PHOENIX (The Weaver Series Book 4)

by Vaun Murphrey

  I took a shallow breath. My arms hung loose by my sides as I turned the corner. Before either man could react they were wrapped tighter than a caterpillar in a cocoon. The Soul Eater’s fork stopped, frozen midway to his open mouth. And our light field disintegrated.

  Silver took over the shield holding the Declan clone. I could feel as she increased the pressure over his carotid artery. His joints sagged. She kept pressing.

  Mez growled, “Aetstandan, Silver! He is unconscious.”

  Silver replied in a cold voice, “Down isn’t dead. Dead doesn’t call for help.”

  I sensed the raw power as she burned out the Weaver clone. Mez’s warning came too late. The corpse crumpled to the carpet as Silver removed the shield holding it upright.

  Laser Eyes fought against me. His strength was impressive as it beat at the malleable energy holding him prisoner.

  My feet carried me to his table for one. I thought at my twin, “Get him secure in the Web. I think the shield could keep him in for now but I don’t trust it.”

  Mez put his chest to Silver’s back and his hands on her shoulders. Silver set her feet and crossed her arms. “You’re sure I shouldn’t just burn him out, Cass?”

  I ground my teeth. It was tempting. “Just lock him inside his puppet, Silver.”

  Corinne screamed. Kevin caught her upper body. Blood trickled out of her nose to roll in a fine river around her mouth. Her voice came out as a fractured whisper. “H-h…e’s tra…vel…ing in the shield.”

  Kevin clutched her tiny body to his broad chest, gun forgotten on the floor. “Help her!”

  I relaxed my grip around the Soul Eater’s throat and mouth. “Release my friend or you die.”

  He smiled. “Oh, I think she’ll die first, my child. You have no idea how glad I am you decided to drop by for a visit. I’ve missed you.”

  A cold creeping caress ran across my cheek and I raised one hand to swat at my face. Silver jolted forward and combined our protective veneer. She pushed it outward into a bubble. The icy invasion ceased. I went through each filament, ballooning everyone else’s shield. I hoped to hell it kept him away. We couldn’t afford to be compromised any further.

  Corinne shrieked and her body jerked as if an electrical current ran through it. Her eyes were bleeding now too. Crimson tears ran into her hairline, staining it a dark pink.

  Laser Eye’s graveled tone warned, “I’m already inside her. You should have known better than to bring someone so weak to battle. I thought you smarter than this, daughters.”

  Silver’s voice rang in my mind, “I’m going to see what I can do. Keep him engaged. Daddy Dearest likes to brag, let him.”

  I looked into glowing eyes that I hated with every cell in my being. “Take him apart, Silver. Shred his essence. Burn it, stomp on it. I don’t care what you have to do. Keep Corinne alive.”

  Silver purred, “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Chapter Thirty-One: The Ice Queen Cometh!

  Silver dove into her favored stomping ground with ease. The feeling of freedom was fleeting. Her focus narrowed to Corinne’s fissured essence. Great cracks ran all along her frozen surface. They widened as she watched like great polar icecaps breaking apart.

  A warped blankness hovered on the periphery of their group like a black hole sucking them in. If that was the Soul Eater’s Web essence then they just might be screwed. It didn’t operate by any rules she knew. Suck a duck!

  Corinne was going to shatter. Think, think! Her core still carried the extra weight that had made her vulnerable. The Soul Eater was the opposite of light, the opposite of life. It fed off of others without any physical representation of its own. Stinking parasite.

  Kal’s voice droned from a memory, unbidden. “All things in moderation, Cilda. Too much of a good thing is just as bad as not enough.”

  The image of a tick bursting like a mini-blood bomb flashed. Suppose Corinne could fight back? Her core was clean and whole, though overloaded. The Soul Eater might be just as vulnerable as his victims. Could it be possible?

  With care, a glowing orb detached from Silver’s burning light to traverse the twinkling blackness. It forced its way through to Corinne’s sagging mercury center. The other Weaver was so lost in the fight she didn’t acknowledge or resist the tiny breach.

  Provoked by her activities the distortion elongated. The Soul Eater’s mind-voice was harsh with directed rage that violated what it touched. “And just what do you think you’re doing, my lovely? You cannot defeat me here. I am the dark. The dark devours the light. You are sustenance and nothing more.”

  The foreign fury flayed her surface like a grainy sandpaper massage. “Wow, that’s impressive, dude. So how many ways can you split your mind at once? I’m sure you’re pissing off Cassandra as we speak, and I notice Corinne isn’t getting any better. Color me awed by your total badassery, Daddy-O.”

  A tremor rippled on Corinne’s gleaming reflective round heart. It was about to be too late for him. How sad.

  The brutal bludgeoning beam turned beguiling. “Surrender to me and I will let you live. You are the most like me. I will even grant amnesty to your loved ones for a time. It is better to learn from your mistakes. I can teach you to rule for an eternity.”

  Flakes of her protection began to peel away. Fear fed the anger inside. More time, there had to be just a little bit more time. “Hard pass. I’d rather fade, ass wipe.”

  A pregnant pause and then, “As you wish, my lovely.”

  A wave of night overcame her.

  I felt Silver stagger. My first instinct was to reach for my twin. I fought it. “Let go of her, Mez!” I couldn’t see his reaction, only sense that he obeyed.

  She’d said to stall. Lips trembling with effort, I asked our enemy, “What did you do to her?”

  His mouth curled upward. “Only what my lovely asked of me. Don’t fear for her. Fear for you. She is rare indeed. I do not find you nearly so fascinating.”

  Sweat began to form on my upper lip. He was getting stronger. His nose wiggled. A finger twitched on the smooth nickel-plated finish of the still raised fork. Son of a bitch.

  A boom sounded from the sealed office doors. The Soul Eater blinked in reaction. I pretended not to hear.

  “I will let her keep you as a puppet. It will do her good to break you. Then I will know she is truly mine.” Crow’s feet deepened around his luminous pleasure-filled eyes.

  Malcolm’s concern laden voice interrupted. “What’re we doing, Dynamite?”

  James was positioned by the doors with Chavarria, their weapons aimed and steady. “We’re running out of time, Cass!”

  Corinne screamed again. The sound was deep, like a rumbling volcano about to blow. I felt it in every nerve, from the roots of my hair to the arches of my feet. The shield vibrated and thickened with scorching heat. Tickling rivers of perspiration lollygagged lazily over my ribs. Silver gasped for air and thrashed by my side as if she were clawing herself free from sticky invisible gauze.

  Laser Eyes hissed through his teeth, spit spraying the table. “No!”

  Silver yelled, “Now, Corinne!”

  My legs turned to cooked spaghetti noodles at the shrieking, wailing cries that passed over us. The normally undetectable field of energy flowed like a curved tent-top around Silver and I with runnels of black, blue, purple and pearlescent gray. It looked like an oil slick of poison and it sounded like the end of the world. It cut off my view of the Soul Eater and the rest of the room.

  Silver gaped. “Ho-ly shit!”

  My voice box scratched out, “What did you do, Sister? What did you do?”

  She rubbed her palms on her stomach and clenched two handfuls of her t-shirt as she continued to stare upward. “I’m not sure. This wasn’t really in the plan. It feels like some of the Web came with us, not to mention all that shit Corinne’s been choking on for months!”

  There just weren’t words…

  She reached to poke it with a finger and I slapped her arm down. �
��Goddamn it, woman, don’t touch it!”

  Chavarria’s wry words penetrated. “I take it we should keep our hands to ourselves, mula loca?”

  Mez answered, “A wise plan, Earthling.”

  Kevin added, “Corinne passed out. Her pulse is normal and she’s got some color.”

  Silver snorted under her breath. “Since when?”

  Malcolm’s deep voice overran Silver’s contumeliousness. “When’s this gonna clear? I’m not a fan of blindness.”

  James chimed in over another resounding boom against the still secured doors. “Why is the Soul Eater so quiet? Do you think he’s dead?”

  I watched pearlescent gray dominate the suspended rushing liquid overhead. The color faded until it looked like pencil smudges on an artist’s sketch pad. When the shield cleared my eyes took a moment to focus.

  What sat in the chair at the table was only the semblance of a human being. At first glance one might have suspected tarring as the culprit. The once flowing black had condensed into a thick, putrid, gurgling shroud. Piteous cries of terror popped like pressure bubbles as it sucked his limbs to his sides. Two legs formed into one log-like structure. The Soul Eater’s head jerked and the bones of his neck gave an audible crack. The quivering mass flopped onto the floor. It didn’t belong in this world—that much was clear.

  The shakiness in my legs doubled. “James?”

  Corinne came instead. Kevin held her upright by the side of her pants. It diminished her not in the least. “Don’t ever ask me to do this to another living thing, Silver.” She pinched off the connection to the unnatural shrinking lump, rocking and wailing on the rich brown carpeting.

  Silver wiped her palms on the thighs of her jeans. “I didn’t know this would happen. I thought if we pinned the Soul Eater to his body, flooded the bastard with your emotional constipation, combined that with your ability to transmit energy through the shield and added a burnout he would disintegrate. Not turn into a pile of freaking black goo!”

  Mez entered our secure little bubble and tucked Silver under his arm. His dark stony face turned toward Corinne in censure. “You are as much to blame, Ice Queen. This Daedscua swallowed your borrowed sorrows. Let us agree this act shall not be repeated.”

  I held my twin’s hand and squeezed it so hard my knuckles cracked. “I hope this means the Soul Eater is dead.”

  As James wedged himself between Corinne and I he flung his rifle over his shoulder and settled the strap over his chest. “Me too.”

  All of us stood in a sloppy horseshoe and watched said goo begin to re-liquefy. The puddle’s protests grew in volume and pitch.

  No one guarded the door or turned when it splintered. We were too busy covering our ears.

  With a final hollow tin-can squeal, the tacky swirling blackness decreased in diameter until, after an audible pop, it disappeared.

  Chapter Thirty-Two: Trust Issues

  A man’s voice thrust into the blessed silence. “Open fire!”

  The spent rounds bounced off the shield and into the walls around us. Due to the angle, one or two even knocked out a Warp before they managed to cease the ineffective and dangerous, to them, barrage of bullets. The smell of burnt sulfur and hot metal coated the back of my tongue. Spent casings littered the floor like metallic confetti. Everyone’s ears had to be ringing.

  Chavarria was the only one with a raised weapon.

  I scratched the bridge of my nose as my eyes scanned for another clone in those gathered. “Are y’all about finished trying to kill us?” My hand fluttered in the direction of the downed Warps. I was sure I was shouting because I could hear the sound of my voice inside my own head. “Your boss is dead, by the way.”

  The cluster of uniformed men parted. And here was another Declan. His face was pinched and wrinkled. By far he was the oldest one yet, with pure white hair combed away from a seamed, age-spotted forehead.

  His vivid blue eyes glinted in the flickering light of the damaged circular fixtures in the pockmarked ceiling. “I find that hard to believe. The Master is not one easily done away with. He will return.”

  Silver huffed. “Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.”

  Mark Twain hadn’t gotten that wrong. Without Laser Eyes would the Warps give up their ways or was that just a dream? I clapped my hands together then spread them wide. “Where is he then? Can you feel a mental connection or is it just static?”

  The geriatric version of Declan tugged on the cuff of one sleeve and overlapped his palms. His uniform was tan like all the others but his collar was decorated with round pins that denoted his higher rank.

  “In my years I have seen many things. None of it would lead me to believe our Master can truly be defeated.” He inclined his head. “We cannot penetrate your protection—yet. Though you are outnumbered, I find we are at an impasse. Shall we be civilized while it suits us?”

  Chavarria put a finger in his ear as if he were listening to something he could barely make out. His head jerked and the cords in his neck stood out like pieces of string cheese. “Qué chingados! Me cago en la leche!”

  Malcolm lifted his chin. “What is it, Marco?”

  He kept one finger in an ear half listening while he dropped his word bombs at the big man. “There’s no time! The powers that be have decided this place is too high of a risk. Drones are in route. We’ve got minutes.”

  James spit at his own feet. “That’s some shit, Marco. Were they gonna wait ‘til you got out or just blow you to hell too?”

  Malcolm’s pectoral muscles flexed. “You bugged? What intel made ‘em antsy?”

  Chavarria closed his mouth and pressed his fingertip further into his ear. Dark brown eyebrows kissed over his nose.

  The older Declan sighed and bowed his head before gazing at the damaged ceiling. “I knew this day would come. The humans can’t be ignored forever. Eventually they destroy what they fear.”

  He made humans sound like a dirty word.

  Silver barked, “How many here?” When he hesitated she got louder. “How many?”

  His calm demeanor remained unruffled. “Close to five hundred.”

  I was thinking faster than I ever had. So fast, my thoughts were reduced to garbled shorthand. Words and images that only my twin would’ve understood zipped in and out of one another. “Is there anywhere big enough for you to gather? Do you run disaster drills?”

  He nodded and one of his men stood to attention and closed his eyes.

  Silver demanded, “Where?”

  Chavarria warned, “Five minutes or less, mula loca. I hope this shield can withstand air to surface missiles.”

  “It doesn’t have to.”

  Corinne put both hands to the sides of her neck. The blood streaks under nose and on her face were frightening and hideous. “You’re not seriously suggesting we transport over five hundred human beings are you?”

  Kevin and James sucked air though their teeth.

  Silver sluiced an arm through Corinne’s clear bubble to smack a shoulder. “Do we have a choice?”

  Mez wove his neck and clicked his teeth. “We do. Could you live with a different one?”

  I ordered the Warp commander, “Lead on. I suggest we run.”

  The stars were so much clearer away from the city. Our invasion party stood together in the open bed of a battered M927. White hair that reminded me of Silver’s sparkled under the flood light mounted on the armored truck cab behind us.

  The Warp Commander raised tan arms to the blue-black sky. “Be still!”

  Milling bodies froze mid-motion. Upturned faces looked for answers. A wealth of Declans knotted together toward the front—nearly fifty of them. I shivered.

  “What about the cells where they kept us, Silver?”

  “I know, Cass, I know, but there’s no time. If anyone is left at least their suffering is over.”

  She didn’t seem convinced of her own reasoning. I wasn’t either.

  Corinne expanded our shield until it encompassed
the crowd. She made sure it didn’t touch them, only included them without anyone the wiser. We linked up and it felt like the flames of hell rode us. My eyes began to water. The power was different. More controlled, but sucker punch powerful.

  James asked, “Where are we going?”

  I breathed deep. “I know a spot. Corinne, we’re doing a short test jump and then one big one.”

  Her ice cube eyes bore into me.

  “Why?”

  Silver cocked her head. “Are you up to no good?”

  I grinned, even though the situation didn’t warrant it. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  Chapter Thirty-Three: Last Rites

  A sound like wet thunder broke in the heavens. As the sky dissolved into pixilated pieces brilliant light chased the edges. Chilling desert air and the stench of death hit my face and clung there. Screams erupted. We’d arrived safely.

  James looked ahead, swore and yanked on my arm. “Was this necessary?”

  I twisted my hand out of his. “Do you want the war to end?”

  “There are children out on that mound!”

  Every muscle in my spine stiffened. I gave a curt nod. “Alive and dead, James.”

  Corinne hurried the shield along until we were all shrink-wrapped to her satisfaction. I turned. The horizon was a seething nightmare of fiery explosions—it back-lit us nicely on the crest of the dune. The Warp refugees slipped, slid and scrambled on all fours in their effort to get away from the gore and human offal they’d been deposited onto. Their expressions ranged from outright horror down to thinly veiled disgust. Those in uniform were the least surprised. Civilians were another matter. The shock and dismay they displayed was genuine. Many a child’s eyes were covered in an attempt to protect them from the carnage. Maybe I was heartless.