City of Burning Shadows (Apocrypha: The Dying World)

by Barbara J. Webb

  At the door I was met by the same man as last night. I used the same magic on him as I had on Seana. Even if I didn’t know him well, I could focus on human well enough. He was clean.

  He let me in and directed me to the sitting room where I’d met with Amelia last night. I went straight there, but stopped short two steps through the door. Amelia was in there all right, on the long couch, with a book in her hand. Iris had stretched out on the couch next to her, her head in Amelia’s lap. Amelia stroked Iris’s hair—today a deep, contented blue—as she read.

  The scene was tranquil, intimate. I couldn’t bear to interrupt.

  Too late. Amelia lowered her book, but the smile she gave me was warm. “It’s all right, Ash. Come in.”

  Iris opened one eye, narrowed it at me, then closed it again. She obviously wasn’t happy I was interrupting their quiet time. But Amelia was the boss.

  “I have the beginnings of a plan,” I said as I claimed an overstuffed chair across the rug from them. Again I summoned the magic to make sure Amelia was still Amelia, that Iris was still Iris. Even if Iris had her eyes closed, I was certain—fairly certain—I’d feel the shadow within her. I saw nothing strange, felt nothing strange. Maybe it was silly to do this to everyone, but I was still rattled by Syed in my house.

  And he could be anywhere.

  Amelia set her book down, nudged at Iris with her leg. “Time to wake up, love.”

  Iris sat up, giving me a full-on glare. “Sure, because Ash’s plans so far have gone so well.”

  I looked down, away from both her and Amelia. I was going to be asking Iris to go into danger again and I didn’t even know if she was fully recovered from being shot.

  It must have shown on my face. “Ash, look at me,” Amelia said.

  I looked up. She took Iris’s hand. “Iris getting injured wasn’t your fault. This is a dangerous business. People are going to get hurt. You can’t let that stop you from doing what needs to be done.”

  It was a sentiment Seana would have agreed with. That didn’t make it easier to swallow. “It’s going to be dangerous. More than anything we’ve done yet. I’m working on guesswork and rumors and second-hand data. But I don’t think we have a choice. We have to hunt Syed.”

  Iris flinched as I said his name. Amelia leaned back against the couch, crossed her arms. “I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but I’d like to hear how you got there.”

  “We need water. Our best hope for that right now is the Desavris satellite. But for that to work, we need either one of their scientists to fix what Syed broke or for Spark to figure out where the problem is. And we also need Copper not to disrupt things in a misguided attempt to help her sister.” I ticked off the points on my fingers as I made them. “We can’t help Seana’s scientists. We can’t help Spark fix the design. Copper isn’t going to move tonight. What we can do—what I hope we can do—is find Syed and neutralize him.”

  “Kill him,” Amelia corrected.

  Hard to face that. Hard to wrap my mind around that cold purpose. I’d never killed anyone. I leaned forward, buried my face in my hands. I’d been a librarian, dammit. “Yes,” I muttered into my palms. “Kill him.”

  “He killed Eddis Desavris,” Amelia said in a soft, chill voice. “Destroyed research that could save millions of lives. He’s followed you, broke into your home, tried to erase your thoughts, and would have left Iris bleeding to death in the street if you hadn’t chased him away with magic. Yes, Ash, you’re going to kill him.”

  Iris pressed her shoulder against Amelia. Amelia patted her knee and asked, “Do you think you can?”

  “Magic works against him. I know that much. I know I have to destroy his body, and then the shadow-thing inside. I also know he’s an ancient monster who’s existed in stories as long as humanity’s been telling them.”

  “But he’s alone now,” Iris said, an edge to her voice. “Just like the rest of us. His father can’t protect him anymore.”

  Amelia nodded. “When?”

  “Tonight. Micah’s meeting Iris and me at P&B. Then we hunt.”

  #

  At Amelia’s suggestion, I went to the kitchen to make myself some dinner. I suspected she wanted alone-time with Iris, before Iris and I went hunting legends. Syed could kill us tonight. Or worse. I didn’t want to think about the worse.

  I took advantage of Amelia’s well-stocked fridge and built a sandwich as thick as my arm. Not just meat and cheese, but lettuce and cucumbers and tomatoes that I hadn’t been able to afford since I got out of the hospital.

  If Spark’s technology worked—if Seana and Amelia and I could pull this off—everyone could have these things again. Miroc could come back to life. Not because the gods had deigned to return their gifts to us, but because we, their children, had found a solution. Because we stepped up and reshaped the world in our own damn image.

  Survival wasn’t just a dream. It was in our reach.

  Before I’d finished, Amelia joined me at the kitchen counter. She pulled up a stool and sat beside me, snagging a couple pretzels out of the bag I’d found in her pantry. “I wanted to say thank you,” she said. “I know the past few days I’ve asked a lot.”

  “I’m the one who should say that.” I pushed the bag towards her so she’d have easier access. “You took me in when you had no real reason to save me. You’ve been patient. You’ve been understanding.”

  “And now I’m turning you into a killer, sending you out after a monster that may or may not be able to die.”

  I shrugged. “At least my final days won’t be boring.”

  Amelia laughed softly at that. “Boring wouldn’t be so terrible. At least for a little while.”

  “Is that what you want?” I was honestly curious. I had no better idea now than I did when we met of what made Amelia Price tick.

  She went to the fridge, poured herself a glass of tea, considering the question. “No,” she finally said. “I could have had that. Barring the Abandon, I mean. I could have stayed home, lived a life of quiet luxury. I certainly didn’t have to help Jonathan start up Price & Breckenridge.”

  Ice cubes clinked as she swirled her glass, thoughtful. “It seems so pedestrian, but I really do want to leave my mark on the world. I want to accomplish something I’ll be remembered for.”

  “If we make this satellite thing happen, that’s a pretty good start,” I said.

  “Indeed.” She poured me a glass, slid it over. “What about you, Ash? What do you want more than anything?”

  A year ago, my easy answer would have been that I wanted the world back the way it had been. I wanted my quiet life in the temple. I wanted the certainty of the gods and the status quo as it had been for thousands of years.

  In the last few days, that answer had changed. “I want this. I want to see things happen. I want to help the world change. I want to live surrounded by the people I care about, and I want to live in the world as I choose it, not as it’s handed to me by the gods. By anyone.”

  Amelia smiled at that. “A good answer.”

  She leaned back against the counter, looked out the kitchen window. Far away, on the other side of the city, the Crescent shimmered like a mirage. “Your Jansynian woman—Seana. Do you think you’ll go back to her? For real, I mean. After we’ve settled this business with Spark and the satellite.”

  I wanted to. Kaifail knew I wanted to. But even after last night, there was still so much distance between us. Arguments and decisions and things that had gone wrong before. “I don’t know.”

  “You love her?” Amelia asked, like it was the simplest question in the world.

  In truth, it was. “Yes.”

  “My advice to you—never waste a moment of that.”

  This from the woman in love with a shifter. Even if Iris didn’t lead a dangerous life, it wasn’t as though her people were known for their long-term commitments to anything. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

  She nodded and her soft look fell away. All business, Amelia st
raightened up and looked me over. “Check in tonight—as often as you can. I don’t care how late things go. Keep me informed. I’ll have Vivian and Josiah on standby if you need them.”

  “Thanks.” I stood up. “Wish me luck.”

  Amelia shook her head. “No wishes. The gods are gone, like you said. It’s time we make our own luck.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  A Shot in the Dark

  Kaifail was a lecher. Other gods settled down, romantically speaking. Jansyn and Zifla were soulmates—or whatever you called it when the gods were involved. Torin had his consort. Ouliria had hers.

  Kaifail seduced mortal women and goddesses alike. He convinced Robain she was his one-and-only. His affairs with each of the Twins drove a wedge between them. And there are so many stories—more than I can count—of the mortal women he beguiled and then abandoned.

  Humanity was Kaifail’s great delight, or so he claimed. Of all the sentient races, we were the only one that wasn’t created. We evolved on our own terms, under Kaifail’s watchful eye, and he always said he couldn’t be prouder. And yet, one of the fundamental principles that separated us from the animals, one of the greatest gifts of our humanity was the ability to love. To empathize. To care.

  Ironic. And sad. Was he ever jealous? Our great, wondrous god who, no matter how he tried, could never invoke those qualities in himself.

  The office building was dark as I pulled up in front of it. No one working late tonight. Except us.

  Iris landed next to me, changing from falcon to human as she did so. As I turned off my bike, Micah emerged from the shadows along the side of the building. “About time you got here. You said be here before sunset.” His voice quavered on the last word.

  Nerves. I felt the same way. “I’m sorry. Couldn’t be helped. Let’s get inside.”

  The lobby was empty, so we didn’t bother to go all the way up to the P&B offices. I did give the room a magical sweep for any Jansynian listening devices, and checked both Micah’s and Iris’s eyes again for shadows. Gods, I wanted this to be over with. I wanted to be done with having to watch over my shoulder every second, with having to worry every moment if my friends might be possessed.

  “How’s Copper doing?” I asked as I worked.

  “Still in a snit.” Micah watched me circle the room, his eyes curious beneath the ivory hood of his robe. “You probably shouldn’t try to talk to her for a while.”

  “Is Copper ever not in a snit?” Iris asked. She’d hopped up onto the security desk, where she now sat, swinging her legs.

  Micah snorted. But he didn’t answer.

  After two times around the lobby, I was satisfied we were safe. “We can talk.” I fished the automatic pistol I’d taken from Copper out of my bag and handed it to Micah. “Take this.”

  He took it without hesitation, checked the load, checked the safety, then stuck it in his belt beneath his outer robe. When this was over, when we had time to talk, I was going to have to hear the story of what Micah had been doing since the riots. He’d obviously picked up a few new skills.

  “So I’ve got the gist of the plan,” he said. “Flashy lights from me. Iris kills the body. You magic away the shadow-monster. But what I don’t know is how you intend to find Syed.”

  This was why Iris and I had gotten here so late. “I know where he is.”

  Micah tilted his head, stared at me with honest amazement. “Are you telling me you’ve managed to unearth the hiding place of the Favored Son of the Lord of Secrets? How is that even possible?”

  “Turns out I’m getting really good at finding new uses for my skills as an archivist.”

  The magic had been complicated, but no more so than the work I’d done with the Desavris files. I probably couldn’t have figured it out if I hadn’t already experienced the deceptions surrounding Eddis’s death and if I hadn’t met Syed twice now and felt the touch of his power. “I had to go back to the temple. There’s that excellent painting of him there—I was able to use it as a focus. I knew he was in my home this morning, so I was able to work through a city map and track the trail of his presence. He’s over near the Crescent.”

  “Near the Web,” Micah said.

  “Still looking for Spark?” Iris looked between us. “Or after the Jansynians?”

  “It shouldn’t matter much longer.” I took a deep, steadying breath. “Are we ready for this?”

  “Better be,” Iris said. Micah flashed me a tight smile. And there was nothing left but to head out into the night.

  #

  The night’s clear sky meant no reflection of the city lights, which left the warehouse district near pitch-black. Micah rode behind me on the Jansynian bike, his hands locked against my hips and tension radiating from his entire body. Iris was above us, invisible in the darkness. In the distance, up in the sky, the Crescent glowed like some untouchable alien world, but its light didn’t reach down to the streets we travelled.

  I turned the bike’s lights off as soon as we were out of the downtown, but even so, I parked several blocks away from where I’d sensed Syed. I didn’t want to give him any more warning than I had to. As we climbed off, Micah pulled his gun and held it at the ready.

  I considered pulling out the second gun that rested at the bottom of my bag. But really, what would I do with it? At best, I could use it as a threat, but I wasn’t sure I could—or should—pull the trigger with no idea of what I was doing. I’d have to leave that to Micah and hope he had the experience his casual handling of the weapon implied.

  “Can you sense him?” Micah whispered.

  “No. Not unless I drop into a trance.” Which I didn’t want to do, not here out in the open. “But as far as I can tell, he’s after me just as much as I’m after him.”

  Micah was no more than a shape in the darkness, but I saw the motion of his nod.

  I stood still, letting my eyes adjust, listening to the distant sounds of the city. If anything moved around us, I couldn’t see it. Couldn’t hear it. I tried not to think too much about shadows moving at the edge of my vision. If I let my imagination take over, started jumping at figments, we’d be lost.

  I aimed us towards the warehouse where I had first met with Micah and Copper. If Syed was following our trail, that was where he’d be. If not, my plan was to cast around among the warehouses, check the entries up to the Web, and then if we still hadn’t found him, only then would I turn back to the magic.

  Our footsteps scuffled along the sand-covered sidewalks. Micah’s breathing, my own, seemed impossibly loud. Was there any way Syed wouldn’t see us coming? Was there any way he wasn’t lying in ambush, hidden in his native darkness, stalking us with that part of him that had driven Eddis to the ground, filled his nose and mouth and eyes, sucked out his life and replaced it with—

  “Ash,” Micah hissed.

  I bit back a scream, spun around to see him pointing ahead.

  I followed the direction of his finger, saw an abandoned warehouse that looked like every other abandoned warehouse. Edged by dunes of sand and with its freight doors a broken pile before a gaping black hole. “He’s there,” Micah said.

  “Are you sure?”

  Micah nodded, biting at his lower lip. I wished I could see his face better. I’d find it a comfort to know he was just as terrified as me.

  What had he seen? If Syed was really in there, we didn’t have time to discuss it. “Stay close,” I breathed.

  That black, looming maw terrified me, but we had no choice. I took another breath, tried as best I could to steady myself. Magic was tricky under the best of circumstances. If I panicked, I’d never be able to pull this off.

  I waved Micah to follow and ran across the street, jumped up onto the concrete ledge of the receiving dock. I could hear Micah behind me. Nothing in front of me. We needed to see. Needed to see now. “Light, Micah. Do it!”

  Nothing happened. I spun around to see Micah with his gun pointed into the blackness. Bright flashes and deafening retorts as he fired into
the warehouse in front of us. I dove to the ground. “Micah!”

  From the darkness, a deep, mocking laugh. “Do you know who your friends are, Joshua Drake?”

  A shadow streaked past me with a screech. Iris. I heard her impact with more force than one little falcon could manage. She must have transformed as she dove. My head swam as I felt Syed push against my mind, against her mind. Trying to distract us and escape.

  I pushed back with all my will. Focused on the core of me, of Iris, of Micah. Syed wasn’t going to take us, not like that.

  Except that Micah…wasn’t Micah.

  I focused the power, felt it move through me as I willed our essences against Syed’s confusion. It was the same way I’d brought Iris back to herself when Syed had attacked us outside the church. Only this time, when I focused on Micah, I felt no echoing resonance.

  This time, I saw the shadow in his eyes.

  I smelled blood. Syed’s? Iris’s? Heard the sounds of struggle. I had to—

  Had to—

  Micah was dead. For how long? Had Syed taken him while we’d been walking the street?

  If Syed was inside him, why had Micah shot at Syed?

  Iris gave off a roar of pain. Micah aimed his gun once more. Fired.

  Iris shrieked.

  “Micah’s one of them!” I yelled at Iris.

  He turned, leveled the gun at me. “Do what you came here to do, Ash,” he said. “Kill Syed.”

  I remembered, in that weird, floating, dissociative way that meant I was slipping into real panic, that just last night I’d been thinking I needed to start carrying a flashlight.

  “I’ve lost him!” Iris yelled. Meaning Syed. Real words, which meant she was no longer an animal.

  “Useless,” Micah snarled, and shot once more into the darkness. How many rounds did he have left? Even if I’d been counting, I wouldn’t know. “He’s there!” Micah yelled, pointing.

  I couldn’t see. Couldn’t think. Syed was there, but Micah—Micah—Micah had a shadow inside him. And was still trying to kill Syed. Another shadow? A different shadow?