“Take care of her, Heloise. Please tie her hands and feet and keep her away from us all.” He ran a hand up into his fringe, feeling the grime of oil and sweat. “She has...special effects on men. Though right now they’re somewhat dulled. Please...” He swayed a little. “Don’t ask for details. I’ll take care of Bull.”
To her credit she only blinked and nodded.
He prayed he’d never have to tell about what had happened on Tatiana’s ship.
“Uh, this might hurt.” White-faced, Bull nodded. Samos extracted the knife then staunched the flow of blood by encircling Bull’s arm higher up. Quickly he picked up a torn cloth Heloise had left, wrapped it about the wound, tied it snug, and released the tourniquet. “That’ll do till we can get that stitched.”
Thom knelt beside him. His pallor almost matched Bull’s. “Omi can stitch wounds, Samos, and Heloise says she can remove those needles of yours. Go to her. She’s not sure how long that will be possible.”
“Okay.” His heart thumped an irregular tattoo. “By needles, did he mean them all? Or just the new ones?”
He raised his eyes and met Heloise’s gaze, watching as she finished tying Tatiana’s hands behind her, giving the last knot a hearty wrench and gaining a glare from Tatiana.
Already the woman recovered. Mouth bloody and teeth shattered. Gods, she was a tigress.
“Don’t look so worried, Samos,” Heloise said. “I know what I’m doing. Come here.”
“Okay.” He was repeating himself. He had to get this done. Every heartbeat drained days from his life.
The needles came out so smoothly. He watched every single one go, except the ones at his back where he couldn’t see. But it was only the needles she’d placed. He lowered his head, hiding his dismay. “You can’t do the others, can you?”
“Oh, Samos.” She put a hand to his forearm. “You doubt me? I have Vassbinder to draw on but they’re buried deep. I need pliers or some sort of instrument to grab the broken ones. If you can find some at the orphanage, I will do it. I promise. Be quick though.”
C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - E I G H T
They were all exhausted but only she, Thom, and Samos were not wounded. Yet the only way back was up the ropes left by the Sungese and neither Bull nor Tatiana could be trusted to climb by themselves. It fell to Samos to first climb up to check the security of each rope, then return. Then he took Bull up the rope, slung over his shoulder. After that he took Tatiana, hogtied hand and foot to forestall any escape attempt.
The sight of Bull being carried as lightly as though he were a child had left Heloise awestruck.
Going up the rope on the outside of the sea-mansion cleared her mind.
The wind buffeted her.
The deaths of the children, and the more recent ones of the Sungese warriors and Teo, still etched a bloody place in her memories. They were erased temporarily by the ocean frothing over the rocks below and the raucous cries of seagulls and terns drifting on the winds.
She paused halfway up the rope and simply breathed. In...out. In...out.
After a while, the child ghosts inside her stirred and poked, unsure as to what she did. “I’m going! I’m going!” she muttered to herself. It was like living in an apartment with fifty others. Still, at least they were keeping Vassbinder in the basement.
Their journey through the interior of the mansion was dangerous. Most of the upper structure had collapsed, forming a small mountain of fractured bricks and torn vegetation. Picking her way slowly across some loose rock, Heloise watched Samos sprint away with Bull again draped over his shoulder. Three strong bounds and they were gone from sight. She gave the rope that led to Tatiana’s neck another tug. “Faster. Unless you’d rather we leave you here for the child ghosts?”
Hard-eyed, the woman considered the words, then resumed walking at the same pace, her backside swaying. From the look on Thom’s face, her special effects were simply female allure. Ample breasts, curvaceous body, and the luck of a demon – for her lips were uninjured.
Heloise shifted the rope to her left hand. In those large gray eyes of Tatiana’s, intelligence lurked, and more...
Though Tatiana had tried to kill her, there was a certain something about her that appealed. She could see why men liked her. See why they wanted to take her to bed. She studied her for a second and was surprised to see Tatiana smile knowingly. Sexual allure there, definitely.
Inside her, Vassbinder laughed.
She spun and glowered at the woman. “Stop it! Besides, I’m not that way inclined.”
Tatiana tilted her head and shrugged. “I can’t control it.” Her voice was deep with sultry promise and there was a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. “Perhaps you don’t know yourself as well as you think?”
Blushing in front of this woman did not help her mood. She jerked roughly on the rope and smiled at her gasp. “Walk, lady. I don’t need the smart comments.”
Thom said nothing, but then he was probably too busy studying her rear end. If this was Tatiana with her power dulled, how would anyone ever control her? No matter. Soon, it would be another’s problem.
It was late afternoon, the trek out of the mansion was mostly over, and they’d left the collapsed section behind them when Samos reappeared with Omi in his arms.
He lowered Omi to the ground. “I will be glad when I’m done with carrying people! Even I am getting tired.”
“Nice in here,” Omi said perkily, looking around at the green inner forest of the sea-mansion. He pulled his robe meticulously straight then brushed off some grass. “Bull’s wounds are freshly bandaged and he is resting with many children running about tending to his needs. Later, I will stitch them. Now, to business.” He shut his eyes, opened them. “Heloise, can you achieve what I have been waiting for?”
“I can. I’m sure of it.” But she ran through the procedure in her mind again, just to be certain. Vassbinder was held tight by the child ghosts. It was crowded inside and at times she felt as if she’d burst. Soon, she told them, and herself, it will be over. “Who is first? You, or Samos?”
“Let us rest here a moment. A hundred years I have waited. No need to rush is there? I gather you think this borrowed ability will last some hours yet?”
She nodded. Cleared her throat. “Twelve hours, normally, though Vassbinder isn’t quite normal. A night’s worth, or until the ghost’s need is met.” Tatiana watched them with avid interest. Memorizing things, no doubt. “First let me tether our guest a little farther away.”
Once roped to a sturdy sapling, Tatiana made herself comfortable against it and smiled.
“Stay there.” Heloise pointed a finger at her. It did her soul good to order that woman about. She jogged back to the others and sat next to Thom.
“We watch her in turns,” she said. All their eyes swiveled to take in Tatiana. “Ah! Not that much watching!”
“She is intriguing isn’t she?” Omi said. “Hmph. Now. Heloise, most importantly, are you the only one able to do this? Thom? Have you regained...”
Thom slowly shook his head. “No. Nothing at all.” There was sorrow in his voice.
“That is curious. I had assumed Amora’s prediction meant Thom, but it seems she meant you, Heloise.”
“Or perhaps she didn’t know?” All this talk of gods made her uneasy. Humans were bad enough. Gods were as erratic as they were powerful.
“I must ask something else that may be painful to you. Can you remove your own needles? Because if you can’t, I cannot see how you are ever going to get this done.” He shifted about as if to get a better position then studied her from under his brow.
Ah, he’d found the sore point. She made herself return his gaze. “I can’t, Omi. I’ve tried to think of a way. If I could pass this knowledge on, I would. But we don’t have a memory worm and that’s the only way I can think that it would be possible.”
“No? Thom are you sure you cannot? Perhaps with more time? Nobody can predict the future.”
“Right now, I�
�m sure. I would give anything, you know that.”
It was time to begin. If she left them arguing too long, perhaps those capricious gods would grow tired of the delays and take away Vassbinder. Without him, she could do nothing. “Who is first?” she asked quietly.
Samos pointed at Omi. “Him. He’s had priority for some years from what I’ve been told.”
“No! You must go first, Samos. You know this.” Omi shook his head in disgust and disbelief. “Every moment counts against you. Go first.” From his robe he withdrew a pair of fine pliers. “Our jewelry classes use these. Strong. Fine ends to them. Are they adequate?” He handed them across to Heloise.
She hefted them, opened and closed them. The points were barely a quarter inch across. “Yes. Come here and stand before me.” Heloise beckoned to Samos. “This is going to be bloody.”
“I can take it.”
She rattled through the removal of the first to last needles again in her head. Vassbinder had done this hundreds of times, but it was a century ago and he’d never pulled out broken ones. She let out a long, calming breath.
“Stay absolutely still. Now. I begin.” The point of the pliers went into Samos’s flesh easily. When she felt the scrape of the needle, she knew this would work. One after the other, the needles slid out. The pliers and Heloise’s fingers grew bloodier, but she made herself ignore that. One at a time, ignore the blood, she said to herself, over and over.
Finally. “That’s it. Samos, I’m done. They’re all out.”
No longer an Immolator, the man quivered in all his muscles then sat down gingerly, as if afraid of what might happen.
“Pardon me, but I’m going to rest for a while.” He lay down on the mossy dirt-covered tiles with a sod of grass and dirt for a pillow. Eyes closed he spoke, words slurring, “Thom, go north. They won’t chase you there. I’ll make sure the Imperator knows that you’ve forgotten the Immolator technique. You know what I mean. And watch Tatiana for me. Her, I need. Uhh, Heloise, before I forget, there’s something a bit nasty I have to tell you about her.”
“Eh?” She frowned. “What?”
“Later. It’s just to do with how she’s being, uh, controlled.” He yawned. “Later.”
That Tatiana could hear was obvious to Heloise. Her smile had widened to a malicious grin.
“Gods, that woman gets under my skin.” Neither Thom nor Omi said anything. They were both staring at Tatiana.
“Omi!”
“What? Ahem. Oh, yes. I am next. Shall I stand for you too? Such an intriguing woman. We must be wary of her until some soldiers come to take her away. I believe they should be here soon if my homing fly did its job. A few hours, though I should be able to distract them from Thom and where he might be, since we have her to give them also.
“Don’t worry about Samos either. I have contacts in Carstelan. I’ll see he is taken care of. You must, however, make sure Thom leaves before the soldiers arrive.” Then he stayed where he was, frowning. It was the only time Heloise had seen him look worried.
You. He’d said you, as if it were her job to save Thom and not the other way around.
Perhaps that was true?
It was what she wanted to do. The man wasn’t the terrible person she’d once imagined him to be. He deserved a second chance at life. There was a certain satisfaction, a sense of restored balance, when she contemplated helping him. It made her feel as if she was a good person again...as she had been before Leonie.
Besides, she liked him...more than a little. She studied Thom when he shifted about to look at Tatiana.
“I’ll watch her,” he said, unaware of Heloise’s scrutiny. “I’ve seen enough of gouged flesh to last me a while.”
“Thank you. Omi. Here, please. Now.” She eyed the bloody pliers and didn’t blame him for being nervous. An Immolator could control pain far more than a normal man. “Have we water to clean these?”
“Here.” Thom threw her a half-full bottle.
It was enough to wash the worst of the blood off. It would do. She wasn’t going to waste more time sending back to the orphanage or going down the cliff to the sea.
Omi shuffled over. His face was pale and beads of sweat were already popping out on his forehead. “I shall try greatly not to move. And I will succeed. I will.”
And he did. As she dug for each needle his muscles flinched and twitched, but he did not move or do more than grunt in pain. The bleeding was far greater, but then the scarring was greater and this was not an Immolator. Which only made his fortitude all the more amazing.
“Done,” she said, her voice hoarse from the strain. Omi swayed and almost fell, and she sprang to support him. With Thom holding him from the other side, they lowered Omi to the ground to lie beside the sleeping Samos.
“I’ve done it,” she whispered. The blood was drying on her hands and making her skin tighten. There was more blood halfway to her elbows, under her fingernails and spotting the ground all about, as if there’d been a small battle. “Stay there, Thom.” She stumbled over to Tatiana and held up a single golden needle before her eyes.
“This is because I can’t trust you. It’s a simple enough needle and any Needle Master will be able to remove it. Tatiana cringed away. “If you move, it may go astray and that will hurt you far more. Be still!” She slid the needle into Tatiana’s neck and waited for her eyelids to close in sleep before she made her way back to Thom.
“There. I should have thought of that before.” The world was rocking from side to side, and her eyelids grew heavy.
“Heloise, you need to rest yourself.”
“Yes, but I have to get rid of Vassbinder. Too dangerous to leave him while I sleep.” She was mumbling but it seemed impossible to speak louder. She stumbled and went to her knees, then head bowed, she let her eyes close.
The child ghosts knew what she intended. They brought Vassbinder to the fore where she could reach him without strain. The detachment was simple with the children’s help, and soon there remained only one point still anchoring Vassbinder to her. Resigned to his fate, he hardly struggled at all. She heaved a sigh of relief as she felt him drift away, and then...he was gone.
She’d promised the children too. Each of them came to her and she gently released them to find their own peace in whatever afterlife waited for them. Instead of sadness, when she set free the last of them a gentle happiness settled over her. For them, this was not death; it was a beginning. She’d given them a gift, and after a day filled with so much blood and pain, their joy was a gift for her also.
Of course, there were still those trapped in the mansion. Soon, she told herself. Now, she had to sleep. She lay down on a patch of grass.
“Heloise? Heloise? Is anything wrong?” Thom’s voice.
“No. Nothing at all.” Fatigue loosened her tongue. She fluttered her eyelids enough to see him. “You’re perfect.”
The startled drawing together of his brows settled in place the decision she’d made.
“I’m going to help you.”
“How?” he asked. “Why?”
“Shhh.”
She’d vowed to free the child ghosts too. There wasn’t time. Maybe...maybe she could wait for the soldiers to leave and return then? Yes, that would do it. She smiled then sleep overcame her.
C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - N I N E
Imperial Investigator – a person appointed by the Imperator to investigate matters that might threaten the empire.
*****
Writing the letter to Bull was difficult. Her heart was heavy with guilt and regret at her tardiness in telling him her feelings. To do it now seemed like cheating. It would’ve been easy if not for her guilt.
She sighed and rubbed her nose, shifted from her cross-legged position.
“Are you okay? Do you need help?” Thom asked seating himself before her on the ground.
The friendly goat had returned to this temporary resting place beside the sea-mansion. Along with two other goats from the herd, she had followed Thom
and now began to pull up grass and munch on it.
“I’m okay.”
Thom’s lips twitched into a smile. “You have ink on your nose.”
“Oh.” Heloise rubbed the tip of her nose then stared at the black smudge on her fingers. It was lucky that Omi had brought a pen with him.
She couldn’t explain to everyone her dilemma but her and Thom must leave soon or be cornered by soldiers, else execution would be his fate. She gripped the steel and brass pen. Tiny iridescent green beetles roamed in a spiral about the barrel, near the nib.
Wherever had Omi gained this from? It was a trinketton pen. A hundred years of living must let you collect all manner of things.
“Write,” she muttered. “No, this is for me to do, Thom. But thank you.”
She forged onward, adding to the Dear Bull, which was all she’d managed so far.
I’m so sorry to have to tell you this in such a cowardly way. You’ve always been a great friend to me, more so than anyone, anyone at all. I am thankful and I hope we will remain friends. When I can, I hope to see you and say all this in person.
However…
She paused and knuckled at her forehead. Writing Thom’s name might be unwise. Someone else might see this note.
I must journey with you-know-who, away from here. You know he will be in great danger if he stays. My fate seems tied to his, but also I feel I have a connection with him.
That I want to explore, she thought to herself. Damn. She couldn’t be so explicit as to say she was attracted to the man. Or that she wasn’t attracted to Bull. Bull would have to read between the lines. He would’ve already figured this out, anyway.
I need to help him. It is the right thing to do.
Bless you,
Heloise.
She really needed to hug Bull. Heloise swallowed down the sadness then she folded the letter and stood.
“Omi, can you give this to Bull, please?”
Needle Rain Page 27