by Lee French
“You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?”
“I think so.” Drew flashed Sophie a friendly smile. This went past the things he needed to keep Sophie safe from and punched out the other side to the place on the map labeled “here be dragons.” Someone like Sophie should never meet someone like Iulia. “I really appreciate your help. Do you want me to take you home, or someplace else?”
Sophie stared at him for a beat before shrugging. “You owe me dinner.”
“Oh. Ah.” Kay coughed. “Yes. I did promise her that. Hm.”
Drew blushed. He’d forgotten about it, and didn’t know if he wanted to see her again after today. That focus stone would keep him from being able to pay attention to her. “Um, there’s a lot of stuff going on right now? Can we maybe do that another time? How about Saturday? Because school tomorrow and all that.” By then, he could wheedle some money out of Grandma Tammy to send Sophie something as an apology.
“Sure.” She sighed like she already knew he intended to cancel later. “Take me home. Mom is probably freaking out about how I left. On top of everything else. Incidentally, it’s weird to be around someone who has conversations with people I can’t hear. Just so you know.”
Kay hissed in annoyance. “Don’t you dare apologize to her for that.”
Drew bit back an apology. “Good to know.”
Sophie took his hand. Drew spun mist. They arrived at his childhood home again. This time, he turned his back on it. Before Sophie could say anything, he returned to the Brady farm.
Mutt stepped on his foot. “Master, stop leaving me behind.”
“Not now, Mutt. I need to do something…” Drew groped for the right word.
“Stupid,” Kay suggested. “Idiotic. Insane. Demented. Desperate.”
Drew rolled his eyes and huffed. Kay wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t like hearing it in his head. Especially not this blunt. “Dangerous. It’ll be dangerous.”
“Oh.” Mutt gazed off toward the house. “Maybe I should stay here. I could keep your bed warm!”
“That sounds like a good idea, Mutt.” Drew noticed a mass of fog drifting out from behind a tree in the distance and heading in their direction. The lumpy, human-like shape reminded him of the ghost he’d failed to dominate earlier. He turned and slapped his leg, urging Mutt to fall in beside him as he jogged toward the house. “A really good idea.”
Chapter 18
Justin
Somehow, Tariel and Stirin had brought their Knights together despite no communication between them. Justin decided he didn’t want to know how that worked. Five minutes ago, he passed Claire’s bundle to Avery on a sleepy residential street, trying to keep a low profile. They’d intended to check places for Iulia’s hideout until Avery’s police radio announced the first confirmed death by giant ant.
Tariel galloped across the Burnside Bridge behind Stirin. Avery’s sprite flashed red and blue lights and blared his siren, clearing the road. Justin checked both sides of the bridge and noticed a tall, fountain-like plume of water near the park to the north. Something big and metallic blue surged over the guardrail between a concrete walkway and the river. People screamed and ran from it.
The scene reminded Justin of a cheesy monster movie. The inhuman menace rose from the depths of the Willamette to terrorize the citizens of Portland. Except this monster bore a striking resemblance to a cockroach. Like the ants, its exoskeleton had turned bright blue. Unlike the ants, the giant bug rivaled Tariel in size. Thick antennae, each at least five feet long, thrashed, knocking down a man who hadn’t had the sense to flee.
“We should probably deal with that before we move on,” he said to Tariel.
“Oh, no, let’s leave Giant Magic Radiation Terror of the Deep there to terrorize the city while we handle tiny ants.”
“It looks more like a ground-based giant magic radiation terror to me.”
Tariel snorted. Where the bridge connected with land but before it reached ground level, Tariel leaped over the decorative concrete railing to fall at least twenty feet to the walkway. Justin braced for impact. She landed with an echoing clang loud enough to attract the giant cockroach’s attention.
The mutated creature swung its head around. Arcs of dark blue electricity crackled at the base of its antennae.
Justin drew his sword. “Great. A cockroach that shoots lightning bolts.”
“Maybe we should wait for Avery.”
“Good thing we followed him here instead of charging in first.”
“Shut up. You wanted to jump and you know it.” Tariel scraped a hoof on the ground, kicking up sparks.
Adrenaline surging through him at the prospect of a battle, Justin laughed. “Yes. Yes, I did.”
The cockroach reared and clacked its maxillae and mandibles, producing an ear-splitting shriek. Its antennae swung in opposite arcs, lightning coursing down to the tips.
Justin noticed Tariel’s muscles bunch, then she charged straight at the cockroach’s head. He leaned over her neck, holding his sword forward. If Claire screwed this up, they’d have to get away from this thing in a hurry. Even if she didn’t, the thing had so much girth it might take a lot of effort to kill.
They plunged forward. The cockroach swung its antennae at them. Tariel sidestepped. Justin swung his sword. Half of one antenna flopped to the ground, spewing blue-black ichor. The remaining stump shot a bolt of lightning at a nearby tree with a booming crack, setting it on fire. The second antenna whipped across the ground. Tariel leaped over it, carrying her into a collision with the giant bug.
The crash jarred Justin’s bones, but he kept his seat. He stabbed at the bug’s head, the part in easiest reach. It shrieked again, drowning all other sound. The blade slid into its thorax, passing through the exoskeleton with ease. Ichor flooded out through the hole, drenching him and Tariel.
A cockroach leg slammed into Tariel’s side. Justin flipped upside down, ripping his sword across the bug’s underside. He fell to the concrete with no idea what had happened. His head cracked on the ground and his vision flickered. The sword skittered away from him in eerie, static-filled silence. As he rolled to his side, his ears progressed to ringing from the bug’s screech. Tariel lay on her side, smoke rising from her coat. From the way the bug’s antenna moved, Justin guessed it had jolted and tossed his horse.
He struggled to his hands and knees, lurching toward the sword. A thick, hairy cockroach leg swept him across the ground. He hit the guardrail. Sharp pain and cracking told him the blow broke at least one rib. Though he healed with every second that passed, new injuries and Tariel being unconscious slowed the process. Worse, he saw another waterspout heralding the arrival of a second giant cockroach.
The ringing in his ears gave way to muffled shouting. Justin rolled to his hands and knees as the first bug turned its attention away from him. He scrambled to reach his sword and noticed someone throwing rocks at the giant bug. An unknown man, probably a regular person, shouted at it, the words unintelligible to Justin’s still healing ears. Behind him, Avery sprinted toward them, his sword already drawn.
Justin grunted as he wriggled to his blade. He gritted his teeth and stood with the sword in hand. Breathing hurt. Dizziness threatened to throw him back to the ground. He leaned against the railing, noting the spatter of his own blood on the concrete as a pool of spreading ichor swallowed it. This thing had taken a hearty stab to the neck parts and kept going.
“Cockroach,” he spat. Pushing off from the railing, he shambled after it.
The dumb civilian who’d taunted it now ran for his life. Avery flew through the air, tossed by the bug. His new trenchcoat flapped and his body spasmed with an electrical blast. Justin pried his focus away from Avery, not wanting to see the landing. He sped to a jog as he chased the bug, refusing to give in to the pain that eased far slower than it should have.
Near its butt end, he leaped onto the bug’s back. He slammed his sword through its exoskeleton and growled as he used it to drag hims
elf up. The bug shrieked and shook its body. With only the sword to keep him in place, Justin slipped and rode the roller coaster. Antennae from the second bug slapped the carapace where Justin had been a second earlier. The lightning had no effect on the bug. Of course.
The situation seemed more dangerous than he and Tariel suspected. And that thought made Justin laugh. He should’ve found Drew and dragged the kid along. Even if he tended to panic, Drew had proven he could cause some damage. This battle would’ve been improved with mist snakes. At the least, he should’ve brought Enion. But no, he hadn’t wanted to show dragons to the world yet. Such a stupid reservation.
Justin’s sword came loose and he tumbled to the ground. This time, he managed to roll with the fall. He got his feet under him and charged at the thing again, knowing how stupid it was. The bug lowered its head to his level, arcing with lightning. Justin leaped into the air and thrust his sword down, evading its attempt to bite him and slamming the blade into its head. The electricity jumped to his sword and crackled up the steel. He let go and fell yet again.
Hitting the ground flat on his back, he watched the bug screech and stagger. It thrashed its head from side to side, its movements growing drunken. Eager to avoid winding up underneath its corpse, Justin groaned with new bruises and cracked bones as he shoved himself backward.
“There are three more,” Avery croaked from nearby.
Justin checked the park and saw three waving their antennae, then another shot out of the water to join them. “We need an army. How many of these things are there?”
“I only saw two in the tunnels. Thought that was all of them. Guess not.”
“How the heck did these things fit in the tunnels?”
“There’s a section closer to the docks with a higher ceiling. They probably escaped by smashing their way out. Into the water, apparently.”
The bugs converged, headed for Justin and Avery in a group. The two men helped each other stand.
“Looks like you have to stab the brain to stop them,” Justin said. He limped around the carcass to get his sword.
“Of course you do.” Avery straightened as he hurried alongside Justin. His sprite hadn’t joined the fight, letting him heal faster.
Justin checked for Tariel and saw her raising her head. The ache in his chest retreated.
One cockroach brandished wings and leaped into the air. The other three followed its lead.
Stopping with his hands on the hilt of his sword, Justin watched them buzz deeper into the city. “Huh. They have wings.”
“Yes.” Avery spat a gob of blood. “This has been a pretty crappy day. And it’s not over yet. You know we have to chase those things down and fight them.”
“Yeah.” The past five days had been the worst Justin had experienced in a long time. He had to go back to that morning in the kitchen with his dad for something as bad as this string of events. The start of that memory forced a shiver down his spine. Shoving it aside, he yanked his sword free and grimaced at the thick, oozing ichor coating the blade. The stuff coated his body too.
“We’re going to need dragons,” Justin said. He stooped and wiped the blade on the grass. “Probably all of them.”
“That means you need Enion to lead them.”
“Which means we need Claire.” In the distance, he saw a giant cockroach land on the side of an office building, smash the glass and concrete, and shove its way inside. “We can’t stop these things until we find her body and convince Iulia to let Claire’s ghost go free.”
“I assume we’re using a flexible definition of ‘convince.’ ” At Justin’s nod, Avery rubbed his face. “I’m a cop, Justin. I can’t beat people up until they agree with me.”
Justin snorted, remembering how Avery had beaten up Claire to get her to talk. But that had been under the influence of a corrupted Phasm, so bringing it up accomplished nothing positive. If Justin wanted Drew to cut him some slack, then Avery deserved it too. “We could wait and see what happens. The Army might be able to kill those things without destroying the city.”
Avery grumbled wordlessly. “My best guess for a container like the one Claire described is in North Portland. The northwest side is all industrial and forest. Somewhere on the border between the two is where we should look.”
“Tariel looks like she’s scraping her wits together. We’ll follow you.”
“I can hardly wait to face a witch.”
Justin slapped him on the back, sending Avery staggering toward his sprite. “Can’t be any worse than almost getting killed by giant cockroaches, right?”
Chapter 19
Drew
Drew picked up a rock in the woods behind the Brady farm and threw it. Dropping off Sophie had taken less than half a minute. He thought about looking for that ghost lurking in these trees, but wanted to wait until after he had a crystal to focus power through. The sun had dipped low anyway, and he didn’t want to face a ghost at night.
“How are we going to find Iulia?”
Kay snorted. “Paint ‘dumbass’ on your forehead and wander around.”
“She’s not really that bad.”
“She scares the crap out of me. If you had any sense, she’d scare the crap out of you too.”
Drew frowned and picked up another rock. “You’re just afraid of anyone with power.”
“No. I’m afraid of anyone with more power than me who’s got big plans.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
Kay went quiet, answering the question more effectively than words. Drew tossed the rock and missed the thick tree he aimed for. Claire was good at hitting things, not him. The fierce agony of loss punched him in the gut. He needed to do something about the entity pretending to be her, and he needed to do it now.
“Drew!” Justin’s voice bounced around the trees. “Are you out here?”
Drew could answer or hide. Both options seemed equally lousy. Answering meant interacting with Justin and doing something for him. Hiding meant facing him later, when he might have less patience. And then still doing something for him.
Might as well get it over with.
“Yeah,” Drew called out. He headed toward the house and found Justin and Avery, both carrying swords. Dry blood and thick, blue-black ooze spattered their faces and clothes. Justin wiped more dark ooze off his blade with a sycamore leaf.
“Good.” Justin smiled when he saw Drew, which confused him. “We need to find Iulia and I’m hoping you can help.”
“I guess we’re going to see Iulia,” Kay grumbled.
Drew blinked in surprise. “What for?”
“She has Claire’s body, and we need some more help to deal with the bugs infesting Portland.”
“How are those two things related?” Kay asked.
But Drew’s blood surged with anger. The nerve of that witch! She dug up Claire’s corpse, the only thing he had left, and took it someplace else. He suddenly didn’t care if Iulia could help. Iulia needed to be dealt with, one way or another. That woman had screwed up enough in this world already. She didn’t get to defile Claire’s corpse.
“Settle down,” Kay said. “Get her help first. Liberate the body. Then do unspeakable things to her.”
“Just a minute.” Gritting his teeth, Drew turned away from Justin and Avery to talk to Kay in relative privacy. “How do I find her?”
“You expect me to know? I don’t have witch radar. If we see one, we can tell from her aura. They don’t have neon signs flashing thirty feet over their heads.”
“Great. You’re kind of useless.”
“So are you.”
Drew growled.
“I know you’re not talking to us,” Avery said, “but can you find Claire’s body instead of searching for Iulia?”
Drew snapped his head up and turned to blink at Avery.
“Oh, hey, that’s brilliant,” Kay said. “You have a blood oath binding through Claire’s locket. I knew it’d be useful to keep this cop around.”
“I think
so,” Drew said. He hoped that translated Kay correctly. “I’m not sure exactly how, but yes, I should be able to.”
“Then let’s go. I think I know where to look.” Avery beckoned for Drew to follow him to his car.
“I’ll follow you.” Justin hurried along with them to Tariel, who stood on the driveway. Blood and ooze crusted her white coat, mane, and tail, along with smears of mud and what appeared to be soot.
Sliding into the passenger seat of Avery’s sprite, Drew noticed two things. First, he thought he saw that kitchen-obsessed ghost slithering into view again. Every time he set foot in those woods, it seemed to show up. Second, the police radio had no power. He wondered what the two men had been doing. “Where did you get the swords?”
As the car backed out of the driveway and trundled down the road, Avery held his blade by the scabbard and offered it to Drew. “Claire. She made us armored clothing too.”
Drew touched the hilt and turned it over. Etching on the elegant lines formed a heart made of whorls and dots. He furrowed his brow, not sure what to make of this development. “Claire made this?”
“I was surprised too. Apparently, she has a demesne and is able to create enchanted items. She’s much more coherent than Mark’s Phasm ever was. Much less focused on a single goal. Justin’s spent more time with her, but even in my limited interactions, I can tell she’s something very different than the typical Phasm.”
“But it’s not really Claire,” Drew blurted. He wished he could take the words back, because he didn’t want Avery trying to stop him.
Avery shrugged. “Ordinarily, I’d agree with you. A Phasm isn’t really the person. It’s an echo, and often an imperfect one. But with Claire, I don’t know. You’re bound to her, so you can probably tell better than me. Still, she was a unique circumstance in life, so there’s no reason to suspect she can’t be one in death too. The locket probably changed the rules for her. The binding between you may also have made a difference.”
“I don’t buy it,” Kay said. “A ghost is a ghost. Sooner or later, she’s going to be consumed by her power.”