“Lucado has never been convicted of anything.”
“A moot point. He has the appearance of corruption. He wears it on his face. Yet Baldwin doesn’t seem to care. He seems, rather, to go out of his way to spend time with Lucado.”
I thought about suggesting that maybe Baldwin just liked the guy, then I remembered we were talking about Frank. “Maybe he’s after the Blood of an Evil Man,” I said, attempting a joke.
But Hadrian sat up a little straighter. “Are you saying Baldwin has visited sorcerers? Do you know this for a fact?”
“You’re kidding, right? Baldwin? He hates everything supernatural.”
“Not if he thinks it will help him win. That man is all about power.” Hadrian shook his head, looking almost admiring. “There have been rumors—”
But I never heard the rest of the sentence, because a man’s scream tore through the night air. It was a horrible sound, ragged and drawn out, the kind of agonized shriek that must have rung through ancient torture chambers. I jumped up and ran to the balcony door, yanking it open. Another scream erupted—it was coming from inside the condo. From upstairs.
I grabbed my sword and dashed inside, taking the stairs two at a time to Lucado’s bedroom. The screaming was constant now, like the cries of the damned echoing off the walls of Hell. I put my hand on the doorknob and checked the amulet. It was colorless, transparent, without a hint of light. With my heart beating so hard I could see the amulet jump, I opened the door.
Lucado twisted in his bed, screaming. There was nothing, no one else in the room. The amulet remained clear and cold. Lucado’s eyes were closed; he was asleep. He must have been having one hell of a nightmare. I turned on the bedside lamp and balanced my sword against the wall. Then I went over to Lucado’s bed and shook his shoulder gently.
“Frank,” I said. “Shh . . . it’s all right.”
He grabbed my hand and sat up in midscream, his eyes flying open and rolling wildly. “Kill it, damn you!” he shouted. “Why don’t you kill it?”
“Calm down, Frank. You were dreaming. Understand? It wasn’t real.”
He blinked, and understanding passed over his face like a sweeping searchlight. He let go of my hand and wiped his forehead. Rivulets of sweat poured down his temples. “Jesus. What a dream.”
“You all right now?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” His eyes remained a little dazed. I started to leave, but he reached out again and put a hand on my arm. “Wait. I . . . I gotta talk about it. Just for a minute. Just to make sure I’m really awake.”
“Okay.” I pulled a chair beside the bed and sat down.
Frank ruffled his hair, making it stick straight out on one side. His scar stood out vividly against his pale face. The guy looked shell-shocked.
“It was . . .” He paused and ruffled his hair again, like he was searching for the right words. “It was worse than those damned Harpies.”
“You dreamed about a demon?”
“Some kind of monster. All blue, and huge. Slimy. At first its head disappeared into the sky, like there was no end to it at all. But then it came closer and . . . and . . .”
“And what?”
“It sounds stupid now, but the damn thing smiled at me.
Its mouth was horrible, with hundreds of teeth—hundreds—and every one of ’em was bigger than that little sword of yours.”
His description made my mouth go dry. Difethwr—the Destroyer had invaded Frank’s dream. But how was that possible? The thing was a Hellion, not a Drude. And Frank only half believed in Hellions, so it couldn’t be one of his greatest fears materialized. It didn’t make sense.
Then it hit me. I remembered something Tina had said in her report on Drudes this afternoon. Sometimes other demons could take the form of a Drude. That’s what Difethwr had done; it had created an avatar, an image of itself, and sent it into Frank’s dreamscape as a Drude. I hadn’t expected that. But what would be the point if I had? Even if I’d entered Frank’s dreams to guard them, I couldn’t have killed Difethwr in there. I’d only have destroyed the avatar.
Frank blinked; gave a little jolt. “Hey, wait.” He scowled and grabbed my arm again; his fingers dug in, hard. “That thing you told Baldwin about in the car. That demon. This one was just like what you said. And when it smiled, it was like these flames shot out of its eyes and started burning me. I looked down, thinking, ‘My God, I’m on fire,’ but everything looked just like normal. I was burning on the inside.” He gave me a strange look. “Just like you described.”
“What you saw in your dream wasn’t really the Destroyer—” I started to explain, but Frank cut me off with a yell.
“You! You made that thing show up in my dream!”
“No, I—”
He interrupted again, his voice hysterical. “What the hell did you do that for? You want more money, is that it? You want more money out of me?”
“Calm down, Frank.” I pried his fingers from my arm, laid his hand on the bed. “I didn’t send that Hellion into your dream. It wasn’t really there. It was an avatar.”
“I don’t care what the hell it was. I should’ve fired you, like I said yesterday. I’m not—”
“Shut up and listen, okay? If you think the dream was bad, you definitely do notwant to meet the real thing.” Frank shut his mouth. He looked at me, then closed his eyes and pressed trembling fingers against them. He looked ill, but maybe that would keep him quiet long enough so I could explain. “It was an avatar. That’s like a representative, an image. It can’t hurt you; not for real. But it can scare the hell out of you. You get all the fun of a Hellion attack with none of the actual damage.”
“Lucky me.”
Difethwr was taunting us. I had a feeling there was more to its appearance than playing the bogeyman. “Tell me more about the dream, Frank.”
“That’s it. The damn thing just burned me like I was a big pile of firewood. Then it laughed.”
“That’s all? It didn’t speak?”
He frowned. “No, it did. It said something while it was laughing. Like a bunch of voices cutting through the laughter.”
“What did it say? Do you remember?”
His lips were white as he whispered the words. “It said, ‘Feel the obliteration of thy body and thy soul, human.’ ” As Frank spoke, other voices seemed to join his—a dozen or more. They rose in pitch and volume as he continued. “ ‘This is how we shall destroy thee. Thou and all of Boston shall burn. Tomorrow there shall be no victory for thee.’ ” It was the voice of the Destroyer itself. Laughter rolled through the room.
I grabbed the amulet with my left hand and held it up. The stone glowed scarlet, but only for a second. Then it extinguished like a blown-out candle, all color gone. I watched it for a full minute; it stayed clear.
I sat with Frank, holding his hand like he was a frightened child, until he’d calmed down enough to go back to sleep. When he started snoring, I turned off the light and quietly shut the door.
Downstairs, I stepped out onto the balcony again. Hadrian was gone, but I hadn’t expected him to hang around for the hour it had taken me to deal with Frank’s nightmare. Laying a hand on the metal railing, I filled my lungs with the cool night air. Frank’s dream had been a warning—a warning from a demon that believed it couldn’t lose. Tomorrow there shall be no victory for thee. Victory. It was another play on my name. The Hellion was boasting to Frank—and me—that when it made its move, I wouldn’t be able to stop it.
24
TOMORROW, THE DREAM-AVATAR HAD SAID. DIFETHWR—or its master—was planning the attack for Halloween. Of all the days of the year to heighten the terror of a supernatural attack, Halloween was number one. Humans associated Halloween with monsters and the paranormal. Even an intelligent witch like Roxana had made that mistake.
So Kane must have been right about one thing. The attack was intended to confuse the humans, to turn them against the “monsters”—Hellions, demons, PAs; it didn’t matter. The creepy things that c
ome out after dark would be blamed for whatever Difethwr and its master were planning. Whatever it was, I’d bet my best sword that it would happen during the Halloween parade. First the Destroyer would confront me here—there shall be no victory—and then it would attack the parade. If I could do my job right, it’d never get that far.
I was back in the living room, once again wearing a track in Lucado’s rug. Too bad. I had to think, and pacing helped.
So the plan was to cause terror and blame the monsters. But it was personal, too; there was no doubt in my mind. Above and beyond Difethwr’s servitude to its master, the Destroyer had a personal vendetta against me. How could it be otherwise? My family had been at war with it for hundreds of years, and here I was, the result of a prophecy, vowing to kill it. Surely the Destroyer believed that if it killed me, the last of my line, it would achieve the final triumph over the Cerddorion.
If I was the last of my line. We still didn’t know about Maria.
I halted, my heart suddenly pounding in my throat. Gwen and the kids were coming into Boston tomorrow to meet me for lunch. That couldn’t happen. I didn’t want them anywhere near this city, daylight or no daylight. Not on Halloween. Not with Difethwr sealed inside, determined to end its centuries-old feud with my family.
I had to call Gwen and tell her to stay away. Stay in her nice, safe, charm-protected house in the suburbs. I hurried into the kitchen and picked up the phone, then noticed microwave clock—it read 1:46. Gwen and her family would be fast asleep. I didn’t want to alarm the whole Santini household with a phone call in the middle of the night. I didn’t want to alarm Gwen at all; she’d freak out if I told her I was preparing for a battle-to-the-death with a Hellion. I just wanted to cancel lunch. I’d tell her Boston was too crazy with all the tourists and Halloween festivities; we’d get together another day.
Calling her on the dream phone would be a better option. I’d have to guard my thoughts so she wouldn’t hear anything in the background about Hellions. But I thought I could do that. The bigger question was, would she answer? Gwen had rejected all things Cerddorion, and for all I knew that included talking to family members through her dreams. It had been years since I’d tried to contact her that way.
I went back into the living room and settled into a chair. I needed to be relaxed, but not too much. Even though I didn’t think Difethwr would be back tonight—it had delivered its message, its challenge—I didn’t intend to fall into deep slumber. Only a light doze, just under the surface, more like self-hypnosis than sleeping. I made sure my sword was within reach of my left hand, then closed my eyes. Focusing on my breathing—in for four counts, out for four counts—I let my mind relax. In . . . out . . . in . . . out . . . Thoughts arose, but I gently blew them away on the out breaths. Starting at my toes, I imagined all tension flowing out of me, draining into the earth. Toes . . . ankles . . . calves . . . knees . . . Very gradually, gently, I nudged the relaxation upward . . . stomach . . . back . . . shoulders . . . dissolving all tension from my body. I wasn’t sleeping. I knew where I was and stayed connected with my surroundings. But I was ready to place the call.
Gwen’s colors are pink and gold. I focused on those, thinking of peaches, sunrises, the rose quartz necklace Gwen used to wear. Wisps of her colors appeared, but they thinned and faded. They didn’t swirl up into the heavy pink-and-gold mist I needed to pass through to enter Gwen’s dream. After a while, I gave up. Gwen wasn’t answering. I’d have to try to contact her through human means in the morning.
SOMETHING KICKED MY ANKLE. IN A SECOND, I WAS ON MY feet, sword in hand.
“Whoa! Back off, Vaughn. Put that thing down.” A scowling, scarred face came into focus. It was Lucado, standing three feet away in his striped bathrobe. I lowered the sword and rubbed my eyes. Sun streamed into the room. Despite myself, I’d fallen asleep.
“What time is it?” I asked, groggy.
“Time for you to go. Jesus, you’ve got to be the world’s worst bodyguard. First you fall asleep on the job, then you practically stab me to death when I wake you up.”
“That’s an exaggeration. You weren’t in any danger.”
“Yeah, well, neither were the demons. You’re fired.” He headed toward the hallway, then turned back. “And this time I won’t change my mind.”
“Frank, you can’t fire me—”
“You keep saying that. But I can. I just did. Get out.”
“No, you don’t understand. You can’t fire me now. Just one more night, and it’ll be over. I’ll be out of your hair forever. That Hellion you dreamed about—”
“Was just a dream. And dreams don’t mean nuthin’ in the morning.” He spun on his heel and left the room. I followed him into the kitchen. The room was warm with the smell of coffee, but this didn’t seem like a good time to ask for some.
Frank sat at the table, a mug in front of him, writing something. He signed it with a flourish, and held it out to me. A check.
“There ya go,” he said. “Two nights’ pay. You can’t say Frankie didn’t keep up his end of the deal.”
“Frank—”
“That’s all you’re getting out of me. Now leave.”
He wasn’t going to listen. I almost didn’t blame him, having come downstairs to find me fast asleep in a chair. I took the check, folded it half, and stuck it in my pocket. The clock read 7:34.
“Can I at least use the phone before I go?”
“No.”
“I need to call my sister.”
He pounded the table with his fist, sloshing coffee out of his mug. “Then call her on your own damn phone. You got no reason to be here anymore.”
When I see a battle I can’t win, I know it. I shrugged and, without another word, left the kitchen.
In the living room, I packed up my gear and zipped the duffel bag. I wished I could brush my teeth, but I hadn’t packed a toothbrush, and anyway, Lucado would probably call the cops if I tried to use his powder room. Carrying my bag, I went through the hall and opened the front door. Then I paused. I dropped my bag and went back to the kitchen, slamming the swinging door open with the heel of my hand.
Lucado still sat at the kitchen table. He was reading the paper. When I banged the door open, he slapped the paper down, looking seriously angry.
“Frank,” I said, before he could speak, “listen to me for one minute. That Hellion doesn’t make empty threats. If you don’t want my protection, fine. But get out of Boston. Just for tonight. The Destroyer is trapped inside the city. If you’re not here, it can’t harm you.”
With a grunt, Lucado raised the paper like a barrier, rattled it into shape, and ignored me.
THE FIRST THING I DID WHEN I GOT HOME WAS GRAB THE living room phone to call Gwen. There was a stutter tone indicating a voice mail, but I ignored it, punching in her number. I’d check for messages later.
The phone rang a couple of times before her husband answered.
“Nick, hi. It’s Vicky. Can I talk to my sister?”
“Sorry, Vicky, she’s on her way into town. I just walked in the door from dropping her and the kids off at the train station.”
Damn. If that jerk Lucado had let me use his phone, I would’ve caught her.
“Okay. Thanks, anyway.”
“Hey, maybe I’ll see you this afternoon. I’ve got a squash date with a client at the Racquet Club. Give him a good game, then let him win.” He chuckled. “But I’m meeting Gwen at Quincy Market afterward; should be there around one fifteen. So hang around a bit and say hi—if the kids don’t drive you crazy first.”
“But then you’re going home, right? No trips to the aquarium? No parade?”
His tone indicated he thought it was a strange question. “We’ve got to catch the 3:10 train out of South Station. Gwen and I are going out for dinner—business stuff—and the kids have a Halloween party. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, it’s just—you know how crazy Boston gets on Halloween nowadays. Swarming with tourists and partiers. Nutso. It’s no fun wh
en it’s that crowded.”
We exchanged a few more pleasantries, then hung up. I slumped back on the sofa. Gwen and the kids were on their way into Boston, and there was nothing I could do about it. Maybe it would be okay. I reminded myself that Difethwr couldn’t make a move during daylight. But I had a bad feeling I couldn’t shake. It worried me to have the whole family together, the entire Cerddorion population of Massachusetts, on the day the Destroyer was promising an end to Victory.
Still, it was daytime now. We had hours and hours before we had to worry about Difethwr. So I’d meet Gwen for lunch, act all happy and normal—and then personally escort the whole family to South Station and make sure they got on that train.
ON VOICE MAIL THERE WERE THREE MESSAGES FOR JULIET, including last night’s dinner offering a second helping. His voice had the slow, dreamy tone of an over-the-moon vampire high.
The fourth message was from Daniel. Hearing his voice gave me a gut-level jolt, hot and cold at the same time. I couldn’t help seeing those smiling blue eyes, and I couldn’t help hearing that cop saying “your wife.” Daniel had news from Roxana. When she’d called another meeting of the Witches of the Shield, one person hadn’t shown up. The missing witch, Clarinda Fowler, was a paralegal who worked in Government Center. She hadn’t come back from lunch yesterday, and no one knew where she was.
“We don’t know for sure that she’s the one who leaked the information about the shield,” he said, “but right now it looks that way.”
His message was short and businesslike, and I felt somehow shortchanged when he hung up. But businesslike was what I wanted, right? If I had to interact with Daniel Costello at all, let us both be brisk and professional. There was no other way.
I sighed, then listened to the next message.
“Um, hi, Vicky. It’s Tina.”
Tina! That thieving zombie. I sat up straight and gripped the phone.
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