by Leah Silver
Devlin glared at me, and launched his next attack. Knives. A wall of them flew at me. All I had time for was … well, nothing really. I stood there like some fool with my mouth hanging open while I watched death come at me with open arms.
In the blink of an eye, Oscar was in front of me, shielding me from the onslaught. I heard the blades clanging against his stony body as I pressed myself against his cool, hard back.
“Not today, magician,” he said, taunting the man further. I glanced at the image, where Sara was still falling.
“You know, Devlin,” Levi said as I saw Ike out of the corner of my eye silently moving around the outside of the room. “I’m surprised a man like you would trouble yourself with something like this.”
“Don’t turn your flattery on me, charmer,” Devlin said, seeing right through his plan.
Or maybe not. Ike made his way behind Devlin as Levi kept him talking. Meanwhile, Oscar, Ed and I faced down the magician. My two men had answers for every one of his attacks. With each failure, we took small steps closer to the target, working our way into striking distance one step at a time.
“I’m not flattering you, Devlin. I’m speaking facts.” Levi’s words tickled the back of my neck, and I could tell he was laying his charms on thick, giving it all he had. “The hunter is small potatoes to you. Your plague is genius. You can take out an entire race with it. Maybe more. Then you would be in control. Not the Fae. You.”
It was ridiculous. The Fae weren’t really in control. Although they were arguably the oldest and most powerful race, the council was about balance, and meeting the needs of all. Tempest definitely didn’t dominate, unless she was challenged.
And, as dumb as it sounded, he took the bait. “I will have control. I see it. This world, and all the creatures in it, will bow to m, or die,” Devlin said. For a moment, my mouth hung open.
“Watch out,” Ed said, bringing me back to our fight. A snake came at me and wrapped itself around my neck, constricting immediately.
I clawed at it as its teeth sank into my shoulder. As if a venomous snake could hurt a vampire. Sure, it wasn’t exactly a trip to the spa, but was this really the best Devlin’s magician could do?
The snake constricted again, cutting off my airway, making me want to cough, but I couldn’t get the air out. I felt like if the damned thing squeezed any harder, bones would start breaking. I grabbed a dagger and sliced it off. It fell at my feet in two pieces.
As I gasped for air, my head felt a little fuzzy. I leaned on my knees, thinking it was just lack of oxygen. When I looked up at the magician, he had a self-satisfied grin on his stupid face as he took a step toward me. He thought he’d won. His image blurred and split as I watched him, or them, come at me.
Ed was on one side, his hand on my shoulder, bent over, looking at my face. “Merry, what’s wrong?”
Oscar was on the other side, staring at the snake. “Ed…” He held up the snake as it turned to smoke and vanished.
“That wasn’t just any snake. Its fangs didn’t contain venom. They held silver. A lot of it. And now, hunter, you die. But not before your daughter dies.”
No, my brain screamed. This couldn’t be it. But I couldn’t deny the pain spreading from my shoulder. I took a step forward and crashed to the ground. My hands didn’t even go out to stop my fall. All I could do was turn my head so I didn’t break my nose.
“Ed, do something,” Oscar yelled.
“I…” He trailed off as the magician laughed, but it echoed. As if he was far away from me.
“Looks like your lover is done.” Devlin’s malicious voice cut through the noise, making anger burn inside me.
Levi’s voice found its way to me, echoing all around the dark spaces of my mind. “She is never done. Not with you, or any of us.” I held onto it as the darkness closed in around me.
I heard growling, an animalistic scream, Ed’s chants, a grunt, what sounded like breaking bones and tearing flesh, but I saw none of it. I couldn’t get my eyes to open. Couldn’t summon the strength.
Chaos swirled around me. I could feel it prickling my skin. Or maybe that was the silver coursing through my body, killing it, ripping me to shreds, turning me to ash with every passing second.
What pissed me off the most was I couldn’t even summon the strength to say goodbye. Not even to tell them to save Sara, even though I knew they’d do it regardless. They wouldn’t leave her to Devlin.
The pain seemed like it would never end. Why was it taking so long? When I cut the throats of Devlin’s goons, they turned to ash before I could stow my daggers. I should be dead by now.
“Let go of me, you stupid wolf.” Devlin’s voice became clearer to me. And although the pain still coursed through my body, it gave me strength instead of taking it from me.
“Merry, come back to me.” Ed vied for my attention. Somehow, I opened my eyes. It felt like I was lifting a damned mountain with nothing but my own hands, but I did it. “Hey there, sweet cheeks,” he said with the goofiest grin I’d ever seen.
“Sweet cheeks?” I croaked. My voice didn’t sound like my own. It was thick and hoarse, and it startled me. “That the best you can do?”
“You do have a mighty fine ass,” Oscar said. I turned my head to find him rising from his knees, the magician nothing more than a flatty pancake at his feet.
“I—what did you do?” Grey matter stuck to his chest, and he casually wiped it off like it was dirt. It made me want to gag. So I did. Luckily for Ed, I hadn’t eaten in a while, so nothing came up with it.
“Only what had to be done,” Oscar answered simply.
I sat up cautiously, with Ed’s help, and saw Ike holding Devlin by the throat while Levi cooed to him. Devlin wasn’t buying it, though. “Get your stupid dog off me,” he yelled.
Ed helped me to my feet, and I walked over to Devlin. “Maybe it’s time for you to open your eyes, seer.” I spat the term at him, making it as derogatory as I possibly could. Ed kept me from stumbling as we crossed the room.
Ike gave Devlin a good shake, and I let it happen. “What happened to Sara? The truth.”
“She’s dead,” Devlin said.
“Not your truth. The truth, twatwaffle,” I said.
“That is the truth,” Devlin said. Although it came out rather jerky as Ike gave him another shake. Almost as if he thought he could shake the truth right out of him.
“Fine. She’s dead. Where is her body?”
He glared at me. “I wouldn’t tell you if you had a silver blade to my throat.”
Ed leaned into me, making me reach for Oscar, who was on my left. I just made sure not to touch any gore covered spots.
“I’ll be right back,” Ed said as he left me to Oscar’s care.
“So, what, your little magician afraid of a little conflict? Seems like he’s no good in a fight. Nothing but a healer.” Devlin snorted to himself as Ike shook him again.
“I think you’d do better to pipe down,” Levi suggested. I felt that same prickle on my skin that told me he was trying to charm him, but I knew it wasn’t working. Devlin’s eyes were getting more and more wild by the minute. If we didn’t end it soon, one of us would get hurt.
“Devlin, you’ve lost. Tell me where Sara is, and how to save her, and I’ll turn you over to the council. They can decide what to do with you. Otherwise, I kill you right here, right now.” With every passing second, more strength came back to me. I pulled two daggers out of my arm holsters and approached Devlin without help, but first said to Oscar, “When we’re done here, promise me you’ll take a shower. First thing.”
“Only if you join me.”
I looked him up and down. “After you’re clean, you’re on.”
He winked at me, and I struggled to bring my attention back to the enemy at hand.
“Here we are,” Ed said as he rushed around in front of me.
“Ah, the magician returns,” Devlin said as Ed crouched down in front of him.
“Yes. And with one of my
parlor tricks.” Ed held out his hand, and blew a cloud of purple glitter into Devlin’s face.
“What in the name of Bael—” Devlin coughed, and Ed smiled widely.
“Bael can’t help you now, Devlin,” Ed said.
Devlin’s eyes dilated so much I could barely see the color around them. I walked in close, kneeling with Levi and Ed. “What did you do to him?”
“I noticed a truth-telling powder in Agatha’s stores,” Ed explained.
Ike sneezed and loosened his hold on Devlin, clearly relaxing as much as Devlin, who’d slumped back, leaning on his elbows.
“Oops,” Ed said, then shrugged. “He’ll be fine.”
Ike let Devlin go altogether and sat down. He panted, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he watched me happily.
“Devlin, tell us how to cure Sara,” Ed commanded.
“The magician knows.”
“Shit shooters. He’s dead,” I said.
“What does the magician know?” Ed pressed.
Devlin blinked at Ed, confused. “How to cure Sara.”
“Where is Sara?” I asked. He looked at me, but didn’t answer. “Some truth powder,” I muttered, but Ed came to Agatha’s defense.
“Questions must be asked by the one who administered the powder. It’s brilliant, I must say.” He turned back to Devlin. “Where is Sara, Devlin?”
“At my house. In the basement.”
“Is she alive?”
“At this moment? Yes.”
I nearly fell back the relief hit me so hard.
“Fine. How do we cure her, and the others?”
“There is enough serum to cure her buried under the stone with the sun etched into it. That is all the serum I have.”
“What is it made out of?” Ed asked, clearly fascinated by the conversation.
“The magician knows,” Devlin answered, his eyes getting more and more glassy as time went on. I was starting to wonder if Ed had used too much of the powder.
Ed turned back to me. “So either we save Sara now, or wait and analyze the serum so we can duplicate it.” He turned to Levi, our own personal disease specialist. “How quickly could you duplicate it?”
He looked like Ed had just asked him to squeeze wine from an oak tree. “I don’t know. Maybe never. Duplicating a serum without the recipe can be tricky.”
“No. Wait. What? Why would we need to duplicate it?” I asked. “Sara is the only one alive who is ill. And once we kill Devlin here, this is over.”
The words of the demon echoed in my mind—that it went beyond Devlin. That Devlin wasn’t really in control, but merely a puppet. But I pushed them away. I needed it to be him. I needed this to be over. That serum was mine, and I was giving it to my daughter. End of discussion.
“Merry,” Levi said, looking at me with a patient but firm expression.
“No. He admits it. The plague is him. Once he’s gone, this is over.”
I looked desperately at Ed, but Devlin was already laughing. Low and sinister at first, then it built to a full-bellied laugh. He even clutched his stomach.
“Why are you laughing?” Ed asked.
“Your hunter is more ignorant than I thought.”
“The truth,” Ed demanded.
“That is the truth.”
“Explain yourself,” Ed pressed.
“You can kill me, but the plague doesn’t end with me.”
“Who is in control of it?” Ed asked.
“I don’t know.”
“A name. Who do you take your orders from?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is the powder wearing off?” I asked.
Ed looked at Devlin. His eyes were still glassy. He was telling the truth, as frustrating as it was.
“Fine. How do you get your orders?”
“A goblin brings them.”
“A goblin,” Ed repeated.
“That’s unusual, isn’t it? The goblins aren’t friendly with the other races. Why would they be working for someone?” I asked.
“Because that someone holds the purse strings? Goblins are nothing if not greedy. And whoever’s behind this is probably controlling them with a heap of money,” Oscar offered.
“Why, though?” I asked. It didn’t make sense. None of it did. Devlin wasn’t in control like he convinced himself he was. What promises had they made to him?
As if reading my mind, Ed pressed on. “What did these people promise you for helping them gain control of the council, and spreading the plague?”
“Control of my race.”
“Does he really think there will be anything left of his race? Who’s betting it’s not a vampire responsible for all of this?” Levi asked.
I shook my head. He was probably right, and I didn’t like it. Which races hated the vampires? Truth be told, no one really liked anyone outside their race. We tolerated each other for the most part. I never particularly understood the barriers between us. In working with all of them, I found they each had useful qualities.
“Do we have everything we need from him?” I asked, tiring of this game. Tiring of everything, frankly. I couldn’t think about how big this was.
“Devlin. One more question. Tell me exactly what you’ve seen about how this whole plague thing plays out,” Ed said. I held my breath. I didn’t want to hear the answer to this. Panic set in, and I wanted to run. To leave the room. Anything but hear the words coming out of his mouth. Because they would be the truth. Whatever he said, would we have the power to change it?
“The world as we know it is coming to an end. The shift in power will be a difficult transition for those who resist. Many will die. Nearly all, in fact. The world will be quiet, free of chaos, for a time at least.”
It was all too vague for me. “Here’s something original. A seer who forecasts the end of the world with so few details that if it comes true, he’ll be declared some mystical oracle. But how could it not? Eventually, one of them is going to be right, with the amount of details they give.” I threw my hands up, growing more impatient with each passing moment. My hands itched to hold my daggers, to end this and move on. That serum waited for Sara. It had her name on it.
“Give us more details. Who specifically is in power in this future you see?” Ed asked.
“I can’t see them.”
“Why?”
“They have ways of blocking my vision.”
That gave me pause. What race could block a seer? “I don’t know of anyone who can do that naturally, or indefinitely,” Ed said, sitting back on his butt and bringing his knees up.
“A new race?” Levi asked.
Ike yipped, and I patted my leg. He came over and leaned against me, still clearly under the control of the truth powder. “Who knows?” I said absently petting Ike as he leaned harder on me.
“So a new race is coming to kill us all,” Levi said. “Perfect.”
“Now, are we done?” I asked.
Ed sighed. “Yes. I suppose we are.”
It was all the encouragement I needed. I whipped my favorite dagger out, my emerald beauty. It seemed poetic to kill him with Tempest’s blade. It didn’t have as much silver in it as some of my other blades, but it didn’t matter. It would do the job, and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a quick death. He didn’t deserve it. With little flourish, I rammed it straight into Devlin’s chest.
He smiled while he coughed and sputtered.
“Didn’t see that coming, did you?” I asked.
“Yes. I did.” In a flash, his hand came up and I heard a clang.
“Not today, you twatwaffle,” Oscar said, borrowing my word as he pulled his hand away. When had he darted between us? I had no idea gargoyles could move so quickly. Maybe they couldn’t. Maybe Oscar was just fast. I didn’t certainly didn’t have a huge friend base of gargoyles to compare him to.
His hand fell to the ground, and the silver blade he held clattered to the side. I held my blade in his chest, as if I could drive it deeper while he turned to as
h beneath me, much more slowly than his goons had, but after a few moments, he relented to his fate.
Then I sat back, exhaustion washing over me.
As if the spell had been broken, Ike turned back into a human. “What the hell happened?”
“We learned the world is coming to an end,” I said as I laid on my back, succumbing to the weight of everything.
Ike snorted as he reached for his clothes that had fallen in the corner when he’d changed. “What else is new?”
Nothing hurts quite like compromise
“Now what?” Ike asked.
“Now we save Sara,” I said. That was as far as I could take this. It was all I had the energy for.
“We can’t just waste that serum, Merry,” Levi said.
“Waste it?” Where I got the energy for yelling, I’ll never know, but yell I did. “How dare you, Levi Pietz.”
He cringed, knowing he’d said the wrong thing, but not going back on his words. “Think of the larger implications here, Merry.”
“So, what, you’re going to spend your days in the lab trying to replicate the serum? Meanwhile, more and more people are becoming infected, and you’re useless to us while we try to track down this no-name super species? Is that your master plan? Because it blows.”
He approached me carefully, and that was best. The anger burned hot just beneath my skin. If he got too close, I was likely to take a swipe at him with one of my daggers. At a minimum, punch him in the face.
“Merry, I’m at my best in the lab.”
“Oh, really, charmer? That’s not what I heard.” My words were venom, and he was rightfully hurt by them.
“That’s not fair.”
“Exactly what part of this do you think is fair? The part where some vampire who’s clearly older than me blamed me for the dumbass decisions of his son? Or the part where we became collateral damage to some super race of creatures hell-bent on taking over the world? Or maybe it was the part where I fell in love with four different supernatural men? I don’t even know how to be in one relationship, let alone four.”
My face was wet. When had I started crying? It only made me angrier, and I swiped impatiently at my cheeks.