Something pushed forward and pretty much shoved me back. I landed on my ass in my little theater behind my eyes so I could watch. Uh uh. I slipped right out of there and manifested in a visible astral form near Joe. I wasn't happy Inanna had done that, but I understood it. She wanted to be heard and defend herself.
When I shift to Wraith, in my opinion, it's really not all that attractive. I look like a Stan Lee creation. Ashen skin, crazy black swirls that cover up just the right amount of curve, big huge wings that started out as bat-like wings (but I noticed right then looked more like a raven's wings), and crazy-ass hair that just sort of moved on its own like the tentacles of an octopus. And those bunny slippers…wow. I think those were my most ferocious attribute.
But when Inanna slipped into the driver's seat, a few other differences showed up. One was my face. It became more hollow, with deeper shadows, and my eyes went completely black.
And the fangs!
I had teeth that'd make Dracula happy.
"Frejya: one of the first of my family to desert us when our father died. You criticize my choices in hosts? You, who took the mantle of a queen and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of slaves because they couldn't make bricks without straw? You, who told a nation of starving peasants to eat cake? You, who tricked a peace-loving pacifist and turned him into a megalomaniac who came close to destroying an entire group of people based strictly on their religion? How dare you judge me?" Inanna pointed to herself—or she pointed at my body. "What exactly did you do to get Sophia out of that Throne? What exactly did you sacrifice to save our brother? Tell me, Frejya…is the truth of this because you're jealous? Because I now have the power to take back what a mere human soul was able to steal and bring us to the edge of chaos?"
Umayma took several steps back as if slapped.
I looked from my body to Umayma and back to my body. I was trying to puzzle together whose bodies Frejya had been using and I wasn't liking the holes my brain was filling in. From the expression on Frejya/Umayma's face, she wasn't ready to have certain secrets revealed.
But she only kept that look for a few seconds before she rebounded. "We will have you stripped from that body, Inanna."
"Whoa!" Joe stepped between them, and I felt a slight hiccup in my chest. "No one's being stripped from anyone—I'm not even sure that's possible except with that exorcism spell, and ain't nobody doing that to Zoë, Frejya."
Nick helped Jason to the chair I'd been sitting in earlier and moved to stand by Joe.
Getting between me (technically) and someone as powerful as Umayma wasn't a good idea. Yeah, Joe was powerful—I was really starting to see that—but he was still human and still subject to human frailty.
And, after Daniel and Dags, I just wasn't sure I could handle something happening to Joe.
I take that back.
Nothing was going to happen to Joe.
Umayma's expression became even angrier. Nick balled his hands into fists. As a ghoul, he didn't really have any great powers, per se. Except an unnaturally long life, and the desire to eat things recently killed. Raw. He was stronger than the average human, faster, and he did have one hell of a fighting style that only decades of practice could perfect.
"You think a witch can stop us, Joseph Halloran? Or a damnable ghoul—a mere slave?"
Now I was pissed. And I wasn't going to stand idly by.
Move over.
You can't handle Freyja like I can.
Maybe not—but I don't plan on handling her. I'm getting myself and Joe out of here. We need to go find that piece of paper, and I think I know where it is.
You do? Well, then let's go.
Will Nick be okay?
Zoë, Mephistopheles will never allow anything to happen to Nick. Be assured of that.
I got the feeling that if anyone ever tried to hurt Nick, they wouldn't live very long. I slipped back into my body, but instead of Inanna moving back, it was like she was in the driver's seat with me. It wasn't a crowded feeling, but more of a duality I wasn't used to.
You'll need my added strength.
I moved behind Joe and wrapped my arms around his upper chest, and then placed my hand over his eyes. Why? I have no idea. But it seemed the right thing to do…
Because within seconds, we shifted to an incorporeal state, and I heard Joe scream.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I'm not sure how we got to Mom's house…and to be honest, I'm not sure I wanted to know. I always just went incorporeal and flew most of the time. But this was instantaneous. Like, pop we were gone and pop we were back.
We landed just outside Mom's house in Little Five Points, about a foot from the back door. I felt the shiver of the ward Joe had put up earlier—it made my skin crawl. Was that the Ethereal part of me I'd just been reminded of?
Joe was in my arms—no, he was limp in my arms. I lowered him to the ground and started smacking his face. I was me again, human, and freezing my ass off. Apparently my previous First Choir garments had reverted back to a hospital gown!
He moaned, and I put my hands to either side of his face. "Hey, come back to me. What is it? Why did you scream? And why did you faint?"
"I…I didn't faint.."
"Yeah, you did." I moved back just a little, but kept my hands on his shoulders as he blinked and looked up at me. My hair got in the way so I moved my left hand and tucked it behind my ears. "You were unconscious, hero."
"I wasn't…." He shivered. In fact, I noticed in that second he was shivering all over. Even his teeth were clacking against each other. "R-r-ready for that…k-k-kind of…t-t-travel…"
Shit. Inanna…what did we do? I mean, how did we get here? I didn't just drag his ass through the Abysmal like Bonville dragged Dags, did I?
Yes. You did.
FUCK. Inanna, that's dangerous for a physical being! It nearly killed Dags. We have to get Joe back to the hospital. He might be going into shock—
No. He'll be fine. What you see happening now is just the second we were there. The Guardian was damaged because you weighed him down when Bonville tried to drag him through—and the bastard wasn't completing the spell correctly.
So, Joe's fine because he was only exposed for a second?
He'll be fine. But I would suggest the two of you getting inside. This house is being watched.
What? I didn't really have a lot of inclination to question further on that—my teeth were chattering, too. I wanted inside to build a fire and get a real set of clothes out of my closet upstairs.
I helped Joe stand—oh God, his lips were blue—and the two of us shiver-walked up the back steps to the door. Joe lifted his hand and the makeshift door, which someone had tacked on after it'd been exploded by the Fetches, unlocked and opened. I assumed Jemmy had been the one to fix the door.
A lot of the piles of crap had been pushed and swept into two larger piles in what was left of the tea shop. The display case was gone and a rectangular space was left on the hardwood floor where it had been. "I guess J-J-Jemmy's been busy." Joe moved away from me and put his hands on the kitchen counter to steady himself.
"We need a fire—"
"I can do that." He took in several breaths and staggered from the kitchen to the botanica. Once in front of fireplace, he drew a circle in the air—a circle that I could see as a blue-white light suspended in front of him—and then pierced the center of it with his finger. Flame leapt up in the fireplace where someone had piled a few of the smaller pieces and splinters of wood.
I grabbed the remains of my papasan cushion, tossed it on the floor in front of the fireplace, and sat down. Joe plopped down beside me and held his hands out to warm them. "Zoë, promise me to never…ever…d-do that again."
"I'm sorry. I just wanted you out of there."
"What did you think Umayma was going to do?"
"Eat you?"
"Naw." He shook his head. "I doubt it. But…" Joe looked at me sideways and the right side of his mouth pulled up in a smile. "Thanks…for caring enough ab
out me to try and save me."
"Joe." I put a hand on his upper arm. "I loved Daniel, make no mistake. He was an incredible man, and I will always thank Inanna for trying to undo what I did to him. But…you've been the one person who's stayed by me through all this. Yes, you dated that crazy-ass bitch for a while, but you never worked anything against me. And since I met you—however weird it was—I feel like I can trust you." I grinned back at him. "I like you. I can't imagine my life without you."
His smile faded a tad. "Like me… What about Dags?"
"Dags is the man I wanted to marry." I looked at the fire and remembered that day I'd tried to do magic and screwed up so bad I had to be rescued by a mysterious voice. That voice had been Dags. Back again after being missing in action, changed, different, somehow…other. "My attraction to Daniel was instant. Overwhelming."
"And Dags?"
"Not so much. In fact, when I met him, I thought he and TCB should be an item."
"TCB?"
"That Crazy Bitch. You know who." I sighed. "You know, you weren't the only one to tell me how Dags felt. Daniel told me, too. And TCB. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I started loving him slowly…"
Joe didn't say anything for several minutes. "Would you take him back?"
"Dags? Joe…" I looked at him, and he was still looking sideways at me. "I never left him. He left me standing in the rain, waiting. I'm still in the same place, waiting for answers. Waiting to see if he'll return."
"And if he doesn't?"
That was something I didn't want to think about. "Then I…I don't know. I think Daniel tried to fill that void. He tried to make things up to me. Even when he didn't have to. It was me who needed to give my life for him."
Joe put his arm around me and pulled me close to him. It was a good feeling. Something that warmed my heart. I leaned in and then put my arms around him. "I miss him, too, Zoë. He was my best friend."
If anyone had looked in the windows that were still intact, they would have seen two people, arm in arm, their shoulders shaking with a deluge of emotion. We each knew how the other felt at Daniel's loss. And I think what bothered Joe more was that Daniel wasn't going to be remembered as a good cop, but as a murderer brought to justice.
It was a legacy his family would have to live with.
Something I had done to him.
"Hey…talk to me."
I hadn't realized I'd closed my eyes, or that I'd rested my head on his shoulder. Not until he touched my chin. I sniffed and sat back and wiped at my eyes. "I'm cold."
"Then go upstairs and find come clothes that aren't torn to shreds. I'll keep the fire going."
"Is it safe?"
"From what? The APD or bad oogies?" He winked at me. "It's my ward. And right now, we're invisible to everything. So go get dressed and then tell me why we made that OMG trip here."
I gave him a peck on his cheek and went upstairs. I refused to really look at the mess. Jemmy hadn't been upstairs so I just picked over the debris and found my closet. Most of my clothes were fine; just a few were on the floor and trampled over. I picked out a pair of soft jeans, socks, and boots, then this dark blue, butterfly-sleeved shirt I'd bought, and slipped on a black turtleneck under it.
With a determined sigh, I went into the bathroom to check myself out. Flipping on the light was fun—it wasn't working. A better look and I realized all the bulbs were broken. Great.
To my right was the room Rhonda had always stayed in. I gingerly stepped over the glass—not worried cutting myself since I had on my boots, but because there was enough mess in here. Frowning, I pushed the door open to look inside. Joe and I hadn't stepped in here before….
The room was immaculate. Not a thing out of place.
In fact, a suitcase lay open on the bed with most of Rhonda's clothing in it. Jeans, socks, shirts…
A noise to my right made me shift immediately. It wasn't a house-settling noise—it was the sound of someone moving hangers back and forth on a closet pole.
Rhonda stepped out from the right with a handful of her shirts and laid them on the bed. As she started removing the hangers, she said, "You know I can still see you, even when you shift like that."
Holy motherfucking Hell! Was this really Rhonda? Here? In my mom's house?
"You fucking bitch," was all I said.
I didn't have any Geist to stop me here. No Society with their ghost guns. No Phantasm to tell me to behave.
No.
It was just me.
And her.
Once I had my hands around her neck, I squeezed.
Chapter Thirty-Three
I'm not sure Rhonda expected me to attack her. Either way, her reaction wasn't the one I wanted. She was on the floor of the bedroom, with me all Wraith, wings out, ashen skin, and my long-taloned hands around her scrawny ugly-ass neck.
And she was smiling.
That just made me madder.
Zoë, wait…something's wrong….
Inanna tried to take control, but I shoved her back with all my strength before I opened my mouth and took in a huge lungful of air—
Rhonda put her finger in my face. "Uh uh uh…you blow me out of here and you'll never find Dags." She frowned. I frowned. She wasn't having trouble talking, even though I was squeezing her throat! "Or is it really Dags you want, Zoë? I heard you and my ex downstairs making all nice-nice. Couldn't have Dags anymore, so you went for sloppy seconds?"
Oh…I….
….she….OH!
I let go of her neck and started hitting. And I mean I looked like the freaky bully on the playground beating up on the weak kid. I got two good hits in before something grabbed me around the neck, lifted me up, and threw me against and through the window. The glass shattered, and I didn't have time to think about going incorporeal. I hit the ground outside and had the wind knocked out of me. I tried to yell out to Joe, to warn him, but I couldn't get enough air in my lungs.
Geist appeared as I struggled to right myself. "Need a little help there? Can't do it all on your own, can you? Not as strong as you thought you were?"
He reached down and offered me his hand, but when I took it, it felt…warm. Too warm. And I knew for a fact Geist, when corporeal, felt like a normal human. I also knew he never used contractions. But him as Barry had used them on several occasions. I got as far as my knees before I looked up into Barry's face—
—and I realized, too late, this was not Geist.
It never had been.
His eyes glowed gold and his smile creeped me the hell out. "I didn't believe Rhonda when she said you'd come back here. And when you brought the witch? Even better. But what I want to know is why you came back."
Zacharel.
I pulled my hand free and took two steps back. I glanced up at the window I'd shattered. Rhonda stared down at us, her arms crossed over her chest. If Zacharel was down here…was he still in her Veil or was he all here? The answer was important to me. "Hiding in her Veil still, Zach old bean?" I said with a smile as I shifted back to Wraith. I felt Inanna surge forward with me, and together we watched his reaction.
There was a slight one, a raising of the brow. So he hadn't thought we'd figure it out.
"Smarter than I thought, Zoë, but what's with the eyes? And the teeth? Is this more of your heritage showing through? More of your mutt status?"
Mutt status?
Have you ever wondered why there are mixtures of Abysmals and humans? Of Symbionts and humans? But so very few mixtures of Ethereal and human? It's because we've never thought of the Physical Plane and its beings as anything other than kin in some way. Ethereals believe the mingling of the two is…reprehensible, because it makes half-breeds.
Well, that's effed up. They made Irins, Watchers, Giants, by bedding mortal women. What the hell makes that different than what you do?
There was a dramatic pause, and then, Because the previous Seraphim believed what her husband believed: that we're all equal and can learn from another.
Wait�
��what?
Previous Seraphim?
Her?
Husband?
What. The. Hell?
"Zoë!"
That was Joe's voice. I guess he finally registered the crash of glass upstairs. Shit, he was running toward us. "Joe! Stay back! Rhonda's upstairs! And this—" I nodded to the image of Barry's Evil Twin "—is Zacharel."
Joe stopped, and I saw him in my peripheral vision look up at the window I'd fallen out of. Well, more like sailed through. I didn't look to see if Rhonda was still there. I was much more freaked out because this was a Dominion, and even though Frejya claimed I now had the power of a First Choir, I wasn't sold on it. The only power I'd ever had against a Dominion was my Scream.
A filmy wall abruptly appeared between Barry and me. He frowned and then sort of…squished up, twisted, and dissolved. It reminded me of a morphing software.
Rhonda screamed.
I turned to look at Joe. He had his hands up and they were glowing. "Joe…"
"She's in the house because I didn't build it against human energy. Somehow the Dominion manifested outside of the house and got you outside."
"Rhonda used her magic to shove me out the window."
"Damn. I put a new ward over the house with an addendum, so to speak. It shoved him back where he's lodged."
"You mean he's back in Rhonda's Veil and that's why she's screaming? Because your ward's putt'n the hurt on him?"
"And her."
Several cars careened up the driveway and threw gravel up as men and women in leather and carrying weapons jumped out.
Dominion: Zoë Martinique Investigation, Book 6 Page 21
