"Well Mr. Lawrence, you read my mind. There is this necklace she likes in Little Five Points. Let's head there and then back to the House."
Jason nodded. He wasn't sure, but the wink might have been a sign of something else. Or someone else.
Dags' abrupt decision to go back to the house —especially his idea to buy a gift—bore a level of subterfuge Jason doubted the boy was capable of.
Something was going to happen if they went back to the House, regardless of what Nona said. Something Dags wanted to happen. And Jason intended to be there.
-5-
Rhonda felt...uncomfortable.
Not only were they all plotting against her—they were trying to take him away from her.
No, no, no. Not just him. The book. The book is the most important thing.
Rhonda sat in her apartments at the Society House, an entire lower part of a wing. It was directly beneath the den where Jason tended to pace. She could hear him at night. Back and forth. Back and forth. Squeak, squeak, squeak...
Of all the Revenants infesting the house, she hated him the most.
No...she didn't hate Jason.
It hated Jason. It feared Mephistopheles.
As she sat on the ottoman in front of her fireplace, Rhonda tried to define what it was. It had shown up slowly. Just a nagging feeling now and then, a sort of little-voice-in-the-back-of-her-mind. But after Zoë was back and Dags started asking about her—
That little voice got big. And at times it seemed it was her only friend.
It'd made Manuel stop talking. His eyes had widened, and then he'd collapsed on the floor. Nothing woke him up. And the Society was upset.
"But...how did you do that?" she asked aloud. She preferred to talk to it like that.
How did I do what? Silence that Abysmic pain-in-the-ass? Oh, that was easy. I just…got rid of the puppeteer.
"But...how? And why can't you do that to Mephistopheles, especially after what he's done?" She meant taking Dags from her, daring to remove him from the House.
Because Mephistopheles is a lot stronger than Morgan. Though Morgan is older, she wasn't paying attention. She never saw me coming.
Rhonda frowned as the voice laughed softly. "But what did you do?"
I simply removed Morgan. It's not rocket science, you know. That damned Wraith would know exactly what had happened given half a chance. Or if she slipped inside of him. But luckily, she's out of the country. But if I tried to do that with Jason, or anyone else now that they're on alert— the voice paused and she felt a mental shrug —it wouldn't work and I would expose what I am.
"What are you?"
Now the laughter was louder. Why...I'm you, Rhonda. All...you.
"You removed Morgan—how did you do it?"
Oh…that's my little secret. Your friends need to pay more attention to the artifacts they keep nearby.
"Who are you speaking with?"
She jumped at the outward voice and was on her feet. A magnificent presence in the room caused her to look to the right.
Geist stood there in his Ordinary Man look. Middle aged, non-specific, cheap suit. No one anyone would notice on the street. "Damnit. Don't do that."
"I am sorry. But when I came in you were talking to yourself." He canted his head to his right shoulder. "I ask again—who were you speaking with?"
"No one," she turned and moved closer to the fire. Talking to the voice like that always made her chilled. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I am here to inform you that Darren has returned. He is—"
But Rhonda was already out the door and running down the hall. She grabbed hold of the banister and swung herself around, taking the steps down to the foyer two at a time. She stopped at the bottom and looked around. She half expected to see him there at the door.
But the room was empty.
You should have let that old program finish.
"Sshh," she hissed and then stopped and listened. Why couldn't she sense him the way he said he sensed others—especially Zoë? She wished like hell he'd never told her he could do that. Especially since she already knew how strongly Zoë was connected to him. Even with all her plotting and planning—she felt she would lose him when Zoë returned from Canada.
Then why should she return?
Rhonda stopped. "What do you mean?"
Why should she come back from Canada? Why not do away with her there?
Do away with— "What the hell are you talking about?"
But it laughed again. Leave it to me. I'm sure the Wraith has a few unpleasant skeletons in her closet. I might see if I can stir a few up.
The door of the sitting room opened and she turned in time to see Azrael step out. "Ah, Rhonda. I see you—"
But she ran at him, shoved him aside and pushed the door open. It slammed into the shelf of books behind it.
Dags was stood by the fire, a mug in his hand. He was smiling. Laughing with Jason. Her focus shifted to the Revenant. What had that bastard told him? What had he done to him?
Nona was there as well, seated in her favorite fan-backed chair. A wicker monster she'd found in a garage sale and insisted it be brought back to the House for her use. To Rhonda it looked like a pauper's throne. "Rhonda—are you all right? You look dreadful."
"I want him arrested and thrown out of the Society. Now!" she pointed at Jason who turned and looked at her as if he smelled something bad.
Then he smiled. She could see Mephistopheles in his eyes, eyes that were now completely black.
"Oh don't be ridiculous," Nona said and waved at her to sit on the couch. "Come and relax and listen to what Darren has to say."
Dags came toward her, stopped at the coffee table and set his mug down. "Rhonda—"
"Don't you lie to me—"
"Lie about what? I haven't said anything." He looked hurt. And seeing that look on his face made her own heart ache. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. With a glance back at Jason and then one at Nona, he closed up the distance between them and handed her the box. "I wanted to get you this."
Rhonda stared down at the little wrapped package. It was flat, and square. The paper was dark blue with silver stars, and the ribbon was silver gauze. She took it with a shaking hand and unwrapped it.
White box, with the logo of Crystal Blue on the lid. She bit her lip and opened it. Inside, piled into a corner, was the silver chain and light blue pendant she'd admired when they'd walked around the small area last month. Before Zoë got out of the hospital.
He'd remembered it. After all this time, he'd remembered how much she liked it.
"Sorry if I made you angry, Rhonda," he was saying and she looked up at him. "But I wanted to surprise you with it and I was in the archive and Jason was there and I told him and well…" he shrugged. "He offered to take me to go get it." Dags stepped forward and took the necklace from her. He opened it and placed it around her neck, then stepped back and nestled it perfectly between her breasts. "See? It looks great on you, just like you said it would."
"Now, don't you feel like an ass?" Nona said. "Dags trying to do something nice and you start accusing people of working against you?" She arched an eyebrow. "Makes you sound paranoid Rhonda."
She didn't believe them. But she wanted to believe them. That Dags had only left to get her this. That Jason had only volunteered to take him out of the kindness of his heart.
It's bull shit. They're up to something.
She wanted to kill that voice then. Destroy it. Put it in the box the necklace came out of and bury it.
"Now, if you'll excuse us," Azrael said and Rhonda had forgotten he was there. "I need to talk to Jason and Nona on another matter."
Dags put a hand on her shoulder and lead her out of the room. Once in the foyer the door to the sitting room shut. She glanced back at it. "What're they doing?"
"I don't know. Azrael wouldn't say. I think it has something to do with Manuel."
Rhonda's heart jumped. Didn't matter. They weren't going
to get far. Revenants were simply too stupid to see the simplest solution was sometimes the answer.
"Let's go walk in the gardens and talk," Dags said. "I have some things I need to say."
•••
As soon as the door closed a side shelf full of books pushed forward and Lucy Mullhaly stepped through. She was dressed in her teddy bear scrubs and a worried expression. Nona stood, still dressed from her earlier interview. "Lucy—this is—"
"Azrael," the lithe woman's eyes widened when she saw the distinguish man in the suit. There was a time when Azrael, so often called TC by her daughter, only appeared in a leather trench and dark shades. But since entering the Throne, his entire demeanor had changed. Oh she was sure he was still the same TC Zoë had come to love in her own way, but there was a bit of polish to him now.
After all, he was in a sense, an official now.
"Nurse Mullhaly," Azrael said and offered her his hand.
"Doctor," she corrected and stepped back. "But it's okay. I usually don't look the part." She blushed.
"Lucy, what have you learned about Manuel?" Nona said as Jason came to stand beside her. She reached out and took his hand. Unlike the trappings of Hollywood and legend, his hand was warm. And his heart beat strong.
"Every indicator says he's in a coma. All of his bodily functions are normal. We've hooked up a feeding tube to keep the body alive, and an I.V… but," she shrugged. "Umayma, Eriskegal, Sigyn and Dagda are all here—but they can't reach Morgan." Her gaze slid from Azrael to Jason. "They want Mephistopheles to join them."
Nona turned to look at her old lover. He hadn't aged a day since she met him—thirty-odd years ago. Handsome. Beautiful. Almost Ethereal in every sense of the word. But where Zoë's real father, who was an Ethereal, was beautiful, he was also dark and cold. Jason…Abysmal…was full of love. "Go ahead and follow Lucy down to the infirmary—"
"No," Jason shook his head. "Not yet."
Lucy protested. "But the others—"
Jason held up his hand. "Not yet. Manuel and Morgan are fine with the others there. My presence won't make a difference. Please," he smiled and his voice changed, deepened, echoed as Mephistopheles stepped forward. His eyes slid into solid black. "Do your best and keep Manuel safe. I'll tell Frejya why."
Lucy nodded. Nona watched the doctor retreat down the hall and when she turned back to Jason his eyes were unfocused and she knew the First Born was speaking to Umayma's First Born, Frejya.
But Azrael wasn't going to wait. He had a hand on Jason's shoulder. "What are you doing? Don't you care about our sister?"
Jason's eyes refocused but Mephistopheles remained in control. "Yes I do. But this isn't the issue."
"Morgan isn't there."
"Morgan and Manuel are the diversion from something else, Azrael." He smiled at his brother. "If we all divert our attention toward them, it allows something else to sneak in. Think about it. There is no reason this should have happened to Manuel, inside the Society House…"
"Unless," Nona took up the thought. "Whatever did it is already here."
Mephistopheles/Jason pivoted and nodded to her. "Exactly. I've asked Nick to look at the House logs—there's really only a few places in this building that aren't covered by a camera. Manuel was found in one of these places?"
Nona nodded.
"And the last thing Morgan said to me was that Rhonda was angry."
"But," Azrael shook his head. "No witch—not even one as powerful as Rhonda—has the power to do this to Revenant. Not unless they're using—" His eyes widened. "Magic."
Again, Mephistopheles/Jason nodded. "The spell to destroy us is within that Grimoire. And she is the only one who has access to its magic. Perhaps she's found a way to silence a Revenant."
"But if she did," Nona said, her mind working. "Why didn't she use it on you? Or any of the others? Why Manuel?"
"I don't know…" he sighed and rubbed at his chin. "I think it might be that Manuel pushed her too far. Neither he or Morgan like Rhonda. And given the opportunity, I can see them backing her into a corner."
"Not a good idea," Azrael said. "She's probably the most powerful witch I've ever met."
Nona smirked. "You really haven't seen me work, or Joe."
The Phantasm returned the look. "Joe? Powerful?"
"Don't count him out yet."
"Yeah well…Rhonda's powerful and just a little bit insane," Jason said, once again in control. He related to the two of them the things he and Nick discussed with Dags, and then described again what he saw when Dags manifested the sword.
"And the sword had flames," Nona said.
"Yes."
"That's Abysmal. Could mean Maureen's trying to exert herself finally."
"Maybe," Jason shivered. "I just can't see how he can do that, you know? I told him what Rhonda's done. What she did to him. What she took away from him. And you saw how he was with her. The woman creeps me the hell out, to quote Zoë."
Nona could understand Jason's inability to understand. In fact, Rhonda creeped a lot of people out lately. "You have to understand, his memories of Rhonda are more than likely good ones. In cutting out Zoë, she probably cut out every bad memory of her as well, as least as well as…she….could…" her expression relaxed as an eyebrow arched up.
"Nona?" Azrael said.
The answer was right there—given what Jason described with the sword, and the images Dags had seen. His commenting about seeing himself with Zoë in his head but not remembering it. Images of two other women, one younger, one older.. "Could it be that simple?"
Jason and Azrael were in front of her. "What?" they said in unison.
"Memories. Rumors generated by the memories of others set this off for him. Dags started seeing himself with Zoë because Rhonda couldn't cut all of those memories out and risk destroying some of the best memories of she and Dags together."
"I'm not following," Jason said.
She patted his shoulder. "Zoë and Rhonda got to know Dags because of the Bonville Grimoire, but it started off as an investigation into Shadow People."
"Oh I hate those fuckers. They're like hobos—" Azrael's eye widened. "I remember that! She wailed the fuck out of me that night. Shot me all the way back to the Abysmal."
"And it was also the case that made Dags into a Guardian. There are good memories there. And I'm going to sort of tangent out into thinking—that Maureen's using those memories to reach out and gain a bit of control."
Jason shook his head. "Still lost in the forest here."
"Dags' memories are pages now, written words in that book," Azrael said just as Geist showed up beside him. The entity didn't speak so he continued. "Magic is manifest inside of Dags. He controls an amalgam of physical, mental and astral power. Those pages that have memories of that time of Dags' life would also reference pages of memories he has with Maureen…"
Jason's eyes widened. "She's accessing her own pages of the Grimoire."
"I knew that girl was smart," Nona said. "I bet she's accessed maybe one or two memories, which is how the sword manifested. I'll also bet she's ready to gain more control next time she has a chance."
"So—how does that happen?" Jason said.
"Sir," Geist interjected.
"Yes Geist?"
"You told me to alert you the next time there is a surge of magic."
"Yes?"
Geist paused. "There is a surge of magic. It is emanating from within this structure."
They all looked at each other. "The Grimoire!" Jason said.
"That's how," Nona said and smiled. "Let's hope she succeeds."
-6-
"I told you she was gonna pop that sucker open first chance she got! I'm thinking she cracked him in the head before they even got to her room," Maureen said as the book illuminated the beach around it. Golden light poured out in beams like those found in a meadow of a children's tale. The previously dark hole Maureen had torn in the page was so brightly lit it hurt to look at it.
They watched as t
he book's pages started to flip, then stopped and fell back to where they were. Several more times the book vibrated and tried to change the pages and repeated the same direction back to the torn page.
"I think your little hole is stopping her from getting to where she wants to go." Alice said. "And if you're going to chance this, you'd better do it now. If she is checking the book to see if it got tampered with, then she's going to think this is the tampering—that Jason did this. And you know how much she already doesn't like Jason."
"Yeah," Maureen looked at Alice. "I'm not really sure what's going to happen. I mean, I can't see where it goes."
The older Familiar tilted her head to the side and winced. "Now you're worried about that? Get in there before she realizes what's hanging the book up."
"But—"
Of all the things Maureen expected of Alice, shoving her head first into the tear wasn't one of them. In fact, she figured Alice would try and talk her out of it. But apparently she was just as tired of being inside this mental state as Maureen was.
The light wiped away any chance she might have had to see the journey. But she definitely felt the arrival. Maureen landed with a harsh thud onto a very hard surface. Blinking, she held up her hands to see where she was—
Nothing.
Total darkness.
But it felt…familiar.
"Well?" came Alice's voice. The echo made it sound as if her counterpart were yelling down through a sewer pipe.
"I'm somewhere. It's just…dark."
"Are you sitting on something?"
"Yeah…" she patted the slick surface beneath her bottom. "It feels like plastic. You coming?"
"You think that's a good idea?"
Maureen wasn't sure if it was or wasn't, or if Alice was just stalling because she was afraid. "Well I'm fine. Are you scared?"
"No…I'm just worried about the Grimoire from this end." She paused. "I don't think Rhonda could ever really get into Dags' mental plane—because I don't think anyone can. But the book's here, and now it's damaged. So, should I stay here and protect it?"
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