Night and Chaos: An Ashwood Urban Fantasy Novel (Half-Lich Book 3)

by Lee Dignam

  Alice looked to Cora who was standing beneath the tower only a few feet away from Nyx. “You told me you had never met her before,” she said.

  “Oh, it wasn’t a total lie,” Nyx said, “I didn’t turn her into what she is.”

  “If you didn’t, then who did?”

  “C’mon Alice… if you learned the truth about me and Chaos, then you know the answer to that question.”

  Alice thought back to what Jim had said about the Greek gods and their relationship to each other. He had said that Nyx was daughter to Chaos, but… “Your… brothers?”

  “Not all of them, just one. They call me Night, they call him Erebus—Darkness—our father is Chaos, and I love them both. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us. He was sent back to the Void some time ago by members of your boyfriend’s order.”

  “The Void Weavers killed him?”

  “They didn’t kill him, or aren’t you listening? I said he was sent back to the Void, but it was he who dealt the order the mortal blow. He is the reason they’re all gone. And when he comes back, he will finish the job—starting with our dear friend Isaac Moreau.”

  “You said you wouldn’t hurt us.”

  “And I won’t. I made no promises about Erebus or Chaos.”

  Alice’s eyes fell upon Silver, and then went back to Nyx. “Do you really think I’m going to let you do this?” Alice asked.

  “I don’t think you have much of a choice. Lucky for you, I’m giving you a front row seat.” Lightning split the sky apart, and thunder grumbled in its wake. Nyx stepped off the elevated platform at the base of the tower and stepped toward Alice. “I made a mistake the last time we had a little confrontation. I told you I didn’t need you anymore, and I guess that was only half true. I do need you. At least, I need one of you; recent events have made me question whether to make you or Cora our guest of honor.”

  “What?” Cora said, her voice loud and stunned.

  Nyx turned her head. “You have failed me twice, Cora, and I don’t give three strikes—only two.”

  “How have I failed you?” Cora said, “I did everything you asked, and if your fucking shadow beasts hadn’t intervened, I would have been able to bring her to you when I met her at the bar.”

  “But you didn’t. Someone threw a monkey wrench into the machine, and you froze. You successfully gave the shadow beings the orders to flee the scene of the riot, though, and that’s why I didn’t kill you on the spot. I gave you another chance.”

  “That’s why you were on top of that multiplex?” Alice said, “You were talking to those creatures?”

  “Alice, I’m—”

  “Silence,” Nyx said, cutting Cora off. “That was strike one. The second strike was tonight when you failed to protect the surgeon from meeting its demise. I was as fond of it as I am of all of my children, and you let him get destroyed.”

  “She’s the one who killed him,” Cora said, “Not me. I’ve given up so much for you. You have to give me what you promised.”

  “You’re right; Alice did pull the proverbial trigger. But Alice and I go way back. It would be a shame for her to not be here to witness the glorious return of my dear old father, don’t you think?”

  Cora glanced at the edge of the skyscraper and made a mad dash for it. Was she going to throw herself off? We can’t die, she had said, but was it true? Alice considered her wounds, the pain she felt, and knew that enough of it would kill her like it would any human. So why hadn’t Cora died when she fell off the side of the building? Unless she didn’t fall… in which case, what the hell was she thinking?

  Nyx’s right hand came up like a whip-crack. Thunder not from the sky rumbled all around, and a whip of purple energy shot out of Nyx’s hand and wrapped itself around Cora’s neck. Cora stopped running and wrapped her hands around the tendril, but it was choking her. Alice considered attacking Nyx while her back was turned, but attack her with what? Was there anything she could do? Was there anything she wanted to do?

  Cora went down hard. Nyx controlled the Void tendril as if it were an extension of her own hand, easily pulling Cora along the floor until she was back where Nyx wanted her to be. Only then did she release the tendril. Cora hacked and coughed, holding onto her neck. Nyx turned around and looked at Alice again. Then she smiled.

  “So,” she said, “Shall we get started?”

  CHAPTER 28

  Look Deeper

  Isaac closed his palm around a lock of dark brown hair. His magic bangle began to glow. He could feel the rush of the Tempest as the magic flowed through him despite the way the wind was hitting the car, causing it to bump and shake. He concentrated on Alice’s face, visualizing her fully in his mind. He had searched for her with magic before, had used the same spell, but it was as if whatever compass could point him to where she was had started to spin in wild circles.

  He released the magic, sighed, and pocketed the lock of hair. It was useless.

  “Anything?” Cameron asked.

  “Nothing,” Isaac said.

  “Well, we know where she is, so we don’t exactly need magic to find her.”

  “True, but I wanted to see if I could locate her anyway. It always pays to be prepared.”

  “Didn’t work, though. How do you suppose we’re going to fight Nyx if our magic doesn’t work?” Jim asked.

  “I’m starting to think it isn’t all of our magic that doesn’t work,” Isaac said, “Only magic intended to travel, communicate with, or track someone.”

  “So, you’re saying we do have magic to fight Nyx with? We just have to hope the magic we use works?”

  Isaac nodded. “And we have to move fast. I was able to teleport through the Void once, and so was Silver, but I think that avenue is closed to us now. As the storm gathers strength, our options shrink.”

  “Are you sure about that, or is that just one of your educated guesses?”

  “It’s a guess, but one I don’t want to test. If I’m right, I might teleport into the middle of a brick wall. I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.”

  Jim nodded. “In the temple. Remember?”

  “I do. We made it out of there, and we’ll make it out of here. Nyx won’t win.”

  Though the financial district was dark, the construction site indicated on the map was plainly visible on the left. The skeletal building loomed overhead like a giant scarecrow. Cranes with dangling wires surrounded it like a puppeteer’s hands holding its strings. Lightning flashed, illuminating the building’s sinister profile.

  “This must be it,” Jim said.

  “The gate’s open, look,” Cameron said.

  Jim pulled his car into the construction site. Immediately the car’s lights shined on Alice’s Mustang. The car was empty, but otherwise undamaged. Isaac’s heart started to race at the sight of it. They were here, in that building somewhere, but this wasn’t a settling thought. There was something else in that building too—magic. Void magic. Silver? It was possible, but the magic Isaac sensed was leagues more powerful than Silver’s.

  “What is it?” Jim asked. He had stopped the car and was looking over at Isaac.

  “I think Nyx has been here.”

  “Nyx?”

  “I can’t be sure. There’s magic in there; the unique kind of magic Alice, Silver, myself… and Nyx… produce.”

  “Can you pinpoint exactly where?” Cameron asked. “What floor?”

  Isaac closed his eyes and reached out with his mind. “I don’t know—but I do know this is the right place.”

  Cameron nodded and went to open the door.

  “Wait,” Isaac said, “Where are you going?”

  “Up,” Cameron said, “To find them.”

  “And if you find Nyx?”

  “I’ll come right back down. It’ll take you way longer than it’ll take me to get up there. I’ll be up and down in sixty seconds.”

  Isaac’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Okay,” he said, “Sixty seconds and counting.”

  Came
ron nodded, stepped out of the car, and shut the door. He ran toward the building, picking up speed as he went, until it looked like he wasn’t so much running as he was bounding, crossing great distances with each stride. He then leapt high into the air, grabbed the side of the building with his bare hands, and started climbing with the speed and agility of a spider monkey. Isaac and Jim watched, their mouths agape, as Cameron’s profile blended into the dark exterior of the building.

  “Remind me never to play one on one with that guy,” Jim said.

  Isaac cocked his head to the side. “When was the last time you played basketball?”

  “I’m surprised you Brits even call it basketball.”

  “What else would we call it?”

  “I don’t know, but football is football. Soccer is soccer.”

  “Funny thing about that, the sport was originally called soccer. The sport was already being played throughout the country and most of the world, only it didn’t have a name. In the 1860’s a group of British teams decided to get together and create standardized rules on which to play all of their games. The word soccer came from there. So, the next time a Brit complains that you’ve changed the word of their favorite sport, remind them of this—but do it at your peril, especially if they’re drunk.”

  Jim slowly turned his head toward Isaac, with a look of incredulity on his face. “Really?” he said, “Cameron is about to potentially run into Nyx and you’re telling me about soccer?”

  Isaac sighed. “It’s a coping mechanism,” he said, and he checked his watch. Thirty seconds left. “He won’t find Nyx,” he said, “She’s too clever for that.”

  “We don’t even know if it was her.”

  “Unless Silver’s connection to the Tempest suddenly strengthened by a factor of at least ten, then it wasn’t Silver’s magic I sensed up there.”

  “Then we shouldn’t have let Cameron go on his own.”

  Isaac shook his head. “After what you’ve just seen, do you want to be the one to have to tell him to stay?”

  “I guess not. And if it’s Nyx? If she was there?”

  “Then we have a problem.”

  Isaac opened the car door and stepped outside. The wind pushed against his chest and shoulders, but he held onto the car with one hand and covered his eyes with the other. He couldn’t see Cameron, but he still had another twenty seconds. The Good Doctor glided in beside Isaac, unfazed by the power of the wind. Isaac looked up at his Guardian, regarding it with analytical eyes. How could a creature from the Tempest have sided with Nyx? Why? For what purpose? If their only agendas were to protect the souls born in the Tempest, then what could have caused a Guardian to abandon their duties in favor of serving a creature from a realm of pure madness and disorder?

  “Some questions do not have answers,” the Good Doctor said, having sensed Isaac’s thoughts.

  “Has this ever happened before?”

  “I cannot say.”

  “Of course you can’t,” Isaac said, looking up at the building again. “Is there something I’ve missed? Something I’m not considering?”

  “You are considering the only two potential outcomes of the next fifteen seconds—that Cameron will either find Nyx or he won’t, that he’ll either find Alice or he won’t. This thinking is shallow. You must step back and see what is really happening. Look deeper.”

  Isaac considered this long and hard. He checked his watch. Cameron was over by three seconds. He considered rushing in to help Cameron, but it would take him far too long to reach his location. Maybe five minutes, considering he would have to do it in the dark. No, he had to trust that Cameron would come back with a report like he had promised he would. If he had to wait ten minutes, he…

  “That’s it,” Isaac said. “This is a distraction.”

  The Good Doctor nodded. “Correct,” it said.

  “She’s been doing this since she started, throwing up smokescreens, sending us chasing ghosts, using tricks to keep us guessing.”

  His heart was racing now. He yanked the car door open, startling Jim.

  “Jesus,” Jim said, “What is it?”

  “Alice isn’t in there,” Isaac said.

  “Did Cameron get back?”

  “No, but I know.”

  “Well… do you know where she is?”

  “I don’t, but she will have left a breadcrumb for me to follow. I know she would have.”

  “Then Cameron will find it.”

  “He doesn’t know what to look for, but I think I do.”

  “What do I do?”

  “Come with me!” Isaac said, and he started to run across open ground, shielding his eyes from the sleet and the wind with the back of his arm and pushing his legs as hard as he could. The Good Doctor glided beside him like a silent phantom, unhindered by the powerful wind sweeping through the area. When Isaac reached the building, he stuck his right hand out, bid his magic bangle to glow, and checked for the stairs.

  “Isaac,” he heard a voice call. Behind him, Cameron had seemingly just dropped from some height.

  “She wasn’t there, was she?” Isaac asked.

  Cameron stepped into the building where Isaac was and shook his head. “No. There’s no one up there. I smelled blood on the fifth floor, though.”

  Isaac nodded. “Come with me,” he said, turning to head up the stairs.

  Cameron and Jim followed, keeping good pace with Isaac who was climbing the steps three at a time, fueled purely by adrenaline. He reached the fifth floor and stepped into it. His breathing was coming out in gasps now, but his mind was firing on all cylinders. The presence of Void magic was stronger here, easier to pick out. The air seemed colder than it should have been, and it was filled with a kind of static charge that made the hairs on his arms stand on end.

  He looked around, mindful not to fall through any exposed areas or trip over any machinery left behind by the last crew of workers to have ever come here. It was dark in the building, and the bangle only illuminated a few feet in front of him. A few feet of light were all he needed. There, wedged beneath what looked like an old generator, was a small, thin, white object. Isaac approached, and felt a sudden surge of Void energy as he went to pick it up.

  It was a Polaroid, and on it, there was a picture of a young woman he hadn’t seen in three months. Her hair wasn’t a mohawk anymore, and the purple had been washed out of it, but the woman staring back at him through the frame was unmistakably Sonia—Nyx—and she was smiling. Alice had tried to hit her with Trapper’s magic. It must not have worked. Only, there was something about the picture; it seemed to give off an inaudible hum he could hear not with his ears, but with his soul, if such a thing was even possible.

  “Doctor?” he asked.

  The Good Doctor looked over Isaac’s shoulder at the photo of the smiling young woman. Such confidence in her eyes, such fire. He had expected coldness from her—a disconnect—but instead there was passion, and drive. “The magic did not work,” the Good Doctor said, “Nyx lives. But a piece of her exists within this picture frame.”

  “A piece? How big a piece? Big enough to get me to where she is?”

  Jim came up to Isaac. “Get you to where who is?” he asked.

  Isaac turned to look at him and handed the picture over.

  “Nyx,” Jim said. “But she’s gone now, and Alice too. How can this get us to her?”

  “I knew that if Alice had faced off with Nyx in here, she would inevitably have used Trapper to try and harm her. It didn’t work,” Isaac said, “Judging by the smug look on her face, Nyx knew it wouldn’t work.”

  Cameron arrived too and listened in.

  “So?” Jim asked, “How can we use this to get to her?”

  Isaac looked at the Good Doctor and, in his mind, asked the same question he had asked before: is this a big enough piece to get me to where she is? The Good Doctor nodded, and a grin spread over Isaac’s face.

  “Nyx built this storm,” Isaac said. “She pulled it out of the Void, which mean
s she controls it and is immune to its effects. If this Polaroid kept a piece of her—”

  “Then we can use that piece to become immune to its effects too,” Jim said, “Christ, you’re a genius!”

  “Slow down—we can’t become immune to the storm’s effects, but I can maybe take us to where she is.”

  “You can do that?” Cameron asked.

  “I can,” Isaac said, “But it’ll be a one-way trip, and we’ll be dropped right in the middle of her hot zone—wherever she happens to be.”

  A pause fell upon the three men. “I’m sorry,” Cameron said, “Was that a question, or…?”

  Isaac nodded. Jim did too, and then he held the Polaroid out in front of Isaac. Isaac placed a hand on it and gestured with a nod for Cameron to do the same. He did. When all three men had their hands on the Polaroid, Isaac turned to look at the Good Doctor and said, “Take us to her, Doctor.”

  The Good Doctor nodded. The air around the men suddenly began to change, and tiny whips of purple light sprang to life.

  CHAPTER 29

  Violet Ribbon

  Alice’s mind was racing. She kept looking over at Silver’s unconscious body. The sword hilt was still poking out of its sheath, and Alice couldn’t figure out why he still had it. Surely Nyx would have removed it from his possession during transport? Why let him keep a dangerous weapon? Trapper may not have worked, but a sword? Whatever the case may have been, Nyx hadn’t noticed—and this meant Alice had a chance. At least, she would if she could only get to it without being too conspicuous.

  She watched from where she stood as Nyx, making gestures with her hands, caused Cora’s gasping body to stand up, stretch her arms out to either side, and look up at the sky. It was Cora’s body, but Nyx was in the driver’s seat, and Alice had the impression Nyx could do whatever she wanted with it—even toss it over the side of this building if she wanted to.

  “You know,” Nyx said, “I can offer you the same thing I offered her.”

  “What’s that?” Alice asked.

  “I can make you human again.”