Dark Time

by Phaedra M. Weldon

  But Inanna wasn't one for patience and instead told him to drive her there (or he thought I wanted it, not Inanna) or she was going there by herself. Manuel, bless his heart, wasn't going to leave me alone or let me act without some kind of backup. No matter what the majority of the Revenants thought of the Wraith, Manuel believed in me.

  It bruised what was left of my heart knowing it wasn't me, that he was being betrayed, lied to by his own—or rather her own since the First Born was Morgan—sister.

  "I just don't see why he doesn't question this, you know?" I was pacing, very much aware I was doing it dressed in nothing but a hospital gown. In fact I'd been in a hospital gown the whole time and hadn't even noticed…till I caught that backside draft.

  "Maybe because she's acting exactly the way you would?"

  I stopped in mid pace and glared at Daniel, who was leaning up against a dark wall. "No she isn't."

  "Yeah, she is." He chuckled. "Zoë, how many times have you gone off, half cocked, with no idea of the danger you were putting yourself in, just because you had a hunch or a lead?"

  I didn't answer.

  He was right.

  And that just…pissed me off more.

  I'd told him about the weakness I'd sensed, about that brief second of control. But we both agreed there might not be another moment. I was pretty sure the realization this Charybdis chick was what caused the first one. So what could made a second break?

  Well…I was going to be ready for it. I just didn't know what I was going to do when it came. Cry treason and let slip the dogs of war?

  Rawr.

  Mental eye roll.

  Vanessa Stephens lived in a mansion—it wasn't as impressive as Rhonda's uncle's had been. You know…the one I broke? But it was big. It took about ten minutes before I realized…

  This was Reverend Rollins's house!!

  After nearly two years, here I was, back in the same place I'd been after Tanaka's death, and after meeting Daniel for the first time. Bits and pieces of the front were different. The doors had been replaced, and the chandelier that hung from the awning was gone.

  Vanessa Stephens lived here.

  "Well this is interesting." Daniel put a hand on my shoulder.

  "Interesting? It's creepy."

  Manuel parked the car and got out with Inanna. Or me. Everyone recognized me 'cause all these men in black suits melted out of the surrounding shrubs and trained their guns on me. And Manuel.

  "Hey, hey…" The Revenant held his hands up to show he wasn't carrying. "I'm Manuel Salazar. This is Zoë Martinique."

  "We're well aware who this is," said a stout man in a three piece stood as he stepped through the front door. "We were warned she might show up here so we're all armed."

  By armed I noticed they were all carrying those damned L-6 weapons. I could kill Randall for creating those things.

  "I just want to see Ms. Stephens," Inanna said in my voice. She held out my arms to show she wasn't armed she hadn't shifted. "It's very important."

  "You'll be shipped back to the House, Miss Martinique. Ms Stephens doesn't see freaks."

  "Really? The head of the Society of Ishmael is calling me a freak?" Inanna folded my arms. "Tell Ms Stephens this is about…the slat na ríghe."

  Daniel and I blinked. "What what?"

  "I have no idea."

  I tried to see Manuel's face but couldn't. Inanna was too focused on the stout man's expression. He paused and then motioned to the closest guards. "Bring them into the den. Keep a close eye on them." He turned and disappeared inside.

  Walking back into this house was like walking back into my memories. Everything else was the same, right down to the marble floors and right and left upward staircase. We were lead down the same hall that once showed off all of the Reverend's pictures with celebrities and people of power. Pictures still decorated the long walk, but these were images of Vanessa Stephens instead of Rollins.

  The den was obviously the old Rev's office. The glass walls were still there, but the lavish desk with the religious logo was long gone. There was a desk, but it was made of glass and steel and the room had a sort of…blank feel to it. No feeling. No…warmth.

  "Sit." One of the guards pointed to the beige sofas. Inanna sat next to Manuel.

  It didn't take long for the mistress herself to step in and order everyone out of the room. Vanessa Stephens hadn't aged well. In fact, it looked as if she'd aged ten years in two. She wore a well pressed pants suit of gray and faced the two of us from behind her desk. "Well…I never thought she'd convince you to be so reckless Mr. Salazar. You always struck me as one of Jason's more…civilized devils."

  Manuel actually gave a small bow. "The reason we're here isn't recklessness, Ms Stephens. We're here because we were looking for Rhonda Orly. What we found–"

  "Yes I've already been informed of what you and this…abomination have done. You left quite a mess in your wake. And coming straight here was just…stupid."

  Wait…what? What was she insinuating? I felt Inanna's hackles rise along with my own.

  "This doesn't look good," Daniel muttered.

  "Excuse me?" Inanna said, and her tone almost revealed her control. "Ms Stephens, Manuel and I did not cause the catastrophe we encountered in that house. It was already there."

  "Impossible. We've had our men on surveillance there since she moved in and detected nothing. And yet you destroy thousands of dollars of first rate equipment, break in, and then have the nerve to tell me you didn't do it?" She straightened up and put her hands on her hips. "Where is Rhonda Orly? Is she in the same ditch you buried Joe Halloran?"

  Wha….how….oh….that bitch!

  "You stupid piece of mortal flesh," Inanna's voice came through loud and clear as she revealed herself front and center. I was already aware of what Ms Stephens was seeing. Me…ashen skin…lots of black swirls…and very, very black eyes. Oh and don't forget the…wait for it…oh there they go.

  The fangs.

  Vanessa took a step back and bumped into her desk. "You get away from me," she hissed.

  But Inanna was coming forward. "You dare accuse me of killing innocents? Rhonda Orly might have been infected with rage and jealousy but she was just a child. And Halloran…" she sneered. "Joe Halloran is by far the most powerful of his kind and should have been protected by your Society." She pointed a long, sharp talon at the shaking old woman. "But I'm beginning to see the more sinister side. The side Nona Martinique warned us about. The side that isn't here to study the planar worlds to help them, but to destroy them."

  I wasn't sure what Ms Stephens was made of, but it was a greater metal than what I assumed, 'cause she straightened herself up, adjusted her suit jacket and took a step toward Inanna. "Why do you think Abraham Domas created the Society you stupid monster? Huh? Why do you think he risked everything to become what he is today? So he could help you? He's there to destroy you. You, those damned angels, those demons, everything that threatens this world that God created! He's been studying you for years…" she took another step forward. "Yes years. Learning and taking notes. The Dioscuri files are there to educate us about things like you, Wraith. Things that should not be allowed into the world. Ever!"

  Oh. Dear. God.

  This woman was nothing more than a religious zealot and knew just enough of the right stuff to be dangerous.

  Inanna's arm shot out and grabbed Vanessa Stephens around the neck. She lifted her up as if lifting a basket of biscuits. Vanessa's legs dangled and kicked as she made gurgling noises and tried in vain to pry Inanna's hands away from her windpipe.

  "Zoë!" Manuel jumped in and grabbed at Inanna's arms and tried to pull it down. "You can't do that! This isn't helping you or us. You can't attack the head of the Society!"

  "The head? She's nothing but a puppet. A puppet for something bigger and worse than you can even imagine, Morganna."

  Morganna?

  That's when Manuel stopped trying to bring Inanna's arm down or freeing the woman. His dark eyes
widened as he looked at me…at Inanna and I saw realization dawn in his face. "Inanna…you're not just borrowing…" He swallowed. "You're owning. No….you can't do that. You know we're forbidden from doing that!" He reached out to touch her.

  Inanna knocked Manuel away with her free hand. Manuel went sprawling backward and landed on his ass. "And why is that, Morganna? Why can't we take back what we lost? Why can't we use these monkeys to get rid of that impostor? Why can't we use all the power I found and spent centuries of my life gathering to set the world back the way it's supposed to be?"

  Manuel's eyes went black and his face changed. So did his voice as his First Born surged forward. He was back on his feet in the blink of an eye, a hand on Inanna's arm. "That's not going to bring our mother back, Inanna. She's gone. That foul, loathsome creature obliterated her."

  "No she still lives," Inanna spoke to Morgan / Manuel but still held Vanessa Stephens in the air. The woman was slowly dying. "Her blood is there, resting within the Children. Even the Irin have it. I can feel mother inside of this body. She's calling to us to bring her back, to destroy the usurper and to release the Tetragrammaton."

  There was that word again. The four letters of God.

  "Killing her and stealing the Wraith's body isn't the way to go. Our mother created the Children in order for the Sentinels to be reborn. They're her children. What are you planning on doing? Using this wand to find them and hunt them down?"

  "Yes." She shrugged Morgan / Manuel's hand off my arm. "There is a spell in the Grand Grimoire that will allow me to bring her back. I need her blood. Their blood. And that blood is strongest in five of the Children—"

  "Inanna—"

  "The Twins are here, Morganna." Inanna paused. "They're already in the Physical Plane."

  That got Morgan / Manuel's attention. He stepped back. "That's not possible. That place was sealed. Nothing gets out."

  "She's here. She was in that witch's home. And she was looking for the White Rod." Her attention zeroed in on Vanessa Stephens again. The woman hadn't passed out yet. Apparently Inanna knew exactly how much pressure to apply to immobilize, but not kill.

  Yet.

  "We have to gather the Coterie, Inanna. They have to be told. Zoë's not the problem here. She is."

  "Oh it's worse than that," Inanna shook Ms Stephens. The woman's head rolled around. "She has a host."

  "Oh no… la profecía. Then we have to act now—"

  At that point I wasn't sure what happened because it was fast and Daniel and I were limited to seeing what Inanna saw.

  The first thing she did was toss Vanessa Stephens to the side. The woman flew through the air and slammed into a wall of book shelves. She collapsed in a heap and was still. Next Inanna went Wraith and flew at Morgan / Manuel, catching them off guard. She slammed Manuel's body against the opposite wall and then shoved an entire hand full of my talons into his chest, pinning him to the same wall. Blood poured out over the wounds and pooled on the floor.

  "NO!" I rushed at the view and a wave of anger and rage poured forward.

  Inanna staggered back and released Manuel from the wall. He also fell in a heap to the ground and was still.

  "No…no you don't!"

  Eshe appeared and rushed at me in that dark place, eyes black, fangs long.

  9

  I wasn't physically prepared for the attack, but I was mentally there because I was already ready to scratch her eyes out. So when she tackled me I held onto her so she couldn't get away. Eshe and I rolled over and over and we were both sucker punching each other with any free hand we had. She caught me in a gut punch but I landed a very nice right hook across her face and a kick to her shin.

  Daniel was the one screaming at me to stop and after a few seconds his words broke through.

  "….it! She's just keep you busy! Dismiss her! She's not really here!"

  Keeping me busy?

  Shit!

  He said to dismiss her and so I did by pulling away from her and then turning my back. She vanished.

  But what I was seeing through outside….

  "No…" I grabbed Daniel. "She…she can't do that!"

  Inanna laughed. Oh but I can. Who do you think created the spell?

  Manuel was on his back, his eyes open and wide. Inanna was carving familiar symbols over his face with my nails, rending flesh as it curled up underneath. I could see Manuel struggling to move, to get up, but he couldn't. He was trapped.

  "Manuel!"

  But he didn't answer me. There was no sound from Morgan.

  Memories of Aether's body in Lex's lab, nude and covered in those symbols came to me. Aether was gone, but the soul of his host lingered in a decaying body. And then Maureen had done the same to Lex, and her First Born Yamato had vanished. Jason had nearly died from the same ritual but we'd stopped her.

  No one was there to stop Inanna. I cursed and yelled at her, but nothing happened. There wasn't a second of weakness for me to step in. And she was talking to Manuel / Morgan as she carved. "Yes it's really for the best. With the White Rod I can find the other Children and gather them. Then I can take the Guardian and used the Grand Grimoire to bring our mother back, Morganna. Once she's awake once again, we can finally purge Charybdis, her brother and her sister, and then…her mother. Once they're gone, and the Wraith and the Guardian are removed from our path, we can kill the Seraphim and restore order as it should be. Won't it be glorious, sister?" She paused and wiped her nails on the carpet, making long red smears alongside the spreading pool of blood that seeped out from beneath Manuel's body…where my nails had stabbed him. "I am sorry you won't be there to see it. But I have to use your death to get our family mobilized. They have to act…" she looked behind her. "They have to join in the fight to free our mother."

  I was on my knees, crying for Manuel. It was as if I could sense his fear. I could sense… my own mortal danger for the first time.

  I heard pounding from somewhere but ignored it.

  When Inanna was done with the symbols, she spoke a word that made no sense to me. Manuel's back arched, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

  Help!

  I tried to reach out to him. I screamed his name.

  "Manuel!"

  Let me in!

  But it was no use. As Inanna stood, Manuel's body collapsed and was still. I felt a rush of wings as something moved close to me and lingered just out of reach. I knew Manuel's body was dead, and I knew from the horrible magic of the death that Manuel's soul would still be inside.

  "Now…for you, Ms Stephens." Inanna strolled to the broken old woman by the book case and took her by the shoulders. Vanessa Stephens moaned and coughed as she was propped up against the shelves. "Where is the wand?"

  "Go to hell."

  "I live there. So…" Inanna knelt in front of her. "It hurts doesn't it? I can feel your body slowly giving up. I broke your back, you know."

  Vanessa's eyes widened, if only for a second. She was trying to be strong. But she was afraid. And she was failing.

  "But…you see…for the wand, I can fix you. I can make you whole again."

  "No…" I said as I backed away. "Oh no…Inanna don't. Please don't…"

  "What is she doing?" Daniel said.

  He sounded like he was far away, but I couldn't pull my eyes from what I was seeing. "She's going to make her a Ghoul." I looked over at Daniel. He did look dimmer. What was she doing to him. "Daniel?"

  "You really think she'll do that?" He looked at the view. "That'll make Stephens her slave."

  "I think that's her plan. No…" I didn't like the woman. Not even a little bit. But I wouldn't want that kind of control held over anyone. I understood the Ghoul / Revenant relationship between Jason and Nick. That was one of mutual respect. But this wasn't going to be like that. And the best way to punish Vanessa if she disobeyed would be to withhold blood and the pain from that withdrawal would drive her mad with hunger.

  Please… Inanna…don't do that.

  You think I w
ould settle for that kind of control, Wraith?

  Uh oh.

  Wait…

  What did that mean?

  "I'm waiting on your answer, Ms Stephens. I can make the pain go away."

  "And…damn my soul…"

  "No. No damning. In fact, I would make you feel better than you've ever felt."

  "You're…you are exactly the monster I thought you were, Zoë Martinique. And your mother will know this. Your mother will help us destroy you."

  No…oh fuck shit…she still thinks it's me! I closed my eyes and looked into every crevice I could find, searching for some way in or out or through. Anything I could do to take my body back.

  But there was nothing.

  "It's in the desk. There."

  Inanna followed where Vanessa pointed and went to the desk. She opened drawer after drawer but didn't pull anything out.

  "Not that desk. The desk in the house."

  I stopped for a second. The desk in the house? Did she mean the Society House?

  Inanna bent over the woman and put a hand on her jaw and opened her mouth. "You lied to me."

  "Monnoo…." Vanessa tried to answer.

  This was it. She was going to give her blood, and then Vanessa Stephens would be locked to Inanna for the rest of her days.

  Inanna released the woman's jaw. "Let me in."

  Vanessa blinked. "What?"

  I blinked. What?

  "Let me in, Vanessa Stephens. Invite me in and I will give you eternal life, and power. That's what you want, isn't it?" She leaned in close. "What you really want."

  I staggered backward. This was….

  Let me in!

  She was saying the same thing a First Born asks when they bond with a mortal. The simple ritual that seals the bond. I invited Inanna in the same way. Was she thinking of abandoning me…and jumping to Vanessa?

  Could she do that?

  "Zoë—"

  "Y-yes," Vanessa said. "That's what I want. Please…come in."

  I whirled at Daniel's voice and gasped. He was thin. Barely there. Like a transparency over black. "Daniel!"