The monster was coming for me. The Tantibus was on its way. I knew as much. I could feel it. Renee had called it a woman, which meant she’d either seen the creature’s true face or the Tantibus made her see something that scared her, and a woman played some sort of role in it.
My body was still stuck in place, though there seemed to be no wall behind me anymore. The solid warmth of it had dissipated, replaced by cold empty nothing; cold, empty nothing which held me captive, waiting for the Tantibus to arrive.
I wasn’t some victim though. The nightmare monster in Hell might have gotten the better of me, but things were different out here. I had my bearings back. I had been given time to get my head on straight and gather enough magic to do what I needed to. In fact, I was still swimming in stolen voodoo energy, and that had to be good for something.
Soft tapping started toward me, a flicker of sound in an otherwise totally silent crypt of black. My muscles started to tense, a reaction I had built up over years of dealing with the literal things that go bump in the night. Closing my eyes (not that I could tell the difference, given the nature of the room), I called up both my natural warlock energy and the energy I had stolen from the voodoo guy back in the restaurant. It reacted instantly, filling my hands with bright blue balls of light.
The light did its job, illuminating the room I now found myself in, which was completely different than where I had been standing just seconds ago.
Instead of the common area of New Olympus, I found myself in a sickeningly familiar setting. The barren block walls, the cold floor, the emptiness of the area; I was back in the cell my father had trapped me in. I was back in Hell.
My heart pounded faster, cold sweats breaking out over my forehead. Had this all been a ploy? Had everything I’d seen since the instant Sadie walked into my cell been a cruel joke meant to break me or something worse? Maybe I had never left. Maybe I would never leave.
No.
I remembered Renee’s words.
She can be anything. She can make you see anything.
“Show yourself,” I said as calmly as I could, swallowing hard and calling more on more magic. Turning it the other direction, I set it to work on whatever mystical bindings were holding me against the wall. “Come on. Don’t be shy. I promise I’ll only kill you the once.”
It was a ploy, of course. Killing the Tantibus would unleash my father on the world; a thing I needed to stop at all cost. Of course, seeing what it had done to Renee and thinking about what it might have done to Scott and Luc sent rage through me unlike anything I had ever known. Even the demon part of me seemed uneasy with the intensity of my fury. So maybe it was better for everyone that I seemed to be coming up empty in terms of freeing myself.
“What’s holding me here, you monster?” I choked out. “I promise you, if you laid a finger on my son, I’ll rip your teeth out one by one.”
“No you won’t,” a playful, almost familiar voice sang back to me. I saw no one in the direction from which the voice came, but that made sense. What I was seeing now- the cell I had been held in- didn’t really exist. I was very likely still in the room at New Olympus, with Gary and Renee standing in front of me. The Tantibus was making me see what it wanted, what she wanted. “Killing me sets Marco loose on the world, and you don’t want that.”
“Do you?” I asked, realizing this thing knew as much about the situation as I did. Now that I was aware she knew my father, I needed to see where her allegiance was. If she was in league with him, then we were all in trouble. I’d have to kill her regardless of whether or not she was capable of finishing Renee off.
“Let’s see. Do I want to set free the man who’s blackmailing me into killing an innocent woman? That’s a hard pass,” the Tantibus answered in the same flirty tone.
Where did I know that voice from?
“Good,” I said through gritted teeth. “Then what the hell are you holding me here for?”
“Because we need to talk,” the Tantibus said. In front of me, a wisp of energy began to swirl. It twisted, purple and golden. She was taking shape, appearing right in front of me. In the light blue of my still surging power, the woman began to form before my eyes. Legs first, then a slim body, lithe arms, a long neck…and then a very familiar face.
With a gasp, I took her in. The Tantibus standing before me, the person who had just ripped through every defense the Astra coven had to offer, was Isa.
She smiled at me.
“I figured it was better if we did this face to face.”
24
I stared Isa. The demented fairy whose aging and fractured mind had turned her into the worst supernatural mob boss this city had ever known stared at me. A familiar smile danced across her lips. I had seen that smile so many times over the years, heard that voice even in my dreams. To say Isa and I were close back in the day would be a huge understatement. We’d known each other well; in both the Biblical and every other sense of the word.
She was gone though. I’d killed her in that building, sucked the life out of her minutes before my father leveled the entire place. It happened. I had felt her brightness.
She was dead, so how could she be standing here? The simple answer was she wasn’t.
“You’re not her,” I said, still helplessly pressed against the wall. “You’re not Isa.”
“Is that her name?” the Tantibus asked, her mouth twisting downward into a judgmental frown. “Not very pretty, is it? I was expecting something sort of ‘Valley girl.’ You know, like Rachel or Bianca. Isa just makes me sound like a cleaning solution for contact lens.” She shrugged. “But no. I’m not her. She’s just an image I found floating around in the goddess’ mind. She seemed afraid of her, so I slipped her on for a bit. The fact that she’s in your mind too; well, that’s just an excuse for me to be lazy.” She leaned in closer. “Though you’re not as afraid of her as your girlfriend, are you?” She smiled again. “Nah. Your relationship with this form was much more complicated than that. There’s a little bit of heat there, I think.”
“You said you wanted to talk,” I grunted through a clenched jaw. “I doubt you meant about some girl I used to hook up with.”
“You got me there,” she sighed, slumping forward and resting beside me against the thick openness I found myself bound to. “You and I have found ourselves on opposite sides of a really shitty issue, and I’m hoping we can work something out. Otherwise, I’m going to have to kill your girlfriend and probably you if you get in my way. And I really don’t want to do that because I have a yoga class this evening, and I really need to go in there with some good energy, you know?”
God, she even sounded like Isa.
“Good thing for everyone then, there’s a really simple way to get around that. Just pack your spooky ass up and get back to whatever hole you crawled out of.”
“I’m from the Palisades, thank you very much. I’ve heard a lot of commentary focused on my ass, but the word spooky has never come up.” She chuckled. “Of course, that might be because I usually take Jessica Biel’s form.” She winked. “The lower half anyway.” Her tone got lower and more intense. “But the both of us know why that won’t work. Your father wants out of wherever he is. Lord knows I’ve heard enough about it. Do you know he sent an Asian witch and a Buddhist monk to kill themselves in front of me to prove a point?” Her nose scrunched up. “How rude.”
“He’s not the best person in the world. What can I say?” I asked, glaring at her.
“You can say, ‘Gee Marissa, I’ve got an idea to make everything better,’” she said pushing away from me and crossing her arms over her chest. I couldn’t get over how crazy it was to see Isa in front of me again. Though I knew it wasn’t really her, just seeing those eyes again sent me back to my younger days. I felt all of it: all the stupidity that comes with youth, all the brokenness I’d somehow managed to push down after I’d been thrown out by the Astra coven. It was real. It was vibrant. It was- it was magic.
“You’re doing this to me,
” I said, still stuck in place. “You’re making me feel this way.”
“Don’t look so surprised, dude. I’ve got a horse in this race, you know. While you and your friends are over here holding your asses and hoping things get better, I’ve got the worst demon the world has ever seen polishing his rifle.” She pointed to her forehead. “Meanwhile I might as well have a target right up here. And that sucks, Roy. That sucks royally.”
She walked closer to me, so close I could smell Isa’s old scent.
“I didn’t ask to be the last of my kind, you know. It’s not like I murdered my mother in cold blood and banished her soul to some pocket dimension never to be heard from again.” She shook her head. “No, my brother did that. So I killed him for it, but my personal family drama isn’t important right now. The point is, little did I know when I stabbed my brother through the throat with a scepter of enlightenment last Thanksgiving that it was going to open me up to some crazy ass demon with a chip on his shoulder and no other way to get back to this plane.”
“You killed your own brother on Thanksgiving? That’s like, the most family-centric holiday ever.” I said, narrowing my eyes at her.
“What? He was already there. Like I was supposed to go all the way to Montana just to do it? Please. A girl gets busy. The point is, I’m in a jam, and your father is the reason why. He wants my ass in a blender, and he’s not going to stop sending people over to ruin my night until he gets it done.”
“You’re a Tantibus,” I said, still struggling against the bindings and finding it fruitless. “It’s not like your defenseless or anything.”
“True,” she answered, looking me up and down. “I guess you’re living proof of that, but there’s only so much I can do and only so long I can keep my guard up. The truth is, if your father wants me dead, he’ll find a way to do it, and I can’t have that. I can’t run, because the lunatic has eyes everywhere, and he can turn whoever he wants into his own personal voodoo doll. So, that leaves me with exactly one option left.” She shook her head again. “Now I’m sorry. I really am. The last guy who offed himself in front of me- the monk dude- said I had until midnight tonight to get all of this straightened out. Otherwise-”
“Your ass in a blender, I know,” I answered, literally pulling my arms as forcefully as I could. Still, it didn’t help.
“Don’t try to struggle, Roy. I’m reverting your own energy back onto you. The harder you pull, the tighter it gets. It’s a vicious little cycle, I know. My life’s in danger, what can I say?” She ran fingers through Isa’s dark hair. “And there’s little need for it. I’m not going to kill you.”
“Cause it’s not Thanksgiving?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Good one,” she chuckled. “No. I’m not going to kill you because it wouldn’t help me. I’m not some heartless bitch. In a different world, maybe we could have even been friends. Your girlfriend is kind of a badass, and I respect your initiative. I’d have left you guys alone if it was at all possible, but I just can’t die right now, Roy. Not when they’re expecting florals to make a comeback next season. So I’m going to do you all a solid. I’m going to give you until midnight- the same time limit your dad gave me- to come up with a way out of this without anyone having to die. If you can do that, I’ll buy you guys a beer before I head back to the West Coast. If not, I’ll have to turn your skin inside out. You know how it is.”
She sighed heavily and continued. “Don’t try to run, okay. It won’t help you. At this point, the best use of your time is to stretch that brain of yours as far and wide as it’ll go and come up with a solution for us. But remember, if you can’t, I’m gonna have to straight up murder your girlfriend. Oh, and all the people who get in my way and stuff. You know how it goes.” She leaned in and lightly kissed my cheek. It sent shivers up and down my spine. “I’m going to leave you with that sense of dread and hopelessness you’re feeling right now, m’kay. I’m thinking it’ll help you focus, keep your back against the wall, so to speak.” She pulled away. “Anyhow, your big brother is about to come bursting through our little visage any moment. Which is totally rude and not something I’m going to stick around for. That dude has caused me enough trouble already.” She stepped back and gave me a little Ms. America wave. “Toodles then. I’ll see you soon. Good luck.”
The purple and gold energy dissipated into a puff of sparkling dust as a bright golden hole was punched into the cell I found myself in.
Light poured in, and as the Tantibus had told me would happen, my brother came rushing in, beaming with golden energy.
“Royce!” he screamed, running toward me. I found myself free now, falling to the floor below. The instant the bindings loosened, the world came back to me. I was in New Olympus again, laying on the ground and looking up at the still smoky ceiling. “It’s okay,” he said, looking back at who I could only assume was Renee and Gary. “He’s alright. He’s coming out of it.”
Coming out of it? I must have been in a trance. I must have been right in front of them the entire time.
My heart leapt into my throat as a thought settled on my mind. If Scott was okay, then what did that mean for-
“Lucas?” I asked, my voice shaky and gruff. “My son-”
“Is fine, baby brother,” Scott answered, bracing my head with his hand. “I got to him. I saved him. Don’t worry. Everything is going to be all right.”
“No,” I said, swallowing hard and thinking about the enormous rock and hard spot I had found myself lodged between. “No Scott. It’s really not.”
25
“Keep the damn ice on, Roy,” Scott said, shaking his head at me as I stood up and tossed the plastic bag to the floor.
“I’m fine, Scott,” I answered, stretching my legs and looking around.
“Really? You don’t look fine. You look like you just got your ass handed to you,” my brother answered, leaning down, picking up the ice, and offering it back to me. The lines on his face betrayed our broadened age difference. We were practically the same age when his family took me in when I was a kid. I had been gone for seven years though, seven years for Scott which were two weeks for me. The difference was starting to show. He looked at me like I was a hardheaded kid, like I didn’t know what was best.
Truth be told, he might have been right. I was in over my head, and unlike all the other time that had happened, I had no idea how I was going to get out of it.
I pushed past him, walking toward the door. “She didn’t hurt me, Scott. She didn’t even touch me.”
“She doesn’t have to,” he answered. Judging from the sound of footsteps, I could tell he was following. “That’s the rub with her. All she has to do is think it and bam, you’re hanging off the Grand Canyon by your fingers while being stung by scorpions.”
“That’s vivid imagery,” I said, pulling the door open and heading back out into the common area. The entire room was in shambles. All of New Olympus had been destroyed by the Tantibus. And what had I done to stop it? Absolutely nothing.
“Imagine living it,” Scott answered, pulling in front of me, stopping short, and handing me the ice bag again. “I know that after I went through it, I had a hell of a headache. I wasn’t in the trance anywhere near as long as you were. So you must be pretty sore up there.” His eyes drifted to my skull. “Assuming there’s even a mind up there to ache.”
“Very funny,” I said, grabbing the bag and holding it against my head. “She’s not going to stop, Scott. She told me as much. She said we had until midnight to come up with a way out of this. Otherwise, she’s killing Renee.”
“I’d like to see her try,” Scott answered as though he hadn’t just been beat to shit himself.
“Did you see her, Scott? Did you see what the Tantibus did to her? She nearly died.” I took a deep breath. “I mean, come on, man.”
“She can’t die, Roy,” Scott answered. “Gods don’t die.”
“She’s not a god!” I answered, shaking my admittedly aching head. “You people an
d your nonsense are going to get her killed. She was cut and bleeding, Scott. You know as well as I do that anything that bleeds can die. So get your head out of your ass and stop telling me everything is going to be okay. It’s not going to be okay, Scott. Not unless I can make it okay.” My mind stuck on that point, running my conscious over it like a cheese grater. This was on me, and I had to make it right.
Scott took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. “You’re not alone, Roy, and you’re not the only one going through this. She might be your girlfriend, but she’s my friend. I’ve known her for seven years now. This coven, it’s my family. Luc is the closest thing I have to a son myself. I don’t even hate Gary.” He shrugged. “The little guy grows on you.”
“I know that,’ I answered. “I’m just frustrated.” I wasn’t being completely honest with him. The truth was, the sensation the Tantibus left with me was still strong. She had brought out the way I felt when I was at my worst. She’d made me broken again, and while I was trying really hard not to let it affect me, I wasn’t sure how successful I was being.
“We’re going to get through this,” Scott said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “We’re going to make it out. All of us.”
“Tell me what happened to the coven,” I said, looking around and realizing everyone was still gone.
Scott backed up and walked toward a half broken chest. He grabbed the handle of a cabinet, which fell off in his hands. Tossing it down, he pulled out a bottle of scotch and took it straight to the head, downing half of it before offering it to me.
Unlike the bag of ice, I was more than willing to take this. The taste was bitter and delicious as I swallowed more than I should have. Screw the ice. This was what was going to make me feel better.
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