Rock, Paper, Shivers: Act Six and Seven (Bitter Ashes Book 4)

by Sara C. Roethle

Alaric kissed my cheek, then turned to put his hand on the doorknob. “Perhaps that is why Mikael gave you pants instead of a dress, my little land-skjálpti.”

  I grinned as I turned to follow him out the door, thinking that I liked the pet name of little earthquake more and more.

  Chapter Two

  Sophie and James waited on the little floral couch, as far away from each other as possible.

  “Why does he get normal clothes!” I exclaimed as I looked down at James.

  Sophie glared over at the man in question. “He's not coming to the mysterious meeting.”

  She was dressed in similar clothes to mine and Alaric's except her linen shirt was deep blue, cinched close at her waist by an ornate leather belt as wide as my palm.

  I turned as Mikael entered the room from the kitchen, followed closely by Aila. Mikael was back in his old-fashioned attire as well, only his had a little more leather than ours, and his sword had returned to his back. Aila was in street clothes like James, and didn't look comfortable with the situation at all.

  “He cannot come because he is not involved in our plans,” Mikael explained. “If he can't remember his own life, then he cannot choose a side,”

  “He's practically an invalid,” Aila commented, though judging by her clothes she wasn't coming to the meeting either.

  I glared at her, but James didn't jump up to defend himself. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

  “We must eat, and then we will depart,” Mikael announced. “Faas and Tabitha will remain here with your . . . friend.”

  The two people he'd referred to were nowhere to be seen, and in fact, hadn't been around since we'd arrived at the house, unfortunately. I'd gleaned the information that Fass was Mikael's executioner, and I was dying to talk to him.

  Aila stood rigid as a pole, glaring at each of us throughout the exchange. I wasn't sure what she was still so bent out of shape about, but she made sullen Sophie look like the Queen of Sunshine.

  Mikael opened his mouth to say something further, but a knock on the door interrupted him.

  I went rigid. “Don't answer that,” I demanded as I looked back at the door in question.

  I didn't know who was waiting outside, but I could sense their energy. Normally I'd have to be within touching distance to feel someone's emotions, but what I sensed was overwhelmingly strong. I shook my head. No, the emotions weren't that strong, they were just coming from more than one person. My heart raced as I picked up on the feeling of anticipation and something akin to blood lust, coming from all around the house.

  The charm, almost forgotten, began to thrum with excitement. A battle was about to occur, and a battle would empower it.

  James and Sophie both rose and came to stand near the rest of us. Everything was still and silent for several heartbeats. The metaphysical burning balls of excitement that were likely other Vaettir shifted around the house, preparing for the attack.

  “They have us surrounded,” I whispered.

  I watched as Aila looked to Mikael. “Do we fight, or flee?”

  Instead of answering, Mikael turned his perfectly calm eyes to me. “How many are there, Madeline?”

  I cringed, not wanting any decisions to depend on me. The knock sounded at the door again. “Ten or so,” I answered, “though it's hard to be sure.”

  “A scouting party then,” Mikael commented thoughtfully.

  If Faas and Tabitha showed up, we'd almost be evenly matched. Of course, having Alaric and Sophie on our side helped even the odds. I was yet to see Mikael or Aila fight, but something told me they would be proficient. James would do in a pinch, then there was me. I was useless in a fight.

  The charm pulsed so rapidly that it made my neck twitch. An angry thought arguing against my uselessness echoed through my mind. The charm didn't view us as useless, and was offended by the thought. Alaric caught me as I swayed to the side, thrown off balance by the second presence in my head.

  There was a loud thunk on the door, then another, drawing my attention back to reality. They were going to break it down.

  “Fight apparently,” Mikael commented jovially as he turned to wait for our attackers.

  The charm shared Mikael's attitude. Both would always rather fight than flee. I felt compelled against my will to move toward the door, but Alaric shoved me behind him. Sophie suddenly had two long blades in her hands, and she tossed one to Alaric as she came to stand in front of me as well.

  I finally got to see the long sword that Mikael wore across his back as he drew it. The center of the blade was tarnished, but the sharp edges gleamed in the sunlight cast by the nearby window, belying its age.

  James stood wordlessly, not needing a weapon, though in reality neither did Alaric or Sophie. Aila apparently didn't need one either as she stood next to Mikael empty handed, a deadpan expression on her face.

  A much heavier thunk sounded and the door burst open. At the same time, the nearby window was shattered by a large rock, echoed by the sound of shattering glass in other areas of the house. Alaric and Sophie turned toward the first of our attackers. I was stunned to realize that I recognized one them, although last time I saw her she'd been missing a foot.

  Maya now stood impossibly whole, framed in the doorway with several others standing behind her. More stood outside the now broken window, not entering, but the threat was there.

  Maya's dark skin had all grown back to cover the burns James had given her, as had her curly brown hair. She quirked the corner of her mouth at me. “You're going to have to come with us, Madeline. Aislin would like you unharmed.”

  I stepped forward to stand between Alaric and Sophie, rather than behind them. Sophie was quivering slightly, and as I neared her I realized it was from rage. Sophie had risked everything to save Maya, and now I was pretty sure that she was ready to kill her.

  We will not be taken prisoner, the charm echoed in my head.

  “No we will not,” I murmured in reply.

  Maya looked at me like I was crazy, and opened her mouth to say something else, but she didn't have time as Sophie launched herself forward and crashed into her, sending them both out into the sunlight.

  “Well that makes that decision,” Mikael quipped as he stepped forward to meet the other Vaettir who now entered the doorway.

  My vision went blurry as the charm started feeding on the small amount of energy generated by Maya and Sophie, fighting beyond our sight outside.

  I had a moment of regret for ruining the peacefulness of the quiet, safe, neighborhood, then the real fighting began. I backed away as my companions met our opponents head on as I silently warred against the charm's instructions. It wanted to get closer so I could take the lives of our enemies as soon as they were weakened. Mikael sliced a man nearly in half with his sword, and the man's pain echoed through me. I doubled over in agony, but the feeling was soon wiped away by the charm's excitement. It didn't care about pain, and wouldn't let me care about it either.

  I shook my head over and over again, wanting to reach out to someone for help, but everyone was busy fighting for their lives. I watched as Alaric threw a man against the wall above the couch. The man thudded onto the couch cushions, then slipped down onto the floor. My entire backside ached for a brief second, then the pain was once again blocked out by the charm.

  I stared at his prostrate body, feeling oddly transfixed, then hands wrapped around me from behind, covering my mouth and lifting me off my feet. In all of the chaos I had forgotten about the other Vaettir I'd sensed behind and around the house. They'd come in through a back door or window to get the jump on us.

  My attacker carried me backward into the hallway, then toward one of the bedrooms at the far end of the house. The charm screamed in my brain, more because it was being taken away from the battle, than because I was being kidnapped, though it wasn't happy about either.

  I thrashed about, but was unable to free myself. Whoever held me was massive, and had arms like steel traps. I looked down the empty hallway in despair a
s I screamed against the hand that covered my mouth, then Aila appeared.

  She watched thoughtfully as I was pulled into the bedroom. I turned my head briefly to see the wide open window that I'd likely be going through, then I was whipped around and tossed to the ground. I scooted away on the floor to see Aila launch her foot at a man the size of a mountain. Other than his size and the way he flailed about to avoid Aila's kick, he looked perfectly normal with his bald, gleaming head and punk-style street clothes.

  It was almost comical to watch him fend off the attacks of the lightning-fast, blonde Viking who whipped about like she could walk on air. Her movements were so fast, I almost couldn't see what was happening. Then the man suddenly stopped defending himself, and Aila stood still a few feet away. In painfully slow motion his body slumped, then fell sideways, narrowly missing the area where I was crouched.

  Now that he was on the floor, I could see the little knife sticking out of his neck. Blood welled up around the blade from the artery Aila had perfectly severed.

  I looked up at her as she stood over me. “You almost let him take me,” I commented, remembering her expression when she'd first come into view.

  Aila sneered. “Mikael would not have forgiven me, now out the window you go.”

  My eyes widened in surprise. I could still hear fighting in the other room, and both the charm and I wanted to get back to it.

  “Are you kidnapping me now?” I asked, distracted as I listened to the chaos just a few rooms away.

  “I will get you to safety,” she stated. “Mikael will meet us.”

  I looked around the room for a means of escape, not liking how she'd only mentioned Mikael meeting us and not the others. I needed to get back to the outer room to make sure Alaric and Sophie were okay.

  Knowing I wasn't likely to get past her to the doorway on physical prowess alone, I decided to stall in hopes that the fighting would end and the others would come to find me.

  I looked down at the large, bald man, with a pool of blood slowly forming underneath him on the beige carpet.

  Knowing what I was thinking, Aila rolled her eyes. “Quickly,” she demanded.

  I reached out to the mostly dead man and released his soul, feeling the usual rush. I drew my hand away like I'd been burned, a little shocked at how easy the process had become, and how little I thought about the fact that I was taking a life, even if he was already dead in the most literal sense of the word.

  “Now go,” Aila prodded. She glanced at the nearby window as police sirens sounded in the distance.

  I stood. The sounds of fighting were cut through by a scream of anguish. “That was Sophie,” I breathed, terrified that something had happened to Alaric. There was no way I was going out that window now.

  Aila's eyes narrowed as she realized my intent. “Don't even think about it,” she warned as she moved to block my way.

  I shifted my weight from foot to foot, weighing my options. The energy from one death wasn't much, but it might be enough to get Aila out of my way.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled, just before forcing the stolen energy in her direction.

  It wasn't enough to send her flying, but it did knock her down. She fell on her butt with a surprised yip, then I launched myself over her long legs and out into the hall. With her speed I knew she'd only be moments behind me, but luckily I didn't have far to go.

  Someone grabbed me as soon as I entered the room, and I realized with a start that it was Alaric. His pale face was dotted crimson with blood, and there were larger splashes on his clothes. “We have to go,” he explained quickly. “Aislin's people fled at the sound of sirens, and we should do the same.”

  “Sophie-” I began, but then my eyes found her. She was hunched over Maya's body, sobbing with her now-bloody knife held loosely in her hand. James was trying to help her up, but she kept swatting him away. The rest of the room had turned crimson, the work of Mikael's sword and Alaric and Sophie's blades.

  I pulled away from Alaric and tried not to focus too hard on the bodies as I grazed my fingers across them, releasing that bit of energy that lingered in the Vaettir, even after death.

  “Grab her,” Alaric demanded of James as they both looked down at Sophie. He turned and guided me toward the kitchen and the back door as I wiped my bloody fingertips on my pants.

  I looked back over my shoulder to see Sophie swat at James again, then Aila pushed him aside and picked Sophie up herself. She threw Sophie over her shoulder in a fireman's carry, ignoring the knife still clutched in Sophie's grasp.

  I turned to find Mikael already waiting in the kitchen, cleaning the blood off his sword with a dish towel. He stood grinning at us with crimson spatters in his hair and on his clothing.

  “This is more fun than I've had in years!” he exclaimed.

  “It won't be fun dealing with the human police,” Alaric stated as he pushed me forward.

  At that moment the sirens closed in, accompanied by the sound of tires screeching to a halt.

  “Shit,” Alaric commented as he began pulling me back away from the door.

  “To the tunnels!” Mikael exclaimed like the whole situation was one big game.

  Aila shoved her way into the kitchen with Sophie hanging limply over her shoulder, still crying.

  A megaphone screeched to life outside and we were flooded with the sound of a man speaking Norwegian.

  I crossed my arms to suppress a shiver. “Tell me he isn't joking and there really are escape tunnels in this place.”

  Aila sighed. “He isn't.”

  She passed me to open a door into what I assumed was a laundry room, then held the door open and gestured for someone else to go first. Not wanting to catch a bullet when the police stormed the building, I obliged, finding myself in a small room with a washer, dryer, large basin sink, and tattered floral rug covering much of the linoleum floor.

  His sword now sheathed, Mikael shooed me off the rug so he could lift the edge of the dusty fabric. He folded the whole thing back, revealing a trap door with its lid glued to the bottom of the carpet. It was quite clever really, as the rug would still cover the door once we escaped . . . if we escaped.

  The megaphone had silenced and I could hear footsteps in the living room. Not waiting for further instruction, I practically jumped down into the trap door, barely catching my hands and feet onto the ladder inside. I made the short journey down, followed by each of my companions. Mikael came last, pausing on the ladder to shut the trap door quietly above him. He slid a heavy lock into place, then hopped down to the ground gracefully.

  We now stood in what appeared to be an old root cellar, complete with various jars of food, and dusty barrels that might have once held apples or potatoes.

  Aila, who'd carried Sophie down the ladder like she weighed nothing, now finally let her down to her feet to stand on her own. Sophie's eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, and her hands were still stained with Maya's blood.

  “I tried to leave her to come back and help Alaric,” she mumbled, “but she came after me. I had no choice. She came after me like I was just another enemy.”

  Alaric held a finger up to his lips to silence her as footsteps sounded above us. I cringed when I heard someone walk over the trap door, but they kept on walking normally, not noticing it.

  Mikael went to open a door at the far end of the room, then waited for the rest of us to follow.

  I hesitated, then put an arm around Sophie and guided her forward. “You know she had it coming, right?” I whispered as everyone else waited on us.

  Sophie shook her head. “I still loved her.”

  Not knowing what else to say, I gave Sophie's shoulders a squeeze as we walked through the doorway together. Alaric, James, and Aila followed us, then Mikael entered with an old kerosene lantern in hand. He shut the door behind him, and we were left with only the dull light from the lantern to guide our way.

  Mikael took the lead and started forward while the rest of us formed a single file line behind him. What had sta
rted out as an extension of the cellar soon turned into a narrow tunnel like in a mine shaft. It had that damp, mineshaft smell too, making breathing unpleasant.

  Sophie had walked ahead, directly behind Mikael, then came Aila, followed by Alaric. Their bodies blocked out most of the lantern light, leaving me blind. Luckily Alaric held my hand, guiding me with his superior low-light vision so I wouldn't be running into walls. James walked behind me, cursing to himself as he tried to keep up in the darkness.

  “Where are we going?” he asked, out of breath.

  “Away from the cops,” Alaric replied sarcastically.

  “Yeah, but where?” James asked, sounding annoyed.

  It was a good question. I waited for someone else to answer, but no one did, so eventually I answered, “I don't know.”

  “How can you not know?” James asked, making me regret saying anything. “Doesn't that little key you wear make you the person in charge?”

  I snorted, but Alaric gave my hand a little squeeze before I said anything. I was so not in charge. Mikael may have kneeled before me, but we all knew who was calling the shots in this little adventure. Well, everyone but James apparently.

  Some of us may have been more blind than others, but we were all being led by the mischievous Viking in front of us.

  Chapter Three

  We walked for over an hour before we finally reached the end of the tunnel. The sunlight streaming in through the small, cave-like opening was a welcome relief, as Mikael's lantern had begun to dim twenty minutes prior.

  We climbed out one by one into a wooded area to find Faas and Tabitha waiting for us.

  Faas crossed his well-muscled arms as he looked each of us up and down. “We came to meet you and saw the police,” he explained. “What happened?”

  I observed Faas as he spoke. He had similar coloring to Aila, blond and pale, but was a good eight or nine inches shorter than her, putting him at around 5'7”. His pin-straight hair was long on top and shaved on the sides, a hairstyle I didn't find terribly becoming, but who was I to judge with the frizzy mess on my head?