Magic Without Mercy

by Devon Monk

  “Please, Nola.” I closed my eyes for a second, trying to think of what would make her believe, what would turn her around.

  “You’re right. You are my best friend. You have always been my best friend. And you’ve helped me so many times. But in all the times I’ve come to you, licking my wounds, not even remembering who I was, you never once told me I was crazy. I’m still not crazy. I need you to trust me just a little longer. Please do me just one favor.”

  “What favor?” she asked quietly.

  “Cody’s mind was broken—that wasn’t supposed to happen—but when I say he was good at magic, I mean it. He found a way to hold on to the part of himself that broke. Found a way to hold on to his mind, his soul, the personality that he used to be. And he found a way to keep his higher-reasoning skills viable. That part of him, his soul, mind, self, is here, in this room with us.”

  “What does that even mean?” She didn’t believe me. But at least she wasn’t walking away. Yet.

  “I know you can’t use magic,” I said. “Right now, I can’t either—it’s making me sick. So I’m going to ask someone to draw a Sight spell for you. You should be able to see Cody’s ghost—the part of him that was broken when his memories were taken away. And Cody should be able to see him too.

  “I want you to talk to Cody. If he wants to help us unlock Stone, or not, I’ll stand by your decision of what you think is right.”

  “Just a Sight spell?”

  “Just a Sight spell.”

  She hesitated, then nodded. “I’ll look through a Sight spell.”

  “Who do you trust to cast it for you?”

  She didn’t know any of us here very well. Maybe she knew Zayvion the best, since he’d stayed a while with her at the farm when I was in a coma.

  “Zayvion,” she said.

  I walked over to where he was standing, holding back part of the blind so he could see the city beyond.

  “She doesn’t believe me,” I said.

  “I know.”

  “She called Stotts. She says he’ll be here soon and she needs someone she trusts to draw Sight so she can see Cody’s ghost.”

  “I can do that.”

  I nodded. I hadn’t told him that I talked to Cody and that he wanted to be Unclosed. I needed to take this fire one frying pan at a time.

  He walked over to Nola.

  “How are you?” he asked.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “A little worried about… well, everything.”

  Somehow, Zayvion pulled out a smile and a calm tone. “It’s going to work out. We just need Cody’s help to unlock a spell. That’s all.” He wasn’t using Influence, which got me thinking. We probably could cast Influence on Nola and force her to let us do this with Cody.

  Except I hated Influence and would never let anyone use it on my best friend.

  “That’s what you said last time,” she said.

  Zay nodded. “We needed his help with the medical equipment. He didn’t do any magic at all then. But this time we are asking him to use magic.”

  “Magic?” Cody said. He got up and walked over to us, his hand out to the side, as if he were dragging a suitcase or wagon behind him. Only it wasn’t either of those things. He was holding hands with his ghost self, who floated behind him.

  “Where do you want us to stand?” Nola asked.

  Zay looked at me. “Can you see him?”

  “He’s next to Cody.”

  “I’ll stand over here,” ghost Cody said to alive Cody. “And you can stand next to Nola, okay?”

  “Okay.” Cody walked over to Nola, a smile on his face. “He said stand here with you.”

  He did just that, and took Nola’s hand.

  Zayvion stood between the ghost of Cody and Nola. He set a Disbursement, something that came out black and slick like a snake and burrowed into his gut.

  I winced, but he didn’t even flinch. He calmly drew a wall-sized Sight.

  Nola gasped.

  I didn’t have to look through Zay’s Sight spell to see ghost Cody wave to Nola. “Hi,” he said.

  “Can you hear him?” I asked.

  She shook her head.

  “He said hi,” Cody said helpfully. “That’s me. Hi, me!”

  Ghost Cody smiled. “Hi, Cody,” he said. “Hi, Nola.” He looked at me. “Can you tell her thank you for me?”

  “He wants me to tell you thank you,” I said.

  “What for?” she asked a little breathlessly.

  He looked at her. “For giving me such a great life.” He pointed at Cody.

  “He said for giving him such a great life.”

  “Oh. You’re welcome. Allie”—she glanced at me—“could you tell him that for me?”

  “He can hear you,” I said. “But I’m the only one besides Cody who can hear him. I think.” I looked around the room. Davy raised a finger.

  “You can hear him too?” I asked.

  He nodded. “I didn’t realize he was a ghost.”

  Well, that meant he could also see him.

  “So, Nola, would it be okay if Zay dropped the Sight?” I asked.

  “Wait.” She looked at ghost Cody. “Do you want this? Do you want to unlock the spell Allie was talking about?”

  “Yes,” he said. And for good measure, he nodded.

  “Cody,” she said to alive Cody. “Do you want to help with magic? Help Allie unlock something with your… with him?” She pointed at ghost Cody.

  “Uh-huh. I like us.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Wave good-bye for now.”

  “Bye, me.” He waved. “I like me. Older me is smart.”

  “Older you,” Nola echoed. “So that’s who you’ve been talking to?”

  “Yes. He’s been away for a long time. Monster too.”

  Ghost Cody waved back and then Zayvion canceled the spell. There was the slightest scent of pear blossoms, and then the room was just a room again.

  Zayvion, however, was sweating pretty hard. He wiped his forehead on the shoulder of his shirt. It took a lot of concentration and effort to pull magic all the way into St. Johns. There were no networks, storm rods, or natural wells out here, which meant pulling on magic was like hauling in a barge by hand.

  That little spell had been a hell of a lot harder than it looked.

  Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then Nola turned to me. “Tell me exactly what you want to do with Cody.”

  Shame strode into the room. “Yes, do. And tell her damn fast. The cops are coming.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “How many, and from where?” I asked.

  “Don’t know, and everywhere,” Shame said. “Time to be moving, people.”

  The front door opened. And Detective Paul Stotts stepped into the room, gun drawn.

  Six Boys pulled guns, and every magic user in the joint drew a glyph while pulling weapons.

  No. This was crazy. I was not going to get into a shoot-out with my best friend’s boyfriend.

  “Stop it,” I said. “All of you. Boys, Paul, put your guns down. No one is shooting anyone. Got that?”

  Since no one put their guns, or for that matter spells, down, apparently the answer to that was no.

  “Nola, Cody,” Paul said. “I want you both to come with me.”

  Nola looked at me, then at Paul. “I’m not going anywhere with anyone until everyone puts down their guns and spells,” she said.

  “Detective Stotts,” I said, walking toward him.

  “Allie,” Zay warned. “Don’t.”

  “You might not want to come any closer, Ms. Beckstrom,” Paul said.

  I just kept walking. “Did you get my note?”

  Paul’s gaze flicked from Zayvion to me. “Yes. Jack Quinn brought me here.”

  “Did Jack tell you why we’re here?”

  “No.”

  “We’re trying to find a way to filter the poison out of magic. Shooting us isn’t going to help matters any.”

  “What will help matters?” he asked. “Takin
g away people’s memories?”

  “No,” I said, ignoring the look Hayden shot my way. “That’s a problem. The thing that helps is giving memories back. Just like we gave your memories back. So you could make a choice. An informed choice about what we’re doing.”

  “I’m not sure I see it that way,” he said. “And I see no reason to involve Nola or Cody in this.”

  “There is a reason,” I said. “Nola is my best friend and we stick together. She’s looking after Cody right now and we need Cody to unlock a spell so we can hopefully come up with an antidote to the poison that’s spreading through this city and killing people.”

  “Cody?” he asked. “Why do you need him to cast magic?”

  “Because he’s a savant with magic.”

  “Magic is pretty,” Cody added.

  So not helping.

  “Cody can do things with magic none of the rest of us can do,” I said. “Like create Stone. And like putting a Lock spell on Stone that we can’t undo. Stone might help us find a cure to the epidemic.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Not in the least,” I said honestly. “But it’s the best chance we’ve got and we need Cody to unlock him for us so we can find out if we’re right or not.”

  Paul considered me and the other people in the room. Sure, no one had put their weapons down, but no one had cast any of those spells they were holding either.

  “Time, people,” Shame said. “We’re running out of it.”

  “Where’s Stone?” Paul asked.

  “In Cathedral Park.”

  “What are you going to do to Cody?”

  “Zayvion’s going to Unclose him,” I said. “He’s going to give him his memories back, just like he gave yours back. We hope he’ll remember how to unlock Stone.”

  “I will,” ghost Cody said.

  Alive Cody nodded.

  Paul’s gun shifted slightly to aim at Zayvion’s chest. “Do I have all my memories back?”

  “No,” Zay said. “Victor can give you the rest.”

  “Where’s Victor?”

  “Cathedral Park with Stone.”

  There were no sirens. But I knew the police were closing in, could feel the tension radiating off Shame. They had to be just a few blocks away. And I didn’t even hear engines. They were coming in quiet, and they were coming in hard.

  “Then let’s go.” Paul lowered his gun and so did everyone else. “The MERC van is outside. Someone else can drive.” He held up his keys and Hayden came forward and took them.

  “The back door,” I said. I gave Paul a thankful smile, which he did not return.

  I turned and touched Nola’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

  She nodded. “We’ll figure this out.”

  “Of course we will,” I said.

  I moved to help Davy, but Terric was already offering him a hand, not that I thought he needed one. Davy looked even stronger.

  Maybe the no-magic of St. Johns was helping with that.

  Collins stared at me from where he was slouching in a chair, a thoughtful look on his face as if he was trying to find a category to sort me into.

  “Coming?” I asked.

  “I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” he said. “You know what you’re doing breaks every rule of every law that there is, both in the common and uncommon world.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” I said, picking up my coat. “I’m sure there’s a few I missed. After all, the night’s young.”

  Zay was waiting for me, holding open the kitchen door. I hurried his way.

  “Wait!” Mama called out. I looked over my shoulder. She hustled down the stairs, a blanket in her arms. “Here,” she said. “For the Boy.”

  She pressed the soft old quilt into my arms. “Thank you,” I said. I would have hugged her, but there was no time. “Don’t get in a shoot-out with the police.”

  She scoffed. “You. Run. I know my business.”

  I ran, past the Boy in the kitchen who was holding the pantry door open, and who locked it behind us. Then out the outside door, and into the familiar white box van that Stotts’ crew always used for cleaning up messy, illegal spells. I caught the burly profile of Hayden at the wheel.

  I jogged to the back of the box van and jumped up inside. Terric waited just a second while Shame pressed a message on his wrist. Terric shut the van door, plunging us all in darkness. The van started off. I sat on the cold metal floor, braced against the wall, rocking as the van rattled over the old streets.

  There were no lights in the van, no windows. But the glow of magic on and around people revealed a few things to me.

  The crystal in Shame’s chest gave off a slight pink-going-bloody light, showing him and Maeve sitting next to Nola. Next to Nola sat Cody. Neither of them seemed to have any magic around them.

  The webbing of magic wrapped around Davy shone with an amber light. Zay stood next to him, and closest to the door. Stotts leaned on the other side of the door, across from Zayvion, who I could only assume he had decided was the most dangerous.

  Stotts shifted, pulling something out of his pocket.

  Every nerve in my body tightened. If that was his gun and he was going to shoot—

  “Wait!” I said.

  A click echoed in the metal van.

  And the light of a flashlight hit the floor.

  “What?” Paul asked, shining the beam up on the ceiling so it gave a better ambient light—just enough that we could actually see one another.

  I swallowed hard, more than once, trying to choke my heart back down out of my throat. Sweet hells, I thought he was going to shoot him. Shoot Zay.

  “Nothing,” I said a little shakily. “I thought.” I looked over at Zayvion, who closed his eyes a little too long and shook his head.

  He knew exactly what I thought was going to happen. Could probably feel the echo of my heart beating in his chest.

  “Nothing,” I said again.

  Paul glanced over at Zayvion, who gave him a don’t-fuck-with-me glare.

  Stotts’ expression changed, softened. “I wouldn’t do that, Allie. Not that way. And not now. I’m not your enemy.”

  “Might be a bit more convincing on that if you weren’t just waving a gun around at us, mate,” Shame said.

  “Would you have walked unarmed into a room full of armed magic users?” Stotts asked.

  “Probably,” Shame and Terric said at the same time.

  “Death wish,” Terric supplied helpfully.

  Paul nodded, his gaze on Shame. “That explains some things about you, Mr. Flynn.”

  “Oh, piss off, Ter,” Shame said. “It’s not a damn death wish. I just know how much my pain is worth.”

  The van took a sharp right and we all braced. I hoped that meant we were near the park.

  We’d need to get Cody across the park to Stone before the police closed in on us—if they were closing in on us. I hadn’t heard from Victor this entire time. I hoped everything was okay with him.

  Wait. Cody! I’d forgotten about his ghost self. I squinted against the light in the van, looking for the ghost.

  “I’m right here,” he said softly at my elbow. I jumped and glanced at him. He was right next to me, but little more than a shade in the darkness. I realized he had one hand clutching the quilt in my arms.

  “Are you okay?” I whispered.

  “Yes. But I’ve been holding on to Mama for a long time. It’s hard to let go and haunt something else.”

  The quilt was not only Mama’s—it looked handmade. I was sure it had covered and comforted many of her Boys she had brought in off the street. Just as it was comforting Cody.

  “Can I help any?” I asked.

  “You could tell Zayvion to Unclose me so we can be together,” he said. “Alive Cody and me. That’s what I need. That’s all I need.”

  Yeah, about that. I hadn’t even asked Zayvion if he would do it. And I wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to do it. Unclosing someone wasn’t an easy spell. To d
o it right, Zayvion had said the person needed to have some time to recover. Which meant the faster we could get to the Unclosing, the quicker Cody would be able to get his wits together, and then, hopefully, be able to unlock that spell.

  And all of this had to be done in the hardest place in Portland from which to draw on magic.

  A lot was hanging on this.

  No, everything was hanging on this. I looked over at Zayvion. He was still standing, holding on to a loading strap, resting his head against the wall of the truck and watching Stotts through lowered lids.

  And that was when I knew it wouldn’t matter. Zayvion would do this, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how hard it was. Because it was the only way to protect the innocent, and to save magic. It was the only way to uphold the vows he still held true.

  The van finally rolled to a stop and the engine went silent. I could hear Hayden shut the cab door, then jog back toward us, his boots loud on the pavement. He lifted the latch and opened the door.

  The smells of the river, recently mowed grass, and the cool dew of night rolled into the van. We were here. We were somewhere beneath the big arch of St. Johns Bridge.

  “Everyone out.” Hayden held his hand up for Zayvion, who took it, and jumped down out of the van.

  It didn’t take us long to unload onto the grass, and start walking toward the middle of the park.

  Electric lights lined the concrete path and gave off enough illumination that Paul pocketed his flashlight. He was walking with Nola, talking quietly. Cody strolled along with them, taking in the park like he was on some great adventure in a strange land.

  Maeve and Hayden were in the lead not too far ahead of them, and Terric, Shame, Davy, and Collins were all walking not too far behind them.

  Which left the ghost Cody and Zayvion and me to bring up the rear.

  Zay reached out and wrapped his arm across my back, and I shifted the quilt to slide my arm across his back too.

  He was hurting. A lot. Enough that I hissed and then opened my mouth a little more to try to breathe away the pain coming off him.

  “You’re hurting.”

  “Yes,” he said.

  There was no use for us to hide it from each other, but there wasn’t anything we could do about it either. No one but Zay could Unclose Cody.