by HD Smith
“I will maim—but leave them alive.”
“Good enough,” I said, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “Here they come.”
They rounded the corner onto what was left of the town’s main street. Their entrance was worthy of a Hollywood slow-mo, where all the ultra-cool kids swagger and strut to perfection.
Raven’s cat suit was now red—perhaps as an homage to her blood-stained hands, or maybe the prophecy was driving her to her fate as the red horseman. She was now flanked by Sage and Sorrel, who were similarly decked out in red combat gear. Cinnamon and Mace wore black.
The Cobra Command combat squad stopped several yards away from us. Raven scowled at Thanos. I touched his arm and mouthed, “Mine, bitch.”
Her face reddened. “You should be dead,” she whined.
I shrugged. “Seems fate has other plans for me.”
Ignoring me, she turned to Thanos. “Hello, Thanos.” The words of his name held power. I sensed it as the wave pushed past me and slammed into him. “Do be a dear and kill Claire for me,” she crooned.
“Go screw yourself, little girl,” Thanos said, squeezing my hand.
“Mine,” I mouthed.
Her eyes narrowed. “Not for long. The white horse dies.”
I laughed. “You’re so caught up in your own story, you can’t see the truth. You fucked up when you tried to have Cinnamon kill me. She’s not one of us. War will not prevail.”
“You’re a fool,” she said, “but I’ll still win in the end. Have you not considered that I know exactly what I’m doing?”
“We’ll see,” I said, not sure what to make of her warning.
“Divide and conquer,” she commanded.
Cinnamon and Mace stepped forward, then turned to separate.
I released Thanos’s hand. “Don’t kill him,” I reminded.
He nodded, before heading straight at Mace.
“Cinnamon,” I said, calling her out. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to forgive and forget. You understand, I hope.”
She didn’t respond. Her eyes were black and her face showed no emotion. If my own brief experience was the norm, she had no idea what was happening. Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t pissed. I threw my will at her, just a sample to see what she could do. She stumbled, but still managed to swat it away.
Lightning fast, she used her will to gather up one the larger chunks of rubble. I deflected it and threw a second, more powerful attack her way.
The force sent Cinnamon spinning into the nearest pile of concrete bricks and splintered wood. She jumped back to her feet, not bothering to dust herself off. Pulling ten large concrete chunks out of the debris around us, she hurled them toward me.
These weren’t daggers, but the idea was the same. I caught them all in the air, freezing them for a moment, before flinging half back at Cinnamon and the other half toward Raven and the twins.
Caught off guard, Cinnamon deflected three of the five, but two chunks slammed into her, knocking her off her feet. She didn’t immediately get back up. Gizelle’s mark on my arm thrummed, but didn’t react with harsh pain—so Cinnamon must still be breathing.
My head whipped around as a loud shriek pierced the air. Sage was covering Raven, but Sorrel was down.
“Get up,” Raven screamed at him.
A loud boom sounded off to my right. Thanos and Mace were going at it, both appearing equally matched. I wanted to help him, but weakening Mace would just make him an easy target. I just needed Thanos to keep him busy—and alive.
“Stop her,” Raven screamed.
I turned as the ground started vibrating. Sage held his hands out, lifting hundreds of tiny pebbles into the air and slinging them at me. Caught off guard by the avalanche of rubble flying toward me, I let loose hellfire as if I had no control of it, missing most of the projectiles in the process.
White wisps flared out in all directions, protecting me from the brunt of the attack. I regained control moments later and swatted them away. Unfortunately, not before another deluge of rocks were in flight. I ducked as a pulse of energy erupted from my core, throwing a protective shield around me. The little rocks ricocheted off the dome. With a flick of my wrist, I sent them hurtling back toward Sage and Raven.
“Protect me!” she shrieked.
Sage threw a shield around her, leaving himself exposed. The storm of pebbles hit him from all sides. He held on long enough to save her from the attack, but the effort cost him. He lay slumped to the ground at her feet.
A twinge of pain ran across Gizelle’s mark. Crap, I have to be more careful.
“You’re next,” I said, pointing at Raven.
She glanced over at Mace and smiled. “Him first,” she mouthed.
I turned to look. Thanos was lying on the ground, unconscious. Sage was getting to his feet, but Gizelle’s mark was still throbbing. “Oh, shit. No, no, no. Not Thanos,” I screamed, just as a chunk of concrete slammed into my back, knocking me flat.
I jumped back to my feet, looking for the culprit.
Where’s Mace?
Raven was headed for Thanos, Sage quick on her heels. The poisoned short sword was clutched in his hand.
“Stay away from him, you bitch,” I shouted, staggering forward, when another blow hit me from behind.
I spun around. Mace was tossing a softball-sized chuck of concrete in his hand as if we were about to play ball. I was tired of screwing around.
I threw my will, intending to knock him unconscious. He deflected it, easily.
“What the fuck?”
Cinnamon had said he was stronger. I’d given him back more of his own blood, but that shouldn’t have changed him this much. Maybe it was Jayne’s blood. I’d cut my finger. It mixed with his before it sank into the stone, but that wouldn’t make him stronger than me.
I threw my will at his legs, knocking them out from under him. I conjured a dagger and threw it. I couldn’t kill him, but I had to slow him down. He deflected it easily, jumping back up as if nothing could hurt him. Frustrated, I conjured fifty daggers, and lifted ten chunks of concrete. I was done playing fair. He just had to survive, not walk away unscathed.
A sharp pain lanced across Gizelle’s mark. I tossed everything at Mace, then bolted to intercept Raven.
Raven was crouched beside Thanos. “No,” I screamed, “You can’t have him.”
From the corner of my eye I spotted Cinnamon. She was back on her feet, tossing a boulder at my head. I shot hellfire from my palms, disintegrating it.
Sage handed Raven the sword, then lifted Thanos’s up by the hair. She smirked at me as she ran him through.
Gizelle’s mark flared to life.
“No!” I screamed, sending out dozens of conjured daggers.
If I was going to die, I was taking Raven with me.
Chapter 41
Sage deflected all but one of the knives conjured from Isla’s weapon. I almost tripped as the final dagger sunk deep into Raven’s leg. She screamed as a jolt of fire hit me in an almost identical spot—as if I’d also been struck.
Sorrel, finally back from his nap, caught her as she started to fall. He and Sage retreated just as I reached Thanos.
I dropped to my knees beside him.
“No, don’t die,” I sobbed, pulling him into my arms. I held him close and felt his heartbeat slowing. His breathing was shallow, and Gizelle’s mark was burning with fire. He was dying. “Thanos,” I shouted, “wake up!”
Sensing the others, I looked up. Mace was limping, but back on his feet. He and Cinnamon were headed my way. They weren’t going to give up. Thanos was dying in my arms and they were still trying to kill me.
As Gizelle’s warning intensified, I considered leveling Purgatory. Why let any of them live? Thanos was dying, and I was next. “Fuck that.”
I reached up and ripped the pendant off my neck.
“Stop,” I whispered, as wave of pure energy erupted from my core, and everything...stopped.
Cinnamon and Mace were f
rozen in their tracks. Sage and Sorrel were statues, crouched over Raven, trying to apply pressure to her wound.
Nothing—not even the wind—was moving.
I looked down when I heard a faint gasp from Thanos. He was still with me, barely breathing but alive.
I put my hand over his chest.
“Heal,” I said, feeding his body with the power of all realms.
He gasped, taking in a sudden breath as the magic hit him. Electric currents swirled around his body, repairing the damage and bringing him back to me.
He started to move. I held him tighter. I put my hand on his face. His warm blue irises flashed green for a second, then glowed their normal hue.
He couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t protect him while handling the others.
“You must go, now,” I said with a shaky voice. “Wait for me at the museum. I’ll be with you soon.” Or dead, I thought, but he didn’t need to know that.
His brow furrowed. Before he could argue with me, I pulled him in for a kiss.
“You must,” I said.
He circled his arms around me, holding me for a long minute. I melted into him, as if we had all the time in the world. “I stopped the world for you babe, but you’ve got to go before I let it loose.”
“No,” he pleaded. “You can’t let it end like this. Just stop them, and finish her. They’ll stop when she’s dead.”
“You don’t know that, and I don’t think I can now. I’ve let the power out of its box.”
“You tamed it. You don’t need the pendant. You control it now.”
The roil at my core felt warm as it churned with power. “I want more,” I said, with the desperate need of a junky.
“Then take it, but put them on ice and sort her out first,” he said with a cheeky grin.
I smiled as he closed my hand around the pendant.
“You can get to the museum?” I asked.
“Yes,” he nodded. “I know a way.”
“Go now, so I know you’re safe.”
He kissed me, then disappeared.
I stood and looked at the frozen world around me. A small tug at my core was the only indication that what I was doing should be impossible. I held up the pendant. I didn’t need it to be in control, but it belonged to me now. I secured the pendant around my neck. Now it was time to finish this.
“Go,” I said, and like that, the world started as if it had never stopped.
I picked Cinnamon and Mace up with my will, ignoring their struggles. I pictured them wrapped in a bubble of protection. Instantly a circle snapped around them. It was like an inside-out protection spell. The twins were next.
Raven was propped against a large pile of rubble. She looked pale and my leg was hurting as if I’d been stabbed. The twins were trying to save her, but she was bleeding out fast.
“Stop the bleeding!” she screamed, her voice high-pitched and frantic.
I picked up the twins, trapping them as I had Cinnamon and Mace. Moving them behind me with the others, I stood in front of Raven.
“It didn’t have to be this way,” I said.
She barked out a laugh. “When Mab has finished with you,” she hissed, “you will understand that this is the only way it could have been.”
I narrowed my eyes. Mab was a bitch, and she had certainly screwed with the girl, but Raven wasn’t innocent. “You started this war.”
“Jayne started the war. We are just pawns in this stupid game.”
I thought of the prophecies. Raven wasn’t wrong, but she’d gone about it the wrong way. “You could have used your powers to hide.”
She cackled. “You are a fool.” She grunted in pain. I clutched my leg, unable to hide the shared agony.
“You felt that?” she asked.
I nodded.
Smiling, she removed her hand from the wound, letting the blood flow. “Then I’m already dead. Don’t let her win,” she said, her voice faint. “And for what it’s worth, thanks for giving me a name. No one else ever bothered.” She leaned her head back against the bricks, her eyes drooping and unfocused. She gasped for breath as a tingle of power ran across my wrist. The third line was filled.
“Happy Birthday,” I whispered, as she exhaled her last breath.
I clutched my leg, screaming. The pain flared so intense it broke my concentration. I heard several thunks as the protection bubbles burst.
Staggering to my feet, I whirled around to face the quads. They stood there, black-eyed, staring at me—waiting.
I looked back at Raven, and gasped when I realized I knew her real name.
Lillian Grace Edwards, Gracie, Raven, Pumpkin.
“Fuck. Me.” I was now the Name Caller.
Chapter 42
Before I could consider my options—as in decide where the hell I was going to run—We were whisked away to the Great Museum. I expected all hell to break loose, but a quiet calm blanketed everything.
The eeriness unnerved me. After we arrived, it took me a second to realize that no one here was moving, and almost everyone except Ronin had eyes the color of night.
I spun around, looking for the one that brought us here.
“Death,” I called, “show yourself.”
A wicked laugh echoed around the room. I sensed him, his many names coming to my lips the moment I saw him. “Amica mea, my love,” I said, the spell rolling off my tongue before I could think better of it.
He closed his eyes in mock ecstasy as the spell fell over him. “Ahh,” he moaned before opening his golden eyes and winking at me. “You’ve already given me the cure, my sweet. That trick won’t work on me now.”
I thought back to the garden. He was right. I’d felt the static shock when I caressed his face. My lips pressed into a hard line.
“Oh, don’t be so pouty, Claire. You’ve done the deed, now you have her gift. Bravo,” he said, clapping.
“What do you want?”
“Well, now that War is off the table,” he said, glancing down at Raven. “I guess we’ll have to focus on the next link in the chain, so to speak. I want that torque, and you know where it is.”
I barked out a laugh. “Like I told you before, I have no clue where it is. He let me find him. It’s not like I have a map.”
Death sighed. He strolled around the room as if he were shopping in a high end boutique. He stopped in front of Cinnamon. He pushed her hair back over her shoulder, as if he were straightening a mannequin. Quicker than I could move, he had his hand around her neck, squeezing the life from her.
Gizelle’s mark went crazy. “Stop,” I yelled, trying to throw my will at him.
He batted it away as if I were powerless. “I want that torque Claire, and you’re going to get it for me.”
“It’s not that simple,” I said through clenched teeth. The spell he had over this place was stifling my power.
“Then you’ll let the next one win,” he said, tightening his hold around Cinnamon’s neck, “or I’ll come back and rip the souls from their bodies.”
With that final threat, he disappeared, taking his dampening spell with him.
I sucked in a breath, as though Gizelle’s spell had been strangling me.
“What’s going on?” Ronin asked, startling me back to reality.
“Shit,” I cursed, when I remembered everyone else was trapped by Raven’s spell.
“No one will remember anything for the next thirty seconds,” I announced, then quickly darted around the room giving everyone with black eyes the cure.
There was probably some way to turn it off, but I couldn’t waste time figuring that out. Plus, curing the big three was probably the only thing that would save my life if they ever discovered my secret.
Ronin stared at me as everyone started waking. I shrugged and mouthed, “Complicated.” As our eyes met, his names touched my tongue. I clamped my mouth shut, not wanting to accidentally spell him. I freaked when I translated the final one. Principis Tempore—the Prince of Time.
I had no time to
ponder this, because as soon as Mab awoke, she tossed me into the farthest wall, putting the most distance possible between me and Thanos. I jumped to my feet, hellfire forming in my palms, but she ignored me, going directly to her son’s side.
The quads wore fixed expressions, darting looks at each other, as if unsure of why they’d been brought here. Cinnamon rubbed her neck where Death had choked her, but considering they’d all been in a fight recently, I was sure they had more than one bump or bruise they couldn’t explain. She glared at Mace, as if he was the obvious reason they were here. He shook his head.
Harry stalked forward the minute he saw me. I formed a line of hellfire between us. Arrogantly, he tried to swat it away—it held.
“I didn’t ask for this, but I won’t die because of it,” I said.
The Boss put a hand on his brother’s chest, whispering something in his ear. I rolled my eyes when I sensed Quaid trying to sneak up behind me.
“Back-off, Quaid,” I said without looking.
The Boss looked up, raising one of his sculpted eyebrows. He jerked his head, and I sensed Quaid retreat.
Mab held Thanos’s face, looking into his eyes, as if trying to verify he was okay. After a moment she wiped away a tear, then turned to the group.
I wanted to pull Thanos away from her and run. There were a lot of reasons I couldn’t let that happen, the first of which was Gizelle’s curse. I had to save the quads from Mab. If I ran now, Harry and Mab would both rip apart the world looking for me. I wouldn’t be able to hide forever. And Harry hadn’t exactly needed to know where I was before. I had better control of the power now and I could probably block him, but it wasn’t worth the risk. I’d try the diplomatic approach first.
Mab was my first priority. If I couldn’t save the quads then I was dead, and none of this would matter. Since I fulfilled my end of the bargain with Mab, she owed me a favor. I’d have to use it to save them, which meant I’d have nothing else to bargain with, but at least the quads would be out of the equation. I’d have to worry about Death’s threat later. He wouldn’t do anything to the quads while I had the ability to retrieve the torque of time.