Never

by K. D. McEntire

  “What the hell are you doing here, Jane?” Wendy demanded, glaring at Clyde.

  “Don't look at me,” he said, holding up his hands and frowning at Jane. “Last I checked, this piece of baggage was high-tailing it out of here.”

  “I had a feeling,” Jane said to Clyde, “when I realized my timing was off and you genuinely hadn't seen Wendy. Well, I thought that maybe our fugitives here might come visit you after I'd left. Plus, how many chances does a girl get to tour this place at night? It's spooky as he—” Jane yelped and dodged backward as Lily, taking advantage of the lull in the conversation darted forward and slashed at Jane's throat.

  “Oh, you skank,” Jane cried, massaging her neck. “You scratched me! Barely but still…” Then she frowned deeply, probing her skin with the tips of her fingers. “Wait a sec…how did you—”

  “Cutting you is the point,” Lily said and spun left, kicking out and forcing Jane back a step.

  Jane, scowling now, balled her fists and the Light began to gather in her palms. “Oh it's on like Donkey Kong. Come on, let's see what you got.”

  “Stab her, Lily!” Piotr ordered. “In the shoulder, in the arm…where doesn't matter, but cut her!”

  Moving like liquid, Lily shot forward in a precisely timed roll and sliced across Jane's forearm as she came up and bounded to her feet. Jane yelped and the Light blazed for a brief moment before dying down.

  “What the…oh you mother—”

  The Light blazed again…and petered out, the normally brilliant glow only a faint ember at the tips of her fingers. Jane shook her arm as the Light sputtered, expression swerving from annoyed to frightened to pissed all in a split second.

  “What's happening?” Wendy demanded and Jane's lips curled back from her teeth and her eyes darkened. She was furious. “Piotr?”

  “I recognize the blade now,” Piotr explained, loud and insistent, grinning at Jane like a shark as he spoke. His hand was pressed flat against his chest again; Wendy could see the pain in his eyes. “I recognize it and know it for what it is. The effect will not last long, Lily! Press your advantage!”

  Piotr didn't need to tell her twice. Spinning the blade expertly in one hand, Lily darted forward again and Jane, unable to call on her Light to lull Lily with a siren song, was forced to dodge again. Elle, smirking, reached to her shoulder for her arrows to help, only to find them gone. Wendy groaned; now she remembered that they'd all left the rest of their weapons out front on Clyde's orders.

  “What happened?” Elle demanded of Piotr, edging toward the door and her weaponry, but unwilling to not watch Lily's fight. “What'd that thing do to her?”

  “It's cut her off from her Light,” Wendy said. “But how? Why?”

  “How is for another day,” Piotr said. “It matters not, you have my word on this. Why? It is a cursed thing, taken from the world by the Reapers to protect their own skin. A murderer's blade, it only works for a short time. However brief though it may be, that time is often enough.” His hand reached up and brushed his shoulder.

  “Pete, you know more than you're letting on,” Elle grumbled.

  “According to the Reapers, he always has,” Clyde said, scowling at the way Lily and Jane circled one another and the way Wendy and Elle had flanked to the edges of the room. Jane wasn't giving as good as she got but she was managing to keep Lily from cutting her again. “Part of being unending and all that.”

  Suddenly Jane smiled and straightened.

  Wendy knew that look.

  “LILY!” she shouted, sprinting forward, “GET DOWN!”

  The blast of dark Light was like inhaling ice. Wendy tried to scream and failed, feeling the cold roll over her in a freezing wave, the sheer intensity of it drawing the air from her lungs and flinging her back.

  Spun around, Wendy's head cracked against the doorway. She tumbled to the floor and Jane's foot clipped through her face as Jane fled through the doorway. Across the room Clyde shoved open the door and Piotr and Elle ran through—Elle shouting for Jon to fetch her bow and Piotr shouting for Chel.

  Wendy, catching her breath, forced herself to stagger to her feet as Lily, running fleetly and brandishing the knife, slid around Wendy and ran after Jane past glassed in rooms and doors, sprinting all the way to the grand ballroom.

  Clyde, chasing Lily, shoved Wendy aside and shouted, “Don't break anything! DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!”

  The ballroom was better lit than the dining room. The glinting lights reflected off the fresh-polished wooden floors and walls and ceiling even in the Never. Wendy, limping after Clyde, stumbled aside as Lily kicked out and Jane staggered back, nearly elbowing Wendy in the face. Wendy made a belated grab for Jane, willing to risk both the burning heat of the girl and the freezing cold of the dark Light, but Jane was too quick and twisted out of reach.

  Dark Light. Dark Light.

  Wiping the back of her hand across her mouth and wincing in pain as her bruised and battered ribs reminded her that she still had a living, breathing body somewhere, Wendy tried to remember what little she knew about the dark Light. Emma had used it to weave the barrier around Wendy's Light. It was cold to the touch—colder than Piotr's embrace had ever been—and slippery. Before, Wendy had been able to pry open only the thinnest sliver between a section of dark Light and the normal weave she kept over her soul to protect herself…but the darkness had expanded to fill the gap she'd left.

  That was it. That was all she knew.

  Crap.

  Jane, at least, seemed to be having difficulty controlling the dark Light. Her hands, glowing fiercely, were shaking, her expression was grim and tight. She flung an arm out and a ball of dark Light separated from her hand and flew across the room, pounding into Lily's chest and downing the lithe girl with a heavy thud.

  Coughing harshly, Lily bounced to her feet and, brandishing the knife, advanced again, strafing left to pin Jane between the organ and the wall. Jane pushed forward and Lily leaned in, grabbing Jane by the back of her head and shoving down, yanking her knee into Jane's gut and her elbow into the back of Jane's neck.

  Jane, stunned, side-staggered and fell to one hand and a knee, breathing harshly, her blue hair hanging in her face and obscuring her expression. Lily kicked her under the ribs and Jane jerked to the side, shoulder banging against the organ and sending up a discordant crash as her flailing arm slapped the keys. The knife whipped down and Jane rolled forward, sliding through Lily's legs at last second. Lily hissed in pain.

  “It's wearing off,” Wendy realized aloud. “Whatever that knife did to Jane, it's wearing off. CRAP.”

  Jane either heard Wendy, or had come to her same conclusion. Popping up from her roll and staggering as if punch-drunk, Jane gathered the dark Light in her palms once again and flung the balls of energy at Lily.

  Clyde yelled as Lily dodged and the balls scoured a large black hole in the far side of the room, setting the Never ablaze with chilling, freezing blue-white fire. Stripping off his shirt, Clyde rushed to the blaze and pounded on the edges of it with the cloth, cussing at the top of his lungs as the blue-white blaze burned his palms.

  It looks like the hole in the horizon, Wendy thought, squinting at the purpling edges of the hole. Staring too closely made her eyes water and ache and the cold thrumming from the rip in the Never was teeth-achingly intense. Is that what the hole in the horizon is made of? Dark Light?

  A harsh grunt behind her brought Wendy back to the fight in a vivid burst. She spun on her heel as Clyde, fire smothered, pushed past her, growling under his breath.

  “LILY!” Wendy yelled when Clyde, cursing, strode over to Jane. He reached for the Reaper's upper arm, grabbed her and spun her around. So enraged was he over the damage to the mansion that he didn't see the white glow at Jane's chest or the grin spreading across her face.

  “LILY, MOVE!”

  “You! You Reapers! You don't care about nothing important! NONE of you! You keep this up, young lady, and I'm going to—HURK!”

  Clyde staggere
d back, gripping his chest, as Jane slowly pulled her spear of Light from the gaping hole she had made. He frowned and looked at the wound, fell to his knees, and burned to ash before their eyes.

  “Awesome,” Jane said and wet her lips. She was shaking heavily. “You two…you almost had me there.” She held up both hands. “I…I wonder…” Light glowed in each palm—normal, silvery-white Light in her left and the dark Light in her right. “Oh yeah,” Jane laughed. “That's the ticket.”

  Lily, growling, dove at Jane, and the retaliation as Jane let go with both barrels was blindingly fierce. Wendy screamed as Lily jerked and went down, essence pouring freely from the corners of her mouth and her battered nose. Her eyes were already bruising, the left-hand side of her jaw swelling and purpling.

  Jane strode up and grabbed Lily by the back of her blouse, yanking the spirit to her feet one-handed. No sooner had Lily's feet touched the ground than she shoved forward, arms and knife outstretched. Jane pinwheeled her arms backward, flailing slightly, and Lily snatched Jane by her shifting shirt, yanking back until Jane was off balance and stumbled forward.

  Once she was sure Jane was firmly caught, Lily fell backward, using her momentum to drop into a roll and jerking Jane with her, pinioning her legs outward to jam Jane in the gut, flinging the Reaper up and over her back as Lily rolled to a kneeling crouch. Jane, flying high over Lily's head, slammed above the fireplace, cracking the mirror in both the Never and the real world.

  Lily strode to Jane and lifted the knife high, prepared to stab down, when Jane's hand shot out and wrapped around Lily's long, sagging braid, loosened in the battle. Lily began stabbing and kicking, but was lifted by her hair and flung against the far wall. The Never was so dense here; rather than flying through the brick and mortar, Lily slammed hard against it, her head cracking against the corner of the organ.

  “Lily, hang on!” Wendy shouted, skidding across the slick ballroom floor. Her feet went out from under her and she slid into the wall. In the distance she heard Piotr shouting and Elle cursing.

  “Wendy…Wendy…run,” moaned Lily. She slid the knife toward Wendy; it skidded across the polished floor and landed at Wendy's feet.

  “No, I can't!” Wendy protested. Without thinking she knelt down and snatched up the knife.

  “WENDY! RUN!” screamed Lily as Jane slipped completely into the Never, the Light blazing from her core. Wendy knew that Lily had no chance now; the siren song was sweet and clear, the Light fierce and burning. If she stayed, Jane would go after Piotr and Elle next. She might call in reinforcements to attack Chel and Jon.

  As the tendrils of Light stabbed Lily through, Wendy, weeping, turned tail and ran.

  Wendy ran for the back door, skidding to a halt as she realized that Clyde had let them in and now Clyde was gone. How the hell was she supposed to get out?

  Pounding on the door, Wendy shot a glance over her shoulder. It was like she was trapped in the middle of a horror movie. Wendy could hear Jane strolling around the corner behind her like a serial killer on the prowl, hunting for cheerleaders to kill.

  “HELP!” she screamed, slamming her fists so hard against the door they went momentarily numb. “HELP! LET ME OUT!”

  “Wendy!” yelled Piotr from the other side of the door. “Back away!”

  Without questioning him, Wendy stumbled back. Very faintly she heard a tinkling noise and then a loud crash. Seconds later Chel shoved through the door and Wendy sprinted past her into the gift shop and from there into the parking lot. Behind her she heard Jane curse and her steps sped up; Jane ran after Wendy, but Chel was faster.

  The door slammed behind them.

  “GOGOGO!” Wendy snarled, not bothering to see if the others were following. Chel had broken a window out to enter the gift shop—Wendy dove through the opening with Piotr and Elle at her heels, Chel hurrying behind.

  “Where's Lily?” Elle demanded. She'd fetched her weapons and had her bow ready to fire but Wendy would be damned if she waited around long enough for Elle to try and use them. Thankfully, Jon had the car already running; he waited in the driver's seat like a 20s wheelman, hunched over the steering wheel and ready to peel out.

  “Gone,” Wendy threw over her shoulder, running for the idling car. “Into the Light. Jane reaped her and Clyde. Get in the car, we have to boogie.”

  “No. NO!” Elle snarled. She turned on her heel and started storming back toward the building, but was stopped as Piotr, a few steps behind, dropped his shoulder and barreled into her midsection, lifting Elle up and back, flinging her through the car door and into the back seat. Wendy, perched at the end of the backseat, grabbed Elle by the shoulder so she couldn't squirm free. Piotr jumped in the backseat and bracketed her in; Elle, cursing loudly, was stuck.

  The passenger side door slammed. Chel pounded on the dashboard. “Go!”

  Jon didn't ask twice. He put pedal to the floorboards and they were off, swerving onto the street and speeding toward the highway as lightning forked overhead.

  Wendy sighed in relief. Unless she busted out a priceless window or found another exit, Jane was trapped inside the Winchester Mystery House. Elise might be able to break Jane out of jail, but she'd still have some mighty fast talking to do—so far as the security cameras were concerned, Jane was the only person in the house. Every other participant, except for Chel busting out the window in the gift shop, was a spirit. Chel was wearing a hoodie and their dad's car was splattered all over with mud from maneuvering around the holes in the highway and driving in the soggier sections of the breakdown lane.

  “I hope that bitch gets arrested,” Wendy muttered. Beside her Elle was simultaneously crying and cursing, punching Piotr repeatedly in the arm and shoulder for not letting her turn back and demanding Jon turn the car around. She lunged for Wendy's door but Wendy was ready; she'd wrapped her hand in Elle's quiver-strap and yanked the flapper back to the seat. When Elle glared at her, Wendy shook her head.

  “Don't try going through the trunk or floor,” she said evenly. “My grip's strong enough to keep you here, especially with Piotr as backup. If you try and go back there I'll sit on you.”

  Sniffing, Elle twisted away and buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs and Wendy ached for her.

  “What happened?” Piotr asked.

  “Jane's power came back. Lily sacrificed herself to get me out.” Wendy's eyes were leaking; she swiped at them and sniffed. “Clyde was dumb. He tried to tell Jane off, got too close. She speared him clean through.”

  Piotr scowled. “If Jane dared attack Clyde, then we are in a great deal of trouble. Clyde was untouchable.”

  “Well, Jane didn't feel that way,” Wendy retorted darkly.

  “That Reaper better watch her step,” Elle muttered. Tears were streaming down her furious, ferocious face. “The next time I lay eyes on her, I'm going to kill her.”

  Jon, guiding them onto the highway, jerked as he tried to stifle a yawn, and failed. Both he and Chel seemed edgy but Wendy was too overwhelmed by what had just gone down to question the twins on what had them twisted up. “Where to now?” His expression was drawn.

  Elle opened her mouth but before she could say anything, Wendy leaned forward and said, “We're heading back up to the city. Leave the highway and take the back roads. Just in case we're on camera from breaking that window, we don't want to leave a trail.”

  Rubbing his eyes, Jon swerved; the front right wheel momentarily kissed the breakdown lane. “We are?”

  “Yeah,” Wendy said, fingering the dull knife uneasily. “We're going up to the spirit web forest.”

  “Why the hell do we want to do that?” Chel asked. “I mean, I can handle monsters, but—”

  “Fabulous!” Elle said, eyes fierce with hatred. “I'd love to get my mitts on this Elise dame. No more Miss Nice Ghost.”

  “You're staying in the car,” Wendy said, her tone brooking no argument. “Jon, put the pedal to the metal. We don't have a lot of time here.” The clock on th
e dashboard had to be wrong—there was no way that they'd only been in the Winchester for fifteen minutes. It felt like hours had passed, but if the clock was right then dawn was still at least a couple hours off. It was barely four-thirty.

  “We'll see,” Elle replied. “You can't be everywhere at once, Wendy, and you're not exactly the Lightbringer anymore. Until you figure out how to get your Light unlocked you're as weak as a babe in the woods.”

  The road was sparsely populated, but there were still a few other sets of headlights gleaming as they passed. Jon swerved slightly from sheer exhaustion as they reached the speed limit and then sped even faster.

  “Be careful,” Chel yawned, poking the radar detector before reclining her seat. “There are still a ton of cops out.”

  “I've got this,” Jon snapped, irritated and half-turning in his seat to glare at Chel. “I might not be facing down nasty, twisted oogies from the deep but I can manage a car just fine! And I don't need to take the back roads, Wendy! I can handle myself! Don't tell me how to drive!”

  As if to prove his point he stabbed a finger at the console and flipped a switch, switching from the radio to the mp3 player. Heavy metal started low, then Jon angrily spun the dial, ratcheting the sound from one to eleven.

  “TURN IT DOWN!” Chel screamed.

  “NO!” Jon yelled back. “YOU CAN'T ALWAYS BOSS ME AROUND, CHEL!”

  Wendy thought about interceding between the twins but something told her to butt out. Jon and Chel loved each other deeply…deeply enough to tear into one another when they needed a release.

  Obscured by the darkness and the noise, Wendy eased over Elle, trading places. Elle slid into the spot by the window and pulled her knees up to her chin, resting her head on her knees while the landscape flew by. A tear tracked down her cheek; Wendy began to reach out, to comfort Elle, but was stopped by Piotr's hand on her wrist, by his head shaking slightly.

  The music was so deafening that when Piotr tugged Wendy close to try to talk, she had to make him speak into the cup of her ear to be heard.