Bitten in Two

by Jennifer Rardin

  The atmosphere inside the Galaxie went from restless and slightly bored to tense and electric. Game faces fell into place. I went on, feeling the anticipation build in the pit of my stomach as I watched the Were hold the map to my salvation over his head.

  I said, “Our demon is snarling like she’s never heard of wrinkles. She’s crouching by the door. She’s transforming her tahruyt into the flyssa. But it’s different. It’s… The blade is glowing red. I think whoever’s on the receiving end of that swing is going to get cut and burned.”

  “Have the Weres realized her plan yet?” asked Vayl.

  I shook my head. “They’re partying. So psyched to have the treasure in their hands and be done with guard duty they’ve forgotten she’s there.” I turned my eyes to Cole. “I wish you could see her now. It’s her eyes. They’re so… hungry. And happy.”

  “Hungry people are never happy,” Cole told me.

  “There’s your basic mistake,” Raoul pointed out. “Because she’s not ‘people’ at all.”

  I said, “She’s creeping up on the car salesman. Holy crap, that sword’s just as sharp as my bolo!”

  “What has she done?” Vayl asked.

  “Decapitation,” I said, trying to keep my voice level and dry. “One, two, just like that, and he’s dead. The second Were is morphing. The Luureken are shrieking. Pulling out their weapons. Naw.”

  “What?” Sterling demanded.

  “The lead berserker is trying to use his raes. That’s just stupid. It’s a cavalry weapon, you know?”

  “O-kay. And who’s side are you on?”

  “I’m just saying, the demon’s gonna—yup, there she goes. She’s whipped that sword of hers around so fast he barely has time to block, much less pull off an aggressive move. But the Luureken behind him has a hand axe and she’s screaming like a trophy wife who’s just found hubby with her replacement. Oooh.”

  “What?” Barbershop chorus from the four listening guys.

  “Axe blade in the demon’s chest. She’s screaming even louder than her attacker. Damned if she doesn’t remind me of Blackbeard’s wives at the JayCees Haunted House in Granny May’s hometown.”

  Cole leaned forward. “We gotta go there next Halloween.”

  “Sure.”

  If we’re still around.

  I said, “I’m thinking the Luureken shouldn’t have buried that axe so deep. Now she’s got no weapon and the demon is coming back at her with that flaming flyssa.”

  “What exactly do you mean by flaming?” asked Raoul, the professional curiosity in his voice telling me he was trying to figure out if he had the right weapons to combat it should he ever need to.

  “When we met her in Australia and she turned her hat into a boomerang, it burned bluish orange. Which I thought was a reaction to the prayers we’d protected all the entrances with. This is more like a cherry red that seems hot and…” I swallowed involuntarily as I watched the sword sing through the air, the flames leaping toward the Luureken’s throat. “Yeah, starving would be the word I’m looking for.” They licked into her neck just before the sword sliced into her skin. And then, as quickly as she cut the life out of the Luureken, Kyphas met the leader’s charge. Now fully transformed, its lean form giving it fearsome speed, it still couldn’t match the demon’s reflexes.

  She stood, unblinking, in the face of its heart-stopping growls. Let it see how easily it could tear her throat out. And then, as it leaped, moved with eye-blurring speed. Shoved its head to one side. Chopped into the vulnerable opening she’d made, then stepped forward as his body and half-severed head went crashing into the floor. She grabbed the map before it—or she—could be drenched in arterial spray, turned back, and finished the job.

  I told the guys, “I don’t think we’re going to be battling any more Weres this trip. And I hope whoever cleans the storeroom at the Musee de Marrakech skips breakfast tomorrow.”

  Astral took one last look at the bodies lying sprawled and lifeless on the floor, their blood crawling toward Kyphas as if begging her to put it back, make the last moments please, please go away. And then, like she knew my wishes, the robokitty looked up into Kyphas’s face. Since I’d stopped talking, I could at least admit to myself that her beauty still had the power to stun me, even from a distance. But it seemed different now than it had the first time I’d seen her, stalking Cassandra down the streets of Wirdilling, destroying everyone and everything in her path.

  In Australia she’d had the perfection of an ice sculpture. Nice to look at, but you knew you’d better keep your distance unless you wanted freezer burn. Now she seemed to have the ancient sadness of one of Lucifer’s groupies. She never Fell, my Inner Librarian corrected me, giving her bun a twitch to keep a stray curl from running amok. Kyphas was born in hell. That makes her spawn, not angel.

  Now you’re just playing with semantics, I told her. Spawn are the children of fallen angels.

  And other things! noted the Librarian.

  I’ll give you that. Sometimes. I couldn’t take my eyes off Kyphas’s face, almost grieving as she absorbed the information on the map she’d unrolled. But maybe Cole was right about her after all. Now wasn’t the time for theorizing though. I whispered, “Astral. Copy that map.”

  The cat set her recorders to key to the Enkyklios map. I felt my chest tighten as I realized I was about to find out where the Rocenz was located. When my shoulders slumped Vayl said, “What is wrong?”

  “The map. It’s just a bunch of colored circles surrounded by rectangles. There’s some writing I can’t see at the top and bottom of the map. But no X to mark the spot where the tool is hidden.”

  He said, “Then we will take the demoness and the map as soon as she exits the building.” Vayl’s tone didn’t change, which, of course, it wouldn’t. He took shit like this in stride. I guess after overcoming a million or so setbacks you learn how to keep on keeping on. But damn, you’ve gotta live a long time to get to that place.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  We were waiting on the steps of the palace when Kyphas emerged, holding Astral in one hand and the map in the other. She looked only mildly surprised to see us. This, I was discovering, was the drawback of working with old souls. They’d seen so much they were tough to startle.

  Vayl held out his hand. “Give me the map, Kyphas.”

  She hugged it closer to her chest. “I don’t think so.”

  “Remember your contract? You vowed to help us find the Rocenz.”

  She nodded exactly one time. “I did.” Her eyes never wavered from Vayl, but she seemed to tighten, as if some invisible machine had surrounded her with shrink-wrap. I’d already drawn Grief. Now I aimed the barrel right between her eyes.

  “You also promised to fight with us,” he reminded her.

  “The fighting’s over,” she said. She jerked her head back toward the museum. “I’ve killed the rest of your enemies.”

  She may be right, said Granny May, who’d put aside her sewing to set up another game of bridge.

  Who’s side are you on anyway? And does Winston Churchill really need that big a bowl of Doritos?

  Cole had also drawn. But his Beretta remained pointed at the ground as he said, “Kyphas. I thought we were… friends. What the hell?”

  “Exactly,” she replied. When she looked at him, the longing in her eyes actually churned up some sympathy from somewhere deep inside me. She tore her gaze away from him and pinned it back on Vayl. “Here’s your map.” She launched Astral, not at him, but at me, fouling my shot as she threw herself behind a huge white pillar.

  I dropped my arm and stepped out of the way as robokitty came flying through the air like a claw-laced torpedo. She landed on her paws on the street beside me with the harsh clunk of granite hitting brick. I checked her out, relieved to find her in one piece, but pissed off as well. Now, by handing Astral back, Kyphas had kept her end of the deal. As far as she was concerned our contract was complete.

  “Raoul!” I yelled. “Tell me you brou
ght your sword!” He couldn’t kill her with it here, of course. But if we could get her through one of the fire-framed plane portals, then the sword would destroy her. I knew one had to be close. They tended to follow me, though neither one of us had figured out why.

  Raoul gave his cap a frustrated jerk. “I just came from the worst date of my life. Why would I bring a weapon along?”

  Cole and I both said, “People do it all the time!”

  We looked at each other. Cole slapped his hand against his chest. “Not me, though. I’m just saying, there was this girl once who got really pissed and—”

  “I’d never suggest something like that about you,” I assured him. Then I realized all the guys were staring at me with that slightly stressed look that suggested they suddenly weren’t quite sure they were safe. “Aw, come on! Really?”

  Still keeping an eye on Kyphas, who’d emerged from hiding when we stopped trying to splat her, Cole slid over and patted me on the shoulder. “Forgive us, Jaz. You’re right, it’s silly to think you’d ever shoot an ex when you already know twelve ways to kill him with your bare hands.”

  “More like thirty, but that’s okay. I think.”

  Vayl stepped forward. “Kyphas, come with us. Whoever called you to recover the map, whatever deal you have made with them cannot technically supersede our contract. You could still be our ally. We would even offer you more if you cared to take it.”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  “Bergman is starting a new business that could use people with exactly your sorts of skills. Jasmine and I are considering becoming his partners. If, as time passed, we all seemed agreeable to the notion, you might even consider joining our Trust.”

  Like hell! I nearly squeezed the trigger just to prove how opposed I was to his last statement. But Vayl had given me the signal for play-along-with-me-on-this-one, two crossed fingers tapping the hip. So I dropped my gun arm, giving it the rest it needed while I waited for the demon’s reply. Her expression surprised me. Was she really considering his offer? And that yearning glance toward Cole. I wasn’t imagining the wish in her eyes, was I? Hard to say when seconds later they were filled with yellow fire.

  “Our deal is finished, vampire. And as soon as I have the Rocenz, your people will be joining me.” I wouldn’t have put it past her to belt out a cheesy cartoon-villain laugh because, really, lines like that belonged in dinner theaters. But she didn’t take the time. Instead she dove behind a second pillar. This one was so big you could park an entire camel behind it.

  I took off after her, Vayl already five steps ahead, Raoul right behind him, Cole at my heels, and Sterling loping easily at the back. If we’d been on wheels there would’ve been a lot of screeching and honking of horns as we came to abrupt halts at the top of the steps. Because she wasn’t there. I mean, not anywhere we could even chase her. What we did find hidden behind the pillar was a plane portal, still open to her destination.

  We stared into the pit, each of us seeing our own version of hell’s torturous landscape. Mine was pretty much the same as the last time I’d seen it, when Raoul and I had taken a trip there to get the goods on Edward “The Raptor” Samos. I saw a flaming sky covering an eternity of rock-strewn ground peopled by an endless crowd of shambling, self-abusing citizens. Even though I knew what to expect I still wanted to puke. I peeked at Raoul from under my eyelashes, knowing his view was no better. It made me feel tons less wussified to see that the POW camp in his vision still turned his skin slightly green. He said a few quiet words and the door went as blank as his eyes.

  I took his arm and pulled him aside. “Raoul, is that how you died?” I whispered, jerking my head back toward the door. “Because I can still try to make it right for you. The sons of bitches who captured you are probably still alive. I could—”

  He shook his head. “It wasn’t me. Maybe it should’ve been.” He looked bleakly at the door. “But it wasn’t.” And that was all he’d say.

  We both stood staring at his shiny black boots, until Cole’s steady swearing sank into our brains.

  I said, “Cole, you’re offending Vayl. Plus you never swear, so you’re probably upsetting yourself at some level.”

  “That’s just dumb. Plus, Vayl? Am I?”

  “I simply believe other words are more effective,” Vayl said dryly.

  “Like what?” Cole demanded, throwing his hands into the air. Luckily, he’d holstered his gun, otherwise we’d have all been ducking at random moments while he gestured wildly to match his mood. “Oh, phooey, the demon has absconded with our map! Shuckey darn, she’s so irritating, because I fucking thought she had some fucking good in her!”

  “Cole?” I went over to put my hand against his forehead. Nope, pretty cool despite our recent run.

  “I’m not sick!” he bellowed.

  I dropped my hand. “You’re betrayed.”

  “Yeah!”

  “By a demon.”

  “Well, yeah!”

  “Who’s been lying, cheating, and stealing since the day she was born.”

  He took a second to check his nails. “She’s a pro, isn’t she?”

  “Um, yeah. The miracle is that Cassandra ducked her for so long.” I turned to Vayl. “So what does this mean? Is our psychic off the hook, or what?”

  “I believe so,” he said. “The demon obviously feels she has fulfilled her end of the bargain, which means Cassandra’s soul should be safe.”

  “I don’t like that word ‘should.’ We need to be one hundred percent on this one.”

  “There’s a test she can do,” Sterling said. He sat in the middle of the doorway, his legs in the lotus position, his palms lifted upward above his shoulders like he was checking for rain.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded.

  “Absorbing the power inherent in this doorway. It’s great. Kind of like lying on a magic-fingers bed, only this gets you everywhere.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “And I mean everywhere, Chill. You should try it.”

  I yanked my hair over my eyes. “I am surrounded by perverts.” I crouched down in front of my warlock. “Sterling. What about the test? Do you think she knows which one you mean?”

  “Maybe. She’s pretty well-read, right?”

  “Maybe? Should? You guys are driving me nuts!” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tossed it to the warlock. “Call her. Tell her what it is. Tell her I said to do it now. And if she comes up with a bad result, I want to know instantly. Because I will go straight into hell after that bitch and tear her head off her shoulders if that’s what it takes to make Cassandra safe.”

  Sterling gazed up at me. “I’m glad we made up.”

  “Me too. Now make the call.” Only when he opened my phone did I turn to Vayl. He’d picked up Astral and was giving her such a close once-over he could’ve been mistaken for a vet. “What do you think?” I asked.

  “She does not seem to have been tampered with,” Vayl said. “Though, of course, Bergman is the only one who can tell us for sure.”

  “So you think the map in her head…”

  He nodded. “It is the one she recorded from Kyphas’s hand.”

  “We’re not being very careful about the demon’s name now,” Cole snapped. “Don’t we care if she can spy on us anymore?”

  “No,” Vayl and I chorused. “Later for sure,” I added. “But right now she’s so busy trying to get her ducks in a row she doesn’t have time to worry about us.”

  “Would you care to describe her ducks?” Raoul asked.

  “We figure she’s organizing a raiding party to help her retrieve the Rocenz before we can get to it,” I said.

  “Yes,” Vayl agreed. “But remember, since no demon has the power to move from its world to ours at will, she and her people must be summoned for another purpose as well. That gives us at least some time to find the Rocenz before she does.”

  “And you’re sure the location is locked inside Astral’s mind?” Raoul asked.

  “Absolutely,” I said. �
�We just need to get her somewhere safe so we can pull a copy out of her and figure out how to interpret it.”

  “Somewhere safe… are you talking about the riad?” Cole asked.

  “That is where we left the equipment,” Vayl said.

  I held up a finger. “Except Bergman knows how to work it better than anyone else. Especially when it comes to Astral. He was only just starting to train me. This would go a lot faster if we had him on board.”

  “Are you certain?” Vayl asked, his eyebrows at full lift. “He is recuperating, after all.”

  “What a nice way to say he’s newly stitched and out of his mind on painkillers,” said Cole.

  “Even bandaged and half-blitzed, Bergman’s still better than any four regular people. What do you say?” I asked the guys. “Should we go break him out of the hospital?”

  Vayl smirked. “While I enjoy your sense of the dramatic, I think all that is required is the proper paperwork. This should only take a few minutes.”

  Half an hour later Monique was wheeling Bergman out the front door while he bounced the IT’S A GIRL balloon we’d tied to his wrist and giggled hysterically at the balled-up towel we’d stuffed under his sweater to signify still-to-be-lost baby weight. We hadn’t even had to bother with makeup. Just wrapped his head in my new black scarf and shoved Astral wrapped in a blanket into his free arm.

  I leaned over so Bergman could see my face as I said, “Miles, most moms don’t squish their babies so hard that they squeak. Relax your hold. No, don’t cover her whole face with your hand. Pretend she has to breathe, okay?”

  God? This guy doesn’t need kids anytime soon. Or even a fish. I’ll get him a stuffed animal next time I’m home. We’ll see how that goes and then I’ll be in touch.

  “This rocks!” he said in a stage whisper as Cole pushed him toward the Galaxie.