Without conscious thought, I slammed my right fist into the mirror, cracking it.
I walked back to where Rowle still sat. I stood, glaring at him, my hands curled into fist at my side.
He eyed me carefully, but made no comment.
“I suppose you can prove that claim,” I challenged.
Rowle stood and I had to step back to give him room. He waved a hand at the room’s nearly empty northern wall. He spoke something I couldn’t follow and then an image appeared. It took me a second to realize that it was a night scene of Raphael, Tess, myself, and my Mom. The image was strange, almost as if it were faceted. As such, I didn’t understand what I was seeing until a flaming meteor fell from the skies in front of Mom and me. The resulting explosion left my image unconscious, but I could see Mom trying to rise.
Then Raphael walked up to her with a long sword in both his hands. Without any hesitation, he ran the point of the sword completely through Mom’s chest.
I choked back a sob and turned away from the damn image. It wasn’t possible. Why would Rafe kill Mom?
I felt a hand on my shoulder and then Rowle’s voice sounded near my ear. “I’m sorry I had to show you that, Alex, but you wanted proof.”
I moaned, shaking with anger. “Why? Why would he kill her and let me live?”
“I don’t know. Wanderers are often confusing. While we understand the motivations behind our own actions, outside observers have a more difficult time of understanding us.”
My blood boiled as my mind replayed the image of Rafe running his sword through Mom’s chest. Tess had stood there watching, making no attempt to stop him. All this time she’d known what he did and she hadn’t said a word to me about it.
I gritted my teeth as the image played back in my mind one more time.
Shaking my head, I turned toward Rowle with tears in my eyes. “So, you need an apprentice. If I follow you, will I have a chance for retribution?”
Rowle gave me a sad smile. “On Raphael?”
“On both of them,” I snarled through clenched teeth.
Rowle nodded. “Sure, it’ll take years of training to even attempt to attack them, but when you’re ready. I promise you that you’ll get the opportunity.”
“Then let’s get started.”
Chapter 19
raphael
I lay on my back staring up at the bright glow of the Milky Way stretching over me from horizon to horizon. It was a beautiful sight that I never grew tired of seeing. Only activating my senses tat would improve on the spectacle. I focused…and memory came rushing back to me.
My tats were gone!
I sat up. At least my vision seemed to be restored. Tess was lying beside me on the still smoking grass of the meadow. Placing a hand on her shoulder, I shook her gently.
“What?” she said, but it came out as more of a moan than a question.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, damn. I feel horrible. Remind me to never do that again.”
“To not do what?” I asked.
“To bring lightning to myself,” she moaned and sat up.
“Is that what happened?” I gazed around at the smoldering grass. “How on Earth did you manage to summon lightning?”
“You don’t remember?” Tess asked.
“Things are a little fuzzy. I remember trying to burn a tat and failing. Then I tried to burn a clump of grass, but that’s where things blur. Want to fill me in?”
“You went a little nuts,” Tess said.
I frowned. “A little nuts? That doesn’t sound like me.”
“Yeah, well, a little nuts is an understatement of epic proportions. You surprised me, too. You were releasing energy, but it wasn’t directed at anything. Instead, it just kept building and building. I couldn’t get you to stop and you were aging before my eyes. You should see yourself. You look like an old man.”
I raised a hand to my face and felt my skin. My face was heavily lined and my skin felt like old leather. As much as I didn’t want to believe Tess, I had little choice in the matter. I had expended an incredible amount of energy somewhere.
“Damn. And you summoned lightning to get me to stop?”
Tess nodded. “I’d tried everything else I could think of. Kissing you, slapping you, I had to do something before you killed yourself.”
“And the lightning?” I asked.
“We were still partially meshed, but I couldn’t reach your mind to snap you out of it. Finally, I grabbed you and focused on your lightning tat. It activated for me and well, here we are.”
I shook my head. “I’ve never heard of anyone activating a Wanderer’s tat except himself. I don’t understand how it’s possible.”
“Maybe no one else has ever tried to,” Tess suggested.
“That could well be,” I agreed as I stood. My body protested at the effort of rising to my feet. Damn, I was not only old, but weak and sore as well. My joints hurt as if I’d developed arthritis along with old age.
I offered a hand to Tess and when she took it, I found myself unable to lift her to her feet.
“That’s okay, Rafe. You need to get your strength back,” Tess said as she released my hand and stood easily.
I felt for a ley line. I knew we weren’t too far from the one that passed over Alex’s hotel. Nothing. I couldn’t feel one.
“Oh, hell.”
“What’s wrong now?” Tess asked.
“I can’t feel a ley line. I know there’s one near the motel, but I can’t feel it. You try,” I ordered.
Tess turned toward the west and raised her face toward the sky. “It’s there, Rafe. I can feel it.”
“Damn it, it’ll take me a day to draw enough power to restore myself if I can’t access a ley line.”
“Perhaps I can help,” Tess suggested.
I stared at her for a second and then nodded. “Yeah, that should work.”
She stepped close and wrapped her arms around me. I embraced her and we meshed minds, auras, and emotions.
It was troubling to feel how worried she was for me.
Without speaking, we both turned to face the western sky. Through her eyes, I could see the distant glow of the ley line. It was less than a mile away and should have been plainly visible to any magic user. Just not me.
Together, we raised our hands, our fingers interlaced toward the line. I felt Tess reaching out for the line and she started a tap. Energy flowed into our hands and spread out through our bodies. It was a marvelous feeling like someone was pouring life back into my withered flesh. We stood that way for a long time before I felt some semblance of normalcy in my body.
Together, we dropped the connection and lowered our hands. Tess turned to face me and we kissed.
When the kiss broke, she leaned her head back and smiled at me. “You’re looking better.”
“Glad to hear it. I still don’t feel like myself, but I think I can at least get around without a walker.”
She chuckled nervously. “Good. I didn’t like seeing you weak like that. It was scary.”
I nodded and we dropped the mesh.
“What now?” Tess asked.
“I’m not sure. This is all new to me.”
“Imagine how I feel. I’ve never seen anything truly bother you. You’re supposed to be the one with all the answers, a solution to every problem. The Wanderer who got devoured by a dragon and gave it indigestion. Ah, where do we start?”
I frowned and shook my head. “God, I wish I had an idea. I’ve never heard of a Wanderer losing a tattoo, except by misplacing a piece of his anatomy as I did in Colorado. The idea of something being able to scour my tats away is horrible to contemplate. When you add in that I can’t seem to burn a new tattoo, I’m more worried than I want to say, but you’re my Apprentice. You deserve to know the truth.”
Tess bit her lip and pulled back out of my arms. Crossing her arms beneath her breasts, she began to pace back and forth in front of me.
There was a flurry of wind and Bea
st and Maia dropped to the field beside us.
“What’s wrong with you?” Beast growled.
I shrugged. “You saw?”
“I saw.”
“It appears that whatever spell hit me, keeps me from burning a tattoo,” I said dejectedly.
Beast and Maia swapped glances.
“How is that possible?” Beast asked.
“I don’t know. I’m at a total loss here. Any harmful spell should have pinged my wards and given me time to activate my shield. Whatever that explosion was, it didn’t alert my wards.”
“You think someone has found a way to prevent your ward from detecting a magical trap?”
“Anything’s possible,” I said.
“Maybe it wasn’t a spell,” Tess suggested.
All three of us looked at my Apprentice.
“How could it not have been a spell? It magically removed Rafe’s tattoos,” Maia said.
“Yes, what are you thinking?” I added.
“I mean the explosion, not the actual black gunk that hit you. That black stuff could have been like a potion, but the trigger wouldn’t have to be magical, would it?”
I thought about it for a few seconds and then shrugged. “I don’t guess the explosion would have to be magical. If it was a potion or some kind of spell encased in a container that was set to trigger at my name…I don’t know, I’ve never heard of anyone rigging up a mundane booby-trap with a magical component.”
“You’ve never heard of a Wanderer losing his tattoos either,” Tess said.
Well, hell, she had me there.
“I don’t know. I’m in over my head here. I don’t know which would be worse, having someone hide night magic from my ward, or someone putting a night magic spell in a mundane bomb.”
“Neither is comforting,” Beast growled.
“Beast, your senses are pretty good, probably even better than mine when mine are enhanced.”
“Yes, they are much better.”
I spread my arms. “Great, take a real good look at me and see if you can tell if there’s something that could be preventing me from using my magic.”
Beast leaned toward me, staring at my bare chest. He slowly covered my entire body with a slow sweep of his head. Then he stuck his face right up against my chest and sniffed loudly. With that, he sneezed and sat down on his haunches.
“Well?” Tess asked.
Beast growled softly. “There is something there. Something other than your needing a shower.”
“Funny,” I said. “Can you tell what it is?”
“No, I’ve never smelled anything like it before. You used lightning to burn away the blackness?”
I nodded. “Yeah, that was about the only thing I had left to try. Are you telling me the lightning didn’t get it all?”
“It’s like you still have night magic inside you. It’s faint, but there’s still something there.”
“Great,” I said. “Any idea how to get it out of me?”
“No, none.”
“Fuck,” I mumbled.
“Could you do an exorcism to remove it?” Tess asked.
“An exorcism? I don’t know. That’s not something I have a lot of familiarity with.”
“I thought you ran into demons and the such.”
“Yes, but they rarely get into someone so deep that I can’t just force them out. They can be exorcised and I have done it, I’m just not sure that showing a demon the door is the same as removing a taint of night magic. I’ll have to think on it.”
“Oh, hell,” Tess said suddenly.
“Yeah, it’s a bitch.”
“Not that. What about Alex?”
“Alex?”
“Aren’t we ignoring the obvious? We went to the motel looking for Alex right after we were told he was your next apprentice. Whoever set that trap must have known we’d be coming to look for him.”
“How?” I asked. “There’s no way someone would know he was reaped by the Valkyries. The trap must have been set some time ago and was just waiting for me to barge in.”
“I don’t think so. What if someone else mentioned your name and activated the trap?”
“Well, I… hell, I don’t know, but no one but the Valkyries and Verðandi know when someone is reaped. They wouldn’t tell.”
“Are you certain about that?” Tess asked.
I frowned. “If I can’t trust them, then there’s not much point in there being Wanderers. They’re the system that creates us.”
“Maybe some of the gods are screwing with us. Maybe they didn’t like you stopping Ragnarök and want to get a little payback.”
“Hah. That would be funny if it weren’t so damned possible. The gods are known for holding grudges. I’d never put anything past them when it comes to retribution for some imagined slight. But it doesn’t feel right. The gods don’t usually mess with Fate or her charges. Hell, Loki is one of the few I’ve ever met.”
“Loki, you said he was a trickster god, right?” Tess asked.
“You’re thinking this is some elaborate trick by him?”
When Tess nodded, I frowned. “I wouldn’t think so. I mean he’s pulled a few tricks on me, but then he gave you that amulet that amps up your healing spell and he even offered to help in Colorado.”
“But you didn’t call that marker in. Maybe he’s upset that you didn’t.”
“Loki is known for his vindictiveness,” Beast growled.
“Yeah, but I thought we parted on good terms. Surely my not calling him for help wouldn’t upset him enough to screw with me like this.”
“It does seem a step up from his other tricks,” Tess agreed.
“Still, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be involved. I guess we’ll have to contact Verðandi and get her opinion,” I said.
“Yes,” Tess said excitedly. “Verðandi gave us the power to create our tats. She must be able to reverse whatever was done to you.”
I nodded, but in my own mind, I wasn’t sure.
Chapter 20
raphael
The sky was beginning to lighten in the east. It was marvelous to be able to see it. There had been a measure of doubt in my deepest thoughts that I’d ever be able to see again. A blind Wanderer would not be of much use to Verðandi. For that matter, a Wanderer without tattoos wouldn’t be much use to her either. The real question was what was keeping me from burning tats and focusing my magic. Would Verðandi be able to restore my powers? It wasn’t something I ever expected to need to ask.
“So, how do you contact Verðandi?” Tess asked.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Slowly shaking my head, I said, “That’s a good question. I’ve never contacted her before.”
“What?” Tess’s voice was incredulous. “In more than forty years of working for her, you’ve never needed to call on her?”
“That’s right. Never needed to, rarely wanted to, and I don’t like the idea of having to contact her now. I’m supposed to be able to handle any problems that arrive without her assistance.”
“Damn it, Rafe. This is no time to be cocky about your powers. You’ve already admitted that you don’t know what’s happened to you and with your powers reduced to… what? A couple of tats? How can you think you’re going to be able to fix this without her help?”
Tess was pushing her role as my apprentice, but it was my own fault. We were much closer than a Wanderer should be with his Apprentice. Not that it really mattered. She was most likely right and I needed to stuff my pride in a box and leave it there until I was at least capable of handling magic again.
“All right, you’re probably right–”
Beast snorted and said, “Of course she’s right. I’ve told you that your cockiness was going to get you into a bind that you wouldn’t be able to get out of.”
“My cockiness didn’t get me into this. It was a booby-trap that my ward didn’t detect.”
“If you’d been cautious, you would have had your shield up,” Beast growled.
“Screw that. I can’t walk around with my shield up twenty four hours a day.”
“Why not?”
“Because…hell, just because. It would be too inconvenient,” I snapped when I couldn’t think of a good response.
“Hah,” Beast chuffed.
“Rafe, can we get back to how we contact Verðandi?” Tess asked.
I almost snapped at her, but held my outburst for the next time Beast put in his two cents worth. “All right. I’ve heard that a lot of the gods know when someone says their name in a series of three. I don’t know if it really works, but it’s the first thing that comes to mind.”
“Okay, like that horror story about the girl in the mirror.”
“What?” I asked.
“You don’t know the myth about Bloody Mary?”
“Bloody Mary? Oh, yeah, I’ve heard about that. Walt told me that he took care of it long before I became his apprentice.”
Tess started. “What?”
“Yeah, I think it was in the early sixties. Unfortunately, several people had been killed by the time he figured out how to banish the girl’s spirit for good.”
“Now you’re just fucking with me,” Tess said.
“No, not at all. I’ve told you that most myths have a basis in reality.”
“I thought you were just talking about mythological creatures and things, not urban legends.”
“How do you think urban legends got started? Something happened and before a Wanderer could take care of it, the legend was up and running.”
“That’s just freaky.”
I shrugged. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Therese, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
“Did you just misquote Hamlet?”
I grinned. “I may not be as well read as some people, but over the decades I’ve had a lot of chances to read.”
Tess ginned wryly. “You don’t strike me as the book worm type.”
“I may not meet the typical definition, but I enjoy reading.”
Wanderers 4: A Tough Act to Follow (The Wanderers) Page 12