by J. L. Murray
“Of course he is. Why else would I bring you here?”
“You think you're my sister,” I said.
“I know you're my sister,” she said. “Everyone kept it a secret. But I can see secrets. They glow in the mind like flashing red lights. I took over the mind of a prison guard and told Sasha everything. He was going to kill everyone in The Blood. And everyone who knew what they did.”
“Judge Shandler?” I said.
“The wife of Rodney Shandler. She put Sasha away as a favor to The Blood.”
“What about Hugh Perry?” The former police commissioner had also had his heart ripped from his chest. Perry had been my least favorite person in the world, but I wouldn't have wished his fate on anyone. It was a bad way to go.
“Perry hated the Slobodians so much it tore him apart,” she said. “He was working with The Blood to make stricter laws for people like us. Abnormals. That's what they call us, isn't it? He saw me as nothing more than a scientific experiment. He didn't think I was a real person. He knew about me and he didn't help. He had to be punished.”
“The warden?” I said. “Jeffries? What did he do?”
“He was blackmailing my mother. He knew about me. When The Blood wouldn't allow him entry in their ranks, he extorted money from her. I was just a piece of useful information for him. Something to sell.”
“So your mother–”
“Nora Delaney,” she said. “Mayor, future congresswoman, probably president someday. If she had lived, there's no telling where The Blood could have placed her. And the only price was one small child. A small thing, really, if she thought about it the right way.”
I felt my stomach churning. “Jesus,” I said.
“You're not feeling well, sister,” said Natalie.
“The room felt very close, the smell of sickness overpowering. “I just...how could this happen?”
“Is it so shocking to you?” she said. “You knew about Sasha's relationship with my mother, didn't you?”
“Yeah, I knew,” I said. “I just never thought–”
“No one likes to think of these things. But here I am. I know you think I'm crazy, but it's okay. Maybe I am.”
“Whatever you are, they made you this way, didn't they?” I said. “They really did all this to you?”
“Yes,” she said. “And I can never leave.”
“But I can take you away,” I said. “You said The Blood are afraid of me. You don't have to stay. You can come with me.”
Natalie sighed. “It's not that simple. If you move Danny, he might die.” She held up her arm so the I.V. tube jiggled. “We're connected, you see.”
“But I can help you. Maybe we can wean you off the angelwine. You don't need the angel.”
“Kindness,” she said. “I'd forgotten how kind you were. You try so hard to be strong, Niki. You don't always have to be tough.” She began to rock in her chair, the rocker creaking with every movement. “You can't help me, though,” she said. “My body has stopped producing its own blood. They've brought doctors in and I've looked into their heads. They never tell me the truth, but I can see it. My body needs the blood. And human blood is toxic to me. They tried that, too. One of them thought that I wasn't even human anymore. The angel blood is keeping me alive. Until there is no angel.”
I walked toward her, until I was in the shadows with her. The chair stopped creaking as she stopped rocking. I saw a small smile appear on her face. I knelt down next to her and took her hand. It was not as hot as Sam's but still almost feverishly warm. “I know someone,” I said. “Maybe he can help you. He healed me when I got shot. An angel.”
“I'll see Sam soon enough, sister,” she said. “But not today.”
“You know who he is.”
“Samael?” She frowned. “Yes. But you don't. All this time, and you still won't admit it.”
“Admit what?” I said. “No one will tell me.”
“People avoid telling you,” she said. “But you don't ask again. You don't push to know because you know what he is. You know, Niki.”
“He's an angel,” I said. “He told me.” I felt tears welling up.
She ducked her head so our faces were almost touching. “Then why does it feel like it's wrong?” she whispered. “Why are you drawn to him? Why does your friend over there, a man that hides his feelings so well, force you to say you'll stay away? What could be so bad about this man? I think you know.”
“I don't,” I said. “He's just a man.”
“No,” said Natalie. “He's not. Tell me what he is, sister.”
Samael. I remembered Naz's name for him: Death-Man. I thought of everything he had ever said or done. I am something of a free agent, he had said. I put my hand over my mouth, stifling a gasping sob. My lungs felt like they couldn't take in air. I was numb, hollow. Gage's wife said that someone had been after her, to help her cross over. I didn't say it out loud; I couldn't. But the thought screamed in my head, and it was enough. Death, Death, Death, came the thought, over and over, like the beating of a drum. Natalie nodded and her sightless eyes seemed to bore into me. Her head suddenly cocked toward the door, listening.
“They know you're here,” she whispered. “They're coming.”
“The Blood?” said Gage behind me. I jumped. I'd forgotten he was there.
I got up off the floor, wiping at my face with the heel of my hand. Gage shouldn't see me like this. I reached for my gun and my hand grazed a hot lump in my jacket pocket. I reached in and pulled out the vial Eliza gave me. “You should take this,” I said to Natalie. “For later. In case he dies.”
She shook her head slowly. “No,” she said. “You'll need it. I've seen it. It's very important that you keep it, Niki. Keep it close to you always.” She nodded slowly. “You'll need it,” she said again. “Don't let them smell it, or they'll know.”
I frowned, but there was no time to argue. I slipped it back in my pocket and took out my Makarov.
“Niki,” said Gage. “We can't fight these guys. We just have to get out of here.”
I heard the rattle of steps on the metal stairs, the muffled beeps of the keypad. “You have to face them,” said Natalie. “I can help. But only with one.” She looked at Daniel, colorless and barely breathing now. “He can only burn one more of those pigs today.”
“You just used him,” I said. “Didn't you say he would die? He doesn't look well enough.”
“Don't worry, sister,” she said. “Just live. You have a future. Of sorts.”
I wanted to ask her what she meant, but it was too late. I walked quickly out of the vault, leaving her behind. Gage followed me. We stepped out just in time to see five men file in, all pointing guns at us. “Do you have any protection spells?” I said to Gage. “Anything to shield us or anything like that?” But as I said it I realized he already had a book out, was already beginning to mutter the non-words.
“Where is Alex?” said a tall, square-shouldered man, stepping forward.
“Where do you think?” I said. I saw his eyes flick nervously from the pile at his feet to the vault behind me. He poked the still-smoking pile with his toe, then turned his gaze back to me. He had a buzzcut and a goatee. “Do you know who I am?” I said.
“I know if you don't put down your gun you will be dead,” he said.
“I'm Niki Slobodian,” I said. I saw a shift in the stance of the men standing behind him. One looked fearfully at the man standing next to him. It gave me confidence. “The girl in the vault, the Morrigan. She's my sister.”
“The Morrigan works for The Blood,” said the man in front.
“Not any more,” I said.
“Put down your gun,” he said again. “I'm not afraid of a woman.”
“Is that so?” I said. The man frowned, looking down at his chest. He looked quickly at me. I smiled at him.
“What are you doing?” he said. His gun clattered to the ground and the other men looked from him to me, eyes glittering with fear. The leader screamed as steam came fro
m his eyeballs, his nose, his mouth. His ears and nose turned red, then the rest of his face. Red fire poured from his chest, burning through organs and bone and skin and clothes. It consumed him in a heartbeat, just as it had the first man, Alex. There was silence then except for the sound of the flames. I heard a man's shout followed by a groan from behind me.
“Natalie?” I said. The door of the vault swung shut of its own accord, clicking loudly in the room, the beep of the alarm engaging. Gage had the symbols floating again. His eyes did glow this time, they glowed hot white, his hair rising. The lead man was gone, in his place a black starburst on the floor. The air around me crackled and sparked, and in front of my eyes a pink film seemed to congeal. I blinked, but it didn't go away.
The other men still had their guns pointed at us, they were whispering fearfully to each other, all except for one, who narrowed his eyes. “Shoot the bitch,” I saw him say. And there was a quick series of flashes as their guns went off over and over, the air seeming to bounce and shudder around us at every shot. Soon their guns clicked empty one by one.
I felt someone behind me and I turned to see the tall form of a man, a ghost, watching me. He had yellow, wispy hair and looked nothing like the pale, gaunt form that I'd seen on the bed. “Daniel?” I said. He didn't answer. He just looked up at the ceiling and there was a flurry of buzzing tornadoes all around him. With a vibration that thumped in my chest, he was gone. I remember Abaddon crossing over in the same way. Heaven and Hell were letting their own cross, just not the humans.
I felt something in my head. A soft nudge. Almost a caress. “Natalie,” I whispered. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come.” A picture appeared in my head then. I saw myself, but I was changed. I had an odd look to me, like Bobby when he casted. I had smoke coming out of my mouth and flames were licking at something sticking out of my stomach. Then the picture was gone in an instant. I took a deep breath and looked back to the men. They were afraid. I glared.
“Did you hear what I said?” I called to them. “I'm Niki goddamn Slobodian.” I thought of something Naz had said back at the warehouse. Before men just like these had killed him. “You're all dead,” I said. “You just don't know it yet.” I cocked my gun unnecessarily, for effect.
They stared at me for a moment. Then one man crossed himself, the others following. They backed away then, out the door one by one. Just like that, we were alone. I looked at Gage. He was blinking at me, stunned.
“You okay?” I said.
“Can we go now?” he said. He looked tired. His shoulders sagged and his eyes drooped. I walked to the vault and put my hand on the door. I could feel the magic still, though it didn't shock me like it had before. My hand hurt from where I'd touched the burning Alex. I thought I heard a cough from within the vault, but the metal was so thick I probably imagined it. “Natalie,” I called. “Open the door.” There was no answer, no responding click. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to concentrate on the nudge I'd felt, the picture that had appeared. I felt nothing. Either Natalie didn't want to be found, or she was weak or unconscious from the effort and the loss of her angel. I opened my eyes in time to see Gage's knees buckle. He only just caught himself before he did a faceplant. “I'll come back, Natalie,” I said. “I'm going to prepare, then I'll come back for you. Don't die, Natalie.” It felt like failure to take my hand off the vault and back away. But I forced myself to do it. There would be more men, I knew that. If I stayed here, someone would pluck up the nerve to take both me and Bobby out. I had to get him to a safe place.
I let Gage put an arm around me, staggering under the weight of him. We managed our way slowly up the steps and into Basement 2. The door was ajar, maybe from the men that had come through in their haste to get away from me.
I spotted the Exit sign and steered Gage toward it. There were more men there, just as I'd feared. Gage straightened as much as he could. They weren't the same men from the vault room. They were different. Naz's boys, I realized. I narrowed my eyes at them. There were five of them, blocking our way. I stopped, sizing them up. I needed Gage to stand on his own so I could get to my gun. Just as I was easing his arm off my shoulders, though, one of the men crossed himself and stepped back, out of the way. Then another. Soon there was only one man left in front of the door. He looked a little like the craggy-faced man from the warehouse, only slightly less terrifying. He looked at me for a long moment. Then he nodded and he moved out of the way, too. I pulled Gage through the exit, looking back at the men, who were watching me with something like curiosity on their faces. The door swung shut as the cold night air hit my face.
Chapter 13
I let Gage continue to sleep in the backseat as I got out of the car. It was late and the sky was clear, my breath turning to mist against the frigid air. The vial in my pocket seemed to be getting hotter. I could feel it burning my skin through my jacket. I let it. It was the only place I felt warm, though I didn't think it had anything to do with the weather. I pushed aside police tape surrounding the front of the building. I tried not to look at the brown stains splattered all up and down the white stone of the building. Dorrance did this.
Eliza met me at the front door and let me in without a word. She led the way up to her office, the silence so heavy it almost felt aggressive. Eliza pursed her lips when she sat down at her desk. I shut the door behind me and took a deep breath. “What kind of game are you playing?” I said.
Eliza raised her eyebrows. “Would you like to sit down, Miss Slobodian?” she said.
“No, I don't want to goddamn sit down,” I said. I walked to the desk and leaned over until our faces were close. “I want to know why you really sent me on that wild goose chase. That was my sister.”
Her expression didn't change, but she leaned back in her chair. “I've no idea what you're on about, Niki.”
“Your angel,” I said in a whisper, “is dead.”
She swallowed. I saw her eyes change. It wasn't sadness or grief or anything I would have expected. It was more resignation. Acceptance. Then she was back to steely indifference. “How did it happen?” she said.
“The Blood had him hooked up to a child,” I said, trying not to let my own emotions show through. “A child they've been feeding angelwine since she was a baby.”
“The Morrigan?” she said, unable to contain her surprise. Either she was a damn fine actress, or she really was shocked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Do you know who she was?”
“There have been rumors,” she said. “It is said she's part angel and part demon.”
“No,” I said. “She was human. Once.”
“Fed on angelwine?” she said. “What would that do to a child?”
“You didn't know she was my sister?” I said. My voice came out harsh and ragged. My heart was beating fast. My hands braced on the desk were clenched and I could barely feel my nails digging into my own flesh.
“Your sister?” she said. She shook her head in wonder. “Good god, no. How could I know?”
“My father's child,” I said. I closed my eyes. I opened them and stood up slowly, suddenly very tired. I sat down wearily. “You didn't know,” I said, pushing my hair back from my face. “The Blood took her as payment from her mother. You know Nora Delaney?”
“The mayor. Your father killed her.”
“Yeah. I thought my father was getting his revenge on everybody who helped put him in jail. I stopped him.”
“He was killing people,” said Eliza. “You had to stop him.”
“Those people he killed,” I said, folding my hands and looking at them, “they were all involved in this horrible thing. A child that they pumped angel blood into just to see what would happen. His child that no one bothered to tell him about.” I looked up at Eliza. “If I had known, I wouldn't have stopped him. I would have helped him.”
She took off her dark glasses and looked at me. I didn't find her eyes disturbing anymore. They were slightly comforting. “I wasn't here, but I know about his rampage,” sh
e said. “They're still arguing about it back home. Can death ever really make up for a lost life?”
I thought about Naz. How empty I'd felt after I'd killed those men. Boys, really. “No,” I said. “But sometimes, it's all I can do not to bring the whole goddamn world down.”
“You're just one human,” she said. “All you can do is accept it.”
“I don't think I can do that.”
Eliza studied my face. “I think you're more like your father than you know.”
I raised my eyes to look at her. “Maybe that's not such a bad thing anymore,” I said.
Eliza let a little smile slip through. “Perhaps not. But it does make you frightening.” She picked up some papers in front of her and put them in a tidy pile. “How did he die?” she said without looking at me. She picked up a pen and put it in a mug with the others.
“The angel?” I said. She stopped what she was doing and nodded. I thought about the truth. It was too cruel for her to know what they had reduced her friend to, what my sister had done to him. “He saved our lives,” I said. “He used his last bit of power to kill a man that was going to kill us.”
She nodded. “It's fitting,” she said. Her usual cold expression returned and she put her glasses back on. “Of course I will pay you for your troubles.”
“I don't want your goddamn money,” I said. “Do you think that's what this is?”
“Tell me what it is, then,” she said. “Because I don't know anymore.” She sighed. “It seems like everything in this world is a gray area. There is no right or wrong here.”
“Just get rid of Bobby's record, okay?” I said. “You promised that to him.”
“Fine,” she said. “As well as the warehouse evidence.”
“Do whatever you want,” I said.
She arched an eyebrow. “You're going after them, aren't you?”
“Isn't that what you wanted?”
“It was,” she said. “But it seems futile now.”