Akako pulled her hand away. Emma heard the creak of the cot a few moments later to indicate Akako had finally gone to sleep. Emma wanted to reach over to pat her friend’s shoulder and comfort her, but again she knew she couldn’t. She would have to trust that Akako would say something when she finally felt the time was right—if she ever felt that way. In the meantime, Emma wished she could feel the same way about her courage as Akako did.
***
During the “days” in the archives, Emma spent a lot of her time to help Akako organize a new database of ingredients for potions. Most of the ingredients Emma had never heard of—things like griffinwood, elfsfoot, and dwarvenroot never showed up in any scientific journals—but were commonplace among potions that could do everything from relieve colds to turn someone into a toad. Many ingredients could be used in a variety of different potions, sometimes with completely opposite effects. Dwarvenroot with skyseed could shrink someone to the size of a gerbil while dwarvenroot with lionsweed could make the same person fifty feet tall. This also depended on the mixture of ingredients as well; too much or too little could be fatal.
“Thank you for helping me with this,” Akako said. “I’ve been meaning to get to it, but my typing skills aren’t so good.”
“It’s not a problem,” Emma said as she typed in another potion written in Aggie’s curly script. “Makes me feel useful.”
“By the time the baby’s due I’m not going to have any work left to do.” Akako smiled. “Maybe then I can convince Glenda to let me have more time off.”
Emma thought back to what Akako had said a couple nights earlier and knew this would be a good thing. With some time off, Akako might finally have a chance to discuss her future with Aggie. Maybe they could find a way to work things out.
Right on cue, the lift began to rise. Emma finished typing in the potion and then saved her work. She pushed away from the desk. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours,” she said.
“Good luck,” Akako said. As part of their new closeness from their nightly talks, Akako gave her a hug.
Aggie appeared on the lift a minute later. The witch could have vanished herself onto the first floor of the archives, but she said she preferred to use the lift so Akako had time to prepare. “I might vanish in right on top of her,” Aggie said once with a wink.
This time Aggie gave her a hug not quite as long as Akako’s. “Hello, dear. All set to go?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You can go on up and I’ll see you in a minute.” Emma nodded. She knew Aggie wanted a minute or two alone with Akako before she vanished Emma back to Rampart City for her appointment with Dr. Pavelski.
While she waited in the ancient chamber, Emma thought again that maybe she should find a more local doctor. It would certainly make these trips less difficult. Then again it would be extremely difficult to explain to her insurance company why she needed to switch to a doctor in Ireland. It would also tip off the assassin—or anyone else who wanted to find her—that she was in Ireland. Better for everyone to think she was still in Rampart City.
Aggie used the lift to come back up; she probably didn’t want to frighten Emma and trigger a premature labor. The witch’s eyes were red as they usually were after she said goodbye to Akako. If they had more time alone, Emma wondered what Aggie would say to her about Akako. Was she aware of Akako’s doubts and her hopes for the future? “We’d better get going, dear. Wouldn’t want you to be late,” Aggie said, her voice hoarse.
Emma wondered if it was good for the baby to vanish to Rampart City and back, but so far she hadn’t seen any ill effects. The first time she’d had a horrible vision her baby would remain behind in the archives, a bloody fetus on the ground while the rest of Emma traveled back to America. This didn’t happen; Dr. Pavelski had said everything looked good.
She took Aggie’s hand and then closed her eyes to brace for the flash that would transport her back across the ocean. She waited to open her eyes after she smelled the familiar stench of rotten garbage from an alley near the doctor’s office. She saw once again she and Aggie had made it without any ill effects. “Do you want me to go with you, dear?” Aggie asked, as she always did.
“I’ll be fine,” Emma said as she always did. “But thank you.”
“I’ll be waiting right out front for you.”
Aggie stayed with Emma as far as the Starbucks at the base of the building. With a last brief hug, Aggie went into the coffeehouse for a cup of tea while Emma took the elevator up to the fifth floor. On the way up and in the waiting room she kept watch for the assassin, though she hadn’t seen the woman’s face—just her eyes and lips. No one she saw had those same features, so Emma could feel reasonably safe.
Once in the examination room, she allowed herself to relax a bit, to focus on the appointment. In the last month her stomach had expanded so Aggie had needed to add pregnancy panels to some of her clothes; in another month and a half Emma imagined she wouldn’t be able to walk anymore. Her breasts had grown as well, to more the size she’d always wanted them to be when she was a teenager. Perhaps most importantly, the cuts left by the assassin had completely healed, with only faint pink scars that were almost indistinguishable from her stretch marks.
“So, staying out of knife fights?” Dr. Pavelski asked as she entered the room.
“Yes.”
“Not walking around any dark alleys alone?”
“No.”
“Good.” It was only then the doctor looked up from the chart to smile at her. “Well, you’re certainly looking healthy. How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
“Meaning what?”
“I still feel sick sometimes and I’ve been sleeping a lot more.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere. How are you doing mentally? Still feeling down?”
“Sometimes.”
“Suicidal thoughts? Homicidal thoughts? Anything like that?”
“No.”
“OK.” Dr. Pavelski made a note in the chart. “So from what I’m seeing and hearing you and the kid seem in good shape. Have you given any thought to your due date?”
“Not really.”
“Well, if you want to do natural childbirth or anything like that, now’s the time to start setting it up. My assistant can get you some pamphlets.”
“A hospital will be fine,” Emma said. She had not even taken any formal classes like Lamaze, though she had practiced breathing exercises with Akako down in the archives.
“I’ll still give those to you, just in case you change your mind.”
“Thanks.”
“Now, let’s see how the little one is doing. Have you thought of a name yet?”
Emma shrugged. Since she had so much free time, she had time to finally give that some thought. She would have liked to talk it over with Jim, but after his reaction in the sewers, she doubted he’d be very helpful. “I was thinking of Louise. After my mother,” she said.
“That’s a pretty name. I had a great-aunt Louise back in the old country—in the Ukraine. Never got a chance to meet her.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Not from what my mom says.” Dr. Pavelski smiled and then began to spread the gel on Emma’s naked belly for the ultrasound. “Let’s take a peek at Louise now.”
The baby was still curled up in Emma’s womb, though she looked more like a little girl with each ultrasound. It wouldn’t be long until she was free from Emma’s body, a little person with her own hopes and dreams. What would those be? Could Emma provide those for her? Or would Louise resent her because she couldn’t provide a normal family like her peers had?
The sound of Dr. Pavelski snapping her fingers shook Emma from these gloomy thoughts. “Taking a little nap?” the doctor asked.
“Sorry, just daydreaming.”
“Well, Louise looks perfectly healthy. A normal little girl.”
Emma nodded. A normal little girl was the best thing she could hope for at this point. Dr. Pavelski took some more of
Emma’s blood to run more tests just to make sure. On her way out, Emma made another appointment for two weeks later. The doctor’s assistant handed a stack of pamphlets to her about alternative birthing techniques; Emma tucked these into her purse so as not to seem rude. Then she went down to the Starbucks to find Aggie.
“How is everything?” Aggie asked.
“Fine.”
“That’s good. Are you ready to go back?”
“Sure.” As they walked back to the alley, Emma asked, “Do you think it’s bad luck to name the baby now? I mean, do you think I should wait until she’s actually born?”
Aggie’s face turned grave for a moment and then she forced a smile to her face. “I don’t see any problem with it, dear. Have you thought of a name?”
“I told the doctor I wanted to name the baby after Mom.”
“Oh, that’s a sweet gesture.”
“I just thought it might be unlucky. You know, kind of putting the cart before the horse.”
“Nonsense, dear. I think it’s a lovely idea.”
They reached the alley, where Emma took Aggie’s hand in one of hers and put the other to her stomach—to Louise. Then she closed her eyes to await the flash. The musty smell of the mound’s interior assaulted her nostrils. She opened her eyes and found Aggie had already triggered the lift to take them down.
When the lift arrived on the first floor of the archives, Emma saw Akako in a heap on the floor. The assassin stood over her, knives drawn. The woman smiled beneath her mask. “Well, we meet again. And you brought another friend. The more the merrier.”
Chapter 7
Aggie grabbed Emma’s shoulder to shove her back onto the lift. Before Emma could hit the button to go back up, she found a black knife embedded in the controls. The assassin clucked her tongue. “Going so soon?” she said.
“Who are you?” Aggie asked. She stayed in front of Emma. “What have you done to Akako?”
“Your girlfriend is fine—for the moment. Whether she stays that way is up to you.”
“What do you want?”
“I want baby mama there to give me the magic armor.”
“She doesn’t have it.”
The assassin laughed, a sound that grated on Emma’s ears. She looked around helplessly for some way out, but there was nothing unless Aggie vanished her out, which would leave Akako at the assassin’s mercy. “Do you think I’m that stupid? She can call for it.”
“No I can’t,” Emma said.
“Of course you can.”
“No, I really can’t.”
“But you know where it is.”
“Maybe. Let my friends go and I’ll tell you.”
“How about you tell me and I won’t kill both of your friends right now?” Before Emma could say anything, a dagger leaped from the woman’s hand. Just as in the Plastic Hippo, it seemed to simply appear in Aggie’s left thigh. The witch screamed in pain and crumpled to the ground.
Emma knelt beside Aggie to cradle the witch’s head in her arms. Aggie’s eyes were closed, but she was still breathing. “What did you do to her?”
“She’ll wake up in a couple of hours. That is if you give me what I want.” The assassin bounced a few steps forward, another knife in her hand. “So, how about it?”
“I won’t do anything until I know my friends are safe.”
“I don’t give a shit about your friends.” She danced another few steps towards Emma. “Once I have the armor I’ll go away.”
“Why should I believe that?”
“Because I’m a professional. This isn’t personal. I don’t get anything extra if I kill you or your friends. Not even satisfaction.”
“If you’re a professional, maybe we can make a deal. How much do you want?”
“A lot more than an assistant professor at a crummy school like Rampart State makes.”
Emma had to admit that was a good point. She tried to think of anything she might trade, but all she had was the armor. “The armor isn’t here. I left it back in Rampart City.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere. Where in the city?”
“Not yet. We get on a plane and go there. Once we’re on the ground, I’ll tell you where to find it.”
“Really, Dr. Earl, do you think stalling is going to matter? If you escape, I’ll just find you again. No matter where you go, I’ll find you.”
Emma was about to ask how, but then she looked down at Aggie and the dark blue ooze around the knife in her thigh. “The potion. That’s how you found me.”
“You really are as smart as they say.” The assassin brandished her knife. “That’s right. I’ve marked you and that means I can find you wherever you go. So, please, let’s just get this over with. Tell me where the armor is and you’ll never see me again.”
“I can’t.”
The assassin crossed the rest of the gap between them to seize a handful of Emma’s hair and yank her head back. The woman’s green eyes twinkled as she glared down at Emma. “Do you want your baby to die?”
“I can’t give you the armor. It’s too important.”
“You disappoint me, Dr. Earl. You should look at the big picture here. Once I have the armor, you’ll be an ordinary citizen again. You can have a normal life. You and your daughter. Or at least as normal as anyone can have when her father is the Sewer Rat.”
When the assassin began to laugh again, Emma’s right fist clenched tightly. She didn’t manage to land a punch in the woman’s midsection, but the attempted blow forced the assassin to let go of Emma’s hair. Emma brought around her left arm to chop the woman in the back of the kneecap. The assassin cried out in pain as she went down on one knee.
Emma ran.
***
Even five months ago she might have had a chance to outrun an assassin with an injured leg. Now that she carried an extra thirty pounds or so, she didn’t have much of a chance. She made it to Akako’s desk before the assassin caught her from behind to slam her down on her back. “You’re really starting to piss me off,” the assassin hissed.
Emma might have come up with a witty reply if the assassin wasn’t strangling her. Instead, she could only gasp for air, a sound that reminded her of Megan when she had an asthma attack. At least Megan would be safe, until someone opened the box that contained the armor and it called to her. Or maybe by then Megan would be too old and it would find some other poor fool.
As her vision darkened, she turned her thoughts to Louise, her child who would never be born now. All because Emma valued a suit of magic armor more than her life. What kind of mother would I have been? Not as abusive and mean-spirited as Becky’s mother, but not as loving and caring as her own mother, who had given up her career as a cellist to raise Emma.
“I don’t want to kill you or your baby, Emma,” the assassin said. Her grip loosened slightly. “But you aren’t leaving me a choice. Tell me or I’m going to wring your fucking neck and wait for it to call someone else.”
“It…can’t,” Emma said.
“Why’s that?”
Before Emma could try to say anything else, the assassin flew sideways off of her. The next thing Emma knew, Akako helped her up. The archivist had a wound in her right bicep that leaked the same dark blue ooze as Aggie. The assassin hadn’t realized her potions wouldn’t work on Akako, who now held the dagger out. “Emma, go!”
“Where?”
“The vault. Get into the vault!” To help this along, Akako pushed Emma towards the stairs to the lower level where the most powerful spells were kept. In the last month Emma had never gone near that place for fear a spell might break loose and do something to her or the baby, but now she had no choice.
She made it to the heavy steel door to the vault and then yanked on the door as hard as she could. With the armor she could have opened it like the door to her medicine cabinet, but without it she had to strain and groan to move it a few inches. She’d gotten it halfway when she heard Akako scream, “She’s coming!”
Emma gave one more pus
h, which cleared enough space for her to squeeze through. The problem then became to close the door behind her. This proved even more difficult for her tired muscles. When she saw the assassin running down the stairs, Emma ran again.
The path wound down in a spiral, which made it easier for Emma to run, but still it wasn’t fast enough. Over her shoulder, she could see the assassin gaining on her. The woman reached into her pocket for another knife. Emma put her head down and tried to put more distance between herself and the assassin. It wouldn’t matter eventually as the archives would end at the bottom of the path, but at this point there was nothing else she could do.
She didn’t see the knife, but she could sense it fly towards her. At the last moment she dove to the ground and rolled in midair to land on her back. The knife flew past where her head had been to smash into one of the pigeonholes that contained a spell. The blade shattered the crystal face of the pigeonhole, to free the scroll inside.
Emma didn’t have time to scream before the spell leaped at her like a wild animal. The moment it touched her, there came an explosion of blue light.
Then there was silence.
***
Akako had a second wound in her left leg to match the one in Aggie’s leg, but still she hurled herself into the vault after Emma and the assassin. She shouldn’t have told Emma to run into the vault. Not only was it a dead end, but also the door was too heavy for a mortal without the Scarlet Knight’s armor to open and close easily.
She turned a corner and saw her worst fear realized: the door was still open. Emma hadn’t been able to close it in time, which meant the assassin would catch her. Emma was as good as dead and she and Aggie would be next in line. Despite this, Akako limped on. She could at least go down fighting in the vain hope to avenge the woman who in the last month had become her best friend and confidante.
Tales of the Scarlet Knight Collection: The Wrath of Isis Page 70
