by E M Lacey
“Please, let her go,” Thurgood pleaded.
“There is a coach house a short distance from here. Take her there.”
“Done.” Thurgood moved toward the dome but Cora stopped him.
“Not you, uncle. I have questions for you.” Cora’s gaze shifted to Julius. “Let her go with one of the hunters.”
“But…”
“A hunter can keep her safe, and would know what to do should something happen.”
Julius was already on the move. He ran his fingers along his throat as he recited a spell, drawing a sigil on his throat. He repeated the action three times then did the same to his ears before cupping his hands over his mouth. He spoke into them then opened them, releasing a bubble which passed through the dome. He stepped back and waited.
Inside, Abigail’s shield was the color of blood. The red-orange magic coated the interior in a crimson light. Abigail rested her chin on her knees. She’d curled up in the furthest corner and waited.
Rage was caught in her throat like acid from a bout of reflux. Everything in her wanted to use it. Feed it into her fire and strike the witch who attacked her but she didn’t want to hurt her friends. She didn’t know anything about control and didn’t want to risk them.
Abigail felt more people arrive. An odd sensation. A prickling along the skin of her arms. It flared then vanished; that’s when the muffled voices started. She wished she knew what was going on outside and what they were saying. Everything sounded like she was underwater.
The voices stopped abruptly, which worried her. She crawled slowly toward the north end of her shield, pausing when a large bubble pushed through. The bubble had a soft glow. It drifted toward her. She scooted back. The bubble followed.
Abigail was back in her corner, back pressed against the heat of her shield. The bubble stopped a few inches from her face. It spoke.
“Ms. Biggs, it’s safe to come out. You’ve been granted safe passage. I’m going to walk you out of here and take you to a place where we can wait for the others.”
“Julius?”
“It’s safe to come out. Drop the shield and we can go.”
“How?” She waited for the bubble to tell her what to do. She’d never created a shield. She surely didn’t know how to take it apart.
The bubble hovered a few seconds more then popped. She jumped at the suddenness of it. Alone again in the crimson interior of her shield.
A second bubble drifted into her shield. This one was amethyst.
“Abigail.” Sunni’s voice filled the interior. “Cora isn’t a very patient being. Please, concentrate. Drop your shield. Your uncle and his partner are here. You are safe. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Safe. Abigail drank in the word. Sunni was strong. She was in charge of protecting and teaching them. She would let nothing hurt her.
Safe. Abigail felt the fear she was holding melt away, as did the dome that sheltered her. She closed her eyes against the light, using her right hand to protect her sight.
Julius stood over her, hand out. She gave him her left. He helped her to her feet.
The foyer lighting dimmed, until her eyes were comfortable. She stared at the group who stared back at her. Sunni, Aurora, Mr. Myer, and her uncle Thurgood looked relieved. McKellen was more appraising, as if she were a new discovery and he had unearthed her. She noticed a little girl standing in the archway between the foyer and the stairwell. For a child, she was pretty hostile. If looks could kill, Abigail would have died the moment she set eyes on her.
She looked to Sunni. Who is she?
“You need to leave now,” Sunni responded.
Julius threw an arm around her shoulders and escorted her from the room.
“I’ll answer your questions later,” Sunni promised, when the pair paused in the doorway.
Abigail didn’t argue, but let herself be led from the room.
Aurora found the little girl fascinating. Her presence didn’t hurt like the Indentured. She was like a warm blanket on a cold night. Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself standing in front of her. She dropped to her knees, oblivious to the others.
“You’re not really dead, but the body you ride almost died.” Aurora shrugged. “No. That’s not quite right. The body you’re riding struggles with life. Your presence helps her.” She nodded. “Yes, that’s right. You’re keeping her alive, though you are not part of this world.”
Cora’s mouth fell open. “I…”
Aurora reached out and ran the tip of her finger along the thin misty edge of Cora’s body. She cocked her head to the side, then pulled her hand away, rubbing her fingers together.
“Not ectoplasm.” She pushed to her feet, held up a forefinger as if testing the wind. “Ah, you’re everywhere.”
She grinned at Cora. “You are Keeper’s Cove!”
“What are you?” Cora studied the woman in front of her.
“I don’t know,” Aurora said. Her delight evaporated.
McKellen lay a hand on Aurora’s shoulder and jerked his head toward the group on the opposite side of the room. Aurora returned to stand behind Mr. Myer. McKellen took his place behind her.
Sunni dropped her magic. Cora did the same.
“Talk,” Sunni said through clenched teeth.
Cora went over to a table and set of chairs close to the bookshelves. She turned her back on her audience, scanned the spines, then plucked a book from the mass. Montague noticed it was the children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are. She sat in the chair and lay it on her lap before addressing them.
“I’m not a demon.” Cora used her free hand to point to the top of her head, then spun it artfully toward Montague. “Just as you are no longer a clergyman, though you still hold on to the convictions of one.”
Cora shrugged, suddenly obsessed with the cover of the book. “You’re playing in things you don’t understand.”
“We’ve been trained,” Thurgood stated, rising to his full height.
Cora chuckled.
“You trained for how long?” Cora’s look challenged them all. “A month? Two?” When no one corrected her, she continued. “How can you humans, non-magical beings, learn all there is to know about Others, as you call us, hmm?”
She waved her hand at the nebulous span of books on the shelves surrounding them. “A few lessons and you’re a master of the Craft and creatures?”
She leaned back in her seat, shifting the book into her hands. She flipped it so they could see the cover. “You’re stalking wild things. Creatures that are very inventive when it comes to killing.”
“And you’re not one of them?” McKellen rolled his eyes and folded his hands over his chest.
“I have no interest in killing humans. Never have.” Cora unfolded herself from the chair, lay the children’s book on the table, then wandered a short distance away. “I am a Keeper. History. Education. These are the things that interest me.” She paused, stretching out her hand so that her fingers grazed the spines of the many books. Dragging her hand down the volumes, she stopped at one, a large brown book. Its spine looked like the trunk of a tree. She looked over her shoulder at the tense group.
“The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”
McKellen’s expression shifted from expectant to oh-brother. He straightened, pulling one arm free so he could point at the book. “So, you’re telling me the Tree that is spoken of in the Bible, is now a book.”
Cora pulled it from its resting place. It looked to be no more than a large textbook, eight and a half by eleven, but the spine had to be a good seven or eight inches thick. It had a wooden look. She held it in one hand, or rather levitated it just above her right palm as she slowly turned to face them all. She tucked her left hand behind her back.
“Advocate.” Cora bowed her head, while lifting the palm with the levitating book higher.
Sunni did a few quick hand movements, tethering her spell, so it would keep its place before she moved forward. She jammed her staff into the
floor between them then reached for the book.
Cora bowed lower. The book rose, elevating until it was within Sunni’s line of sight.
Sunni ran her left hand along her arm. Fine silver symbols lit up, forming a glove which covered the whole arm.
Cora released the book, taking a few steps back. Sunni let the text descend into a canopy of her magic. Her magic folded over the book as thin as tissue paper. With its final fold tucked in, Sunni’s eyes closed as her senses opened.
The witch did not lie. This was an ancient power and knowledge. There was a protection on it, it fluttered like wings sluicing the air. It was powerful, whatever the protection was. It felt alive.
“Only the chosen are allowed to touch, look, and read.”
It came out of nowhere. The voice. If thunder was a being with a human mouth, its voice would be what spoke to her.
Sunni startled as white light flared, blinding her and surrounding the book. She shut her eyes again, dropped the book, and stepped away.
“It’s true,” McKellen the cynic whispered in awe, as he watched the white light form a body too beautiful for words. Wings which spanned the entirety of the library and foyer unfurled with a snap. The being pulled a blazing sword from its sheath and aimed its tip at Sunni.
“Only the chosen are allowed to touch, look, and read.” It clutched the book to its chest. The book expanded to a size proportionate to the giant angel.
Sunni dropped to her knees, placing her right hand over her heart while using the left to hold her staff. She dropped her gaze, studying the floor while being mindful of Cora’s location.
“Utmost apologies.”
The angel bowed his head then passed the book over to Cora. As soon as she touched it, the book shrunk to a more manageable size.
“Cora is the Keeper and Protector of knowledge.” The angel cut its eyes at Cora then back to Sunni. “She is neither beast nor demon. She is an earthbound guardian.”
“Excuse my error.”
“Stop with the apologies, and rise.” The angel dialed back the blinding light. A pale man with a warrior’s build and long flaxen hair stood before them. “There is no time for formalities.”
Sunni rose. The remainder of the team rose as well, some fluidly, while others struggled a little.
“You are here seeking knowledge that will help you protect your cherished ones and help you defend against a new terror, correct?”
“New terror,” Thurgood whispered as the others looked to each other for understanding.
“What happened at the office and what happened to Alba?” Montague said. Everyone turned and stared at him.
“The unknown creates terror in men.” Montague ran his hand around a collar that was no longer there. “We don’t know what’s hunting us.” His gaze passed along the faces surrounding him, settling on Thurgood. “What’s hunting Abigail?”
“You are seeking forgotten knowledge,” the angel said. “What’s happening is not known and what drives it has been forgotten.” It sighed, dragging its large and glorious hand down its face. “The knowledge of how to stop it lies in a riddle. One that has yet to be solved.”
“I don’t know what is trying to hurt her.” Thurgood surged forward, dropping to his knees as if all the strength had been siphoned from him. “Please, tell me what is hunting my niece. She’s innocent. A survivor of a massacre.” Thurgood’s sob was deafening in the room’s quiet. “Please. She’s the only family I have.”
The angel’s wings encircled Thurgood as he too knelt. Placing a hand on the man’s shoulders, he touched his head to Thurgood’s.
“Do not fret for your niece. What evil seeks of her is the very thing that can defeat it. Let her find what is hidden. She cannot fear her power, she must own it. Master it. She’ll know what to do when the time is right.”
Thurgood looked up, eye to eye with a heavenly being. “But she’s in danger. They’ll hurt her.”
“Pain ushers in growth.”
“I can’t let her suffer.”
“She has to.” The angel withdrew his wings and folded them. He looked up at the hunters, humans, sorceress, and the halfling. “You all have to suffer if you are to walk the path in front of you.”
The angel looked to a smug Cora and frowned. “Cora, be mindful of your pride. It took away your people before.”
Cora’s smile fell.
“Your charge stands because you fused with her.” The angel touched Cora’s chest, in the spot where her heart was. “If it stops beating, your line is over.”
Cora’s mouth moved, but nothing came out.
“Pride and secrets have no place here,” the angel said. “You need to tell your story to your compatriot, so there is no weakness among you.”
The angel squeezed Thurgood’s shoulder. “You have what you need to protect your niece.” With that, the angel rose and faded away.
“What do you know, Cora?”
“The vampire is back at his quest for true immortality.”
“He was as immortal as his kind could get before, he was dusted,” McKellen chimed in.
Cora shook her head. “Being undead was not enough for Adiran. He has been searching for a means to walk in the sun. To live and breathe like a human man, but maintain his power and add a few more.”
“How can he manage that?” Sunni was genuinely curious. She studied legends and myths extensively. Many were debunked.
“Check the confiscated grimoire. It contains a spell that feeds the spirit of the deceased into the body of a cursed immortal. There is a long-forgotten ritual called the Breath of Life.” Cora pointed at the sacred text.
“But that’s a God thing.” McKellen gestured to the book. “None of us in here are gods.”
“Yes, only a god can breathe life into an inanimate object.”
“Right, so what’s in here that’s got the vampire all hot and bothered?” McKellen rubbed his head. A headache was starting to take shape and he wanted no part of it.
“Alba.”
“What about her?” McKellen righted the overturned wrought-iron chair and sat in it.
“She is a demigod,” Cora said matter-of-factly.
“I sense no magic in her,” Sunni stated.
“She is not magic. She is power, and that power has been fractured.” Cora placed the sacred text back on the shelf. She lay her head against its spine. “Like Abigail, a spell was cast to hide away her abilities. Whoever cast it mis-stepped, or maybe, the way the spell functions is at odds with her identity.”
Cora turned toward the little crowd. “The spell hiding her identity from her and others is unraveling.”
“Is that a good or bad thing?” McKellen asked.
“I honestly don’t know.”
“So, all the destruction at the office and at Alba’s place is because a book and a child are key parts to a grand plan?”
Cora nodded. “I don’t believe Alba is truly a child.”
“Is she a monster?” Thurgood asked.
“No, the monsters are what hunt you. Alba is no threat and should be protected.”
“Wonderful.” Thurgood threw up his hands, wandered toward a bookshelf, and leaned against it.
“I wouldn’t be so judgmental.” Cora studied Thurgood. “How does the saying go, He who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
Thurgood made a face.
“Alba is not your enemy, and neither is Bridgette. What should worry you is the vampire.”
“He’s dead.” Thurgood said, hoping it would rebuild his denial.
“Did you not see him?” Montague turned stiffly, incredulous with his friend’s attitude.
“Yes, I did. How could he do that? We killed him,” Thurgood’s voice rose only to descend into a whisper.
“He has help. Powerful help, but that’s a small part of your problem.”
“How do you mean?” Montague pulled his crucifix from his pocket and put it on. He felt better with it resting against his skin.
“The
angel made me think. The knowledge driving what’s been happening is ancient. He used the word forgotten.” Sunni rubbed her scalp, massaging her thoughts.
Everyone nodded.
Cora looked at Sunni, and a knowing smile lit her face. “Magic is something that does not die.”
Sunni nodded. “Yes.”
“There is a magic very few discuss or remember.” Cora danced around in excited circles then stopped abruptly.
“Which is?” Sunni urged.
“The magic of Djinns.” Cora waited expectantly.
“Like genie in a bottle, djinns.” McKellen rose from his seat.
“Djinns were magic that took the shape of humans. In some of the old stories, the magic of djinns was born of gifted slaves. Magically talented but raised in a life of servitude. When they die, their magic lingers.” Cora began pacing in a small circle. “Magic takes the shape of its wielder.”
“Right. Magic needs a master.” Sunni snapped her fingers. The sharp sound startled Montague, Aurora and Thurgood.
Awareness bloomed in Montague, McKellen, Aurora, and Thurgood. Sunni was more annoyed with herself that she didn’t readily recall that side of magic.
“Djinns were powerful,” McKellen said.
“Yes. They were too powerful. Others would not tolerate beings that were stronger than them. So, genocide ensued during the time of the Christ. As they crucified him, Others sought the objects tethering the djinns to our world and destroyed them.” Cora’s pacing intensified.
“But magic doesn’t die.” Sunni stated the obvious.
“Corporal bodies die but magic does not.” Cora shook her head as she spoke.
“It has to,” Thurgood added.
Cora shook her head. “Because you want it to, doesn’t mean it will.”
“So, what has the vampire done?” Montague asked.
“He has activated A Dying Wish. It’s an unbreakable thing. Fueled by the lingering magic of djinns. Haven’t you noticed that when non-magic humans make wishes, fate moves on their behalf until their desire is attained? Those moved or created by magic, draw on the true power of djinns. Their wishes are unbreakable.”
“Nothing’s unbreakable. There’s always a way to undo or stop things,” McKellen said.