Until My Dying Day

by S. C. Stokes

  Akihiro veered at the last minute, mounting the median strip and running straight through the roadblock at the point of least resistance.

  Two police sedans overlapped the median strip. Akihiro collided with them, smashing through them as if they were nothing more than a wet paper bag. The two police sedans spiraled across the intersection with their steel hood panels dragging uselessly against the asphalt.

  As the sedans came to a standstill, Kasey took aim at the same gap. She burst through the narrow chasm Akihiro had created, much to the bewildered surprise of the onlooking police officers.

  As the pair of vehicles rolled down Park Avenue, Bishop spoke up. “Kasey, if that was the cordon, the streets ahead are going to get busier. We need to stop him before he reaches them or there is going to be serious collateral damage. That thing is a tank. If it plows through traffic like he just did that roadblock, he could kill dozens, maybe even hundreds of people. We need to stop him now.”

  “You need to take out his tires,” Kasey said.

  Bishop studied the rear of Akihiro's vehicle as it sped down 5th Avenue.

  Shaking her head, she replied, “There’s no way in hell I’ll make that shot. It's an impossible angle.”

  “Well, we aren't going to catch him like this,” Kasey answered through gritted teeth. “Take the wheel.”

  Bishop reached over and grabbed the Bearcat’s steering wheel. With her hands free, Kasey rolled down the window and leaned out.

  A bullet might not do it, but Kasey had other ideas. She focused on the rear wheels of the Bearcat in front of them.

  Drawing deep, she channeled everything she had into one last spell. “Ffrwydrad Aer.”

  Akihiro's vehicle swerved wildly as both rear wheels exploded simultaneously. With the tires punctured, the vehicle started losing speed.

  Akihiro powered on regardless. The rear wheels sparked against the asphalt as the tires shredded.

  Kasey leaned back inside the cab. “That ought to do it. Now we just have to bring him to a stop.”

  Kasey quickly reeled in the wounded Bearcat. As soon as she reached it, she began to overtake it on the right-hand side.

  The Master of the Shinigami veered to the right to cut them off. The sudden maneuver shunted Kasey toward the edge of the street and onto the footpath. She wrenched the wheel down and to the left, pulling back onto the street, before stepping on the gas once more. As they caught up to him, Akihiro began to drift across the street, blocking their approach.

  “This time don't try to overtake him,” Bishop replied. “You just need to get up behind him on the right-hand side, nice and close. You want to put your left-hand side of the hood right up beside his right wheel.”

  Kasey followed Bishop's directions. Narrowing the gap, she started to ease off the gas, so that they sidled up beside Akihiro.

  “Closer, closer,” Bishop urged her on.

  Kasey edged over inch by inch until the vehicles were practically touching.

  “Okay, now yank left on the wheel, and when he spins out, just accelerate straight through him,” Bishop said.

  “He’ll spin out?” Kasey asked.

  “Sure will. Won’t be able to do anything about it either. He won’t have enough traction to do anything. He'll be right where we want him.” Bishop replied

  Yanking down on the wheel, Kasey veered left straight through Akihiro’s rear wheel well. As she struck the back end of Akihiro's transport, it indeed slid out. Akihiro tried to correct but only served to throw the vehicle into a greater spin. The armored transport swerved wildly to the right, directly in front of Kasey's Bearcat.

  Realizing Bishop's meaning, Kasey accelerated. The vehicle leapt forward, smashing into the right-hand flank of Akihiro’s transport. Both vehicles slowed as Akihiro’s carrier was shunted sideways up the street, driven onward by Kasey’s vehicle wedged solidly in its flank. Easing to the right, Kasey steered both vehicles directly toward the wall of the People’s United Bank.

  “Brace yourself,” Bishop shouted as the Bearcats burst onto the sidewalk and careened into the stone wall of the bank.

  Kasey was thrown forward in her seat. If not for the seatbelt, she would have been obliterated by the windshield at almost forty miles an hour. The seatbelt caught her and tossed her back into the seat.

  Kasey regathered her senses and scanned the wreckage in front of her. Akihiro’s Bearcat was pinned between them and the wall, its buckled frame twisted by the impact with a steady plume of smoke rising from its hood.

  She pushed open her door. Undoing her seatbelt, she fell more than climbed down from the cab. Hitting the sidewalk, she stumbled into the side of the Bearcat. She rested against the cool steel for a moment, as she caught her breath. Looking up at the ruined Bearcat, she saw Akihiro for the first time since the crash. His crumpled figure was jammed up against the glass.

  Seeing her target so close filled Kasey with renewed strength. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she crept toward the ruined vehicle.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kasey stalked through the debris to Akihiro’s transport. Smoke poured from the ruined vehicle.

  Bracing herself, she climbed up the side of the cab and peered in the window. He lay awkwardly over the steering wheel and dash. Worried about a trap, she watched him for a moment. When he didn't stir, she wrenched open the door.

  He groaned but didn't rise.

  “If I'd been alive for centuries, I'd like to think I'd be wise enough to wear a seatbelt,” Kasey chided.

  He twitched. Leaning over, Kasey studied his injuries. Being hurled into the dash had likely caused internal bleeding. He was also sporting a series of nasty bruises including one across the right side of his face, probably where he had impacted the steering wheel.

  Kasey rolled him over. As she did so, she discovered the skull shaped amulet around his neck shining brightly.

  Swirling green smoke surrounded the amulet.

  “If that's not the best case of karma I've ever seen,” Kasey muttered. The Shinigami’s own life force was being drained by the amulet.

  Kasey leaned closer, her eyes fixated on the mesmerizing flow of energy. As she watched the emerald energy, she realized it wasn't flowing into the amulet, but from it.

  The life force was pouring out of the skull and flowing straight into the Master of the Shinigami, the tendrils of emerald energy being absorbed into his wounded frame.

  It's healing him, Kasey realized with a start. Every second that passed, he would be regaining strength.

  Kasey grabbed him by his belt and dragged him toward her.

  Akihiro stirred but before he could respond, Kasey yanked his necklace free and then shoved him from the cab. He plummeted to the sidewalk and slammed into the concrete. As he struck the ground, he doubled over with a groan.

  Kasey clambered down from the cab. As she did, Akihiro reached out and placed his hands on the sidewalk. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet.

  “You have harassed me for long enough, Miss Chase,” he said, grasping for his amulet. As his hands grasped nothing but air, he looked down, his eyes growing wide. “What?”

  “Looking for this?” Kasey asked as she raised the amulet. The emerald energy swirled about her hand, and her entire arm tingled. “I can see why you like it. I feel better already. It’s like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders.”

  “You fool, you tamper with magic beyond your understanding,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her. “That energy you're feeling is the legacy of a thousand lost souls whose spirits have been trapped in that device for eons. It took me years to learn how to harness its powers properly. It is realms beyond your abilities.”

  Kasey studied the amulet. She could feel the power pulsing from it. It was begging to be unleashed. Her arm twitched as the artifact’s energy fought for release. The feeling of so much power at her fingertips was intoxicating. She could understand how Akihiro had grown so arrogant. The amulet made her feel invincible.

/>   Such a sensation would be a seductive and dangerous lie.

  Whoever had created the cursed artifact had likely become its first victim, no doubt feeling untouchable until the very moment it had failed them. Even now, Kasey longed to keep it.

  After all, who would part with such a powerful trinket? a seductive voice whispered in her mind. Think of all you could do. Think of all the lives you might save.

  Kasey tore her eyes away from the skull and looked at Akihiro. He was fixated on the amulet.

  “It's potent,” Kasey whispered. “I have to give it that. It's almost enough to make me want to keep it.”

  “Almost?” Akihiro straightened. “Never! Give it back and your death will be swift and painless. Deny me, and I will ensure your suffering endures until all you know, and love is dust.”

  “Always so full of yourself, Akihiro,” Kasey chided. “Don't worry. I'll not be keeping it. There's only one thing to do with such a dangerous relic.”

  She drew on the power of the amulet, and it surged down her arm and into her being. She felt her body fill with arcane energy. It seemed like she was floating on a bed of limitless energy. Then, without warning, it soured. The same sickening sensation she had endured as Akihiro’s magic had been manifested filled her to her core. Her face twisted in agony as the heart wrenching sorrow overwhelmed her.

  Akihiro laughed. “I told you, you are too weak to possess the amulet.”

  Kasey fought the pain within.

  Shaking her head, she replied, “I have no intention of possessing it.”

  She retreated from the pain and withdrew into the fortress of her inner mind. Focusing every facet of her will upon the amulet pulsing in her hand, she drew all she could from it, harnessing the energy into a shield for herself. Then, she channeled the balance of the energy back into the amulet with one intention: destroying the artifact.

  “What are you doing?” Akihiro shouted.

  Kasey couldn't answer, pain radiated through her being as the corrupted artifact resisted her intentions. Its magic burned within her causing Kasey’s entire frame to shake uncontrollably. The amulet glowed brighter and brighter. She changed her grip to the chain as it began to overheat. The silver skull turned an angry red and began to melt. Emerald life force streamed from the artifact.

  “No!” Akihiro shouted as the amulet dissolved. Sloughs of molten steel dripped onto the sidewalk as a shrill scream split the evening air.

  For a moment, Kasey thought the scream was Akihiro, but it grew in intensity until the amulet exploded.

  The blast slammed into Kasey’s shield and sent her flying. She tucked her head and rolled as she hit the sidewalk. The impact paled compared to the pain she had felt as the amulet had been destroyed. Kasey went to rise but Akihiro was already looming over her.

  In his hand, he held the same slender weapon he had used to kill John.

  “You'll pay for that,” he said with a snarl. “You will beg for an end to your suffering and it will not come.”

  Kasey's gaze was locked on the blade. Something about the glinting energy playing across its blade was entrancing. Now she realized why both John and Arthur had been unable to move. It was hauntingly beautiful.

  The blade must also be magic.

  Akihiro brought the blade down. Kasey willed her body to move, but she could not.

  As its wicked point descended, a gunshot rang out.

  Kasey looked up to see a blossom of red forming on Akihiro's robe. Two more gunshots rang out. Each time, the Master of the Shinigami bucked involuntarily as the bullets hit him.

  His eyes went wide as every beat of his heart pumped his precious blood out of his body.

  He dropped the blade.

  As soon as it left his hand, the spell was broken. Kasey felt her limbs respond once more.

  The blade plunged toward the sidewalk. Kasey reached out and snatched it by the hilt. Raising it, she lunged forward and drove it through Akihiro's chest. His mouth dropped open as the blade burst through his back.

  Kasey pushed herself to her feet

  Akihiro spat out a mouthful of blood. “How?”

  Kasey slowly turned Akihiro until he was facing Bishop. She was standing on the ledge of the truck, battered but unbroken, her pistol raised, smoke wafting from its barrel

  “Now, that shot, Chase. I can make that shot all day long.”

  Kasey smiled as she leaned in. “You see, Akihiro, I don't use and discard everyone who crosses my path. How does it feel to know you were bested by a normal?”

  Akihiro grunted. Paralyzed by the blade, there was nothing he could do.

  “I think not, Kasey.” Akihiro panted. “This deed will be laid at your feet. The Brotherhood will seek recompense.”

  Kasey shoved him away from her. His mouth twisted into a grin as he slid free of the blade. Before he could react, Kasey brought it back across her body in one sweeping horizontal stroke.

  Akihiro’s head rolled off his shoulders and struck the sidewalk.

  Kasey dropped the blade and sank. Reaching for the truck behind her, she found its tire and collapsed against it.

  “It's over,” Kasey whispered. “At last, it’s over.”

  Bishop slid down beside her. “It sure is. You did it, Kasey. You beat them.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Kasey pushed open the wooden door to the Administorum’s recovery ward. The pristine room was one she was all too familiar with. She'd spent days holed up in a suite just like this. Curtains surrounded each of the room’s occupants.

  She wandered over to the first bed and swept aside the curtain. Lying on the bed was Noah Sanders.

  Sanders eyes lit up. “Kasey, it's so good to see you. You’re just the person I wanted to speak with.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Kasey replied, dropping into the chair by the bed. “That can’t be good.”

  “Oh, I just wanted to lay eyes on the savior of New York City,” Sanders replied as the edges of his mouth crept up into a grin.

  Kasey blushed. “Oh, shut up, I get enough outside. I don’t need it from you. Besides, we both know the truth—you’re the one that stopped the device.”

  Sanders sat up and shuffled back against the headboard. “I don't know about that. There aren’t many witnesses to back your claim, Miss Chase. You, on the other hand, it seems half the city saw you finish Akihiro as he tried to flee the scene. Like it or not, you’re trending. Hashtag KickAssKasey.”

  Kasey shook her head. “That’s just what I needed. I can’t even get a coffee without the barista bringing it up. When the world has seen you kill someone, even in self-defense, it changes things, and I can’t stop it. Now, every kid with a smart phone is following me around, looking for the next big hit.”

  “Oh,” Sanders replied. “There’s going to be a sequel? Who’s it going to be?”

  “You, if you don’t cut it out,” she said with a laugh. “Any more of that from you, and I’m going to smother you with your pillow.”

  Sanders held up both arms in feigned protest, “Okay, okay. I surrender. I've had my fun. So, what brings you here?”

  “I just wanted to see how you are doing,” Kasey said, leaning back in her chair. “And I wanted to thank you for having the courage to stop the device.”

  Sanders waved the praise away with his one good hand. “It’s nothing you wouldn't have done. If I'd let you, it would be you laying here instead of me and I don't know that I would have been able to stop Akihiro. I have the feeling that everything is as it is supposed to be. It was your vision that got us here. Your vision that saved the city. I think it had to be you to stop him. So, I'm glad you did.”

  Kasey shuffled awkwardly in her seat. Praise wasn’t something she was used to, so she decided to change the subject. “Do you want to know what Akihiro said with his last breath?”

  Sanders’ smile faded. “Not particularly, but let’s have it.”

  “He said that the Brotherhood would kill me for the part I played in his death.” Kasey bit her l
ip nervously. “With all this media coverage, they are going to know exactly who I am. If Akihiro was telling the truth, they'll come for me.”

  Sanders reached out with his remaining hand and placed it on Kasey’s. “If he's telling the truth, Kasey—and that's a very big if—we don't even know if this Brotherhood exists. Akihiro was a compulsive liar who would do and say anything to save his own skin.”

  Kasey shook her head. “They are real. Arthur Ainslie was murdered because he went to his priest to confess his involvement with them. Unfortunately, Akihiro had taken the priest’s place and killed Arthur to silence him. Whoever the Brotherhood is, they are dangerous. The Master of the Shinigami, the former Chancellor of the Arcane Council. It's a powerful circle to move in.”

  Sanders rubbed Kasey's hand gently. “Kasey, you have to stop. You have to stop worrying and waiting for the worst. You've spent your whole life fighting this attack and you did it. You beat it. It's over. Brotherhood or no Brotherhood, Akihiro is dead and the threat he posed is gone. I led the ADI for years, Kasey. Trust me when I say there will always be another threat, another criminal, another foe. There will always be someone seeking their own gain at other’s expense. Let them come. In the meantime, you need to enjoy life and make the most of it. You can't live in perpetual fear.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Kasey grumbled. “You can’t see them coming.”

  “True, but what do you see now?” Sanders asked.

  Kasey hesitated. “Nothing. I haven’t had a vision since the attack.”

  “Exactly. So, relax. For once, time is on our side.”

  In her heart, Kasey knew Sanders was right. There was no shortage of criminals in the city—the cases she'd worked with Bishop told her that much was true—but she needed to start living.

  If the Brotherhood comes, so be it. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

  In the meantime, she had other plans. Her struggle against the Shinigami had awakened in her a need to study her roots. She longed to better understand the world of magic. She wanted to hone her skills and test her limits, and Sanders knew more about it than anyone she had ever met.