by Ilana Waters
But Beverly was faster. In what seemed like a single motion, she ripped the door off a car husk and slammed it over Carly. It pinned her arms to her sides in a sea of twisted metal. She screamed and writhed, the steel tearing into her flesh, rivers of blood running off the door. Beverly didn’t even hesitate before she grabbed Carly’s head and tore it from her shoulders.
Jimmy and I looked on, slack-jawed, as Carly’s body and the car door hit the ground with a thud and a screech. And no, vampires don’t turn into neat little piles of ash when they are killed, unless they’re burned like Miko. Though it would be very convenient if they did.
Panting hard, Beverly threw Carly’s head next to her body. She joined us back behind the van, blood soaking the front of her dress and legs.
“Well . . . damn.” There was a hint of pride in Jimmy’s voice. “You saved me. Ah, thank you.”
“No trouble.” Beverly wiped her hands over one another to rid them of blood and car grime. Then she turned to me. “Of course, I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t been crazy enough to pick up that grenade. What on earth were you thinking?”
“Isn’t it obvious, Bev?” said Jimmy. “Since vampires are known for exceptional speed—including when we throw grenades—it allowed Joshua a few precious seconds to throw the grenade back before it went off.”
“Hmmm . . . then I have to admit,” Beverly said to me reluctantly, “it was clever of you to think of that.”
“Ah, yes.” I nodded quickly. “Quite clever.” Because no one in their right mind would pick up a live grenade, now, would they?
“Though I have to say,” I jutted my chin at the now-headless Carly, “I wouldn’t have expected a bomb attack from someone dressed like a businesswoman.”
Jimmy stared at Carly’s body with me. “I guess she really did mean business.”
The smoke had completely cleared now, and we heard Reaper coughing at the other end of the room. Inwardly, I swore. I was hoping he hadn’t survived. Apparently, he was stubborn that way.
“As you can plainly see, Reaper, this isn’t like the other times,” Jimmy called, his voice a warning. “I think we’ve proven we’re serious. Now, tell us where the statue is.”
“Yes, please do,” I said. “Then we can go back to what we were doing, and you can go back to pillaging or plundering or however you spend your nights.”
Finally, Reaper caught his breath, and I peered around the side of the van. I saw he was in much the same state as Carly had been before we killed her. His hair was in disarray, and sooty smudges covered his face and chest. A good part of his clothing had been torn, burned, or both. Yet, for all that, Reaper was relatively unharmed—and in no mood to impart the statue’s location.
“Okay,” he rasped before his voice returned to normal. “So you’ve got a few tricks up your sleeve. Still, you’re not exactly the most magical creature I’ve ever seen. You look like a government clerk.” He walked closer to the van. I stepped in front of it, staring hard at him before Beverly and Jimmy joined me. There were only about thirty feet between us now. “When you said you were a mage,” he continued, “I expected a tall, pointy hat and a robe with stars.”
“That’s a wizard, you moron,” I said. “And only in fiction. Besides, I’m not one for accessories. Though I could say the same about you. Rather an awkward thing to carry around, that sword.” I raised my eyebrows at the weapon he’d managed to keep strapped to his back, despite the explosion. “Is there a Renaissance faire around here I don’t know about?”
“Not exactly.” Reaper grinned in that way I knew spelled trouble. “It’s just that I couldn’t help but go browsing when we got into town. After all, it was just sitting there among all those other lovely treasures on loan from the museum. Like this one.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a tiny statue on a pedestal.
A statue of a jade monkey.
Beverly gasped, Jimmy gave a cry of outrage, and I tried to keep my jaw from hitting the floor.
“You . . . you had it the whole time?” Beverly’s voice got higher and angrier with each word.
“You sneaky son of a—” Jimmy started.
“Oh, stop.” Reaper walked back and forth from shelf to shelf. “To be fair, I didn’t have it all the other times you asked. We only managed to get it tonight, before that mortal gallery opening started. Thanks for the floor show, by the way.” He laughed and shook his head. “It was hilarious watching you buffoons searching, panicking. And when you thought the mage and his friend had it . . .” He was laughing even harder now, almost doubled over. I was tempted to kill him right then, while he wasn’t paying attention. But he stood up too quickly.
“We stopped following you once you hit the alley,” he continued, “but we knew it was only a matter of time till you came here.”
“You were spying on us?” Jimmy said in disbelief.
“You’re really surprised?” Reaper cocked his head. “Does that make me a bad person?”
“No, being a sociopath makes you a bad person,” I said through gritted teeth. “Rather comes with the territory.”
“Indeed,” said Rattler. Then he smiled at Beverly and Jimmy. “But speaking of sociopaths, shouldn’t you be more worried about the one waiting at the Drake? I hear he’s got nasty things in mind for both of you if you don’t deliver something tonight. Very nasty things.” He glanced at the statue in his hand. “I considered destroying it, of course. But then I thought, how much more fun would it be to torment you? To hold it just out of your grasp?”
What are we waiting for? Beverly asked Jimmy and me. It’s three against one. Why don’t we just take him?
Wait, don’t, I said. This feels off. He’s too confident. He might have something up his sleeve.
Reaper looked from one of us to the other. I knew my block prevented him from reading our minds. But apparently, he’d still gathered what we were thinking.
“Yeees, why don’t you come and get this little item?” He shook the statue back and forth between his fingers. I saw Beverly give a start, trying to resist the urge to run forward.
It’s so close! Jimmy’s whole body tensed, like a coil ready to spring.
“Don’t,” I said out loud, fixing my gaze on Reaper. “It’s just what he wants.”
Now Beverly turned to me, nostrils flaring. “Remember, mage, nothing’s changed no matter how much you’ve helped us so far. If we don’t get that statue, this night will be your lover’s last. He’ll die where we left him, tied up in that chair.”
“He?” Reaper hooted, his eyes widening. “Your lover’s a he? That’s who the other man at the gallery was?”
“It’s not as romantic as she’s making it sound.” I glared at Beverly. “And the he or she of it depends on my mood. But that doesn’t matter, because the only person left to die tonight is you.”
Reaper nodded, his face taking on a smug look. “Now we get to it. That’s why you’re here. They’ve got your sweetheart waiting in the wings. Well, don’t worry. I’m not as weak as Miko and Carly. I’ll not only dispense with your crew, I’ll find your little boyfriend and come after him as well.”
“You may want to reconsider that,” I said. “He’s got angry lawyers.”
Reaper chuckled again. “You have spirit, mage. I’ll give you that. But do you know how many people have come looking for this silly thing, even when I didn’t have it?” He held the statue up to the light, turning it round and round in his hand. “I’ve managed to do away with each and every one of them. What makes you think you won’t die like all the others?”
“Oh, I’m not one to follow trends,” I replied. Reaper put the statue back in his pocket.
“Do you want to know what I’m going to do next?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I sighed, exasperated. “Twirl your moustache and tie a maiden to a set of train tracks?”
You’re wasting time! Jimmy said. You should be thinking of a plan. One look from Beverly and I could tell she agreed.
; I am trying to think of a plan! I resisted the urge to rub my temples again. I was gathering as much magic as I could, not letting Reaper see. I’m also trying to determine what his plan is.
“Again with the whole playing-the-hero thing,” Reaper said. “You’re a mage, for whatever that’s worth. At least you’re not a mere mortal. You have powers. You could be off pursuing excitement in whatever way you like. With whomever you like. Look at our kind, for instance. We draw mortals to our sides like magnets. Then we take what we want and move on. Simple.”
It was difficult to listen to Reaper’s drivel, but at least now, I had enough magic to get a weapon. I turned around, reached out, and with a great deal of effort ripped one of the metal poles out of the wall. Yes, the same one I’d nearly been run through with earlier. I quickly turned back to face Reaper, holding the pole horizontally with both hands. Beverly and Jimmy cried out in surprise. Reaper barely blinked.
“Did it ever occur to you that apathy isn’t one of your more attractive traits?” I asked him. “That the whole been-there-done-that-got-the-T-shirt attitude is a real turnoff? Apathy typically denotes a lack of passion for life.” I shook my head. “Lack of passion. I can’t think of anything less sexy.”
“So you’re saying that caring is sexy?” Reaper started laughing again.
“Why, yes. I guess I am.”
Reaper’s laugh ended in a derisive snort. “Fine. So you care. You know what that makes you? A fool. A sucker, that’s what.”
I narrowed my eyes at him for a moment, then took a step back. “I suppose you’re right. I could be running from one hedonistic pleasure to the next instead of trying to do good in the world. Maybe that does make me a sucker. But you know what else it makes me? Unusual. Whereas you are about as mundane and . . . clichéd as it gets.”
The smile faded from Reaper’s face, and he fixed his mouth in a line. “Look, I’ve had enough of this whole philosophical conver—”
I didn’t let Reaper finish. Taking him by surprise, I surged forward and impaled him with the pole.
“So am I.” My voice was heavy with the effort it had taken to run him into the wall.
“Now give me that monkey!”
Really, dear reader. The things you never thought you’d say in your life.
Chapter 6
Reaper stared at me, eyes bulging, gurgling noises coming from his throat. A thin stream of blood seeped from his mouth and ran down his chin. I was about to reach into his back pocket to retrieve the statue when he beat me to it.
He was grinning again now, right in my face, which was only inches from his. He held the statue up with one hand, arm extended, just out of my reach. I gnashed my teeth as I twisted the pole inside him. His body spasmed, but he was still smiling, still holding the statue.
The hell with this. I’d essentially nailed him to the wall. Time to grab that statue and—
“Beverly, no!” I heard Jimmy cry.
Apparently, Beverly had the same idea, but was far less patient. She dashed forward and snatched at the statue. Reaper threw me aside with one powerful stroke, and I went crashing into the shelf of cars on the right. He wrenched the pole out of his torso and struck Beverly on the back with it just as she approached.
Beverly cried out as the pole hit her, then again as Reaper broke her fall by grabbing her hair. He held her head in the crook of his elbow, rising in the air to stand on the tallest shelf where we’d first seen him. Then he reached around and pulled his sword out from its sheath, which made a chilling, slicing sound. He released Beverly’s throat from his elbow only to hold the sword underneath her chin.
So that was why Reaper seemed so confident. It was his plan all along to wait until one of us did something rash, then take advantage of the situation. And we’d played right into his hands. At this point, gentle reader, I uttered a long stream of unpleasant words that I won’t trouble you with here.
“Wait, please!” Jimmy begged as he rushed toward the shelf, arms outstretched. I managed to pick myself up off the floor, despite the fact that it felt like all my bones were broken. I stumbled next to Jimmy and looked up. Light glinted off the sword in the most terrifying way. Even at this distance, I could tell it was no Renaissance faire replica. That thing was the real McCoy.
Now Reaper’s laughter reverberated throughout the room at a nearly hysterical pitch. The sound made hairs on the back of one’s neck stand up.
“You three are right idiots, you know that?” With the hand that held the statue, his free fingers pulled even harder on Beverly’s hair. She squeezed her eyes shut from the pain. “Coming here like this to my territory. What were you thinking?”
“Look, just forget about the statue!” Jimmy’s voice was high and tight with panic. “Just let her go and we’ll forget about it, too. You’ll never see us again.”
“Judging by what he’ll do if you don’t deliver it, I guess that’s true,” said Reaper. There was no need to clarify who “he” was. “But why shouldn’t I have some fun before then?” Reaper drew the sword closer to the bottom of Beverly’s chin and upward at an angle, forcing her face close to his. “Can you even guess what I’m going to do to her?” he murmured. I saw Jimmy clench his fists until his knuckles were completely white.
“I was kidding about the train tracks thing!” I called desperately. Beverly gave Reaper a look of pure hatred and spit in his face.
“Go to hell, you bastard!” she hissed. He let go of her hair for a moment, but only to hit her across the cheek with the statue. She gave a sharp yell, then Jimmy did the same.
“Jimmy,” she said, choking back a sob, “get out of here!”
“No!” His face was still turned upward, eyes desperate and searching. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“Jimmy, please.” Her voice broke as tears streamed down her cheeks, making thin, clean trails in the dirt on her face.
He shook his head, never taking his eyes off her. “If we die, then this time, it’s together.”
“No, no, no. Forget what I said before,” she begged. “Run, just run!”
The look on Reaper’s face was one of absolute triumph. He really was going to cut her head off, just like his namesake, the Grim Reaper, might do with a scythe.
“Pathetic,” he said. “Well, mage? Aren’t you going to do something about this?”
I thought hard. The second I made a move, he would slice her throat. It was hopeless.
Reaper laughed again. “It’s as I thought. Do you know what I have that you don’t?”
“Something to prove?”
Reaper looked down at me, then closed his eyes.
“Unresolved parental issues?” I continued. Reaper let out an impatient sigh.
I threw my arms out. “Smaller-than-normal genitalia? Look, obviously I’m no good at guessing, so why don’t you just tell me?”
“A lack of burdens,” he said. “These two,” he jutted his chin at Beverly and Jimmy, “are burdened by affection for one another. You are burdened by a conscience. I, on the other hand, have no such mortal sentiments, and am thus unencumbered.”
“Mortal sentiments a burden?” I said in disbelief. Then, angrier: “Spare me.”
Reaper’s smile was only for me this time, and chilling. “That is not in the cards.”
“No, I mean spare me your stupidity,” I started. But Jimmy pulled back his arm and struck me so hard, I fell backward into the skeleton of a car. Reaper burst out laughing again.
Shut up! Even the voice in Jimmy’s thoughts was anguished. You’ll only make him kill her faster.
I was about to reply when I saw an old, black Ford Model T across the way. It was set apart slightly from the other cars, as if mechanics had been doing bodywork on all four sides. It was also in better shape than most of the vehicles here. The Ford’s huge headlights were set high in front, like the eyes of a giant insect. A thought began to work its way through my mind.
I may have a plan, I said to Jimmy. He turned his head sharply toward me. H
e walked to the side of the car I was in, his eyes darting back and forth from me to Beverly. Reaper was staring down at us in amusement. Do you know if any of these cars are functional? I asked Jimmy.
He shook his head. The cars here haven’t worked for decades, if they ever did. He closed his eyes for a moment. Oh God, I can’t believe it’s going to end like this.
Nonsense. I started to get up, calling magic from every corner. Haven’t you heard that with magic, anything is possible?
Really? Jimmy opened his eyes. He pulled on my forearm to help me crawl out of the wreckage.
Well, no. But it never hurts to try.
“Apropos of nothing,” I said to Reaper, “with all this magnetic charisma you have, being able to do whatever to whomever and such, aren’t you wasting your time with these two?” I splayed my fingers at my sides, sending out pulses of energy through them. It was questioning, searching, trying to find the earth magic in the room. It wasn’t hard. Earth magic includes metal, and this space had a mountain of it.
“I mean, it’s a lot of bother for an evening’s entertainment, don’t you think?” I continued. “Losing comrades, almost getting blown up . . .” Although there was plenty of earth magic around, it can be a stubborn energy that doesn’t want to be moved. But if you can get it to do so, it packs quite a wallop. Slowly, I gathered as much around the Ford as I could.
“Oh, it’s no bother at all,” Reaper said pleasantly. He pulled Beverly’s body closer to his, and I didn’t want to contemplate the way his hips were rubbing against hers. “Besides, good ol’ Bev and Jimmy have had it coming for a long time.”
“Oh, have they now?”
What the hell are you doing? Jimmy demanded. I thought you said you had a plan.
I do! I’m trying to distract him. I felt inside the car with my mind, trying to determine its inner workings. Damn. Where was my best friend, George, when I needed him? He was so much better with all this technical-mechanical crap.
I didn’t need to drive the car; getting a few key parts to work would be enough. I prayed the pieces I needed were still intact. Suddenly, I could feel them lighting up in my mind, like fireflies, illuminated by the earth magic surrounding the car.
