Phantasm

by Phaedra Weldon

  No one moved at first—including me. I stood my ground and looked at Rhonda and Joe lying over Dags, and Mastiff sitting up with a dazed expression on his face. Maureen and Alice were gone. And everything not nailed down was on the opposite side of the room, where the Phantasm had been.

  The only thing left where he’d been standing was the black box.

  Even White Zoë was gone.

  I held out my hands. “Okay—what the fuck just happened?”

  And then I saw the hospital bed—the one that was supposed to have my body in it. It was covered in ceiling debris and several machines. “Ah!” I pointed to it.

  “Relax,” Joe called out as he stood. “Your body’s safe elsewhere. We had a trap set for whatever it was the Phantasm was going to send.”

  Uh . . . oh. Wow. Glad everybody else knew what was going to happen. “I thought you were going to go to the Bank of America Plaza.”

  “That’s what we wanted people to think,” Joe said as he helped Mastiff stand on shaky legs, then knelt back down to help Rhonda right herself.

  Rhonda pushed back as Dags stirred and started coughing—horrible hacking coughs. Maureen and Alice reappeared and were trying to touch his throat. He started batting at them. “I’m fine,” he said in a voice that sounded more like a crow’s than his own.

  Mastiff stumbled to each of the two uniforms and checked them before looking at Joe and pointing. “You owe me.”

  Joe nodded, coughed, and nodded again. “I’ll buy you a beer.”

  “Oh no, no, no. You’re gonna tell me what the fuck it is you do on your off-hours.” And then he pointed to the unconscious Captain Cooper. “And you’re gonna take the heat for this with him.”

  I watched Joe’s face. He didn’t look too terribly enthused.

  I moved forward and stood in front of Mastiff, waving my hands. Joe frowned at me, then looked at Mastiff before shaking his head. No. Mastiff couldn’t see me. That was a relief. I was incorporeal. Which meant he probably hadn’t seen the serpent, or Archer or even Phanty.

  I wanted to be in the room when Joe explained all this to Mastiff.

  With a smile at Joe, I knelt beside Dags. He saw me and gave me the silliest grin I’d seen on him. His neck was red and bruising, much like mine had been months ago when Mitsuri had tried to kill me by strangling me. Dark circles hung under his eyes, and Maureen and Alice were now behind Dags, their hands over his heart. My own heart lurched in a funny way—not like it had before.

  “Who switched the Eidolons?” I said in a whisper, knowing that sometimes even though they can’t see you, the physical world can still hear you. And I wasn’t sure Mastiff needed to hear me just yet.

  Joe asked Mastiff to go call for help down the hall, and when he’d gone he nodded to Dags. “He did. It was his idea to replace the Destruction Eidolon for the blue Eidolon.”

  I looked at Dags with wide eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but his voice caught and he grabbed at his throat. I put my hand on him, noticing how it became corporeal without a second thought—it was second nature. Instead, he thought to me, Knew Phanty would attack your body—would want e.i.d.o.l.o.n. And thought good time to whack him.

  I laughed. Yeah . . . it was a good time to whack him. “So you had already had it planned out with Rhonda that she would go all drama queen just so Phanty would take the bait?”

  Joe pursed his lips. “Not exactly. It was more like we hoped you would figure it out when Archer gave it to you—we didn’t know Rhonda would be the one to go melodrama.”

  Archer? “You mean TC was in on this?”

  Dags coughed and tried to clear his throat. “Yes,” he said in a hoarse voice.

  Yes?

  Joe explained. “The Archer wants one thing—to live and to live with power. He’ll side with whoever can give him that power. We made sure he overheard a conversation between Dags and me that if Zoë touched this stone, she’d be separated from her Abysmal side forever. That’s bad for him—so he’d do what would assure his future.”

  Dags held up a finger and coughed again. “Which is why”—his voice was still rough but getting better (go, girls!)—“I destroyed the phantasm’s . . . hormone-enhanced Daimon . . . and lured him here, where Archer is more . . . powerful.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “You do realize how powerful Archer is, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” He smiled at me. I didn’t stop him when he reached up and softly touched my chin with his fingers. “You look so . . . different . . .” He coughed. “Beautiful.”

  He was proud that he could help, and I knew that. I sensed it. And I sensed his elation at “whacking” the Phantasm. What I didn’t say was that I was just a bit apprehensive as to what the consequences of that action would be. Yeah—everyone seemed okay for now. But could a Destruction Eidolon actually destroy something as old and powerful as the Phantasm?

  I really didn’t think so.

  I started to stand, but Joe reached out and tried to grab my arm—he passed through me. Odd—how I could touch Dags and he could touch me but it didn’t work with me and Joe. I looked at him. “Thanks for getting Rhonda out of there.”

  “No sweat.” I started to move away, but something else in his expression caught my attention. “What?”

  “Zoë—don’t die on me, okay?”

  Die? I had no intention of dying. “Then take care of my body. This isn’t over yet.”

  That much I was sure of.

  What had me anxious, though, was where Archer and the Horror had taken off to. The Phantasm was gone. I doubted he’d been destroyed, but—from what I’d seen—I was confident the Eidolon had done a bit of damage to his broadcasting equipment. And hopefully it’d lived up to its name and destroyed it.

  For a while.

  But even as the chaos around me took on an organized rhythm, I was still without Daniel.

  Or my mommy. I was going to lose my mom forever, wasn’t I?

  Rhonda collapsed to my left where she’d been standing with Joe. He caught her in midfall and lowered her to the floor.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t count me out just yet.”

  What?

  I moved back as something dark and shimmery sieved out of Rhonda’s body, and I kind of wondered if that was what my astral form looked like.

  And then the image took on an all-too-familiar shape.

  Mom?

  MOMMY!

  33

  NONA was there, bathed in Ethereal light, and looking for all the world like a million dollars. Part of her was still sort of hovering over Rhonda’s feet beneath the sheet. And suddenly I got it. I got why I’d heard her in the Abysmal plane. Why Rhonda had seemed and acted so much older, changed her appearance, and why she’d not suffered real serious damage in the Abysmal plane.

  And why she’d acted so god-awful melodramatic.

  I pointed at her. “YOU WERE IN RHONDA THE WHOLE TIME!”

  Everything stopped. Joe swore. Dags coughed.

  But she was there. My mommy was really there.

  She was there, really there, in front of me.

  Debbie Reynolds in electric white.

  She put a long, red-lacquered nail to her perfect red lips. “Shhh. You want to get into more trouble?”

  I didn’t know whether to hug her or hit her. I was so relieved to see her—to know she was alive—

  But then I remembered her body, and I slapped my face with my hands. “Your body! Oh, Mom, someone took off with your body, and I didn’t—”

  But she was already waving at me to be quiet. “My body’s fine. Private hospital in Dahlonega. Adiran thought it might be a better idea if I got it out of the line of fire—and it needed some serious cleaning after Archer slept in it.”

  I—but you—and he—

  Mom opened her arms wide and smiled. She’d always done that when I was a child—never letting me forget that she was there for me. That I had her love, her caring.

  Her touch.

  Mom . . .

  N
othing could have stopped me at that moment as I lunged at her, nearly tackling her to the ground, and held on for dear life. She hugged me in return. Even though she was only spirit, she was vibrant, and alive, and I loved every damned part of her.

  “I’m so sorry, Zoë, for putting you through all this.”

  I sniffed, unable really to form a coherent sentence. I was blubbering like a baby as she stroked my hair and kissed my forehead. I buried myself in her ample breasts and didn’t want to let go.

  Ever.

  “When he took you—”

  “Shhh. I know, I know. It was scary for me too. But we can talk about it later, okay?” She pushed me away from her and held me at arm’s length with her left hand while moving hair from my eyes with her right. “You know this isn’t over yet. And what happens next will really define what the rest of your life will be.”

  I looked at her. “Is it really you? Are you really okay?”

  “In spirit I’m fine—and as spry as I was when I was twenty. Now, my physical body”—she wiggled her hand in the air like a wave—“that’s going to take a bit of work.” She looked around. “And from the looks of things, we’re all gonna need a nice long vacation.” Mom’s gaze lingered on Dags as Maureen and Alice helped him to a standing position. He was a bit wobbly, and his throat looked awful. “You do care for him, don’t you?”

  I lowered my eyes. “Yes.”

  “But not the way he cares for you.”

  I didn’t have an answer for her. She lifted my face with a finger beneath my chin. “I love Daniel, Mom.”

  “I know. And that’s what you have to fight for now.”

  “But Daniel’s—”

  “Still alive. The Horror can’t take any real form save what we give it.” She looked at me with serious eyes. “It’s a part of you—a part that, unfortunately, my early experiments with sympathetic magic rendered apart. I did exactly what your father tried to stop Rodriguez from doing.” She sighed. “But no help for it now—I guess.”

  I think we all sort of go through that moment in life—the one when you realize that your parents are human beings, with real human lives, events that shaped them and memories of things that have nothing to do with you. And I really understood at that moment what kind of pain my mom had had to go through—what demons she’d had to exorcise. The feeling of rejection she must have felt—being left all alone with a nutcase out there wanting her daughter.

  “You know better now?”

  “Yes. And whether Archer knows it or not, he gave me the opportunity to see Adiran again. I owe him that.” She pursed her lips. “But that’s all. Nothing else. He’s a putz.”

  I laughed and cried at the same time.

  “Now”—she wiped at my tears—“you have to win this. And you’ll win it and save Daniel the same way you thought you would. With the blue Eidolon.”

  I looked around the room. Joe had lifted Rhonda and was taking her out of the room. He cared about her, and that was good. Even though it hurt—and I kinda knew why. “Where is the blue Eidolon?”

  Dags answered as he stepped near us. “Joe has it. He and I will get it to the top of the Bank of America Plaza.”

  I looked at his throat. “You need to stay here and get that looked at.”

  But he shook his head. “No, I need to finish what I started. And then I’ll—” He coughed, but his voice was better. “And then I’ll take a nice vacation.”

  I straightened up and sniffed. I looked again at Mom to make sure she was really there. Even if it was just her spirit. “Then I’d better get this over with.”

  Mom moved closer. “Understand—this isn’t a game, Zoë. The Horror—your Horror—doesn’t want to give up its new freedom. Your father fought Rodriguez’s Horror—”

  She didn’t finish.

  I nodded. “He won.”

  “And he lost. Adiran made a sacrifice that day, to ensure that such a monster didn’t wreak havoc on the world his baby daughter lived in. Yeah, I think he did it for humanity too.” She smiled. “But I know his heart was thinking of you.”

  “I got it. But I need to get to the roof—I don’t want any more casualties here.”

  She nodded and gave me a wink before she vanished. With a glance around at the mess, I pushed myself up through the floors, taking the most direct route to the roof I could think of. I passed a few people on the way—and passed through a few as well. Though the images didn’t shift much—most minds were preoccupied with worry, dread, and fear for loved ones.

  Hrm . . . might need to go back and check on that one guy who’s afraid he’ll get caught. Caught doing what?

  Once on the roof of Grady Memorial, I gazed up at the Atlanta night sky. It was cloudy—no stars visible in the sky. And there was a lot of wind—was there a storm heading from the east? Possibly—I felt so out of touch with a normal life. The one where I used to get up by slapping the alarm, turning on the tube, listening to the news and watching the weather as I checked my e-mail and drank my coffee in my comfy pajamas and my latest creature slippers.

  I miss my slippers.

  I moved to stand away from the small building that housed the door to the stairs. Just as I did, it opened, and the familiar forms of Dags and Joe came through the door. Joe’s gun was drawn, and Dags’s palms glowed with the soft Witch Fire.

  Joe was first to arrive by my side. He pulled back on the gun’s slide and looked at me. “You ready?”

  “Yeah—shouldn’t you be on your way to the Bank of America Plaza?”

  He nodded. “Yep. But we needed to coordinate—and you don’t have a phone.”

  “Is Rhonda all right?” I said.

  He nodded. “She’ll be fine. If it weren’t for Nona hiding out in her, she wouldn’t have survived the Abysmal plane.” Joe looked at me. “I didn’t know either. Honest. But I sure am glad we never did the—” He made a strange face.

  I wasn’t getting it. “You didn’t do what?”

  “Come on, Zoë.” He gave me a very frustrated look. “You know—”

  “No, I don’t.”

  Dags laughed, and then coughed, but he was still smiling. “He means if he’d had sex with Rhonda, he’d have been having sex with Nona as well.”

  I made a face and looked at Joe. “Oh yeah.” And then the reality of that image came fully formed in my imagination, and I made an even worse face. “Oh good God—”

  “You finally caught on, huh?” Joe shook his head and visibly shuddered. “Damn, that’s enough to make me go eunuch,” Joe looked down at Dags. “You good for this?”

  Dags nodded and cleared his throat. “You’re going to need the girls.”

  “That I am.” He looked at me. “You promised me.”

  I nodded. “Don’t die. Got it.” I winked.

  And within a second of breathing, something blew past us, shoving me out of the way with the force of a sledgehammer. I heard voices shouting; but, as I turned, I saw Dags pushing himself off the ground.

  Joe was gone.

  I looked up and saw him in the sky, in the arms of the Horror.

  34

  NOW that was just not playing fair!

  Dags stumbled to his feet. He was shaky, but he was up and starting to take a few steps in the direction the Horror had taken Joe. “Whoa!”

  He stopped and turned a stricken face to me. “It took Joe!”

  “Yes, and I’m going to go—”

  “He’s got the Eidolon!”

  Ah, well, shit. Looking up I could see her there, just suspended in midair. I couldn’t tell if Joe was alive, awake, or unconscious. She’d come at us hard. I fixed Dags with as serious a look as I could. “Get over to the building—I don’t care how you get up there, just get there. And please be careful.”

  I had my hands on his upper shoulders—and maybe that was the wrong signal to give him. He smiled at me and put his hands on mine. “You be careful—remember you promised Joe—”

  I took my hands back with a wave. “Uh-uh. If he gets hi
s ass killed, then all promises are off. Now get going. Maureen! Alice!”

  The two women appeared then on either side of him. “We’ll watch him,” Alice said. “Just come back.”

  Oh, I had every intention of coming back—that bitch had already corrupted one man I loved. She was not about to mess up a second.

  And yes. Loved. I wasn’t going to admit it to anyone else, but I’d figured out how I felt about Joe during that time when he was gone. I just—well, I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I still loved Daniel.

  Ain’t the heart just one big fuck’n nightmare.

  I turned and jumped into the air—hey, I was getting the hang of this—my wings unfurling as I directed my attention to the Horror. As I got closer, I could see that Joe wasn’t moving—but I could sense a pulse. He was alive. I stopped a few feet away from her—my sword drawn. Her weapon wasn’t out.

  What was she doing?

  “Let him go,” I called to her. “Joe’s got nothing to do with this.”

  “Of course he does,” she said, and gave me a half smile. “Joe. Daniel. Dags. They’re all part of the same life. Your life. My life.” She was holding him from behind, her arm wrapped around his chest. Joe’s head was down, his arms out, his boots hanging so high above the ground. If she dropped him—

  “This was the one I wanted,” she said. “The passionate one. The one that was fun. But he wasn’t as easy to get into as Daniel. No—” She sighed. “Daniel’s heart was already tormented. You messed him up, Zoë. Letting him see you do that to poor Holmes like that.”

  “Stop it. Daniel didn’t see anything. He couldn’t see ghosts.”

  “Oh, but he did, Zoë. He saw it all. And you have Archer to thank for that.”

  Now, that wasn’t a name I expected to hear right then. “What does Archer have to do with that day?”

  “Did you forget what helped your physical friends hear you, Zoë? Death experiences. Joe here had actually died once, and his soul is tainted with Ethereal poison. Same with Rhonda now, though hers is a bit more gray, but that was because you killed her.” She smiled. “Did you forget how Daniel actually died that day on the fire escape?”