by Kristin Cast
James carried Bridget and the vodka into the bedroom, thinking, briefly, that he should have had more protein with his lunch.
Twelve
Confident in his ability to ignore any encroaching feelings for Eva, Alek attended to the task at hand. “Although I am certain of the Oracle’s safety, I do need to return to the Mortal Realm.” He dug through his wardrobe for a pair of pants appropriate for the Mortal Realm.
“I agree. However, Maiden always needs convincing of these things. Young, naïve sister,” Mother mumbled.
Alek brushed off the comment and tested his injured leg, pleased when he could put weight on it without toppling over. “Where is she? And where is Crone?”
“The Galazoneri, I presume. That is where they rushed after realizing the Oracle does not belong here. Something I already knew to be true.”
“Give it a rest, Mother,” Alek grumbled as he grabbed a shirt and left the room. “Maiden!” he called, jogging stiffly into the central hall of Tartarus.
“My son, you are awake,” Maiden cheered.
“Mother told me there were complications with the Oracle. Is she safe?” he asked.
“There is no need for worry. Crone and I have returned her to the Mortal Realm, whole and secure,” Maiden explained.
Jolts of pain shot up his leg. His muscles bulged under the thin fabric of his shirt as he tensed and pushed through the discomfort. “I must meet with her and plan what we’re to do next. Send me back,” he instructed.
“I will not.” She rose from her chair and planted her hands on her hips. “I can tell by the way you favor your leg you are not ready, and if Crone were here, she would agree. The Oracle has water from the Galazoneri. She will alert us when you are needed. Until then, rest.”
Alek glared down at her. “You will do as I say. Now, send me back.” His torso puffed, and he fixed his gaze across the great room. Maiden placed her hands on his chest, and he readied himself for the journey.
“You do not command me, son.” Light exploded from her palms, and Alek instantly tumbled backward.
His voice caught in his throat, and he remained on the floor in silent agony.
“As I said, you are not ready. If you cannot stop one of your mothers from knocking you to the ground, how are you to assist the Oracle?” she asked, staring down at him.
“Point taken,” he squeaked.
“Now, on to more important matters.” Maiden turned and took her place at the table. “The Oracle has a kind soul and is quite beautiful.”
“These are matters you view to be more important than my returning to the Mortal Realm?” He got up slowly from the floor.
“You were almost defeated. Was that because of your desire to protect the humans? I do not seem to remember you being so fond of them.”
“Yes, she is kind and beautiful,” he groused, and flopped into the chair next to Maiden.
“As well as strong and brave. All impressive and important features for a young woman to possess,” Maiden encouraged.
Alek averted his gaze from her probing stare.
“Do you not agree, my son?”
“All of my women have been great in some way.”
“So Eva is no different than the mortal women who offered themselves to you so easily? I believe your comparison is grossly flawed. And you forget again that I am your mother. The one who carried and birthed you. Your true feelings have never been hidden from me.”
Mother stopped rigidly at Alek’s side. “I see you found her.”
“Yes, although it wasn’t a complicated task. Come, I did not properly greet you when I woke up.” Relieved by the momentary break from Maiden’s questioning, Alek enveloped Mother in an overenthusiastic hug.
Mother patted his back robotically. “I am glad you are doing so well.”
“I’m much improved. Especially now that you are here.”
“And you came at just the right time, sister. We were discussing Alek’s adoration for the new Oracle.” The apples of Maiden’s cheeks turned pink.
“I wouldn’t call it adoration, I only said—”
“It is that simple feeling,” Mother interrupted, “that almost got you killed. I thought this had been handled. If it has not been, I suggest you exercise more control over your human-like emotions.”
The rosy color drained from Maiden’s face and she scowled at Mother before turning her attention back to Alek. “And to think I expected a more pleasant and compassionate response to our son’s passions.”
“Passions?” Alek’s gaze darted between the two women. “Maiden, you’re going too far. I never said—”
“Continue encouraging this nonsense, and next time you will not be able to rescue him from the doom he will inevitably face,” Mother interjected.
“Quiet!” Alek slammed his fist on the stone table. “Do you not grow tired of this unending battle? Our home is dying, and the Mortal Realm suffers, yet you continue this incessant bickering.”
“There is much about our past of which you are not aware,” Maiden explained.
“None of that matters now. It’s part of something that happened long ago, and there are greater threats to our present than your ghosts.” Alek lurched over the table as nausea rolled through his stomach.
Immediately at his side, Maiden placed a warm hand on his back. “What is it, my son?” Her palm traced soothing circles between his shoulder blades.
“Sit, Alek. I will call Crone to rewrap your wound,” Mother said.
“No.” His hand shot out. “It’s something else. There is something wrong.”
Mother studied his face quizzically. “Crone found no other significant damage, internal or otherwise. Only scrapes and bruises, which have healed by now.”
“You simply need rest. Come, I will take you back to your bedchamber,” Maiden offered.
“No, something is wrong,” he repeated. He rubbed at the dread resting beneath his sternum. “This feeling I carry is not for myself. It’s unlike any other. I do not know how, but it’s calling me to the Mortal Realm.”
“Make haste to the Hall of Echoes. You must go now,” Mother commanded.
Alek did as instructed, with the two Furies close behind. He rushed into the cavern and paused in the entryway as his eyes adjusted to the dark. “There’s nothing here.”
“Quickly, to the pool. Place your fingertips in its waters,” Maiden urged.
“What is my intention? There is nothing I wish for it to show me.”
“You are this realm’s warrior. As your strength increases, so will your abilities and instincts,” Mother said.
“Focus on the growing feeling within you. Your instincts will reveal to you what you need to know. That is one way we are able to call specific images to us. We have learned to trust ours, and you must do the same,” Maiden coached.
“A warrior’s instincts are his greatest tool,” Mother added.
Alek knelt by the side of the lone puddle and dipped his fingers into the cool liquid. Waves rippled into a vivid and disturbing picture. Red streaks painted the snowy white walls of the image, and debris littered the blood-spattered floor.
“That looks like the hospital where Eva was taken after I defeated Alastor, but it was nothing like this before.”
A scarlet cloud swirled through the hall, disappearing from sight but reemerging with every replay of the scene.
“The Nosoi!” Maiden gasped.
“You must not say such things, sister. You know as well as I that it has been locked away here with us for decades.”
“Yes, but did you not see….”
“Hush, Maiden.” Mother cleared the angst from her voice. “We will not give it power by uttering its name.”
“Give what power?” The dread nestled within him increased as, for the first time, Alek saw fear in the stoic woman’s eyes.
“Simply an evil that has long been vanquished. It is nothing with which you need be concerned. Now go. Your inner warrior has called you to this place for a purpo
se,” Mother insisted.
“But remember, you are not fully healed or rested. You will require longer to recover if faced with battle,” Maiden said.
“Understood.” He nodded.
“Your time in the Mortal Realm will be short-lived. Do not force yourself to remain past your threshold, as you did before. Return home soon to regain your strength,” Mother said.
As he stood, Alek instinctively felt for the crystal hanging around his neck. “My talisman,” he whispered.
“It cracked upon your reentry,” Maiden explained as she pulled the frayed leather cord from her pocket. “Half is with the Oracle, and half will remain with you.”
Alek bent down so she could slip it over his head. “Will it still work with half of it missing?”
“Yes. When apart, each piece is strong, but together they are unstoppable.” Maiden covered the fractured crystal with her palm. “The same could be said for you and the Oracle.”
“Make contact with her. Together you will defeat whatever is plaguing the Mortal Realm.” Mother placed her hand over Maiden’s.
“Goodbye, my son.”
Alek wrestled his nerves while drifting weightlessly in the void between realms. He’d never felt such foreboding before a mission, or angst about the mortals he might run into. But Eva, she was something else. Realigning his focus with the task at hand, he envisioned the hospital. The ground firmed beneath his feet, and Alek readied himself for battle.
Thirteen
James allowed his mind to wander as his body twitched in deep relaxation.
“What are you thinking about?” Bridget yawned.
He could tell her the truth. Before opening his mouth, he imagined how the conversation would go down.
“Mel, my fiancée. But don’t worry. She’s dead.”
Bridget would reply, “Oh, I’m sorry.” People always said they were sorry.
“It’s fine,” he would lie. “I just realized you’re the first person I’ve been with since her. Maybe it’s a good thing it was with you and not some random girl.”
He shrugged off the pretend exchange, and instead replied, “Nothing.”
“Hey, do you hear buzzing?” Bridget lifted her head off his chest and sleepily looked around the room.
“Hear what?”
“Buzzing,” she enunciated. “Do you hear it? It’s been going on for awhile.”
“Oh, shit. Yeah. What time is it?”
“No idea.”
He rolled over and felt around for his vibrating phone. His head pulsed in the wake of Vodka James. He answered without looking at the screen. “Detective Graham.”
“Hey Detective. You okay? I’ve been calling for the last five minutes straight.”
“Yeah, Winslow, I’m fine. What’s going on?”
“We’re getting a bunch of strange calls from over at St. John’s Hospital. There’s a riot or something going on over there. They’re in the process of dispatching a few cars, but as soon as the captain heard about it, he said he wanted you and Schilling to go check it out too.” Phones trilled in the background as Winslow explained.
“A riot? How does that have anything to do with me?” James asked.
“It’s not the riot as much as who may be behind it. The captain is thinking our two Mohawk Park suspects could be there, and he doesn’t want them getting away again.”
James sighed deeply. “I’m on my way. Have you already called Schilling?”
Winslow remained silent.
“Winslow, you called Schilling yet? Hello, Winslow? Hello?” James took the phone away from his ear. The red empty battery symbol flashed on the screen. “Shit,” he cursed under his breath.
“Everything okay?” Bridget asked.
Goose bumps tickled his flesh as she marched her fingers up and down his naked back.
“Something’s going on at the hospital. Captain’s worried your friends are behind it.”
“Eva? No way. What reason would she have to be at the hospital?”
He threw his legs over the side of the bed and pushed himself to standing. “No idea, but I have to do as I’m told.” A smirk tipped the corner of his lip as he thought back to Bridget’s sexy commands. His eyes traced her naked ivory body as she bent over and picked a shirt up off the floor.
“You sure you have to leave?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m sure. I’m definitely,” he said, his gaze lingering on her, “definitely sure. I have to go.”
Her hips swayed gently as she walked closer to him. “That’s not what all of you is saying.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him hungrily.
“You’re making this hard for me.”
“In more ways than one.” Her grin stretched smoothly against his lips.
“Bridget, I have to go. If either Eva or Alek are there, it’s best if I find them first.”
“Ugh, you’re right.” She flopped onto the bed and teasingly stuck out her bottom lip. “Don’t forget, you owe me dinner.”
“Dinner?” His eyebrows lifted with the question.
“Yes, dinner. You know, sitting across from someone awkwardly while you both eat food and talk about stuff neither of you finds interesting. What, you thought we’d have sex and not go out on an official date?”
“Isn’t that a little backwards?”
She picked up his briefs from where they’d landed catawampus on the bedside table and tossed them to him. “Well, you can’t say I’m not interesting.”
James slid on his pants and finished buttoning his wrinkled shirt. “Uninteresting is definitely not a word I’d use to describe you.”
“Then dinner it is. We need sustenance before round three anyway.”
“Round three, huh?” Mel’s face again swirled through his thoughts, uncorking a steady stream of guilt.
“Unless you’re not interested.”
“No, I am. I’m interested. I’ll call you.” He grabbed his keys off the dresser and darted out the front door.
• • •
James parked his car outside the emergency room at St. John’s and finished tucking in his shirt as he approached the sliding double doors. An ambulance sat a few feet from the entrance, its doors wide open and the engine humming steadily.
“Huh. That’s strange,” he mumbled, rounding the vehicle. Blood coated the ceiling and walls of the silver box, except for two streaks marking where the stretcher had been. He popped open the gun latch on his holster, and let his hand float above his Glock as he checked the front of the ambulance.
He remained tense as he cautiously walked through the sliding double doors and into the emergency room. The normally crowded waiting room was empty and silent. Droplets of blood speckled the floor, and upended chairs littered the room. Chills inched up James’s spine as he thought back to all the apocalypse movies he’d seen with creepy scenes matching this one.
“Stop freaking out,” he whispered, trying to calm himself.
The phone rang from behind the abandoned check-in desk, and James’s entire body flinched. “Shit!” he cursed.
He drew his gun and let it lead him through a set of swinging doors. Beeping machines and the low hum of equipment greeted him as he crept through the deserted treatment area. Beneath his feet, something crunched, and he attempted to maneuver around pages of medical charts and other hospital debris. He inched toward a blood-soaked curtain, moving it aside with his elbow before entering the makeshift room.
James’s breath caught in his throat as he surveyed the scene. The ambulance stretcher sat in the middle of the room, and on it lay a body. A female, he assumed, given what she was wearing. Although without a face there was no way he could be sure. He holstered his weapon and forced himself to step closer, to look more intently at what he hadn’t wanted to see at Tyson George’s. The woman’s facial features were gone. She no longer looked human; she was just an inside-out mess of muscle and bone. His stomach rolled, and he looked at the floor. Blood dripped from the stretcher, swirling together with another, larg
er pool coagulating on the tile. James’s hand rested on his gun as he peered around the body. Slumped in the corner of the room was another corpse. An EMT, with strings of red muscle bursting from his face.
“Oh, fuck.” James swallowed the bile building in his throat and hurried out of the room. He sucked in deep gulps of air and steadied himself against the countertop of the nurses’ station.
A clatter erupted nearby, and James stiffened. He fought the urge to duck behind the counter, and instead removed his weapon from its holster. Every inch of his body vibrated with adrenaline. Silently, James rounded the nurses’ station and inched closer to the noise. He reached a door marked “EMPLOYEES ONLY” and halted, listening carefully before barging in blind.
“Ouch! Shit!” a muffled voice shouted from behind the closed door.
The commotion continued, and James’s hand lingered on the doorknob as he gathered his courage and assessed how many people were on the other side of the door.
“Must this happen every time?” the same deep voice seethed.
As sure as he could be that there was only one man in the room, James tore open the door and aimed his gun. “Police! Put your hands up!”
The man’s muscles stretched the back of his shirt as he held his hands above his head and turned to face the detective.
“Alek?” James lowered his weapon, and stared blankly at the man he’d been hunting for days.
“Detective,” Alek growled, and dropped his hands to his side. “I must warn you, you will not like what I will do if you try to apprehend me.”
“I’ll take my chances. Now raise your hands and come out slowly.” He aligned the gun sight with Alek’s chest, and stepped to the side to allow him room to exit the janitor’s closet.
Alek set his jaw, but did as instructed. “You are lucky I must hold on to my strength for the real enemy.”
James used his free hand to pat down Alek’s pockets. “Oh yeah? And who’s that?”
“This is a waste of time. I’m not here to be a part of one of your petty human issues. I am only here to protect—” He stopped abruptly and furrowed his brow.
