by Richard Amos
Everyone sat up straighter.
“What?” Nay said.
“The mansion is surrounded by a horde. They throw themselves against the wards, moaning and moaning. Amongst them, hyena beasts prowl.”
“Oh, my God!”
“They will not get in,” Karla said. “But I will not get out.”
“What if the shadows find a way to get them in?” I said.
“All the more reason for you to leave as soon as you can to stop them from doing so.”
“We’ll get ready now,” Rose said.
“Sit tight, Karla,” Nay said.
“Goodbye.” She hung up.
“Fuck,” Greg said.
“Come,” Rose said, getting to her feet. “I’ll get the sleighs. Randy!”
The male goblin hurried after her.
We followed them both into the bigger space where the floor was clear and there were no shelves of wonders.
Randy pulled out a key fob and pressed it. The thing beeped as if he’d unlocked a car and the ground shook. The floor slid open in two rectangles, exposing the same shape holes. Moments later, two sleighs rose up from those holes—all shiny and new and festive.
Impressive.
Rose pulled out her stick, gave it a wave, and the two reindeer popped back into existence in a shower of copper glitter. They shook themselves, and Randy fed them some carrots he had in his pocket.
I waited for what would come next.
“Please climb on board,” Rose said.
I climbed in and Dean was next to me seconds later, taking a pew on the green seat.
And why did it matter that he was sitting so close to me? It didn’t! I drew a deep breath.
“You okay?” he asked huskily.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just … you know?”
“Shot nerves,” he said, looking straight ahead. “You’ve been through a lot.”
“But so have you guys.”
He shrugged. “Well done for staying alive.”
“Er, thanks.”
He turned to face me. His dark eyes bore into me, and my mouth went dry. “I’m really glad you stayed alive. I don’t know …” He froze, words hanging in limbo. With a sigh, he looked ahead again.
I didn’t ask him to finish his sentence. “I’m so not using any lifts in Wand Towers,” I said to break the weird silence that made my muscles tense. “Stairs all the way for me.”
He nodded.
“Just asking to die getting in a lift where the shadows have taken up residence.”
“Yep,” he said.
“Thank God we have that gym to train in. Running up those stairs is really gonna put all those cardio sessions to good use.”
He smiled, still looking ahead. “It has its uses.”
“It does.”
“No getting worn out,” he said. “I’m expecting great things from you, Jake.” He turned to face me. “I’ve put in good gym time with you. Let’s see it pay off on the stairwells.”
I chuckled lightly. “Pressure. Anyway, maybe they’ve taken up residence on the ground floor.”
“Life is never that easy.”
“Don’t I know it!”
He licked his lips and my pulse fluttered. “I’m here with you every step of the way. We all are. Seriously, we can do this. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
His eyes … my God. They were so mesmerizing. I was falling into those dark pools, reveling in the scent of him, the closeness of his body.
“All set?” Rose said, climbing into the sleigh.
It all fell away, Dean turned to her. “Yep.”
Fuck! I shuffled uncomfortably, adjusting the crotch of my jeans. Hurry up and go down! Stupid penis! Had he noticed? He wasn’t laughing or grinning or anything, just brooding ahead. And why the hell would he notice my hard on? I seriously needed to sit under a cold shower or just stick my face in the snow. This was all complete bollocks!
“Then let’s go,” Rose said.
The wall before us rumbled and lifted away to reveal a snow-covered slope.
Ah! That took my mind off things nicely. “This place is amazing.”
“Thanks, sweetie,” she said.
With that, the sleighs were off and tearing up the slope into the night.
Chapter Thirty
The goblins and reindeer made up a lethal team, tearing up the snow and zipping around sort-of zombies as we shot up the main road that led to Wand Towers.
A car came at my sleigh. Rose took a sharp right slide as it rolled in the snow, inches away from striking the sleigh.
It landed bonnet first into the deep snow, boot sticking up in the air.
Please don’t have hit someone!
The snow had stopped. A biting cold wind nipped at my face. The sky was a murky soup of gray, orange and green. I’d never seen snow like it in the country. The zombies I did see were pretty much engulfed by it, only the heads of tall people just about visible in the sea of white.
I could see the dark hulks of the two towers in the distance, all of the lights off.
The street lights suddenly died. In fact, every light I could see was snuffed out. The lights of the sleigh were our only guide now.
“Power failure,” I said to Dean. “You think?”
“Only in the shadow-related sense.”
“It wouldn’t be a wild guess to say they know we’re coming,” Rose added. “I was expecting more vehicle throwing. But then they have to recharge, don’t they?”
“Yes,” I answered. “Good for us.”
“Nasty surprise when we arrive,” she said. “If my fine china has been broken, I’ll blow a gasket.”
“There’ll be zombies inside,” I said.
“Indeed, there will. I hope they’re all okay.”
“Me too.” I folded my arms. “How do you hide living in the tower block?”
“Oh, quite easily. No one bothers us, and we don’t bother them. It is as if our flat doesn’t exist. It’s been like that for years, before Coldharbour was removed from the map and minds of the outside world. I love it here. I want to make many more happy memories here.”
If only I knew how to end all of this, to free these people.
“I have every faith in you,” she said.
There was that pressure-building stuff again.
“The time will come, Jake, when you can fulfill your destiny. I know it.”
Man, she sounded like the goddess. It was nice to be believed in.
I heard the chorus of groans before I saw the gathering.
The sleighs stopped on the sloped approach to Wand Towers. Around the twin blocks, the snow had been cleared into a perfect circle. And that circle was filled with sort-of zombies, lit by the headlights of the sleighs.
Great! Just bloody great. “What the hell are we gonna do now? Is there another way in?”
Rose shook her head. “The entrance to the underground car park is blocked.” She pointed. “There is no way in.”
I didn’t know how much time we had before Lilisian was restored. That had never been established, and I hadn’t really considered it—only that I wanted to stop the shadows.
Shit. I couldn’t let that be another thing that would get to me.
“I might be able to do something,” Nay said.
“What is it?”
“Remember Moses and the parting of the sea business?”
“You’re gonna part the zombies?” I said.
“Either that or blow them up with a potion.”
“Yeah, let’s not do that.”
“We’ll need to get closer.”
Slowly, the two sleighs made their way down the slope, stopping a few feet away from the edge. It was as if we were looking into a pit—the snow acting as a wall. The zombies pawed at the snow, but didn’t seem to be able to claw through it. Something was holding them in the circle.
I looked up at the dark towers. There was no sign of anything, no trace of light or shadow.
“Okay,” Nay sai
d, flexing her arms. “This won’t hold for long—I don’t have the crazy powers of the white eye guy. But I’ll keep the words flowing as much as I can.”
“Right,” Greg said. “We need to get in when the zombies are parted. How do we do this?”
“I’ll need to go,” Rose said. “The doors may well be locked, and you’ll need a key. Seeing as there’s no power, we’ll need manual access.”
“No!” Randy protested. “I won’t allow it!”
“I’m going, Randy.”
“I forbid it.” He crossed his arms. “You’re my wife, and I’ll not have you putting your life at risk.”
“I think we’ll need more than a key,” Greg chimed in.
“I have to do what’s right!”
I don’t think they heard what Greg had said.
“You never respect my wishes,” Randy seethed. “When I asked you to remove that magazine from our flat, you swore at me. And then I discover you have more! Do you know how that makes me feel, Rose? Do you?”
“So, you want to repress me?”
“I want you to look at me like you look at him.” He jabbed a stubby finger my way.
“Maybe I would if you’d wipe that scowl off your face from time to time.”
He scowled.
“I wish you’d look at me like the woman you married rather than tut at my every move. I’m allowed to have fantasies, Randy.”
“This is not the time,” he said. “All I know is this—you’re staying with me. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“But you’ll let these people go in there?”
He sighed. “They have better training than you.”
“To be fair,” Greg tried again, “I don’t think it’ll be as simple as unlocking the door.”
“I think you’re right,” I jumped in.
“We only have one shot,” Nay said. “It’ll take me an hour to be able to say the spell again. It’s a drainer.”
“Right,” Dean said. “Nay, you do your thing. We’ll charge for the door and try and get in.”
“If it looks bad, you’d better all run straight back here,” Nay added. “I mean it. Don’t become chew toys or I’ll be seriously pissed off and track down a necromancer to come and bring you back for me to slap silly.”
“She ain’t joking,” Greg said.
“You’re damn right I’m not.”
“Which tower?” I asked.
“Tower 1,” Rose said. “We’re the only supernatural creatures left in the buildings. Maybe our flat is a handy little hot spot. Here.” She handed me her keys. “If you have the option to not kick my front door down, I’d appreciate it.”
I took the keys.
“Unless we flip for it,” Greg said. “Heads Tower 1, tails Tower 2.”
“I’m with Rose,” Dean said.
“Yeah, me too.”
I nodded. “Let’s do this.”
The goblins said nothing more. I understood Randy not wanting her to go. In his place, I’d have said the same. In a way, I was glad he had said it. They’d both done so much for us, and I wanted them safe. He just needed to work on his jealous streak, which managed to make him sound like a nasty suppressor rather than a concerned husband. I got it, but it was also ridiculous, and I knew all about letting the green-eyed monster get the better of you.
Still, it was none of my business.
Naomi started to say the spell. They were English words, but pretty much inaudible. Sometimes I caught a word but not often. It was as if it was forbidden for me to listen to what was being said. Unless, of course, it was that epic wind spell she and Karla had performed. Magic was a fascinating thing.
“Fuck!” she said. “There’s some hardcore resistance going on here.”
Ever so slowly, the sort-of zombies were pushed aside to form a path through the circle—straight for the main entrance of Tower 1.
“Come on!”
Greg charged forward, leaping down onto a path exposed by the parting. I was hot on his heels, Dean on mine. My sparks came to life. The zombies groaned and reached out for us, a wall of clambering limbs. But Nay’s magic held them in place. And there were a lot of them to be held. I wouldn’t want to be standing in the middle of this sea when the walls finally came down.
Greg crashed into the door and was immediately thrown backward. His heavy body hit me and together we tumbled onto the path. I landed on top of him.
He growled and helped me up. “You okay?”
“Yeah, you muffled the impact.”
No injury was always good.
Dean had managed to get out of the way in time. He was inspecting the green door. Everything was dark beyond the glass window. I couldn’t see a thing.
“Anything?” I asked.
“You try touching it,” he said.
“What?”
“This is the work of a beast, so maybe the man who can undo said work can help us get in.”
“Good idea, mate,” Greg said.
Dean placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’re prepared for impact.”
I shuddered. “Okay.”
“If this doesn’t work, we’ll head back.”
“Guys!” Nay called.
“Definitely go back after,” Dean said.
“One minute, Nay!” Greg responded.
“I’m slipping.”
I went for it. No deep breaths, no psyching myself up. I grabbed hold of the door handle, and the sparks went wild. They spread over the door, fighting with a black energy that’d previously been invisible. Within seconds, the black was swallowed as the sparks consumed the door. It creaked and fell inward, glass shattering as it boomed on the floor beyond the threshold.
“Guys!”
I turned to see the zombies flood the path, bumping into one another … all eyes pointed this way.
Shit. Time to move.
We ran into the hallway, Greg taking point and heading up some stairs. My sparks lit the way a little, but total darkness waited on the edges.
The three of us tore up the stairwell as the zombies filled the hallway below. Top floor, that was what we had to focus on. We were faster than the staggering sort-of zombies and there was no need to check out the doors leading to the other floors. If the top floor proved a bust, then we’d have to initiate a Plan B of some kind.
I’d put all my money on the goblin’s flat. No snake eyes, please!
A hyena beast crashed through the doorway that led to floor three, jaws open wide as it made for Greg’s throat. He grabbed it, teeth clamping down on his hand. Before he could do anything else, I killed it.
Once I was back from the place of beast essence, we were on the move once more.
“How many floors?” I wasn’t complaining or worn out, I just wanted to know.
“Twenty,” Greg said.
On the seventh floor, two more hyenas waited. We made short work of them, though Dean got a talon to the face and a nasty slice down his left cheek.
The groans of the zombies echoed up the stairwell. I looked down. They were coming. Slowly and like a mass of drunken fools, but they were coming. The movies and stuff where the zombies were persistent, yet not winning any gold Olympic medals in running, were true. Were those film makers in the loop with the walking dead? But then, these weren’t real zombies. They were walking alive people with all the brain-eating desire forced into them.
Friggin’ shadow twin bastards!
The doorway to the eleventh floor swung open.
“Well, well, well.” It was Purple’s voice.
She stepped out of the darkness and into the light of my power. I could only see her face and the front of her dark purple jumper. Her hands were hidden behind her back. A hyena at her side like an obedient dog growled.
“No leash for your pet?” I asked.
“Do you have time to make small talk, Jake?”
“No, not really.”
“Good.”
The hyena leapt into action, tackling Greg. Another leapt from
behind Purple, knocking me down and going for Dean. My guardians tangoed with the beasts in a song of crunches and yelps, growls and wince-inducing squelches.
Purple smiled at me as I got to my feet. She cocked her head.
“Make your move,” I said.
“Okay.”
She swung a huge lead pipe at me. The move was so quick I didn’t have time to avoid the crack on my head. I went down hard, circling the drain of unconsciousness.
The world around me was a blur of fur as more hyena beasts attacked my friends. I blinked at my hazy vision and held on to being awake … just.
Purple pushed a boot on my chest, putting agonizing weight into it. My ribs buckled, straining under the pressure. Any moment they would snap. The pipe was held over her head. This was it, she was gonna bludgeon me to death.
No! I wouldn’t let her. I wouldn’t …
She brought the pipe down.
“Leave him …”
The voice of the shadow filled the stairwell.
Purple had frozen in her downward swing, her weapon mere inches away from my face.
Green light shone from my body. My vision cleared, and the pain in my skull from her strike subsided.
The shadow was coiled around her, ruby eyes blazing.
“He must die,” Purple protested. “Let me kill him for you.”
“Yes, he must,” the shadow said. “But I am not done with him. He has proven to be most resilient, a surprising trait in a pathetic addict such as him.”
“Fuck you!” I barked.
My friends were still fighting the hyenas. I scrambled up, ready to join the fray.
The shadow chuckled. “I want to take him apart.”
Everything fell away—the stairwell, Purple and my friends. The sounds of battle were replaced with rainfall and the noise of traffic not too far away. And I was in complete darkness.
“What the hell?”
The darkness gave way. I was standing on Redchurch Street, London—the scene of Michael’s death. Only this time, people hurried past to find shelter in the rain. They ran through me as if I were part of the air around them. The restaurant some feet away had people outside smoking, people inside laughing and eating and drinking. This wasn’t the same as the night he was taken from me.