Finally, the last group dispersed. A Council member I didn’t recognize approached Nathan and whispered something. Nathan moved over to Caroline and grabbed her arm.
“Let go of me!” she jerked her arm but he wouldn’t let go.
“We agree,” the Council member said, speaking over Caroline’s bickering with Nathan. “Caroline and the other rogue Council members have overstepped their bounds.”
Three other Council members grabbed hold of Caroline’s compatriots, ignoring their protests.
Caroline sputtered and tried to shake Nathan’s grip off, but he grinned and held on. “What the fuck?” She bellowed. “After everything I’ve done for you bastards, you’re going to listen to this fucking punk? If it weren’t for me, you’d be crawling around in the damn sewers.”
“Um, Caroline?” I said. “We are in the sewers.”
She ignored me. “This Council used to mean something. It used to stand for progress. For advancement. Now, you’re all too chicken-shit to do anything.”
One of the other Council members stepped up. “That’s enough, Caroline. You’ve had your say. Clearly, you’ve lost sight of what this Council truly stands for. You must surrender the artifact.”
Caroline scoffed. “You’re all idiots.”
There was a shout. Chest-Beard and the other two had broken free and were making a dash for the other side of the room. A group of Council members surrounded them, though Nathan stayed with Caroline.
“On your knees.” He forced her down. “Hands behind your head.” He produced handcuffs from a pocket and put them on her.
“Iron?” she scoffed.
“Suitable for a monster. Oh, and your teleportation artifact won’t work in here.”
Caroline sneered. “Who do you think you’re talking to? I helped cast the prohibitive spells.”
“And I helped change them,” Nathan said. “Just in case.”
I couldn’t see what was happening with her buddies but I could hear screams, bodies crashing into each other. One of the Council members disentangled himself from the struggle and approached us. I recognized him vaguely from the last time I’d met with the Council, though I didn’t know his name. He was younger than a lot of the Council members, with blond hair and apparently all his teeth.
“You’ve got her?” he said to Nathan.
Nathan nodded without breaking eye contact with Caroline.
Two Council members emerged from the mob with Chest-Beard in front of them, his face bloody and bruised. The blond guy turned to watch as two of the Council members forced Chest-Beard to lie down.
When he turned back to Nathan, he was already throwing a punch. It hit Nathan on the chest and forced him back, making him let go of Caroline. Nathan grabbed Blondie and shoved him away, but Caroline was already on her feet. She ran for the door.
I ran after her and grabbed her hair to yank her back. It came off revealing a bald, smooth head, and I tripped over my own feet. Her weird little hobble-walk was totally abandoned, which answered the question of whether it was real or a put-on. I jumped back to my feet and caught up to her just as we passed the threshold of entrance and was reaching to grab her shirt—I could feel the fabric on my fingertips—when she disappeared.
“Fuck!” I screamed.
Blondie yelled. Nathan had punched him in the nose and knocked him down. But Blondie got back on his feet and threw himself at Nathan’s legs to slow him down. Nathan didn’t fall. Blondie held on, and Nathan punched him in the neck until he let go and dropped to the floor, where Nathan proceeded to stomp the hell out of him for several seconds.
Nathan limped up to me a moment later. Behind him, I saw Neck Beard go down as two Council members punched him in his back. Another Council member had the other one, Tweedledee, in a headlock.
“What the hell do we do now?” I asked.
“Now, we track her down.” Nathan turned to the two bigfoots, who’d been backed against the wall away from all the violence and motioned for them. They ran up to us. “We need your help,” he said.
* * *
Nathan and I ran through the tunnel, the bigfoots in the lead. They sniffed the air as we ran but never even paused. Soon, they’d left us behind.
“They’re tracking her down,” Nathan said.
He left the tunnel and entered the funeral home. I followed as well as I could, taking the steps up to the main floor two at a time…for about six steps. Then I panted really hard and took them one at a time to the top.
There was a sudden flash in my mind of Caroline appearing on a street and then disappearing. Then the perspective jumped forward to the spot on the street where she had been. She appeared ahead about twenty feet and then disappeared again. I was trying to cross the room, but I had to stop for a minute because it was disconcerting seeing Slips in Shit and Deer Humper jump from spot to spot like that.
I focused my mental energies on blocking the images for a moment and ran to the front door to catch up to Nathan. His car was right out front, and he was rummaging through the trunk. He brought out a long, plastic-looking device with a screen and dial on the front that I’d never seen before. It reminded me of a scanner you might see in a sci-fi movie. There was a cord with a needle at the top, which he pulled out and stuck in his wrist.
“Ow!” I said. “What the hell is that?”
“You may be wondering why I didn’t take the teleportation artifact from Caroline. This tracks my blood.”
“Because you smeared your blood on the artifact!”
“Right.”
He fiddled with the dial and an electronic line began to sweep back and forth like windshield wipers across the screen. It resembled a radar screen the most.
We jumped in the car and he whipped out into traffic, without, I don’t think, even looking first. He gunned it down the streets, veering around parked cars, pedestrians, other cars.
“Let’s try not to die, shall we?” I white-knuckle gripped the dashboard.
“If she gets out of range, I’ll lose her.” Nathan swerved. “The artifact only seems to have a range of a few yards.”
“Well pull over and let me drive!”
He didn’t respond other than to veer down a side road.
I closed my eyes, but that just immersed me in the images of the bigfoots hopping after Caroline, which was almost worse than Nathan’s driving.
* * *
We finally pulled up to an abandoned-looking building with boarded-over doors and windows. The scanner thingee was going crazy. Nathan pulled the needle out of his arm and we jumped out. He ran to the trunk and dug out the harness he’d been wearing it when he’d rescued us after our escape from the cave. He slipped into the thin, leather straps.
We sneaked around the back of the building. From inside we could hear the whoosh of what sounded like those fire balls Caroline liked so much. Nathan found a back door, which was locked, but he performed a complicated gesture, muttered something, and it opened.
Inside was pandemonium. It took a moment for my eyes to register what was happening. The building was empty, just support beams and dust. I guess it had been a warehouse. Caroline was leaning against the far wall, shooting fireballs haphazardly at Slips in Shit and Deer Humper. She was slumped over but still on her feet, and I could see blood on her face.
I assumed it was her own blood, and I remembered how exhausted Nathan had been after using the artifact just a few times. She’d used it at least a dozen times.
The bigfoots were in constant motion—running and dodging. They didn’t seem to need to teleport anymore. Caroline couldn’t decide between them. She’d aim at the spot Slips in Shit had just left, but he’d already be gone. Then she’d twist around to Deer Humper, and he’d scurry away.
Nathan stepped into the room. “Cut the shit, Caroline.”
She sneered and with a scream shot a fireball at him. It hit him in the chest, knocking him back a few steps. The jewel on his apparatus glowed as fire surged into it.
Nathan c
lenched his teeth, reached into the center of his harness, pulled out the glowing jewel, and threw it back at Caroline. It hit her dead center in the chest and exploded.
“Damn it, boy,” she wheezed, staggering. “It will take more than that.”
But Nathan was already dashing at her. He grabbed her right hand, where she held the artifact, and punched. I heard a loud crack, and she cried out and dropped the artifact. Nathan kicked it away. I scurried to pick it up.
The bigfoots had stopped running and came to me. Slips in Shit put a hand on my shoulder. His fur was damp with sweat, and he fell to his knees in exhaustion, panting, his fur slick with sweat. Deer Humper waved weakly from the other side of the room.
Caroline fell to the floor, her arm clutched to her chest and started to cry. “You broke my arm. I’m just an old lady. Why would you do that?” she said, her voice weak and high. She really looked pathetic and held her good arm out. “Daisy, please. Will you help me?”
I moved toward her, but Nathan held up a hand to stop me. “You can’t trust her. Keep the artifact away from her.”
Caroline looked up and blubbered. “Please.”
Nathan went down on one knee in front of her and took her arm carefully. She winced.
“Ow,” she said.
Nathan examined the arm. “It’s broken,” he said. “We’ll get you back to the funeral home and patch it up on your way—”
He didn’t finish because Caroline stabbed him in his right side with a hidden blade. He jerked away and then cold-cocked her right in the face. She slumped down as her breath rushed out in a groan.
“Son of a bitch!” He screamed and then fell over.
* * *
I put pressure on Nathan’s wound, but he was bleeding a lot and turning gray. Slips in Shit and Deer Humper helped me get Nathan and Caroline back out to Nathan’s car. They were too tired to teleport, so I had to drive. Slips in Shit was in the back holding Nathan’s head in his lap. Deer Humper sat in the front seat with Caroline in a bear hug in his lap.
I didn’t know where to go, so I headed for the funeral home. I drove eighty the whole way, veering around cars, running red lights. I broke a hundred on the interstate. The funny thing I didn’t really have time to think about at that moment was that the car handled beautifully.
“Talk to me, guys, how’s he doing? Slips in Shit?”
An image appeared in my head of Nathan with his eyes closed, looking pale. Blood stained his shirt.
My exit approached, and I swerved around another car and barely made it onto the ramp. I didn’t slow down and nearly went up on two wheels. I hit my horn in a steady burst and ran the light at the end of the ramp. The funeral home was only a few blocks ahead.
“Deer Humper, you keep Caroline in the car,” I shouted.
When we got there, I threw the car into park, jumped out, and jerked open the back door. Slips in Shit climbed out and reached in to drag Nathan out. I bolted up to the funeral home door and threw it open.
“Lou! Magnus!” I screamed. “Nathan’s been stabbed!”
They came running. Lou, big almost-ape that he was, grabbed Nathan as Slips in Shit carried him in. Lou went down on his knees and examined the wound.
“Hospital,” Lou said. “Now.”
“He’s too tired to teleport,” I said.
Lou gave me a look that told me Nathan wasn’t going to make it. I burst into tears like an idiot.
Lou caught Slips in Shit’s eye. Slips in Shit nodded and grabbed Lou and Nathan. In a moment, they were gone, leaving me crying and Magnus standing there with a questioning look on his face.
I managed to tell him Caroline was out in the car. He nodded and left me there to get myself together.
* * *
Magnus and Deer Humper brought Caroline in. Deer Humper found a spot on the floor in the chapel and went to sleep. Magus took Caroline to his office, wrapped her arms, and tied her up.
I felt like I was going to implode. I went to Deer Humper and put a blanket over him, then wandered over to Magnus’ office. I tried to reach out with my mind to Slips in Shit, but I had no idea if he heard me.
“Someone’s going to need to pick them up at the hospital,” Magnus said. “I don’t think the bigfoot can make it back on his own.” He studied my face. “Are you up for that?”
I nodded, grateful, and was out the door and in the car—which was still running, I realized—before I’d even thought to ask which hospital to go to.
* * *
I pulled in the parking deck and found Lou sitting on the concrete by a stairwell. Slips in Shit was inside, out of sight, already asleep. I helped Lou drag him to the backseat. Lou closed the door and stepped back.
“You coming back with me?” I asked.
He shook his head, and I understood that he wanted to stay with Nathan. Communication with Lou is mostly nonverbal.
“Is he going to, uh…?” I didn’t want to say it.
Lou looked in the direction of the hospital and shrugged. He caught my eye and nodded but shrugged again. I took that to mean Nathan had a fifty-fifty chance.
“I’ll come relieve you in a little while,” I said. Lou grunted and headed inside the hospital.
* * *
Caroline had stabbed Nathan in the kidney, but thanks to Slips in Shit—and the surgeon—he hadn’t bled out. He did have to stay in the hospital for a couple days and file a police report about the “mugging.” I was able to go see him that evening and give Lou a break.
“I’m an idiot,” he said. “I can’t believe she almost killed me.”
I shrugged. “Who am I to argue?”
I left him with his mom, who winked at me as I left, which I tried not to read anything into.
The Council came for Caroline and took her and her cohorts to the supernatural prison I’d heard about but never seen. That left the bigfoots.
They slept for several hours, worn out from all the teleporting. I retrieved Nathan’s car, and around midnight, Lou and Magnus helped me load up Slips in Shit and Deer Humper, who were still shaky on their feet. I headed south with the bigfoots. Four hours later, I left the interstate and headed into the mountains. I pulled into a park and let the boys out. Slips in Shit climbed out of the car and stretched like an old man.
“Is this good?”
Slips in Shit nodded and bared his teeth in a smile. I hugged him and Deer Humper.
“You guys take care,” I said.
Deer Humper poked my chest twice, which I took to mean, “You too.”
A moment later, they were gone. I got back in the car and cranked it, but it wouldn’t start.
“God damn it!” Then I realized it was still in gear, put it in park, and started it up. I pulled over at the first place I saw that served coffee.
* * *
And that was spring break. Nathan and I met for coffee the Sunday before classes, after he’d gotten out of the hospital, and he gave me a rundown.
“The Council is in shambles.” He winced as he tried to get comfortable in the rickety metal chair at the outdoor table.
“Well, I’m pretty ignorant in terms of the big picture, but my experiences with the Council lead me to believe that tearing it down and starting over might not be such a bad thing.”
He nodded. “You may be right. It had turned into a bureaucracy.”
“What about the artifact?” I asked.
He pulled the thing from his pocket and set it on the table. “She was able to mimic the teleporting ability of the bigfoots, but the human consciousness just isn’t built for that kind of processing. Caroline has already started showing signs of mental decay from it.”
“‘Started?’”
He conceded the point. “Different kind of mental decay.”
“What about you? You used the artifact?”
He sipped his tea. “Not as much as she did. But the whole getting stabbed in the kidney thing kind of trumps it in terms of discomfort.”
I gave him a sympathetic smile. “So
all that torture was for nothing.”
He sighed. “Well, to be honest, the thing works. It just needs to be perfected. She was close. And if she’d been allowed to finish, she might’ve gotten somewhere.” He put it back in his pocket with a wince. “But she won’t be finishing.”
“What are you going to do with it? Put it on a shelf in your basement?”
“Something like that.”
We lapsed into silence for a moment. “What about me? And my lineage?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I’d like to talk to Magnus about it.”
“What’s so important about being descended from Lord Baltimore?”
“Technically, it means you own Baltimore,” he said. “And a decent part of Maryland.”
“What? You’re messing with me.”
“Well, own isn’t exactly the word. And it would have to be proven, but if the bigfoots say it, I believe them. This whole region was given to Lord Baltimore by the King of England and would pass down to his heirs.”
It was my turn to shake my head. “Didn’t the Revolutionary War kind of undo that?”
“Not for those who follow the old ways.”
“So you’re saying a bunch of Royalists are still hanging around?”
He opened his mouth and then closed it again. “Not exactly. There are just certain laws that have remained valid to certain…parties. Calvert actually abolished the manor system, which would technically eliminate your physical claim to property, but the title remains. And with it are certain obligations and…privileges.”
“Huh,” I said. “Like a slave boy to peel grapes for me?”
“More like taking over the Council since Caroline has been deposed.”
“Ah,” I said. “That sounds amazingly terrifying and like something I’m not qualified for.”
“And it’s a reason for anyone else who maybe wants that position to, you know, kill you.”
Tall, Dark and Hairy (The Necro-Files Book 3) Page 14
