by Keri Arthur
And for the first time since the lights had gone dark, I actually felt a sense of hope.
I rose from the platform and shot through the nearest window—it was the quickest way out of the building and into the streets. It was strange to see the veil of darkness drawn around this portion of the city—strange and scary. Central’s wide streets were packed with people running toward the southern end, and though many held torches or other kinds of portable lights, they seemed a puny defense against the gathering weight of night. There were buildings dotted randomly throughout the dark streets where lights did twinkle—places that obviously had emergency generators or battery storage in situ that hadn’t been affected by the general shutdown. But there was no such light coming from the streets closest to the walls—for the people there it was a daily struggle just to survive. Emergency lighting was not something they could ever have afforded, and it was those sections of the city that would be hit first.
I glanced over my shoulder as I moved forward. The demarcation line between light and dark seemed to be close to Sixth Street, where it intersected with Victory. Every light, every tower, on every building—even the towers lining the curtain wall—beyond that point were ablaze, which at least meant there was a place of safety for Central’s residents. There would be no such refuge for those in Chaos. The upper levels might have some access to UV lighting, but for the most part, the ramshackle nature of the place offered little in the way of protection. But then, those who lived there were well aware of the dangers. The most recent attack might have been the most devastating, but it certainly hadn’t been the first.
But perhaps they would escape the initial onslaught. Perhaps Dream’s rallying call would draw the vampires directly here, to the one place they’d been unable to access since the city’s rise from the aftermath of the war.
I followed the straight line of Victory Street, arrowing as fast as I could for the gates. The curtain wall loomed, the tarnished silver of her metal seeming to glow against the gathering shadows. Though the UV towers were no longer ablaze, they still shed a bloody light. It didn’t reach down to the wall and wouldn’t stop the vampires, but it would at least restrict the air space in which they could move.
Not that that would make much difference when half the city lay in darkness.
We drew closer; the drawbridge was up, meaning the soldiers who’d guarded it had hand-cranked it into place before obeying orders and leaving. There was also a ribbon of white following the gentle inner curve of the wall and, after a moment, I realized what it was—light tubing. Obviously, it had its own backup power source, and as such had escaped the destruction of the main grid. It was a shame Central’s leaders hadn’t similarly separated the wall’s UV towers from the main grid and backup gens—but then, who would ever have thought that such treachery could come from one of Central’s own?
I swooped up the wall’s steep metal side and then came to a halt on top of the wall. Once we were two again, Nuri strode to the edge and looked down. “They come,” she said softly. “I can feel the vibration of them through the steel.”
I didn’t ask how that was possible because it didn’t really matter. I flexed my fingers and said, “What’s the plan?”
She glanced at me. “Gather your ghosts. I will endeavor to raise a firewall.”
I didn’t bother asking what that was, either—I’d find out soon enough. I leaped off the wall, became shadow, and raced across the darkening rail yards and its silent pods to the now destroyed southern exit that had led into my bunker. I might not be able to use it, even in matter form, thanks to the explosion and the compact nature of the rubble that now filled the tunnel, but the déchet soldiers who haunted the lower levels of the bunker wouldn’t be similarly restricted.
I followed the sunken line of the trench to the point where it would have entered the old nursery that had become something of an antechamber for the South Siding exit, and then regained form. With little time to waste, I knelt and placed a hand on the ground. I had no idea if it would actually help summon the ghosts, but it couldn’t hurt. This was the first time I was contacting them directly—the last time I’d rallied them, I’d done so through Cat. But if I could communicate directly and easily with Carleen’s ghosts—who were human—I saw no reason why I could not do so with the déchet soldiers.
I closed my eyes and silently said, with as much force as I could muster, Déchet soldiers, I need your help again.
For several seconds there was no response, and then a thick wave of energy began to rise from the earth all around me. A heartbeat later, a sharp voice said, What is it you ask of us now?
“Central City has fallen into darkness. I need your help to help protect it from the vampires.”
Rising to rescue children is one thing, but why should we now help those who did nothing to save us?
“You cannot hold those who live today accountable for the atrocities of the past—”
Perhaps not. The speaker stepped into view. Death had caught him midchange and he was now forever locked into a form that was a mix of human and bear. He also didn’t appear to have his thought and emotional centers medically neutered, which meant he was one of the luckier ones who’d been chemically restrained, the effectiveness of which would have disappeared on his death. But they never saw it as an atrocity, never believed there was anything wrong with erasing our entire population. Has that opinion changed in the time since?
“No, but allowing them to be erased only repeats the mistakes of the past, and makes you no better than them.”
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. And what if we are not?
“You would not have answered when I called if that were so.” I hesitated, and glanced toward the city. A rippling, shimmering curtain of green, browns, pink, and blue was forming above the wall. It wasn’t like any sort of light shield I’d ever seen before, but it was nevertheless beautiful. Whether it would be enough to stop the vampires, I had no idea.
And they were so close the stink of them was beginning to stain the air.
“I need an answer, and quickly,” I said. “Will you once again follow me into battle?”
A murmur rose all around us; there was so many of them here that the air shimmered and sparked with a force every bit as powerful as the one over the curtain wall. The bear-man smiled. Is it not in the end what we were designed for?
“Then let’s go.”
I claimed shadow form again and led the charge back to Central. The shimmering multihued curtain grew stronger as I neared the top of the wall, and as I went through, it tore the shadows from me and forced me back to human form.
I stumbled for several steps, then caught my balance and turned around. And saw that it wasn’t one shimmering wall, but rather two.
Nuri stood at the rear of the gatehouse. Her face was pale, but her eyes were filled with a light as bright as the rainbow of color that now surrounded us.
“The first barrier of earth fire will force them from shadow, just as it did you.” She unslung the pack and handed it to me. “The second forms a thick cap over the darkened parts of the city, and will stop them from entering.”
I quickly opened the pack; in it were four long and very deadly looking wooden knives. I drew them out, slung two across my back, and gripped the others. They felt well-made and well-balanced in my hands.
“I know from personal experience just how painful wood embedded into flesh can be,” I said, “But will a mere cut be enough to incapacitate them?”
“Yes.” She handed me a halo light. “Have your ghosts fan out along the wall. They do not need to kill—they just need to keep throwing the vampires back through the first barrier. Every time the vamps go through it, it will weaken them.”
“And you and I?”
“Will be their main target.” Her voice was grim. “I cannot fight. I dare not even move, as it’s going to take all my strength and concentration to maintain the earth fire barriers. It will be up to you to keep them away from me.”
“Because I cannot. I must be between the two to maintain them.”
“That’s rather inconvenient.”
A smile ghosted her lips but failed to lift the seriousness from her eyes. “Yes. And while the halo light will stop them, it will not stop their ash from falling.”
“And if enough of that falls, it could smother the halo’s light.”
“Yes.”
I took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Okay then.”
Her smile grew, but it remained a pale imitation of its usual self. “Good luck.”
“We’re going to need it.”
“Indeed.” She paused. “They are here.”
And with those two words hovering in the air, they hit us.
It was hell itself, broken loose.
Wave after wave poured through the first shield, a seething mass of claws and fury that hit me so fast and so forcefully that, halo light or not, it pushed me back several feet. I swore, braced against the impact of them, and started swinging the long knives. There was no finesse in my blows. There didn’t need to be—the wooden blades sliced through the skin of the vampires with the ease of metal, spraying blood and fire through the air. The vampires screamed and went down, their bodies writhing and burning. But both their screams and their bodies were quickly crushed as the vampires behind simply ran over the top of them.
I kept swinging, the blades a blur. Every impact shuddered up my arms, and the black dust of vampire remains rained around me, covering my clothes and staining my skin. Every breath became thick with ash, until it felt like I was going to choke.
They did not stop coming.
No matter how fast I was, no matter how many I sliced and diced, no matter many hit the halo light and became ash, there was simply an endless wall of them.
And the noise—their screeches of fury and pain—sliced through the air, the din so loud it had to be echoing right across the city. Nuri’s firewalls rippled and swirled every time a vampire hit them, and the smell of sweat and desperation began to taint the air. Not from the vampires.
From her.
She might be powering the shield through earth magic, but she was the connection between the two. And it was taking a toll.
There was nothing I could do for her. Nothing except keep her as free from the vampires as I could.
But it was getting harder.
At least the lines of ghosts to my left and right were standing firm. They tossed the vampires back over the wall time and time again, often in waves as thick as the wall itself.
But, as with Nuri, it was beginning to take a toll. While all ghosts could interact with our world, every time they did, it drained them—perhaps even to the point of oblivion.
What the hell were they doing down in Central? Why weren’t the lights on yet?
They’re working on it, Jonas said, mental tones distant.
Tell them to work faster. These bastards aren’t going to stop.
I know. Just hold on.
I didn’t get the chance to reply; something crashed into me and sent me flying. I hit the ground with a grunt and, just for a second, the halo light shimmered and died. Vampires piled on top of me, smothering me, biting and tearing at my skin with claws and teeth. The long knives were useless for close work, and I screamed in fury, bucking and kicking in an effort to be free of them. Then the halo light came back online, and the weight that had been pinning me down evaporated into ash. I took a shuddery breath and scrambled upright. Pain twinged down my side, and there was a multitude of cuts on my arms and legs—some deep, some not. The blood pouring from them stung the air and stirred the vampires into a deeper frenzy.
I battled my way back to Nuri, and swung the knives around in fast, circular motions, trying to discourage the vampires who were continuing to fling themselves at her. The stench of ash and burning flesh was so thick—so caustic—that my stomach churned, and a layer of ankle-deep cindered flesh now smothered the wall’s metal base.
And still they came at us.
Many of the ghosts were now beginning fade—even though they kept forcing the vampires back through the first firewall, vampires were getting past them now and flinging themselves at the secondary wall. It torched them as easily and as thoroughly as the halo lights and the UVs, but they didn’t seem to care.
And with every hit, the pulsing in the earth fire became more evident—more desperate—and it was a desperation that echoed through Nuri.
Like the ghosts, her strength was fading.
One of my knives hit something solid and stopped dead, and the shock of it reverberated up my arm. Half the blade sheared off and went spinning into the night. I swore, slipped the broken half onto my belt, unslung another, and kept on fighting.
But something glittered near my feet—something that oddly looked like metal. I risked a look. It was metal—some sort of pole that had been torn from Rhea only knew where.
The vampires were starting to arm themselves.
Air whistled, and I ducked instinctively. A metal rod swept over my head, missing by inches. I lunged forward, stabbing the vampire through the heart and then spun around to cut off the head of another.
And in that moment, saw Nuri fall.
“No!” I screamed, and ran toward her. Vampires threw themselves between us, piling on top of the other, desperately trying to impede my progress while others tried to smother the protective halo of light. Their ash spun around me, thick and cloying, filling every breath with their foulness. I cut and stabbed and slashed my way through them all, and then knelt in front of Nuri. She lay on her side, her face white and etched with pain, one hand clutching the bar now buried in her stomach. Blood poured from the wound, staining her skirts with a swiftness that spoke of death.
“Get me upright,” she panted, eyes still blazing with fury and determination. “I need to be upright.”
“No, you need to remain still, and we need to stop that bleeding.”
Both our halo shields shuddered under the sheer mass of vampires hitting us, and the rain of ash was now so thick the air was almost unbreathable.
“If you don’t get me up, this city falls,” she bit back. “So fucking do it, soldier, and now!”
I swore but did as she asked and hauled her upright as carefully as I could. She hissed and cursed, and cried out in agony, but there was determination there too, and it was as strong as the blood now pulsing over her fingertips.
“I’ll be all right,” she said. “Just make sure they don’t hit me like that again.”
“Nuri—”
“I can use the earth magic to halt the flow of blood,” she said. “So get up and fight the bastards, before their ash suffocates us both.”
“And you call me stubborn,” I growled.
“I’ll call you a whole lot more if you don’t do what you’re damn well told.”
I couldn’t help grinning, despite the situation. “You sound just like a mom scolding her child.”
“If I’d had a child, I’d like to think she would have been as fierce and as strong as you.” She touched a bloody hand to my face, and I knew that despite everything she might have threatened, she, at least, had never seen me as a monster. “Now go.”
I turned away and kept on fighting. I kept close, though, trying to protect her as much as I could. But it wasn’t just vampires I was battling now, but a range of missiles from rocks to metal and Rhea only knew what else. The halo light might protect me from the vampires, but it was no help against projectiles, and as many as I batted away, more got through.
Then a large rock appeared out of nowhere. I dropped my knives and thrust out my hands, although I wasn’t entirely sure whether I intended to catch it or simply push it aside. Such was the speed at which it was traveling that something snapped in my left wrist and pain bloomed like fire. I nevertheless deflected the rock, not just enough to miss me, but also Nuri. It bounced two feet
to her left, continued through the earth fire, and dropped down into Central.
It was only then I realized the earth fire was beginning to fade.
I half spun, only to get hit side-on by something thick and solid. I reeled away, gasping in pain as ribs buckled and cracked. Breathing was suddenly hard and my head spun. I blinked away sweat and tears, and saw a black mass coming straight at me—a mass that was a tumbling, screaming clump of claws, teeth, and fury. I raised my weapons—only to remember I no longer held them. I swore and reached back for my last long knife, but the mass hit me and sent me stumbling backward again.
A heartbeat later, the halo light went out.
I swore, caught my balance, and then ran, with every ounce of strength I had left, at the writhing mass that was now running at Nuri. But I didn't attack it—I leaped over it. Claws grabbed at me, tore at me, and I hit the ground in a stumbling run and somehow made it to Nuri. I stepped into the circle of her light, and straddled her back as she hunched over the pole still embedded in her gut, her body shaking and the stain of her life pouring from the wound to the metal floor of the wall, growing ever wider.
I drew the broken knife from my belt and slashed left and right, cutting limbs and faces and bodies. It made no difference. No matter how many I killed, they just kept on coming, an endless tide from which there was no escape and no respite.
Many of the ghosts had now faded completely. Just as many still fought on, but there were ever-increasing gaps along the line, and the vampires obviously sensed that the firewall preventing them from entering the city was close to collapse, because they were throwing themselves at it with growing intensity.
And every hit, every blow, reverberated through Nuri’s body and tugged ever more strongly at her fading strength.
I kept on fighting. But my arms were aching, my body bruised and bleeding, and my vision was beginning to fade in and out. If they didn’t get the damn UVs on soon, all this would have been for naught.
