Viper Moon

by Lee Roland

  The Earth Mother dismissed my sorrow. She didn’t understand. Abby once said that, to the Mother, life and death were the same things, only a different passage through her world.

  Michael stepped forward. “I want my mother.”

  Aiakós studied him for a moment, then walked away from the altar. Michael approached and carefully wrapped Elise’s body in her robe. He lifted her gently in his arms.

  A movement to my right caught my eye. Dacardi had torn Victor’s jacket off his body and was carefully gathering the pieces of Nefertiti’s body.

  “I did not summon your mother to my world, my son,” Aiakós said to Michael. “She was once a powerful witch and made her own to me. I did not ask her to sacrifice you in my name. It would have given me nothing, and she paid a terrible price.”

  Michael refused to look at him.

  The monsters would take care of Vic’s body. I should have hated him, that traitor, but the only thing I could find was pity—and maybe a bit of kinship. I am the Earth Mother’s servant. He served another. We both had the dubious honor of being human pawns for powerful beings.

  Flynn wrapped his arm around my shoulder and steadied me as we left the plaza. As we passed out of the circle of torches, out of the pentagram, the Darkness—Aiakós—laughed.

  “I’ll see you again, Michael,” he called after us.

  The three of us hurried down the empty Barrows streets to one of the Steroid Dogs parked a block away, its engine running. Men stood guard around it, shining the brilliant lights into the crumbling buildings.

  “What happened to the monsters?” I asked. We’d seen a multitude of bodies, but not a living thing stirred at our passage.

  “They probably sensed the disturbance when the dark moon reached its place in the conjunction,” Michael said. “Unlike us, they did the wise thing and went into hiding.”

  Dacardi had his man open a back hatch and Michael laid Elise’s body inside. Dacardi placed Nefertiti beside her.

  We climbed in and the Dog slowly made its way out of the Barrows. Dacardi was on the phone again, arranging another pickup.

  I wrapped my arms around Flynn and hugged him and kissed him and—

  “Hey!” Michael gently elbowed me. “He wasn’t the only one there.”

  “You’re right.” So I hugged him, too. He didn’t get any kisses. “I thought you were dead.”

  “I would have been,” Michael said. “Flynn saved me. Vic threw something at me. It made me sick. Flynn arrived before the monsters killed me, but it took time to recover enough to tell him where you were. Or where you had to be. I know the Zombie.”

  “You know the Zombie. You knew other things. Why didn’t you tell me?” My voice had a hard note in it, and Flynn stirred as if preparing for violence again.

  Michael didn’t speak for a moment. “I’m sorry, Cass. I didn’t want you to hate me. You already doubted my humanity. I swear, I didn’t know where the children were until yesterday. I wanted . . .”

  He’d wanted to be a hero. He’d wanted me to love him.

  I changed the subject. “Do you have any control over the monsters? Like Vic did? You seemed pretty confident in the sewers, facing them with only a bronze stick.”

  “I have a little. I didn’t know Victor had any. That’s why I wanted you and me to go alone—aboveground.”

  “Michael, I had a path to follow.”

  “I know. One you didn’t create and couldn’t control.” His voice tightened. “They used us, your Mother and . . . Aiakós.”

  I couldn’t disagree. Many things in this dark moon night had been suspended over a chasm of chances—a split-second decision to move to the left or right, take action or choose inaction.

  Dacardi was riding shotgun again. Nefertiti’s basket sat between the seats. I reached forward and laid a hand on it. Tears came to my eyes. I’d miss her for a long time.

  I turned to Michael. His eyes narrowed with weariness and sorrow. “So tell me, Michael. This Aiakós, he’s your dad?”

  “Mother said he was—she described him, but she was . . . disturbed. If he says so, too, I won’t argue. When I would go to visit her, she told me things. Some I believed, some I did not. I don’t know what she told Victor.”

  I believed pressure from the Darkness, Elise’s denial of love, and her obsession with Michael had destroyed Victor.

  “I never suspected Vic,” I said.

  “Neither did I,” Michael said. “He started to change about ten years ago. I knew he’d taken over the Lost Lamb. He came to curse me occasionally for being evil, the son of the Darkness. The money he took? I didn’t know he was using it to amass weapons. I thought he was stealing it and giving it away to charities. That’s what he told me. It all started to come together after he visited me that day at the hotel, but it was too late. Even then, I hoped for the best. Vanity on my part—I thought I could handle him.”

  Michael’s face darkened. “I was born forty years ago on a dark moon conjunction. When I visited Mother once, she said she’d tried to sacrifice me at birth because she believed it would solidify a connection between this world and his and increase his power here. I don’t think he was actually supposed to come here in person.”

  If Michael did choose to serve Aiakós in the future, he would be a far more potent enemy than Elise and Victor.

  “You’re forty?”

  “Yes. I don’t seem to age like others.”

  I heard sadness. Sadness not necessarily because he was or was not human, but because he was something in between. I grasped his hand. “Elise made the most powerful sacrifice—the only sacrifice that would work. She offered her own life.”

  “Yes.” Michael sighed. “It opened the door and dragged him through, physically.”

  “So what does that mean?”

  “It means he’s here, he’s powerful—but no more powerful than his . . . rival.”

  That didn’t sound good. “Why’d you hesitate before you said ‘rival’?”

  “I received the impression he and your Earth Mother weren’t always enemies.”

  “Yeah. He called her ‘my love.’ That’s scary.”

  The vehicles rolled out of the Zombie and into a Barrows street where two semitrucks with ramps waited. In minutes, the Steroid Dogs, Fire Dogs, and their mercenary crews were loaded and away. We transferred to one of Dacardi’s Escalades. Again, Elise’s and Nefertiti’s bodies went in the back.

  As we left the Barrows, I had to ask, “So you have your own army, Dacardi?”

  “I got shit. What happened here tonight stays with us.”

  “Okay.” I was relieved. “Same as always for me.”

  “What about you?” Dacardi asked Flynn.

  Flynn nodded in agreement, but his face was close and grim. “Tonight in the Barrows is done. Tomorrow? Walk slow and careful uptown, Dacardi.”

  “Fair enough,” Dacardi said. “You want me to bury Nefertiti?”

  “No, I’ll take her to Abby’s.”

  Michael had Dacardi drop him at the back door of the Archangel. He carried Elise’s body inside.

  We each had our own version of events to ponder. I knew more about Michael and Dacardi, but both remained a mystery. I had too many questions. I figured I’d learn more in time.

  “What about the other four kids?” I asked.

  “Sent ’em to my house with Richard,” Dacardi answered. “I’ll find their parents, give ’em money not to talk.” He turned to Flynn. “I’ll send you their names. I figure you’ll want to check on them. Make sure they’re okay.”

  On the surface, these men seemed ready to settle back into their ordinary lives. I doubted that would happen. We’d all been changed by the last few days, even me. I had carried a powerful being inside me, and something had to come from that.

  Dacardi drove Flynn to his mother’s house, where they had taken Selene. All the lights blazed. “I’ll see you soon.” He kissed me long and hard.

  Special children, Selene and Richard. Both would
grow powerful in their own way. I hoped for the good.

  Just before we arrived at Abby’s, Dacardi said, “You did okay, bitch. I owe you.”

  Abby came rushing out when we drove into her driveway. She threw her arms around me and squeezed so tight, I gasped. Didn’t think she was that strong. Dacardi went to the back and brought me Nefertiti.

  “You’re hurt.” Abby touched my face.

  After rolling over what seemed like a mile of pavement, being dragged by my hair, almost drowning, nearly having my throat cut, I thought I was in pretty good shape. “I’m alive, Abby. Some didn’t make it through the night.”

  Dacardi handed me the jacket carrying my snake. I accepted it. She wasn’t heavy.

  “What am I going to do, Abby?” I wanted to scream. “I’ve lost Nefertiti.”

  “Oh, love.” Abby wrapped an arm around me and led me toward the house.

  Dacardi didn’t speak as he climbed back in the Escalade and drove away. I guess he had some heavy thinking to do about his own life and future.

  When we reached the back porch, Abby took Nefertiti’s body from me. “I’ll take care of her,” she said. “You go in.”

  When I walked into Abby’s kitchen, Horus crouched in the middle of the table, with Nirah coiled beside him. Should I tell them I’d lost Nefertiti, or did they already know? When I sat heavily in one of the chairs, Horus came to me and patted my face with his paw. Nirah nuzzled my hand.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “She saved my life and I couldn’t do anything to help her.”

  They stayed close as I put my face in my hands and sobbed. Abby came in and cried, too. I knew the Mother’s dogma. Death and rebirth, the earth’s cycle, but I wanted my snake back here and now.

  “I buried Nefertiti by the spring,” Abby said through her tears. “You go clean up. We can talk later.”

  I showered and she dressed my scrapes and cuts. She put me to bed, not downstairs, but in her spare bedroom. That suited me. Time would pass before this Huntress went underground again. Abby sat beside me while I told her of the evening’s events.

  “She hid inside of you to enter the Barrows?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can she get out of the Barrows on her own?”

  “She didn’t seem concerned.”

  Abby’s face remained grave. “I went into the woods last week, before all this started. I accused her of using you up like a bottle of floor cleaner.” She smoothed the hair from my forehead. “She seemed confused. I told her she had my life from birth to death, and I asked if it wasn’t enough. I gave up men, marriage, children for her. I don’t regret it. Never have. You, however, were raised to look to a different life.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I knew what I wanted to ask. “You’ve always been hers? How long?”

  Abby smiled. “I am the descendant of a long line of priestesses. My mothers, grandmothers have served her, kept her word sacred. I can trace my direct lineage back over a thousand years. The gifts she gave me were knowledge, use of the earth’s power—” She hesitated. “And a very long life. I was born in 1765, on a prison ship. My mother had been sentenced into bondage for pagan worship. When we reached the shores of North Carolina, she ran away and joined the native tribes. They lived with the land, not perched upon it like vultures.” Sadness filled her eyes. “It’s been a good life. We have served well, you and I. We have made the sacrifice.”

  The phone in the kitchen rang. Abby kissed me on my forehead. “Sleep.”

  So I slept, slept without pain. Healing sleep, contented sleep. Tomorrow? Flynn. I wanted Flynn tomorrow and all the tomorrows.

  chapter 33

  August 10—10:00 a.m.

  I was asleep, but I woke when Flynn came into the bedroom and lay beside me. His face was serious. I snuggled against him and he held me tight.

  “Will you marry me?” he asked.

  “No. I can’t.” I tried to push away, but he wouldn’t release me. I relaxed. I was where I wanted to be.

  “Why not?”

  “I love you so much, but we’ve only known each other for days. Not weeks or months. We have a relationship built on danger. On high drama. Like living in a movie.”

  “Cass, a mortal’s relationship with life is built on danger. The past few days would make a good movie, I suppose. If we could ever tell anyone about it.”

  I stroked his cheek with my hand. I told him something I rarely acknowledged. “I’m terrified. I don’t think I’m biologically suited to being a cop’s wife. Or any man’s wife. Wife means doing important things with a family. Not just returning a child. What if we have children?”

  “Then they will have a mother who has the ability to protect them in a dangerous world.”

  He kissed me, long and sweet. When he finished, he said, “No, you’re not suited to being anything but what you are. That’s who I want. We’ll make it, Cass. There’s no one else for me. Only you. Please.”

  How could I resist that? “Okay, I’ll marry you. But we have to wait at least six months. Maybe a year.”

  “Fine. I love you, Huntress.”

  “And the Huntress . . . no. Just Cassandra. Cassandra loves you.”

  Flynn glanced at his watch, then drew away from me and sat up. “Damn. Another meeting. I slept for a few hours; then the chief called. They gave me a promotion for finding the guns. More work to do. And I’ve been appointed to the mayor’s task force on organized crime.”

  “That should be easy. Call Dacardi and ask him to fill you in on the details.”

  “Very funny.” Flynn took my hand and squeezed. “Bunch of pompous asses in city hall. I’m a cop, not a bureaucrat.”

  “Any discussion of the Barrows? What happened last night? No one heard the noise? Saw the lights?”

  “Not a word. As far as I’m concerned, it’s like Dacardi said—what happened in the Barrows will not be on the afternoon news.” He brushed my hair from my face.

  “Would you like to stay with me?” I asked. “Since we’re engaged. At the apartment? I’ll give you a key.”

  “I’d like to, Cass. And I’ll take that key. I’ll be there as much as I can. But I’m going to have to stay close to Mama for a while. She’s scared something will happen to Selene again.”

  “Something has happened to Selene. She’ll never be the same.” I sat up and rubbed my cheek against his. He smelled clean and wonderful.

  “Selene wants to talk to you. You seem to have impressed her.”

  “Abby would be best to do that.”

  His body tensed, and I knew the reason.

  “Selene is not a Huntress, Flynn. Abby might teach her some serious shit, but I won’t ever let her run through the sewers. I promise.”

  I hesitated to bring up the next thing, but I required a little honesty from the man I’d agreed to marry. “Does Selene know you’re her father and not her brother?”

  “How did—?” He drew a breath, then slowly let it out. “No. I was eighteen. There was a girl. She was older. I loved her, wanted her—and knew it was a mistake a week after we were married. I thought she was on the pill.” He bowed his head. “She didn’t want Selene. I managed to keep her from having an abortion by giving her money. She left the day after Selene was born. Mama took over raising her. Couple of years later, I divorced her. She hasn’t returned and I haven’t looked for her. I should have told you, that first night when we made love.”

  “I’m not the one you need to tell. Why keep it a secret?”

  “Mama was afraid it would hurt my career. I think she wanted to pretend Selene really was hers—and my dad’s. She missed him so much. I didn’t care—then. I had Selene, could watch her grow, be with her.”

  “You’d better talk to her, Flynn. Soon. She’s going to feel betrayed no matter what you do, but she’ll recover. She loves you.”

  “How did you know about her?”

  “Math. You’re thirty-one. You said she was six when you graduated from the academy. It would’ve been difficult f
or your mom to have her. Took me a while, but I think about you a lot.”

  Flynn relaxed. “You’re on my mind constantly, too. You’re going back to your apartment?”

  “I’ll be there tonight. I do want to marry you, Flynn.”

  He suddenly grabbed me and held me tight. I gave him a serious kiss.

  “Oh, how’s Robert?” I asked.

  Flynn laughed. “Insky took him to the emergency room and they gave him some valium. Didn’t have any place to go, so Insky took him to his house. He said Robert confessed to a lot of shit, cried, begged Insky to help him ‘make things right,’ and fell asleep. When he woke up, Robert said he couldn’t remember anything, but he was muttering something about a serpent when he left.”

  “Damn. I was hoping to get my PI license back so I could make some money. You think Robert will try to stop me?”

  “No. Insky said we shouldn’t worry. He has enough dirt on old Robert to last a few years, at least. You think you need the license? It caused so much trouble before.”

  “No, it didn’t. Robert caused the trouble. I was fine. I was fine. Oh, did you ask Selene about the Goblin Den card in her room? It set me on a good path.”

  “A friend of hers gave it to her. She’d never been there. Apparently it’s some sort of preteen fantasy to get in the Den.”

  “Sure.” He laughed, then kissed me long and hard.

  After he left, I rose, dressed, and went to the kitchen, where Abby insisted on fixing me breakfast.

  “Carlos called last night while you were sleeping. I went to Riverside and smoothed out some memories.”

  “The four kids?”

  “Yes. Two were in foster care. Parents were on the way to get the others. Richard’s insisting that the two in foster care stay with him, and his father has enough money to make it happen. He’s a fine young man, that Richard.” Abby set a plate piled high with a two-day supply of food in front of me.

  “Richard has guts. Like his father.” I picked up my fork and my mouth watered. On second thought, maybe the food would last only until supper.

  “Did you tell Flynn that the kids were okay?” I asked. “That a couple are staying with Dacardi?”