by Calinda B
“Putting it mildly, Navid,” River growls.
“Fuck you. All you’ve been doing is sneaking around trying to get in her pants.”
“Stop it—no more quarrels. We need to deal. So have you ever done this before? Neglected them?” I chew one of my remaining fingernails.
“No. Never.”
“What do you think will happen?”
“I know what will happen. They’ll start eating each other. They’ll go into a murderous frenzy. If I release them to let them feed, they’ll be savage—more so than usual. They’ll want to gorge. Picture monsters gone berserk like dipshit over there.” He stabs a thumb at Rafe.
“Get fucked,” Rafe snarls.
“Stop it!” I bring my hands to my face and rub it, trying to clear my head. “Okay. So we’ve got trouble. Big trouble. Think, Engles, think. Okay.” I turn to face my soul bound lover. “Can you just open up the underworld and see what happens?”
“Not a good idea.” Daniel’s pacing. “Too unpredictable. It will take all your energy to fight them, all my energy to control them. That’s what my father is counting on, no doubt.”
I pace, too. We crisscross back and forth. “Okay, okay, okay. River and Rafe, I’m putting you to work to help Daniel deal with this. Rafe—no physical contact with anyone for a few days until you go berserk. We’ll need a force that strong to deal with those beasts.”
“But…” he protests. “No! I won’t put you in harm’s way.”
“Hush. I’ve decided. River, you’ll help manage Rafe if he loses control, as well as use your blood magic to kill if need be.”
“Fuck! No babysitters!” Rafe shouts.
“Zip it! Daniel—take them with you and do what you need to do to manage your zoo pets.” I’m on fire with ideas, still pacing.
“And what about you, corazón?” Daniel says, fear etched on his face.
I can count on one hand the times I’ve seen Daniel show signs of fear…wait a minute…he’s never shown signs of fear. “This is bad. This is fucked up.” I blow out my breath between pursed lips. “I’ll deal with your father, of course. Sober and I.”
“No!” Daniel roars. “I won’t allow it!”
“We vowed to protect you!” River says.
“Absolutely not!” Rafe adds.
“I appreciate that. But circumstances have changed.”
They all start to yammer but I cut them off. “Enough! You told me yourselves that this is my gig. This is what we’re doing. No arguments. We’re doing it my way. Got it?” I pivot slowly, looking each in the eyes. No one says a word. Betty starts to weep. Tom shakes his head. “Got it?” I ask again, more forcefully this time. My body is glowing white hot. “You’ve either taught me well or you haven’t—we’ll know soon enough. But this is how it stands—the Demon Slayer and I are going it alone.”
Chapter 21
Rafe holds open a shimmering curtain.
“This is the place?” I ask.
“This is it.”
I step through the opening into a bewildering, psychedelic environment. Shapes morph and twirl. An assortment of smells wafts and wanes…butterscotch, peppermint and chocolate… herbs like thyme and oregano…exotic flower fragrances, frangipani and jasmine…old shoes, and garbage. The sky is an eerie blue-green and yellow swirl, like a bad Picasso. It’s a creative maelstrom of possibilities. I stare at a tree and watch it turn into a dog, barking his head off at Sober, cycling back to tree, back to barking dog. A strange wind howls and shrieks before becoming psychotic laughter. I blink and shake my head. “How will I even find my way?” I ask, staring at the map in my hands.
“You’ll scrap your plan and take us with you, that’s how,” Rafe growls. “I know everything about this place.”
“I’m with him,” River says.
“Yeah, but she’s right. We need to deal with my fucking error and find her, quickly. It’s a solid plan, even though it’s risky,” Daniel says.
Since I’m privy to his thoughts, I’ve listened to him berate himself for the last half hour as we’ve climbed the hill up to this place. No amount of soothing helped, so I finally let him stew in silence, stomping along the snow-kissed, frozen ground as if he wanted to start an earthquake.
I look to the east, glance at my map, and swallow. Sober sits by my side, whining. “We can do this, Demon Slayer. We have to.” I bite my lip and face my three lovers. “This is it, guys. This is where we depart.”
River blows air forcefully from his mouth. “Fucking hell, Navid. Let’s get this over with.”
Rafe curses.
Daniel shakes his head. “Fuck the both of you,” he snarls.
“It’s going to be okay,” I say, reassuringly.
“You don’t know that. You’ve never faced my father by yourself. He’s a madman,” Daniel says. “And I’ll only have myself to blame if any harm comes to you. Me and my stupidity…” He drags his hand through his hair, pulling it in frustration. “Fuck!” He shouts.
“Quiet, man. Get a grip. Your dad’s in here somewhere,” Rafe says. He takes a deep breath and squares his shoulders. “Let’s do this. Which way to the wretched beasts?”
“There’s a gate over there.” Daniel points to the left. “It’s the best place to start. We’ll need to find evil to sic them on, though.”
“Why not kill two birds with one stone and turn them loose on Guerreros del diablo?” River asks.
“Too risky. We’d put us all in danger. If it was only me, I wouldn’t care. But I won’t do that to Marissa.” He paces. “We need to feed them a little, not a lot. Should be easy enough to find some corruption somewhere—there’s enough of it on this planet. The hard part will be stopping them and sending them back to the underworld. That’s where you two will come in. They respond to me, but in their frenzied state I’ll need back up—as much as I can get. I figure you two are my best shot at success.”
Rafe and River nod.
I’m pleased as can be, personally—out of this horrific situation, my three guys are forming a solid bond.
Daniel turns to me, a tortured look of anguish on his face. “We’ll find you, corazón. You have my word.” He reaches out and pulls me roughly to his chest.
I squeeze him tightly. This could be the last time I ever touch him…ever feel his heat…his power…his passion… savor his masculine smell. My eyes are moist when he lets go. “Well…” I say, hoping I’m conveying everything I feel in my eyes.
“Well,” he says. “This will continue…all of this…you and me…the four of us…and Sober, of course. I vow to make that happen.”
“I believe you. But for now, time’s running out.” I give him one more squeeze, hustle over to River and embrace him, then turn to Rafe and hesitate. “Can’t touch you, honey. We need you.”
“Fuck.” His jaw hardens. “Remember how much I love you,” he says roughly, swiping at his eyes.
“We all do,” River says.
“And don’t forget—this place is alive,” Rafe adds.
“Got it,” I say, choking back a sob.
“Get out of here before I start bawling,” I say, clinging to control. “Go on—get!” I wave my hand at them, tears falling down my cheeks as they turn and jog away.
When they disappear behind a tree…wait, a barking dog…oh, hell, it’s a tree again…I feel completely alone. Sober wags his tail. “Okay, okay, I’m not alone. We’re together, you and me. Let’s make a plan. I wish I had a chair to sit on and look at the map.” I yelp as a nearby fern turns into a small, carved stool with fern fronds carved in the legs. “Wow, Rafe was right! Thank you, Shadow Lands,” I say. “Thank you for any assistance you give.” I settle onto the perch. “A slate would be nice.” The stone next to me becomes a smooth white slate, complete with marker. “Cool! Thank you!” I remember Betty telling me to give gifts to the spirits who help. “I’ll make sure to find out what kind of offering you would like.” A crystal tumbler sprouts out of the log lying next to me. “Whiskey?” Ice cubes
tinkle into the glass. “On the rocks. Got it.” A loud rumbling resounds through the trees…er, barking dogs, er, trees. “Are you purring?” It grows louder. I laugh. “Okay, whiskey for the big kitty. You’ll have to wait until I can get to a store.”
I grab the marker, slate, and the map and start scheming. “Sit with me, mutt, and help me strategize.” The seat beneath my butt vibrates, issuing that same rumbling purr. “Oh, geez. It likes me.” I draw a couple lines. “Here’s the last known place…which means…” I spread the map in front of me. It hovers near eye level. “Which means we have to get through this section…looks okay up to here…” I stab at the map. “But here, the terrain looks treacherous.”
The stool’s purrs grow louder. Something like cat paws knead my behind, pushing up from the seat. I leap to my feet. “Nuh uh. No kneading the backside.”
The chair lets out a weird, wheezing laugh before resuming its fern-like appearance.
“Go ahead. Have fun with me.”
The fern shakes and shimmers into a recliner.
Sober yips, then comes over to sniff. Satisfied, or perhaps bewildered but not caring, he lets out another little yip.
“No way. There’s far too much surface for you to mess with me. You’ll have your paws all over me.”
The recliner becomes a super smiley Cheshire cat.
“Fine. I’ll stand.”
The cat fades away, leaving its smile behind.
“I think I saw that in a Disney movie. So not original.”
The smile turns into a frown and fades away.
“Sorry.” I turn back to my map. “Okay, Sober. We’ll both need stealth mode soon, not sure about this area, and as for here…” I poke the map with my finger. “I’m clueless. We’ll have to wing it.”
He stretches his wings wide.
“Such a kidder.” I pat his head, fold the map into nothingness and thank the Shadow Lands for the slate, promising to bring whiskey next time.
A giant palm appears before me. I high five it and we set out.
“This part of Warplandia’s not so bad, is it?”
Sober wags his tail.
We’re making good process along the flat path, bordered by ferns and trees—when they’re not barking dogs, that is. Sober’s unimpressed with the fake dogs. They probably don’t carry a canine smell. “I’ll have to remember that,” I tell him. “If you’re unimpressed, I’ll be unimpressed.”
He then makes a real bark. The sound emerges as bubbles, delighting my pooch. He jumps and snaps at the bubbles, barks more, bubbles more, snaps more.
“Having fun with my dog now, are you?” I say to the Shadow Lands. “Sheesh. I hope that means we’re friends. I do respect you.” The purring fills the air, as well as distant noises that set the hair on my legs and arms into prickly alarm. I hold out my hand to stop Sober but he’s already on it, ears alert, eyes focused…canine at the ready. “Conceal,” I say, becoming invisible.
Sober looks for me, sniffs the air, finds my scent and seems satisfied. I scratch his head with an invisible hand to reinforce that I’m still here.
“Stealth,” I say to him.
He lowers to his belly, spreads his wings along his back
“Let’s move,” I whisper. We sneak along the path toward the noises. Once we’ve reached the top of the hill, we find the pathway slopes in a roller coaster-like zigzag of extreme ups and downs, covered with ice and snow. Up ahead, Armando sails down one of the icy inclines like a luge racer, the sturdy woman trying unsuccessfully to slow him down and his goons clomping along behind him, trying to keep up.
“Shhh,” I say to Sober.
Their voices echo through the canyons that form and re-form, allowing them to speed along at a swift rate. Finally the woman lets go and Armando careens into a snowbank.
“Goddamn it all to hell!” Armando yells, the sound pinging about the canyon formed around him. “We’ve got to get up there!” He says, stabbing a finger at the ridge directly opposite us. “Schemer! Freddy! Morton! Give Nurse Ratched an assist, will you?”
“Hold up here. You must have messed with the molecular integrity of this place when you shaped it to your desires, boss,” the guy he referred to as Schemer says. “I’d suggest reversing the spell.”
“Hell, no, I won’t. We need to be in position before she gets there, not days after. I can’t move that fast in this condition.”
“Why didn’t you buy one of those high tech contraptions to get you around?” Freddy asks.
“None of your fucking business,” Armando snarls.
His voice is so loud I hear him perfectly, even though he’s yards away. “Someone’s got his panties in a twist, huh, Sober?”
Sober lays low and quiet.
“It makes sense,” Morton mutters. “You’re loaded. You could buy any gadget you like.”
“My fucking former wife’s loaded, not me. She completely wiped me out a few weeks back. All my remaining assets are frozen. Now do you understand my insistence on getting the Light Rebel? She’s going to be used as leverage. It’s not merely to claim power from my son. I want to use her as a bargaining chip.”
Freddy and Morton nod.
The woman screeches. “Who’s paying me, then?”
Armando laughs. “Have you tried cashing any of those checks lately?”
“Not the last couple. Why?”
“Because they’ll bounce like rubber, that’s why.”
“You prick! I’m leaving your ass here.”
“Like hell you are. You don’t know the way out.”
The woman looks around nervously. “Yeah. This is one of those supernatural places I’ve read about. Okay, I’ll help you get your little bitch so you can pay me. But after that, I quit!”
“We’ll see. Okay. Now that we have that resolved and I’ve shamed myself in front of the sorry lot of you, let me try something.”
“What?”
“Another magic cast, that’s what. Be quiet so I can concentrate.” He uses his left hand to lift his right, making symbols in the air.
“Not sure you should keep messing with this place, boss,” Morton says.
Sober begins to growl.
“You’ve got it—he’s employing magic,” I whisper.
“What’s that?” Armando says. “Did you hear something?”
Sober flattens into the snow.
“Good boy,” I whisper.
“It’s just the wind. Or maybe this place has the farts. I’ve never seen it so erratic in these parts,” Morton says. “Like it’s playing with us.”
Armando concedes. “Maybe,” he says. “Quiet everyone.” He lifts his right hand again with his left, traces symbols in the air and mutters some phrase. The ground shifts, accompanied by hilarious, wheezing laughter.
The Cheshire cat appears before me, grinning, and then quickly disappears.
“Hold on, Sober,” I say, as the earth beneath my feet oscillates and shudders, as if someone is shaking out a carpet beneath my feet. The snow becomes an entire lawn, green, undulating…then each blade quickly flash freezes into tiny daggers of ice.
Sober takes flight, stretching his wings wide, riding currents of air.
Armando slides down the newly formed hill, heading toward a tiny valley.
I scramble to keep from sliding but lose my footing, landing on my belly, clutching at the jagged blades as I hurtle down the hillside. “I thought we were cool with one another,” I hiss at the Shadow Lands.
Sober cocks his wings like an F117 Stealth Bomber ready to burst into in Mach 4, and aims in my direction.
“Look! It’s her dog!” Armando cries. “He has wings!”
We’re all zooming toward the same abyss when it changes course, the valley springing toward the sky, quickly becoming a mountain. I start to slide, Guerrero del diablos speeding after me.
“Shoot the mutt,” Armando yells. “Pull out your guns and blast the damn thing.”
One of the men—I think it’s the one he called Freddy�
�pulls his gun free from his holster and takes wild pot shots at Sober. One of them nicks his wing.
He yips, turns and barrels toward the man.
Freddy continues to fire wildly as he careens down the ice.
“Sober! Come!” I call to him. I’m in an out of control descent, about to sail off a sudden ledge. “Reveal!” I say, making the hand movements as I speed along the icy path. I’m lit to Sunday with brilliant, streaming light.
Freddy continues shooting at Sober.
“Get her!” Armando shouts. “It’s the Light Rebel!”
Sober’s wings bend along his back like a falcon in a freefall.
Come on, Engles, use what you know! I manage to visualize a jagged edged ice tool affixed to a rope and send it flying like a lasso. The sharp edge of the pick lands solidly in the ice. The other end of the rope is firmly in my hands. With me clinging to the rope, it stretches taut, swinging me in a crazy arc like a Frisbee, rocketing toward Sober’s jaws. He chomps down on my arm, holds fast, and we fly through the air. My weight and velocity are too much for my dog and the two of us slam into the side of a mountain. I didn’t think it would be this swift, I tell Daniel as I’m hurtling into unconsciousness. It’s over before it started and I didn’t even get to use my sword.
A deafening roar echoes and vibrates as Daniel screams back in my mind. Marissa! The word ricochets through my mind as I slip into the cold, clawed fingers of death.
Chapter 22
“You live in one fucked up world, Stealth Numen,” Daniel says.
“How so?” Rafe asks him.
“Well…look around.” He gestures toward the Dali-like environment. “Birds flutter from tree to tree, twittering and chirping in a crazy chorus of reverberating songs, landing on branches and melting like wax, oozing into stains of color like Marissa’s paints. Nests appear, filled with eggs, where the birds once stood. Miniscule beaks break free from shells and baby birds appear, chirping insistently with their mouths open. Adult birds land, feed them, and the baby birds become fledgling adults, spreading their wings. Meanwhile flowers bloom, wither and die, seeds spread in the wind, fall in the soil and sprout once more. I’d say that’s fucked up.”