Brush of Darkness

by Allison Pang

  Well, that took care of that. She didn’t look like anything particularly magical, but with my luck she was some kind of shapeshifting dragon. My upper lip curled. Robert didn’t fuck around. It was a pretty good bet that there was someone out back too.

  A soft bleat from the floor caught my attention, and I glanced down to see the unicorn pawing at me with a tiny hoof, his nose twitching. I ground my teeth as I fought the urge to kick him across the room. One more goddamned magical thing.

  “And what the hell do you want?” His ears flattened and I realized I’d probably offended the hell out of him, but at the moment I didn’t give a shit. “I suppose you’re hungry?”

  He sighed and gave a rather good imitation of a shrug and wandered over to the fridge. “Fine,” I muttered, whipping out a bowl and some Corn Pops from the pantry. “Sorry.” I set the bowl down. “I don’t feel much like cooking.” He sniffed the golden cereal with disdain but proceeded to nibble on it anyway. “Such a trouper.”

  The phone rang and I snagged it, the unicorn forgotten. “Talk to me, Mel.”

  “We have what you want.” The muffled words choked out of the receiver.

  “Who is this?” The anger from before rushed out of me, even as my knees went weak. “Where’s Katy?” Long shot that they’d answer, assuming she was what they meant.

  “The CrossRoads. Two hours. Anyone else shows up and she’s dead.” The phone clicked off, leaving me with nothing more than a dial tone. I stared at it.

  “But I can’t . . .” Assuming I even used the Door in the garden to get to the CrossRoads, I had no idea how to navigate them, no way of getting back. No way of fighting daemons. Not to mention that I was pretty sure the CrossRoads counted as beyond the borders of Portsmyth.

  The phone trilled again. “Abby, it’s me.” Melanie’s voice sounded dark. Worried. Afraid.

  “What is it? What did you find out?” I tried to keep my own voice calm, but there was a slight hysterical edge to it that I couldn’t control. Should I tell her about the call? Would it inadvertently lead to Katy’s death if I stumbled my way through another fuckup? I bit my tongue and waited to hear Melanie’s news.

  “It’s Moira. Robert did some more investigating after he met up with . . . you.” I snorted loudly, but she ignored it. “No one knows where she is, Abby. The Fae all thought she was here, and when they found out she wasn’t . . . well, let’s just say the metaphysical shit has hit the fan.”

  “Crap. But I don’t get it. I know she’s the Protectorate and all, but why is that such a big deal to them? Can’t they just send another one?” And get me out of this forsaken Contract?

  Melanie made a sound of frustration. “Jesus, Abby, don’t you know who her mother is?”

  “Um, no. She never told me.”

  “The Queen of Elfland. Moira’s a motherfucking Faery princess. And she’s missing. And you’re the last person who probably saw her. Make sense to you now?”

  I exchanged a glance with the unicorn. “Oh, shit.”

  “Damn right, oh, shit.”

  An icy ribbon ran down my back. Robert’s actions suddenly made a horrible sort of sense. As Moira’s First, he was sure to be blamed if anything befell the Protectorate.

  “And Brystion?” I blurted the words without thinking.

  She paused, the silence stretching out for a few awkward moments. “Are you really his TouchStone?” The words were quiet and without judgment, and my inner heart thanked her.

  “Yeah, I am.” I didn’t offer up more of an explanation and she didn’t ask. The question was there, hovering over the wire between us. When I said nothing else, she sighed.

  “Well, just be careful, I guess. They’re going to be looking for answers tomorrow, and I don’t think they’ll care how they get them.”

  “That’s ridiculous. I know what I’m doing . . .” My voice trailed away as I remembered the way Brystion had seduced the eggplant woman. Remembered the first meeting with the incubus. The night at the Hallows. Was I really sure? Or was it possible that he’d been playing me from the start with the power of his seduction? And yet . . .

  The sheer desperation at the loss of his sister. The way he carried me through the CrossRoads. The protective streak that seemed to be cropping up in the form of angel-bashing and coats. Was he just after a free meal? Or a hostile takeover?

  I wiped at my forehead, thoughts whirling. The truth of it was that I really had no idea who he was or what he wanted. I glanced over at the unicorn; he was still crunching cheerfully away on the Corn Pops.

  “Only one way to find out,” I murmured.

  I wandered into the bedroom. Perhaps if things were different or less intense or less . . . needful, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. But I hated to be forced into things, and I was currently being tossed headfirst into the tiger room. With A.1. sauce for shampoo.

  “You still there, Abby?” Melanie’s tone was thick with worry. “You want me to come over?”

  I shook my head and then snorted at my own idiocy. Duh. “No, I think I’ve got it covered. Are you going to be at the Hearing tomorrow?”

  “I can be. Assuming they let me in, but I’m usually pretty good about getting strings pulled.”

  “I could definitely use the support.” I forced a smile to myself. “Never know, I might need a quick exit. I also might have a lead on Katy, but I need to work out the details.” I hesitated and then told her the rest of it, promising to call her back when I knew what I was going to do.

  I hung up the phone, suddenly desiring quiet. Too many goddamned questions and not an answer in sight. My head spun with the implications. Moira. Sonja. Katy. What was the link?

  Clearly, I owed it to Katy to try to set her free, but without a way to get there . . .

  I sighed, staring at my phone. I would have to call Melanie back. Call Robert. Call someone else. Anyone else. Failure, indeed.

  And yet, hadn’t I managed to get to the CrossRoads through my dreams last night? Admittedly, it had been Brystion’s doing, but that meant it was possible. If I could calm down enough to fall asleep, I might be able to do it.

  But weren’t you warned not to do it? I shushed my inner voice. It was the only way.

  My heart started tripping like a hamster on crack at the thought. Time for more desperate measures. I eyed the phone again. What were the chances I’d need backup?

  Pretty damn good. But who? And what was I supposed to tell them? Meet me at the CrossRoads in two hours . . . but I don’t know exactly where, and I don’t know what I’ll be doing. And, oh yeah. There’s gonna be daemons and if you show up too soon they’re going to kill my friend.

  My upper lip curled as I flipped the phone up and started texting Melanie.

  CALL ROBERT. 2 HRS. GOING 2 FIND KATY ON XROADS. ION WILL KNOW HOW 2 FIND ME. FML.

  “Time to put your money where your mouth is, incubus,” I muttered, shutting off the phone. I didn’t want any interruptions.

  I padded into the bathroom and flipped open the medicine cabinet. I’d had a lot of trouble sleeping after my accident, nightmares notwithstanding. Pain had become a rather intimate friend. I didn’t particularly like taking drugs, but I just couldn’t see any other way. My fingers expertly flipped over the little orange vials as I mouthed the names. Percocet. Vicodin. Oxycontin. Valium. Alavert. Flexeril. Neurontin.

  I hadn’t taken any of the painkillers in quite a while, and I avoided the Alavert on pure stubbornness, but maybe the Valium would do. I rolled the vial between my fingers for a moment and debated how many to take. I didn’t want to put myself completely under. Too far and I had the feeling I’d be so out of it I wouldn’t reach the Dreaming at all. Maybe just half a pill.

  A warning bleat sounded softly by the foot of the door. “And what do you want?” The unicorn’s vivid blue eyes sparkled as he imperceptibly shook his head. “What? I can’t take something to help me sleep?” He tapped his horn against the doorjamb. “You have a better idea?” This time he made a little whinny tha
t sounded surprisingly like Come on, stupid.

  I set the drugs back on the counter. “This had better work, whatever it is.” He tossed his head, the silvery-white mane rippling down his neck. His hooves clipped the floor as he trotted over to the bed. With a leap that belied his tiny size, the unicorn landed gracefully on the mattress. Turning toward me, he pawed at the blankets, his horn pointing toward the pillow. I raised a brow. “If you’re bent on seducing me, there are probably better ways of going about it.”

  He shot me a withering look, the bleat becoming more insistent. “Fine, but if I wake up to you humping my hip, you and I are going to have words, understand?” He exhaled in exasperation as I crawled into bed and propped my chin on my arm. “Okay, now what? I have to tell you, I’m really not feeling much like sleep.”

  He paid no mind to my words but proceeded to turn about in a little circle, making a nest in the sheets beside me. The unicorn had a woodsy smell, like young pine and cedar, and fresh dew on newly blooming violets. On instinct my hands reached forward to stroke his back. He stiffened, but then sighed, muscles going limp as he relaxed against me. A delicate rumble emanated from his chest and I blinked.

  “Unicorns don’t purr, you know.” Of course, my knowledge of unicorns seemed to be a bit off these days. I was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to frolic in lingerie either, but shows how much I know. The purring grew louder, filling my ears like thunder, but it was oddly soothing.

  “So soft,” I murmured, my breathing matching the rhythmic sound. “So . . . soft . . .”

  My blood slid sluggish and shadowed, a feathered semblance of itself tickling my veins. My fingers tingled and my toes ached, and all around me the air was thick and misted, coating my lungs like black brandy. I was falling, floating away in an empty sea of darkness.

  The Dreaming.

  Were those shadows around me? Finned and fierce with dead doll eyes and razor-wire teeth?

  I was surrounded by corpse-white bellies and dead flesh hanging from gobbling mouths. My nightmares, given shape once again. Even the unicorn couldn’t surpass them, it would seem; however, he had managed my slumber.

  No island this time, no undersea shelf to hide behind. The predators loomed from the void. Where was my Heart? Confusion reigned over the terror that tightened my throat. Something brushed by my head, almost like a caress. Biting down a strangled scream, I wriggled away, limbs struggling like a tadpole in amber. No direction now but down . . .

  A glimmer caught my eye, a river of light flowing long and narrow far below me. I thrust toward it, breaking through a scattering of gossamer webs clinging to my hair like tiny fingers. My nightmares receded, the stream swiftly grew larger, as I descended. I wasn’t quite falling and wasn’t quite floating—more like a gentle drift. Going down the rabbit hole. Alice would have nothing on this. It was a road, I realized a few moments later, set with silver and granite paving stones.

  My naked feet landed carefully on the path, and a surge of warmth shot up into my legs, stirring up dust motes of silver sparkle.

  “Well, hell,” I breathed, looking up at the heedless dark of the sky.

  I’d done it.

  The strange euphoria quickly began to wear off as I peered into the blackness around me. Nothing. It was anticlimactic, at best.

  “Brystion?” His name trembled off my lips, shivering away as though it didn’t want to break the silence. It was stupid, I know, since if things went the way they were supposed to, he wouldn’t be here at all.

  With a sigh, I stumbled forward, ignoring a tiny wave of vertigo. I didn’t know how to get to my Heart, but one thing was certain—I wasn’t going to get anywhere if I just stood like a lump. On the other hand, I was probably walking into a trap, so either way I was screwed. For a moment I regretted not bringing a weapon, but somehow I doubted I would have been able to.

  Something I’d have to ask Brystion later.

  The road curved a bit, but there was no landscaping that I could see. Only the fog of shadows, oppressive and disconcerting.

  Keep calm, Abby . . . and don’t leave the road.

  “Fat chance,” I said aloud. The road twisted again and then it seemed to split, but as I got closer I realized it was a four-way intersection. An actual crossroads.

  “Damn.” I cursed myself for keeping my eyes shut last time I was here. Not that it would have helped much. For all I knew there were crossroads like this all over the place.

  I stared out into the darkness, wondering how I was going to find Katy’s captors. Maybe they would just find me.

  I passed through two more intersections, each time letting the feeling of the road beneath my feet choose my path. The cobbles were getting warmer now and, strangely enough, I saw signs of life. Small tufts of silver grass lined the road, and in the distance I saw the creeping edges of vines and thorn bushes, hedgerows and thickets. A green snail with a burnished shell oozed its way over a damp pile of leaves. I squatted over it for a closer look, jumping back when it looked up, eye stalks wavering furiously. “Bluebells forever,” it muttered.

  “Curiouser and curiouser,” I retorted, curling my upper lip at it. “All I need now is a damn Cheshire cat.” The snail ignored me and I continued on my way.

  It was growing lighter, but it wasn’t quite sunlight and it wasn’t really moonlight either. Twilight?

  I looked down. Dirt. “What the hell?” I turned around, but the road stopped abruptly, leaving me standing on warm earth, the silver grass tickling the bottoms of my feet. Now what? Brystion had said not to leave the CrossRoads, but he didn’t say anything about what you were supposed to do if they just ended.

  I peered into the woods, but there was nothing to indicate which way to go. Soft sighs rippled from the underbrush, echoed by crackling leaves. Moist things grew beneath the hedgerows, their scents damp and earthy.

  Should I try to go back? Would I end up in “fair elfland” if I pressed forward? Or Heaven? Or someplace much, much worse?

  “Fuck it.” No one ever got anywhere by going backward. And even if I did go back, I had no idea how to return to the mortal world. I glanced at my watch, not surprised to see it had stopped. No way of knowing how long I’d been wandering around, then. No way of knowing when my backup was going to be here. An uneasy tingle in my arms made me rub my elbows.

  “Not one of your brighter ideas,” I finally admitted to myself.

  I left the road, following the pressed trails of what looked like deer tracks, switchbacking around the gentle slope of the hillside. There were actual trees now—slender birch, the white bark gleaming in the silver light, and delicate ash saplings. At least the scenery had changed.

  There was another copse of trees up ahead, a quiet ring of plant life and tiny silver mushrooms. “Hello?” I said it louder this time.

  “You have such delicious dreams,” a husky voice whispered in my ear. My eyes snapped open, and I whirled around. Or I tried to. My heart slammed against my rib cage. Not Brystion. So totally not Brystion.

  “You!” I instantly recognized the unicorn-obsessed daemon from the Marketplace.

  “Oh, yes.” His smile became broader, pointy teeth gleaming. “Now who’s disappointed?” He drew me in tighter to him. “So tasty,” he crooned. “And so alone. I’m going to devour you into little pieces, but your soul, I think, I will save. Would you like that? I’ll wear it like a skin upon my back.”

  “Let her go, Hzule.” Another voice rumbled out of the darkness. The trees parted to reveal three more daemons, all scales and horns and Versace.

  And teeth. A shitload of teeth. A small figure was clutched between them, her blond hair hanging over her face.

  “Let. Go.” I croaked the words and tried to move, but my feet were wedged in molasses.

  “Which one?” Hzule snorted, flicking his hands out so I stumbled to my knees. I scrambled away from him.

  “What have you done to her?” I got to my feet as Katy raised a tear-streaked face to me. Terrified, but at least not
injured that I could see. “Let her go,” I said, my confidence growing.

  The one who had spoken before curled his lip at me as he puffed on a swiftly burning cigarette. “A trade. You for her.”

  I had suspected as much, but that didn’t stop my stomach from clenching at the thought. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “So we can get paid. It’s nothing personal.”

  Hzule grunted something under his breath and I shot him a nasty look. “For most of you, maybe.” I approached the daemons who held Katy, a purple welt blooming over her cheek. I bit my lip. “How awesome of you to beat a child.”

  “She put up a fight,” Cigarette said, flicking his ash at me. “I assume we can expect better from you?”

  My eyes narrowed. I needed to stall for time. Pissing them off might work splendidly. “Guess that all depends on your definition of ‘better.’ I’m curious though. Why did you take her?” I jabbed a thumb at Hzule. “After all, he already knew what I looked like.”

  “I was the lookout,” Hzule said, shooting daggers at Cigarette. “Though if I’d been allowed to run point, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  Cigarette turned a darker shade of viridian. “She had on the name tag, asshole. He told us she wore a name tag.”

  I cocked my head to the side, my interest piqued.

  Hzule snorted before I could say anything. “And I told you she had pink hair, dumbass.”

  “I’m color-blind.”

  I sidled closer to the solo daemon that was now holding Katy. He rolled his eyes at me. Clearly this wasn’t an unusual occurrence, then. I filed away that information for later. “So, if I come with you, what happens to her?”

  “We’ll let her go. We’ll have to rip out her tongue, of course, so she can’t spill the beans, but the rest of her will be unharmed. Or at least no more than she already is.”