A Kiss Before Doomsday

by Laurence MacNaughton

  Tears streaming down her face, Dru charged up the portal until there was nothing but naked white light piercing through her. She fought through the roaring wind and scorching pain until she emptied every last bit of energy into the abyss.

  The white heat of the portal shuddered as the vile flood slammed into it. The air itself trembled under the impact of millions of gallons of scourge.

  With a deafening screech, the vortex of magical energy warped, pushing her back as it bulged outward. Dru dug the thick heels of her boots into the gravel, fearing she would be crushed by the pressure. Waves of energy pummeled through her body, bruising her, shaking her. The punishment felt as if it would never end.

  Just when she had nothing left to give, the rumbling ceased. In a silence as eerie as it had been loud, the white glow of the portal faded away.

  Dru’s ears filled with a fine, thin ringing sound. She felt like a vessel that had poured everything out and now lay empty and discarded. Her energy ebbed away, leaving nothing behind.

  Her bones felt like jelly. Her muscles shook. The burning hot vivianite in her hand sparkled and flared, as if miniature thunderstorms raged in its sapphire-green depths.

  She dropped it, crackling, onto the gravel. With a gasp, she sank to her knees.

  Above her, the towering archway of the tunnel entrance was as black as charcoal, and completely empty. Not a drop of scourge remained. Thick curls of gray smoke streamed up from around the edge of the entrance, trailing away into a clear night sky magnificent with blazing stars.

  Gently, Greyson pulled her to her feet. “You did it,” he said softly.

  She could only nod weakly. Sagging against him for support, she turned and hobbled toward the others. She was about to call out to Salem, but when she saw Rane, a hard lump formed in her throat, making it impossible to speak.

  36

  KISS THEM FOR ME

  Salem bent over Rane, his spidery fingers dancing through the air over her body. One by one, the dirty webs rippled and flew off, as if blown away by an invisible gust of wind.

  Beneath, her gold dress was scuffed and ripped. Her body was covered in vicious scrapes and ugly bruises. Her bottom lip had split and spilled blood down her neck. One eye was swollen shut. But the other eye slowly opened, clear and blue and very much alive.

  “Rane!” Despite her exhaustion, Dru left Greyson’s side and ran the last few steps. She dropped to her knees and wrapped Rane in a crushing hug.

  “Huh,” Rane wheezed. “Ow.”

  “Sorry. Sorry.” Dru sat up and wiped away tears. A dozen overwhelming feelings flooded through her at once. “You made it, you made it. Oh, my God. You’re all beat up. Anything broken? Are you okay?”

  A toothy grin slowly spread across Rane’s face. She raised one scraped-up arm and gave Dru an enthusiastic thumbs-up. “Rock ’n’ roll,” she croaked.

  Tears welled up in Dru’s eyes and overflowed. She sat back as Salem gently tended to Rane, checking her for injuries, helping her slowly sit up.

  “Ugh.” Rane shook her head, visibly dazed. “Where’s Todd?”

  Salem sat back and gave her a sharp look. “Who the hell is Todd?”

  “Freckles,” Rane said weakly, then held her head in her hands, muffling her voice. “He’s got my number. No, wait. Dru’s number.”

  Salem’s eyebrows furrowed dangerously, wrinkling his entire forehead. His bloodshot eyes glared at Dru.

  Caught off guard, Dru scrambled to remember who Rane was talking about. “Oh! Todd. From the emergency room?”

  Rane, still holding her head in her hands, nodded. “I need a beer. And a steak. I’m so hungry,” she whined. “And I need Todd.”

  At Salem’s withering stare, Dru shrugged. “That’s just her doctor. Not like another boyfriend or something.” She winced, deciding maybe it would be better to stay quiet.

  “Hey. Hey, you.” Rane brushed dirt and debris off Salem’s black silk collar and raised her hand to his cheek. “You are a big deal.”

  “I know,” he said, gently holding her, but still scowling. “Of course. I know.”

  “Got anything to eat?” Rane whispered.

  Looking serious, Salem started to answer, until Rane pulled him down and kissed him.

  Dru blinked. After all this time, she hadn’t expected that.

  “Dru!” Opal’s voice echoed from down the road. She emerged from the darkness, hobbling on her sassy honeybee platform sandals. Ruiz followed along beside her, laughing and clapping.

  Greyson bent down and pulled Dru to her feet. Every muscle in her body ached in protest.

  Opal’s smile was huge as she swept Dru into a vaguely boozy-smelling hug. “You okay, honey? You all right?” Opal took a step back and planted one hand on her hip. As she looked Greyson up and down, her jaw dropped open in shock. “Greyson! I can’t believe it. You’re alive!”

  He nodded curtly. “I get that a lot.”

  Ruiz crowded closer. “It was so cool. You should’ve seen it. Opal was like all yelling at all the sorcerers. Made ’em run for the door like little chickens. It was crazy, man, never seen anything like it. They all took off. That’s gratitude for you, right?”

  Opal, obviously still tipsy, leaned heavily on Ruiz. “This man here? He got the alarm wailing to make everybody run. Gotta love a man who’s good with his hands.”

  Dru tilted her head back and explained to Greyson, “There were a bunch of sorcerers here earlier. Kind of a party. A really lame party.”

  Greyson nodded. His glowing red eyes scanned the darkness. “Where did they all go?”

  “They all parked over there.” Ruiz pointed into the darkness. “Pretty smart of you guys, coming in the back way. Less traffic that way. But look, you know, everybody took off, but I think maybe the shop is going to get a lot more customers coming up. Just my thinking.” His eyebrows suddenly wrinkled with worry. “Hey, what about those drinks? What are they gonna do to us? We need to get to a hospital or something?”

  “No, no.” Dru shook her head. “You’ll be fine. The drinks just temporarily neutralized everyone’s magic powers. You and Opal shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Just, you know, stay hydrated, get some electrolytes. That’s what’s really important. But maybe we should get Rane to a doctor. Or an all-night buffet.”

  “The hell did you do to my dress?” Opal shrieked. She waved her hands frantically at the dirty, torn, web-sticky remnants of the sequined disco dress. “Oh, I can’t believe it. I knew this would happen. This is what happens every time I loan you clothes.”

  Dru cleared her throat, feeling more than slightly embarrassed. “Maybe if I take it to the cleaners . . . ?” At Opal’s sour look, she put on her cutest smile. “You know, they’ve got more sequins at the fabric store. A couple of stitches, a little bit of craft glue, nobody will know the difference. I’m sure.”

  Opal slowly shook her head. “And there’s no coming back for those boots, either. Nobody makes rainbow-colored shoe polish.”

  Dru cleared her throat again. “Let’s focus on people. What should we do about Rane?”

  “Oh, she’ll be fine,” Opal said. “That girl is a Neanderthal. She’ll heal up overnight. Right, honey?”

  She directed the question at Rane, who didn’t respond because she was still busy kissing Salem.

  “See? She’s gonna be fine, trust me,” Opal said. Then she let out a whoop as Ruiz pulled her aside and drew her into his arms for a kiss.

  Blinking in surprise, Dru watched them embrace, wondering when and how exactly the Opal-Ruiz thing had happened. She shook her head.

  “I’m just glad you found me,” Greyson said. When she turned to face him, his gaze softened. “Things were getting a little rough down there. Then you showed up.”

  “I’d like to take all the credit, but . . .” Dru looked past him at Hellbringer parked in the darkness. “That speed demon is yours forever, it looks like. It knew where to find you.”

  He followed her gaze. “Guess I’ll never have
to worry about forgetting where I parked.”

  “That’s not funny.” She took his hand in both of hers and squeezed. “I thought I’d lost you forever. If it hadn’t been for that car, you’d still be down there. I never would’ve found you.”

  “You would have. And you did.” His belief in her seemed to be unshakable. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

  She dropped her gaze. “For what?”

  “Saving the world is a good start.”

  She placed a hand on his broad chest. A flood of emotions rose up in her. It had all been too much. They had all come so close to the edge. Inside, she felt shaken to the core.

  “Don’t cry,” he said softly. “Everything is okay.”

  “No, it’s not.” Eyes moist, she shook her head. “You’re still cursed. You’re still a Horseman.” She tried to calm down her whirling emotions, but she couldn’t. “There’s so much I don’t understand about you. And me. And Hellbringer. And the apocalypse scroll.” A jolt of realization shot through her. “We never found the scroll. I don’t know if Titus had it or not. The dead rising from the grave, that was the fifth seal of the apocalypse. But the scroll has seven seals. That means two more seals, and—”

  “Shh.” He pulled her into his arms. “I know you. You’ll figure it all out, I promise. But not tonight.”

  His presence calmed her. She nodded, already making mental notes about the research she had to do and the catalog of books she should study. Was there any chance Titus’s library had survived the destruction? From here, it didn’t look like it. Such a terrible loss. “I wonder if Salem would let me flip through some of his books. He’s got so much stuff, it’s crazy. Maybe Rane can make it work with him again?”

  Greyson gazed down at her intently and just smiled.

  “And Opal made a new friend,” Dru added. “Everyone’s getting a kiss tonight. Except for Hellbringer, naturally.”

  “Naturally.” The corner of Greyson’s mouth perked up in a smile. “No, go ahead. I’ll try not to get jealous.”

  “I do like your car, it’s true. But . . .” She held her finger and thumb an inch apart. “Only so much.”

  “Good,” he said, drawing closer. “The question is, do you like me?”

  Dru meant to answer that out loud. But instead, she wrapped her arms around Greyson and kissed him.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  First, a special acknowledgment to all of the fine readers who have joined me on this wild adventure with Dru and her friends.

  My deepest thanks to my literary agent, the unstoppable Kristin Nelson, for her tireless vision and guidance.

  Many thanks also to the brilliant crew of Nelson Literary Agency, including Brian Nelson, Angie Hodapp, Lori Bennett, James Persichetti, Sam Cronin, Tallahj Curry, and (of course) Chutney the Wonder Dog.

  As always, a big thanks to everyone at Pyr for making this book a reality.

  Extra-special thanks to my editor, Rene Sears, for her unflagging patience, encouragement, and ideas.

  Thanks to my publicist, Lisa Michalski, for always finding a way to put my books in the spotlight.

  Thanks to copyeditor Jeffrey Curry for finding all the stuff I missed.

  Thanks to artist Nicole Sommer-Lecht for once again creating an enchanting cover.

  Many thanks go out to all of my fellow writers and critique group members for their terrific insights and advice over the years, especially Nikki Baird, Z. J. Czupor, Mindy McIntyre, Joy Meredith, Val Moses, Michele Winkler, Kevin Wolf, and too many other writers to mention.

  Above all, my heartfelt gratitude goes to my lovely wife, Cyndi, for endless inspiration, invaluable wisdom, and unshakable faith. I couldn’t do it without you.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Author photo © Kelly Weaver Photography

  Laurence MacNaughton grew up in a creaky old colonial house in Connecticut that he’s pretty sure was haunted. He’s been a bookseller, printer, copywriter, and (somewhat randomly) a prototype vehicle test driver. When he’s not writing, he bikes and hikes the Rocky Mountains, explores ghost towns, and wrenches on old cars. His books include It Happened One Doomsday, The Spider Thief, and Conspiracy of Angels. Visit him online at www.LaurenceMacNaughton.com.