Poisoned Pearls

by Leah Cutter

  Still, I stopped for Sam, waited for her to join me on the sidewalk walking toward the arena. “I’m not in the mood for being called crazy,” I told her as way of greeting.

  “I don’t think you’re crazy,” Sam said. “Mostly.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Jeez. Would you make up your mind?” I stalked off, down the street. Luckily, she had long legs and sensible boots and was able to catch up quickly.

  “I went to talk with one of my old professors, a teacher of post-cogs,” Sam said as she fell into place beside me. “He said that the latest theories prove you may be right. You may be seeing alternate pasts.”

  That was progress, at least.

  “And the other things?” I asked. “The Vikings, going off to war?”

  “I don’t know, Cassie,” Sam said with a sigh. “I know you think you’re seeing such things.”

  “Not only that. Met a god tonight. Called himself Loki.” In for a penny, in for a pound.

  “Uhmmm,” Sam said, hesitating.

  “Look, I know this is pretty far outside your normal realm of things,” I admitted. “But this Loki character—he says it’s the end of the world. The last battle. Ragnarok. And he took Hunter.”

  “Hunter?” Sam asked. “The vet that gave you the enhancers?”

  “Jealous?” I couldn’t help but flirt back.

  Sam rolled her eyes at me. “Tell me everything.”

  I slowed down. “I know this is going to sound crazy. I think it sounds crazy. But I swear to you, everything I’m telling you is the truth.”

  Sam nodded. “I know. That’s why I came back. That’s why Ron—my professor—said to give you another chance. To really listen to you, and see if we can figure this out together.”

  I liked the sound of that word. Together. I knew she didn’t mean beyond that evening, but still. It had been a long while since I’d had someone who wanted to do stuff with me.

  It didn’t take long to tell her everything, of Josh and the quick meeting with my mom, of Loki and how he’d just disappeared with Hunter. Of his prediction of the end of days.

  “Ragnarok was just a metaphor,” Sam said. “A rebirth of the world, because everything dies and is reborn.”

  “The armies I saw weren’t metaphors,” I told her. “And neither was Loki. He wasn’t human. He was something else.”

  Sam paused, peering at me strangely. “You know, you’re taking all of this remarkably well. This whole change to your entire world. To being able to see.”

  I didn’t roll my eyes back at her, though I wanted to. “I work in a sex & toy shop. Bizarre doesn’t bother me. I eat weirder than this for breakfast. It’s normal things that always throw me off.” Like how to have a regular relationship that didn’t end up in the trash.

  “Show me,” Sam suddenly said.

  “Huh?” I asked, as smooth as ever.

  Sam turned and pulled us into the doorway of a building, stripping off her gloves and reaching for mine.

  “What?” I asked. “What are you trying to do?”

  Did she really want to hold hands that much?

  “It happened in the past. You have a lot of emotions around it. Let’s see if you can show it to me,” Sam said.

  I’d never seen this kind of thing even hinted at in the TV shows. “All right,” I said, taking off my gloves and stuffing them in my pocket. The air was freezing cold but her hands were warm in mine. They fit nicely, smooth and strong.

  “Close your eyes,” Sam instructed.

  “I so want you to say those words in different circumstances,” I told her.

  “Hush, you. See the blue dot?”

  “Yes.”

  Sam guided me through finding the strand that was the meeting with Loki. It was pretty high on my list of recent events. Then I had to push it to her, drive it from my consciousness into hers, show her the tiny lane and the twink and Loki and Hunter and everything.

  Made my brain hurt.

  “Again,” Sam said, when the thread fell apart.

  I sighed, frustrated. I didn’t have time for this. I had a war to stop. A world to save.

  I tried again anyway, remembering every detail, the stench of the alley, the cold of the night, how Hunter had been warm at my shoulder, how my heart had fallen when Loki had just taken him away, followed by my ready anger, of course.

  Finally, Sam saw. She saw the human form of Loki, at any rate, and followed along our conversation about the end of the world.

  When Sam was finished with her seeing she pulled her hands from mine and stepped back from me, into the lee of the building.

  “What?” I asked, pulling my own gloves back on, ready to be rejected once again.

  “I didn’t see him travel down the end of the lane,” Sam said slowly. “It was more like—one moment he was there, then the next, he was gone.” She shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything like that. People don’t—can’t—do that. They can’t hide that way, either. Not from a seeing.”

  “So you believe me?” I asked, surprised.

  “Do you know how many post-cogs can share what they’ve seen, what they’ve experienced?” Sam asked as she stepped back onto the sidewalk, walking quickly.

  “No? What?” I said. Smooth, always so smooth.

  “Maybe three percent. If that,” Sam said. “I didn’t expect that to work at all. I didn’t think you’d be able to share what you’d seen with me. It means you’re really talented.”

  “Or we’re just really aligned,” I told her, taking her hand in mine.

  Sam gave my gloved hand a squeeze before letting go. “I’m not making any promises about being better aligned by morning, either,” she said. “Let’s just see where tonight leads us, okay?”

  If we were still alive in the morning, I was going to make damned sure we were aligned.

  ***

  I don’t know what cop card Sam pulled in order to get us into the sports arena after hours. But the security guard let us in after a single phone call.

  “Do I want to know what you promised?” I asked as we started into the darkened arena.

  It was so much warmer inside than it had been outside. It would be only a matter of time before I was sweating like a pig. Sam, of course, would always look fresh.

  “Only five more hours of police work,” Sam said breezily.

  I looked at her pointedly.

  “Per week. For a month,” she admitted.

  “So cop work isn’t your only job?” I asked. I’d been wondering. I didn’t think being a cop paid well enough for Sam’s lifestyle.

  “No, I mostly work contracts for private firms,” Sam said. “Which is something you could think about doing, now.”

  I hadn’t really thought about it—hadn’t thought about any of it, how my life would change with my new abilities. Sure, I could quit the job at Chinaman Joe’s—but he’d been so good to me, giving me a chance when no one else would. Did I really want to? Or maybe I could do something part time—consulting, like Sam.

  “Pay well?” I asked.

  “Unbelievably well,” Sam said with a sly smile.

  I might have enough money? Might be able to move out of my shit apartment? Maybe even get a car?

  I shook my head. It was too much to take in. I’d gotten my abilities in order to help my friends. Did I want to work with the cops? Or with Sam? Or what?

  “Can’t worry about that now,” I told her, pushing the racing thoughts from my head. I really couldn’t. It was a problem for tomorrow.

  Right now, we were going to save the world.

  If I wasn’t crazy.

  I’d never been to the arena before, not to see an event or anything. The hallway going in was huge, wide, but not very tall. Sam and I walked down the center, the sound of our boots echoing. I kept looking around, expecting to see warriors, but all I saw were the shadows and the darkness of the hall.

  When we reached the intersection of the entrance hall with a wide, circling space, Sam turned to me. “Which way?”<
br />
  I hadn’t a clue. How had Hunter followed the thread to find Loki?

  “North,” I said. Why not? That’s what he’d done. It was as good a direction as any.

  I could tell that Sam knew I was just guessing. After a moment, though, she nodded and went to the right.

  Silver, shuttered windows ran along the walls to our right. The smell of baked pretzels and garlic fries lingered in the air. As the hallway curved, I realized that it circled the entire arena—the building was round, after all.

  I had to make a decision. Just go. Or I’d end up circling the space for the rest of the night.

  “Here,” I said as we came to the next hallway.

  Sam indulged me and followed me into the arena.

  The place was huge. I mean, really huge. I don’t think I’d ever been someplace so big that was indoors before. Like, football fields big. Or more.

  We came out mid-level. I immediately took the stairs down. The floor of the arena. That’s where it was going to happen.

  I found I was taking the stairs two at a time. I couldn’t stop myself from rushing. I knew Sam was worried.

  It didn’t matter. I was here.

  I didn’t see anything, of course. Beyond row upon row of dark seats, the brilliant gold of the wooden floor, lit dimly by the emergency lights.

  I hopped the barrier that separated the seats from the floor, moving on autopilot. I wasn’t moving as smoothly as Hunter did, but I heard a gasp from Sam as I cleared it with room to spare.

  Maybe some of that grace had come to me as well.

  As soon as my boots touched the floor, the place exploded in light, sound, and people.

  They were all fighting.

  “Holy—” I said, ducking a man wielding an ax.

  The sickening crunch as it hit his opponent turned my stomach.

  All across the arena floor, men and women were in desperate struggle with each other.

  I stepped back, off the floor.

  “What are you seeing?” Sam asked quietly.

  “Battle,” I whispered. It wasn’t something I’d ever wanted to see. This death. This slaying. “They’re killing each other.”

  No wonder vets were so messed up when they came back home, if this was the sort of thing they witnessed regularly.

  Hell. Not watched. Were a part of.

  How the fuck was I going to stop this? The battle was already well underway. Particularly if I was seeing the past and not the present.

  “Armies don’t think,” Sam whispered to me urgently. “Generals think. Command. Where are the leaders?”

  I threw her a grateful smile. It was hard as hell to tear my attention away from the ongoing warfare, but she was right.

  I couldn’t care about the men and women fighting and dying in front of me. I needed to find the leader. The one directing them to this slaughter.

  It was time to find Loki and personally thwart him.

  ***

  We circled the arena, looking for Loki and Hunter, but all I saw were men and women battling. The sounds would follow me into nightmares.

  The Valkyrie kept the battle going. They’d bring the dead to the sidelines, who would recover there for a short while, then rush back into battle. But the Valkyrie kept raising the dead, again and again, ensuring that the battle would never end. Really, really creepy as fuck.

  Both sides seemed to have their own Valkyrie. I could guess which side was Loki’s—their horses were black with red eyes. They wore pressed leather chest plates, decorated in strange styles—some looked Greek—while others wore chainmail. One even looked like it was made of feathers.

  These women (and men) wore ridiculous amounts of makeup, their faces as brightly painted as their armor.

  One caught my eye and blew me a kiss.

  I nearly choked when I realized it was Kyle.

  That’s what Loki had done with him? Why Loki had stolen Kyle’s soul?

  I couldn’t help the shudder I gave.

  The Valkyrie for the other side looked positively demure in their black furs and streaming gold hair. Still gave me the creeps.

  “Who are you looking for?” Sam finally asked.

  “Loki,” I told her.

  “He’s a god, or thinks of himself as one, right?” Sam asked.

  I nodded. “Arrogant bastard.”

  “He’ll be in the sky boxes,” Sam said.

  I had no idea where those were, what that meant, but it sounded right. The gods looking down on the battle from the sky, right?

  Sam led the way up the rows of seats. The cries of dying men faded as we gained height. The smell of blood remained thick, coating the back of my throat.

  Lots of nightmares in my future.

  The black boxes stuck out like a guarded citadel among the open seats. Dark glass made up the three sides from where the boxes loomed over the seats.

  I stopped for a moment, looking at the box. Were the gods there? Was Loki there?

  Possibly. But Loki had to do something with Hunter first. And he wouldn’t kill him in such a nice place.

  “This way,” I said, leading Sam back toward the circular hallway. Loki would stay behind the scenes until it was time for him to make his grand entrance.

  Stepping out into the hallway brought an instant quiet. My senses dropped to nothing. It was like stepping into a dark room after being in the sunlight.

  “This way,” Sam said, leading me to the left.

  I followed, finally hearing what she did—a man’s shaking voice saying, “No.”

  Sam and I both started to run. Just around the next bend was a scene that I’m sure was meant to draw headlines. Loki was that kind of sick fuck, not caring if his crimes or his good deeds brought him attention.

  A box had been set up on the floor, covered with a purple silk cloth. White stones lay scattered across it. Hunter was on his knees behind the box, shaking his head, refusing Loki, who stood behind him.

  Loki, who held a glittering knife to Hunter’s throat. There was something different about that blade, something that wasn’t right.

  I’d have to remember to ask Sam later what she’d seen.

  Loki glared at the pair of us as we came racing up. “You again,” he said.

  “Told you it was my job to get in your way,” I told him gleefully.

  “Sir, put the knife down,” Sam said formally.

  I couldn’t help but smile. She sounded like a real cop.

  Loki shrugged. “He was just a backup. A guarantee. I’ve already used the other fortuneteller. The fate of the worlds is set.”

  “Not if I can help it,” I growled at him.

  Sam flicked her eyes to me but stayed focused on Loki. “Sir, you need to put the knife down and come with me.”

  “Really?” Loki said, smiling at her, giving her that same killer smile he’d graced me with earlier.

  It had about the same effect on Sam as it had had on me, which was, none.

  I nearly crowed with delight.

  “You’re kidding me,” Loki said, turning to me. “Both of you?”

  “What can I say?” I said, shrugging. “I have good taste.”

  “But not enough sense to stay out of the way,” Loki replied. “You should not meddle in affairs that are beyond your ken.”

  With a smooth movement, Loki slid the knife across Hunter’s throat, stepping back.

  Hunter rose as soon as Loki released him, half turning. I knew he was going to try to go after Loki with his dying breath.

  Loki disappeared before Hunter could take a single step.

  “Call 911! And stay with him!” I told Sam as I turned to go.

  Hunter went down to one knee.

  “Where did he go? How could he move that way?” Sam asked as she fumbled her phone out of her bag.

  “I’ll stop him. I swear,” I promised both of them.

  Then I turned and ran, back to the sky boxes.

  Back into battle.

  ***

  Stepping back into th
e arena was like stepping into a storm. Foreign, alien winds now circled the arena, blowing sand and blood and grit. The howls of the dying now also filled the space. The air smelled rotten, like leaves that had been drowned.

  I hopped another two barriers to get to the sky boxes. I couldn’t see through the darkened glass, but that had to be where the gods were.

  Where Loki was.

  The door, of course, was locked. I didn’t have Hunter’s strength to kick it in, though I doubted even he could have made a dent in the reinforced steel.

  Frantic, I looked for another way in. Was there a different entrance? Where the peons would come and go, serving the high and mighty drinks?

  Yes, there was. To the far left. A much smaller, less grand door.

  With just a card lock.

  Praying that this trick worked, I got out one of my credit cards, slid a piece of paper over it, then slid it into the lock, pulling it out quickly.

  Nothing.

  Crap.

  I tried it again, barely tapping the bottom of the slot before yanking my card out again.

  Still nothing.

  I looked at my card, and finally realized that the magnetic strip reader was on the other side.

  Reversing my card and keeping my fingers crossed, I tried it again, only this time, going a touch more slowly.

  The resounding click sounded loud in the hallway, despite the wind and the cries that echoed around me.

  I slipped inside the sky box, then took off my leather jacket and left it bundled up on the door jamb, holding the door open.

  I wanted Sam, or anyone else who followed me, to have at least a single breadcrumb.

  Vertigo took me as I stepped into the main part of the boxes. It was difficult to reconcile the two very different worlds that I saw.

  On one hand, there were dark boxes, full of fancy seats that overlooked the arena. The battle below looked more like an ocean of fog. The men were still visible, but just barely. I couldn’t tell one from the other, couldn’t see which side was winning or losing.

  They all looked the same from up here: not individuals, just a mass of bodies.

  In the boxes themselves, several not-men and women battled as well.

  I didn’t know my mythology well enough to recognize them all.

  A big guy with red hair and a big hammer was wrestling with a serpent. That had to be Thor, though I couldn’t remember what the name of his hammer was.