by Alicia Wolfe
I nodded. “Like Ruby can use the lock of a person’s hair to find the whole person.”
“Right.”
“So that’s what this all has been about—finding the wardrobe.”
“And being able to communicate with Lord Vorkoth. Yes.” Nevos released a caged breath. “I knew where to begin looking for the knob, but I had no idea where the wardrobe was, although rumors say that it’s somewhere in New York. But Angela cracked the knob’s secrets last night—that is, her great working revealed the location of the wardrobe.”
“Well? Are you going to tell me?”
He laughed again. He laughed a lot for someone who had just lost two friends and almost been thrown into a monster-filled pit.
“No,” he said. “That wasn’t part of the bargain.”
“Bastard!”
“Don’t feel bad. The truth is I don’t really know. I stole the knob from Angela, but she never deigned to tell me what she’d learned from it—that is, where the wardrobe is.”
“Then how are you planning to find it?”
“The working she performed on the knob is still fresh. If I can find a powerful enough witch or wizard, someone who can divine the nature of the working and tell me what Angela learned, I should be able to find the wardrobe on my own. Hopefully before she does.”
“Then what?”
“Then I’ll be in possession of the wardrobe. I’ll be able to communicate with Lord Vorkoth directly.”
“You mean you can’t?”
He sighed. “Sadly, no. My lord can’t bridge the gulf between dimensions. This world is locked off from him. Only something like the wardrobe, which was built before that locking-out happened, can enable an adherent of the Shadow to commune with Him. And when I have it, Angela’s people will turn on her and support me.”
“Why?”
“I have many agents amongst her camp, just as she was able to plant one of her people amongst my small crew. They’ve been spreading the word of my high placement in the Dark Lord’s councils and how it would be better for them if I were in charge. If I can secure the wardrobe, they’ll rise up and supplant Angela in favor of yours truly.”
“So the fate of the world hinges on a wardrobe. I always knew clothes were important.”
He chuckled. “Always.”
Ahead of us the air darkened. We were nearing the Veil that separated Shadowpark from the real world—that is, the rest of New York.
“We made it,” I said.
His arms tightened around my middle. For a moment I stiffened, afraid he was about to try to move against me. It made sense. After all, he’d just told me his plan. Now he would have to get rid of me—at least that’s what I was thinking. But he only pulled me back against him and said, very softly, in my ear, “On the other side, we’ll have to go our separate ways, Jade. Unless you want to join me.”
“And serve the Shadow? Hell no.”
“Then we’ll be enemies the next time we meet.”
We entered the Veil, and things grew murky and strange. Reality lurched and snapped all around us. Then we were through. Sunlight stabbed at my eyes, and I mashed them against it. I wasn’t used to daylight after my sojourn in Shadowpark. Time passed differently in the park, and I tried to place the hour. Somewhere around noon, I thought.
A police patrol was just rounding the bend, passing out of sight, leaving Nevos and I riding a giant lizard near the ruined wall that had once enclosed Shadowpark before monsters and other baddies overran it a few years ago.
I swung down from the lizard and alit on the asphalt. It felt good to have good old-fashioned road under my feet. Putting my fingers to my lips, I whistled loudly, then again. Nevos arched his eyebrows.
I smiled as Chromecat appeared from above, her gorgeous black wings flapping. Engine purring, she flew down from the skies and landed on the road beside me.
“Good to see you, girl,” I said, stroking her handlebars. To Nevos, I said, “You can keep the lizard.”
Nevos patted the creature’s flank. “There’s a good lad.” His face turned serious. “Jade …”
I swallowed. “Yeah?”
“It was a pleasure getting to know you.”
To my surprise, tears built behind my eyes. I didn’t let them out. Life was wild, stranger than I ever would have supposed, but it was dangerous, too.
“You, too,” I said.
He positioned himself into the golm’s saddle and took the reins. He started to twitch them to guide the creature off, but hesitated.
“Jade?”
I slid onto Chromecat’s seat and revved the motor. The engine throbbed pleasantly beneath me. “Yeah?” I called over the noise. Chromecat was smoother and quieter than a normal bike, but she still wasn’t noiseless.
“There’s something you should know about Davril,” Nevos said.
Here it comes. I’d known Nevos had some ace up his sleeve, some way to try to turn me against Davril. Now he was about to show his hand.
“Lay it on me,” I said. I tried to appear strong, but inside I braced myself.
“Ask him about Liana.” Anger tinged his voice. “Ask him about my wife.”
I blinked. “Your wife?”
He nodded, slowly, his face taut, his eyes like daggers. “I loved her dearly, but he seduced her behind my back. He stole her from me.”
“Davril would never do that! He’s noble and honorable, almost to a fault.”
“He’s lied to you, Jade. You don’t know him like you think you do. He’s not the man you think he is.”
“Oh, but you are?”
He regarded me in silence, and there was heat in his features. Damn, I realized. He liked me. Shit! Life really was complicated, wasn’t it?
“You could do worse,” he said quietly.
I stood my ground. “You’re lying. Davril would never betray you like that.”
“It’s the truth, Jade. He’s a deceiver. Do you think I turned against the Fae on a whim? I would never. I had no honorable course other than what I did. He betrayed me. Stole my wife. And then …”
I held my breath. “What?”
His eyes grew misty. “She died.”
Grief welled up in me, not just because of his words but because of the obvious emotion in him. It wracked his soul, I could tell. Despite everything, he still loved Liana. And he hated Davril. But I couldn’t believe it. The picture he painted just wasn’t the Davril that I knew.
“You’re lying,” I said.
His shook his head, once, brusquely, confidently. “No, Jade. I’m not.” He paused. “Are you sure you want to return to him? You can’t win against me. I will have that wardrobe. I will be able to commune with Lord Vorkoth. And once that happens, how can you stand against me? Come with me, Jade. Reign at my side. We will bring this world to its knees, and the Shadow will rule over us. But we will have dominion over this realm. As King and Queen of the Earth.”
I stared at him. Wind howled, and the noise of Chromecat’s engine seemed very far away. All there was in the entire world was Nevos and me, and his terrible, wonderful offer.
At last I shook myself.
“Never,” I said. “And you won’t have that wardrobe, either.”
One corner of his mouth pulled up. “But I will, Jade. I’ve got the knob. I’ve got it right …” His hand patted his pocket, right where the knob had been. He patted it, but there was nothing there. Shock, then anger filled his features. “Jade, what have you done?”
I laughed and patted my own pocket, where I could feel the bulge of the knob against my fingers.
“I’m saving the world,” I said.
I gunned the engine and roared down the street. Chromecat’s black wings stretched to either side, stroking the air. Nevos shouted and cursed behind me, but I grinned and lifted off, taking to the skies once more. I was free, and I had the knob. Angela, watch out.
Chapter 18
My mind churned as I flew along. Wind whipped my hair behind me, and my body took that momen
t to remember all my aches and pains and exhaustion. But my mind couldn’t let go of Nevos’s words.
Could Davril really have betrayed him and seduced his wife, thus leading to Nevos’s own dark turn and the fall of the Fae? It couldn’t be, I told myself. It just couldn’t be.
But there had been truth in Nevos’s face. There had been honesty there. I didn’t know what to believe.
Tormented, I flew on.
What I did know was that I needed to bring the knob to a powerful witch and to have her divine the nature of Angela’s working upon it. Do that and we could find the wardrobe. We could get to it before she did and stop her from forging a direct link to the Shadow. I didn’t know what exactly that kind of link could accomplish, but I doubted it would be a good thing.
I headed straight for Ruby’s place. Our place. For some reason I was thinking of it more and more as her place, I don’t know why.
About halfway there I noticed movement behind me and glanced over my shoulder.
“Shit.”
The bird of fire was behind me—the same creature that had pursued me and Ruby after leaving the Guild of Thieves. Flames rising from its wings, the huge creature was descending from the clouds, where it had been lurking. It shrieked and dove toward me.
My blood ran cold.
I jerked the handlebars, aiming the bike at a building. My hairs stood on end. I could feel the bird behind me. Gritting my teeth, I swerved around the corner of the building. The bird swept past.
I aimed at another building and made a curve. Glancing over my shoulder, I could no longer see the creature. Shaking, I continued on toward Ruby, hoping and praying I had lost the thing. I deepened the shadows around me, but I wasn’t sure if those even worked against this thing. If nothing else, I couldn’t see it anymore.
I was still tense and on edge when I reached the apartment building and hitched Chromecat to the terrace balcony, then made it invisible.
Ruby was watching a B horror movie in the living room when I entered, but she hadn’t seemed to be paying it much attention. Her eyes were red and her hair and clothes disheveled. She leapt up with a cry when she saw me and wrapped me in a crushing hug.
“Jade!” she said, sobbing. “Thank God you’re back! I was so worried about you.”
I laughed and hugged her back, tight. My eyes burned and I may have cried a little. Chest hitching, I said, “I was worried about myself.”
She wiped her eyes and pulled back. She studied me, shaking her head. “What the hell, sis? What happened to you? You look terrible.”
I let out a breath. “I need a drink.”
“First you need the healing stone.”
She took me into her room and made me hold the healing stone in my hands, then said a spell to activate it. The stone only worked once a month, or at least it took a month to regenerate its powers after a usage, so I knew I must have been in pretty bad shape for Ruby to waste a round on me. It worked, though. My cuts and bruises and whip-lashes began to heal, and I felt lighter and clearer. Afterward, we moved to the kitchen. She poured us both a shot of whiskey, then another. Over shots and sips, and I told my tale, relating all that had happened to me in Shadowpark—yep, even what happened between me and Nevos in his bedroom. Her eyes grew huge.
“I can’t believe it,” she said.
“Yep. It was really that big.”
“Not about that!” She swatted my shoulder. “About everything. Do you really believe Davril betrayed his brother?”
I was silent, then: “I hope not.”
“But you think he might have.”
“I … don’t know.”
She was silent a long time, then finally said, “And you still have it?”
With all the drama I could muster, I drew the knob from my pants pocket and placed it on the table. Ruby gazed at it, then reached out a hand to sense it without touching it. Satisfied, she picked it up and brought it close to her eyes, taking in every grain and chip of wood.
“This thing could lead to the Wardrobe of Doom, huh?”
“Apparently. You think you can hack Angie’s spell or whatever and locate the rest of the dresser?”
“I … think so. But it will take some time.”
“Good. I’m beat. I need some shut eye.” The bed in the goblin keep hadn’t allowed me the deep rest my body craved, and the healing stone had left me drowsy.
She nodded. “You’ve earned it. But …”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you think you should call Davril first?”
I frowned. I’d been wondering the same thing. I hadn’t come up with any answers, though. I was still trying to puzzle out my response to Nevos’s claims. What I should feel and what I did feel. I didn’t trust Nevos further than I could throw him, but I didn’t think he’d been lying, either. So did that mean Davril had lied to me?
I yawned. “I’ll call him when I wake up.”
I marched to my bedroom and flung myself on the bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. My dreams were wild and restless, and I kept seeing Nevos’s face flashing before me, replaced by Davril’s. Then Angela would appear, laughing manically and wielding her whip of fire. And in the background loomed the wardrobe, huge and dark, pregnant with dark possibilities. At last, gasping, I lurched up in bed, fully awake.
Davril set on the foot of the bed.
“Davril!”
He smiled gently. “Jade.”
For a small eternity, we stared at each other. My heart beat like a drum, and sweat stung my eyes. I knew I must have been tossing and turning, moaning and sweating. The sheets were everywhere.
I wasn’t sure who was going to speak first, but then he said, “I was worried about you. Thank the gods you’re all right.”
That put a little spark back in me. “You were worried about me?”
Then I remembered I was mad at him. I sagged.
“What is it?” he said.
I’d lowered my gaze, tilting my face downward, but now I looked at him out of my downturned face. “I met Nevos,” I said quietly.
“Ruby told me.”
“Did she call you?”
“No. I …” He grimaced. “I hope you don’t mind, but I had someone watching your place to alert me when you returned.” He hastened to add, “I’ve never done it before, don’t worry, and won’t again, but I … well, I needed to know you were safe. And it’s important, too. Important to my people, and yours.”
“Did Ruby tell you what happened?”
“Not in detail, no, but I saw her working on the knob, and she told me what it was.”
I nodded raggedly. “I guess it’s time to debrief you. Let me brush my teeth first.”
I went to the bathroom and let him wait for awhile. While I was in there, I tried to get myself together, but it wasn’t happening. I was a mess. Until I could get this thing resolved, it was going to eat me up. But how did you start that conversation? Hey Davril, so I heard you betrayed your brother and ushered in the downfall of your people? Pass the salt. I stared at myself in the mirror and sighed.
Davril was inspecting the various items littering our apartment—ancient swords on the walls, a suit of armor, a Chinese fan. All prize pieces of loot gained through our lives of crime. Each was important to Ruby and me.
He raised his eyebrows at me and stood straighter, turning his attention from the crystal wand on its pedestal. “You look better,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to be playful. “Thanks.”
He studied me. “Jade …”
“Yes?”
My heart went bump-thump, bump-thump.
He opened his mouth to say something. Just then Ruby came down the hallway. She saw us, looked at our faces, made a panicked expression and scurried away. I wished I could go with her. Yep, this was the serious drama time. I hated drama.
“Jade,” Davril said slowly, coming closer. He reached out a hand and touched mine. Normally the gesture would have thrilled me. Unable to help it, tho
ugh, I pulled my hand back. A flicker of pain passed across Davril’s usually stoic face.
“I … I’m sorry,” I said.
“What is it? Clearly something’s bothering you.” When I didn’t say anything, he frowned. “Is it Nevos?”
“I need a drink.”
I wasn’t sure how long I’d slept, but it was dark outside and I was hungry. My thirst was even greater. I rummaged through the fridge, found a good pale ale, popped the top and downed a long, cold, foamy sip.
“Ah,” I said. “That’s better. Washes out the toothpaste taste. Do Fae use toothpaste?”
“Jade, what is going on with you?” Davril had followed me into the kitchen but hadn’t made a move to find a drink of his own.
You’re going to need it, I thought.
I peered down the hall, making sure Ruby wasn’t listening in (although how could you tell with a witch?), then said, “Well … I mean …”
“Yes?”
He looked at me with innocent, sincere, deeply blue and majestic eyes. I could fall right into those things and drown in bliss. Well, if I weren’t in the mood I was in, that was. Right now I just wanted to poke him in the eyes like Mo of the Three Stooges always used to do to Larry and Curly. Boomp!
I took another long slurp.
Just spit it out, Jade! But where did I start? Did I start with the part where I’d betrayed Davril with Nevos, or where I suspected Davril had betrayed his brother with Liana? I mean, if we were both betrayers, what did it even matter? Maybe we deserved each other.
But I’d only done it so I could get close to the knob and steal it back. Why had Davril done it?
If he had?
Davril approached me, a tender but perplexed look on his face. “Jade, I’m here for you. Whatever happened, I need to know. I’ll help you through it, whatever it is.”
A spike of anger pulsed behind my eyes. “Yeah, and did you help Nevos’s wife through whatever was bothering her?”
He blinked and his head jerked back, as if I’d slapped him. “W-what did you say?”
“Ha! I’ve never heard you stammer before. Caught you out, didn’t I?” For some reason the evidence of his guilt made me feel more righteous about confronting him.