Phantom Eyes

by Scott Tracey

  “That’s enough,” I called out, but I wasn’t talking to him. He still didn’t merit all of my attention just yet. Magic and demon power surged within me, and I could feel the two powers warring against each other even as they complemented so perfectly. It was almost like a drug, the feeling that coursed through my veins. But the demon power was still coming out on top, feeding on all the dark thoughts that Lucien had brought in the door with him. If there was anyone who deserved my darkness, it was him.

  The world stopped around us. It wasn’t enough to make everything quiet, as I’d done before. He needed to know the power I had at my disposal. So I plucked the two of us out of time and didn’t even have to pause to catch a breath. The world froze around us, but it was a moment of iced over motion. Teenagers who’d been dancing a moment ago were in two places at once, in two moments at once. The music hummed in the air, a note dragged out so long it was a weeping cry. Smells were more potent, and the air had a texture. The world was so alive that if I wasn’t buffered by my powers, it would have driven me insane.

  The room had grown so quiet I could hear dreams being born almost as fast as dreams were broken.

  I had his attention.

  “You … what did … ” His eyes scanned futures, as he’d been doing ever since he walked into the hall.

  “You’ve probably forgotten why I terrify you, right? Why you’re so scared of me?” I made a beckoning gesture with my hand, and pulled Carter out of the crowd and into this moment between moments.

  Carter had been a friend of Jade’s, once upon a time. When he found out I was living at Jason’s, Carter thought he could get a little payback. Kick the crap out of me because of something Jason had done. He deserved anything I chose to do to him. He was an ant. He didn’t matter.

  Carter, who probably thought the rented suit he was wearing looked good on him, who probably thought he was getting laid tonight, even though his date was already making eyes at one of his teammates. Carter, the only person in the hall who I hadn’t looked into half an hour before. The lone beacon that had led Lucien right here. Right to me.

  Carter hopped up onto the stage, and I lowered my hand. He fell to his knees and looked up at me. Break him break him break him, the winter voices chanted in my head. I was tempted.

  “Look at me, Carter,” I whispered, and to his ears, my voice was a melody. A song he would never hear again, no matter how desperately he searched. “Remember when you thought you were better than me? When you thought you would teach me a lesson?”

  His head dropped, but I didn’t need to see his face to know the flush that was spreading.

  “You are blessed, aren’t you? I should eviscerate you for what you did, but instead, I’m granting you asylum.” I passed my hands over his head and tugged his head up. I looked into him and spread the tiniest part of my powers. Magic wrapped around him like fishing line, constricting until it was tight against his skin. One moment visible, the next absorbed inside. It was a small magic, but if I wanted to make the effect permanent, a part of me would always reside in him. A part of my power would always be lost.

  By the time I’d turned back to Lucien, I knew he’d seen it firsthand already. The way Carter’s threads just vanished from the futures that Lucien traveled so extensively, making them duller and more faded than they were a moment before. “I’ve found a better use for your powers, Lucien. Take a look around. Congratulate them. It’s a brand-new day. A graduating class free from you.”

  “A party trick,” Lucien sniffed. “Nothing more. When you die, the magic will be revealed, and everyone goes back to where they belong.”

  “Except you,” I said with a smile. “You’ll never find your way home. And you’ll never find the rest of your power. Because I’m not going to die, Lucien. I know something you don’t know.”

  “Do you forget who you’re talking to?” he demanded, swelling up where he stood. It was funny how impressive he’d looked to me that first day, and how the shine had faded. His suit was expensive, but mine looked better. He was … haggard, in a way. His clothes didn’t fit quite right, as if even the natural fabrics of the world knew he was just a pretender to a humanity he eschewed. He was playing dress-up, nothing more. “Do you forget the things that I hold over you? I can take him at any time.”

  I realized now, in a moment of clarity, why I’d let the winter grow so strong in me. And in a rush of clarity, I saw the path that was opening wide before me, a path I was stepping onto, even now. The vision of the future, the one in which I brought ruin down upon the town, it all came down to this night. And it was as simple as the war inside of me. Grace’s ruby, burning eyes, the cerulean glow and warmth of my own. And the pale, cold cornflower blue of the demon eyes. It was all of them together. All the darkness and light inside of me, all of what I was and what I could be.

  I released the illusion over my eyes, allowed them to glow, already knowing what Lucien would see. They weren’t quite violet yet, but with the powers churning inside of me, they were well on their way. And we both knew it.

  Lucien took a step back, and I pressed the advantage. “How many futures do you see?” I asked, though I didn’t care about the answer. All I cared about was making him care. “Ten thousand? Twenty? Isn’t that far less than yesterday and the day before?”

  Lucien’s eyes twitched, he couldn’t help himself. His eyes darted left and right, and I watched him count. Grace was right about one thing—the future controlled Lucien as much as he controlled it. A weakness I would have never thought to exploit.

  “I told you I would make you pay,” I said softly. No one mattered except the two of us. “I know how much you like to play games, but now it’s my turn.” I leaned in close, and smiled as he shifted back almost imperceptibly. “I’m going to destroy you, Rider, but first I’m going to make you watch. Make you helpless. Take every possible future away from you until the only thing you can see at the end of that long tunnel is the color of my boot just before I crush your neck.”

  Lucien was stone, unmoving. Unblinking. Frozen, or considering his next move, I couldn’t be sure. But I definitely didn’t care.

  “What good will the future do you then? What games will you play when you don’t know the outcome? Do you remember teaching me that exposing someone’s weaknesses, and using it against them was fun?” I grabbed him by the tie, and pulled him towards me. He didn’t resist. “I’m having the best day ever,” I said, whispering into his ear.

  “What do you want?” he said, and it was a voice crumbling with frailties. I sneered. How had something that had once been so great become so riddled with flaws?

  “You’re going to undo what you’ve done. Take back the power you exposed in Gentry, and restore whatever it is you took out of Riley. And when both of those things are done, you and I are going back to the lighthouse. You think my power will vanish when I die, Lucien? Then I just won’t die. All to spite you.” I took another step forward and nearly crowed when he took another one back. How he fears me! It’s intoxicating!

  I flicked my wrist, unraveling the bubble I’d trapped us in, and returned us back to the stream of time. The music cued up in a jangled rush at first, as the noise took moments to stabilize.

  “Do you think if I keep staring at you,” I cocked my head slowly to one side, “that you’d actually lose control of yourself? Wet your pants like a small child?” I took another step forward, and then Lucien was on the edge of the stage, his balance threatened.

  There was a hand on my arm, mewling words interrupting my moment. I could still break him, and then watch the weakness wash over him completely. He would deserve it, having become such a lesser, broken thing. I wondered if I could make him drown in it.

  The voice kept interrupting, growing more and more insistent. I turned, and the demon in me didn’t recognize the human at my side at first. He was fair, and this body reacted to his touch, but names were worthless things, easily cast off and forgotten. And so his name escaped me.

  As d
id my name on his lips. Repeated, over and over again, in his simple human tongue. The magic inside of me, the fire, renewed its efforts, and burned through the frozen fog in my mind. My eyes cleared, and I felt … feelings. A rush of emotion that clogged up my brain with so many different impressions.

  And Trey, talking urgently in some kind of babble, his face bathed in indigo. But slowly, the light shining on his face—the light from my eyes—grew darker, and left the shades of madness for familiar blue.

  I smiled, once I felt more like myself, and even though Trey looked like he wanted to punch me in the face he grabbed me and kissed me once. “You looked like you were about to eviscerate him,” he whispered in my ear.

  Lucien, still on the edge, looked green around the edges.

  I was, I thought to myself. I might have let everything else go just to tear him to shreds. The demon inside of me wanted it. Wanted to tear Lucien apart and take his place. The same goal that Grace had, once upon a time. It was hard to say if that was still her motive as well.

  “Do it,” I said to him, trying to sound in control of the situation. Lucien might be cowed into doing what I told him for a time, but the promise of violet-eyed destruction would only get me so far before I had to back it up.

  The lawyer was on the edge of the stage one moment, and the next he had supernaturally slithered in between Trey and me, a striking blur of black that had his hand pressed against Trey’s chest. Unlike the sparkling black and white that came from Lucien stealing someone’s potential just by laying his hand on theirs, this time he drew golden fire out of Trey’s skin. For a moment, even Trey’s eyes flashed gold, before settling back to their ordinary blue.

  “The contract between our parties is officially nullified,” Lucien said sourly, pulling his hand away the moment the fire died.

  It wasn’t that he’d taken Trey’s magic—I hadn’t forced him into the same situation I’d gone through myself—he just returned it to the way it had been before Trey had made his bargain. Potential, but with little actual knowledge or ability. Every witch had a certain affinity for it, but without training and constant usage of their gifts, it would never grow into the power it could be. Lucien had only fast-tracked him along the process. For a short time only, it now seemed.

  Trey didn’t have much time to recover or to lob his own protests because almost as soon as his eyes were clear again, I was heading for the exit, his hand clasped in mine.

  Riley next. And then Grace. And then this would all be over.

  thirty-four

  I wasn’t stupid. My victory over Lucien was only momentary. It wouldn’t last, and his next strike would come sooner rather than later if the sour, speculative flicker of his eyes had anything to say about it. I hadn’t beaten him, not really. Not yet.

  But it would be so easy, the voices whispered, as I knew they would. It became more and more difficult to ignore them. They were bad thoughts that grew roots instead of fading away. There was a part of me that liked what they suggested, that hungered for new ways to inflict pain on the people that hurt me.

  Trey was docile at my side, stumbling along after me. Once again, the crowd parted before me, eyes wide with some mix of fear and wonder. I couldn’t say for sure how much they would remember about what I’d done or what had happened to them.

  In the back of my mind, I’d been a little afraid that the dance would turn into round three for Lucien and me. Twice now, I’d squeaked out a victory against him, but each time had cost me too much. The first had almost killed me, the second had almost killed Riley. I didn’t want to go three for three.

  I waited until we were outside to check on Trey. His pupils were blown wide, his shirt was rumpled, and he looked like he’d just run a marathon, but there didn’t appear to be any lasting damage.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, leaning a little too close.

  Trey pushed me back, pulling away the moment he recovered. Having the bargain broken took a lot out of him. “You didn’t have any right to do that. I knew what I was getting into.”

  There was a buzzing from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Lucien standing there on the fringes. Waiting. He pulled the phone out of his breast pocket a moment later, his sneer an angry slash across his face. “Stupid woman, I don’t have time for you.”

  I ignored him, focusing my attention on Trey. “And if you didn’t think I was going to fix it, you’re an idiot. You’re not sacrificing yourself for me, Trey. There’s been enough of that to go around.”

  The scowl hadn’t quite left his face, but he still read too much in my words. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  I couldn’t admit to what I’d done to Drew. None of them would understand why I’d had to do it, or what the cost had really been. All they would see that Drew was dead and that his blood was still on my hands.

  “Where are you guys—whoa,” Jade pulled up short behind us when she saw Lucien standing to one side, watching us all with contempt. His phone buzzed again, and I thought back to what he’d just said.

  “It’s Catherine, isn’t it?” Lucien’s face gave away nothing, but I didn’t need the confirmation. “Answer it,” I commanded him. “Tell her to meet you at the hospital.”

  Trey grabbed my arm. “What are you doing?”

  “Two birds, one stone.” With any luck, I’d still be the stone.

  For everything that I’d been through and how much of a struggle it had been to try and restore Riley on my own, to have Lucien walk into her hospital room and instantly make everything better was a blow to the ego. What was worse, he knew it.

  As easy as it was for the Rider to drain the future from a person, it was just as easy to replace what he’d stolen.

  I’d followed him into the room, Trey and Jade somewhere behind me. I didn’t trust Lucien, and I unveiled my eyes the moment he reached for my friend. But the stars and sparkles that trickled out from Lucien’s hands slipped seamlessly into all the empty spaces that had been left behind in Riley’s mind. Everything he poured into her made an immediate difference, like electricity restored to a house that had gone without it for so long.

  “Impressive,” he tossed over his shoulder. “I would have preferred it if what you’d stolen from me had been returned, but you nearly managed to undo what you broke in the first place.” His eyes glittered, but he kept his rage under control. “You do so enjoy taking my things, don’t you?”

  “I wasn’t the one who broke her. You fed on her. I was just trying to stop you.”

  “Yes, and you made things so much better by interfering, didn’t you?”

  Still so arrogant. Throw him from the window, let his body shatter upon the concrete. Soften him. Soil him. Make him regret every silver word.

  It was interesting, the way that the winter voices held no loyalty. By all rights, they were manifestations of Lucien’s power. They should have been trying to return to him, or at the very least work towards his own agenda. But they never had. They wanted him destroyed as much as anyone.

  “You think you have me under control. That a few bells are going to keep me docile? What fairy tales have you been reading, boy? I am still what I am. Just because you’ve stolen a part of my power does not mean we are equals.”

  “Doesn’t it?” I asked evenly.

  “I am the lightning and the thunder that shatters the sky. You are barely a spark, burning bright and then burning … ” Lucien dropped his hands from Riley, who still hadn’t stirred. “Out. Now why don’t you tell me how you managed it? Because I’m curious, boy.”

  It hadn’t been enough. If Lucien had returned everything he’d taken from Riley, then why hadn’t she woken up? I thought I’d fixed the rest of the damage, restored her mind to as close as I could get it. But there was nothing. Riley was silent and still, which meant that she was almost entirely unrecognizable.

  “My name’s Braden,” I grunted, and without thinking it through I thrust my hand forward and into his chest. Lucien gasped as my hand sank into his vital orga
ns, or their demonic equivalent, and rooted around among all the things inside. A small smile started to form when I found what I was looking for.

  I walked calmly towards Riley, the weight of Lucien on my arm negligible. His feet dangled almost a foot off the floor, but I had no trouble carrying him. I rested my free hand on Riley’s forehead. Starbursts and coronas, comets and solar winds swept out through Lucien’s gut, up through my one arm and down the other, and sank down into Riley’s skin.

  “Don’t think you can screw me over, demon.” I didn’t recognize my voice. Still split open by my fist, Lucien made gasping noises that sounded like breaths, but as far as witty retorts went, it failed.

  Once the last of cosmic essence dripped out of my fingers, I tossed him forward. Lucien’s shirt was torn open, but the skin underneath was smooth and unmarked. Not even a scratch. I flexed my hand once, twice, looking for traces of blood. With Drew, there had been so much. With Lucien, nothing.

  Lucien’s eyes were wide, and his panting had only grown worse. Yes, that’s the stuff. Fear. Terror. Deep down in the hollows of his bones, carving in the memories that will make him fear me forevermore.

  But for once, those thoughts weren’t courtesy of the winter voices.

  They were mine.

  Before I had time to think about what that meant, or to work through what had just happened, Jade hurried into the doorway, looking back towards the way she’d come. “Catherine just got off the elevator,” she reported.

  It was time, then.

  I extended my hand to Lucien, but when he didn’t immediately take it, I kicked him, clocking him right in the spot where my arm had been. “Get up,” I snarled, and a second later his hand was in mine. I pulled him to his feet, spent a few moments straightening his jacket, adjusting his tie, using a slip of magic to restore the damage to his shirt. Then I placed my palms on either side of his face, pulled it close towards me.

  “Hear her out,” I said with a smile. “This ought to be good.”