by D. S. Murphy
“You knew?” Sarah asked Jessie.
“We talked about it a lot,” Jessie said. “Before you got to JDRI. But we were a lot younger then. It was easier to believe in things.” I could tell by her expression she was skeptical.
“Remember I told you about the guy who visited me?” I continued. “His name is Sitri, and he was testing me. Seeing if I still had the ability to see death. After I attacked Dennis and they locked me up, Sitri rescued me. Dennis came down to my cell. He would have attacked me if Sitri hadn’t killed him.”
“I knew it! Some of the girls have been saying that you killed Dennis, that you were his lover and it was all planned out, but then you killed him and stole his keys—” She stopped when she saw my expression.
“Don’t worry, I shut them up. I knew wouldn’t kill anyone. Much less sleep with anyone, least of all Dennis. Yuck. Okay I’m done. You were saying?”
“He took me to a place... a place full of magic. It’s a sanctuary, called Nevah.”
“A sanctuary, for what? From what?” Jessie asked. I took a deep breath and pushed forward. They were taking all of this pretty seriously so far, but I knew Jessie’s skepticism would only stretch so far. Sarah was fascinated, but Jessie looked like I’d gone off my meds.
“This is where it gets weird,” I said.
“This is the weird part?” Jessie smirked, inching forward. “I’m all ears.”
“Zeus wants to kill all the magic in the world so he’s the supreme ruler, and all magic comes directly from him.”
“Zeus, like the lightning bolt guy?” Jessie asked. I could tell by her smile that I’d lost her.
“King of Mount Olympus,” Sarah recited. “I have a book on Greek mythology, I’ve read it a dozen times.”
“Of you course you have,” Jessie muttered.
“The thing is, they’re not myths. I’ve met them. Most of them anyway.”
“Met who? What are you talking about?”
“Hades, Persephone, Dionysus, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hermes...” I said, ticking them off with my fingers. “Some of them aren’t so bad.”
“Hold on, did you just say Hades?” Jessie said. Isn’t he like, lord of hell?
“Kind of,” I admitted.
“So wait, who were the hunters after you? And what was that thing at the gas station? And who is Puriel?”
“The hunters at JDRI, they’re Zeus’s army.”
“They had wings,” Sarah said dubiously.
“Yes.” I said.
“Holy shit, angels are trying to kill you?”
“Yes, but it’s not that simple.” Now I sounded just like Sitri. I understood how he’d felt trying to explain this to me. No matter how you phrased it, being chased by killer angels made you look guilty as sin. I frowned and put my hand against my forehead, trying to organize my thoughts.
“Zeus is trying to kill all the magic in the world, but it’s a stalemate, because he knows Hades and the other gods and goddesses at Nevah are a match for him, nearly immortal. But he thinks he’s found a way to kill them anyway. He’s looking for the Fates—three sisters who weave and measure the threads of life. Apparently, they also have a pair of golden shears that can cut those threads.”
“What does any of this have to do with you?” Sarah asked.
“I can see the threads. What I did at JDRI to those hunters—if I concentrate, I can see their threads and pluck them, kind of like playing a harp. I can’t kill them without the shears, it’s more like I stop their vibration. The finger of death points at them, and they sense their helplessness, their mortality.”
“So wait, Zeus is after you because he thinks you can, what, kill the rest of his family?”
I nodded.
“And Hades is protecting you, at Nevah or whatever. And you were living there with that hottie Sitri.”
“Yes,” I said, gripping my mug for warmth.
“So why did you leave?” Sarah asked.
This was the part I didn’t want to share. My eyes watered up as I remembered the events that led to my departure.
“First, some hunters broke in and tried to kill me. Puriel was one of them.”
“He tried to kill you?” Jessie said, glancing into the other room, suddenly furious. I put a hand on her arm to calm her down.
“Yes but, he didn’t. He refused Zeus’s order, and he fell. From hunter, to torch—what he is now. I watched his wings literally burned off. That’s why he seems a little… strange. He’s never been alone before. He’s never really had any human experiences. Pain. Secrets. Desires.”
“Then what happened?” Sarah asked.
“After he’d fallen, Puriel told me Zeus planned to kidnap you two and use you as bait to get to me. I broke him out so he’d help me rescue you.”
“You broke him out...” Jessie repeatedly slowly. “The guy who tried to kill you.”
“I didn’t know what else to do,” I said. “You and Sarah were in danger. You saw those things, the hunters. What they’re capable of. I stopped a few of them, but I can’t always. I didn’t even know I could do that. I don’t know how to control it.”
“You couldn’t stop the one in the bathroom.” Sarah said. “The monster.”
“No, I couldn’t,” I said frowning. “I tried, too. I couldn’t find his thread fast enough. If not for Puriel, we’d probably be dead.”
“The headless guy?” Jessie said.
“You didn’t see him,” Sarah said. “He was all, arrrggh.” She said, raising her fingers up like claws and giving a crazy smile.
“That was a leech. Fallen hunters become torches. Some of them continue hunting magic on their own, trying to get back into Zeus’s good graces. But, when they’re alone, they can’t risk the pull of magic, especially if they’re injured. They start to consuming their victims, and turn into leeches.”
“That’s what Puriel was doing when I walked in,” Jessie gasped. “He was going to eat that guy?”
“He couldn’t help it. It’s not just the pull, remember, he’s new at this. He’s never felt temptation of any kind before. Never had to develop willpower or restraint.”
“Great,” Jessie said. “Are you sure you can trust him?” I stood and checked on Puriel in the other room. He was still out cold.
“We had a deal, and he kept his end of the bargain. I don’t know what happens next. But right now, you two are safe, and that’s all that matters.”
“Yeah but for how long? Whoever’s house this is will probably be back soon. We can’t go back to JDRI if those hunters are watching it. So...what’s the plan?”
I looked back and forth between Sarah and Jessie, but I had no idea what to tell them. My brain was fried, and I never had a plan apart from saving them from Zeus.
“Right now, the only think I’m capable of doing is passing out on the bed upstairs.” I said. “We’ll figure the rest out tomorrow.
***
I slept like the dead until dawn, when a bad dream woke me up suddenly, my heart pounding in my chest. It was something about Puriel, with an unnaturally large grin and long, sharp fingers hanging down to his knees. I took a deep breath and wrapped my fingers around the rays of light beaming through the blinds. The upstairs master bedroom seemed cramped after living in luxury at Able’s mansion, but with Sarah curled up at my side, I felt a peace I hadn’t experienced for weeks. I let my fingers brush her golden hair away from her face. She looked so young and innocent. What had I gotten her into?
Jessie had taken the room next to ours. I got up to see if she was awake, moving gently so I wouldn’t disturb Sarah. Her room was empty, but I found Jessie in the kitchen eating a bowl of Lucky Charms. I froze when I saw the empty couch, but Jessie waved her hand at me.
“Relax,” she said through a mouthful of cereal. “He was up, just standing by the door, peering through the blinds like a creeper with one hand on his sword. I made him take a shower. Had to teach him the difference between shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Seriously though, why do w
e use all that shit? It’s all just soap, right?”
I put on a pot of coffee. Jessie grinned at me as I helped myself to the sugar and creamer.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s just, this is great, isn’t it? The three of us, living in a real house like this. It’s so much better than JDRI.”
“It’s stealing,” I said.
“Barely,” she snorted. “I think they can afford new coffee filters.”
“And what kind of life would this be for Sarah, running all the time? At least JDRI had compulsory education levels.”
Jessie frowned and set the cereal bowl down hard.
“You don’t have to be so depressing all the time. I know people are trying to kill us, and you basically murdered a guy yesterday in the gas station, but can’t we pretend everything doesn’t completely suck? Just let me enjoy my goddamn breakfast for a minute.”
“You’re right,” I said, taking a sip of my coffee. “And it’s better if Sarah thinks we’re on a grand adventure. It’s just, we can’t keep doing this forever. And I have no idea what to do next.”
Jessie’s eyes widened at my admission, but before she could question me, Sarah came downstairs. Jessie tousled her hair and handed her a bowl of cereal.
I used the interruption as an excuse to check on Puriel. “Everything okay in there?” I asked, knocking on the bathroom door. Steam fumed out from underneath it.
“Almost done,” Puriel called from inside. I tried unsuccessfully not to imagine him naked. Call it biological curiosity.
The three of us ate breakfast together in silence until Puriel came downstairs. He was so tall he had to duck under the doorway into the living room, but it was the lavender bathrobe he was wearing that grabbed my attention. The bathrobe barely covered him, falling just a few inches above his knees.
Sarah and Jessie burst out laughing, and I couldn’t contain my own smile. He looked comical, like a football player in a tutu.
“What is it? Is this not suitable attire? It’s soft and loose-fitting, similar to the garments we wear under our armor. Should I remove it?”
He started disrobing—Jessie covered Sarah’s eyes with both hands, but she pulled her fingers down to peak. He was still wet from the shower and his ash blonde hair lifted in spiky tufts. The bathrobe was open in the front, displaying most of his perfectly sculpted chest. With his pale skin, now freshly scrubbed, he looked like a marble statue, each muscle clearly defined. The tattoos covering his forearms had been branded into his skin in dark whirls and scrolls. The burn marks made him look like an ancient and indecipherable text book; a mysterious message of some kind.
“I think it looks great on you,” Jessie said. “But it might draw a little too much attention in public.”
“It’s fine for now,” I said. “We should change your bandage and clean your wound again before you get dressed anyway. Eat something, and we can decide where we’re going from here.”
“You want me to stay with you?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows in surprise.
“I know that’s not the deal we made,” I said. “If you want to leave, that’s fine. We’ll figure it out ourselves.”
“Let’s not be hasty,” Jessie said, glancing for the third time at Puriel’s glistening abs. “I don’t know what you’re planning, but having some muscle with us wouldn’t be the end of the world. I can think of several situations where Puriel would come in very handy.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “I didn’t have much of a plan other than saving you. But after what happened at the gas station—”
“They’ll be drawn to our magic, little that it is,” Puriel said. “Even if the hunters don’t find us, others will.”
“Which means, Sarah and Jessie will be in danger if they’re around us. We’ll attract leeches, hunters, everything. We need to get them somewhere safe.”
“You should all go back to Nevah,” Puriel said. “They’ll protect you there.”
“After what I pulled, they may not let me back in. And they’d expect me to fight, to kill Zeus.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” Jessie asked. “I mean, he is the guy sending hunters to kill you, right?”
I frowned and bit my lip.
“I ran away because I didn’t want to pick sides. I didn’t want to be used like some chess piece. But if they let you two in, I’ll do whatever Able wants. As long as you’re safe, I don’t care what happens to me.”
“What if you got the shears first?” Sarah asked.
“I have no idea where they are,” I said. “If Zeus and Able couldn’t find them, why would I be able to?”
“Sarah’s right,” Jessie said. “Seems like everyone is after you because of what you might be able to do, but these golden scissors are crucial. They’re a weapon only you can wield, right? If they’re meant for you, maybe only you can find them. And once you have them, then it gives you more leverage. Able will have to let you back into Nevah, and you could bargain for us to come along too. He couldn’t refuse you. You’d have so much bargaining power, maybe even Puriel could come.”
The burning pit in my stomach reminded me that I hadn’t told Sarah and Jessie about Matt yet, or the fact that Priya would probably kill me herself when she found out what really happened. Even if I got the shears and made a deal with Able, I’d never be able to face returning to Nevah. But at least with the shears, I wouldn’t be asking for favors. I’d have something to offer, something to bargain with. Maybe even something I could use to keep us all safe. It wasn’t a terrible idea. I glanced up at Puriel to gage his reaction.
“I won’t be able to protect you,” he said. “I’m just one torch, and my power is mostly gone after last night’s fight. I would have been lost if you hadn’t stopped those hunters. As it stands, I’ll probably fall in the next battle, and you’ll be captured or killed by Zeus’s forces.”
“So I need to get stronger,” I mused. “Even without the scissors, I stopped four hunters. I just need to practice what Stephanie taught me.”
“I can fight too,” Jessie said. “You can teach me,” she smiled at Puriel and batted her eyelids.
“There’s something else,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “All this, freedom. It’s distracting. I can’t trust myself to make the right choices. I thought I was strong enough, but at the gas station I lost control. I could have hurt someone.”
“You just need a mission,” I said. “Maybe protecting us will keep you focused, give you purpose? You help us find the shears, and we’ll keep you from doing anything stupid. And really, what’s your alternative?”
“I’m fallen now. Outcast. I’ll wander alone, regretting my moment of weakness, for all eternity.”
“Sounds like fun,” Jessie said. “But surely a nearly impossible, and almost certainly fatal, quest to find some mythical ancient weapon capable of killing gods is a more attractive offer. I’ll even sweeten the deal with some Lucky Charms.” She held her bowl out to him and he sniffed it dubiously.
“Okay,” I said, feeling relieved. “We have a plan. But seriously, where do we even start looking?”
Puriel grabbed a banana from the fruit basket. He was about to bite into it when Sarah grabbed it from him. She removed the peel and handed it back to him.
“There are people that trade in information,” Puriel said, taking a bite out of the banana. “We call them watchers.”
“Leeches, torches, and watchers... oh my,” Jessie said, fanning herself.
“They are neutral,” Puriel continued, “and non-magical, so the hunters leave them alone.” He finished his banana and grabbed another from the basket.
“You think they can help us?” I asked.
“Maybe,” Puriel frowned, “but not without a price. The nearest I know of is in Seattle. Financial district.”
“In that case—” Jessie jumped up and ran out of the room. She returned with a navy blue suit on a hanger. “I saw this in the closet earlier, I think it’ll fit you brilliantly. Plus,” she said, her e
yes trailing down over the lavender bathrobe, “I really can’t look at you like that anymore.”
4
I couldn’t stop staring at Puriel in his suit. He walked just ahead of us, clearing people off the sidewalk with his broad shoulders and serious expression.
“He’s like our own personal bodyguard,” Sarah said. “Like we’re famous.”
“All he needs is sunglasses and an earpiece,” I said.
“If he’s the bodyguard, I wouldn’t mind being Whitney Houston,” Jessie said, elbowing me in the ribs at her 90s movie reference.
“You know, one of these days we should just go to the movies,” I said. “A real theatre, not all the old VCR crap in the so-called entertainment center.”
“Can we get popcorn?” Sarah asked, squeezing my gloved hand.
“And chocolate,” Jessie said. “Lots of chocolate. And some male companionship, for making out in the dark and stuff. If only we knew any boys,” she said, making eyes towards Puriel’s heavenly backside.
We’d used the last of Jessie’s cash for bus tickets to Seattle. I felt bad about all the stuff we used at the house, so I left a pair of diamond earrings on the counter with a thank you note. The sky was clear and the air smelled like coffee and fish.
The last time I’d been here, I’d been with my parents and Charlie. I was too young to remember much, other than them throwing the fish at Pike Place Market. I squeezed the small block of legos that hung around my neck. It was an anchor to my past, to remind me of what I’d lost.
But today the memories lifted me up. We’d been happy here. I could almost hear the sound of Charlie’s laughter. A brisk sea breeze brushed my hair across my cheek, and a smile teased my lips. It felt like an excursion day, when they let us roam on our own for awhile. It would have been fun, if people weren’t trying to kill us.
Sebastian said the bus was pretty safe, and once we were in Seattle we’d be protected by the crowds. Hunters flying above wouldn’t be able to spot us easily, and they couldn’t search every city in America. We’d lost them, for now.
“Hold on,” I said, noticing a pawn shop up ahead. “We’re almost out of cash. I’ll run in and get some more.”