Ivory Inferno

by LeAnn Mason

  Things between us were… weird. Teddy had obviously wanted to make amends, getting as close to me as possible out in the woods. But now, Nick was back to acting like I had the plague or something equally contagious that he’d catch if closer than ten feet from me. My own thoughts were swirling. I wanted the comfort and security Nick had been known to give, the playfulness that seemed a staple of his personality. Except, I couldn’t help but remember the pain he’d inflicted on me.

  Logically, I knew he hadn’t done it on purpose, hadn’t wanted to hurt, maim, or kill me. But it had happened, all the same, and… it was hard to get past. Which was why I had gathered my strength to roll away from Teddy’s enormous brown head and begun the trudge back toward my home. It was too hard to just forget it all. At least, so far.

  I hoped that maybe, with time, we’d both get over it and might even move toward the relationship I’d felt brewing between us before.

  Before he’d caused my death.

  In retrospect, he had brought about the realization of my truth. Did that count for anything? I didn’t know yet.

  “Bianca?”

  “What? Hmm?” Elsie’s cautious touch, fingers lightly meeting my forearm, dragged me out of the rabbit hole of thought I’d descended into. “I’m sorry, I…” I thought about lying, making myself seem a little more connected with the present, but after a moment of staring into the older woman’s kind, brown eyes, hooded in her dark, aged face, I didn’t.

  “I know, dear. I do. But I think I have an idea. I want to run it by you.”

  “Oh, yeah. Okay.” I mean, what was I going to say, no?

  No.

  “I think you should confide in Jasper.” She held up a hand then hinged at the hip, rotating to show the gesture to the entire room, which had come to life, bursting with a cacophony of differing opinions on the subject. The Shifters were all clearly opposed to the idea, and I closed my unhinged mouth, letting the rest of the room give voice to their protests. With the exception of Rory, all of the Shifters’ eyes glowed amber as their beasts rose.

  I was a bit surprised to see the vehemence in Nick’s countenance until I realized that was probably more of a self-preservation concern. If Jasper were let in on the secret, would it be exposed that he’d been the one to cause my initial death?

  “I have a plan to lure that bitch, Circe, back into our territory so we can administer justice on your behalf, but the other Elders, at least Jasper, would need to be in on the circumstances.” Elsie’s explanation effectively muted the room. After a few blinks at Elsie’s use of a derogatory term, each concerned face swiveled in my direction. Their bated breath held to hear what I thought of the Shaman’s suggestion.

  What did I think about it?

  It was a scary prospect, putting my legendary status out there, but the enticement of getting to nail that bitch –I sniggered at the realization that Circe had brought Elsie to cursing– might prove too sweet to pass up. “Tell me your plan.”

  “Damn it!”

  “Cut yourself some slack. You did just die– or get reborn– or whatever,” Allya’s ramble was an attempt to allay my frustrations with my performance. She bounced around me on the balls of her feet while I sat in a heap with my butt bruised from the number of times I’d landed on the thing in, like, an hour. These Shifters were just too fast.

  My bokken made little impact, if any, upon their lithe bodies. It frustrated the hell out of me. Reaching out a helping hand, Allya hauled me up from the dirt for the umpteenth time. “We need to let you practice with Birdie. You have a very deep connection with her, and I bet it’d change your tune.”

  “Maybe, but I will not spar with you or anyone. Other than Circe,” I amended, realizing I’d gladly stick the pointy end of Birdie into her gut. Going so far as to smile as I watched the life leech from her falsely beautiful facade… “Whoa, that got dark.” I shook myself to rid my mind of its dark path. I’d thought that I couldn’t be violent, that I would never make a good Sentinel because I wouldn’t be able to use my weapon in an actual fight.

  Maybe I’d been wrong.

  “Where’d you go there? Looked like you liked it, wherever it was,” Allya asked with a bit of her trademarked mischievous humor. Coupled with those piercing golden eyes, her smirk was downright scary.

  “Have I told you how glad I am that you’re on my side? That you didn’t think I was totally batty when we met that first time Elsie brought you into the diner. Or any of the subsequent times, to be honest.” And I meant it. I didn’t think I’d survive my current or future life realities if I didn’t have my friends.

  And Circe had tried to rob me of my newfound belonging. Hell, no. Not happening. Not today, Satan!

  “Girl, you know I’ve got your back. Your crazy fits mine. We’re tribe.” With those vehement words I didn’t fully understand, she clapped a strong hand around my shoulders, pulling me into a side hug that resembled being squeezed by a boa constrictor for dinner. “But seriously, follow me. And bring Birdie.”

  Without waiting to see if I followed, she marched away from the little clearing we’d been using to train. I gathered it was where she and Jason had gotten their start as well. A fact I liked to bring up when she was being particularly ornery. It was fun and easy to rile the girl about her newfound love. She still had no idea how to handle having such strong attachments to anyone other than Mae. I doubted anyone would rival the human who had been a part of Allya’s life before she’d grown into her Scarlet persona, but it was nice to know I was in the realm.

  Nothing could mean more to me, except maybe Birdie, which I grabbed from its propped spot against a tree as I followed the red cloak fluttering in the wake of Allya’s determined stride.

  Did she have any other kind? I wished I were so self-assured. “How do you do it?” My mouth asked before my mind had time to think better of it, and I flinched, waiting for the backlash.

  “Huh? How do I do what?” She asked, only half-listening as she plowed through the grasping tendrils of bare branches that wanted to snag on her prized cloak and hold her captive. Didn’t they know? Allya would never be anyone’s captive ever again, and she broke those branches that refused to yield to her wishes.

  “How are you so strong, so… confident after all you’ve been through?”

  I hadn’t expected her to slow and nearly plowed into her back, emitting a weird little squeak as I threw on my brakes, keeping a hand firmly pushing Birdie to the rear so that she didn’t fly around and tangle my legs. The dangers of traveling with a sword, even sheathed, were real.

  Choosing her words, or simply pondering the question, she allowed silence to stretch out between us in the wake of my question. Maybe we weren’t that close yet. I felt a bit sheepish as the silence continued. “I’m sorry. None of my business.” I moved to pass her, wishing I could remove my foot from my mouth and the words from her ears.

  To pretend I hadn’t thrown something so huge out into the ether to be met with… nothing.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you,” Allya said, moving quickly into my path to stop my escape. Looking at her feet, she ran a hand through her dark locks. “There are a lot of things that get me through the day, but mainly, it’s you, my friends. My family. You have no idea how much stronger having all of you at my back makes me. Surrounding yourself with people who you admire, respect, even love will put a steel rod on your spine in a hurry. You’d do anything to keep them safe. That makes it easier to walk the walk and talk the talk, you know?” About halfway through her explanation, she’d begun walking again, the words coming freely now that the dam had been breached. “It doesn’t hurt to have a badass she-wolf spirit, who is just as protective, for your other half either,” she remarked.

  I certainly had that. Friends who were like family, who I would do anything to protect. It made me hopeful that I, too, may one day be able to compete with Allya’s level of assuredness.

  “Have you seen Nick? I thought he would have been here, especially aft
er how he was when we found you.” She left the thought hanging, deciding not to bring up my latest death escapade. I was grateful, but it was still there, hanging in the air like a sulfur cloud; heavy, stinky, and lingering for way too long.

  “Last time I saw him was at my house when we briefed Elsie. When she hatched this cockamamie plan.” To say I was less than enthused would be an understatement. I wasn’t sure it would work, or, if it did, what the fallout would be.

  “That boy is carrying some heavy guilt. I’ll beat some sense into him, don’t worry,” Allya said without looking back at me. Her words brought with them an end to the woodsy trek almost as if timed. In the pause from her words, I pushed past the last branch tendrils barring the expanse of grass that led from the woods down into Grimm Hollow proper. From here, it was only a few minutes to my second home; the diner.

  “Where are we going, anyway?” I asked, wondering just what we were doing. “Aren’t we supposed to be training? You know, making it so that I won’t die, again, during this whole setup?” There were more than serious doubts twisting around in my worried noggin about how this would play out with Circe, but at this point, I’d deal if it meant putting the hateful bitch in her place.

  In the ground, preferably. Just like she’d done to me. Only, with any luck and by the grace of the gods, she wouldn’t come out alive.

  Maybe Allya’s steel was leeching into me after all.

  CHAPTER 24

  T urns out that Allya had been taking me, or rather Birdie, to the Coven House right smack-dab in the center of town so that Gloria could put a protective spell on the edge. The point being that I could train freely without worrying if I was going to chop off a limb –mine or someone else’s– allowing me to get a feel for using her in actual combat.

  I’d not gotten more than a glance at Sasha’s scurrying figure while at the establishment she called “home.” We all knew better than to draw attention to her. Gloria was a powerful Witch, who often did good things for Grimm Hollow, but she wasn’t exactly what I’d call a warm or nice person. And for some unknown reason, she treated Sasha horribly, worse than she did the actual hired help running the mansion.

  Which was why I always made a point to protect Sasha where I could. At school. Though, after the next few months, she’d have to do even that without me. Leaving the girl behind with the heathens of the Witch teens was probably my only downside to graduating high school.

  I’d have to find a way to get through to Sasha, make her see that she could and should stand up for herself. But for now, I needed to focus on staying alive.

  I went through a few forms in the forest, near the forge, with my newly bokkenized weapon. According to Allya, we’d pick up where we left off tomorrow after school. But I couldn’t help twitching her around, feeling her weight shift in tune to my movements as if a physical extension of my body. It had always been that way. Having Birdie in my hands just felt… natural.

  Fingers crossed, I prayed the weapon would be able to see me through whatever was to come. The dwarfs conceded that having, and using, an arsenal of personal protection would be an integral part of avoiding having my phoenix side need to make appearances.

  So, I’d been advised that I could become a Sentinel if I chose, assuming I passed whatever I needed to in order to make the ranks. Their stipulation was that I could only pursue that avenue after I graduated. Until then, I could train a couple of days a week while still going to school and helping at the diner.

  There had been some tears shed, rolling down weathered cheeks to be lost among the fuzzy beards of those many little men. They’d tried to hide the evidence, but not before I had seen their tracks. Knowing how they, especially Emest, liked to bury their emotions, I’d not called attention to their sentiment. I recognized they cared deeply for me as they knew I felt the same for them.

  “Practice close quarter moves, unsheathing with an opponent less than three feet from you. Also, work on defensive, deflective arcs. You need to be able to function even if on your heels or taken off-guard,” Emest groused from his spot at the anvil at the mouth of the forge. The rhythmic metallic tings as he worked to shape some unknown piece were a balm to my soul.

  With a nod, I came to a balanced, staggered stance with feet wide. Blade sheathed at my side, my left hand held Birdie at the junction of guard and sheath, my right hand resting loosely on her tsuka, thumb pointed back along her blade. Then, in a burst, I simultaneously pulled backward with my left hand, fingers unwinding from the guard to allow my right hand to free the blade with a quick but smooth jerk. Left hand lifting to join my right on the diamond-patterned cording wrapped around her hilt, the thicker spine, or hira-mune, came to rest overhead.

  “Keep your blade arm closer to your body as you unsheathe. That way you can defend when an attack is within arm’s reach. Let Birdie tell them how close they are and just what that means.” I guided Birdie’s point to her sheath and, with a solid push, drove her home, readying to try the maneuver again. Using the steady ting-ting-ting of hammer and anvil as a sort of metronome, I prepared to do the movement again. Tweaked, as Emest suggested. Focused on the lulling sound, I noticed a quick rustle between a couple of the metallic pings.

  Opening my eyes, I trained them ahead of me, further into the trees tucked behind the forge where my limited senses deemed the sound had come from. With the forge producing light in the twilight hour, it competed with the shadows of the leafless trees obscuring many of the defined shapes within. Ready to pawn it off as a sound of nature, I prepared to advance my techniques. Until that predator reflective green shine caught my attention and held it.

  “Jigs up, Bear-Boy. Best come out and play along with the lessons of the day,” Emest commanded, never looking away from his work, the rhythm which had so entranced me never faltering. Of course, he would know there was a creeper out there and not tell me.

  “Thanks for the heads up on the lurker,” I grumbled, waiting for Nick to extricate himself from his hiding spot. Because, of course, it would be him. I was still self-conscious about doing my sword work for any audience over four-foot-tall, and the guy of my dreams was no exception. Especially since I couldn’t seem to separate him from my initial death.

  I know. Crazy, right?

  “Sorry, sir. I just wanted to keep an eye on her. Who knows who or what is out there? And, yeah.” Nick’s stumbling apology reminded me of the boy who’d come to walk me home from the diner. The boy who’d asked permission to take me on my first actual date. When his eyes flashed quickly in my direction, I noted that they were once again the warm chocolate color I so loved.

  “Well, then, you best make yourself useful, eh? Here, take this, and let’s get started.” Emest thrust a long, sharp knife toward the Shifter. It had a wickedly curved, nearly sickled tip and serrated belly near the hilt. An intricately carved bone handle, which looked like… a bear, complete with finger grooves that looked like legs, completed the spectacular weapon. Perfect for the large bear Shifter, who gingerly lifted it by the handle from the older man’s outstretched hand.

  “This is beautiful and deadly. Are you sure you want me using it with Bianca?” Nick asked incredulously as he inspected the blade with awe, fingers moving gently, reverently over every millimeter of the weapon.

  I knew from experience that it would be flawless in design and function. After all, Birdie was no different, only tailored to me or, more accurately, my mother. “I can’t. But if you have a practice weapon, I’m happy to help, sir,” Nick rebutted, thrusting the knife, hilt first and blade toward the ground, back at Emest.

  “Do you not trust me, young bear?”

  “Teddy,” I put in, unable to resist poking fun from my spot to the outside of their discussion. When both men looked at me, I couldn’t keep the self-satisfied smirk from my face. A girl had to find humor where she could, right? Otherwise, I just might keel over and die from all of the stress of, well, dying.

  See what I mean? Dark humor was the saving grace of those who’d e
xperienced darkness. It was the only way to crumble a tunnel and make way for the light.

  But when those dark eyes clashed with mine, all humor dried up as the moisture left my mouth. Man, this guy was something else…

  “The blade will not harm you or Bianca as I have not allowed it to. You may use it for the lesson tonight,” Emest broke through my muddled thoughts, breaking the stare that had begun between Nick and me. Pushing at the hand attempting to return the knife, the dwarf silently forced Nick’s acceptance. With a small nod, the young Shifter conceded, his hand retreating with the knife still clutched in his large fist.

  “Okay, so again, Bianca, you will draw Birdie when Nick attacks.”

  “What about Birdie?”

  Emest and I both looked askance at Nick, not understanding the half-formed question without context. “What about Birdie?” I parroted.

  “What about her edge? I’m sure it’s sharp and plenty able to cleave me in two. Not saying that I don’t deserve it after…”

  “Birdie has been spelled to do no harm,” I answered.

  “I should have informed you before you went to see Gloria earlier,” Emest started, pausing after the lilting question of Gloria’s name, having made the assumption that’s where it had been done. At my nod, he continued. “Birdie will respond to your intent. If you intend for no harm to be done, then so it will be. If you wish to cause harm, however, she will be quite lethal.”

  “So, if she was mad at… someone.” Nick’s eyes cut my way again. “Then it wouldn’t be safe to assume that one would leave a spar unscathed, huh?”

  “Probably a good thing you had some extra protections put upon it,” Emest conceded, his hooded eyes flashing for a moment before he turned back toward the mouth of his forge. “Get on with it. Rune is making dinner and will be ready for us soon. Best to get in a bit of practice before then.”