by J. L. Murray
“Thank you,” I said, clutching the lump in the back.
He nodded. “I'll be back for you in an hour.”
When he was gone I was left in the sparse room with my jacket over my lap and my gun lying next to me. I opened the jacket so the lining was exposed and, finding the seam, ripped it open. I pulled the padded package out and set my jacket aside. I found the end of the duct tape that I had wrapped around and pulled it out and around with a noise like ripping fabric. I ripped open the plastic bag underneath and took out the hot, shining vial. The insides glowed like gold and bubbled like champagne. I slipped the vial back into my coat pocket and zipped it up. I remembered what Natalie had said about keeping the vial close to me. I wondered how wise it really was, if the Blood would sense it. But there was no turning back now. I waited for Yuri.
Chapter 17
I stood up from the cot slowly. My head swam, but I stopped whenever it got too bad, paused, and waited to move again. I sat back down on the edge of the bed for a few minutes until the world was in focus again. My bladder felt like it was about to burst, but there was nothing I could do about it. My nausea had disappeared and my head no longer pounded. After sitting and breathing for a few minutes, the dizziness went away too.
I closed my eyes and focused on Natalie. I didn't know how her power worked, or if she was even conscious; in my dream she had been comatose. Back in the sub-basement outside the vault, I had felt her in my head. It was just the slightest nudge, but I knew. I don't know what I wanted from her now. Probably just to prove that she was alive and still okay. The dream had disturbed me. Seeing my mother like that had tickled something in the far reaches of my memory that I couldn't quite reach.
I didn't feel Natalie. I lost track of time while I sat there focusing on her, so it seemed like only a few moments before there was a tentative knock on the door and Luka stepped in. He didn't make eye contact, just stood there until I stood up again and took an experimental step. I wasn't dizzy anymore. Whatever they had shot me up with must have gone through the system fast. I suspected that was on purpose. All the people I had seen on the angelwine had an obsession with blood, like a hunger. They didn't want drugs mucking up the blood in their ritual, whatever it entailed.
I found my boots on the end of the bed and laced them up. I felt the pockets of my jacket again. Vial on one side, gun on the other. There was no going back. I was caught between a powerful secret society that made people disappear, and the group of ruthlessly violent men that did their bidding.
As I was leaving, following Luka out the door, I suddenly remembered another saying, from my mother: The devil is a gentleman. He only goes where he is invited.
I asked Luka to take me to the restroom. For a moment he started to get irritated and looked at his gold watch, but he assented. He still wouldn't meet my eyes. I relieved myself and threw some cold water on my face. I felt good now. I was still a little weak, but not as much. I was wide awake. Alert. I smoothed down my hair and took a deep breath, looking at myself in the mirror. “I just want to save Bobby, rescue my sister, and protect Sofi. That's all,” I said it to myself, but even as I said it I knew there was more. Dorrance had threatened my godmother, something I had never taken lightly. She had raised me, fed me, loved me when I had no one else.
“And stop Dorrance,” I added. That air of superiority Dorrance carried. He always got what he wanted, like a spoiled child. He held the strings of every important organization and business in the city, and still wasn't satisfied. So it would be up to me and Yuri. I couldn't do this on my own, not even if Gage had been with me to do the casting. I had to do it this way.
And there was one other reason: Sasha. I felt I owed him. Everything I thought I knew about him had gone out the window in the last few months. He had gone along with my disdain and disgust to protect me. I didn't know if I could have done such a thing for anyone. Even my own child. “And finish what Sasha started,” I said.
Resolved, I rejoined Luka. He led me down a hall, dark and deserted offices on either side. I had a feeling of deja vu, but this time there was no Dark, only people consumed with their own greed. In a way, they were just like the Dark. They leeched off of humanity to get their fill. Where the Dark only wanted to kill, The Blood considered the kill a by-product. In many ways they were more dangerous.
Luka stopped at the elevator at the end of the hall and pushed the arrow pointing up.
“Where are you taking me?” I said.
He was watching the numbers change above the elevator doors. He glanced at me nervously. “Top floor,” he said. “Yuri will meet us there.” The elevator opened and we stepped in. Luka pulled a key out of his pocket and inserted it into the console. He turned it and an unlabeled button at the very top of the panel lit up. He pressed it and the doors closed. When they opened again it was onto an odd, dark hall. It felt as though we were very high, though there were no windows or doors lining the hallway. There were exposed beams with patches of insulation sticking out. The only light was a bare bulb hanging from an unadorned bare metal fixture, the screws visible where it was fixed to the ceiling beam. It smelled like dust and paint and the floor was old black and white tile. I had an odd sensation of being somewhere else, an institution of some sort. Like a public school or a hospital. It didn't feel like a financial building.
The hall turned and I saw Yuri, standing with his arm clasped, his feet planted in the ground. He was facing me and I saw a half dozen guys behind him, all large and muscled, though not nearly as large as Yuri.
He nodded at me. “Ready?” he said.
“Not really,” I said.
He shrugged. “They're all in there. It's you or them. And if it's you, they also kill everyone you know. Just for good measure.” He smiled. His eyes were dancing. He took my arm firmly, his giant hand circling it. “Look pissed,” he said. “We want to size this up before we take them down.”
“Won't be hard,”I said. “That's my default look.”
“We won't do anything until you give a signal,” he said.
I breathed deeply through my nose, out through my mouth. I pictured the Caster with the book, using magic to paralyze me. I pictured Dorrance whispering into my ear, sniffing me. I pictured Olivia Bradley, driving off in the night to avoid being killed. I pictured Naz with his chest opened up, and Sasha falling into fire. And my sister. They had taken a baby and made her something that wasn't even human anymore. I peered around Yuri at the men behind him. They looked back at me. A few nodded respectfully.
“Is this enough?” I said to Yuri. “I thought you said they had twenty guards.”
“These are my best,” he said. “Any more and we don't surprise them.”
“Fine,” I said. I turned to look at Luka. “Are you coming, too?”
“Yes,” said Luka. He looked at Yuri.
“Don't look at him,” I said. “Look at me.” He looked at me with surprise. “I don't want you in there if you're not completely with us. Make your choice. If you don't plan to take these bastards out with everything you've got then I want you to go back to that elevator, turn your little key, and get the hell out of here. That's how it is. And if you ever question me ever again, I will take you down before you even have a chance to squeal. It will be painful, and it will take a long time. My father isn't the one you should fear. Yuri isn't the one you should fear. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” he said. He pulled his jacket back to reveal a giant handgun. “My gun is yours.” He met my eyes and I knew I had him.
“Good,” I said. “Anyone else have a problem with taking orders from a woman?” I reached into my pocket and took out the Makarov. There was no reply. I checked the clip. Yuri had reloaded it for me. “You have to aim for the head. When they use the angelwine, it is the only way. I shot Bradley twice in the heart and it didn't do anything. The guy that killed Naz,” I said. “He was hopped up on angelwine. Naz blew apart his skull and he died. Aim for the head. Understood?” All eight men nodded at me. Yuri
smirked in a satisfied way. When we began down the hall, towards a large double door at the end, he leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“I did not make a mistake,” he said.
“No, you did not,” I said. “But I already regret it.”
Yuri opened one of the double doors and I remembered Natalie's words just before she'd locked me out of her vault. Just live. You have a future of sorts.
I would live through this. I had to. I couldn't think about the alternative right now.
Chapter 18
I walked into the room with Yuri holding tight to my arm. There were guards on either side of the door. I felt a low hum that buzzed in my skull and shook the floor. I recognized two of The Guard from the room with the vault. They had backed away from us, crossing themselves when we escaped from Natalie's room. They looked at me nervously. They were afraid, I could see it. The others were watching me warily, their hands on their guns. That was good. They were watching me and not Yuri's guys. My guys, I realized. That was hard to wrap my mind around. The humming was vibrating my eyeballs. It seemed to be coming from the middle of the room.
The Blood stood in an oblong circle with their hands linked around an odd table. They wore business suits and conservative dresses in dark colors. Dorrance was at the head of the table, and his mouth twisted into a smile when he saw me. I looked at the center table. It was made of pounded copper and glinted in the muted lighting. It looked like a gurney without the wheels, with a copper tub at its head, like a sink or a basin. There was a long black knife with a gray handle sitting neatly in the center of the table. A stone bowl sat next to the knife. There were symbols worked into the metal all around the edges. They were beginning to rise from their nest in the metal and hover just above the table. I could feel the hum rising to become a steady drumming deep in my chest. It seemed to be pulling me toward the table. I resisted, shaking it off.
The woman from the car was there, her eyes bright white with magic. A casting book hovered before her, suspended in midair, symbols dancing from the page. I could see her lips moving with the spell. I looked around for Gage and found him standing stock still in the far corner of the room. His eyes found me but the rest of his body didn't move a muscle. I realized they'd casted on him. It was the same freezing spell they'd used on me. No one was guarding him, they were all looking in my direction. I saw Luka walk casually across the room to stand next to him. Our other men did the same, spacing themselves around the room. No one else seemed to notice the deep buzzing. I fought the urge to cover my ears. I don't think it would have helped. The sound seemed to be reverberating inside my head.
“Why are there so many of you?” Dorrance said suddenly to Yuri, who was still holding my arm. “Only one or two should suffice to guard one woman.”
“Niki Slobodian is not just any woman,” said Yuri. “She is dangerous. She almost escaped. She nearly killed one of my men and managed to take his gun away before we took her down again. Then she used some sort of magic to knock out three of my guys. I suggest extreme caution.”
“I would think a bunch of big Russians could handle one woman,” said Dorrance.
“I am not Russian,” said Yuri in a controlled voice. I heard him grind his teeth. The tugging was becoming stronger. I heard the non-words of the Caster rising, her voice becoming louder.
“Well, whatever you are, at least you got her here,” Dorrance said. Yuri tightened his grasp on my arm to the point where it began to hurt.. Dorrance looked at me. “You can let go of her, but stay. In case she causes trouble.” He smiled. “I don't think there will be a problem, though.” Yuri released my arm.
“What the hell is this, Dorrance?” I said. “I'm not an angel. You can't get off on my blood.” I thought of the vial in my pocket and prayed those in the room already had enough of their own angelwine to mask its scent. The tingle of magic was all around me. I looked toward Bobby and saw his eyes were wide. He was staring at me. I touched my chest, trying to will away the pulling sensation. It was becoming difficult to breathe.
“I don't know what you are,” said Dorrance, “but that's not what we want your blood for. We're going to use you to summon your father here. All we need is the blood of family, and you are as close as we can get. Although, were conditions different, I'd love to take a taste. I can smell you from here.” He breathed in deeply, savoring. He raised an eyebrow. “We'd use The Morrigan, but she doesn't have human blood any longer.”
“Was that the purpose of your twisted little experiment? To see if it could be done? To see if you could turn my sister into a monster?”
“The Morrigan is not your sister anymore, ” he said. “She's a living goddess. She has gone beyond humanity. As have we.” He gestured around the circle and faces turned toward me. The faces of the city's top executives and administrators. Faces with darkened eyes. That wasn't good for us. I looked at Gage again. He was slowly wiggling the fingers of one hand. I saw his eyes blink. Their casting was wearing off. Luka was watching me intently. I looked around and realized everyone's eyes were on me. I sucked in air. The pull was hard to resist now. Yuri was frowning at me. The dull thrum filled my ears. I felt a rush of heat and saw the symbols on the table shoot up into the air.
Dorrance waved a hand towards the table and one of the guards ducked under the linked hands of the circle, wincing as he did so, to take the stone bowl and the black-bladed knife from the table. He slid the knife into a sheath that Dorrance wore around his waist, and ducked back out. He placed the bowl on a small sideboard, next to a vase full of flowers. Glancing around I saw several tables against the wall behind the large men, one with a large oriental vase, another with a brass decanter. And there were framed oil paintings on the walls. They looked very old. They were portraits, mostly, of stern-looking men. One was a painting of a group of people standing together. I counted twelve people in the picture.
“The Blood,” I said, panting. I wiped sweat from my face. “The pictures. You've been around a while.”
Dorrance smiled again. “No more talk,” he said. “Submit. Lie down on the table and place your head in the basin. Make it easy on yourself, Niki.”
“That's not going to happen,” I said. But I felt myself being pulled. My shoes scraped against the tile of the floor as I dug my heels in. I tried to step back, but it was too strong. I saw the copper of the table open up, then, and fire leapt up to the ceiling. I knew that fire. It was Hellfire. I looked back, toward Yuri, and his eyes were wide. He looked from me to the fire and back again. The men were stepping back.
“I'll say it one more time, Dorrance,” I gasped. I reached toward my pocket. The force wasn't stopping me from doing that. I pulled out my Makarov.
Dorrance shot a look at Yuri. “Are you stupid?” he said. “You didn't search her?”
Yuri smiled at him. Dorrance looked at me. He searched the room, looking at each of the men. Comprehension dawned on his face just as I pulled all my strength together and yelled, “Now!” Eight men drew guns and fired at the same time. The sound was like a cannon exploding. The Blood didn't even any time to react. Dorrance stared in shock, his mouth slightly open. The Caster's voice wavered, but continued, and even though I fought it, I was still being pulled toward the otherworldly flame.
My men were faster than the Guard, and several of Dorrance's men fell immediately. I twisted around in the force that was pulling me and fired twice, just as the two guards by the door were pulling out their weapons. They fell, perfect trails of blood crawling down their foreheads. They looked confused as they fell, right before the life left their eyes. I was thankful for whatever Sasha had done to the Makarov. It never missed its mark.
I twisted again and looked over at Gage just as another volley of shots rang out in the room. My hearing was muffled now. Gage was wobbling his head heavily, and I could see something going on with his arms. I saw him go down, his knees buckling as the spell ended.
I could hear the muffled sound of the blasts, each shot like a stab in the head.
I turned with a grunt just in time to see Yuri blow half of a stocky guard's head off. Luka was dead on the ground. One of the Guard remained. Three of my guys were still standing, including Yuri. I lurched around again to face forward. The Blood just watched. And the pull was becoming stronger. I could hardly move anywhere but the direction the magic was forcing me.
There was a shot behind me and I twisted my head with a great effort to see one of my guys fall, holding his stomach. The last living member of the Guard shot him again in the chest and Yuri shot the guard three times in the face. I felt a hot sensation on my hip and I put my hand on the lump in my jacket pocket. I unzipped it. I looked at The Blood. All were still standing there, hands still linked. Dorrance was eerily calm, and the others were watching the gruesome scene before them, some in horror, a few smiling, as if this were a show. And the low thrum was overwhelming.
I was a foot from the circle. I felt as if my chest were being ripped out in the struggle against the unseen force pulling me. I could see the white of the Caster's eyes. There were voices coming from the fire. They seemed to echo inside my head. I wondered if my father's voice was one of them, but there were too many. I couldn't differentiate.
I reached out with my left hand. I could touch the two people closest to me in the circle. Guns were still going off behind me. The two men in front of me turned to look at me, examining me like I was something in a museum. Their bodies were vibrating worse than the room, and as I grasped an arm, a volt of magic shot up through me like electricity and I pulled my hand quickly away with a hiss. One of them laughed. I pointed my gun at Dorrance.
“Are you going to kill me, Niki?” Dorrance mouthed mockingly. I felt rather than heard his voice. The gunshots had done something to my ears. “In cold blood?” I smiled and with an enormous effort, turned toward the Caster. I saw Dorrance form the word “no,” his face suddenly alarmed.