Naomi dropped her mother’s hand and picked up the golden shears. Her hand trembled as she held the scissors. I wanted to ease them away from her, to tell her she didn’t have to, but she did. At least if the Fates had a chance of survival.
Nona was gone. The last Fate had died. Another time, another person, I’d gotten my wish. I had wanted my aunts dead. That person was gone. Now all I wanted was for Nona to sit up and smile at me.
The thing that I thought I wanted more than anything had happened and I found I didn’t want it at all. Someone else had felt that need for vengeance, the need to see as much of their blood spilled as my mother’s had. Be careful what you wish for.
“It’s done,” Naomi said, before collapsing into a ball. “There’s nothing left for me. They’re both dead.” I dropped to the floor and wrapped my arms around her. As I held my inconsolable cousin, I realized then what a great burden being a Fate truly was.
Chapter Twenty-Four
A roar reminded me that there were still several mythic animals loose inside Parsi.
“We need to go,” I said.
“Go where?” The despair in Naomi’s voice nearly ended it right there. I wanted to curl up into a ball next to her. Instead, I hauled her to her feet. “It’s not safe here, Naomi. Let’s move. We need to find the others and get to safety.”
I led her through the basement to the top floor, where the corporate office was located. Shards of glass from the broken windows littered the carpet and all around was the smell of death.
Rebecca, Claire, and Talbot were in the Human Resources offices, searching under the overturned furniture for survivors.
“Anyone live?” I asked.
Talbot shook his head. “No one survived. The only good thing is that the tornado hit after five. Most people had already left.”
“But not the aunts,” Rebecca said, after a glance at Naomi.
I shook my head. “Time to leave,” I said. “There are things out there. Things we don’t want to run into.”
Talbot’s gaze went to Naomi immediately. “What’s wrong?”
She threw herself into his arms. He murmured comforting words into her ear as she sobbed.
“My mother?” Claire said. “Or Aunt Nona?”
“Gone.”
She gasped. “Both of them?”
“We’ve got to move now.” I’d killed the basilisk, but who knew what else was still lurking at Parsi.
Rebecca put an arm around Claire, but she seemed strangely unmoved by Morta’s death. Maybe there was a reason Claire had been with Hecate all those months.
I thought my cousin was as cold as her mother, but as we walked down the stairs, she sank to her knees. She saw me watching and righted herself before I could offer her a hand.
We made it out of the building without incident, but Talbot had to carry Naomi, who was prostrate with grief.
Talbot followed me in the van with Naomi and Claire. Rebecca, to my surprise, decided to ride back with me. The torrential rain had turned into a warm summer drizzle.
We made a brief stop at Eternity Road to pick up Ambrose and as many supplies as we could fit into the two vehicles.
There were two dead demons in the store.
“Dad?” Talbot broke into a run.
“In here, son,” Ambrose replied.
We followed the sound of his voice into the office. Ambrose had a gouge near one eye and smears of black demon blood on his shirt, but other than that, was okay.
We updated Ambrose as quickly as possible.
“We can’t stay here,” I said. “It’s the first place Hecate will look.”
“There’s a box of emergency supplies in the storage room,” he said. “Talbot, grab every blanket, pillow, and scrap of cloth you can find. Nyx, you need to get as many healing amulets from the display as you can carry.”
We stared at him in astonishment as he barked out orders. “Get moving, kids,” he said. “This is war.”
The word galvanized us. We packed up and headed to the abandoned fort. It had been a part of history once, but now stood empty and neglected. The windows of most of the buildings had been boarded up in a futile attempt to keep out the rats and other creatures. We had our choice of buildings, but some were in better shape than others. We left the one with the caved-in roof to the rats and raccoons.
A street kid had brought me to the Dead House when I first came to Minneapolis. It was where he’d tried to feed me to a troll, but I still had a fondness for the place. It had the added benefit that I’d never taken Wren there, had never even mentioned it to her.
Damp and rotting or not, the buildings were better than sleeping outside. We were exhausted, wet, and cranky. An overturned car blocked the road, so I parked about a block down and we walked.
“What a dump,” Rebecca said when she caught sight of the base.
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” I said. A barbed wire fence surrounded the place, but I showed them where to slip through a hole in the fence.
“At least it has a roof and four walls,” Talbot said grimly. Naomi had stopped crying, but had sunk into a quiet funk.
I tapped the stone troll’s nose when I walked by. He stood outside the Dead House, the building where they used to store the bodies. Jasper, the street kid I’d met when I first came to Minneapolis, had lured me there to feed me to the troll, but I’d managed to defeat him.
“I’ll be right back,” I said. I pried open the boarded-up window and slid through. I went around and opened the front door.
“Welcome home,” I said.
Rebecca snorted.
“Be it ever so humble,” Talbot said.
Jasper’s camp stove was still there. Maybe the stone troll had scared off any scavengers. I fired it up and the room warmed quickly. Naomi was in shock.
“I’m going to clean up a little,” Rebecca said to Claire and Naomi. “And then I’ll get you settled.” She managed to clear out most of the trash within minutes. My sister was efficient.
“Have you checked out the other buildings?” Ambrose asked. He arranged a load of blankets on the ground.
“No,” I said. “I think we should get some sleep and check them out at first light. We’re going to need the space.”
“For what?” Claire asked.
“There will be others wanting to hide from Hecate’s wrath,” I explained.
“We’re not hiding,” Talbot quipped. “We’re just regrouping.”
It was only a few hours before dawn. “I’ll take the first watch.” As tired as I was, I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
The others settled in to try to get a few hours of rest, but I kept a watchful eye. Too many of the Wyrd family had died already.
The sun came up without incident, except that I learned that Naomi snored like a grizzly in midhibernation.
* * *
Ambrose and I went through every building. We decided that the old hospital would make the best place to take any injured.
“You can count on casualties,” he said grimly.
“Already have.”
“I’m sorry about your aunts, Nyx,” he replied.
Not as sorry as I was. Aloud, I said, “We have to find some way of stopping Hecate. Any word from Doc?”
He shook his head. “He’ll turn up. He’s impossible to kill.”
“I hope so.”
“Nyx, he’s Hades,” Ambrose said. “I know it’s hard to tell, but Doc can take care of himself.”
The word got out that refugees from Hecate could find shelter at the old fort. At first, it was just one or two, but within a week, there were almost thirty magical creatures staying with us.
We’d warded the perimeters and set up a system that would alert us of a demon presence, but the precautions were not going to stop Hecate if she really wanted us.
We’d all found separate spaces to sleep. Rebecca and Claire shared a room, Talbot and Naomi shared another, and Ambrose took what used to be the mortician’s office. I slept on the floor in
the room where the troll had tried to kill me.
Naomi had spent most of the day inside. I decided to change that. No matter how much we scrubbed, we couldn’t get the smell of death out of the rooms. Despite that, we all wanted to stay close together, at least in the same building.
“Come take a walk with me,” I coaxed. “I need to salt the perimeter anyway, and I can’t carry the bag by myself.”
She gave me a look. “Quit trying to make me feel sorry for you,” she said with a gleam of her old humor. “I’m busy feeling sorry for myself.”
“Please?”
“Okay, I’ll go,” she said.
Outside, the sun beat down on us as we walked along in silence. I stopped to reapply the salt near the fence and noticed it had been brushed aside. I bent down to look. Part of a footprint marred the border. It was possible one of us had done it, but I reinforced it with a spell, just in case.
“I’m sick to death of cutting threads of Fate,” Naomi said. “Sick of death.”
Naomi’s new job as the Atropos was making my funny charming cousin quiet and sad.
I dropped the bag of salt and gave her a one-armed hug. “We can change it,” I said. “You don’t have to be the Atropos forever.”
“How?”
“After this is over, I’ll find a way,” I promised rashly. “We don’t know everything about being Fates.”
“I know I hate it,” she replied. “I don’t know how Aunt Morta stood it.”
I hugged her again. She was frailer than before, worn thin by what she had to do. “We’ll find a way to get you out of this gig.”
She sniffed and then hugged me back. “Thank Hades the mortals don’t believe in us anymore, or I wouldn’t get any rest.”
“You’re lucky, you know,” she added. “Fortuna had the fun part. Everyone loved her.”
“Until they forgot about her.”
“Better forgotten than feared.”
“Hecate hasn’t attacked yet,” I said. “But it’s only a matter of time. I injured her, but it’s hard to keep a goddess down.”
“Maybe she hasn’t figured out where we are,” Naomi said. “Or maybe Wren convinced her to leave us alone.”
The hopeful note in her voice made my heart hurt.
“Hecate has the wind on her side,” I said. I looked up at the sky. There were winged creatures circling above our heads. “Or maybe she already knows where we are.”
The sight of the harpies hunting for me was a familiar one, but not one I welcomed.
“What do you mean?” Naomi said.
“Don’t you see the harpies?”
“I don’t see anything,” she said. “The sun’s in my eyes.”
When I shaded my hand over my eyes to look again, they were gone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
We’d been holed up at the fort as the city regrouped. Word that the Fates had fallen had led to chaos in the Twin Cities, though. The magical community was choosing sides and doors were closing. Hecate had promised to make the world burn, and she was a goddess who kept her word.
Mortals as well as the magical were fearful. Rumors of dark rituals, human sacrifices, even a serial killer were whispered in the mortal world, while the magical world concerned itself with the news of Hecate’s escape.
Hell’s Belles was still standing, but had been deserted. Nobody knew where Bernie was, or if she was even still alive. A mortal stood on the corner with a sign proclaiming, THE APOCALYPSE IS NIGH.
I’d warded the boundaries of the abandoned fort and we started making preparations for an attack that never came.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“You wounded her,” Ambrose reminded me. “She might be too weak to fight.”
“But wounds heal,” I replied.
He hoisted a five-pound bag of salt. “Where do you want this?” he asked me.
“The old mess hall for now,” I told him. “Naomi and Talbot are working on a demon cocktail.”
“Does it matter?” Talbot asked glumly. “Hecate will just bring more demons.”
“If there was only a sign of where the harpy’s feather is, we’d have a chance.”
“Claire’s been scouring the Book of Fates,” he pointed out. “All we know is that Morta had it. She hid the harpy feather, obviously.”
“But where?” I slapped a mosquito that was trying to suck on my neck.
“Nobody has a clue,” he said. “I think the secret died with the Fates.”
“And whose fault is that?” Naomi snapped. It was the first thing she’d said all morning. She was huddled on the cot.
“What do you want me to say?” I asked. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“Yes, you did,” she accused. “You came to Minneapolis to get your revenge.”
“At first I wanted to kill the aunts,” I said. “But that changed.”
“Yet my mother and aunts are still dead,” she said. “And my father.” She turned her face to the wall.
“My mother is dead, too,” I replied. “Instead of arguing, we need to fight. Or have you given up?”
Her shoulders tensed, but she didn’t reply. I knew my question had hit home, though, when she got out of bed. “I’m going to see if I can help Claire.”
Talbot murmured something in her ear and then kissed her gently before she left.
“What did you say to her?”
He choked back a laugh. “I suggested, diplomatically, that she might want to bathe.”
A series of honks told us that Ambrose had arrived back with supplies. We went outside to help him unload.
“Any luck?”
He handed me a ten-pound bag of beans. “The shelves are almost wiped clean. The tornado scared the mortals and now they’re stocking up for emergencies.” He had to be careful which stores he went to. Some of them had already been taken over by Hecate’s demons.
“I like beans,” Talbot said cheerfully, but his father’s next words wiped the smile from his face.
“Trey Marin is missing.”
“You think something happened to him?”
“I think someone happened to him,” he replied. “No one has seen him since he met with the other House leaders.”
“What did Luke Seren say?”
Ambrose shrugged. “I didn’t ask him.”
“You think Luke is behind Trey’s disappearance? But Luke said he was on our side.”
“That’s what he said,” Ambrose said. “The question is do you believe him?”
“Why would Luke want to kill Trey?”
“Trey has been coming to your defense with the other Houses,” Ambrose said. “He’s done everything but take out an ad. Hecate would want that threat removed.”
“What about Johnny Asari?” Talbot said. “I wouldn’t put it past him to screw us over.”
“Anyone else you can talk to about Trey’s whereabouts?” I asked.
“His niece,” Ambrose said. “But maybe you’d like to speak with her personally.” He gave me a sly smile.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, I laughed. “I’m persona non grata with Willow right now, but if anyone knows where Trey is, it’d be her.”
My mind was still worrying on the question of the harpy feather.
“I need to go into the city,” I said. “There’s someone I need to see.”
He didn’t bother telling me I’d probably get killed. He didn’t have to. We’d been taking turns patrolling the city, searching out the demons preying on mortals and magicians alike. Any demon worth his salt would be itching to kill me. Hecate probably promised bonuses to whoever managed to kill me.
I needed to see Ruth Delaney. She was a fortune-teller. Maybe that was enough that she’d be loyal to Lady Fortuna. Loyal to me.
Ruth had a small shop not far from where Zora’s used to be. The palm-reader symbol hung discreetly in the window, but other than that, it looked like a high-priced tea shop.
I peered through the window. She was alone. The s
tore was decorated in white lace and blue floral prints. It looked like a doily convention.
Ruth sat on a blue silk divan and sipped a cup of tea. She set it down abruptly when I entered.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Are you crazy? There are demons everywhere, searching for the son of Fortuna.”
“I know that, but I need your help. I want a reading, Ruth,” I said.
“Not here,” she said. “Meet me at the Greyhound station tomorrow. Fitch will come with me.”
“It has to be early,” I told her. Demons didn’t particularly like the sun, although they could walk in it, if needed.
Customers entered and we both froze, but it was a group of mortal women. They gave me curious looks as they browsed. I must have looked out of place in the frilly shop.
“I’ll take some of the Earl Grey,” I said. It was the only excuse I could think of.
Ruth wrote something down on a receipt pad and then rang me up. “Your receipt, sir.” I stuffed it in my pocket.
I was a block from her store when I nearly collided with Luke Seren. “Nyx,” he hissed. “What are you doing here?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Looking for supplies,” I lied.
He modified his tone. “Forgive me for my anger,” he said. “I was concerned about your safety.”
“I can take care of myself,” I said.
“Did you happen to see Ruth today?” he asked.
“I went to her shop,” I said.
“Why?” His questions were setting me on edge.
I studied him for a moment. “My cousin has just lost her mother,” I said. “I thought maybe a cup of tea would brighten her day.”
“Ah, yes, of course,” he replied. “Tea is a wonderful restorative.”
“Yes,” I said. “We’re all recovering from the betrayal.”
He flinched, but recovered quickly. “Betrayal?”
He knew something. “Only a very few people knew where Hecate was imprisoned.”
“Maybe you should look to Johnny Asari for that,” Luke suggested.
“How would Johnny know?”
He made a steeple of his hands. “How do I put this delicately? Pillow talk.”
I slammed him against the storefront wall. “Are you accusing my sister of something?”
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