Michelle glanced over to see what Adesina was doing and saw that she was also staring at Drake intently. Michelle let the bubble drop and it went bouncing across the floor. A mass of other bouncy bubbles followed.
“What are you doing?” Bastet hissed as she turned into human form. “Drake and Sekhmet are talking!”
“Seriously?” Michelle replied, letting another barrage of bubbles go. These were like soap bubbles, but wouldn’t break until she let them. They floated around the room. “We could have randy-panda sexual hijinks in here and he—they—wouldn’t notice.”
“Well, I’d notice!”
“Fine,” Michelle replied sulkily. She let all the bubbles burst at once.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this isn’t going to do Drake any good. That’s too much pressure for him in his current state.”
“I’m sorry,” Drake said. Michelle turned. He was already heading for one of the other benches.
“Sekhmet wants to go to the Moon,” Drake said sadly as he sat. “And without her, I don’t know how well I can control my power. But worse, if we go, we leave people unprotected. But I can’t lose her! She’s the only one who understands me!” He hadn’t even changed out of the jeans and tee he was wearing the day before and his hair was greasy.
“It’s okay, Drake,” Adesina said kindly. “You’ve been here a long time. You can’t live your whole life for other people.” She glanced pointedly at Michelle, who let a barrage of soft bubbles rain down on Adesina’s head. “Seriously, Mom? Is that really the best you can do in this situation?”
She’s really good at the guilt, Michelle thought. She doesn’t get that from me. With a sigh of exasperation, Michelle stood, putting her hands on her hips. “What do you want me to do? Wave a magic bubble and make everything all right?”
“You could do more to help him!” Adesina jumped to her feet and her wings opened wide. She let them flap once, and Michelle’s hair floated on the breeze they produced. “Honestly. I think you don’t even want to try.”
There was the beginning of a headache right behind Michelle’s left eye. She hated arguing with her daughter. “Could you really get documentation for him to leave the country?” Michelle asked Bastet with a defeated sigh.
“Of course!” Bastet replied. “Sobek and I have talked about it. But we can’t just leave people here without protection.…”
“What about Sekhmet!” Drake cried. “She wants to go to the Moon. She doesn’t want to stay on Earth.”
Michelle wanted to strangle him. Much the same way she occasionally wanted to strangle Adesina, particularly now.
“I just want to do the right thing,” Drake continued. “And I’m tired of everyone else telling me what to do. You know I can make my own decisions. I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Then start acting like it,” Michelle said, exasperated. “If we’re going to get you out of here, Sekhmet or not, we need to make plans. And you.” She pointed at her daughter. “No more talk about going to the Moon until … well, until I say so.”
Adesina rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she said.
A table setting for five had been laid out in the dining room of Drake’s suite. Gold silverware gleamed on a pristine damask tablecloth. A single lotus flower floated in a lapis-colored enameled bowl. “Thank you for agreeing to have dinner with us,” Bastet said. “You know, not everyone gets to have dinner in the Temple.”
Dutton nodded politely. He was wearing his gold mask again, but now that Michelle knew what was under it, she found the affectation a little weird. Isn’t that what happens when you have money? she thought. You’re not weird anymore, you’re eccentric. But, nope, this is still weird.
“I confess,” Dutton replied, tilting his head and considering Bastet. “I wondered what could have prompted the invitation. I’m acquainted with you three women. But this one.” Dutton waved his hand dismissively at Drake. “I don’t know who he is.”
Bastet nodded and Drake took off his Houston Astros baseball cap. There was a wet line of sweat where the cap had been. Sekhmet’s body seemed redder and more prominent. Drake hunkered down as if he expected to be hit at any moment.
“That’s Ra,” Michelle said.
Dutton laughed. “That’s a boy. Ra is a man.”
“Not so much,” Michelle replied. “This is why we can’t let you have Ra. Drake is in no emotional condition to keep on being the protector of anything, much less a base on the Moon. He can’t be Ra anymore.”
“But Ra is a Living God. He’s possibly the most powerful ace on Earth—no offense, my dear.”
“None taken,” she replied. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Drake cringe and sink lower in his chair.
“This is ridiculous!” Dutton exclaimed, reaching up and pulling off his mask, setting it down on the table. “Ra can’t be this…” He pointed at Drake.
“And he’s an American,” Bastet said helpfully. “Not Egyptian at all. And wouldn’t that be a scandal?”
“The Americans would never let an ace with this kind of power get away. How did he end up here?”
“Yeah, that’s kinda complicated,” Michelle said with a sigh. “Let’s just say the symbiote—that’s Sekhmet in his forehead—helps him control his powers, but he wasn’t in control of them before and … shit happened. Really bad shit.”
Dutton leaned back in his chair, looking drained. “This is a disaster. He’s pathetic.”
“Don’t be mean.” Adesina shifted in her chair and her wings started spreading out. “He can’t help who he is. No joker can. Look around the table, Mr. Dutton, we’re all wild carders here. Do you think any of us would have chosen this?”
Well, I might have, Michelle thought.
A silence fell. Dutton put his fingers to his temples and looked as if he were in pain. Bastet and Adesina exchanged glances and Michelle spared one for Drake. There was a flush across his cheeks and his eyes were downturned. She recognized the signs. He was about to cry. “Look, Dutton, you can’t possibly want Drake under these circumstances,” Michelle cajoled.
Dutton stopped massaging his temples. “I’m not so sure about that.” There was a thread of steel in his voice. It was the tone of someone who was used to getting what they wanted no matter the cost.
“Well, I’m sure,” Bastet interjected. “There have been multiple attempts on his life. As far as we can tell, from various actors. The only way for him to be safe is for him to stop being Ra and leave Old Egypt for good.”
“Then the Moon is the perfect place for him,” Dutton said.
“Do you really think the countries of Earth would let you keep an ace this powerful on the Moon?” Michelle asked. “Talk about something that would unify them.”
“And where do you propose to hide him then, Miss Pond? Your face is impressively well known. He can’t hide out with you.”
“Perhaps we can come to an accommodation.” Bastet reached over and touched Dutton’s arm. He looked down at her hand with surprise. “Only a handful of people know that Drake is Ra. We could slip him out of the country. He could start a new life and no one need know he’s an ace.”
Dutton took her hand and gently laid it back on the table. She spidered it back into her lap. “Are you proposing that I aid in such an undertaking?”
“Jeez,” Adesina said with a touch of asperity. “It’s easy enough, Mr. Dutton. Drake gets a new identity and you stop bugging him to be Ra. Then Mom and Bastet will help you with the jokers.”
“You’re not one to mince words, are you, my dear.” He looked at Drake. “You haven’t said much while everyone here discusses your fate.”
Drake shrugged. “I’m not going to the Moon with you.”
“You would have been a god over all others.”
“Done that.”
Dinner came and Egyptian dishes were laid out on the table family style. Drake was served a cheeseburger and fries. “You’re not having any of this, Drake?” Adesina asked. “It smells awesome.”
Adesina shrugged. “Your loss. Pass me the duck.”
“How do you intend to encourage the reluctant jokers to come with me?” Dutton asked Michelle. They were walking at Dutton’s pace toward the entrance to the Final Court. The housing building, which included Drake’s apartment suite, was connected to it through a small courtyard.
“By telling them that Ra is leaving Old Egypt. If they decide to stay and take their chances, so be it.”
“That’s a little draconian.”
“So is expecting someone to give up their entire life and safety for others. My guess is this will clarify the situation for many of them.”
Dutton stopped and leaned on his cane, catching his breath. Michelle moved to help him, but he waved her away. “And what do you get out of this, Miss Pond? You don’t seem as if you’re much of a fan of the boy.”
“Ms. Pond … oh, never mind. Basically, I want the jokers safe. I’m not a fan of genocide—been there and done that here already. Personally, I hate the idea of Adesina going to the Moon, but I guess there has to be someplace safe for jokers in need of one. But if Adesina decides that’s what she needs in the future, I want it to be there for her.” She stopped and looked back down the corridor toward Drake’s rooms.
“As for Drake, that’s a favor for Bastet, but he’s such a mess, I just, I guess I feel sorry for him and his situation. And Bastet is mad attached to him. And I’m her friend.”
“Mom!” Dutton and Michelle turned to see Adesina half-running, half-flying down the hall toward them.
“There’s something seriously wrong with Drake! C’mon!” Adesina grabbed Michelle’s arm and began dragging her down the hall. “Mom, run! We’ve already called the doctor.”
A stab of real fear shot through Michelle. There were people who wanted Ra dead. They didn’t know he was little more than a fucked-up teenager. To them he was a massive threat.
She reached the doorway and an acrid smell hit her. Inside, she saw Drake lying on the floor next to a pool of vomit. Bastet was squatting beside him, trying to hold him, but he was thrashing about, holding his stomach and moaning. Then he rolled back onto his knees and began puking up black bile. There was a terrible gagging noise coming from him. Then he let loose a howl that made the hairs on her neck stand up.
“What can I do?” Michelle asked frantically.
“Nothing,” Bastet said dully as she encircled Drake’s convulsing body with her arms. “He’s been poisoned. If the doctor doesn’t get here in time, he’ll be dead.”
Bastet began crooning to Drake. It wasn’t a melody Michelle recognized and it had a vaguely atonal, almost mewing, sound. Drake began convulsing again.
“Mom!” Adesina cried in a panicked voice. “Oh my God, Mom. What do we do?”
Michelle looked at Drake in despair. There had to be something she could do, but she was at a loss as to what.
As she watched helplessly, the red scarab under the skin of Drake’s forehead began to move. Drake started shrieking as it burst out of his forehead, legs waving, onto his cheek. The scarab crawled unsteadily down to his chest. She was red, but turning black rapidly.
“Sekhmet!” Bastet cried. “I don’t understand why she looks like that. She’s always been red.”
Drake shuddered and went limp as Bastet wiped the sweat and blood off his forehead. With a grunt, he pulled away from her and rolled onto his knees.
“Sekhmet.” His voice was weak and papery. “Sekhmet. Why?” Tears were streaming down his cheeks now. No sobs or sloppy weeping. This was agony. Pain too deep for any normal response. He reached out and took Sekhmet in his hands, cradling her gently. “Oh, no,” he moaned softly.
Michelle started to say something, but Bastet held her hand up and Michelle fell silent.
“She’s dying,” he said as he cradled Sekhmet’s body to his chest. “What am I going to do without her? She took the poison away. Why did she save me? She should have let me die.”
From the corner of the room, Adesina said, “She loved you. She loved you and made the choice for you to live.”
Drake opened his hands. Nothing but ashes spilled out.
“Oh, God.” He shuddered and the last bit of ash fell to the floor. Looking at his hands in horror, he rubbed them together, trying to cleanse them of the residue. But it wouldn’t come off. Then he looked wildly around the room as if he was lost, then brought his hands to his face and rubbed them there, leaving black streaks on his cheeks and forehead.
“She told me I didn’t need her anymore,” he said woodenly. He let his hands hang limp at his sides.
Oh, shit, Michelle thought. It may have been the years spent in the field, or maybe just intuition, but she held her palms facing the ceiling and immediately encased Bastet and Adesina in bubbles.
“Why are you…” she heard Dutton say as she enveloped him, too.
“Shut your eyes,” she said in a loud voice. “Now!” Then she willed the bubbles to fly out of the room. Exclamations of surprise and fear erupted from the occupants, but Michelle didn’t have time to think of them now that they were out of immediate danger.
With a howl of rage and agony, Drake threw his arms wide, and heat and light poured out of him. It hit her and she expanded as she absorbed his power. It couldn’t blind her. And he’d done far worse to her back in New Orleans.
She started bubbling and the first one was for him. A heavy, but still softish, one hit him full in the chest. It was designed to knock him off his feet, which it did. He sat down with an “oomph” that was very pleasing to hear.
“Jesus, Drake, calm the fuck down!” she yelled.
She let bubbles stream from her hands. It was going to be tough to keep the weight off if he was in full-blown meltdown mode and not controlling his power. Sure, he was hitting her hard as hell—maybe only Golden Boy could have taken it as well—but she was the Amazing Bubbles and this shit was cake.
Michelle lifted her arms over her head—a totally unnecessary act, but she was feeling dramatic—and let bubbles shower down on them both and they began filling the room. She allowed them to pop harmlessly. Drake clambered to his feet and shrieked at her, then hit her with another blast.
“I. Don’t. Have. To. Calm. Down!” Each word was accented by a blast of heat and light. He started walking toward her, but she wasn’t having any of that.
Michelle released a bubble. It was heavy and firm, not unlike the first she’d sent at him. This time she flung it at his chest, knocking him off his feet and making it grow heavy enough he couldn’t get up.
“Stop it,” she said wearily. There was no doubt that he was running on adrenaline now. It was the only way he could be functional after being poisoned—even if Sekhmet had taken the lion’s share of it out before she died. The sound of him wheezing cheered her up. If she could keep him down without hurting him, maybe he would spend himself out. Bubbles rolled across the floor and rested on his arms and legs.
“You bitch,” he grunted. “If you hadn’t come none of this would have happened.”
“Whoa, there,” Michelle replied. Bubbles flew off her hands. She looked around the room for somewhere to sit, but all the cushions and pillows had been vaporized by his first blast. She sat cross-legged on the floor. “My being here has nothing to do with this, and you know it.”
“People knew you were here. Wherever you go, things go bad.”
That one hurt. “You think me being here is the reason you got poisoned? Are you really that delusional?” Drake rolled onto his stomach with a grunt. Michelle let two more bubbles land on him. He flailed about like a two-year-old having a tantrum, but finally gave up and lay still. “People have been trying to kill you for a long time, Drake. And you know it. Sekhmet died so you could get out of here and go to a better, a safer, place.”
He managed to turn onto his side, and he blasted her again. Fat ballooned on her and
she felt a delicious surge of power.
“Dammit, Drake, you know that doesn’t do shit to me! I mean, it feels great, but seriously, what the hell.”
He shoved the bubbles off, struggled to his feet, and staggered to the door, hitting her with another blast of flame. Bubbles poured off her free hand. Drake was almost to the door when her bubble caught him in the middle of his back. He flew forward and she heard him hit the opposite wall hard. He crumpled to the floor and lay still.
She spared a look to check on Adesina, Bastet, and Dutton. Then she let their bubbles evaporate.
“Mom?”
“It’s okay, honey,” she replied. “Everyone okay?”
Dutton groaned and, using his cane, slowly got to his feet. “I’m fine, though at my age my tumbling isn’t what it once was.”
“I’m fine,” Bastet said dryly. “That wasn’t how I expected to be saved, but it was an experience nonetheless.”
Michelle waved her hand at Drake. “I don’t think he’s going to be in any condition for anything when he wakes up, Bastet. Between the poisoning, losing Sekhmet, and the light show he just put on, I doubt he’ll have the energy for much.”
Bastet looked down at Drake. “Are you sure? I’d hate to find out…”
“That he’s going to go all ‘Ra’ again? I don’t know … I’ve had his worst before, this was nothing like that.”
“We could still use him,” Dutton said.
“Did you see what just went on here, Dutton? Drake can’t continue giving up his life for Old Egypt. Without him Old Egypt will cease to exist. It’s time to do the right thing without haggling. I don’t know how you planned on getting the Living Gods out of here and to the Moon, but it’s time to stop screwing around and make it happen.”
Dutton looked at Drake’s still body, then back at Michelle.
Joker Moon Page 45