by Kristin Cast
“To protect the Mortal Realm from evil? Yeah, Bridget told me all about you and your Underworld origins. That doesn’t get you out of telling me what you’re doing here. My petty human issue and your pretentious otherworldly bullshit have led us to the same place.”
Alek eyeballed him skeptically. “Why do you not fear me?”
“I’m not scared of assholes. Never have been. Now tell me why you’re here.” He cocked his gun. “I won’t ask again.”
Alek took a deep breath. “The floating red mist. I believe it’s responsible for this destruction. That’s why I have come. To find the cause.”
“Floating mist.” James recalled the video of Tyson. “Okay, but you stick with me. Try anything, and I’ll shoot you. I know you won’t die, but it’ll fucking hurt.” He holstered his gun. “You need to see this.” He led Alek to the bodies, but paused outside the red curtain. “I’ll wait here. Don’t touch anything.” He pulled open the fabric and let it shield his face from what he’d already seen.
Alek’s shoes squeaked on the floor as he walked through ruby puddles. “How did this happen?”
“I was hoping you could tell me. Until today, I’d never seen anything like it before.”
Alek appeared from the room, his expression unchanged. “We must locate the source before it’s able to do this to another mortal.”
“Then let’s get after it. Follow me.”
Veins bulged from Alek’s meaty arm as he slammed it against James’s chest, holding him back. “I am an immortal. It’s best you stay behind me.”
“If you want to serve as my semi-human shield, be my guest, but we need to take the stairs. We don’t know what’s happening on the rest of the floors, and I’d rather not get stuck in an elevator while weird and dangerous shit is happening.”
“Agreed. I don’t trust those floating boxes.”
James followed Alek into the stairwell and matched his brisk pace up the steps. “He’d be bitching all the way, but now would be a good time to have my partner. I can trust him.”
“You and I are not partners.” Alek paused outside the door leading to the second floor and peered through its narrow window.
“And every comment isn’t about you,” James quipped. “There might be officers in the building. You see any uniforms?”
“I see nothing. Only a corridor.”
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” He gripped his gun, and double-checked there was a round in the chamber before continuing. “Open the door slowly. I’ll go in and clear the hall. I’ll call to you once I do, and we’ll proceed to sweep the rest of the floor. Got it?”
“Or,” Alek said, throwing open the door, “we can advance as I would.”
A guttural howl emanated from the end of the hall. Alek turned toward the noise, his eyes wide. James raised his gun and braced himself for whatever was coming.
“Dammit, Alek,” James hissed.
Alek tumbled back and spilled into the stairwell. Howls turned to shrieks as the man who tackled him snarled and clawed at the immortal. The attacker’s hospital gown hung from his neck, and vanilla boils bubbled up from his exposed back.
James gathered his wits and aimed his gun at the man.
“I do not require your assistance,” Alek grunted as he wrapped his hands around the man’s head and yanked. The body immediately went limp, and the shrieks turned to wet burbles. Alek rolled the corpse off of him. “It is taken care of.” He wiped his hands on his jeans and got to his feet.
James’s stomach sank. “You fucking killed him. You broke his neck and killed him.”
“And what would you have done with that?” Alek nodded toward James’s firearm.
“Not killed him, that’s for sure. At least not without trying to subdue him first. We’re not doing this your way anymore.”
“I achieved the goal. He no longer poses a threat,” Alek said matter-of-factly.
“Alek….” James’s voice faded into a whisper as he watched the bruised and bloody body shake violently against the stairs.
“What? Do you fear me now, mortal?”
The video of Tyson flashed through James’s thoughts as he struggled to take his eyes off the contorting figure. The cloud. It comes next.
“Alek, move!” James pulled the immortal through the open door and kicked it shut behind them. Scarlet flecks beat against the window and disappeared as rapidly as they came. “That shit is alive!” James scrambled backward until he hit the wall. “It just tried to fucking attack us! What the fuck does it want?”
“I don’t know,” Alek said. “But it is a creature that does not belong here.”
“Well, no shit.” James collected his gun from the floor and ran a shaking hand through his hair. “But I’ve seen it before. That same flying cloud, or floating mist, or whatever the fuck it is. There are two bodies down at the morgue. One with a blown-out face because of that same red shit, and the other, his wife. They said they’re not sure who killed her, but judging by that freak in the hospital gown, my bet is on the husband.”
Alek stretched his neck and peered down the hall. “Quiet!” he commanded. “I hear footsteps.”
“Good. Maybe it’s someone who can tell us what the fuck is going on,” James murmured.
“Help! Oh, God, somebody help me!” Frantic pleas and thundering footsteps hit James before he saw anyone. He raised his pistol and readied himself for whoever, whatever, was barreling around the corner.
“Shoot them! Shoot them!” a young man dressed in blue nurse’s scrubs wailed as he sprinted toward Alek and James.
Four wild-eyed, snarling doctors were hard on his heels. Pinkish foam sprayed from their mouths as they snapped and clawed at the empty space between them and their target’s pale flesh. James’s heart thundered ferociously as the twisted scene registered as reality.
“Do it now!” the man squealed as he approached.
James took aim at the leader of the pack, a slender woman. With the barrel of his gun focused on her right shoulder, he pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through the meat of her arm, twisting her torso and slowing her down, but only momentarily.
James fired again, this time striking her knee. Her leg buckled, and she fell into a forward roll, then sprang to her feet again.
The man glanced behind him before shouting, “Shoot her in the head!”
James pointed the gun at the face of his moving target, but couldn’t make himself pull the trigger. “A little help here, immortal,” he said, holding on to the remaining fibers of his composure.
With the speed and ferocity of a lion, Alek charged the herd, knocking three of them over like bowling pins.
“Find Eva!” Alek grunted as he pushed his shoulder into the three rabid doctors, forcing them down the hall and away from James and the nurse.
James took off, matching the rapid pace of the man being chased. He pushed open the first windowless door he saw and yanked the nurse in after him. “Don’t let them open this,” he commanded, pinning the man’s narrow shoulders against the wood.
“Okay,” the man squeaked as the fourth crazed doctor began to pelt the door with her fists.
James rushed to the corner of the room, picked up a plastic chair, and darted back to the door. “When I say go, you move. Got it?”
The young man nodded frantically.
“Okay. Ready, go!”
He stepped out of the way, and James jammed the back of the chair under the door handle. Apprehensively, he let go of the arms. The chair shook against the hollow thuds emanating from the other side of the door.
James felt around for the empty bed behind him and sat back onto the spongy mattress. Panic ignited every muscle in his body, and he let its power rush through his trembling extremities.
“What’s happening to them?” the nurse asked through his tears.
James kept his gaze glued to the door. “I don’t know.”
“Do—do you have backup coming?”
“I don’t know,” James sai
d flatly.
“Well, do you know how to stop them?”
“I know as much as you do about this whole fucking thing!” James barked.
The nurse inhaled sharply, and James really looked at him for the first time since he’d come barreling down the hall. The nurse had tucked his short legs under his chin and sat in a tight ball by the head of the bed. The left half of his head was shaved, revealing small silver studs that climbed up his ear lobe. His cheeks glistened with fresh tears, and fear nestled in his dark eyes.
They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the guttural bellows and repeated sharp thuds on the other side of door.
“I’m glad I ran into you. Thank you for helping me.” The nurse’s voice came out as a whisper, and he cleared his throat before continuing. “They would’ve killed me. I already saw them do it once.” He adjusted his bedazzled lanyard and tucked the shaggy side of his charcoal hair behind his ear. “Do you think your friend is going to be okay?”
“Friend?” James scoffed. “I wouldn’t call him that, but yeah. He’ll be fine. He has a bit of an unfair advantage.”
“I think we could use that right now. What is it?”
“Wait.” James held his hand up and listened. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Exactly.” He noiselessly slid off the bed and pressed his ear against the door. “I think she’s gone. Come on. Let’s get out of here before any of them have a chance to come back.”
“We can’t go out there.” He grabbed James’s sleeve. “What if one of them is on the other side of the door waiting for us?”
“We can’t stay in here. It’s only a matter of time before they’re able to break through this door. Unless you want to try jumping out that window, I suggest we make a run for it while we have the opportunity.”
He looked at the window, cringed, and looked back at James. “Okay. When we get out of here, take a right. There’s another stairwell at the end of the hall that has street access. Plus, there are no patient rooms down that way, so there shouldn’t be any more of those people,” he said with a shudder.
“Got it. You ready to make a run for it?”
His eyes widened and he nodded slowly. “No.”
“Good. On the count of three. I’ll lead.” James exhaled sharply. “One, two, three.”
Fourteen
Electricity seared Eva’s arms as the ground hardened under her feet. The sulfurous odor of burning hair filled her nostrils, and she held out her arms to steady herself against the fumes wafting up from her own body.
A shrill squeal pierced her ears. Then came the shouting. “Get the fuck out of my room!”
“Bridge, it’s me.” Eva slowly and painfully dodged a barrage of red-bottomed shoes. “Ouch. Dammit. Bridget, stop! It’s just me.”
“Get out! Get out! Get out!” Bridget shrieked.
“You’re going to mess up your shoes!” Eva shouted over her best friend’s squeaky yips.
The onslaught of soaring high heels ended, and Bridget’s blonde head poked out of the closet. “Eva? Jesus fucking Christ! You scared the shit out of me!” She raised a black pump above her head, and Eva recoiled. “Oh no!” Bridget sucked in air and hurried over to her friend. “I hope I didn’t hurt any of them.”
Bridget scooped up the shoes and gently lowered them onto the bed. “Oh my God. Are you okay? Here,” she said, pushing over a bit of the pile, “lay down. What happened? Your outfit is destroyed, and you’re all blistery. Well, kind of. I mean, you seem to be healing super fast, so that’s a good thing, but you’re still all splotchy and burned.” The last word came out in a whisper.
“I’ll be fine in a little bit. As soon as I heal completely. But it definitely hurts right now, and bad.” She stared down at her tattoo. A large blister covered where the branches once were, but the broad, black trunk of the family tree Alastor had marked her with remained unharmed. She rubbed at the base of the tree sprouting up from her wrist, and watched as the injured skin replaced itself with new skin, the thick, onyx ink resurfacing. She quelled the visions of Alastor, the basement, Alek, and asked, “Why are you whispering?”
“I don’t know. I’m trying to be sensitive. Okay, let’s think. What helps heal stuff? Oh, I know! Neosporin. You need the first aid kit! Be right back,” Bridget said, cheerily bounding out of the room.
Eva closed her eyes and leaned back against the mound of unorganized pillows. “Just relax. Everything’s going to be fine. You’re back in the real world now. Alek’s alive. You’re a powerful Oracle. Everything’s fine. Just be positive and kind to yourself, like Maiden said.”
“Okay, I’m back, and I have just the thing to get you all normal again.” The bed slouched as Bridget took a seat next to her. “Oh, well shit. I’m too late. You seem to be getting better at that.”
Eva opened her eyes and examined her exposed skin. The wounds had closed, leaving behind pale pink patches of fresh and tender epidermis.
“At least I can do this now.” Bridget opened her arms and wrapped them around Eva, squeezing her gently. “I’ve missed you!” she squealed. “Everyone’s been so worried. Me, your mom, James….” She released Eva and tilted her head to the side. Her chest-length curls slid off her back and bounced loosely at her shoulders. “Gah, when did ‘everyone’ become me, your mother, and a detective? You really need to get out more. Wait, how did you even get in here?” Her eyes widened, and a smile curled her sparkly coral lips. “You discovered another one of your crazy super powers, didn’t you? Oh my god, you did! You know, you should really write all this stuff down and turn it into, like, your memoirs or something someday. Then, some big-shot producer will make it into a movie. I wonder who they’ll get to play me? I’m thinking Gigi Hadid. Do you think she knows how to act?”
Eva grabbed her babbling friend by the shoulders and steadied her. “Bridget, slow down. Alek’s mothers sent me back after I started sparking all over the place like some kind of defective firework. Apparently human bodies aren’t made to go to Tartarus. Not living ones, anyway. Who knew?” She shrugged.
“That’s a relief. Not the thing about you being sparky, just the part where you were magically transported here. I’m already packing to go to a hotel. That’s why my shoes were so available. They were going in my suitcase next.” She motioned to the heels piled on the corner of the bed. “Ever since James stopped by earlier today totally unannounced, I didn’t want to take the chance of him or anyone else just thinking they could pop over. But not you, of course. You’re invited anytime. And, now that I think about it, James can come back too. Yeah, I’d really like it if he’d come again, if you get my meaning. And he’s not too old, if that’s what you were thinking. So, I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to stay here.”
“Wait, you had sex with Detective Graham? Seriously, Bridget. You’ve got to be kidding me. How long was I gone?”
“Not long. Like, a day or something. And James is one of the good guys now. Really good.” She grinned.
“Bridget, he pointed a gun at me and was 100 percent going to shoot. There’s no way he’s on our team, and you can’t turn someone away from the dark side with your vagina. That’s not how it works.”
Bridget rolled her eyes and exhaled sharply. “I don’t think he actually would have shot you. But none of that matters now, because I told him everything that’s going on, and he is on our side. Promise. Plus, you can fix a lot of problems by using your lady bits. You’d know that if you ever freed yours from your clothes.”
Eva shook her head, ignoring her friend’s last comment. “What do you mean you told him everything?”
“I mean, all the stuff about Tartarus. Well, all the stuff I could remember anyway. And about how you’re the Oracle and you’re working for the forces of good with Alek, who’s some Thor-like immortal warrior guy sent from the Underworld to fight monsters and banish them back to Hell jail.”
“And he actually believed you? Did you have your clothes on or off when you
said all this?”
“On!” she said, playfully hitting Eva’s arm. “But now that I think about it, it probably would’ve gone over better if I’d done it the other way. God, James is all sorts of sexy.” She fanned herself and batted her impossibly long eyelashes. “The man knows how to use his tongue. And that body. Every inch of it was rock hard. The farthest thing you can get from a flabby Dad bod.”
Laughter shook Eva’s core for the first time in days. “Well, I guess I should congratulate you on adding another handsome victim to your list.”
Bridget beamed. “Thank you.”
“But just because you ended up in bed with him doesn’t mean he believed you.”
“Yeah, but do you not remember vanishing from the middle of Mohawk Park? James was there, and that’s not something he could have missed. It would make anyone start asking questions. Oh, and then there’s this.” She grabbed her laptop from the bedside table, and moved her finger across the track pad until the screen illuminated. She clicked on the e-mail icon and scrolled through her unopened mail. “Sorry to get straight down to weird Oracle business, but after some seriously amazing convincing on my part, James forwarded this video to me, and I told him I’d show it to you the second I saw you again.” She found the e-mail, opened the attachment, and paused before moving the arrow to the play button. “Just a quick disclaimer, it’s from a crime scene, so you’re going to see someone die. I guess that was also sort of a spoiler. Oh well. Ready?” She pressed play before Eva had a chance to process the information and answer.
Eva cringed as she watched the graphic footage. “Wait, can you play it again? But just the very last part, right after he jumps.”
Bridget skipped backward and again pressed play.
“Okay, pause it.” The image froze on the scarlet swarm hovering over the mutilated body. “I feel like I’ve seen this before.”
“How? James only got a copy of it today, and I’m pretty sure this guy died less than forty-eight hours ago.”
