by Ben Zackheim
I stopped walking.
“Twins? You two are twins?”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“I didn’t know you were twins. You look alike, but…”
“Not all twins look identical, genius.”
“I know that,” I said, fully aware of what an idiot I sounded like. “It’s just…”
“Spit it out.”
“You always struck me as the older sister, is all.”
“You always know what to say to a girl, Arkwright. There.” She pointed down the hallway. “That door. I’d bet your left nut.”
“Easy for you to say.” I took the lead with my Glock. I held the most powerful relic in the world in that sceptre, but the gun’s steel was still more comfortable to me.
Ronin’s gut had told her Rebel was in her own room. Rebel never used it much. She was a wanderer, so we were lucky to have her spend a couple of nights there back in the good old days.
I knew Ronin was correct the moment I put my ear to the door. I felt a warmth come over me. I felt anxious, but it was the kind of feeling you get before you walk off a plane, knowing your family was waiting for you. Ronin met my eyes and nodded. I nodded back, and turned the handle.
I pushed the door open.
Rebel lay on her bed.
Chapter 48
Would Rebel maim me for life, or kill me?
Those were the only two possibilities.
I knew what would happen if I were standing over my partner when she woke up. Pain would happen. A lot of pain. Pain on her face, pain in our hearts, and likely a whole lot of pain in my private parts.
Even though Rebel was right in front of us, I knew we were headed into a fight.
It would be hell to get my partner out of there.
It would also be hell to convince her I was still a friend.
Rebel’s left temple was wrapped up tight. Whoever had taken care of her had done a good job.
Ronin touched my shoulder.
“You sure you want to do this?” she whispered. “Maybe I could wake her for you. I’ve fought her more times than you have. We should let her get it out of her system.”
“Roughing you up would just put her in the mood to get creative on my ass. Maybe literally.”
“Literally? You’re saying she’d…”
“Hell yeah. She’d love an excuse to carve a self-portrait on my butt.”
I stepped into the room, not taking my eyes off of Rebel. Her red hair spread across the pillow. Her eyes were shut but someone had painted green irises on her closed eye lids. It gave her the appearance of being awake and really mad. The ancient Egyptians drew irises on the lids of their dead before burial, but whoever did this to her had other intentions.
It was probably a spell.
“Who did this to her?” Ronin asked. “It’s creeping me out.”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe it’s supposed to fool us into thinking she’s awake.”
“Maybe. It could be more powerful than that, though, so we need to be careful.”
“So it’s like a spell?”
“It’s like a spell, yes, Ronin,” I said with a tiny taste of condescension.
With the exception of the makeup on her eyelids, Rebel’s skin was clean. Her hair was combed. She even had color in her face. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought she was being cared for by someone who loved her.
I got ready to take step number two into the room when the painted irises on her lids shifted and glared at me. My gut clenched and I peed a little. I’m not ashamed to say it. Okay, I am ashamed to say it, but you would have lost some coffee, too.
“Holy shit,” Ronin gasped from behind me. I felt her hand grasp my shoulder and she pulled me back. Just in time, too.
Rebel and her bed transformed in an instant. Once second, everything appeared normal. The next second, she and her bed were cast in some kind of black light. Her body and the space around it lost all of its detail. It was like she was a photographic negative.
I glanced at the ground and realized I was an inch away from where the odd effect started.
If I’d been one step closer, the spell would have torn me in two.
“What the fuck is going on, Kane?”
“Rebel’s body was the tripwire. The spell is some kind of Wall Spell but I haven’t seen it before. Keep a lookout. If they didn’t know we were here before, they do now.”
“And what are you going to do? Become a Magicist in two minutes?”
“I’ll think of something. Go!”
She stormed out of the room. Rebel and I were alone together at last. Not quite the circumstances I wanted, but I’d take it.
Ronin was right. I was no Magicist.
I couldn’t shoot my way through that barrier.
But I could try the sceptre.
“Kane!” Ronin yelled from the hallway. “We’re not alone anymore!”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. But I hear it coming!”
I opened my Vault Portal and snagged the Doltrip. I slipped the mask over my face.
I gripped the sceptre tighter. The last couple of times I’d used it in battle it essentially did exactly what I wanted it to do. But each time I used it, I got a better sense of its power.
And each time I used it I feared it more.
I took a deep breath and ordered the sceptre to free Rebel. I told it to deliver her into the room, and place her gently on the chair near the door.
I felt the relic receive my thoughts.
Then I felt it ignore me.
Have you ever had a really good time at a party with someone you had a big crush on? Then, the next day, right when you think you had a chance, your crush gave you the cold shoulder?
Yeah. That’s what it felt like.
Ronin’s holler killed my moping. “Kane! Get out here!”
I looked down on my bedridden partner. “I’ll be back, Rebel. You just… float around in there for a minute.”
I gripped the Glock hard and the sceptre harder. It had let me down. Could I depend on it for whatever enemy we were up against next?
A scratching sound crept down the hallway. It sounded like claws tearing through flesh. It was getting louder, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. I took one look at Ronin and knew she had the same problem. She was jerking her head left and right, trying to get a bead on the noise.
“You take that way,” she said, pointing down the hall. I aimed the Glock. But as the noise got louder, I holstered it and held onto the sceptre with both hands.
Too bad we were both facing the wrong way.
Merlin emerged from the wall in front of us, hands raised in the air.
“Welcome, children,” he said as his palms flashed bright.
Chapter 49
But Merlin’s cocky demeanor and glowing palms faded when he saw my mask.
He almost screamed. Then he saw the sceptre in my hands and he did scream.
With the scepter’s help I shoved the wizard back into the wall he’d just walked through. He slammed into the now-solid plaster with the force of a cannonball. I heard the air in his lungs flood out of him. He crumpled to his knees inside the hole he’d made.
Ronin let loose a whole clip in his general direction. But the bullets turned to small clouds of dust before they hit the wizard.
He wanted to speak. He wanted to fight. But he had nothing.
The sceptre was responding again. I willed him dead.
Harsh? Maybe. Necessary in wartime? Definitely.
Either way, it didn’t work. The wizard disappeared in front of our eyes. One second he was gasping for air, holding his hands up to ward off our attacks. The next second he was gone, leaving plaster dust and two pounding hearts behind.
Ronin and I stood there for a minute, afraid to move. Was this a part of the trap? Were we still in danger? When my muscles started to cramp, I stood upright and leaned against the door to Rebel’s room.
&
nbsp; Ronin, still trying to catch her breath, gave me a gentle slap on the arm. “Did you see how he looked at you?”
I pulled the mask off and examined it. “Yeah, but what did he see? What could scare him like that? Did you get a look at the mask before he bolted?
“No, sorry. Who was he?”
“That was Merlin.”
“Fuuuuuuuuuck.”
“Well said. Couldn’t put it better myself.”
“Was that your plan? Wear the mask and scare Merlin?”
“That was the plan. It half-worked. As usual. I wanted to find out what he’s scared of, too. But…”
“No, that was good. Very good. I’m impressed.”
Her compliment made me uncomfortable. Compliments always made me uncomfortable. It’s why I’m such a master of banter. So I changed the subject. “I doubt that’s the end of this fight. He always has surprises up his robe.”
“That’s what she said,” Ronin and I said together. We smiled, realized we were smiling with each other, and quickly frowned. It was an awkward moment. I thought it would be a good chance to mend some fences, so I got ready to tell her she’d been a good partner. Overall. But just as I opened my mouth, she held a palm up to my face.
“I don’t care.” Ronin pushed past me and went into her sister’s room. So much for a peace offering. I walked in after her.
The spell around Rebel was gone.
“Looks like it was one of Merlin’s spells,” Ronin said. She took her sister’s palm in her hand and felt for a pulse. “She’s fine.” Her breath was deep, like she was sleeping. Ronin smirked at me. “You going to kiss her and wake her up, little prince?”
“Yeah, actually, I might.” I opened my Vault Portal and put the sceptre inside. I sat down next to Rebel and held her hand in mine. She was warm. “It looks like she’s sleeping.”
“No way. Not with the racket we just made.” Ronin leaned over her sister. “AM I RIGHT, REBEL?” She stood up straight and crossed her arms, proud of herself for being right. Like a little girl winning a fight with daddy.
Such a weird woman.
“Thanks for clarifying, Ronin,” I said.
Rebel shifted a little bit. I waited for her to wake, but she didn’t. It occurred to me that she might be faking it. Maybe she was about to take us both down. I released her hand and slid down the bed a foot. Or two.
Then I fell to the floor.
It felt like an earthquake.
The house shook so hard I could hear the bones of it crack and fracture.
“What’s going on?” Ronin yelled.
I got to my feet and scrambled for the door. It was tough to stay upright with the floorboards shifting underneath us.
“Hey, asshole,” a voice said from nowhere and everywhere.
“House?” I yelled.
“Thanks for putting me in the fucking crosshairs, ya dick!”
My house had been given a brain (of sorts) and a serious attitude by Lucas when we renovated the house. The demon librarian had cast a curse on a cornerstone of the new foundation. He insisted that the curse was one of the good kind and that the spirit would always protect itself and those inside of it. I told him no. Never. Not in a million years would I allow him to cast a spell on my own home.
So Lucas did it anyway.
I had to admit that the house had been helpful. Grumpy, but helpful. It took care of a lot of the security, maintenance, and even had a few spells of its own up its sleeves, pipes, whatever.
“House! Are you doing that?”
“Yeah! Because I love to tear myself apart, ya prick!”
“Damn it! Tell me what’s going on!”
“You’re under attack, genius. Best I can tell it’s a couple of people. One of ‘em is huge. The other one is flying.”
“Male and female?” I asked as the house shook again.
“OW! Yeah.”
“Shit.”
Ronin frowned. “What do you mean, shit?”
“It could be Cassidy and Rose.”
“The twins? They’re here? Why?”
“They work for Loki now. They’re treasure hunters. He and Skyler transformed them so they could find relics before me and Rebel.”
“That makes sense. Gryphons can sniff out treasure. Wendigos are the best fighters I’ve ever seen.”
“Are you two going to sit around, or are you going to help me?” House asked.
“We’re on our way!” I yelled over the boom of the hardest impact yet.
“No,” a weak voice said. Ronin and I looked over our shoulders Rebel sat up up and leaned against the back of the bed. “No, we need to get the spear first.”
Chapter 50
I wanted to hold her and tell her I’m sorry, but when you’re about to get torn to pieces by a wendigo and stabbed with dozens of flame arrows, it’s best to hold off on reunions.
“Rebel,” I said. I swallowed my emotions. They tasted like shit. “The spear is here?”
“Kane?” she asked through heavy lids.
“Hi, Rebel,” I said. I even got a smile in before I heard a wall collapse in the distance.
“Any fuckin’ day, assholes!” House hollered.
“What is she doing here?” Rebel asked, pointing at her sister with one hand as she used the other hand to pick at the dressing on her head. She unfurled it.
I tried to get her to stop messing with the wrap. “She helped me find you. And now she’s going to help me carry you. Where’s the spear, Rebel?” She slapped my hand away and tried to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. She fell on her side on the mattress. I stopped her from slipping off. “Where do you think, Kane? It’s in the safe.”
“Which safe?” Ronin asked.
“Of course! I have a safe here. We built it after snagging Excalibur. We needed a backup in case anything happened to me and my Swap Portal. We stored the sword there briefly. Some fragments of Mjölnir, too.”
“Where’s this safe?”
“It’s under the library.”
“Fine,” Ronin said. “I’ll stay here with my sister, and you go get the fucking thing.”
I shook my head. “The safe can’t be opened by anything or anyone except Rebel and me.”
“She’s in no condition to move!”
House hollered loud enough to make us squint in pain. “I’m in no condition to keep a damn roof over your heads! Get a move-on!”
I wrapped one of Rebel’s arms over my shoulder and lifted her. Ronin did the same on her other side. We helped her out of the room. I could feel my partner’s legs gain strength with each step. She wouldn’t be in any condition to fight anytime soon. But I knew she’d only need our help to walk for a few more minutes.
We got to the end of the hallway and went straight for the stairwell. Plaster fell on our heads in small chunks. The chunks quickly got bigger and bigger. One piece smacked my shoulder so hard I let go of Rebel. She kept her feet under her and lifted her hand high over her head.
A glowing hand.
A ten foot chunk of ceiling stopped mid-air. It hovered over our heads, mere inches from Rebel’s upraised fist. The spell lit her hand bright orange and the debris suddenly turned to dust.
“You’ve been practicing, sister,” Ronin said between coughs. She was trying to sound cocky, but she didn’t fool me. Seeing that level of magic go down is unsettling for a seasoned pro, much less a pencil-pushing bureaucrat like Ronin.
We shuffled down the stairs, a clumsy trio with everything on the line. When we reached the ground floor, Rebel shoved us away. She held onto the railing tight, then let go and stood up straight and strong.
The sound of cracked and shattered wood made me turn around.
A gryphon and a wendigo stood in the ravaged doorway to my home.
“Give us the spear, Kane,” Rose said in that creepy voice she had. Her gryphon form hid her beautiful face in a mist that distorted her features. She appeared to be in a tortuous loop of agony, then ecstasy, then fear. But it was the expression
less, pea-eyed face that made me grit my teeth.
“Rose, listen to me,” Rebel said. She took a couple of stumbling steps toward our friend. Rebel had always been protective of the twins. She’d always seen their potential to be a part of the team.
Rose answered Rebel with an arrow of light, aimed right between her eyes. Rebel stopped it with a spell. Which spell? Fuck if I know. My partner used new magic every time I saw her fight. Rose’s missile faded to nothing. I put my hand on my partner’s shoulder and stood beside her. Her face was filled with pain. Rebel looked up at me and said in a soft voice. “She tried to kill me, Kane.”
That made me mad. “Rose! Cassidy! I’m giving you one chance to join us. You can be a part of the team. We worked together in Japan to keep the mask out of the vampires’ hands. We can work together to keep the spear from them, too.”
The two of them didn’t say a word. They were as still as a photograph.
Cassidy roared. Rose clenched her fists and rose high above our heads. She had a half dozen light arrows hovering in front of her within a second.
Time to fight.
I opened the Vault Portal, but I knew it was too late. I reached for it, but Cassidy stomped the floor, knocking me off balance. His power was incredible. If he got his mitts on us, we’d be sausage.
Rebel left the ground with a small hop, soared straight up like a bird. and met face-to-face with Rose near the ceiling.
“Rebel, no!” I yelled just as the wendigo’s huge foot entered my vision and came down hard. I rolled away just in time. The Vault Portal followed me. I reached for it as Cassidy tried to pull his foot loose from the hole he’d just made in the marble floor.
One of Rose’s arrows hit my forearm.
I screamed in pain and held my arm to my chest. It burned. I couldn’t move it. I reached for the portal with my other hand.
Cassidy got his foot loose and ran at me. He was one step away from popping my head like a balloon when Ronin shot him in the shoulder.