Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  The Shadow Glades still hung in the air around me. Del questioned my humanity, and it felt like a deserved accusation. I'd lost my newest friend as quickly as I’d gained her.

  "As recovered as I'm going to get anytime soon." I still hadn't worked out how to persuade Glynn to negotiate a peace pact with Owen, how to stop Asher. Liliwen couldn't help me with any of it. But I still wanted to talk with Owen. "Is Owen resting?"

  "He's sitting down. Not exactly resting, but it's probably the closest he's going to get until we settle at a new location."

  "I'd like to see him before I go."

  "He wants to see you, too. I'll take you."

  Liliwen floated away. I stood slowly and gripped the table as dizziness and nausea almost overtook me. Liliwen waited until it passed, and I slowly nodded that I was ready to move.

  Head bandaged, Owen sat at a metal desk giving instructions on how to take apart some equipment they wanted to take with them. Aidan stacked parts into crates, and carefully placed plants into boxes. He was engrossed in his work and didn't notice me watching him.

  Owen waved me closer. "Is everything ready for you to leave?"

  "As ready as it can be. I'll go with the people who want to die, plus Bill. I hope he makes it back to you safely."

  "He's an old soldier. He does what needs to be done. Thank you, I hope he makes it back as well."

  "What else do you need from me?"

  Owen stood and kissed my cheek. "Nothing. But thank you for asking, and thank you for taking my people into the Shadow Glades.

  "Some of the corpses and spirits are barely holding on." I glanced at my hands. Even if I had the time, I didn’t know how to help them. "How do you know if the ley line in the new town will be enough to sustain them? What will happen to them if they can't hold on during the journey?"

  "We will find out shortly." Owen took my hand in his. "There is a place for you there if you would like to join us."

  Midnight moths fluttered in my abdomen. Of all the things Owen could have said, that's not what I expected. We hadn’t trusted one another at first. Now, I had to admit something drew me to this man and his followers. I’d like to visit them. Later, once they were safe and after I’d made things right with Glynn. But I already missed Ravenswood. Missed its comfort and support. Away from home, I hungered for the solace she fed my soul.

  Laughing, he sat back at the desk. "I assume from your incredulous stare and silence, the answer is no."

  "I have responsibilities, and people I care about." I sat on the corner of the desk. "I'd like to visit though."

  His mouth lifted in a smile. He shook my hand. "Deal."

  I’d been desperate to tell him off for not telling me how he knew Glynn, but after healing his skull and helping his spirits into the Shadow Glades, the anger had gone. It didn’t seem as important any more.

  Curiosity remained. "You didn't tell me you knew Glynn."

  He stared into space, dropped his hands to his lap. "We were friends once. His girlfriend's death changed him. Changed both of us. It's not easy to talk about."

  Glynn didn't discuss his past much either. A friendship once broken could be hard to mend. But it was possible, if they both wanted to mend the bridge. A flutter stirred in my belly. Somehow, I had to bring them together and help them repair the bond. Maybe they could learn to trust one another again.

  The others weren’t ready yet. Perhaps he’d answer a few questions to satisfy my curiosity. "Were you always in the army as a healing mage?"

  He crossed his legs, made a long hmmmm noise from the back of his throat. "I joined the military as an engineer straight from university. Left to teach as an associate professor. I learnt my skills as a healer by accident." He shrugged and lifted his palms.

  "So, you rejoined the army as a healer?"

  "You do ask a lot of questions. Asher came to the university I taught at, desperate for help. His wife and daughter were both dying from a viral infection that had the army doctors beat."

  "You knew Asher too?" I shook my head. Hard to imagine Asher as a husband or father.

  Owen shrugged again. "I couldn’t help his wife. But the little girl I saved. He invited me to rejoin shortly after. It was too much responsibility. All the supplies the army relied on were impossible to get hold of, even then."

  Liliwen floated beside us. "Bill and the others are ready."

  I planted a kiss on Owen's cheek and stood. "Thank you. Good Luck."

  He grabbed my hand again. "I didn't thank you for healing my skull."

  "It was worth it to see your head wrapped like a turbaned magician of old."

  "I’m happy to be of service, even if it’s providing a laugh." He grimaced.

  "Don’t forget to visit." His words held sincerity.

  Now was the perfect time to suggest visiting with Glynn in tow, but the words stayed unspoken. I didn’t want to risk Owen’s refusal if this morning’s raid had reopened old wounds. Instead I nodded. Hopefully Owen would attribute my breathlessness to nerves about visiting the army base to find Glynn.

  Haebeth only knew. I had enough to be nervous about.

  20

  I followed Bill back to the track where Del and I arrived. The cart that held us and our bicycles a few hours ago was now empty. This side of the cavern was quiet. All the packing activity was happening on the other side.

  "Del and Ed took both bicycles with them," Bill said with a slight accent. A gentle cadence that seemed at odds with his stiff back and rigid expression.

  I nodded. We wouldn’t need them.

  Bill looked about the same age as Owen, his hair cropped close to his head, his clothes clean and mended. Bill and I would be walking once we left the rail tracks, as he'd agreed to lead me to the army base. Dangerous for both of us, probably more so for Bill if we were caught. The plan was for Bill to get clean away, and for me to find Glynn without Asher finding me.

  Simon and the others joined us. The decayed man who’d attacked me wasn’t among them.

  Bill offered me his hand. "Let me help you climb in when you are ready."

  "I can walk—I'm fine."

  "It will be easier for the others if they don't have to worry about barging into you and knocking you down."

  I hadn't thought about that. I took Bill's hand and clambered into the cart.

  "Derek, you should also rest. It's a steep climb."

  The stench of decay mingled with sweat and dirt. Gaping holes and fetid sores decorated one man's face. An arm hung like a torn shirtsleeve on another man. Bill helped the man called Derek into the seat next to me. Derek nodded politely and carefully pulled his feet close to his body, so they didn’t touch mine. I couldn't see anything obviously wrong with him.

  "Can I ask, why do you want to die?"

  "You know I'm already dead."

  I didn’t want a repeat of the conversation with Simon, so I tried a different approach. "Of course. And you know what I mean."

  He lifted his shirt, circled his hand around his abdomen. Or at least, the place his abdomen would be if he had one. A gash across his belly had spread apart and his bowel had come away leaving a bloody hole. I glanced away. "Is it painful?"

  "Not in the same way as before. But nothing feels right either."

  "I don't understand." I splayed out my hands. I should understand it, this was my job. The deep ache of frustration settled in my jaw. "Why are some of you are in good health, while others suffer?"

  "I don't know anyone who does understand. We all died in different conditions. We arrived at Echo Den at different times and in various ways. I died a few decades ago, shortly after the last languid circuit of the illness. I died at home, alone. The last of my family. My body wasted away before I became a walker. That may be why it is this way with me."

  "How did you find Echo Den?" What a sad end. My words caught in my throat.

  "I followed the ley line until I found the tunnels leading to the cross point."

  "How did you know about the ley lines?
How did you know where to find them?"

  "I didn't. I'd been walking for days when I stumbled upon an old Roman road. Something drew me along. I've never believed in anything. Never felt anything like it. I tried to ignore it. I did wander a bit across the Moors, but the road kept pulling me back, and in the end..." He shrugged. "I followed it until it crossed the railway track, and then I followed the track."

  The cart crunched to a stop. We'd arrived at Westmead Station, the place Del and I first met with Liliwen. Derek tucked his shirt back into his pants and climbed out of the cart. He held out his hand to help me climb out. It would have been churlish of me not to take it. His hand was warm and creepy, like a very old man's might be. I wanted to ask him more, but Bill nudged me to the edge of the track.

  "Let me talk with these guys for a moment," Bill said.

  "Good luck." The two words sounded quite inadequate, but what else was there to say?

  Daylight filtered into the tunnel and cast gray shadows onto the platform. I moved to the bottom of the steps to give Bill and the guys some privacy. Owen said Bill was a soldier. Hopefully he was familiar with the army base and could sneak us in without Asher or any guards seeing us. Maybe Glynn had an office I could look for. Maybe he'd be back at Del's place, or in a post raid debrief with Asher or his squad. Or getting ready to lead another raid in the hope of finding Echo Den. Or locked in Captain Wilson’s hot dark prison. Or. Or. No point in worrying about what I couldn't control.

  Wherever Glynn was, I’d find him.

  Bill marched across a platform like a man on a mission. "Ready?"

  He didn't wait for an answer. He climbed the steps two at a time until he reached ground level. I got to the top out of breath and hugging my arm to my chest, but Bill moved quickly across the plaza to the street. Keeping close to the walls like him, I followed down the main road until we came to a narrow, shaded laneway between tall buildings. Leaves and rubbish swirled in a sudden eddy of wind. Bill crouched behind a large unused and rusted garbage container and signaled for me to join him. I scurried to his side and squatted behind his back.

  "What is it?" I whispered.

  "Probably nothing," he whispered back. "I've never seen a patrol here. But they'll send another one this morning, nothing surer. And neither of us wants to get caught, do we?"

  The end of the laneway was in clear sight. We moved from container to container, each time hunkering down and listening.

  At the sound of heavy footfalls, Bill pulled me into a recessed doorway and pressed his fingertip against his lips. A patrol, eight people in all, marched past the laneway. I craned my neck to see around Bill's shoulders. No sign of Glynn. A silent sigh escaped my mouth. I didn't want Glynn to be gone when I got to the base. Asher had made it clear I wasn't among his favorite people.

  Simon had been right about a new patrol setting out so quickly. I said a silent prayer that the end for Simon and Derek and the others would come quickly.

  With the sound of marching boots retreating, Bill motioned for me to move from the doorway to another garbage container. We made it to the end of the laneway without incident. Bill grabbed my elbow and guided me to an old shop around the corner. Dirty torn mattresses and filthy blankets were piled up in one corner. We crunched over broken glass littering the floor. Shop shelves and counters had been pushed against one wall. It obviously hadn't been used as a shop for a very long time. We hid inside the shop until Bill signaled that he felt it safe to move on.

  "There won't be another patrol so soon will there?"

  "Probably not, but we are too close to the base to take unnecessary risks."

  "You don't want to die?"

  Bill’s eyes widened. He stared into my face for a few seconds and I half expected him to answer the same as Derek's, 'you know I'm already dead, right?'.

  "I didn't want to die the first time around. I'm not aiming to die again any time soon." Bill shrugged. "If it happens it happens."

  "But you died? Something killed you, yet you are unharmed now?"

  "None of us understand why some end up healthy like me, and others like Derek."

  "It's troubling me. I feel like I should know."

  "You aren't the only one. I guess that's why they try to catch us alive. They want to understand as well. I'm going to try and snoop around the base, which has a large hospital complex. I want to get in."

  "Owen wants you to go back. He needs you."

  "We need answers. Come on, it'll be safer if we get there before the sun rises."

  I loped after Bill with my head bursting with questions, my heart full of conflicting emotion. What would happen when I found Glynn? I was desperate to see him, but we’d ended up on opposite sides somehow.

  Suddenly Bill grabbed my elbow again and signed for me to duck behind a row of bushes. "It's hard to see the track. Just follow me and try not to scratch that pretty face."

  The bushes were almost too thick to pass through, and dense enough to keep out the dawn light. Bill dropped to his hands and knees to push his way underneath the thick branches. I copied him and followed close behind until we reached a solid brick wall.

  "Move as quickly as you can without making noise," Bill whispered. "Just after this fence becomes wire, you’ll see a space we can squeeze through. Follow me, keep low, and move fast."

  With fingertips scraping across the bricks and with my heart pounding, I crawled after Bill. The brick wall ended and became a wire fence. The bushes thinned out a little, enough to make crawling easier. Bill stopped at a rip in the fence. He lifted the tattered edge, touched his lips to remind me to stay quiet, and signaled me through.

  The rip was directly behind the windowless wall of a brick building. I stayed crouched at the base of the wall.

  Bill dragged the edge of the wire fence back into place. "Left is the main hospital building, right leads to admin. I'm guessing that's where you will find your army friend."

  "It's early, will they be up?"

  "The captives probably got back here an hour or so ago. I doubt anyone is asleep. That's why we knew they'd send another patrol."

  "I'll follow you to the hospital. I want to know what's going on, too."

  Bill seemed to consider the options for a few moments before nodding.

  Still stooping, he paced left. At the edge of the building, he signaled for me to drop low again while he listened. I couldn't hear anything. Bill must've thought it safe too, as he signaled for us to move forward. Hunkered low, we ran to the next building, then the next. At this one. Bill crouched even lower and pointed across the compound.

  No choice but to run in the open to a low-roofed shed. The sun already lit everything in an orange glow. I followed Bill to the shed and scrunched myself next to him in the doorway. He pointed again toward the clearly marked hospital building. "Go for speed this time, Meagan. Guards could be about."

  We took off together and I pelted after Bill.

  When almost at the door with its huge painted cross, a guard hollered at us to stop.

  Bill pulled me to the closest wall and pushed me to the ground.

  I wriggled from under him. "Get away while you can. Asher wants to talk with me. God only knows what he wants to do with you."

  I didn't give Bill a chance to respond. With my breaths bursting in and out of my lungs, I raised my hands and strode away from his hiding position. "Don't shoot. It's Meagan Greystone. I'm here to talk with Glynn—Captain—Major Buckley."

  The guard pointed a pistol at my chest and clicked the trigger safety off. No vest protected me this time. If he fired this close, the bullet would leave a gaping hole in my body. I hugged my satchel close. If I had to be an undead, let it be like Owen, not like Derek. Either way, dying anywhere near this place would be a big mistake.

  With shaking legs, I paced slowly toward him. "I'm Meagan—"

  "I heard you the first time. Stop right there." The soldier strode towards me.

  He grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back. Large beefy fingers pr
essed painfully into my skin.

  "There's no need to grip me so tightly." I tried to free myself from the man's grasp. "I've no intention of running away. I've come to the base to speak with your Colonel, and with Captain Buckley, of my own free will."

  He didn't speak, just twisted even harder. I gritted my teeth to stop from screaming in pain.

  A shout sounded from behind us. Gun shots rang out, and more shouting. I tried to turn around to see what was going on, but the soldier propelled me forward through double doors and along a wide corridor. He pushed me into a small, dark room, slammed the door shut, and left me alone.

  The muffled thud of running footsteps sounded from beyond the wall. Shouts to stop, and more gunshots followed. I pressed my hands together in prayer. Dear Haebeth, Bill seemed like a good man. Please help him escape.

  A warm welcome had never been likely, but I hadn't expected to be treated like a criminal either. Slivers of morning light penetrated through dirty narrow windows high on the wall. My eyes accustomed to the dimness, a small table and single chair stood in the middle of the room.

  A notepad and pencil lay on the table. Perhaps they expected their prisoners to write confessions. I sat, rubbed my arm, and twiddled the pencil. My throat was as dry as if I'd not drunk for a week. The pad was lined with narrow lines, the same as the ones Glynn used so fondly. A shaft of hope filled my chest. If Glynn came to question me, everything would be okay. We'd talk things through. We didn't need to agree on everything, but he'd listen to me. I knew he would.

  I doodled on the paper, too cautious to write anything down in case someone else read it. But while my hand moved I revisited what I knew, or thought I knew.

  Asher wasn't behaving rationally. He wanted Owen alive, to torture him again no doubt. He wanted me alive, but for what? Damn, I'd kill for a glass of water. Glynn showed surprise in the tunnel, surprise at Asher's commands and shock at Owen's presence. I believed him that he didn't know what was going on with the drug addicts.

  The door swung open. My train of thought interrupted, I stood, pencil still in hand, holding my breath.