“Hmm, how exciting. Take Catherine and Damien and a couple more Legates and pay our friends another visit. I’m sure they won’t be expecting you to be back so soon.”
Catherine’s face lit up with a smile. “I’ll take the kid.”
“You sure will.” Pariah nodded.
“And I’ll take Woods,” Damien said.
Pariah raised an eyebrow. “Make sure you don’t fail this time. And don’t touch Walker. He’s mine. All of you are to return here after you are through with McAlester’s. Now go.”
He waved his hand matter-of-factly.
Enthused, Cryer and Catherine rushed out of the office.
When Damien was about to leave, Pariah hunched forward and put out the candle light with his fingers.
“Close the door before you enter the Sight again,” Pariah said.
Damien did as he was told.
Their steps echoed in the vast emptiness of the halls as they trotted down the stairs, then to the vestibule and out into the open air. Damien entered the Sight that flared with a multitude of colors, revealing the world hidden by darkness. It was such a relief. He realized now why Jason Walker had been so terrified when the Sight failed him. The memory brought a faint smile to his lips.
They exited the estate, and he stopped for a moment, taking in the beauty of the Sight, the magnificent interaction of Energy as it flowed around him, tickling his fingertips. The guards’ presence didn’t bother him. They’d never dared touch him, just persevered hungrily in probing his mind.
Accompanied by a few Legates that Cryer had summoned, they went towards the gate. Cryer pushed it open. In the Sight even the creaking of the gate sounded like a divine melody to Damien’s ears.
A few minutes later the group was far from the estate, moving into the depths of the forest. They broke into a run, the grass rustling underfoot. The wind whistled in Damien’s ears. He veered among the trees, swishing past them with the dexterity of a predator, then reached his hand forward—as did the others—and plunged into a black rip that appeared in the air at his will.
***
Pariah stood at the window watching as Catherine, Cryer, and Damien exited the estate and headed for the gate, accompanied by a few more Legates. As soon as they disappeared among the trees, Pariah turned and walked to his desk, sat down, and leaned back in his armchair. He hated to stay away from the action, but it had to be done this way. After all those months of suffering and fear, he was still too weak to face the Beholder.
Soon. We’ll meet soon and you’ll pay for what I’ve gone through. He straightened in his seat and picked up the vial lying on the desk. He rolled it carefully in his fingers, unable to take his eyes from the iridescent light inside. It fascinated him, the silvery beauty that was supposed to put an end to his life, but instead healed him and filled him with confidence.
Any day now he would be ready to join the others, and he looked forward to seeing Walker and the other Lightsighted defeated.
Until then, he had to make sure the vial was kept somewhere safe. Perhaps Catherine was right. I spend too much time with it.
He got to his feet, paced to the center of the room, crouched and rolled the thick carpet lying there. He chopped one of the floorboards once then another time, and it came loose. He pulled it out and thrust his hand in the gap to extract a small box. His fingers pried it open and he laid the vial inside.
“It’ll be safe now,” he muttered, knowing deep inside that he wouldn’t be able to stay away from it for long.
Chapter 5
“What are you doing here?” Jason asked, eyeing a startled Debbie.
“Thank goodness you’re okay, Jason. I got a message from Matt that you were in danger.”
“Believe it or not, I didn’t send her any messages,” Matt added.
Debbie looked down at the girl in Jason’s hands. “Who’s that? Oh my God, is she okay?”
“She is. Don’t worry,” Jason said.
Tyler came over to Debbie and kissed her. “We should probably take her away from here.”
“Let’s get her to my office,” Matt cut in, in a businesslike manner. “We attracted enough attention already.”
A few customers gave them sidelong glances then quickly turned away to resume their chitchat, as if nothing had happened.
Jason and his friends hurried upstairs to Matt’s office. Jason didn’t come there often. It reminded him too much of William McAlester, the previous manager of the restaurant and their close friend. Matt did his best to preserve the atmosphere of the place, leaving most of the furniture as it used to be.
As they entered, Jason laid the girl carefully on the couch, then he and Debbie took seats in the leather armchairs in front of Matt’s desk. Tyler paced up and down the room.
Besides some documents scattered over the desk, there were two framed pictures. Jason took the first one, turned it, and found their trio—Matt, Debbie, and himself—together with William. Taken on the day of the opening of McAlester’s, it evoked fond memories in Jason’s mind. He took the other picture; it was their trio, with Debbie in the middle, hugging him and Matt. No William there.
Matt suggested he order beverages and snacks, but everyone declined the offer. Sighing, he stared from Debbie to Jason and then said, “So tell me what happened?”
In a few words Jason told him and Debbie about the girl’s appearance, the Dark Ones’ attack, and the explosion he had caused.
“Jeez, so it was you?” Debbie gasped.
“Seems like the Darksighted aren’t scared to show up in broad daylight and be seen by people,” Matt said.
“Unsighted don’t usually see them as people,” Tyler cut in. “Anyway, most of them won’t even remember there was an explosion.”
Jason sat swiveling in his chair, thinking about what to do next. To his relief, he had no problems being in the Sight, watching the threads floating peacefully around them.
He looked back to the girl lying on the couch. Her aura flared erratically, glowing steadily at first and then fading and smoldering like embers.
All of a sudden, the threads over them started pouncing on each other as if gone crazy. Tyler eyed them then looked out of the window. “There’s someone there.”
Everyone stared at Tyler in expectation.
“Someone’s at the doors to McAlester’s.”
“Is it a Darksighted?” Debbie asked, a frown blemishing her features.
“I don’t know,” Tyler replied. “I can’t get inside his head. What’s wrong with the world today? We’ll have to go down and find out what he wants.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea?” Debbie asked.
“We’ll see,” Tyler replied.
Everyone filed out of the office, leaving Violet on the couch.
The young man had already gotten inside.
“I know him,” Jason murmured to the others, watching the young man meandering down the aisle towards them. “I’ve seen him before.”
Before anyone had time to ask questions, the young man was within earshot. Dressed in a gray parka and washed-out jeans, his hands in pockets, he moved with too much confidence and a wide smile plastered to his face. The gash running down his forehead conjured horrible scenes in Jason’s mind. His hair was ruffled as if he hadn’t combed it for days, arranged in a way that let everyone see the scar.
“Jason, right?” the stranger said with an accent. “We meet at last.”
“Alexei, I thought you were dead.” Jason raised an eyebrow.
The young man gave him a humorless smile. “As you can see, I’m still alive. Though it was a close call.”
“I saw them torturing you. When I touched the mark in your room,” Jason persisted. “How did you manage to get away?”
“It’s a long story. It was a possible future, but I got rescued just when the Dark Ones came for me. I can tell you, I’d rot in the grave and feed worms now if the other ones hadn’t come and saved me. As you can see, I still have a reminder of that day.” He
traced the scar with the tip of his index finger.
“Was it you who sent Debbie the message?” Tyler cut in, eyeing the newcomer with suspicion.
“Yes, it was. Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to scare you, miss.” He craned his neck to look at Debbie. “It’s just … you’re supposed to be together when this happens.”
“When what happens?” Jason asked, impatience growing inside.
“When you open it.” The young man thrust his hand into his parka pocket and fished out an envelope.
Jason gazed from the messenger to the letter. “What’s this?” he asked, taking the envelope.
“Emily told me to give you this.”
Jason tore the letter open, his fingers crumpling the envelope unceremoniously. Inside it was a small piece of paper.
“King’s Cross. The girl. Don’t let her die,” he read aloud. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I have no idea. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way out now. I can sense there’s another messenger upstairs.” Alexei smiled. “Maybe she’ll help you—”
Jason’s vision flickered for a moment, withering to black and white. His feet gave way under his weight for just one moment, but then he regained his strength. The colors returned, and with them a ringing that filled his head, like a wail in the distance.
“What is this?” Matt asked.
Jason turned to him. “Can you hear it too?”
“Everyone can,” Debbie answered instead.
Even the customers sitting far from the group stopped eating and talking, and looked out of the windows as the panes rattled.
Alexei’s shoulders slumped, as if under immense weight. Jason darted to him just as the boy was about to fall.
Swallowing hard, Alexei said, “We need to get everyone out of here. Now!”
Then Jason saw them in the Sight—shadows approaching McAlester’s.
No. Not again, he thought.
“Everyone, get out of the place!” Tyler was the first to react. “It’s an emergency! You have to get—”
The windows imploded, shards of glass raining down the customers. The front wall of McAlester’s caved in first, burying those few sitting at the window. Part of the ceiling crumbled, littering the floor with chunks of plaster, and a couple sitting close to the entrance was buried.
“There are too many of them!” Alexei said.
Tyler rushed to the entrance, maneuvering among the pieces of the ceiling crashing down. Debbie screamed, and Jason grabbed her just as she was going after him. A huge piece of plaster collapsed right in front of them. Debbie shivered in his hands, her pale face turning white.
“Matt, take Debbie to the kitchen!” Jason screamed. “Damn it, wait! The girl. She’s upstairs.”
“I’ll go take her,” Matt yelled above the din.
Jason nodded, then pushed Debbie away from danger, together with a few customers who had made it to the back of the main hall. “You go to the kitchen. There’s an emergency exit. Everything’s going to be all right. Debbie, do you hear me?”
Debbie kept taking gulps of air, shaking all over. She nodded absent-mindedly to Jason’s voice, but he wasn’t sure she understood what he was saying. One of the customers, a man in his forties, laid his arm over Debbie’s shoulder and led her upstairs.
Jason returned to the main hall and found Alexei still lying on the floor, wincing. Jason hurried to the boy. “Are you okay? Will you be able to walk?”
Alexei nodded once. “I’m feeling better. Stop these bastards before they kill everyone.”
Jason kept looking at the stairs that led to Matt’s office. For some reason, it was taking his friend too much time to get the girl. Finally, Matt showed up carrying the girl downstairs and then running the way Debbie and the others had gone.
To Jason’s right, someone loomed and then his ribs burst with sharp pain, as if something exploded next to him, and he was sent tumbling to the floor, crashing into a mess of what used to be tables, chairs, and tableware, cutting his hands and face along the way. Everything happened so quickly Jason was unable to register what had just made such an impact on him. Raising his head, he looked into Catherine Delacroix’s smug face.
She gave him a perfunctory look, then turned and dashed towards Alexei and started throwing punches to his face, then to the stomach. The boy shielded his body with his hands, but they were poor protection. When he’d had enough of Catherine’s thrashing, he grasped her by one leg and kicked the other, tripping her. She dropped to the floor, scowling at him, and pushed herself back to her feet quickly.
Jason ran towards them to help Alexei when the crimson in the center of the hall distracted him. When he peered through clouds of dust, he realized there was Tyler hanging in midair, his hands stretched sideways. Next to him, Damien Bale stood, an evil grin on his face.
Tyler’s head inclined to the left, his long white hair streaming down his coat, then it jerked the opposite way as Tyler moaned in pain, his teeth clenched. Damien sent a wave at Tyler and his body was hurled unceremoniously against the wall. He landed with a thump, not far from Jason.
Everything went black. Catherine ripped the air with a swishing sound, breaching Jason’s aura as if it were paper. The remaining walls came crashing down. She flew directly into Jason, knocking him off his feet and throwing him against the wall. The impact was so severe he thought the back of his skull had cracked. His body flared with pain, and the wound on his right hand slit open, blood trickling in a thin rivulet.
The Dark One’s boots crunched against the rubble and pieces of glass. Getting closer and closer.
“Pariah sends his regards,” Catherine said, then pinned Jason’s bleeding hand with her boot. “It’s your lucky day, Beholder. He told me not to touch you.” She let go of his hand, then crouched next to him and rummaged through his pockets. With a triumphant look on her face, she found the note Alexei had brought, and studied it for a few moments, then tossed it in Jason’s face.
“Let’s go. We’re done here,” she told her brethren, and all of them turned to leave.
***
It was a rare occasion that Damien had to visit Pariah twice on the same day. It bothered him that the Dark One was so insistent they return together.
With their mission accomplished—McAlester’s razed to the ground—they hurried to get away from New York and return to the estate. They swished past the ancient trees towards the gate, then rushed through the entrance, down the hall and up the stairs. Like the previous time, before entering, Catherine ordered Damien and Cryer to exit the Sight.
When she knocked on the door, Pariah invited them inside. He struck a match and lit the stub of the candle, its light bathing the room with a warm yellow glow. Catherine told him in detail of their visit, the scenes of destruction they’d caused flickering before Damien’s eyes. How they’d killed a few Unsighted trapped inside. How Jason Walker and Tyler Woods were unable to enter the Sight.
Pariah cracked a smile, his face half-hidden in darkness, twisted in maniacal satisfaction.
“What did the kid want with them?” he asked.
“He had a message for Walker,” Catherine replied. “About some girl who’s supposed to be at King’s Cross.”
“Very well,” he breathed as Catherine finished her story. “That means soon we’re in for something huge.” He closed his eyes and waved his hand, a sign that he wished to be left alone and everyone was dismissed. Cryer got out of the office first, then Damien followed, rushing to leave the estate. Damien didn’t know what Pariah’s words meant. The idea that the Dark One was ready for further bloodshed caused an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Chapter 6
Alexei groaned and cursed under his breath when Jason shook him by the shoulder. Thankful that the kid was alive, Jason turned and, despite the agony that snaked its way through his body, crawled through dust and broken glass towards Tyler who still didn’t move. You can’t be dead, Jason thought. You can’t be dead, man.
“Thank god,” he exhaled.
Tyler stirred.
“You okay?” Jason croaked.
Tyler nodded, grimacing.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Wincing, Alexei got up and shuffled to Jason and Tyler. He and Jason helped Tyler to his feet, and then they trudged into the kitchen. Unlike the rest of McAlester’s, it remained untouched by the attack. A gleaming set of pots and pans hung from the ceiling, and the stovetop shone as if brand new. The staff and customers must have left as there was no one there, the emergency door open.
“Where to?” Alexei asked.
“Wait here,” Jason said.
In the Sight he checked where Debbie and Matt had gone, and to his surprise their trails ended in the middle of the room.
“Debbie’s and Matt’s threads lead this way.” He pointed down the aisle.
They moved forward. “I think they’re in,” Jason muttered.
“Not sure what you’re talking about,” Alexei said, “but we’d better get away from here. What if they change their mind and come back to finish us?”
All of a sudden, the room around them quaked. The pots overhead started clanging against each other as the entire kitchen crumbled. The ceiling and the wall tiles peeled away, revealing a new ceiling and walls.
A row of black statues of demons propped each side of the passage, sly smiles distorting their faces. A lush carpet invited Jason, Tyler, and Alexei to proceed down the aisle towards an arched doorway.
“Oh, a Fraud Image!” Alexei exclaimed. “Vot eto da!”
“How do you know about Fraud Images?” Jason asked.
“I’m not sure. It’s as if the information is being downloaded into my mind,” Alexei said, goggling at the transformations taking place around him. “Fraud Images, the underground entrance that you’re supposed to find, the Bertrands’ estate. Does it make any sense to you?”
Path of the Heretic (The Beholder Book 2) Page 3