Metal

by Olivia R. Burton

  “I doubt that would stop Diana making him her boyfriend,” Alex quipped, smiling despite the fact that Veruca made it clear the joke wasn’t funny. “How else do you suggest we get in without being spotted?”

  “Maybe we can get Finn out?” Veruca crouched down next to the brownie, losing her train of thought for a moment when she saw the intricate drawing it was scribbling out as fast as a laser printer. “Can you bring Finn out to us without being seen? Is your glamour strong enough to cover the both of you?”

  The brownie ignored her for a few more rapid strokes before lifting its head to watch her face while it considered.

  “Mayhaps. Finn skinny, weak. Could try.”

  “Weak?” Veruca asked, feeling her heartbeat speed up. “Sick? Was he awake?”

  “Weak, no muscle.” The brownie shook its head, going back to scribbling. As it reached the bottom of one drawing and started on another, it spoke up again. “Skinny legs. Could glamour, could glamour.”

  “Good. Then you’ll lead us there and bring Finn out to us, and we’ll take him home.”

  “It won’t be that simple,” Alex said, taking the pen and notebook when the brownie handed it gingerly toward her. “There’s always some sort of snag. We may have to be pretty far away for the thugs not to see us.”

  “Some hope is better than none. We have what we need, we should leave.”

  “Do you want to bring your boy any pants? It’s pretty chilly outside, wouldn’t want to lose his best asset to frostbite.”

  “It’s not his best asset, trust me.”

  “But it is one you’re fond of,” Alex said with a grin, studying the map the brownie had created intently.

  “I’m fond of all his assets. I’ll bring him clothes and Donald will make sure we’re not seen by anyone who might fuck something up. It’ll work, I’ll have Finn back before long.”

  “And Diana? There are very few places that could hold her, and even if we did find one, you’d likely have to pay a hefty fee to keep her there. Not the same kind of fee you pay for a fancy suit either. This would be more my area.”

  “I hadn’t considered her, really.” Veruca frowned, going over the options in her head. There weren’t many, she knew. The best one should have sat well with her, seeing as how she effectively killed people all the time. Some of them deserved it, of course, selling their souls for evil, or at least eminently selfish, reasons. A percentage were just stupid, too, not believing what they’d gotten themselves into until she came to collect.

  Then there were souls like Denise, who were simply looking to be happy at no expense to others. Veruca comforted herself over those deaths by remembering that without such a high price, they may not have lived as well or been as happy. Diana was not good and didn’t deserve any of Veruca’s sympathy. She deserved death, but Veruca didn’t believe that was her call. Deciding all on her own that murder was just didn’t set well with Veruca.

  “I can take care of her,” Alex offered, her tone slightly softer than usual.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I have ways to make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone else. Just say the word and don’t ask any questions.”

  “Fine,” Veruca said, shaking it off. Alex had come recommended as someone with connections. If she could deal with Diana and make sure Finn—and the rest of the city, of course—ended up safe, Veruca would have to allow it. “As soon as Donald’s here, we leave.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Diana was talking, rambling probably, but Finn couldn’t focus on anything she was saying. She’d eaten the raw chicken, chewed it down to mush and swallowed it without hesitation. She still held the empty plate, and Finn had seen pinkish juices drip down to the floor as soon as she let it hang by her side.

  She’d eaten raw meat and now she was complaining about…

  What, exactly?

  Finn forced himself to tune in, to watch her as she paced the small, dark room, swinging the plastic plate around when her words needed punctuating. There was a pause, and she turned to meet his eye once again, her expression pleading.

  “No one will ever love you, Finn. Not correctly. Not the way I will once you’re mine. You’ll see then what I mean, you’ll understand. It’s going to be hard, of course. Finding a way to preserve your nice face. You might suffer. But you’ll see, you’ll understand.”

  “Diana, you can’t love me,” he said, before he could stop himself. “I don’t know if you can love anyone. You’re messed up. You’ve killed people. A load of them are upstairs. That’s not love, that’s murder.”

  “No one,” she insisted crossing quickly to him. “No one will ever love you right, Finn. I love you. I know what you deserve. I can see inside you.”

  “That’s the problem! I think you aim to actually see inside me! You can’t love someone and cut out their heart, that’s not love! That’s … a Disney villain!”

  “I don’t want your organs.” She rolled her eyes, flapping the plate through the air wildly before looking like she’d just realized she was still holding it. “You won’t need them either. I might be able to still teach you, after. Didn’t you want to learn? I can show you things.”

  “You can! You should! Now, actually, show me now. I want to see.”

  Diana eyeballed him, suspicious. He couldn’t blame her, especially since he didn’t actually want to see the sorts of things she would show him. She was talking dangerously, though, and he needed to stall. If Veruca was on her way, Finn needed to make sure Diana didn’t try to take a drill bit to his skull before he was rescued. He wouldn’t do Veruca any good as a corpse.

  “I was going to,” she said finally, her expression and body language shifting slightly. She looked intrigued, though still doubtful. “I wanted to show you how to truly raise someone, but I don’t think you actually wanted to learn.”

  “I do! If you can bring someone back from the dead, that’s a miracle. You could be famous. You don’t have to rob banks and kill families, Diana.” Finn softened his tone, put on his best sympathy face, and tried to hold her eye. “You’re very impressive. Anyone would be a fool not to see that. Even I can see that.”

  “You don’t find me that impressive,” she said, squinting. “You don’t love me like you love her.”

  “Well, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it? You’re practically a stranger now. I need to get to know you again. We need to talk about who you’ve become, and … and who you could be! Famous, like I said. I bet I could help. What’s your story, Diana? What’ve you been up to?”

  His interest was getting to her, changing the way she was looking at him. She probably wouldn’t give him another zombie to send after her throat, but the chances were getting better that she wouldn’t send one after his either. When she started looking around, Finn panicked for a moment, worried she was searching for a weapon. When she found a metal folding chair and brought it over to sit across from him, he relaxed, grinning at her as if happy she was going to speak. She didn’t need to know he was actually just glad she wasn’t about to gut him.

  ****

  “That’s not suspicious at all,” Donald said, pulling Veruca’s attention. She didn’t notice at first what he meant, but after a quick second she realized he’d spotted what was most likely a lookout. Veruca couldn’t see anyone with her eyes, due to the late hour and the fact that the man had chosen to hunch in what looked like a large patch of juniper bushes, but she could see his soul clearly. Any plain humans walking by probably wouldn’t have noticed him, but she and Donald could detect him easily enough. Anyone else with any sort of extra senses would probably think it was pretty weird he was crouched and hiding, but Veruca was sure she knew why he was there.

  They were still a few blocks away from the house the brownie had sent them to, but the men Diana had hired were really serious about making sure they weren’t caught unaware.

  “I see him,” she said, speeding up. Donald caught her arm, pulling her back.

  “I’ll take care of him. I
’ll know better than you if he notices me coming.”

  “You want this?” Alex offered, holding out a syringe with what Veruca hoped was just some sort of sedative and not something lethal. Donald eyed it unfavorably and shook his head.

  “Wait here.”

  Feeling slightly helpless, Veruca watched Donald take off at a slow jog, crossing over someone’s patchy grass to hug close to a house until he could get over the fence to the yard beyond. She followed his progress through two backyards and finally out across another front lawn. He took his time approaching the other man, who didn’t move or seem to notice he had company. Veruca wondered what Donald was sensing and hoped it was just as little as she was. If the man were to catch on, Donald would feel the spike of panic or curiosity or anger and know he’d been spotted.

  Another minute passed before Donald closed in on the man, and Veruca watched a sliver of his soul dart into the mercenary’s body, swimming around like an agitated eel.

  “He got him?” Alex asked, standing casually, looking around as if they were both just joggers admiring the night sky.

  “Yes, he should be back soon.”

  “What’d he do, hit him over the head with a frying pan?”

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  Donald didn’t bother to hide as he approached, jerking his thumb to indicate the man he’d left still stretched out on the ground.

  “Won’t be any trouble for a few hours. I sucked out all the dangerous stuff and talked him into believing we’re not a threat. Like the other guy, if anyone calls in for a report, he shouldn’t give us up.”

  “Shouldn’t, or won’t?” Alex asked, her hand near the gun she’d loaded into a holster under her arm. “You didn’t even knock anyone out, you’ve just run around sucking on all the mercenaries and leaving them where we’ve found them.”

  “I’m very good,” Donald said, brushing off her concern. “I think we’ve covered every which way. All that’s left is going to find Finn.”

  “If someone sounds the alarm, I’m leaving you two to get eaten by zombies.”

  “Wouldn’t expect any less from you,” Veruca said, turning in a quick circle until she found the brownie’s glowing soul. It was tucked under glamour, so no part of her physical form would have heard, seen, smelled, or felt it. The glamour meant the glow of its soul was slightly dimmed, but she was still able to find it easily and address the little creature. “We’ll meet you there. As soon as Finn’s alone and you can smuggle him out, bring him right to us, all right?”

  The brownie didn’t respond in any way Veruca could sense, but its soul winked out almost immediately, and she had to assume it had teleported back to where Finn was being held. She waited another moment before starting off toward the house.

  “Once he’s out with me, what’s the plan?” Veruca asked Alex, despite her better judgment. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what the awful woman had planned for Diana, but worry over Finn’s future safety shoved the question right out of her mouth.

  “Plausible deniability, my dear.” Alex patted her shoulder, smiling in a way Veruca really didn’t like. “The less you know the happier both you and Finn will be. But trust me, she won’t be a problem anymore. I know just where to put her.”

  “In the ground?” Donald asked, his tone indicating he wouldn’t object to the idea. Alex just chuckled but wouldn’t confirm or deny.

  ****

  “And this one was a dentist or something. Jacob. No,” Diana said, wrinkling up her features and going silent for what felt like forever. “Josh. I named him Josh. He could heal, and I took him and made him mine, so he could fix you up. I want to show you how to do it, but you need the basics first. Mort tried to teach you.”

  “I remember,” Finn said, trying to keep the humiliation out of his tone. He had the scars to always remind him of some of the worst ways Mort had tried to teach him to raise the dead.

  “You’re better, though. You struggled, but you understand. I can show you how to keep the souls in now, if you’d like.”

  “I would like,” Finn said, even though he really wouldn’t. He wasn’t sure how it would work to call back a soul when it had fled the body, and it certainly didn’t appeal to him to watch a zombie regain consciousness, and worse, awareness. He reasoned to himself that the zombie was already dead, though, and letting Diana play teacher might be the only way he could keep himself from heading down the same six-foot deep path. Once Veruca got there, she’d be able to pluck out the soul and set it free again. Diana would be arrested by the Fairy police or some such thing, and the world would be right again.

  “I’m excited to show you, Finn. I’m excited to have you with me too. You’ll see, it’ll be wonderful. We can start a family, find a beautiful baby, and raise her together. You’ll both be young and beautiful forever.”

  Finn had the sneaking suspicion that Diana didn’t mean raise in the classic parental sense, but he didn’t mention it. One of the bodyguards plodded to the bottom of the stairs, closing in on Diana like a stoic Gollum, broad-shouldered and flat-faced. His eyes darted to the nearby zombies standing uselessly around the room.

  “You wanted to see me?”

  “Oh, yes, I need you for a thing,” she said casually before lifting her hand and gesturing toward the man like she was conducting an orchestra. Four of the zombies burst into action, closing in much faster than zombies should have been able to move. Finn yelped, squirming against his bonds as if he’d be able to escape them with just a little bit of force. Finn’s shock was nothing compared to the guard’s, though.

  He didn’t scream or try to run away, and he wasted no energy on frivolous protests or flailing like Finn would have done, but his expression betrayed him. His training kicked in and before Finn knew what was happening, two of the zombies hit the ground with bullet holes in their heads. Without even a swish of Diana’s hands, two more of her army closed in to take their place.

  The man wasn’t fast enough, and the last thing Finn saw before he squeezed his eyes shut against a spurt of terror-induced tears were two of the zombies wrapping pallid fingers around the man’s throat.

  ****

  “Something’s wrong,” Donald and Veruca both said at the same time. Alex snorted at their synchronicity but didn’t ask either to elaborate.

  “Then let’s get in there and do something about it.”

  “We wouldn’t make it past the guards,” Donald said, shaking his head. Veruca agreed but wanted to risk it anyway. The movement of souls beneath the house ahead spoke of danger, and even though Finn’s soul remained apart from the rest, she wanted in that basement. A few seconds passed before three of the guards posted around the edges of the house abruptly decided they felt the same way.

  “That makes things easier,” Alex said, pushing to her feet and taking off toward the house, gun held low but ready to shoot. Donald followed close behind but Veruca shook her head, knowing that was the wrong tack. Sure, most of Diana’s protection had fled for the basement, but some had remained to guard the house. Running in like a lunatic wasn’t the way to go.

  The brownie appeared almost the instant she called for it, and she crouched down, pointing at the house.

  “Can you glamour us both so we can get to Finn without being seen?”

  “Cannot glamour you double. Only one.”

  “That’s okay, I just need to get to him.” Turning to Donald, she gestured vaguely to the house. “Do a lap around, would you? See if you can take care of any of the other guards.”

  “I should—”

  “I’ll be okay. Alex is already in there shooting anything that moves, she’ll keep me safe.”

  “Her gun is what I’m most worried about.”

  Veruca touched his cheek for a second before turning back to the brownie and nodding. It reached up, taking her hand and pulling her toward the house. She felt no different, but the little creature’s soul had frayed slightly, going fuzzy in the same way she’d seen when it had been glamoured itsel
f. Trusting that they were both invisible, she let the brownie lead her to the house.

  There was no one to spot them as they snuck around the side and up to the back door. The brownie tugged at the door for a moment before turning to look helplessly up at Veruca.

  “Lock.”

  “Can you get through?”

  The brownie watched her silently for a moment before nodding once. She gave it a small, encouraging smile, and gestured for the creature to go ahead. Brow knitted, it turned around, hit its fist on the door, and then looked back up at her nervously. Veruca understood the hesitation and wondered if the brownie would’ve preferred she not know it could get through locks so simply.

  Getting into homes uninvited could get even a human badly hurt if they were discovered. A brownie being caught would be even worse for both the mortal world and Fairy—not to mention the brownie itself if the human reacted as humans tend to when faced with something they don’t understand.

  The sounds of absolute anarchy pounded Veruca as she hugged the wall, moving down and leaving behind the safety of glamour. Before she dared peer around the corner to see the state of the room, she turned, pointed to the top of the stairs, and hoped the brownie understood she wanted it to stay out of harm’s way. Sucking in a deep breath, she took the final step down to the landing, one of her many blades in hand.

  Finn was safe, thank god, but the same couldn’t be said for the mercenaries locked in awkward combat with the zombies that nearly filled the room. Diana stood off to the side, her back to Veruca as she watched her army fight back the men she’d probably paid good money to keep her safe. Deciding the men needed some extra help, Veruca extended her power, grabbed for every scrap of loose soul in the room, and yanked it free of the zombies.

  They crumpled to the ground—or at least those not held tight by the men with guns did. The mercenaries, unaware at first that the zombies in their arms had instantly become a non-issue, continued to grunt and fight, some of them losing balance against the sudden lack of resistance. The struggle continued for the briefest of moments while Diana swiveled her head, looking around at her former army. Her tattered soul hung in the air, illuminating Veruca’s vision like fairy lights spread artfully above a nighttime picnic before sluggishly coalescing in the center of the room.