by K. F. Breene
Tears in my eyes, hands clenched in frustration, I wailed across all of spirit for my mother.
A shape appeared behind the veil, coming into crisper focus as it stepped into the plane of the Line. Another step brought her into my plane. Young and beautiful and vibrant, she was just as I remembered her from my youth. Her sleepy smile reminded me of Sunday mornings in the bright October sun, sitting in the backyard together as she indulged in her coffee and newspaper, remarking on what a fine life we had.
She blinked when she saw me, the confusion of the at-rest suddenly finding themselves awake again.
“Alexis?” She looked around in confusion. “Where are we?”
“Mom, help. Please. I’m in a fix. Kieran is on his way, but he won’t make it in time. I don’t have enough power to beat this guy. I don’t have enough skill! But I have your magic. I know I do. If I can use it, maybe it’ll at least help me stall until Kieran gets here.”
It had never taken my mother very long to get into the flow of things.
Her next blink cleared the haze in an instant. She looked down at my chest, where the spirit connection was forming, and slanted a glance at Damion down the way. He was still fighting my efforts to get him out of the cadaver, but it hadn’t hindered what he was doing.
Despite the obvious danger, her smile was as blasé as I remembered. My heart swelled. She might look younger now, but this was my mom. This was the woman who’d always faced the craziness around us, which she’d apparently had a hand in creating, with unparalleled confidence and effortless efficiency. This was the woman who’d saved kids off the street, and built a loving home from nothing. If ever there was a role model for survival skills, it was this woman.
“Of course you have my magic, my darling. But let’s not wait for a man to save us.” She winked. “They have a way of stealing the glory. Now, remember when I was talking you through how to get that really nice steak for Christmas each year? Yum, I miss steak. You used my magic then. Just like in the MGB. Remember?”
MGB was what she’d called the Magical Government building so non-magical people wouldn’t catch on. I used to sit in that testing room chair, scared out of my mind, and focus on what she’d told me.
Think of that little red dial going haywire. Isn’t that a funny joke? It’s supposed to be very scientific, and it just spins and spins, out of control. When you have that in your mind, then believe.
That had always been key. Believing. Believing we’d get that steak and have a marvelous Christmas dinner. Believing we’d find a way to pay that tax bill so we could keep our house. Believing I could fool the testing machines so we could stay in the dual-society zone.
I got to it immediately. The little red dial in my mind’s eye spun and spun. It spun so fast it turned into a red blur. A tickle formed in my belly, and then nervous butterflies. The dial kept spinning until the butterflies flew in every direction. The feeling reminded me of standing in that crowded grocery store, waiting for the right moment to grab that steak. Of sitting in the testing room in the MGB, hoping for the best. Truth be told, it reminded me of a great many incidents that had started normal and escalated to crazy. I’d been using the magic all along without knowing it.
Right now, with my mother present, it also brought back memories of laughter. Of running and playing. Of jumping on the bed and singing songs at the top of my lungs.
It reminded me of our fine life together.
Choked up, tears in my eyes, I dove into that feeling. I poured my energy into it, dwindling my remaining supply nearly all the way to zero. I ballooned it out and prepared to cast it around me, like I might do with my Spirit Walker magic.
“Yes!” She clapped in delight, a large smile on her face, as though this wasn’t the direst of situations. “Look at you! Someone has taught you a thing or two. Now send it out into the world.”
“Whatever you are doing won’t help you,” Damion said, his connection to me strengthening even as he blocked my attempts to tear down another of his prongs. “That is the only reason why I am allowing your mother to stay. I am not a monster. Not always.”
My mother laughed, as though his words were a grand joke. And I pushed her magic into the world, filling up the large room and letting it spill out beyond. Letting it flower and spin. It felt like sparklers going off all round me, fizzing and zipping and dancing from the room. I wanted to laugh right along with my mom. I wanted to shrug off Damion’s touch and take control of the situation.
I wanted to at least be on equal footing.
“What do I do now?” I asked, my fingers clenching and releasing. My friends hadn’t attempted to leave, and I could tell they were getting restless. Red had pushed forward to the farthest edge of the stage, knives in hand, not far from trying to help regardless of what it might mean for her.
“You prepare to take the opportunities presented to you,” my mom said. “Who is this Kieran? Is he your beau?” Her eyes crinkled. “Yes, I can see that he is. You have the glimmer of a woman in love.” A soft smile crossed her lips. “Does he treat you well? Does he show you how much he loves you?”
Damion broke one of the prongs holding my soul, his touch hard and brutal, meant to pull back my attention. I gasped but did not look away from my mom. I didn’t need sight to work at his soul. To thwart his attempts to suck my energy. To claw at his efforts to connect us. I soaked in the look of her face and the brightness of her eyes. God, I’d missed her. I’d missed our walks and our talks. I’d even missed our struggles, working together to provide for our misfit family. I’d been tempted a million times to call her back, but I’d honored her wishes until now.
“I created a misfit family of my own,” I told her through gritted teeth, forcing his magical touch away from another of my prongs. He was amazing with all things spirit, but he wasn’t a god. There were limits to what he could do. “I’m really happy, Mom. Usually, I mean. This isn’t exactly a shining example, but other than this, I’m happy.”
She glanced behind her, at the door. When she turned back, her image wavered, and the Line pulsed, calling her back.
“I’m glad, my heart,” she said, and her voice echoed.
“I’m sorry for what you sacrificed for me,” I blurted, needing to tell her. Screams and shouts and noise filled the room. The ground shook and a bronze statue of someone’s head rolled in through the doors and crashed into a line of tables. “I’m sorry you had to leave the magical world because of me. I’m sorry you had to be poor.”
“Anyone who is blessed enough to know love will never be poor.” She tilted her head to the side. “The happiest years of my life were with you. None of it mattered. I never looked back. We had a fine life, you and I. It fulfilled me in every way. Now, it is time for you to save the day. Go with the flow, just like I taught you, and seize your opportunity to shine. I have faith in you, my heart, and I love you.”
The Line sucked her back, faster than a breath. It closed down on itself and vanished, stealing all the ultraviolet coloring with it as it went.
It must have appeared in the same position for Damion, because he watched it fade away. His head swiveled as a roar shook my bones. He stared at me for another silent moment.
“You dare keep me from spirit?” he asked in a low voice.
I lifted my eyebrows in a silent question. I hadn’t known that was possible, and I certainly didn’t know how to do it. I was pretty sure the Line was acting of its own volition on this one.
Another roar, closer this time. Something large and heavy hit the wall outside the room, probably the other half of that statue.
The Chaos magic had called Thane to the room. Which made sense, since nothing was more unpredictable than a Berserker set loose, but I wouldn’t be able to fight him. Not tied up like I was.
Go with the flow, just like I taught you, and seize your opportunity to shine.
This wasn’t any different than any of the other times I’d given chaos magic the reins. If I hadn’t used it at the magical govern
ment building, I would’ve been exposed, pushed into training, and either taken or killed by Magnus. If I hadn’t gotten that steak, we would’ve gone hungry. If I didn’t flow with it now, this Spirit Walker on Demigod steroids would tether us together, rip me out of my body, and make my life hell for all of eternity.
Okay, so it was a little different, but we didn’t get to choose what we survived, just how we survived.
“Get ready,” I yelled out, staying loose with my hands at my sides.
I left his soul alone and just worked on his grip on my soul. All my energy, all my focus, went into detaching him. If Thane came in here and battered one or both of us, I didn’t want the act of flying across the room to rip my soul out.
“What’s the plan?” Bria yelled.
“React when the time comes, and don’t die!” My limbs shaking, my energy faltering, I worked as fast as I could—ripping at his grip, rebuilding my soul prong, and clipping off that violet cord.
“Great plan,” Bria said, and she wasn’t kidding. It was usually the one she used, after all.
Someone screamed and ran into the room a moment before Thane burst in, huge and muscular, his whips flying around him. He caught sight of Damion and me, paused for a moment, and then lifted his head and roared.
Damion flinched, his head jerking to the side. He might’ve been able to shrug off my attempts to mess with his soul, but he clearly hadn’t had practice with a Berserker of Thane’s magnitude. There was more than one form of death incarnate.
Havoc darted toward Damion, finally seeing an opportunity. She growled and latched on to one of his legs, tearing through it with her claws before clamping it with her teeth. Bone cracked. Damion couldn’t feel it to scream.
Mordecai jumped down off the stage.
“No!” I yelled at him, but he dodged in Thane’s direction and ran with the speed of a large wolf.
I pried most of Damion’s hold off my soul. He only had a toehold left, but he was now prodding my soul instead of stroking.
“What are you doing?” Damion howled, trying to kick the cat off with his other leg. The broken leg buckled at the thigh and the body fell. Havoc went after his good leg, trying to keep him immobile. “I am your only hope if you want to live free!” It occurred to me that he was talking to me and not the cat. “I’m your only hope. Without me, you will become their puppet. They will always be stronger than you. They will always rule you.”
“I’d rather trust Kieran than a guy who thinks my magic is only good for killing.” Sweating, hardly able to stand, I kept on, nearly there. His touch weakened further, but still he clung on.
Mordecai ran in our direction, silently urging me to come with him. He didn’t seem to realize Damion still had a grip on me.
“No, no, no,” I said, waving him away and shutting my eyes to focus.
His hold on me was an intricate mix of spirit and power, but I could feel the cracks. I forced my way into those cracks and injected my own magic. I felt it start to give. His energy sucker attached again, but I ignored it. I couldn’t waste time on that.
Thane’s heavy footsteps pounded the ground. Tables flew out of the way as he followed Mordecai. Jerry yelled for me to get out of the way. Rocks underneath shook and vibrated the earth.
A little bit more. I just had to push Damion a little more.
My head swam with dizziness, my energy almost depleted. A swoosh made me open my eyes right before Thane’s huge hand smacked into my upper body.
Pain lit up my world. My feet lifted off the ground. The connection on my soul was yanked taut, clattering my soul against its casing. I clutched at my chest as I popped off the last shred of Damion’s presence. My soul flopped back into my casing where it belonged as I flew through the air, ass over end.
Bright white lightning filled the room—Dylan! He’d returned! Kieran was running in, too!
I turned my head and squinted even as I crashed into a table and something hard and heavy fell on top of me. I shoved it to the side just as the lightning subsided. Thane stood over Damion and howled, a sound I recognized. Damion was going for his soul.
“No, please.” I struggled to my feet, fighting a wave of dizziness, utterly spent. I pushed on, staggering, trying to throw the exhaustion off magically and get to Thane. To help fight Damion, even if it killed me.
Something pure and vibrant pumped into my middle, and it took me a second to realize what it was.
Energy! Kieran had somehow figured out how to feed me energy through the soul link.
I saw him at the door, his hand coming out to brace himself. He struggled up straight, ready to head in after me.
“No,” I yelled at him, flinging out a hand. “He’s got more power than me. If you are giving me your energy, you won’t have a solid defense against him. Stay back!”
Red ignored what I’d told Kieran and ran at the zombie, throwing knives. When she got closer, she pulled out a gun, stood over the body, and shot down into his chest, quick-fire. It wouldn’t kill him, given his body was already dead, but it would give him some serious motivation to find a new suit.
“Get out of there—”
I let out a strangled cry when her body fell to the ground and her soul popped out. A violet link latched on to her spirit immediately, sucking at her energy.
Gritting my teeth, I ripped away the siphon and shoved her spirit across the room. I’d put it back in her body after I got rid of Damion.
I didn’t waste the time her distraction had given me. As strength poured into me from Kieran, more than he should have given, I attacked Damion’s soul prongs with ferocity. I cracked one, crumbled another, and pried a third clean off. It was so much easier now, and it occurred to me that his attack had been so successful because he’d drained my strength in the beginning. I’d have to remember that.
Jack popped up beside me. His eyes widened as he noticed Thane howling. “Jesus, Lexi, what’s going on? What do you need? How can I help?”
“Try to help me wrestle this spirit out of its body.”
“On it!” He dove forward, his hands passing through the cadaver. I honestly didn’t know what he could actually do, but the distraction was what I was going for.
Damion’s magical touch clutched at me again, but I deflected and continued to attack those damn prongs, so much stronger than in any living body. He’d fortified them to withstand me.
Thane stomped on the Spirit Walker’s body, crushing his head and neck. Jerry ran forward to join the fray. They were all helping, my crew. The fear of death wasn’t stopping them.
Power swelled, filling the room, and Kieran pushed Jerry out of the way with air. He also shoved Bria, who’d dashed in, trying to grab Thane’s attention and get him out of the Spirit Walker’s reach.
Thane was resisting all on his own. I’d created a monster, and I was so thankful for it.
Thane whipped down at the half-flattened body, which still somehow housed the spirit. He pummeled the ruined cadaver, his howls agonized, his face screwed up in torture. I took one step closer, then another, dodging Thane’s fists. The decreased distance made my magic stronger. With a strong grip on Damion’s soul, I magically smacked the last prong like a hammer.
Thane kicked the body. It flew at Jerry, who was pushing himself to his feet.
The final prong snapped and the soul popped out, into my grasp. With his bald head, bushy eyebrows, and broad face, his expression held hatred and rage.
The body hit Jerry and knocked him back. He staggered in place and then flung the body away before retching.
“Take Thane down,” Kieran yelled, jogging into the room.
To my great surprise, Zander and the regal woman from my hearing ran into the room after him, magic ballooning with them, focused on poor Thane. Thane turned toward them and let out a great roar. Zander flinched, and the regal woman took the lead, her head turning down a little and her eyebrows lowering, a warrior entering the battlefield. I wondered if her magic came from Ares.
Thane
cracked his whip at her. She didn’t alter her course. She stuck out an arm, and the whip slashed through her light sweater and opened a deep red gash. She didn’t even flinch, and I wondered if that arrow shooter who hadn’t balked from my magic was on her team. She kept running, but my attention shifted to someone else.
Magnus had just entered the room.
He saw Damion caught in my grip and quickly skirted the scuffle with Thane, heading toward me.
“No!” I jogged backward and threw out my hand to slow him. “This spirit is not going into another spirit cage—which I really wish someone would’ve told me about. This spirit—”
“Will be handled by me.” The words rang through the room. The pressure I’d grown accustomed to—the feeling of invisible eyes watching—lifted from my shoulders. The little black shadows that had been plaguing me, darting to the sides and out of my vision, now came toward me, enlarging as they did. They coalesced into one shadowy being who stepped out of the spirit realm…and into the world of the living.
The shadows slowly peeled away into the face of Harding—the spirit I’d known as Harding, anyway, with his bedroom eyes, tousled hair, and lazy smile. His level of power lit up my world, off the charts and nothing like I’d ever felt from him in the past.
Magnus lost his breath and staggered backward, against the wall, his eyes as big as saucers. Kieran froze solid, his eyes fixed on Harding. But we weren’t the only ones who saw him this time. Zander and the regal woman, who’d been focused on dodging Thane, jogged backward in obvious shock. Only Bria didn’t jolt in surprise.
Thane, still going, spun and roared. Harding flicked his hand, and Thane jerked back and reduced into his human form. He was left breathing heavily and staring at his hands in confusion.
“Hi, Alexis,” Harding said with his little smirk. Someone at the door gasped.
“Who the fuck are you?” I demanded, and then pointed at Damion. “This guy says he is Harding—well, Damion now, but Harding once. I believe him—he’s as cracked as I would expect for someone with his history. You aren’t the last Spirit Walker, but you know the same stuff. Who are you?”
