her chest slammed into something hard, blasting the air from her lungs. She gasped, scrambling to her feet…and felt a hand on her shoulder shoving her to the left…toward a large bed, which Grandpa just happened to be sleeping in.
The Conclave!
Bella leapt onto the bed, turning around just in time to see an avalanche of boulders blasting through the black portal. Hunks of rock flew across the room, slamming into the wall opposite the portal. More and more rubble came, pouring through the portal until a third of the room was filled with it.
And then, moments later, it was done.
Bella stared at the pile of rubble, then turned to see Gideon and Myko also sitting on the bed. And Grandpa, who’d sat bolt-upright, his eyes wide with shock.
“What the…!” he exclaimed.
“Well, that worked,” Gideon declared, dusting off his suit. Myko wuffed, licking Gideon’s cheek. Then the wolf bounded up to Bella, giving her similar treatment. Bella looked down at herself, checking for injuries, but she seemed intact. Gideon, on the other hand, looked a hot mess. His hair was disheveled, his nose bloodied and his right shoulder covered in dark clots from where the Collector had stabbed him. And as he gave her a relieved smile, it was clear he’d chipped a tooth.
And Myko…well, his injuries had all been moon-dashed away.
“Ran in to a bit of rubble I see,” Grandpa noted. “You look terrible, Gideon. Are you all right?”
“Nothing a fresh coat of paint can’t fix,” Gideon replied, winking at Bella. She smiled back, shuffling up to him and giving him a big hug. He winced.
“Careful with the shoulder,” he warned. She eased up a bit.
“Thanks for saving us,” she murmured. He squeezed her back.
“Thanks for…you know,” he replied. They disengaged, and she lowered her gaze.
“Sorry about your…the Collector.”
“I take it you defeated him?” Grandpa guessed. Gideon hesitated, then nodded.
“Bella drained him. He had a protégé…a young boy named Simon. A Painter. Simon managed to take the Collector and escape, but the Collector is as close to death as a man can be without being dead. It’s only a matter of time now.”
“Ah,” Grandpa murmured. “I see.”
Gideon turned to Bella, looking remarkably guilty.
“Bella, I’m sorry you had to do that,” he stated. “That you had to drain the Collector…that you had to be the one to…”
“Kill him?” Bella asked. Gideon nodded.
“I know how you feel about killing,” he stated. “But he didn’t leave us a choice.”
“No,” Bella retorted. “I did have a choice. And I chose to protect my family.”
Gideon hesitated, then gave a sad smile.
“Okay Bella,” he replied.
“Gideon, are you alright?” Grandpa inquired. Gideon sighed.
“Letting go of my son was the second most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do,” he admitted.
“What was the most difficult?” Bella asked.
“Forgiving myself,” he answered.
She leaned in to hug him again, being careful not to hurt his shoulder. Then she kissed him on the cheek that wasn’t bloody.
“You’re a great dad,” she told him. “Best dad I’ve ever had, actually.”
“How comforting,” Gideon grumbled. She laughed, pulling away from him.
“You are,” she insisted. Then she turned to Grandpa, giving him a hug in turn. “You’re both the best guys a girl could ask for.”
“I daresay we’re f
ond of you too,” Grandpa replied with a smile. “You turned out pretty well…especially considering I was the one who raised you.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Bella retorted. “You did a great job.”
“Hmm, well, don’t screw it up too much,” Grandpa told Gideon, punching him playfully on the shoulder. His injured shoulder.
“Ow!” Gideon blurted out, jerking away from Grandpa.
“Oh!” Grandpa exclaimed. “Terribly sorry, old boy.”
“Quite all right.”
“He was wrong about you, you know,” Bella stated, turning to Gideon. He frowned, giving her an inquisitive look. “The Collector. He told me you were…that you weren’t a good person.”
“Ah,” Gideon replied, rubbing his forehead. “Must have been unconscious at the time.”
“That woman kicked you in the face.”
“I noticed.”
“We should get you healed up,” Bella prompted. She turned to Grandpa, eyeing his broken wrist. “Both of you.”
“Later,” he promised. Grandpa cleared his throat then, and they both turned to him.
“Where is Piper?” he asked. “Did he find Kendra?”
Bella and Gideon turned to look at each other, their eyes widening in horror.
“Uh oh,” Gideon blurted out. Bella put a hand to her mouth.
“Oh no!” she cried. “They were fighting Simon before…”
“Damn,” Gideon swore. “We have to find them!”
“And Goo,” Bella agreed.
She jumped off the side of the bed, running toward the portal…and stopped in her tracks. The rubble from the castle had formed a pile some four feet high, completely blocking the path to the trick bookshelf that led to Gideon’s closet…and the portal to the Conclave itself. She put her hands on her hips, staring at the mess.
“How are we going to clear this up?” she asked.
“Why, the same way we do everything else,” Gideon replied, getting off the bed and taking a rolled-up canvas from his thigh-holster. “With art.”
* * *
