by A. L. Knorr
Dante, still coughing and with his cheek pressed against the stone, said, “If you want to save his life, you have to get him to a hospital. He’s a natural now.”
Tomio fisted the back of Dante’s neck, eyes blazing with fury. “Where did you come in?”
Dante tried to use his fire to rise, bucking under Tomio as he detonated, but he did it poorly. Lights popped in our vision as his badly-timed detonation made him jerk and then groan in pain. “It’s hurts,” he moaned, half-laughing, half-coughing.
“Of course it hurts, you idiot,” Tomio sneered. “What did you think it would feel like? A foot rub? If you cooperate, we’ll share some of our water with you. Where’s the vent you came in through?”
Dante gave a few dry coughs, leaving off his efforts to escape Tomio’s hold. “Up higher, there’s more vents. Lots of them, where the walls are thinnest.”
Tomio and I looked at one another, then at Gage. His chest rose and fell but he just lay there. Far below, the sounds of Nero and Ryan’s fight continued.
“Will Nero come for you?” I asked Dante.
He gave that half-laugh, half-moan of pain. “I wish. Our deal is complete. As strange as it might sound, I’m on your side now. I want to go home.”
I didn’t know if we could believe him, but so far Nero was moving away from us, if he had even registered our presence. Either Ryan was leading him away, or it was as the don’s son reported, their deal was finished.
Another peek over the edge confirmed two things: Ryan was using everything he had to keep Nero engaged in their fight, possibly even trying to kill him. Nero was mostly defending, and it didn’t look like he was using a lot of effort to do it. At some moments, it almost appeared like Nero was enjoying himself, though it was difficult to tell as their facial expressions were obscured by distance, ripples of heat distorting the air, and the flash of fire-light issuing from their hands and their eyes.
“Straight up is the fastest way,” Dante croaked.
I turned back. “What?”
He lifted his hand where it lay beside his head palm-down and pointed straight up with his finger. “Thirty feet up there’s a lava tube. It starts big then narrows to a crack. That’s the way we came in. You’ll feel the air coming in.”
Tomio and I agreed that he’d stay with Gage and Dante and I would find the vent as quickly as I could and make sure it was a suitable passage.
With my fire slipping into my joints and fueling my climb, I tackled the wall, funneling all of my focus into my fingers, arms, shoulders and legs. The sound of hand-to-hand combat grew distant, like it was part of some past dream and not this reality.
Hand over hand, foot over foot I climbed and the combatants dropped away below me. My heart thudded almost painfully with hope that Dante was right.
When a soft gust of fresh air brushed against my cheeks, I froze, trying to determine where it was coming from. Throwing my leg over a ledge and pulling myself up, I shimmied along a flat edge that widened and became a upward slope. Air moved along this slope from above.
Lighting a hand-torch, I threw back the shadows enough to see a natural set of rough steps over rounded, cracked lava rocks. Taking these steps up I discovered exactly what Dante had described. Ahead was a lava tube not quite large enough to stand fully upright inside, but wide enough to walk into. The air grew fresh as it blew against my face and hair. Darkness pressed back as I went deeper into the tube, which jogged in lefts and rights before narrowing further. It would be tight carrying Gage through here. It occurred to me to widen the vent with fire, but two problems emerged immediately, like a one-two punch. If I battered the walls to make a larger opening, the masses of stone above us might destabilize and collapse, crushing us as we tried to escape. Even my strength wouldn’t be enough to keep a mountain from collapsing down on our heads. I could melt the volcanic rock, opening the vent that way but melting it enough to move it out of the way and then cooling it enough for Gage to pass through it without being burned by the heat would be a time-consuming process, he might be dead before I finished.
My mind worked these things over like a baker worked over dough as I shuffled along the vent. When a gash of faint moonlight appeared ahead, my heart buoyed. I snuffed my hand-torch and hurried to the exit. I had to turn sideways to skim through the crack, but if we kept Gage between us, Tomio and I working together should be able to extricate him. The question was whether we could control Dante while we did. I figured that as long as the mafia don’s son went first, this shouldn’t be a problem. It wasn’t like he was in any shape to run away.
Emerging in the open night air was like taking cool water into my parched throat. A breeze had never felt so delicious. The light of a bloated moon, even behind a thin gauze of clouds, seemed like a floodlight after the darkness inside the volcano. The crack would dump us out onto rough terrain and a steep downhill, but not one we couldn’t handle. After that we’d have to find the cars. To do that I just needed to catch a glimpse of the city lights below to make sure we were headed in the right direction.
Wishing I could luxuriate in the night air and the distant sound of crickets from further down the slope, I returned to the crack and began the journey back. From above, I was able to see the easier path Nero and Dante had taken down.
By the time my feet struck the ledge where Tomio, Dante and Gage waited, Tomio had allowed Dante to sit up and had given him a water bottle, which was now empty. He was leaning against the wall with a hand over his torso, a grimace twisting his face.
“There’s a way out,” I said.
“Told you,” Dante mumbled, then coughed and groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. I wondered if he was hurting enough to regret what he’d done, or if Nero had prepared him for the agony of the first few days after receiving fire. It was a wonder he was even conscious after having it snap into place like that so forcefully. When I’d received my fire, it had passed slowly from Isaia to me and the pain had been bearable. It made some sense that a transition made so quickly like that would shock the bodies on either end of the transaction.
There were no more flashes of light or sounds of combat drifting up from below, only the low rumble of Vesuvius filled the cavern’s spaces. I turned to Tomio. “Where did they go?”
Tomio lifted a shoulder before grabbing Dante and standing him up on his feet none to gently. Dante gave a grunt and swayed but stayed on his feet. “I don’t know. Maybe they killed each other. Come on. Let’s get out of this hell-hole.”
I went to Gage, happy to see his breathing was steady, though he was still unconscious. In this state there was no way he would be able to swallow water. Firing up the muscles in my back and legs, I propped him up to sitting, hoping I wasn’t hurting him more by moving him. A muffled groan came through the gasmask’s ventilators and my heart jumped.
“Gage?” I peered through the glass coverings over his eyes to see his eyelids flutter but remain closed. “I have to pick you up. I’m sorry if it hurts.”
As gently as I could, I got one arm around his back and the other under his knees. Fire-power poured down my legs and across my back and arms as I lifted him off the ground and straightened. It would be less awkward and easier for walking if I threw him over my shoulder the way I had Ryan, but if Gage was natural now, then his internal organs might have been burned by the forceful way Nero removed his fire. If I threw him over a shoulder, it could hurt him further or even kill him.
There was a tap on my shoulder. “Let me take him.”
I turned to see Ryan at my elbow. I almost dropped Gage in shock.
“Where’s Nero?” I asked as Ryan folded Gage’s form against his chest, as tenderly as a father carrying a sleeping child.
I half expected him to tell me he was dead.
“Gone,” Ryan replied as I moved to follow Tomio and Dante along the ledge. “He was only toying with me. I guess he finally got tired of it. Thank you for putting the mask on Gage. I’m not sure I would have thought of that.”
The w
ay Ryan said it made it clear he understood that Gage was no longer host to a fire.
With nudges from Tomio, Dante led our macabre little line. Ryan followed in Tomio’s footsteps, cradling Gage against his chest. I could feel the heat baking off Ryan’s back as he employed his fire to bear his burden. I stayed close, watching Gage’s head where sections of the ledge narrowed and there was hardly room for us to pass. In this way we closed the distance to the vent, freedom, and whatever was next.
Twenty-Two
An Oath Fulfilled
Gage was still unconscious and Dante was groaning almost constantly by the time our filthy, exhausted crew arrived at the parked cars. Tomio had tweaked a knee and Ryan had tripped twice on the way back, nearly dropping Gage. I began to walk in front, lighting the way with both hands held in the air until the rising sun dusted the terrain with enough illumination for us to see by.
Ryan lay Gage across the rear seat of the Giulietta while Dante collapsed into the front seat of the Fiat, begging for more water. Tomio rooted in the trunk for another bottle while I unearthed my phone and set up the laptop, perching it open on the hood of the car. Creating a hotspot, I opened the Agency’s dashboard and typed out a text to Basil and Ms. Shepherd. The fact that Gage still hadn’t awakened, even after we’d taken the gasmask off him and he’d been able to breathe fresh night air, was making me feel queasy with worry. He needed medical attention, but we couldn’t just take him to the nearest hospital.
Ms. Shepherd answered, typing back that she would open a line for a video call in thirty seconds. I beckoned Tomio over. Dante was guzzling water and groaning while Ryan was leaning in through his car’s rear door trying to get water into Gage.
Ms. Shepherd’s face swam into view, bright against the blackness of the night. “Go ahead please.”
“We’ve got Gage and Dante. Both of them need medical help,” I said. “Ryan is also with us, he’s looking after Gage.”
“Where are you?” Her eyes tightened as she looked behind us at the now lightening sky.
“We’re near the Vesuvius Observatory. Nero took Gage’s fire and gave it to Dante. They’re both alive, but Gage is unconscious and Dante is in a lot of pain.”
“The pain will likely soon pass,” she said, “but still wise to get him checked out. Gage will definitely need medical attention, and most importantly, water.”
“Ryan’s trying to get some water into him, but you should know that Nero did not dehydrate Gage before taking his fire. He just... took it. Forced it.”
For the first time since I’d made her acquaintance, Ms. Shepherd expressed some emotion—astonishment. “Are you sure?”
“We’re sure. We saw it happen.” Tomio bent over briefly to check on Dante, who was still moaning in the front seat.
“That’s... anyway, okay.” She shook her head and her business face was back. “Do you have two vehicles?”
I nodded.
“I presume Gage is breathing okay on his own?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, here’s what I want you to do. Saxony, I want you to take Dante and Gage to a hospital called Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nationale Antonio Cardarelli. We have a contact there, a medical professional who has worked with supernaturals. Do not go to the main emergency entrance at the front, take him around the back of the hospital to Entrance C. You’ll see a sign for the Burn Unit. Our contact is Dr. Burr, and she’ll be waiting for you at those doors. Tomio, if Ryan is willing, you and he must go straight to Nero’s underground place and fetch Janet.”
I looked at Tomio, feeling stricken. Janet did need to be rescued, and immediately, but what if Nero was there?
Tomio just nodded and moved toward the Giulietta.
“Might that not be the first place Nero goes?” I asked.
Ms. Shepherd nodded. “Perhaps. It depends if he thinks Janet gave him away or not. Either way, she needs looking after.”
I hated the idea of getting separated from Tomio, but Ms. Shepherd was right, someone had to take Gage and Dante to the hospital, and someone had to rescue Janet. “Should I go with Ryan, and Tomio take the men to the hospital instead?”
“I’d say yes,” Ms. Shepherd replied, “except that Gage’s mother is on her way to Naples as we speak. Her plane is landing in a little over an hour. She’ll be needing to see a friendly face and she has asked specifically to see you.”
“Me? Why?”
“I can’t speak for her. That was her request to Basil. Best not waste any more time talking with me. We can touch base again once Gage and Dante are checked in.”
I agreed and we signed off. Closing the laptop, I went to help Ryan move Gage into the back seat of the Fiat. As soon as we had the two injured men settled, Ryan opened the trunk and rifled through his things, pulling out a spare set of sneakers. He didn’t bother to change his ruined jeans. Closing the trunk, he gave Tomio a nod then got into the Giulietta and started the engine.
Tomio had one hand on the door handle when he looked over his shoulder at me, his dark eyes swimming with dawn’s light. He must have read all kinds of emotions on my face because he left the door to stride over. Pulling me against himself, his mouth came down on mine almost violently. Inside my ribcage, my heart thundered very slow but very hard as he kissed me, each pulse as low and deep as a drumbeat. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close, glorying in the liquid warmth filling me in response to his sudden and savage affection. My senses swam at the scent of his body, a warm earthy smell.
“Please be careful,” I whispered, my lips at his ear.
I felt him shudder as he cupped the back of my head and kissed me under the jaw. Then, he released me and got into the vehicle.
The Giulietta’s engine growled as Ryan steered the car out of the rest stop. I got into the Fiat, found the hospital with my GPS, then followed the Giulietta’s tail lights down the mountain, my body so taut I couldn’t even sit back against my seat. Beside me, Dante groaned with a hand over his chest.
“Will you hush,” I snapped when I thought one more complaint might push me over the edge. “You asked for this.”
Dante pouted and looked out the window. After a while he raised one hand and looked intently at it. A flicker of light appeared in his palm and down one finger, but he winced and gave another moan of pain.
The Giulietta turned north and I had to turn south. I watched their tail lights disappear into the traffic, breathing out a prayer that they would get Janet out without problems.
Pulling up to the rear entrance of the hospital marked with a huge black ‘C’, I was amazed to find four paramedics waiting with two trolleys and some equipment. A third person wearing a proper lab-coat, with a short trendy haircut waited off to the side with a tablet in her hand.
Dante and Gage’s doors were opened before I even turned the Fiat’s engine off. The blond woman came around to my side of the vehicle as I got out.
“Ms. Cagney, I presume?”
I closed the door and watched in amazement as Gage was transferred to a trolley by three of the medics. Dante declined the trolley and walked into the hospital by himself with his hand over his stomach and a grimace on his face. I caught a glimpse of a waxy cheek as he raked his long hair behind one ear.
I turned to the blond woman. “That’s me. Dr. Burr?”
She gave me a bright and enthusiastic smile as she shoved the tablet into my hands. “Just a few questions for you to answer—”
“Do you mind if I make a phone-call first?” I asked. “It’s important.”
“Certo, certo. I’ll see to the men. We’ll put them across the hall from one another. This wing is quiet at the moment. You’ll find us about thirty meters down C hall.”
“Thanks.” I pulled out my cell phone and opened an app that records phone conversations then dialed Enzo’s number through the app. I took a deep steadying breath and held the phone to my ear.
The don answered on the second ring. “Success, Signora Cagney?”
“Pr
onto, Enzo. You should send a plane, train or automobile to pick up your son. He’s at the...” I forgot the hospital’s long name, looked around and spotted the sign over the door, “Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nationale Antonio Cardarelli.”
“Ospedale?” Enzo’s voice went hushed. “What happened?”
“Your son is the proud new owner of a fire that he stole from my friend Gage.”
“Madonna. But, he is okay?”
Irritation sparked at his lack of interest in the victim. “No, actually. Gage is unconscious, thanks for asking. It’s not clear whether he will survive. Your son may be responsible for the death of my friend, and if Gage doesn’t die, he’ll be responsible for the trauma of a forced plenary endowment. As far as I’m concerned, you and I are more than even. The medical staff here are checking Dante now. He’s in pain, but I’m sure he’ll recover. And you now have a magus back in your employ. I suggest you send someone to pick him up and take him home. Dante is your problem now. Do we agree?”
The other end of the phone was silent.
“Enzo? I don’t think you should waste time. Gage’s twin brother Ryan will arrive at the hospital in roughly two hours. I won’t be held responsible for what he does to Dante if Gage is still unconscious when he arrives.”
He coughed and let out a thick, phlegmy sigh. “Very well. I will arrange a helicopter as soon as possible.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop Dante from taking a fire. You’ll never know how sorry. But your son is alive. He is not Burned and won’t be attempting a Burning any time soon. That was the objective you gave me: I was to return him alive. I need to hear you say my debt is fulfilled.”
“I would like to propose—”
I closed my eyes and spoke slowly. “I need to hear you say my debt is fulfilled.”
After a moment’s pause, the don admitted the words I was dying to catch on a recording. “Your debt is fulfilled.”
I smiled and felt some of the tension drain out of my neck and shoulders. “Good. Shall I give your number to the hospital so you can arrange transport?”
