"Are there any focuses that won't make me look like a complete tool?" Adam asked with a smirk.
Edie put her hand on the back of Cal's chair and leaned against it slightly, the wheels in her head turning. "How does a focus work exactly? Some of the stuff I researched a couple months back mentioned them, but I never looked into it."
"It's just a thing you channel magic through,” Cal replied. “It could be anything."
"Can you be more specific? Are there any rules?"
"Uh ... I guess it's better if it's something important to ya. Like a special ring or family heirloom or whatever. I knew a girl in Vegas who used her cell phone. But I think earthy crap like wood or metal works best. And there's some rule about it being given to you as a gift. I dunno, I'm no fuckin' wizard."
Edie couldn’t hold back her grin. Perfect. She left before anyone could say another word, trotting to Adam's room.
When she came back, she held the Genesis in her hands.
"Adam? You ready to tear shit up?"
It was only a few hours before they got the news they had been waiting a day and a half for.
Cal had quickly resumed his work on Elle's body, so Edie and Adam had been left to figure out how exactly he'd use his Genesis as a magic focus. That was an exercise in the helpless leading the clueless, as far as Edie was concerned, but it was better than sitting around doing nothing.
Adam was testing out a few riffs, trying to see what might spark a reaction, when Edie's phone buzzed in her pocket. A new message in the group chat.
[Satara]: We found something. On our way.
"Adam." Edie stood from where she'd been sitting next to him on the couch and flashed him the message. "It's time."
His drawn face lightened a bit. He glanced down at the Genesis. "I guess there'll be time for this later. Hopefully we don't run into anything we have to … y’know … kill."
Logically, Edie thought, the chances of running into something that wanted to kill them in a plane of lost souls was kind of low. Realistically, however, it was a rare thing if she and her friends went somewhere things didn’t want to kill them.
But they had to go. There was nothing she could do but hope.
When Basile and the others arrived, they were decked out for battle. Or, rather, Marius and Satara were; Basile was dressed in his cassock as always, a messenger bag over his shoulder.
As they entered, he whistled. "Do you know how hard it is to sneak swords and crap through Brooklyn?"
A second later, Cal emerged from Elle's room, frowning when he saw the others. "All done?"
"Hopefully," Satara replied. "If everything goes according to plan."
"Which it will, of course." Basile stepped into the center of the room, looking around before noticing Adam, who was just rising from the couch. "Ah, there you are. I heard about your little misadventure."
Adam didn't seem interested in small talk. "You found a way in?"
"Yes. Well. Sort of."
Cal leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "So, what's the plan, Father? How're we doing this?"
"Well, since we can't get to the Wending from Adam's living room, the first step is to go somewhere we can get to it."
"Right. So, traveling." The revenant sighed and jerked his head over his shoulder. "Guess that means I'm staying behind."
He didn't look happy about it, and Edie had to say she shared his apprehension. Every time she and Cal separated, something awful seemed to happen. They had long since agreed never to do it if they could help it, but the magic he was doing required near-constant vigil—he couldn't come with them if they wanted to keep Elle's body from rotting.
"I'll be okay," Edie said under her breath, glancing at him.
He grumbled in response.
"All right." Adam adjusted the guitar strap across his chest. "We need to go somewhere else to get to it. Do you mean like a ... I dunno, a portal or something?"
"Sort of. Satara was saying to me earlier, you could walk to the entrances of the other Worlds if you wanted. As long as you knew the way, you wouldn't have to do anything special. But the Wending doesn't have a heimdyrr—it's a plane, woven into the fabric of the universe. No doors, not for living people, anyway. And, well," the priest scoffed, "I don't really have enough power to open a hole in the fabric of the universe from the physical realm. Not here."
Marius glanced at the others with a smirk. "The draugborn admitting he doesn't know something? Impossible."
Basile sighed. "Anyway, I can't get you there from your kitchen ... but there are in-between places. Even in the physical world. Even in a city like this. Lost souls are drawn to them, too—that's usually where they pass through and eventually get to the Wending. Have any of you ever heard of liminal space?"
Edie was pleased to actually be able to raise her hand for once. "Mercy's talked about that. It's like ... a period of transition from one phase of your life to the next. 'The past is left behind us and the future doesn't exist'—she says that a lot."
"God, that girl is weird," Cal mumbled, rubbing between his brows.
"You're right in a way, E. But liminal space can be an actual, physical space, too." Basile went to the apartment's front door and opened it, pointing at the threshold between the hallway and the kitchen. "What room is this?"
"It's … not," Adam replied.
"But it exists in this house, doesn't it? Everything in this house is a room, isn't it? So this must be a room."
Cal sighed. "Am I the only one here who doesn't smoke crack?"
"It's not a room," Marius said, tilting his head. "It's not really ... anything."
Basile nodded and slammed the door. "And that's what liminal spaces are. Cosmic thresholds. A place always in transition between what was and what's about to be. A place where something is always happening but nothing ever is. And you know where one of the biggest ones in the world is, right now?" He looked at each of them, grinning. "Under our feet."
Adam's face cleared in realization. "The subway."
"That's right." The priest laughed and clapped his hands. "Any subway station'll do, but for our specific needs, I'd prefer an empty one, you know? I don't think the turnstile guards are cut out to deal with weirdos doing Norse soul rituals."
"What about Hoyt St?" Adam suggested. "It’s under maintenance because of the blizzard, and it’s not far from here."
Basile nodded. "I know the place. Probably our best bet at this point." He looked around at those gathered. "All right, if you're in, come stand around me. Close as you can get."
Edie couldn't shake her anxiety, but there was no time to wait. She went to the door to pull on her jacket and boots. Just as she was wishing she had a weapon other than her magic, Marius approached her.
"You can use this," he said from above her as she tied her laces. "I don't need it."
When she looked up, a familiar dagger glowed in his hand. Radiant Hærfríðr's blade of truth. After the battle in the Temple of the Rising Divine, she had stolen it, sort of as a last fuck-you to the Aurora. Marius had been carrying it since she'd given it to him, but she hadn’t seen him use it yet.
Edie hesitated for a moment before straightening up. "You sure? I'll probably be fine."
"Go ahead. We won't have time to go back to Yuval's apartment to get anything else, so you may as well."
"Thanks." She accepted the dagger and sheath and secured them to her studded belt. "Maybe after this I can get my own weapon instead of having to borrow everyone else's."
Marius replied with a surprisingly warm smile.
Across the room, Basile had turned to Adam, who'd also suited up in his jacket and boots. "I assume you're staying behind. You look like hell."
"What? No." The hellerune frowned. "Elle is my daughter. I'm going."
"Suit yourself," the priest replied uncertainly before motioning to corral them all in close to him.
Cal still leaned against the wall, brow quirked, rubbing his chin. "So explain to me why all the kids have to hu
g you for this to work? Or is that just a typical Catholic priest thing?"
“Hilarious, Cal, I'll laugh as soon as I can." Basile rolled his eyes and stooped down, taking something out of his bag. Whatever it was, it glowed slightly, and he began using it to draw runes on the floor around them. "I'd normally teach you how to create a teleportation circle yourself, but let's not deplete what little energy you have, shall we? At this point I got no idea what you might face in the Wending."
By the time he stood, they were surrounded by a circle of runes, with one large sigil in the middle. He mumbled a few words, and the writing lit up, wreathed in silver fire. The world around them wavered like heat over asphalt. Edie could barely hear Cal wish them luck as the world began to blur and shift around them.
The next thing she knew, she was standing at the bottom of a subway staircase.
Edie hugged her coat closer as she stepped out of the circle. The ring of glowing runes had translocated with them but was now fading away with a final flash of light.
As she looked around, she couldn't help but notice how the hairs at the back of her neck stood on end. Where they were standing, the lights were on, illuminating ugly red-and-yellow tiles, but it was dark beyond the turnstiles. Nearby, she could hear wind rushing through the tunnels, and distant noises of trains going to and from other stations.
As the others joined her beyond the circle, Basile took point. His head was lifted almost as though he was scenting the air, and she could have sworn his irises were shifting between a light and slightly darker blue.
"Hm..." After a moment of silence, he drummed his fingers against his chin, then pointed ahead. "That way. Adam, get the cameras?”
Basile started off without waiting for them, his pace brisk. Without breaking stride, he hopped the turnstile, leaving Adam to interpret his words. The hellerune craned his neck to look at the security cameras, and a moment later, they were shrouded in shadow. With that done, the others followed him over the turnstile to the platform.
To their left, Edie could hear the distant sounds of equipment and men shouting back and forth, and she became even more tense. One wrong move or too-loud noise and they'd be found out—and they were a weird-looking bunch, decked out in armor and carrying strange artifacts and weapons.
She didn't want to know what would happen if they were found.
What was really bothering her, though, was how ... strange this felt. She'd used subways her whole life, but the absence of people seemed so wrong. It robbed the metro system of its sole purpose.
Thinking about it, she understood what Basile had been talking about. People didn't stay in the subway very long. Most people didn't even think that hard about using it. And yet without them, it was nothing. Without them, the future didn't happen here.
Edie braced herself—and she could hear Adam take a deep breath beside her, too—as they went further down the platform, away from the entrance and deeper into the darkness. She slowed her pace and whispered, "Basile, shouldn't we stick closer to the light?"
"Not if you want this to work. I'm trying to find where the weave is thinnest." Basile stopped at the very edge of the platform, looking both ways down the tunnel.
"I think this is as far as we can go,” Adam whispered, an edge of urgency to his voice.
"No." Basile’s voice was stark in the darkness; he didn't seem to be trying to regulate his volume at all. "We need to go deeper."
Edie shivered. "I'm pretty sure that isn't possible. We're on the deepest level."
"Not deeper under. Deeper..." He waved a hand vaguely. "It's hard to explain. This station isn’t good enough. Just follow me, my little lemmings."
And without further ado, he jumped down onto the track.
He landed just short of the rails in a surprisingly effortless motion, then turned and looked up at them expectantly. "Well? Come on, we don't have all night."
Marius in particular balked—when Edie had been teaching them how to navigate the subway, she had impressed upon them that they should stay away from the gap, and he had clearly taken it very seriously. "You're going to get yourself killed, priest."
"I'm not worried about it." He motioned for them. "Come on!"
Adam was the first one to take the plunge; he stepped up to the edge of the tunnel, took a deep breath, and jumped in with a resolve Edie hadn't come to expect from him. Either she'd misjudged him or he was really that desperate to get Elle back. Or maybe he'd explored abandoned subway stations before. Probably a mix of all three, now that she thought about it.
Satara went next, with Edie following close behind. Finally, with a fair amount of grumbling, Marius jumped down, too.
Basile was off again, completely unconcerned with the darkness engulfing him. The airflow told them no trains were coming, so for now, they simply walked along the floor of the tunnel, dodging rats and litter. Wires and pipes snaked along the walls on either side of them, and to their left, a concrete ledge for workmen waited should they need to get off the rails quickly.
"When I said 'deeper,' " Basile said, breaking the silence, "I didn't mean deeper underground. I meant more like ... deeper into this feeling. Right into the center of the in-between."
Edie noticed Marius's bulbs of light getting weaker but didn't think much of it. It was so dark, anyway, that even the barest light seemed bright. "And what happens when we get to the center?"
"Then we're the closest you've probably ever been to oblivion."
“Uh…” Adam cleared his throat and looked around. "Anyone ever read Midnight Meat Train?"
As soon as he spoke, Marius's orbs were extinguished completely.
Chapter Eighteen
When it came to phobias, Edie didn't consider herself afraid of the dark. Deep water, maybe. The stench of blood. But darkness was fine by her; she even found it calming in the right circumstances.
This darkness, however, was different.
In the complete absence of light, her eyes strained, trying to work for a scrap of illumination so they could adjust to the darkness. But they were gods only knew how many feet underground, inside the earth. They’d long since left light behind. There was nothing. Just an endless black void.
Her brain sent panic signals to her body: No one will ever find you. The walls will close around you, pressing down on your bones until they warp. Your eyes will never see again. Your ears will never hear anything except the rusty razor sound of your parched-throat screaming—screaming for help that will never, never come.
It took her a moment to realize that those thoughts were more than a primitive panic response. Her entire body seized as she felt something lukewarm slither under her jacket, up her arm, smooth and muscular like a snake.
You have to stay. We've been waiting for you for so, so long. We made this darkness for you, Edith ... all for you. Stay just like this, still, in your new home forever.
A fear she had never experienced before, even in the heat of battle, crawled up her spine. She could already feel her mind begin to slip, a shivering, maddening dismay gripping her just as surely as whatever had attached itself to her arm.
It was right. Just like an empty subway, if she wasn’t perceived, she might as well not exist—and no one would ever perceive her again. She was trapped. The walls were pressing in…
From somewhere in the endless void before her, a scream echoed.
It brought her to her senses long enough that she was able to reach for the Puretongue's blade. With a cry of her own, she lashed out, slicing at the thing around her arm with a fury only terror could muster.
The thing retracted as her blade made contact, and a grating squeal rose somewhere faraway in the tunnel.
That was a terrible mistake, Edith. Now we are coming to you.
Edie staggered forward, arms out before her, trying to find Satara or Marius or anyone—but none of the people who had been right next to her seemed to be in arm's reach anymore. Her protective streak flared up.
"Coming to me?" she whispered, her voi
ce nothing more than a trembling breath. "Where are you? Hurt my friends and I'll come to you."
She nearly jumped when, in her hand, the Puretongue's blade began to glow softly. It wasn't enough to illuminate the tunnel—it was barely enough for her to see a foot in front of her—but the sight of it was comforting. She felt a little confidence return to her as she reeled, trying to find a familiar face in the darkness.
From her left, she heard shuffling, and when she swung around, the blade's light just touched something black and glossy. It took her a second to realize it was a leather jacket.
Trotting forward, she found Adam lying on his side, eyes wide. His wrists and mouth had been bound with what looked like thick white rope. As she knelt and grabbed hold of the tentacle covering Adam's mouth, it pulsed; in her hand, its texture was more fleshlike than rubbery.
Screw this thing.
She pulled it taut and sliced it in half in one stroke, freeing Adam. The tentacle zipped from around his wrists as well and disappeared into the darkness. Another squeal drove into her mind like a railroad spike.
Stop hurting us...
"Not a fucking chance, asshole," Adam panted.
Edie helped him up. Thankfully, he and his guitar were still in one piece. "You can hear it, too?"
"I can hear it all right.” His voice was strangled. “What the hell is that thing?”
“I don’t know. But it knew my name.”
“Mine, too.” He shivered and squinted into the oppressive darkness. "Everyone else has to be around here somewhere. Right? They've gotta be."
She wished she could produce more light, but they'd have to make do with the blade. "Stay close to me," she whispered as she began to creep forward. "Try calling for them."
"Satara? Marius? Basile? If you can't talk, make a noise!”
A clanging somewhere to their right made them both jump, but they sped in its direction just as quickly. It wasn't long before Satara's kicking feet came into view, her steel-plated boots banging against the rails.
Unholy Spirit (The Necromancer's Daughter Book 3) Page 18