Crimson Wind

by Diana Pharaoh Francis

  The other gray beasts ignored their fallen comrades and watched Alexander. Drool dripped from their jaws. They continued to circle. His back prickled, and he turned, trying to keep an eye on those behind him. His right hand hung at his side, next to useless. Another rush, and there was a good chance he would go down. He had to move.

  He backed up to the edge of the boulder and lunged for the clover. He landed on something that wriggled and screamed. Alexander did not miss a beat. He ran flat out for the edge of the enchantment.

  Things grabbed his ankles, and something hitched up his right thigh, digging its claws in as he ran.

  Alexander reached down, snatched the creature, and flung it away. Its body felt like bones inside a moist sack of jelly. More fastened to his legs and clambered up over one another, biting and clawing. They gibbered and shrieked. He was forced to slow down as he knocked them away.

  Paws slammed against his back. He felt the snap of teeth in the air by his neck. He fell, thrusting himself instantly back to his feet before the green creatures could swarm him. A single gray beast faced him, gathering itself. Behind it, green hunters leaped and ran through the clover. Their faces were a paler shade of green than their bodies. Their eyes were obsidian beads, and their features looked squashed. Their mouths cut their faces in half and were filled with several rows of black serrated teeth. There had to be hundreds of them.

  They overran the gray beast, pulling it down. It snapped and fought, but there were too many of the little green monsters. Alexander smashed at those on his legs with the rowan spear and flung another away as it clambered up his stomach. He started running again. It was not far now.

  Then Max was in front of him. She was carrying a tire iron in each hand. She pounded at the hunters gnawing on his legs. They fell away, and she smashed at those that followed. Another minute later, they ran out of the enchantment, back onto the parched dirt of the valley.

  Alexander ran a few steps, then turned around. Several green hunters followed but quickly scrabbled back under the cover of their clover when Max started at them, the tire irons swinging menacingly.

  She turned to look at Alexander. Her arms were slimed to the elbows with lime-green blood, and her legs had been bitten and clawed. She grinned at him as she scrutinized him from head to toe.

  “That was fun.” She wrinkled her nose, dropping the tire irons and shaking her hands off. “Could use a shower, though. And some clothes. You too. Those pants are about to fall off.”

  Alexander looked down at himself. His jeans were slashed to ribbons, and the skin beneath was in no better shape. A memory struck him. He reached into his pockets. His right hand was weak but already healing. He found his cell phone in one pocket, and in the other was the Amengohr amulet. He gripped it, feeling the hard curve biting into his fingers. Thank the spirits, he hadn’t lost it.

  “Alexander?” Max asked sharply. Her expression had gone hard, and she was looking wildly about. “Where did you go?”

  He pulled the amulet out of his pocket and stared in wonder. He had thought it did not work. He had not gone invisible when Valery had given it to him. The difference, he realized, was blood. He had inadvertently smeared a layer of his own blood over the amulet when he pulled it out of his pocket.

  “Alexander!”

  Max was sounding furious now. And she was using his name. Not Slick. That made him smile. He was tempted to stay silent to see what she would do, but he doubted he would survive when she realized he was playing possum.

  “Right here,” he said.

  “Where?”

  “I have not moved.” He scuffed his foot in the dirt to show where he was.

  “The amulet? It works?” Her eyes were wide.

  It was the first time he had ever seen her surprised out of her normal rigid control. She looked almost like a child.

  “So it seems.”

  “That means you can be out in the sun.” Her expression went from shock to longing to a kind of shuttered blankness.

  He scowled. What twisty little thoughts were breeding in that thick skull of hers? He wished he could break it open and find out.

  “Handy piece of jewelry, that,” she said without any inflection in her voice. “What are you going to do with it?”

  His wonder at the idea of having the opportunity to walk out in the sunlight again for the first time in more than a hundred years melted away. What did he plan to do with it? More important, what did she think he planned? Because she had clearly drawn a conclusion, and it was not in his favor.

  “I do not know,” he said honestly. In fact, he had no idea. So much of what he wanted depended on Max and Giselle.

  “Come on. Surely you’ve got something in mind.” Her voice had grown colder.

  His jaw jutted. “Obviously, you think I do. Tell me, so I can be in on the secret, too.”

  “I’m not going to stand here and talk to thin air,” she said, and started to move away.

  He shoved the amulet into his rear pocket. “I wish to hell you would stop walking away from me,” he said, grasping her arm and yanking her around.

  “Hands off, Slick.”

  “A minute ago, you called me Alexander.”

  “Did I? Can’t remember.”

  She twisted her arm, and his fingers slipped on the green blood coating her skin. He clamped tighter. “If we are going to argue, stand still and argue,” he seethed through gritted teeth. “But quit acting like you will leave me behind. It is not going to happen. Get used to it.”

  She jerked out of his grasp but stood her ground. “What’s your problem, Slick?”

  “You are pissed off at me.”

  “Am I?”

  “Tell me why before I pry it out of you with a crowbar.”

  “All right. How’s this for a little truth? It just occurred to me how convenient it is for you that the amulet shows up right now. I mean, you’re not bound to any covenstead. It’s your shot at freedom—the freedom you claim you don’t even want. I’m beginning to think maybe the gentleman doth protest too much. Why else would you want it? But then again, the other possibility is that you plan to use it to take Prime from me. You could drag me out into the sun, and that would be the end of it. So now I have to wonder, are you playing me? Have you been playing me all along? Is that what all this business between us has really been about?”

  Alexander stared, unable to find words. Could she really think that? Of course, he had thought about walking away—living among humans. But it was not what he wanted. Nor did he want Prime, no matter what Magpie and her prophecy said.

  “Wow. Silence of the guilty? I guess we’re done, then.”

  She started away again, but he caught both her arms.

  “That is not the way it is. You know it.”

  “Do I?”

  “You damned well should. I have not lied to you.” He forced the words out. His anger was white-hot. He shoved her away from him to keep himself from hitting her. “If this is the way you want it, then, fine.”

  “So we’re done, then?”

  She was giving him that thousand-yard stare again—cold and lifeless. It was on the tip of his tongue to agree when realization struck him. She went inside to that cold place when she could not handle what she was feeling. Which meant— She felt something for him, enough to pull away inside. Triumph surged inside him. He smiled.

  “Oh, no. We are not done. Not by a long shot. We made a good team out there fighting, and we make a good team when we are not. But you want obstacles—you want to make it impossible for us to be together. If not Giselle, then your Blades or Scooter. Now this amulet. Just when I think you are going to give in to what you clearly want as much as I do, you turn into an ice bitch and start throwing down roadblocks.”

  “Wow. You’re whining like a kid who just lost his puppy. You need to go get a pair of big-boy pants on.”

  He stepped closer. “And that—a mouth like a rusty saw when you want to dodge the subject. You will not get rid of me that way, e
ither.”

  She opened her mouth, then closed it, scraping her teeth over her bottom lip. She took a breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t want to get rid of you, Slick,” she said grudgingly.

  She looked like she was about to say more, but Holt’s voice interrupted her. Alexander could have happily slit his throat.

  “You two had better get moving. Sun will be up soon. You need to find clothes and shelter.”

  Max turned gratefully, and Alexander glowered at him. Holt was walking on his own with the help of a cane. He was pale and gaunt, his eyes sunken and bruised-looking. He looked like he had lost about twenty pounds. He had scrounged a white button-up shirt that was still creased from the package and a pair of dark blue Wranglers. He limped stiffly, holding his hand pressed against his ribs. It glowed white, the hex marks brilliant blue against his tanned skin.

  Alexander stared in awe. The bastard was healing himself. Most witches could not even manage minor self-healing. But then, Holt was a mage, and ordinary witch rules did not apply to them.

  “You’re going to live,” Max observed.

  “Thanks to the two of you,” he said with a grimace. “Last person on earth I want to owe is Alexander.”

  “Since you do, leave Valery alone. Let her go.”

  “That’s not going to happen.” Holt looked down, rubbing his chin with his knuckles. He looked back up. “I’ll protect her with my life,” he said, and it sounded like a vow. “That’s going to have to be enough for you.” He turned to Max without waiting for Alexander’s reaction. “If you ever need anything, call me.”

  And then he did the impossible. Blue and white sparks whirled in the air, obscuring him from view. A moment later, they drifted to the ground. Holt was gone. All that was left was a folded piece of white paper. Alexander picked it up. On it was a phone number scrawled boldly in black ink. He handed it to Max.

  “This is yours, I believe.”

  She took at it and shook her head. “He knows how to make an exit, anyway.”

  “So should we. You need clothes, and we have to find shelter from the sun.”

  “Wrong, Slick. We need clothes and a vehicle and a way to keep me out of the sun. You have the amulet. We aren’t going to hang around waiting for dark before we skip town.”

  She started walking, and he caught up with her. They circled around the people gathered along the freeway and climbed a broad, dusty, tree-covered hill. Below them, Weed curled in a comma shape around the hill.

  Alexander looked back the way they had come. The enchantment’s edge followed a ragged path, rising and falling over the foothills to the west. It zigzagged back and forth, cutting south around Mount Eddy. Shasta continued to spew forth wild magic, but it was streaming entirely south now, as if pushed by a sharp wind.

  “What will it all turn into?” Max said. “All those people down in the central valley—what is going to happen to them?”

  “The Guardians want to rid the earth of most of humanity. Undoubtedly, that is why the enchanted area is so full of hungry predators. Most people will not survive.” He took a slow breath. “There will be more of this. All over the world. How many vortexes did Scooter sense? Thirty?”

  “All those people standing around down there have no idea. They should be running for their lives.”

  “To where? Where can they go that is safe?”

  She looked at him, her expression granite, and then she started down the hill into Weed. Once again, he overtook her, not letting her leave him behind. He wondered if this was how it would always be.

  Chapter 12

  THERE WASN’T MUCH TO THE TOWN OF WEED. No big chain stores and no malls. Max wondered where Holt had found his fresh clothing. On Main Street, they found a little thrift store. Max pulled open the doors, her unlocking spells making it easy. Inside, she and Alexander split up as they searched for clothes.

  She found a pair of faded Levi’s and a plain brown T-shirt, socks, and a pair of black canvas tennis shoes. She went into the back, looking for a bathroom or a sink to wash off the dried green gore slathering her arms and hands. She found the bathroom and peed. She pulled the knife that Alexander had given her from where she’d sheathed it in her witch-chain belt, then unwound the chain from her waist and pulled off Alexander’s shirt. It still smelled like him. She resisted the urge to rub her face in it and sniff, and instead dropped it onto the back of the toilet.

  There was a bar of gritty white soap by the sink that felt like sandpaper. She scrubbed off all that she could and dried herself with a couple of handfuls of paper towels. She dressed, wrapping the witch chain around her waist again and tucking the knife into her rear waistband. She’d have to find underwear someplace else. Not to mention money and a car.

  She came out, carrying Alexander’s shirt and her shoes and socks. He was waiting outside. He pushed past her without a word. She grimaced. She didn’t really believe he’d been playing her. At least, his reaction had been angry enough that if he was acting, he was doing a damned fine job. He was still furious.

  She rolled her shoulders to loosen them and made herself focus back on what needed to be done. She’d told Jim she’d be in Winters by sunrise. Now, if Alexander drove through the day, they might make it by nightfall, but they’d have to go north and catch a road to the coast and go down Highway 101. It would be a lot slower than shooting down Highway 5 as originally planned. Not only that, but they didn’t have a car or money to pay for gas or any way to keep her sheltered from the sun. They might not get there for another twenty-four hours or longer.

  Her stomach churned. If her family had survived, they could even now be fighting for their lives. And the wild magic of Mount Shasta was heading right for them. She might get there only to find they’d become breakfast for some magical saber-toothed tiger or, worse, they’d been transformed into bloodthirsty, ankle-biting critters from hell.

  She yanked on her socks and shoes, then hunted around until she found a small office and ransacked it for money, finding only a five-dollar bill and a handful of loose change in the top side drawer. She pocketed it and picked up the phone. She ought to call Giselle and let her know what was going on. There was no dial tone. It was probably too much to hope that there would be. She set the phone back down, her mouth twisting with aggravation. The witch-bitch probably had foreseen this whole mess.

  Just then, Alexander appeared in the doorway. He’d found a pair of blue jeans and a black V-necked T-shirt. It fit snugly, emphasizing the muscles of his arms and chest. Of course she’d notice that. Right now, in the middle of a crisis, and she was admiring the scenery. Brilliant. Worse, he’d noticed her noticing, and a faint smile quirked the corner of his mouth. Smug bastard.

  “What now?” he asked.

  “Let’s go swipe a car. Something with a trunk. We should be able to seal that up well enough for me to ride in.”

  “I tried to call Valery to let her know Holt was on the loose. It would not go through. Tried Horngate also. Nothing.”

  “Landlines aren’t working, either,” Max said, gesturing to the phone on the desk. “Maybe they’ll work when we get farther away from the eruption.”

  Her stomach growled loudly. “I guess we should find some food, too.”

  “There has to be a grocery store. As long as we are stealing, that is our best bet.”

  He was right. Without money, breaking into a grocery store was always a good choice. They might even find what they needed to light-seal a car trunk. Max grabbed a yellow pages, found the list of stores, and jotted the address for Ray’s Food Place. There was no handy map inside the phone book to tell where it was.

  They went back outside. Alexander retrieved the rowan spear from where he’d leaned it inside the door. They turned in unison back toward the freeway. There were people out on the street, talking in low, worried voices and milling about and pointing at the erupting mountain. Most were in their robes or pajamas, and many were barefoot.

  Max and Alexander dodged down a side road and
found themselves in a quiet neighborhood. They pushed farther in, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. Too many windows were lit. Stealing a car here was going to be next to impossible.

  “Freeway is a parking lot,” Alexander whispered. “We will have better luck there.”

  He was right. Max nodded, and they kicked into a ground-eating run.

  It was only a few blocks away. Just before they got there, Max dug to a halt, pointing at the street sign. “Grocery store is around here somewhere.”

  They turned right toward the north end of Weed Boulevard. Ray’s Food Place was only a few hundred yards away. They broke in as easily as they had the thrift store. Max grabbed a shopping cart. They breezed through the store, piling the cart high with an assortment of food and drinks. They grabbed paper plates and plastic silverware and napkins, then parked themselves at the deli tables to eat.

  They attacked their foragings, ignoring each other as they bolted down their food. Max opened a jar of sweet pickles, fishing out four before passing them to Alexander. He offered her green olives.

  It took a half hour before they were sated. Then they went back, grabbing boxes of power bars, jerky, yogurt, cheese sticks, and a variety of other high-calorie quick snacks. They loaded their bounty into canvas bags from the checkout aisles. Next, Max found six rolls of duct tape—all they had. She also grabbed a dozen silver reflective windshield screens.

  Last, she went to the office and opened the safe, pulling out the stacked cash drawers. She took all of the paper cash—just over twelve hundred dollars. She found a bag of deposits and emptied it out, finding another two thousand.

  “There’s gas and food for a while,” she said, pocketing the money. She shut everything back up, not bothering to wipe away her fingerprints. She didn’t have the time, and with Shasta erupting and the Guardians escalating their war against humanity, she doubted it would make much difference in the long run. No more than stealing would.