by HD Smith
“It’s too late,” he said, brushing away a tear I hadn’t realized was there.
I pulled away from him and stood. I took a tentative staggering step. “No,” I said, holding out my hand to stop him. “I have to talk to Thanos. I freed him. He can take me to Mab. She’ll save me.”
Death caught me when I fell. My strength was leaving me. “Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here with you.”
“No, this isn’t how it should end. The advisor said—”
Death went still. When he spoke, his voice resonated with a force of will I’d never noticed before. “You have seen Jayne’s advisor?” A surge of energy like a jolt of caffeine filled me as the power laced in his voice slammed into me. I was suddenly wide awake.
His voice was raw and filled with an energy meant to persuade me, but I wasn’t compelled to speak the truth.
“Yes, Kane helped me control the power,” I said.
“Where is he? I must have him.”
“Why must you know?” I asked, not sure where he was going with this.
He lifted my chin and searched my eyes. “You aren’t influenced by me?”
I pulled my chin from his hold. “I have no intention of lying to you. I’d just like to know why you care about Kane.”
“Many have died on the quest for Leland Kane.”
“I’ve seen the bones. If you’re sending them, you should stop. He’s not going anywhere. He can’t. He’s trapped.”
“Tell me where he is and I’ll retrieve him. It’s past time he be retired,” he said, using the term for true death at the company.
“I was allowed to find him,” I said, refusing to tell Death anything about Kane’s location. “I couldn’t again if I tried.” Death knew more about this situation with the prophecies than he was letting on. To change the subject, and prompt him to share, I added, “Kane said there were four prophecies. He said I must complete the first one, and the others were lies,” I added to pique his interest. “Was he speaking the truth?”
Death looked away.
I cupped his face, bringing him back to me. “Amica mea, my love, I’m dying—true death—don’t keep things from me.”
He closed his eyes and kissed my palm. Holding my hand in his lap, he gave me a weak smile, as if finally realizing my situation. I wouldn’t come back a second time, and he knew it.
“There are four prophecies related to Jayne’s deeds,” he said. “One is lost to time itself, but we know it has to do with the Time Jayne stole. She corrupted the balance and some say killed the Time King himself.”
“Is that the Time Queen prophecy?” I asked, naming the obvious choice from the four Kane had mentioned.
Death nodded, but I wondered if he’d ever read Omar’s book. Blood on the Time Queen’s hands seemed fairly specific, but then again he’d never met Tarik, so maybe the real details had been lost.
I was getting tired again. He wrapped me in his arms and I lay against his chest. Death had always held me like this when I cried after Jack’s passing. It was comforting and made me feel safe. I was trying to feel that comfort again, but it was different this time. “The four horsemen,” I prompted. “Aside from the obvious, what does that one mean?”
“That one has a very sordid past. Unfortunately, the story you know has nothing to do with the real prophecy. The seers that translated the visions died. Their notes were then translated incorrectly—or so the story goes. No one knows how much is true. If any of it is.”
“You mean the stories you find detailed on the Internet?” I asked.
“Yes, those horsemen stories have nothing to do with the real prophecy.”
“And the real details were lost?” I asked, thinking that sounded very convenient. “But Raven is war, isn’t she?” Thinking of the painting. I sat up. The painting. “Raven didn’t kill me—Cinnamon killed me, but that isn’t how it was supposed to happen.”
His body stiffened. I pulled away. His brow was furrowed as if he was confused.
“Kane said only one of the four could kill another. Cinnamon stabbed me, not Raven. So, don’t you see, if I actually die, then I’m not the girl—but then Raven isn’t either, because she didn’t kill me—the prophecies would be over, right?”
“Four girls exist in this time?” he asked, ignoring my revelation.
“Yes, but since Raven didn’t kill me,” I said again, “she can’t claim whatever it is that a contender gets by winning. It would be over—or at the very least there’d only be three in this time now, not four—because I’d no longer be a contender.”
“Not necessarily.”
Why would he think that? Kane was fairly clear—but it didn’t seem like any one person knew all the details. I mentally scanned the prophecies. “How then? Do you think this has something to do with the Revenant curse—I mean prophecy?”
He chuckled. “Did Kane call you the Revenant when he found out about your blood?”
I nodded, although I didn’t think Kane actually meant I was the revenant.
“I could see how he might think that,” Death said, looking away as if considering something. A moment later, he continued, “the Revenant prophecy states: ‘If war prevails, the torque of time changes hands, and the sacrificed child isn’t saved. The Revenant will be reborn.’”
I tilted my head to look up at him. “No, that’s not it.”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
I settled back against his chest. “That’s not the prophecy. It’s or, not and. If war prevails, the torque of time changes hands, or the sacrificed child isn’t saved. Of course, I think one is already out—that is if I’m the sacrificed child, but if Raven as war is somehow considered the winner, then—”
I stopped talking when I felt Death’s chest rise and fall erratically. He started laughing before I could ask what was wrong. “Finally,” he said between gasps.
I sat up and turned to stare at him. Golden fire danced in his eyes. I pushed at his chest. He didn’t let go.
“What do you mean? Finally?” I asked.
He smiled, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “To think, all these years I thought I needed all three. You are very clever, Claire. Thank you, for your excellent assistance.”
“You want the Revenant to be reborn?” I blurted, trying to understand what he was talking about.
He chuckled. “Yes. I’ve tried for years to track down that damn advisor. He was the only one that would know where the torque was hidden. But now I don’t need it.”
His eyes sparkled with flames of gold. “Jayne will be reborn. She is the Revenant.”
I pushed away, struggling out of his hold. “You’re crazy. Were you preventing them from saving me so Raven could win?”
“They don’t have the power to save you. I do of course, but let’s just say that I want the Revenant to return. I needed war to prevail. I thought it would just be the first link, but now”—he laughed—“now it’s going to be over. I’ll have her back, and you’ll be the vessel.”
“Hell, no,” I said, backing away from him.
“I’m going to preserve your body. Jayne will need it when she returns.”
I backed up, shaking my head. “You bastard.” I held out my hands and willed hellfire into my palms. Nothing happened.
He chuckled. “You have no power in my presence.”
“Fuck you,” I said. “Raven doesn’t win if I die like this—so you lose.”
His face went ashen. I might be bluffing, but he hadn’t even known the real prophecy, so he couldn’t know for sure she’d get credit for the kill.
I wobbled on my feet, but I wouldn’t just lie down and die. My heart raced, I felt Thanos through our bond. I closed my eyes and connected with him—the one person I could find even if I were dead. It was faint, but the line snapped and I slipped back to him quickly. I heard Death curse as I blinked away.
~#~
I screamed as I opened my eyes. Thanos and Omar reared back, their mouths gaping in shock. Thanos clutched my hand tigh
tly.
I looked around. I was in a room I didn’t recognize, and Omar was here. I felt the warmth of the pendent at my neck and the thrum of my realm all around me. I was back in the fourth realm.
“You’re alive,” Thanos said, then kissed me.
“No,” I said, in a whisper. “The poison. It’s killing me. I need someone to remove it, then I can heal myself.”
The poison felt like my own personal kryptonite. It trapped my power, killing me from the inside.
Thanos looked up at Omar, hopeful. Omar shook his head. “The royals won’t leave the museum. If Claire leaves this realm in her weakened state, she’ll die before she reaches them.”
“How do you know they won’t leave?” I asked, because according to him he was trapped here like the others.
“We’ve had quite a few more join since you left. We have options for communication now. Transport is still limited.”
A tear ran down Thanos’s cheeks. “I will kill her for you, I swear it.”
“No, stay away from Raven,” I said, my words slurring together. “Don’t sacrifice yourself.”
I sensed his anger building. I squeezed his hand reassuringly. He brought my palm to his lips.
My wrist started to tingle. At first I thought it was something Thanos was doing, but he too seemed surprised by it. He pulled my hand away, staring at it.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, just as a sharp pain ran across the lines at my wrist.
He dropped my hand as if I’d burned him. I looked down. The final line was exactly three-quarters full—the one hour mark.
I laughed, then screamed as the burning sensation ran through my entire body. I bowed off the bed as I felt the poison being burned from me. White wisps of energy covered me the moment it was gone. They swirled around me, snaking in and out of the hole in my gut. The skin pulled together and mended itself, bringing me back to full strength.
Hellfire coalesced in my hands, but I reined it in, starting the feedback cycle that let me contain it. A few deep breaths later, the energy fell away, absorbed by the realm.
“What the hell was that?” Omar blurted.
I laughed as I pushed myself up to a sitting position. “Mab’s idea of a little something extra.”
Thanos filled a cup of water by the table. He handed it to me. “Here, drink this.”
I downed the contents.
As soon as I’d returned the cup to the table, he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me close. Oh God it felt so right to be in his arms. “I love you,” he said, kissing my face, not taking his hands off of me.
Omar cleared his throat. “We’re running out of time,” he announced.
Thanos snarled at him. I pulled his face back to mine and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Omar stepped out of the room, muttering something about ten minutes and the end of the world.
I was still covered in my own blood, and Thanos, dressed as he was, still looked like Raven’s puppet, but I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to show him how much I loved him. I also wanted to rid myself of any lingering Death vibes and I knew just how to do that.
I snapped my fingers and had us naked and clean, with fresh sheets put on the bed, as the door clicked shut behind Omar.
“Are you sure?” Thanos asked. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“We have ten minutes,” I said, pulling him in for another kiss. “Then we’ll go kill her.”
His jaw clenched. He rested his forehead on mine. “She will die, they all will.”
“No,” I said, pulling back to look at him. “I have to kill her, but the others must live. I’ll die if they don’t.”
His anger raged at the thought.
“I can’t let you go with me if you can’t control yourself.” After a second thought, I added, “it’s best if you stay here. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
His left eyebrow raised in what I could only describe as an are-you-fucking-kidding-me look. “I will not stay behind while my beloved goes to war,” he said, tracing his hand down my side.
I felt his conviction—at least that’s what I’d call it. There would be nothing I could say that would get him to remain here. “Fine, but you can’t kill them. And I must be the one to kill Raven.”
“Fine, but I will hurt them without mercy.”
“I’m okay with that plan,” I said, pulling him back to me.
~#~
We found Omar in the kitchen of the house I’d been brought to by Thanos after I saved him from Raven’s spell. He’d made sandwiches, which I started devouring immediately. There was also a Berry Blast protein shake, but I was already juiced enough. I didn’t want to add that power into the mix.
“We’re both going back,” I said between bites. “She has to be stopped.”
“I’ll assist,” Omar announced.
“Yeah, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t know who I can trust, and I’m not willing to risk it by bringing you.”
Omar’s raised his eyebrows. He looked offended.
I didn’t care. “I’m not trusting anyone with knowledge of the prophecies. Deal with it.”
He bowed his head. I rolled my eyes when he said, “Yes, my queen.”
Thanos and I had magically changed our clothes. We were both dressed in desert camo and steel-toed shit-kickers. It was a little like Combat Ken and Barbie, but capris and sneakers weren’t going to cut it. I touched the pendant at my neck. I wasn’t sure I needed it anymore, but it gave me comfort to have it. It was once again warm to the touch now that I was back in the fourth realm.
I was amazed at how much the fourth realm had changed. This wasn’t exactly a palace—not that I planned to live in one of those—but it was a nice house with plenty of comforts.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“I know someone who might be able to help,” Omar said. “That should be her now.”
“Was I not clear about the no trusting anyone statement?”
“She will not accompany you, only provide you with provisions—weapons. At least I assume you’ll want those?” he said, with a slight condescending tone.
I instantly flashed a ball of hellfire in my palm. “I’m probably covered, but I’d hate to offend any of my loyal subjects, so please bring her in.”
He inclined his head, then left to answer the door. I let the sphere dissipate as Thanos put his arm around my waist. He pulled me close. “I don’t sense deception in him,” he whispered into my ear.
“I’ve been reading people wrong lately. Let’s just say I’m a little gun shy about trusting people right now,” I said, squeezing his arm.
He kissed the top of my head. His feelings were so raw they rolled off him in waves.
“Could you maybe not think about that right now?” I asked, reaching back to pull his face down for a quick kiss. “We don’t have another ten minutes.”
He laughed.
I straightened when Omar cleared his throat.
“My queen, may I introduce the Lady Isla of Woodhall.”
I was surprised when the Blacksmith stepped forward, bowing in a sort of half curtsy, half awkward pose.
“Let me guess,” I drawled. “You have a special gun that will kill Raven and all you need is some of my blood.”
She smiled, tipping her head. “I do apologize for our last meeting, my queen. If I am allowed to live in your court, then I feel obligated to assist.”
I chuffed. “Was that a plea for leniency, or a pledge of allegiance? Either one was a bit poorly executed, don’t you think?”
Her smile faltered.
“I have no intention of killing you,” I said, putting her mind at ease, “but we’ll talk later—assuming I live of course—about why you’re really here.”
“As you wish, my queen.” She stepped up to the counter, unrolling a canvas bag with a variety of small weapons—three daggers, something that resembled an ice pick, and a couple of Chinese throwing stars. “She’s h
uman. Any of these will do.”
“Close combat, and single use—how exactly will that help?” I asked.
Pulling one dagger from the set, she secured it to the holster at her waist. Before I could say anything, she manifested one in her hand—just as Kane had done—and threw it at my head.
Omar and Thanos both reacted a second too late. Luckily I held it suspended a foot from its target—the center of my forehead. I tossed the dagger aside and shoved Isla against the wall with my will.
“If you couldn’t stop that dagger,” she said, gasping for breath, “you weren’t going to make it.”
She had a point, but I didn’t trust her. I selected one of the other daggers. It looked just like the blade Kane had used. I slipped it into the holster at my belt. With one thought I conjured a replica, throwing it at Isla without pause. She didn’t flinch as it thunked into the wall at her head.
“I’ll detain her, my queen,” Omar said.
“Don’t bother.” Waving my hand, I released her. “I’ll deal with her when we return.”
“As you wish, my queen.”
Chapter 40
The town of East Hareington had been destroyed—ground to chunks of rubble. Only the castle stood amidst the debris.
“Did they do this?” Thanos asked.
I nodded. “Yes, they’re very powerful when they work together.”
A red stain coated the ground at my feet—my blood, I realized. We were standing in the place where Cinnamon had killed me.
The townspeople were gone. There was nothing to distract me this time. If only I could finish the job of wiping out East Hareington and every remaining soul here, but I preferred to walk away from this alive—and not as some reincarnated version of Jayne. I kept my senses open for Death. The last thing I needed was him skulking around helping Raven. She’d only win if she killed me herself, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Raven,” I yelled, sending out a burst of power with my voice. “I’ve come to end you.”
The caw of more than one bird echoed as several crows took flight. A blood curdling shriek of fury followed.
“Get ready,” I said, “and don’t kill them.” I rubbed Gizelle’s mark on my arm. It thrummed with a constant reminder.