Dragonsword

by Chloe Garner

  They played their strange game of hopscotch for a few more seconds, then Sam tugged at Samantha, moving out into the future to find where the demon was going to be, then freezing the vision and bending time hard, focusing all of his attention at the center of the demon’s forehead. He hoped she’d get it. He aimed at the spot where the demon was going to be, giving Samantha as much time as he could to react, then letting time slip and shooting it with nothing but the frozen image of where the future was rapidly converging with the present to use for aim. He felt blind, watching the stopped image, but strangely in control. He pulled the trigger as the present hit the future and he watched as the gold pin buried itself into the demon’s forehead a tiny fraction before the bullet followed it. The demon’s head exploded with dark black ash, fountaining down in a pile onto the floor.

  The demons froze.

  Samantha got in a cheap shot in the instant before they disappeared, but the leader and the two giants were gone. Sam was covered in ash.

  Kelly sat up.

  “Did I miss it again?” he asked.

  “You’ve gotta be quick,” Jason said, going to help the angel up off the floor.

  “Where did Maryann go?” Samantha asked, scavenging weapons from the piles of ash. Kelly shook his head, looking around the room.

  “She disappeared a few minutes before I sensed the demons,” Kelly said. “Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine,” Samantha said.

  “What happened?” Kelly asked.

  “You didn’t hear it?” Jason asked. Sam wondered how bad it had been, standing in the room with the demon.

  “Hear what?”

  “It would have just sounded like another scream, to him,” Samantha said. “He wouldn’t recognize it the first time.”

  “Recognize what?” Kelly asked.

  “The death scream,” Jason said. Kelly frowned, his eyes drifting as he tried to pull it out.

  “Is that what that was?” he asked. “Maybe it was a little different…”

  Samantha laughed.

  “Don’t try too hard,” she said. “Not all angels have the ear for it.”

  “Did you get what you needed?” Kelly asked, glancing back at the piles of dark ash on the floor.

  “Revenge,” Samantha said, shrugging. Sam sent her disapproval and she shoved him in response. Kelly frowned at her.

  “This is a lot of risk to take for revenge, Anadidd’na Anu’dd,” he said.

  “Ignoring it would be a bigger risk,” she said. Sam wasn’t sure it was true, but he didn’t argue.

  “Where to?” Jason asked as they got back to the car.

  “Hotel,” Samantha said. “Anywhere. I need food, water, and sleep.”

  Jason sent Sam a look and Sam answered it.

  The Ranger hotel?

  Probably not a good idea.

  Getting civilians involved is better?

  The Rangers would get involved.

  I guess.

  Sam got out his phone and found a hotel on the opposite side of town from the one where they had once brought Samantha for one of their meets. It felt like a lifetime ago. Caroline had still been alive. Jason hadn’t been the center of a massive demonic plot. Simpler times.

  Samantha sat down on the bed and took her boots off. She heaved a weary sigh and Sam went to check what was available from room service.

  “I still don’t understand how they’re finding us,” Samantha said.

  “Isn’t that just a demon thing?” Sam asked. She shook her head.

  “Not on this plane. And they’ve been here for a while, to fight like that. They probably crossed around the same time Mahkail gave me the angeldust. I thought getting out of New York was a good idea, because they’d obviously know we were there, but they couldn’t possibly know where we are all the time, like that. Not without scouts.” She looked at Sam. “Did you see the one, again?”

  “Not this time.”

  “Mistress?” Maryann asked.

  “Dang it, who taught you to call me that?” Samantha asked, rubbing her forehead. Maryann ducked her head, hiding a smile.

  “I found something. I think it’s important,” she said. Kelly stood against a wall with his hands behind his back, watching the demon with undisguised loathing. Maryann knelt in front of Samantha and handed her something, then retreated to the opposite wall. Samantha held it up.

  It was a crystalline apple keychain.

  “What is that?” Sam asked.

  “I’ve seen that before,” Jason said at the same time. Samantha frowned hard, turning it in the light.

  “No wonder Sam doesn’t recognize it,” she said, tipping her head.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s the keychain from the rental house in Albuquerque,” Jason said as he placed it. Samantha nodded.

  “When were we in Albuquerque?” Sam asked.

  “You were dying,” she said.

  “Which time?” Jason needled. Sam scanned what he remembered of those weeks. It was dark and blurry. Samantha had been hurt. On crutches? Was that the time she broke her leg? There were a pair of healers who had told her to give up on him. He looked at the keychain in her hand.

  “Where did you get this?” Samantha asked.

  “She had it,” Maryann said, bristling. “And a bunch of other stuff. I stole that, but if I took more, she might see me.”

  Samantha shuddered and threw the keychain to Jason.

  “Burn it,” she said. “Destroy it.”

  “What’s wrong with it?” Jason asked. “Why would someone steal it?”

  “I soulvested it,” Samantha said.

  “What? Why?”

  She looked up at Sam with guilt.

  “I was… happy… there. I know you were in awful shape, but I had you back. I’d been following you around with Carly for six months, and I got you back.”

  He remembered the cheerful little house, and Samantha and Jason sparring in the living room; Samantha dancing in front of the stereo, cooking. Jason grilling. Or had that been North Carolina?

  “What else have you vested?” he asked.

  “I don’t mean to,” she said. “And it isn’t a lot.”

  “Key cards, towels, bottles of shampoo, decks of cards, spoons, an ash tray,” Maryann said. Samantha shot her a look and the girl looked away, not chastened at all.

  “An ash tray?” Jason asked.

  “It was pretty,” Samantha said. She glared at the floor. “It’s not much, but if you put them all together, it’s enough to soul-merge. Or scry. Or soul-hunt. Probably soul-hunt, actually.”

  “Where did they get them?” Jason asked.

  “Alexander,” Sam said.

  “What?” Samantha asked.

  “He was always there, wasn’t he? He followed us everywhere for a while. I always wondered how he did it. I bet it was him.”

  “Right,” Jason said. “You were so jealous. I thought you were over that.”

  “What?” Sam asked.

  “Fine,” Jason said. “If Alexander really was a stalker and not just someone who turned up at random a few times, how has a woman who’s involved with this mess ended up with his stash?”

  “It’s an altar,” Maryann corrected. Samantha snorted.

  “Because a soul-vested altar of my stuff is worth a fortune. There are a lot of demons who have known where we were, over the years, who shouldn’t have. Brandt? While you were missing? He had no problem finding us.” She looked up at Sam. “I’m sorry.”

  He shook his head.

  “Old scores that don’t matter anymore,” he said. She nodded, then her brow creased again.

  “The problem is, you can’t pinpoint a location like that from scrying. You can’t get an accurate distance,” she said.

  “It’s because she’s psychic,” Mahkail said.

  <><><>

  Samantha felt Sam jerk into vision to see the angel and the rest of the room at once, putting on his glasses by instinct. Samantha stood and dropped a knee to
the carpet.

  “Welcome,” she said. Mahkail shook his head.

  “You’ve been taking unnecessary risks,” he said.

  “Said the one whose motto is ‘Charge!’,” Samantha said. The corner of the angel’s mouth twitched, but his eyebrows knit tight. He looked at Maryann, who did her best to merge physically with the wall.

  “Your demon is right,” he said. “She has a shrine of soul-vested material that she is using to find you.”

  “She isn’t as strong as Sam,” Samantha said.

  “She wouldn’t be,” Mahkail said. It was true. If she were that powerful, they’d have possessed her, rather than using her for her psychic abilities.

  “Did she open the gate?” Samantha asked.

  “It seems likely,” Mahkail asked.

  “Mistress, will you give me permission to kill her?” Maryann asked. “I am stronger than she is.” She paused. “Even me.”

  “Or I can do it,” Kelly said. Samantha didn’t let her eyes move from Mahkail’s.

  “No,” she said. “She’s human, and that means that she’ll get a chance to stop before I resort to killing her.”

  “But,” Maryann said. Samantha jerked her head to the side.

  “That’s enough,” she said sharply. Maryann dropped her face.

  “Yes, Mistress.”

  “Don’t call me that,” Samantha said.

  “Yes, Mistress.”

  There was a tiny smirk, which Samantha didn’t let change her expression, but she was pleased. Marking the girl hadn’t broken her. Samantha turned to Mahkail.

  “It’s your choice,” Mahkail said, “but it’s within the range of responsibilities legitimately assigned to either Kelly or your demon.”

  “I understand that,” Samantha said. Kelly was allowed to kill people who posed a real and immediate threat to Samantha - like a psychic routing demonic hit squads at her - and Samantha was allowed to use Maryann to defend herself against even somewhat less credible threats. “We just need to find her and give her a chance. After that…” she paused. Maryann lifted her face, eyes blazing, and Samantha could actually feel Kelly perk up. She held out a finger warningly to Maryann. “After that, Jason decides what happens to her.”

  Samantha watched Mahkail for his response. His eyes darted over to Jason, who looked like he was smothering surprise. The angel’s eyes returned to Samantha and he inclined his head in a quiet approval. She nodded to him, thanking him.

  “You need to be more careful,” Mahkail said. “How many attacks have you had?”

  “Two.”

  “They will have evaluated your weaknesses. They will only get worse.”

  “She was wounded in the first,” Kelly said. Samantha jerked her head to look at him, eyes wide. Tattle-tale. He dropped his head, looking up at her through thick blond lashes.

  “Is this true?”

  “Would he lie?” Samantha asked, steeling her face as she turned to face Mahkail again. He opened his mouth to speak, and Samantha put up her hand. “Wait a minute.”

  He jerked his head back, unaccustomed to being spoken to like that, but Samantha had an idea.

  “She’s psychic?”

  “You feeling okay?” Jason asked.

  “I thought we established that on my arrival,” Mahkail said. Samantha snapped.

  “I can fix that.”

  “You can fix psychics? I thought you told Sam you couldn’t.”

  “No, not that,” Samantha said, going to her backpack and digging through a side pocket. She found what she was looking for and stood, smiling.

  “Sorry, Abby,” she said. “Call if you need me.”

  She twisted her hair up behind her head and slid the hair pin into the thickest part of the knot and latched it closed.

  The world changed.

  She looked at Sam, who pulled off his glasses, leaving raccoon eyes in dark ash on his face. He knew exactly what it meant, from the look on his face. She dropped her eyes to the side, blinking, then looked up at him again.

  “Go wash your face and brush your hair,” she said. He nodded, as stunned as she was, shaking his hair like a dog and lifting up a cloud of ash. Samantha realized she was still entertaining an angel, and turned back around.

  “What just happened?” Jason asked. Samantha ignored him.

  “This should keep her from being able to direct demons at me anymore,” Samantha said, stepping toward Mahkail and turning her head to let him see the pin.

  “This is excellent work,” he said. “Where did you get it?”

  “Amazing what you get for a bridal shower when your maid of honor is psychic and everyone you know is a demon,” Samantha said. Mahkail made a face like he was going to protest, but she shook her head. “This was from Carter. He said it was for privacy from Abby, because she really doesn’t have any boundaries…” She realized that wasn’t what she wanted to be telling the angel, and she moved on. “You should see some of the things I have from that shower. Nuri ordered me a set of unique daggers that all look the same, but they’re all keyed to kill different sects of demons. She sent a Porter across just to place the order, and Carter opened a hellsgate to get them.”

  “This is very impressive,” Mahkail said. “I recognize the work, but… The things this can do on this plane…”

  “What is it?” Jason asked, standing.

  “It blocks psychics from seeing you,” Samantha said. “It’s how I stayed hidden after I left New York the first time.”

  “So Sam can’t see you?” Jason asked. She grinned.

  “Not as a psychic. No.”

  “And that’s going to keep some woman somewhere from sending demons after us?”

  “She won’t be able to tell them exactly where we are, anymore,” Samantha said. She looked at Mahkail and bowed.

  “Thank you, friend.”

  “Your survival isn’t just important for the burden you carry,” Mahkail said. “I did look for other options.”

  Samantha was shocked. She’d been the best choice; it was unusual to the point of unheard of for Mahkail to consider anything other than the best choice. She wondered if he was actually being sentimental, or if there was something else there.

  “How is your valet serving?” he asked. Kelly glitched to stand next to Samantha, at full alert. Jason snickered.

  “You left me with a baby. I’ll return to you a warrior,” Samantha said. “He has a willing spirit, but an angel’s sense of priority.”

  “What else would he have?” Mahkail asked, eyes scanning the boy.

  “Indeed,” Samantha answered.

  “You should keep the pin in until the completion of our errand,” Mahkail said.

  “I expect I will,” Samantha answered. “We were lucky today. I won’t rely on that.”

  Mahkail nodded.

  “Sam,” Sam said. She turned.

  He was looking at her as if he’d never seen her before. She laughed, and he smiled.

  “If I’d known,” she said.

  “I know,” he answered. She crossed the room like falling with gravity and kissed him.

  It was the first time she’d ever kissed him and known what he felt like. He was over there, she was in her own body, two different people. His mouth met hers with a hungry eagerness that she recognized, but that she’d never experienced before. The only mind in her head was hers.

  There were mechanics to kissing she’d forgotten about. Hands, mouth, tongue all fell into a familiar shape, but one she’d never known before. For an instant, she’d worried that they were going to have to learn how to kiss, but his body knew hers like his own.

  His skin radiated warmth against her own and he slowly crushed her harder and harder against him as the reality of what it meant became clearer.

  Jason cleared his throat. Samantha sprang away, disentangling herself from Sam’s arms, and finding her fingers caught in his hair.

  “Ow,” he complained.

  “Someone want to explain what’s going on here?” Jaso
n asked. Mahkail looked disapproving, but O’na Anu’dd was leaning in the corner, arms folded, grinning.

  “What are you doing here?” Samantha asked. Jason turned, not having noticed the angel.

  “I felt the change,” he said. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  Samantha ran to him and let him spin her, then stood against him for a long time, safe.

  Jason cleared his throat again, and she looked at him, not moving.

  “You’re dysfunctional,” he said. She heard O’na Anu’dd laugh, deep in his chest, and he let her go. She put her fingers to the pin in her hair.

  “It blocks the bond,” she said.

  “It what now?” Jason asked.

  “Whatever it does to block psychics from seeing me, it effects my bond with Sam, too. I can’t feel him.”

  “So that lifts the ban on booty, then?” Jason asked. She lowered her eyelids.

  “I will hurt you.”

  “I think that’s your least creative threat yet,” Jason said. “You’re off your game.” He jerked his head at Sam. “Does that mean he’s fair game for possession again?”

  Sam’s hand found the pendant under his shirt, and Samantha shook her head.

  “No. I can still feel the pendant, and he’s marked, anyway. Even without the pendant, he’s no more at risk than Abby, any given day.”

  “You marked him?” Mahkail asked. “I had not heard you had formed a mark.”

  She glanced at Sam.

  “You mind?”

  He shrugged and turned. She pulled his shirt up over his shoulders and he grabbed the hem to hold it up. She pushed the spot in the center of his back where the mark was focused and he arched his back as the mark flashed white. She was glad she didn’t have to hide the relief from him that it was white, and not gray or black. She wasn’t using it. Mahkail came to stand next to her, and O’na Anu’dd shifted to see. Samantha saw Kelly disappear from view and assumed he’d done the same.