by M. R. Forbes
"They aren't unlimited use." My control over them was an illusion. They only worked when they wanted to. Sometimes, they weren't hungry. Some souls, they didn't want. "How many rounds do you have?"
I heard the sound of the gun sliding against the floor. I hit the light on my watch again so she could check her clip.
"Six. Not enough to stop a werewolf before it gets its claws into one of us."
"We could piss it off, though. The fields are tickling this floor... You should be able to draw enough energy in to do some damage. I can cover you."
She didn't say anything. She slid the clip back into the gun and handed it to me. "Maybe they think I escaped. Or that I was never here. Maybe they left?"
I didn't feel that confident about leaving the panic room, but we couldn't stay trapped forever. One of us would need to pee sooner or later. "There's only one way to find out. Open it up."
Her weight shifted again, and she put her palm against the wall. The panel slid aside, allowing the dim light of the closet to filter in. She crawled out on her hands and knees. I followed behind.
Once we were both in the closet, I went over to the door and eased it open, just enough that I could peek out through the crack. I could see her bedroom was empty. I could also see through the doorway, to where her sister was hanging.
"Are you ready?" I asked.
She set her jaw and nodded. I opened the closet the rest of the way and stepped out into the room. I held out my hand to keep her back while I tiptoed to the bedroom door and snuck a look to the entry. The vampire had been hiding in the other bedroom. Had they left another guard there?
I raised the gun and circled around the back of the room, so I would have time to react if anything jumped out at me. I made it to the other side, ducking and twisting as I cleared Natsumi's door. Her room was empty. The whole apartment was clear.
Jin was standing in front of her dresser when I returned to the bedroom, her flower-printed cami on the floor, her bare upper-half in an artful profile. Her skin was porcelain and smooth, and she had a red dragon tattoo that wound from her side over the top of her right breast. It was bright and intricate, the work of a serious artist. It disappeared a moment later under a plain black bra, followed by a tight, long-sleeve shirt with a high neck.
"I can't go outside in my pajamas." She looked straight ahead, her face a mask.
"You're so sure we're going to make it outside?" I watched her sweats come off.
"I don't want to die in my pajamas either."
A pair of slim black pants covered her up again. I hadn't realized I was distracted until I wasn't distracted anymore.
"The apartment is clear. I think the floor is, too. If they're still here, they'll be watching the exits."
She was moving as I spoke, going back into the closet and pulling out a pair of black sneakers and putting them on. "What do you suggest?"
I had been pondering that for too long, and I still had no confident reply. I wasn't wholly convinced we would get out of this. I found my phone in my pocket. I could call Dannie, see how close she was. Maybe we could hide for a few more hours until the cavalry arrived?
I let it go. I'd just be getting her killed, too.
"Is the elevator really broken?"
"Yes. It's stuck on the roof."
"It could be that they won't be watching it, then. We could climb down to the ground floor."
"What if they're waiting in the lobby?" Her head turned towards me, and her eyes sparkled. "I have another idea." She went over to her night stand and opened the top drawer, pulling out a set of keys. "The elevator goes down into a parking garage. I have a bike stashed down there. They may have positioned someone to wait for us, but if we can get to the bike we might be able to outrun them."
"Outrun werewolves? That must be some bike."
She smiled. "Oh, it is. It was a gift from my aunt."
We hadn't left the bedroom yet. I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to look. I can lead you out."
She put her hand on mine. "As I said, Phantom, you are an honorable man, but I must say goodbye."
"They might hear us."
The look she gave me shut me up. I nodded and walked out ahead of her, going out and checking the hallway. It was clear.
"Help me take her down."
I went back to where she was standing, her face still set in stone as she looked at her sister. I held Natsumi's legs and lifted while she unbuckled the belt. Once she was free, I lowered her to the floor as quietly as I could.
"You can bring her back?"
"I can't animate users."
"She wasn't a user."
I looked at her sister, her face purple, her eyes bulging. Not a user? "Sensitive?"
Her head whipped around, and her angry eyes regarded me. "Does it matter?"
Not for bringing her back. It mattered because Jin was the heir to House Red, and if she was a full-frequency wizard, her sister should have at least been sensitive. Which meant...
"You aren't a wizard, are you?"
I wanted her to yell at me. I wanted her to tell me to go fuck myself, and how dare I insult her like that. I wanted her to prove me wrong.
Her face changed. First it turned back to stone, and then it flushed. She bit down on her lip.
"I was chosen because I was the best option out of a pool of poor options. We never expected I would need to take on the role. As you may be aware, powerful wizards like my aunt often live much longer than the average person. She was barren, and someone had to be selected and prepared." She brushed her hair away from her ears. "When I was born with the elf mutation, she decided to raise me as her replacement. She believed the empathic ability that comes with the mutation would allow me to... fake it... better."
I didn't say anything. Fake it? The only thing that kept a House alive was the potential of its head to rain fire and brimstone down on anyone who fucked with it. A House without a wizard at its front was broken. Irreparably broken. Even if I got Jin out of here, it was only a matter of time before her ruse was uncovered. It was only a question of when she would die, and House Red would be no more.
"Do the other Houses know?"
Somebody did. I was sure that was one of the reasons all of this had happened to begin with.
"They aren't even supposed to know I exist. I always assumed I would never need to take control, that my aunt would outlive me. Do you want to cancel our agreement?"
She kept her eyes on mine, waiting for me to react.
I took a deep breath, licked my lips, and shook my head. "No. I took the job, and like it or not your enemy is my enemy. They want me dead as much as you." I put my right hand on her sister's wrist. "This might be a little weird for you. I don't like to animate people I know."
"Please. She can help us."
I knew she could. That was why I was willing to do it. The fields weren't very strong up here, but I wouldn't need to exert much will on her to get her to do what we needed. She would follow her sister, or so I assumed.
I took a deep breath, sucking in the magical energy. It was a longer reach, and it felt more like trying to drink a thick milkshake. "Natsumi. Wake up, Natsumi. Jin needs you."
The bulged eyes focused, her lips moved, and a soft groan escaped.
"Natsumi?" Jin put her hand to her sister's face.
"Jin?" Her larynx had been crushed by the belt, leaving her voice barely audible.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't save you."
Natsumi lifted her arm and put it to Jin's face. "No." She tried to say something else, but the damage didn't let her.
"We need to move," I said. "Natsumi, the ferals that killed you are probably still here. You need to help Jin get out of the building alive."
She got up without effort. Her body was still in good shape. She wasn't showing signs of the confusion, which impressed me. She wanted to come back. She wanted to help. That part of her personality was overriding everything else.
"Take th
e lead," I said. "I'll cover the rear. We're going down the elevator shaft to the garage."
She walked out into the hallway without hesitation, practically daring any of our enemies to be waiting for us. Jin stayed close, and I followed with my head turned so I could see behind us. I was amazed by how light the thread between Natsumi and me felt.
We made it to the elevator doors. Natsumi dug her fingers between them and pulled, her magic-powered muscles stronger in death than they had been in life. The doors succumbed, moving aside and allowing us access to the shaft. Jin and I leaned in, following the empty space all the way to the bottom. I looked up, just in case.
The path was clear.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Here boy!
The climb down the elevator shaft was tense, but it was also fast. Natsumi and Jin were both plenty agile enough to go hand-over-hand along the guide wall, and I was more experienced with this sort of thing than I had ever planned to be. We reached the third sub-level of the garage within ten minutes, standing together in front of the sealed elevator doors, trying not to make a sound while we listened for any indication of someone, or something guarding the exit.
In the end, I knelt between Natsumi's legs with the gun aimed upwards to where I imagined a werewolf's head would be. Jin crouched behind us, trying to stay out of view and ready to dash past towards her ride as soon as we got the door open far enough. We hadn't heard anything on the other side, and I was optimistic that we had evaded our enemies.
It had been way too easy.
Natsumi dug her fingers between the doors and pulled. A crack appeared, allowing some of the dim ambient lighting of the garage to trickle in, and introducing us to the smell of garbage and damp cement. My finger rested on the trigger of the gun, and my eyes strained to stay focused.
She moved them further aside. There was no sign of life down here. All I could see were a couple of rows of old beaters, and a great deal of empty spots. That, and a motorcycle. A gorgeous, tricked out, futuristic blend of carbon fiber and chrome with thick, smooth rubber and a tiny but powerful electric motor resting mid-chassis.
Natsumi moved out into the garage, her head turning to scan the area.
She only made it two steps.
A dark brown blur snatched her up like a linebacker, slamming into her and throwing her across the garage. Jin started forward out of pure protective instinct until I caught her wrist and redirected her. "Get the bike. She can't feel it."
The motorcycle was only twenty feet away, but it might as well have been a mile. The werewolf only needed one bite to realize his prey was already expired, and he was turning around even as I moved from the safety of the shaft. I trained the gun on him, holding my fire, waiting to see if he would charge me or Jin. I needed him to charge me.
My other hand was in my pocket, reaching for the dice. They were cold to the touch. Disinterested. The werewolf broke for Jin.
Fuck.
She was halfway to the bike, and she must have seen it coming, because she turned as it approached, seven feet and six hundred pounds to her five and a half and one hundred. She braced herself as it charged, crouching low and skipping aside, maneuvering around its grasp with acrobatic efficiency. It skidded to a stop and spun again, snarling in frustration. She dashed towards the motorcycle.
I blasted the wolf in the head.
A perfect shot right between the eyes. If only the bullets had been armor piercing. If only weres didn't have ridiculously solid skulls. It yelped in pain as its head snapped back, but it recovered within seconds, dropping to all fours and rushing at the new threat.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! I snapped off four more rounds, catching it in the shoulder, the thigh, and the chest. I succeeded in pissing it off, but not in slowing it, and I scrambled backwards, slipping on some old oil or shit or something and falling onto my ass. My hand hit the cement and sent the gun sliding away, leaving me unarmed and helpless with a monster bearing down.
Somehow I managed to get my knife into my hand, even as the werewolf was landing on top of me. Huge jaws approached my face, and I brought my forearm up and pushed against it, holding it back for as long as my strength could manage, which wouldn't be very long.
I heard only a soft whine when the motorcycle came to life. At least Jin would make it out of here. The were's teeth were getting closer to my face. My injured arm was breaking down, and a claw dug hard into my shoulder. I cried out and stabbed wildly with the knife, burying it in the feral's side and earning myself a deeper wound. Its jaws were only inches away from my face now, the last thing I would see before I left this world and traveled to one that was even more frightening.
I heard the screech of tires, and I felt the displacement of air. All I saw was a red blur out of the corner of my eye, and then the wolf was gone, slammed and knocked aside by the bike. More screeching tires and it was coming back towards me. Jin skidded it like a pro and put herself between the werewolf and me.
"Come on."
I was hurting, but I forced myself to get up as fast as I could. Once I was on my feet I could see past Jin to where the wolf was getting back up, recovering from the blow. It stumbled towards us on its hinds, gaining speed.
"You are so fucking slow!" She grabbed my trench and pulled me towards the bike. I got my leg over as the werewolf neared, claws reaching for her.
Natsumi stepped in front of it. Her throat was shredded, her face torn. She raised the gun up, sticking it in the werewolf's open mouth. The teeth chomped down, but too late. She fired, and a line of gore exploded from the back of its head.
"Go, go, go," I said, wrapping my arms tight around Jin. She glanced back at her sister once last time and peeled away, angling towards the ramp. I looked back at Natsumi too, waving goodbye as I let go of the thread. She collapsed in a heap.
The bike rocketed forward, only the slightest whine coming from the electric motor, the lightest touch from the smooth wheels. Jin hit the ramp without slowing, jostling me and making my shoulder feel like it was about to fall off. The bike swayed but didn't topple, and she ripped into the turn, gaining even more speed.
We hit the next platform, and she pegged the throttle, sending the bike launching forward even faster towards the ramp at the other side. Two werewolves were racing down it. One of them was huge and black, with a patch of white fur.
"There's no other way out," Jin shouted back at me, alerting me to the fact that were about to play chicken with a pair of ferals. Ferals that Danelle had told me were dead. Whatever control had killed, they had the wrong fur balls.
We raced towards them. They ran towards us. The distance felt like it took forever to close, but it was more like three seconds.
"Don't let go." The wolves leaped towards us, high enough to get over the bike, low enough to rake us with their claws.
If I hadn't been on the motorcycle, I wouldn't have believed it. Somehow, she turned us sideways, leaving us in a serious skid that brought my head only inches from the ground. The wolves flew over, too high to hit us, and the friction of the wheels caught up to the maneuver, physics and Jin's balance pulling the bike upright. She twisted it again, bringing it straight with only a few small wobbles, and continued towards the ramp, leaving the weres behind.
"Holy shit!" I yelled, my adrenaline pumping so hard I didn't even feel my shoulder any more.
We hit the first level and sped towards the ramp, reaching it safely and bursting out of the garage. It was evening, and it was dark, a heavy rain soaking us in seconds. Jin slid the bike out into the street and aimed us north past the building. I turned my head to look towards it, just in time to see someone coming out of the lobby.
The redhead from Connecticut. I should have known.
I gave her the finger while she watched us ride away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
She slimed me.
We kept riding, weaving through the evening rush, using the sidewalk when we needed to and trying to put some distance between us and them. If the ferals de
cided to take to the streets, they would be able to pace a bike in traffic.
"Where are we going?" I asked, shouting above the sounds of honking horns and wind. How she kept the bike from wiping out on the slick pavement was a mystery.
"As far away from here as I can get."
"The stone is back that way."
"Do they know where you hid it?"
"No."
"Then you can get it later."
Me. Not we. We had gotten out of there alive, and she was falling into her role. In that moment, a thought made my heart nearly stop. I was a ghost. I wasn't supposed to know who the heads of the Houses were, and here I was holding tight to one. When this was over, she'd have every reason to have me killed. Every reason to send her own team after me and erase my sorry ass.
We threw a nice puddle onto a pair of old ladies in fancy raincoats and cut around a parked car, riding between the lanes on our way to... where? I wasn't going to worry about it. Jin seemed like she knew where she was headed, and she wasn't going to kill me just yet. We had a deal, and I knew she would honor it, just the same as I would. I would need to make sure Danelle didn't know who she was, or why she was important. Let someone else be in charge of House Red. She could be a favorite niece. It wasn't even a lie, just an omission.
We maneuvered through mid-town, heading uptown and into Harlem. I found a little bit of humor when we wound up riding right past the cross streets that housed the addresses of the other two Jins on Dannie's list. She brought us down a couple of side streets, and then angled the bike into an alley between a pair of average looking apartment buildings.
She slid off the bike and ran her hands through her short hair, squeegeeing some of the water out of it. She was soaked to the bone, her clothes clinging to her body. I had fared a little better, my waterproof trench protecting part of me. Even so, my hoodie felt heavy and tight against my torso.
"My friend Reva lives here. She can be trusted."
"Are you sure?"
"She doesn't know anything about House Red. We're racing buddies."
"Racing?"