“You know who I am?” It was a stupid question, but I needed a moment to process things ... not to mention steady myself. Now that the split second action was over, my mind again registered the weapon pointed our way, the barrel still smoking, and looking so much larger in my mind’s eye.
How fate had chosen me for this burden I would never know, but if such an abstract concept could feel disappointment, I was certain it was feeling that now.
Steeling myself, I stepped in front of Vincent and Kelly. “Pick up that radio and call the others.”
“You do and you’ll regret it,” Jacob said. “I didn’t have to miss. Don’t go thinking I’ll do it again.”
“Kelly, blast out the wall behind us. We’re leaving.” That last part was perhaps unnecessary. Jacob was alone. My powers could render his weapon useless, and I had little doubt I could disarm him once I was close enough. My aura couldn’t harm him, but combat skills could easily take over where powers failed.
Or so I tried to tell myself.
He’s not Remington. Remington is dead. That won’t happen again – ever again!
A smile crossed Jacob’s face. I got the impression he could read the indecision on mine. “Maybe not as powerful as all that, are you? I’m beginning to wonder what all the kerfuffle was about.”
“Try me.”
“If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll try your friends instead. I said don’t even think about that goddamned radio!” Jacob let go of the stock of his gun and reached a wrinkled arm behind him to extract something from the back pocket of the overalls he wore. He produced what looked like a metal tube.
“That’s it? What makes you think that’s going to scare us?”
“For all that light that came shining out of you, you’re none too bright. I assume you’ve never seen a pipe bomb up close before, have you?”
♦ ♦ ♦
That was unexpected, but thankfully didn’t produce the same Pavlovian response in me that his gun had. “I can protect my friends from that.”
“Maybe you can, and maybe you can’t. But can you protect them from the floor being blown out from beneath you, the walls caving in?”
I gritted my teeth behind my closed lips. What the hell was Kelly doing behind me? We should have been out of here by now.
“Blessed one?” Vincent asked uncertainly.
“Do it. He’s bluffing.”
“Think so, eh? I did three tours of ‘Nam. Learned to make these beauties there. Something I picked up from the locals. Oh, and don’t go worrying about me. I’ve lived a long life. Got no regrets. Only thing I care about is my daughter.”
“What will she think of you doing this?”
“I imagine she’ll be right fine with it considering she’s been spreading the word to keep an eye out for people like you.”
There came a noise from down the hall, a door opening and footsteps heading our way.
“Ah, that sounds like her now.”
“Kelly,” I warned. She really needed to get with the program already.
Jacob stepped aside, and three more people entered the room. More stood out in the hall, but the room was too small to accommodate them. I was expecting police uniforms, maybe the welcoming committee from earlier, but they all wore civilian gear, including the lone female among them.
Their presence itself wasn’t alarming so much as what they were carrying – curved daggers made of blackened metal. I’d seen similar weapons before, had felt their sting. My fear of guns was purely in my head, trauma that my subconscious refused to let go of. These things, however, were cold, hard reality. They could somehow cut through my aura like butter.
They could kill me.
Sadly, I wasn’t the only one in danger. The newcomers had come prepared. The two on either side of the woman, the apparent ringleader here, produced handguns in addition to their blades. I didn’t need to be psychic to assume the ones still in the hall were all likewise armed.
“Cuff them,” the woman, Cynthia presumably, said.
Two of them stepped forward, and my aura instinctively flared to life. The glow, however, washed harmlessly over them. They were human.
“Cut that out before we have to start cutting you,” Cynthia said. She smiled, but her grin was far more predatory than humorous.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked.
“Because the glory of Ib commands us.”
CHAPTER 15
With little room to maneuver, outnumbered, and against foes I wasn’t even certain I wanted to hurt, we had little choice.
We’d come up here expecting to fight vampires and God knows what else. We’d assumed the people of Boston needed saving, that they were victims. I had little doubt most were, but this added a new twist to things. Who knew how many had somehow been convinced, compelled, or otherwise twisted into serving the darkness that ruled this city?
“Stand down,” I said to my friends. However, it didn’t seem to be necessary with at least one of them. Kelly averted her eyes from my gaze. She hadn’t even attempted to use her magic. What the hell was her game?
Cynthia turned to her father. “You did well.” He seemed pleased to hear it, but that was the extent of her praise. I got no sense of her returning the fatherly love practically beaming in his eyes. You’d have thought she was a stranger in off the street for all the affection she showed him back.
“Was it worth it?” I asked while one of the men cuffed my hands in manacles made of that same blackened metal.
“Food, medicine, protection, and my daughter,” Jacob said. “When you reach my age, there isn’t much more you want out of life. What can you offer in return?” He laughed and then tossed the pipe bomb into the air, letting it flip end over end before he caught it.
He must’ve seen my eyes widen because he added, “You should have called my bluff. All I’m gonna do with this is finish fixing the sink after you’re gone.”
♦ ♦ ♦
They picked up Vincent’s radio then searched the three of us thoroughly. Degrading as it was, though, there didn’t appear to be anything salacious about it. Even when rough hands slipped beneath my bra, there was no hint of anything other than business-like focus on the faces around us. Either these guys were professionals or full-on thralls. I was beginning to get an idea which.
After that was done, Vincent and Kelly were handcuffed behind their backs like me, except theirs were more the mundane – although equally inescapable – variety.
Cynthia, followed by Jacob, led us outside. We were marched out front where the first rays of the morning sun shone down upon us. “Stop here,” Cynthia commanded once we’d reached the edge of the road. She turned to face me. “We were told to expect you.”
“That much is apparent,” I remarked. “Your master would have to know I’d come looking for him eventually.”
“Our master doesn’t care about your silly prophecy. The eyes of Ib see further than you can imagine.”
“That didn’t help Gondor all that much,” Kelly replied, breaking her silence. “I doubt it’ll help you.”
Cynthia glanced momentarily at her and Vincent. “Curious that the so-called last defender of humanity would endanger those she was meant to protect. Perhaps the tales of your power are greatly exaggerated after all or maybe it’s an ego thing. Tell me, why otherwise would you need an entourage?”
“I have a lot of baggage.”
A crooked grin lit up Jacob’s face, no doubt at my double entendre. “Don’t you be worrying about that. I have a feeling you’ll be relieved of all your burdens real soon.
“True enough,” Cynthia said. “The Destroyer has requested you be brought to him.”
“Lead the way,” I replied, feigning the confidence that was no doubt expected of me.
“In time. You are his secondary concern right now. He will deal with you soon enough, as he has dealt with your kind in days past. For now, there are other matters to deal with, matters far more amusing than yourself.”
&
nbsp; Other matters? My thoughts immediately turned to Bill and his friends descending upon Boston from the north. Was it possible Vehron was aware of them? Was our plan unraveling before it had even truly gotten started?
“Filthy thralls,” Vincent spat. “Your kind are the lowest of the low. Boot lickers to your dark masters, nothing more.”
If Vincent had hoped to get a rise out of our captors, it failed. Jacob laughed, but as for the rest, you’d have thought he hadn’t spoken at all. I’d once visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier down in Arlington. The guard on duty had maintained a similar stoic look upon his face as the rest of Cynthia’s team did. However, there the similarities ended as honorable service was probably the last thing on our captors’ minds.
Engines sounded in the near distance, drawing my attention.
Cynthia inclined her head ever so slightly at the sound and smiled.
“Looks like your ride is here, kiddies,” Jacob said.
A trio of vehicles turned onto the block: two cop cars and an armored riot van, possibly the same one from earlier.
“Awfully convenient how they found us earlier. How’d they know where we were?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.
“Those zombie things, of course,” Jacob said with a cackle.
“What, are you some kind of zombie whisperer or something?” Kelly asked. “Because that doesn’t really sound like much of a career path.”
“Let me guess,” he replied. “You was so busy choppin’ them up that you never bothered to notice they’d been chipped.”
“Chipped?” I asked.
“Yes, ma’am. Just like a dog in the pound. What, you think those ugly sons of bitches are just wandering aimlessly through town? They’re a walking house alarm. They’re out there to keep trash like you out of the...”
“That will be enough,” Cynthia said.
“Sorry, darling,” he quickly replied. “You know me when my lips get to flapping.”
I glanced between the two of them. Something was definitely off, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. At least one mystery had been solved, though. I’d been worried that perhaps we’d been sold out – whether by the vampire nation, the Magi, or perhaps a Templar who didn’t care to see Armageddon stopped. But what Jacob said painted a quite different picture, albeit one no less clever. If so, we’d simply been unlucky.
Killing those undead was the equivalent of setting off a silent alarm in a bank. Most residents would probably know enough by now to stay inside or run. Anything that stood their ground, fought them, and won, however, was probably a threat to be investigated and eliminated.
I’d greatly underestimated our enemy and now, I considered as the vehicles pulled up in front of us, we would all pay the price for my hubris.
CHAPTER 16
We were ushered into the back of the armored van, but no guard stepped inside the cramped interior with us.
That didn’t make me feel much better. The inside was basically a steel box with benches. There was a window up front, no doubt to allow people to talk to the driver, but it was currently covered with a thick metal plate.
The back doors were slammed shut behind us and locked from the outside, sealing us in darkness – at least for the few moments it took for me to ignite my aura. The manacles around my wrists muted my power significantly, seeming to absorb the faith magic almost as quickly as I could generate it. Almost wasn’t the same as completely, though, and I was able to maintain enough to light up our surroundings. That was the extent of my usefulness, though, as I was otherwise bound tight.
“They’re steeped in some kind of desecrated blood,” Kelly said, watching me struggle in vain. “Christy was telling us about it. Some old ritual that the vampires have. Not exactly sure how it works.”
“It doesn’t really matter so long as it does,” I replied icily.
“Have faith, Blessed One,” Vincent said. “This is but another trial in our...”
“I’ve already been convicted in one trial,” I snapped. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d just as soon skip this one.” It was unfair, but my frayed temper was seemingly the only outlet I had left for the utter helplessness I felt.
“Vince is right. We’ll find a way out of this,” Kelly said.
I fixed her with a glare and for a moment the cabin got brighter as a surge of anger passed through me. “We wouldn’t be in this if you’d done as I’d asked back there.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t.”
“Why? Did you like the decor? Were you afraid that blowing a hole in the wall would make you a bad houseguest? Is there some etiquette among witches that...” I tipped over onto my side as the engine roared to life and the vehicle lurched into motion.
“Blessed one, please,” Vincent implored.
“Will you stop with that crap already?” I spat, causing him to flinch. “Do you know how sick I am of that? Open your eyes. This isn’t a blessing. It’s a curse. And as for you,” I turned back to Kelly, “I thought we were supposed to be working together. What do I have to do to convince you that I’m not trying to kill your people?”
“You think that’s what I’m worried about?” she asked. “I don’t even believe half that bullshit, and if you think for one second I’m afraid of you, you have another thing coming.”
“And yet we’re still stuck in here. If it wasn’t that, then why wouldn’t you...?”
“I didn’t say wouldn’t, I said couldn’t.”
“That makes no sense.”
“What’s not to understand? I didn’t have the mojo in me for major demolitions work. End of story.”
“I saw you fighting those zombies when we got here. Did you blow a fuse or something?”
She averted her gaze again. “It’s hard to explain.”
“We seem to have plenty of time.”
“I ... this wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“What? Us being captured?”
“No. Me being separated from my sisters.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
She paused for a moment, as if trying to find the right words. “It’s ... because I’m an Agitator.”
“Huh?”
“One could certainly say that,” Vincent replied, a hint of amusement in his voice.
“Not like that, dickhead,” she said. “It’s sort of a nickname for what I am. I’m what’s known amongst the Magi as a Catalyst Witch.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And that’s supposed to mean something?”
“It means that by myself I don’t have any power.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“What?”
“I didn’t blast us free because I couldn’t. When those assholes started shooting at us, V and I dove in different directions. When they locked on to you, I just acted. It was stupid of me. I didn’t realize we’d end up having to run.”
“You were trying to save me,” I said, feeling a pit of shame beginning to form in my gut at my earlier accusation. In response, the glow around me dimmed until I could barely see my two companions in the gloom.
“Obviously I did a bang up job of it ... oof!” We hit a pothole and Kelly lurched to the side, bumping into Vincent. She quickly righted herself. “Sorry.”
“Your heart was in the right place,” he said.
“I’ll admit your biceps aren’t bad. You must work out.”
He let out a cough of surprise. “I meant, when you were trying to help the Ble ... when you were trying to help Sheila.”
An awkward silence descended for several seconds. Finally, I took a deep breath and got my emotions back under control. As a happy side effect, the light level in our makeshift prison normalized again. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Well, we haven’t really had a lot of downtime since then.”
“I mean on the ride up. That would have been useful to know.”
She let out a sigh. “I get the impression it’s not really something that’s shared much with outsiders. Think a
bout it. To someone on the outside looking in, they see all mages as pretty much the same – scary honking magic users. And, truth be told, I think most of my kind prefer it that way. Heck, I know I do.”
“From what I understand, the majority of Magi are catalyst mages,” she continued. “That’s why so many join covens. Believe me, it’s not just because we’re all gung ho about dancing naked on the Winter’s Solstice. Letting word of that get out would give our enemies an advantage, knowing that if one meets a lone mage, the odds are in favor of that mage being effectively powerless.” Suddenly, she barked out laughter, loud in the confined space.
“What’s so funny?”
“If that’s the case, then I just spilled the beans to potentially our biggest enemy of all.” She fixed me a glare. “Let me just say, you’d better be telling the truth because if you do turn out to be the big bad wolf of witches, I am gonna be seriously pissed at you.”
♦ ♦ ♦
The laughter that ensued felt good, cleansing in a way that even my power didn’t quite match.
Finally, once I had myself back under control, I asked, “So how does it work? Are you all...?”
“No. Just me and V. Christy and Meg are the real deal. Christy is scary strong, stronger than I think she even realizes, but Meg’s no slouch either. Lizzy was ... is ... like them too.”
“That’s why you didn’t want to split up earlier.”
“Bingo,” she replied. “V and I even have our own little codebook for spells, so we don’t have to shout out attacks Dragonball Z style.”
“What?” Vincent asked.
“I’m gonna assume you don’t have cable,” she replied.
I decided to let slide that I had no idea what she was talking about either. “So, you both have to cast the same spell for it to work?”
Shining Fury: from the Tome of Bill Series Page 7