Power Game

by Brad Magnarella

  I looked both ways before crossing another street and entering the East Village. Off to my right, large lattices of steel were rising from the dust and ashes of razed buildings, evidence of the mayor’s promised neighborhood redevelopment project. But my route took me left, into the still-crumbling Alphabet City. I kept a watchful eye down the streets and alleyways. Though the eradication program had ended the once-rampant ghoul threat, other horrors continued to lurk at this end of the city.

  “Ah-ha!” Claudius exclaimed, making me jump. “I found her! No contact information, though. And there’s an agreement that Gretchen’s role is strictly for training purposes. She’s under no obligation to… Let’s see, there’s a list that runs for several pages. Shall I read it off?”

  “No, thanks.”

  I already knew her song and dance. She didn’t care about humans, magic-users, or the Order and would be perfectly content to spend her golden years in the faerie realm, never having to look at any of us ever again, blah, blah, blah…

  But it was talk. She’d help in her own way—if I could find her. Hopefully, she would reach out to her goblin house sitter in the very near future, and he would pass on my message. Though after the way our encounter had ended, I suspected he was more likely to say screw it.

  I could hear Claudius reading Gretchen’s list off to himself. By this time I’d arrived at the vampire hunters’ apartment building. I peered up its crumbling facade. Demolition notices plastered the doors and windows on the ground level. I couldn’t say I would be sorry to see the building imploded. My memories of the place weren’t especially cheery, including the night I’d treated Vega’s gunshot wound.

  “Claudius, I’ve gotta go,” I said. “Give me a call the second you hear from the Order.”

  “Oh, okay, Everson. I’m sure it will be soon.”

  But his voice was verging on panic again.

  My meeting with the vampire hunters was brief. I actually caught them rehearsing. After they killed their amps and thumping generator, I filled them in on my encounter, agreed to the thirty thousand dollars for a kill, and told them to be extremely cautious. Contrary to my earlier assessment, Arnaud wielded enough demonic magic to animate a corpse. Bullet and Dr. Z exchanged nervous looks, but Blade didn’t blink. She reassured me her network still had eyes on the city, which was reassuring. The second Arnaud showed his demon face, her team would be armed and ready to roll.

  I texted Vega on the cab ride back to my apartment.

  U ok?

  Fine here, she responded seconds later. Finally got Tony to bed. You?

  Sounds like he’s already taken care of.

  Smartass. You know what I meant.

  No Arnaud. Hunters looking. Going home. Sleep.

  What’s with the Tarzan speak?

  I snorted at the joke from her end.

  Flip phone, I texted back. Have to scroll for each letter.

  Call Jane morning? ;)

  Will do. Love you.

  Love you too.

  I closed the phone and gazed out the window. My smile straightened as I imagined Vega and Tony settling down for the night in a house that, despite my wards and Grandpa’s pendant, felt far too vulnerable. I even caught my eyes skipping from one dark alley to the next in search of vampire-demons.

  In the last two months we had talked about what would happen if Arnaud had returned. The uncomfortable but necessary topic of getting Tony out of the city had come up a few times. Most of Vega’s family lived in New York and Jersey, but she had a cousin she knew somewhat well out in Texas. Would Tony be safer with them, fifteen hundred miles away? At the end, it always came back to the same conundrum: though our proximity to Tony made him a target, Vega and I were also the best equipped to protect him.

  Sighing, I turned from the window. I had texted Vega instead of calling to keep from waking anyone, but it had also saved me from having to share the encounter I’d had with the “Upholders.” I would tell her eventually—probably tomorrow morning—but I needed the night to digest what they’d shared.

  What they’d offered.

  Sanctuary for you and a loved one.

  Malachi wasn’t exaggerating: the interfaith houses were frigging fortresses, much more so than my wards. And if Arnaud was coordinating with other demons, Grandpa’s pendant might only do so much. Access to the interfaith houses required permission from a religious authority, but once inside, you were sheltered by the faith of billions and made practically untouchable.

  If I can get access for Vega and Tony, at least until the danger passes…

  Man, it was tempting. But the price of admission was a commitment to the Upholder’s cause first—something the bonding spell would enforce. I could literally have Arnaud in my sights and be compelled to aid one of the others. That felt like a deal breaker.

  But damn, Gorgantha’s swimming abilities alone would have been an asset tonight when Arnaud slipped into the East River. And that was to say nothing of Jordan’s and Seay’s abilities as druid and fae. Having all three in my corner?

  Still, it wasn’t up to me. It was up to an Order that had gone radio silent.

  Back at my apartment, I shed my coat and hung it on the rack. My watch showed the late hour. If I could get a solid six, I’d be happy.

  Though I tried to walk quietly to my bedroom, Tabitha shifted on the divan and squinted over a shoulder. Her green eyes glowed at me through the dimness before closing again.

  “Oh,” she said. “Thought I smelled a demon.”

  I sniffed the shoulder of my shirt. Beneath my own sourness, I picked up faint traces of the demon from Nathan’s apartment. “You did,” I said. “I got into it with one earlier tonight.” Two if I counted Arnaud, but we hadn’t actually gotten close and personal.

  Damn, what I would have given to have that encounter over.

  “I hope you’re not too tired to fix me something,” Tabitha said.

  “As long as it isn’t anything more complicated than goat’s milk.”

  She let out an aggrieved sigh. “I should probably be used to missing dinner by now.”

  “Missing dinner?” I walked into the kitchen. “What happened to the rosemary porkchops I left out for you.”

  “They hardly made an appetizer.”

  “It was a stack of four. They weighed almost a pound each.”

  “Oh, come now, darling. You’re exaggerating and you know it.”

  I wasn’t going to get into it with her tonight. “Anything to report?” I asked.

  “Do you mean those dreaded tours?”

  “Tours, visitors, the same thing I mean every time I ask the question.” I snapped on the gas flame, adjusted it to medium, then upended the milk above the pot, splashing some over the side. Tabitha watched me with a wry look.

  “What’s got you in a stir?”

  “Just a lot going on,” I muttered. “And I was hoping to get some sleep tonight.”

  “Well, I completely understand you there. I was hoping for the same. But yes, the tours. I did manage to sneak in one before dark.”

  “You snuck in one,” I repeated.

  The original deal had been a ledge tour every two hours, but she’d worn me down to the point that I was happy now to get half or even a fourth of that. One was pushing it, though, especially with Arnaud out there.

  “Do you know how fucking cold it is?” she complained. “I lost sensation in four of my nipples, and two have only just come back to life.”

  I winced. “All right, enough of that.”

  “The swearing or the nipple talk.”

  “Both. Anything to report, yes or no?”

  She sighed.

  “What?”

  “I can’t do this anymore, Everson!” she burst out.

  I’d been watching for the milk to steam, but now I looked over sharply. Tabitha usually spoke in a tired, scornful voice that made me want to strangle her. It had been years since her pitch had risen like that.

  “What are you talking about?” I as
ked.

  “The tours. The lounging. The constant eating and sleeping. This is no way to live.”

  I couldn’t help myself. “And you’re only now coming to that conclusion?”

  “I’m serious, darling. I…” She choked on her next word as her great orange body started to heave. Was she crying? Holy crap, she was. “I don’t think I can go on like this,” she managed between sobs. “Just … just end me now.”

  Okay, this was more serious than her usual dramatics.

  I turned off the stove and hurried to her side. “Where is all of this coming from?” I asked in confusion.

  “Do you want to know why I only did one tour today? Because when I was halfway around the ledge, I found myself staring down at the street and all the cars going past. I caught myself thinking that if your wards and the four-story plummet didn’t kill me, the traffic would. And there was a horrible relief in the thought that all I had to do was step off. It’s a wonder I made it back inside.”

  “That is horrible.” I waited the appropriate beat. “But I’m still trying to understand why now?”

  “Seven years I’ve been in this body,” she went on, “and what do I have to show for it besides this unsightly figure and a permanent depression in the cushion? I’m nothing but a big, hairy waste of space. Not even the idea of a man’s soul excites me anymore.” She sniffled and wiped the snot running from her nose with the back of a curled paw. “And look at you, a popular professor, a big-shot wizard—you’re practically a superhero in this city. Though I don’t see it,” she added in a burble.

  The dig barely registered as I thought back. Had it really been seven years since I’d channeled the succubus into that scrawny kitten in Times Square? Wow, it had been. Which meant Tabitha’s cat body was approaching midlife.

  A small lightbulb went off.

  “Tabitha, listen. I’m no doctor, but if you can’t think of anything that might have triggered this change in outlook, then it could very well be hormonal. And that’s a good thing,” I hastened to add.

  “What’s good about having the chemistry of a night hag?” she snapped.

  “Well, it means it could just be a matter of, you know, bringing things back into balance.”

  I was dangerously out of my element. And to be dealing with this now of all times…

  “Oh, God,” Tabitha moaned. “Pills? What’s next? Electroshock therapy? A lobotomy?”

  “No,” I said firmly. “It won’t come to that. Look, I’m going to call a vet in the morning. Just don’t do anything rash in the meantime, okay?”

  I cast a locking spell over the cat door, but then I thought about the blades in the kitchen, the electrical outlets, the ease with which she could fill the bathtub—there were literally a dozen ways Tabitha could hurt herself that didn’t involve a four-story fall onto Tenth Street.

  “Wait here,” I said and climbed the ladder to my lab.

  In one of the plastic bins beneath the table, I pulled out a long vial with one of my pre-mades and hurried back down. After activating the potion in the kitchen, I tipped a couple of drops into Tabitha’s milk.

  “What are you doing?” she asked suspiciously.

  I brought the bowl over, set it down, and remained in a crouch so my cat and I were at eye level. “First, I love you,” I said.

  Her eyes narrowed to their characteristic slits before falling to the milk. “Did you just slip me a roofie?”

  “I just added a little pleasure elixir. At this dose, it should act like a relaxant. It’s not a cure, but it should clear up the dark thoughts enough to help you sleep tonight. How does that sound?”

  She regarded me for another moment before sighing. “Stand back.”

  With what appeared tremendous effort, Tabitha heaved herself to her paws. I moved away as she thudded to the floor and began lapping up the milk. When she finished, she looked at me and then raised her eyes to the divan. I had a hard time believing she couldn’t get back up under her own power, but I lifted her anyway. Already, the potion was taking effect, reducing her muscles to thick slabs of putty. I arranged her body until it was curled in the general shape of the cushion’s depression.

  “How’s that?” I asked.

  A small smile wrinkled the corners of her mouth. “Nice, darling.” The words oozed from her like warm honey. A definite improvement. I waited until her eyelids fluttered closed before turning off the lights and heading to my bedroom.

  “Oh, and Everson?” she purred.

  I paused. “Yeah?”

  “I sort of love you.”

  10

  That night I was awakened by the sound of my name.

  I shoved off the covers and stepped from my bedroom. Out in the main room, Tabitha was asleep on the divan, her side rising and falling in a steady rhythm. A soft light limned everything. I peered around in confusion.

  “Everson.”

  I recognized the voice now. “Arianna?”

  The source of the light was a flicker in the center of the room. It swelled until the robed figure of the senior member of the Order took shape. The warm waves pulsing from her reminded me of my mother’s emo ball, which made sense. Arianna, who had delivered me in the Refuge, was like a surrogate mother.

  But what was she doing here, like this?

  Her face took solid shape last. “Can you hear me?” she asked.

  Her voice sounded very near and yet somehow very far away.

  “Yes,” I replied, “where are you?”

  “We’re in the Harkless Rift.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “We discovered a fissure in the Rift’s blackest depths. We’re working to knit it closed, but it’s requiring all of our energy. We’ve been out of communication for several days.” For the first time, I picked up the strain in her voice.

  “Did you get my messages?” I asked.

  “Yes, it’s why I’ve come to your resting mind.”

  My resting mind?

  I looked over at Tabitha. Despite the sound of our conversation and the light swimming over her closed eyes, she hadn’t stirred.

  I then thought to peer over a shoulder. Beyond my bedroom doorway, I could make out a mound in the bed. Me, I realized, still sleeping. Far easier for Arianna to access my astral consciousness than to project from somewhere as distant as the Harkless Rift to my apartment, especially if energy was at a premium.

  “Yes, Everson,” she said, picking up my thoughts. “But I cannot maintain the connection for long.”

  “Sorry, I’m listening.”

  “Following my last visit, I puzzled over how a demon had come to take form in the world, even if only briefly. I also worried over the ways the demon might have eluded me.” She was referring to Arnaud tunneling from the host. “Those questions led us to the Harkless Rift, where we discovered a fissure to the deeper places. It had started out small, probably imperceptibly so, but through the power of the claimed souls, the demon forced it open. There is a particular energy there, one that can conceal a demon’s energy. That is how this one escaped our notice. Other demons have come through since.”

  I thought about the Strangers the Upholders had mentioned. Was this the beginning of what Malachi had foreseen?

  “How many?” I asked.

  “Many hundreds,” she responded, sending a chill through me. “They’ve turned up at nexuses all over the world, where we’ve placed magic-users like you. A large number of them came to New York City.” Her face turned toward the bay windows. “Here the powerful patterns of ley energy are most conducive to their magic.”

  “So, you’ll be sending a senior member of the Order?”

  “When we can, Everson. More demons are trying to force their way through. Hordes of them. The most vital work at the moment is here. We must keep them back while we close the fissure, or the world will be overrun.”

  “Gretchen, then?” I asked, feeling the first clutches of desperation.

  “I’ve attempted to reach her, but her defenses ar
e up. I will try again.”

  “A group approached me with an offer to collaborate in the fight against the demons.”

  “Yes, you mentioned the Upholders in your message,” she replied. “But for reasons you’ve already determined, your first action must not be with them.” So, Arianna and I were on the same page about the whole pecking-order thing, them not helping me until I had helped them. “The demons are looking for a being in your world they’re calling Sefu.”

  “Sefu? Who’s that?”

  “At the moment, little more than a name. But there is power behind the name. You must find and hide Sefu.”

  “All right. Where is he? Or she?”

  Arianna’s eyes closed. “The currents are indistinct. The Order is receiving only impressions. Sefu is concealed now, but that will change.” She opened her eyes again and looked at me intently. “In the morning you will receive a phone call. Do what that person asks, and it will lead you to Sefu.”

  And if I still don’t find them? I thought to myself.

  But we were convening in a dimension of my sleeping mind, and Arianna heard the words as clearly as if I’d spoken them. “Then a demon will find and possess Sefu and grow exponentially in power. Events will cascade.”

  I shuddered to think that the demon could be Arnaud.

  Maybe I could put more resources into finding and destroying him before—

  “No,” Arianna interrupted. “You must focus on this single task. All others are secondary right now.”

  I took a breath and centered myself. “All right, but … alone?”

  “You already have a team,” she said. “Organize them. Utilize your diverse perceptions.”

  I was going to ask who exactly she meant, but her light was fading, her form turning gauzy.

  “The same magic that speaks to me also speaks to you,” she said as she disappeared.