Soul Cage

by Phaedra Weldon

  "Maybe there's more than one?"

  "Yeah…"

  But why was it important?

  Joe leaned on the mantle. The thing captured souls, so why had he dreamed about it—and it had eaten him? Why had he seen it when he was wishing for a way to stop Rhonda? There was no way he was going to try and trap her soul inside of it. Since that was the artifact's only function then…

  He straightened up. Weren't First Borns, in a sense, disembodied souls?

  Oh no… no it can't be that easy.

  Unless…

  "Joe? You look somewhat surprised."

  No…that wasn't possible, was it? I mean, had she taken it to use it specifically for that reason? Or did she have it and it was just a convenient way to…

  "Joe?"

  "TC," he turned and grabbed the Phantasm's jacket sleeve. "I know where Morgan is."

  •••

  It took over an hour to get back to the Society House. Nona was in the infirmary with Dags so Joe went straight to Security with Azrael popping in out around him. Once at the records desk, he called up the camera footage from the archive room where Manuel was found. Originally the footage didn't give them any answers, but Joe hoped it was because they were looking at the wrong thing.

  Azrael popped in and stood by the door, facing Joe.

  Fast forwarding through he stopped when he saw Manuel walk from the archive room into the storage room. The angle of the camera was designed to show maximum archive area, to show the computers. But there was a small sliver of the storage room visible in the upper left hand corner. He zeroed in on that corner and refreshed several times. He sharpened and cleaned up the noise.

  "Joe—"

  "I see it." And there it was. It was only a half image since the other half was hidden by the storage room door.

  The stone dragon.

  He stood and headed down to the archives and storage room. Of course, it wasn't where he'd seen it.

  "Did you really expect it was still here?" Azrael said.

  "Not helping, Phanty," Joe closed his eyes and this time he wanted to find the stone dragon. The need was there. The desire and then suddenly, he had an image. "Its in her closet."

  "Are you sure?"

  He opened his eyes and looked at Azrael. "Trust me. I lived with her for a while. I know how disorganized her closet is. There's only one problem."

  "Getting into her closet without her knowing?"

  "Yeeeeah." Joe moved past him back into the archive room. "The only way I'm going to get in there without her knowing is shield myself. But I can't get past the Boggarts on the door without Nona's help and then there's Rhonda's own wards inside."

  Azrael said, "You could give her what she wants—if only for a few minutes."

  "You mean Dags?"

  "Yeah. I think if she sees him and is near him it'll be enough of a distraction you can run in and grab the dragon."

  "True," and it would work. But they'd have to make sure she couldn't hurt Dags. "There just one problem."

  "What's that?"

  He ran a hand through his hair. "Nona's never going to let Rhonda spend time alone with Dags right now." Joe refocused on the Phantasm. "It's going to be harder to convince Nona to let Rhonda out of that room and near Dags then getting the dragon itself. And once I do get the dragon," he shrugged. "How do you get a First Born's soul out?"

  -10-

  Jason stepped into Dags' room and motioned to get Nona's attention. He had a job to do, something Mephistopheles wasn't relishing. Which was why he'd left the task to his Revenant.

  The infirmary was housed three floors underground in the most secure area of the new Society House. Taking up the lowest floor, the infirmary was also part of the tunnel system connected to the garage that would allow a secret escape in case a patient or a prominent member of the Society needed to depart in secret. The farthest end of the main hall ended at a steel door that was on a twenty four seven watch from the Security station, monitored by motion sensors and a card-key. Only a few had that card. And even fewer knew the pass code.

  Beyond that door were seven vehicles of various makes and models, each available for what ever purpose was necessary at the time.

  Dags was sequestered into the room closest to the door, along with Manuel. There had been no change in Manuel's condition—something Jason hoped Joe and Azrael could rectify in short order. That is, if Nona would cooperate.

  She was seated beside Dags, just as she'd been during those months he'd been little more than a vegetable. He wasn't as lifeless now as he tossed and turned in a fevered sleep. Jason sensed something strange happening inside of him, as had all of the Revenants. But no one could put their finger on what. But all of them had worried it had something to do with the bomb of a magic book within.

  Nona frowned at him and quietly pointed to Dags. Jason shook his head as Mephistopheles finally spoke to her.

  We need to talk.

  Nona stood, checked the monitor read outs and made her way to the door. "This had better be important Jason," she said in a low voice. "Dags' temperature is stable, but I can't help thinking there's some connection between that page with the hole in it and his condition. That page told me it was Maureen."

  "The page said that?" Jason asked.

  "Yes. Which makes me think she's trying to communicate with us. But I don't know if the fever is caused by the missing page, or by her."

  Jason motioned her to follow him into one of the empty rooms. His skin crawled as he passed through one of Joe's wards and stood by the empty bed. Joe and Azrael stood nearby and watched as Nona came in and stopped.

  "What's going on?"

  "I know where Morgan is," Joe said.

  "Is that why you cast that ward?"

  "Yes. I don't want Rhonda hearing this." He stepped toward her. "The stone dragon's not at your place anymore, Nona. And when I reviewed the security tapes of before they found Manuel on the floor, it's visible just through the door of the storage room."

  Her eyes widened. "It's here?"

  "Yeah. Remember when Tim said she'd been to the house to get things? I'm willing to bet the dragon was one of them. And I'm pretty sure it's in Rhonda's room. Specifically in her closet. "

  She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not going to argue or question how you know that—you've been surprising me a lot lately, Joseph. But I am questioning as to why we're in here?"

  "Because I need you to get her out of her room."

  "No."

  "Nona—we have to help Morgan as well as Dags."

  "Joe I just can't—"

  "We can't get to that dragon if she's sequestered in that room," Joe spoke up. "I'm pretty sure I can subvert what wards she has as long as she's occupied with something else."

  "What's this else?" Nona looked to each of them. Jason, Azrael and Joe.

  "Dags," all three of them said in unison. And that wasn't rehearsed.

  "No," she turned to leave.

  "Nona," Joe reached out and touched her shoulder. "Please, I know you're protective of him, and he's one of your favorites but we don't mean to have her harm him. We need her distracted and the best way to do that is to put him in front of her. Let her see him. She can't actually do anything with him."

  Nona faced Joe and fixed him with one of her stares, the kind Zoë had always complained about. "Let me explain something to you, Joseph Halloran. Dags is not my favorite. I don't pick favorites. If that were you in that shape I'd be just as worried and attentive as I am with Dags. But what does single him out is that god-damned book in his chest I wished we'd never found." She stopped, apparently aware she'd raised her voice.

  Jason held out his hand. "Kitten, please…" he hadn't realized he's used his old pet name for her till after it was out of his mouth. Well, no taking it back now. "With me and you and Umayma guarding Dags, with Tel watching our backs, it makes it easier for Joe and Azrael to grab the dragon. We have to release Morgan. Only she and Manuel can tell us what happened—and by that we might g
et a better idea of what the hell's up with Rhonda."

  He thought she was going to object to the name, or him using it publicly. But if Joe or Azrael noticed they didn't react.

  After a long silence her shoulders visibly lowered. "I'll agree if only we someone on standby ready to tranq Rhonda if she tries something. I don't want Dags put into any more danger. He's not like he was—he's not awake yet but he will be soon as we get that temperature down. I want Manuel and Morgan reunited. She did narrow her eyes at Joe. "You think you can get through her wards?"

  "Hell yeah. Remember I lived with her for a few months," he grinned. "She didn't use any magic I couldn't break through."

  •••

  "I can't break this," Joe muttered as he squatted down in front of Rhonda's closet. He could see the ward as it shimmered around the opening. It created an impenetrable egg shape, much like the Abysmal Throne. It'd taken an hour to get things ready, remove the boggarts, escort Rhonda down and then get into her room. He'd been at this for fifteen minutes.

  So much for the power of confidence.

  Azrael squatted down beside him. "Should I just smash it?"

  "Hulk no smash." Joe saw the shapes and symbols she used, and he could hear the spell in his head. It was like when he was little, when he could figure out his mother's wards she's put up on the refrigerator to keep him from eating everything. Or the one she kept on the cookie jar. He'd easily found a way to break through that one and leave it in tact so she wouldn't even know he'd been in it.

  He was good at not leaving any fingerprints.

  But this… "She's used a spell I'm not familiar with. I mean," and he pointed to the two marks up to the right. "These are something I've seen before."

  "You think she got it out of the Grimoire?"

  "Possibly." Joe rubbed his chin with his finger. "Well, I'd wanted to do this without her knowing, but I don't think we have a choice."

  "Meaning you're going to make some noise."

  "Yeah… I'm gonna make some noise." He sighed as he rubbed his hands together. The friction made them warm, which for him was his own foci into channel his power. He raised them and held them palm out toward the closet door. Living with Rhonda had given him a small insight into her way of creating spells. She always used poetry—especially that of Tennyson. The Lady of Shalot being her favorite. The words appeared in front of him as he filed through the poem in his head. He scanned them, wishing for the answer, until the words he needed became bold. He spoke them aloud and—

  The field vanished with an audible pop.

  "I didn't hear a noise."

  Joe stuck his pinky in his ear and wiggled. "I did. Owe. I don't remember it ever doing that before."

  Azrael leaned forward as he reached in and grabbed the dragon. It looked like a cheap ceramic dragon with a brown stone faux finish that felt like real stone.

  Joe took it from Azrael. "Now let's unlock this one." He concentrated on it and wished he knew how to open it. What he got back was little more than static.

  "Well?"

  "I'm working on it."

  "Why can't we just break it?"

  "No."

  "You said Zoë broke it."

  "Look," Joe said as he examined the base structure with his magic. "This thing is a work of magical prowess. It's not just a statue. And inside isn't just the usual empty space. Behind its facade rests an infinitesimal universe of inter dimensional—"

  Azriel grabbed the dragon and dashed it against the closet frame. It smashed into several large pieces.

  The floor shook beneath and Joe fell over on his backside. He and Azrael looked at one another with wide eyes as the House alarms sounded.

  The Phantasm held up his right index finger. "I did not do that."

  "You did something," he looked down at the pieces and then felt another shake to the floor, half expecting the thing to reform but it didn't. "Come on—I don't think this has anything to do with the dragon."

  The two of them ran out of Rhonda's room and hurried down the stairs to the main lobby. Employees and emergency teams moved back and forth, in and out of the front door as the large chandelier swayed overhead. Joe grabbed hold of one of the women. "What's happening?"

  "Explosion below," she said, breathless.

  He noticed her face was cut and she was covered in what looked like dry wall dust. She was also wearing scrubs. "Oh fuck…in the medical wing?"

  "Yes. We're working on getting as many out as possible."

  He let her go as someone touched his own arm. It was Tel, one of the Revenants. He'd been posted outside of Dags' room. He was disheveled and bleeding from several cuts on his face. "Tel—what happened?"

  But it was Loki, his First Born that answered. "We heard a rumbling…and then the door to Morgan's room blew outward into the hall. We moved out of its way just before the door to Dags' room exploded out. I'm afraid Tel and I were pulled away before we could get a good look at what happened."

  Dags' room? Joe looked at Azrael who immediately vanished.

  Fuck…fuckfuckfuck! He didn't think about it this time…nor did he care as he summoned that old familiar power that rested deep inside of his chest. He ran to the stairwell, the one that lead down to the lower floors. It was a good guess the elevator was out. People poured out of the stairway as he waited impatiently, then dove into the smoke, unconsciously setting up a barrier around himself to keep the smoke out of his own lungs.

  On the way down he rubbed his hands together, wishing all the while on how to get everyone out alive.

  And how to stop whatever was happening—from happening.

  But the answer didn't come to him as the stairs ended and he ran out into the medical corridor. Smoke obscured everything so he had to go on memory. The elevator would be to his right, Dags' room across the hall to the left. He held out his right hand and a light appeared a few inches away. "Nona! Jason?" he called out.

  "Here!" came a voice in the smoke, though he didn't recognize it.

  Joe moved cautiously forward, his other hand out to find the wall. It was hot to the touch as he moved along it, using it as a guide. He found the doorframe and peered around inside.

  The room was surprisingly clear of smoke—but that wasn't what made his jaw drop.

  What he saw did.

  Rhonda stood in the center of the room, debris suspended in mid air around her, her hands raised upward. Standing to the right of her was Nona, her hands out as well. Neither of them moved. It looked like a magical duel, but both combatants had been frozen in mid-fire. Nona firing off a blue white electrical string of energy at Rhonda, and Rhonda matching with a red and black one.

  "Looks like Obi-Wan verses the Sith," Joe tried to wrap his head around what he was seeing.

  Jason lay on his right side, facing the other wall, unmoving. But Joe could see blood under him and on the back of his shirt. Umayma lay on the floor just past him, also unmoving.

  And Dags—

  Well, that's what had Joe a bit flummoxed.

  Dags was on his knees in the bed, dressed in just a pair of scrubs. Both of his hands were up and light shot out of his palms. If Joe had to figure out the scene, he'd think Dags was holding Nona and Rhonda in a battle snow globe.

  "I can't hold them forever, Detective," Dags said, only it didn't really sound like Dags. There was a strange echo in the voice that reminded him of how a Revenant sounded when their First Born took control. "Do…what I say to do. Use the physical plane as a stabilizing force—basically freeze the molecules around them."

  Joe understood the direction—what his grandmother had once called basic Magical physics used in order to stop time. Of course time wasn't really stopped—it was more or less on pause.

  The magical already summoned, Joe dismissed the light and redirected his attention on exactly what Dags said to do. His arms grew immediately heavier and he broke out into a sweat. "Got it," he said through gritted teeth. "Now what."

  Dags lowered his arms and stumbled off the bed. He
landed on his knees but managed to pick himself up. "Hold them…Detective…"

  Detective…why is he calling me by my rank? "Dags…what the hell…is going on…"

  "Not Dags," he said in that odd voice as he stumbled over to Nona and Rhonda. He stood just outside the stillness Joe maintained and stared at Nona. Then he looked at Rhonda before he half turned to look at Joe. "Listen to me."

  Perspiration rolled down Joe's forehead and into his eyes. It moved down his back as his arms shook. He held onto a turbine blade, preventing it from spinning, but the blades were slicing into his hands. Pain began as a slow throb, but it was getting louder.

  Dags spoke again in that odd voice. "I can't let either of them die, Detective. Rhonda's jealousy will be her own undoing, but right now, it's a window into her power and something is using this. Nona suspects this—tell her she's right. If you let go, Nona will die. Rhonda's power is far stronger because of what is working through that portal."

  Joe frowned. "You mean…are you saying Rhonda's possessed?" Come on, you can keep hold. "I think…I think my grip's slipping."

  "Only a second, Detective. Your power is the strongest of all, and yet you don't exercise it. You'll have to summon Zoë back and work with Nona. It's the only way you can destroy their power." He turned back to the stilled combatants. "I'm going to work at keeping the Grimoire safe. Find us as soon as you can."

  "Wait…who are you if…if you're not Dags?"

  Dags said in a soft voice, "Tell Nona she read the message right. Tell her Maureen says hi," and with that he ran forward into the stilled debris around Rhonda and embraced her.

  The turbine under Joe's control exploded and he slammed against the wall behind him just before the room went dark.

  -11-

  "Hey…" came a familiar voice in that darkness. "I think he's waking up."

  "Manuel?" Joe opened his eyes.