Destiny Blues

by Sharon Joss

CHAPTER 38

  Rhys and I agreed to meet up first thing in the morning, after Blix and Larry rounded up all the loose djinn and I sent them in to the cavern to wait for us. The FBI would be sealing the doorway entrance from the bootleggers’ tunnel, but the entrance I’d used needed to be sealed as well. Once we finished, no more stray djinn would be able to attach themselves to unsuspecting citizens.

  The dismissive good-night peck from Rhys disappointed me. I wished I’d had the nerve to ask him to come home with me, but with Henri standing there I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. I got back to my apartment and curled up on the couch to read, but couldn’t concentrate. I recalled the panic I’d felt as I sought to find Rhys’s thready pulse, cold against my lips. I felt a connection to Rhys, as if he was already a part of me; like Lance and Mina. People trusted him. I trusted him. I wanted to be with him.

  There were people out there I could help because of who I was becoming. I’d given my word to help these people. My people. Being the Hand of Fate didn’t mean I had to help them, but I wanted to. Rhys had the right idea. He didn’t make excuses for who he was, and neither should I. Not anymore.

  The morning sun peeked over the horizon as we pulled Trusty Rusty up behind Rhys’s truck on Sentinel Hill. This time, I’d remembered to wear my winter long johns underneath my jeans. Rhys had brought clean coveralls, a portable acetylene torch, welding mask, tools and other equipment we’d need to seal up the access tunnel I’d used last time. I’d protested when I’d realized I’d have to wear the Cavewoman Barbie getup again, but Rhys told me wearing dirty clothes into the caves violated caver protocol. Sheesh. Bit late for that.

  “So who is she, anyway,” I asked as we changed. “I’m not jealous, just curious.”

  “You’ve got nothing to worry about.” He replaced the batteries in the Mag-lites and miners lamps, and handed me one of each.

  We didn’t want to tell Porter about banishing all the djinn until we were certain they were gone. As far as anyone knew, we were sealing off a previously undiscovered access for safety reasons. Rhys hefted up his pack and started down the trail. I followed, carrying the grate we were going to use to seal off the tunnel access I’d used. Thirty minutes later we stood in front of the entrance; the crowbar I’d used right where I’d left it.

  “Pretty clever,” Rhys said, examining the knot.

  “Are we ready?” The smell of licorice and bat guano coming from the cavern tunnel was almost overwhelming. Blix and Larry and You greeted me with excited squeaks. I’d brought along a scarf to wrap around my nose and mouth. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

  We planned to install the grate first. Once Rhys finished the welding, I’d crawl down to the mouth of the tunnel and perform the banishment. Then we’d lock the whole thing up behind us and be done.

  Rhys put on his gloves and safety mask, fired up the torch, and adjusted the flame.

  “Don’t look at the flame. You’ll ruin your eyes.”

  Oh, right. I looked away. “How long do you think this will take?”

  “An hour or so. If you want, you can wait outside. It’ll be warmer.”

  “I’m good.” I was glad that this time I’d remembered to wear my thermal underwear. I was positively toasty.

  An hour later, Rhys turned off the torch and stood back to inspect his work. He installed the grate and experimentally swung it open and closed.

  “Finished?” I asked.

  “Yup. You’re up next. How are you planning to phrase it?”

  “I plan to address myself to all the named and unnamed entities within the sound of my voice. That way I won’t have to name them.“

  “Makes sense. Then what? Where are you sending them?”

  “I don’t want to imprison them in an earthy prison, like the early tribal shamans did, and Madame Coumlie did the same thing. I hate the idea of imprisoning them in a dark cave for eternity. I think it’s got to be something metaphysical, but a real place. You’re the expert on theology. What do you think?”

  Rhys thought for a few moments before answering. “How about just banishing them from all physical and metaphysical earthly planes? Make sure you include something about never to return. That should do it.”

  “Sounds good to me.” I repeated the phrase several times. “Banished from all physical and metaphysical earthly planes, never to return.” This was turning out to be trickier than I’d thought it would be, but after naming You by accident, I didn’t want to mess things up again.

  “So how do you want to do this?”

  “Let’s use the rope again. I don’t need to go all the way to the end. I just want to make sure that they can hear me.”

  Rhys tied the rope around my waist, and gave me a boost into the narrow tunnel. I felt more confident this time, knowing Rhys was on the other end of the rope. As I crawled my way through the tunnel, I heard the banging of the FBI work crew sealing up the access door Garr Russ had used. All that racket would drown out my voice. The noise had also disrupted the bats, and they swarmed frantically about the cavern. I’d need to yell at the top of my lungs to be heard above the pounding.

  I reached the overhang and looked down. I was struck again by the sheer number of djinn gathered there. From what I could tell, the only demons made flesh were Blix, Larry, and You. All three stamped their little feet at me in impatient unison, awaiting my next command.

  “Blix and Larry. I command you to go out to my car and wait for me.” They vanished instantly. I could always banish them later, I reasoned. Anyway, it wasn’t like I was going to become another Night Shark or anything. I’m a very responsible person.

  The rope went slack, and I braced myself, using my shoulders and knees against the walls of the tunnel.

  I yelled. “Hey! Rhys, it’s too loose, pull up the slack.”

  There was another hard jerk on the line, then nothing. Maybe he was trying to tell me to hurry up. What did he think, I was enjoying myself here? Focus, Mattie, No telling when that pounding was going to stop. It was now or never. I cleared my throat and began to shout as loud as I could.

  “I am the Hand of Fate! I command all the non-human entities within the sound of my voice. Hear me and obey.”

  The pounding stopped, and in the sudden silence, I heard the unmistakable sounds of a fight coming from behind me. Holy crap. What in hell was going on?

  I tried to twist myself around, but the passage was too narrow. My shoulders hadn’t cleared the tunnel, so by using a sort of a reverse caterpillar move, I was able to hump my way uphill back to the entrance. My feet cleared the entrance and dangled into thin air behind me. I gave myself a huge shove, got my hips clear, and wiggled backwards until I dropped to the floor.

  Rhys stood toe-to-toe, exchanging blows with a gaunt man dressed in rags. He must have been a head taller than Rhys, nearly seven feet tall. In the eerie light of my headlamp, I watched Rhys take a blow which sent his shoe flying.

  Adrenaline flooded through me. I grabbed the crowbar and threw myself at them, but the big guy tossed me aside like I was nothing. With a roundhouse kick, Rhys struck his opponent’s knee, knocking the man’s leg out from under him, causing him to fall to his hands and knees. Rhys began furiously kicking the larger man in the ribs. The tall man grunted, but he didn’t go down. He came up with a backhanded blow to Rhys’s jaw that sent him reeling. Rhys tripped over one of the lanterns and went down.

  The man was back on his feet. I had to do something. I remembered seeing piles of rags in the bootlegger tunnel. It made perfect sense. I grabbed the crowbar and jumped in front of him.

  “Stop! Rex, I command you to stop!”

  Rex eyed me with a baleful stare. “You have no hold over me,” he growled, “I answer to no one now.” He twisted the crowbar out of my hand like I was a child, and turned back toward Rhys, who having gained his feet, was trying to relight the torch. I had to stop Rex.

  “Why are you doing this,�
�� I yelled. “What have we ever done to you?”

  Rex hesitated. “I must escape the cave before the entrance is sealed. I asked the mage for help. He refused me.”

  “You killed your master. You killed Garlan Russ.”

  Rex turned to face me, panting from the exertion. In spite of the cold temperatures, he dripped with sweat.

  “Only a fool lies to himself.” He pointed at me. “You killed him. I am indebted to you. It was by your hand that my master’s life ended and I have been freed. I have no quarrel with you.”

  “Why did you kill all those people?”

  Righteous anger rolled off Rex in waves. “I killed only those with enslaved djemons. I did it to free their servants from bondage. I hoped in return, a freed djenie would repay the favor by destroying my disgraceful master, a shameful human mortal unworthy of any respect.”

  He had a point. “You’re every bit as bad as Garr.” Behind him, I could see Rhys trying to re-light the torch without success.

  A rumble of low laughter echoed in his chest. “You are a killer, no better than me. Yet I can see that the mage loves you. I need documentation and citizenship papers to pass undetected among the humans.”

  My eyes met Rhys’s in a moment of absolute understanding. The psychotic djenie could not be allowed to leave the cave.

  Rex strode toward me, hefting the iron bar in his hand. “Perhaps you will persuade him to provide me with an identity.”

  I had to think fast. I scrabbled at my feet and came up with handful of rocks and started throwing. At this range, his head was huge. I couldn’t miss. The first got him right in the eye. He turned his face and wheeled at me blindly, swinging the crowbar. I dodged him and nailed him with an egger to the temple. I danced out of his reach and hit him with another that took a big chunk out of his ear. He screamed and threw the crowbar at my head.

  I twisted out of the way, and almost made it, but the crowbar struck my elbow with enough force to knock me down. I skittered away, yelping, and nailed him again right between the eyes. The rock wasn’t big enough to stop him, but it slowed him down.

  My mind raced. I was nearly backed up against the wall with no place else to go. I saw movement behind Rhys and noticed my djemon ‘You’ had followed me up the tunnel shaft. Behind him were a few thousand of his closest friends. The little demon stamped his feet at me, impatient for my next command.

  At that point, everything happened at once. Rhys got the torch lit, and I yelled at You and the gang, “Grab that djenie!”

  The army of djinn swarmed out of the tunnel like a mob of angry killer bees. Rhys stepped up behind Rex and touched the flame to the big man’s ragged clothes. Immediately a towering pillar of flames engulfed Rex and the djinn.

  “I hereby banish all djinn within the sound of my voice from all physical and metaphysical earthly planes, never to return,” I yelled. “And take that flaming djenie with you!

  I clapped my hands. There was a brilliant flash of neon blue, followed by a massive explosion, and I was hurled backwards against the cave wall behind me.

  I found myself floating out of my body, in a murky darkness, accompanied only by the scent of an unseen sea fresh in my sinuses. A deep booming resonance echoed in my head, and an unearthly voice spoke to me. I couldn’t make out the words, but the speaker grew insistent. Demanding. I didn’t understand the question.

  My body began to accelerate through the nothingness, and I was bombarded with colorful images that flashed by me, too briefly to see. The voice kept demanding an answer, but I shook my head, not understanding. The images blinked by, faster and faster. I rocketed through space and time, my hair streaming out behind me.

  I saw explosions and implosions of light replayed over and over again in the darkness. I realized I was seeing the creation of solar systems; stars, suns, and planets. Finally, I recognized a turquoise planet approaching, and my speed decreased. I saw earth glow and bloom and die over and over as countless civilizations grew and waned, and still the pounding in my head grew louder. I was screaming now, flying over oceans, mountains, forests, and deserts. I saw the pyramids take shape and grow out of a rich green plain, and still the pounding in my head demanded an answer. I flew across fertile fields of the Nile delta toward a simple hut made of mud and reeds. Inside, I hovered near the low ceiling and watched a beautiful woman writhe in ecstasy. A moment later I felt myself suffused within her, feeling her joy, now able to hear the question being put to me.

  “Which do you choose mortal? Would you serve the gods and live forever, or die in the service of mortals?”

  Intuitively, I recognized the moment; this was the rapture at the creation of my bloodline. This unknown woman was to become the mother of the fates. It was the very moment of destiny. I had no answer.

  I felt the flesh peel away from my bones and flames engulfed me. I screamed but felt no pain, and knew that somehow the question had been answered. I am the Hand of Fate. I knew it now, as I knew my own name. Serve well, the voice echoed in my head, and I opened my eyes.

  I sat upright against the wall of the cave with a flashlight in my hand. My headlamp wasn’t working. I turned the flashlight on, and found Rhys crawling toward me on hands and knees. He was speaking, but sounded as if from under water. I struggled to my feet, and my ears popped. Warm liquid trickled down my neck into my collar.

  I stumbled over to Rhys and helped him up.

  “Are you okay?” We both said it at the same time.

  Rhys started to laugh, as he reached out to touch my cheek. “I love what you’ve done with your hair.”

  Tentatively, I patted my hair, which seemed to have some kind of Medusa thing going on. I grinned in spite of myself.

  “Don’t make fun of my hair, and I won’t laugh at your moustache. I think you’re going to have to shave the whole thing off and start over.” Half of it seemed to have been singed off, along with one of his eyebrows.

  “What happened?”

  “Um, I think I might have gone a little over the top on the banishing thing. Next time, I think I’ll do it in smaller batches.” I started to laugh as Rhys felt around for his moustache, and couldn’t find it.

  He smirked. “Ya think?” He shook his head. “I should have known you’d be trouble.” He wiped his face and grimaced at the residue in his hand. He gave me another dirty look, and I busted up.

  “Man that was fun. Can we do it again?”

  He grabbed me by the front of my scorched coveralls and pulled me close. I stopped laughing.

  “Are they really gone?” Even the smell of bat guano had faded.

  “Looks like.” Rhys lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the crescent shape on my palm.

  I took a shaky breath and met his steady gaze. “I killed Garlan Russ last night. It was me. I had his lifeline in my hand. I felt it snap.” The horrible memory washed over me again. “I would have told you.” Hot tears splashed down my cheeks. “I’m a murderer.”

  Rhys froze, his warm lips pressing against the crescent mark of my left palm.

  “And I’m a demon.”

  “Djenie,” I corrected.

  “I can’t undo what I am, Mattie. Any more than you can. All I can do is make the best choices I can when the moment arises. Would it have been better if Garr had killed you?” He pulled me close and kissed my forehead. “You had no other choice.”

  I thought about that for a bit. “I’m afraid to tell Porter that I’m a demon master. That I killed Garr.”

  “You heard Frank, an aneurysm killed him. It’s in the medical report.” He nuzzled my neck and I closed my eyes and leaned into him. I wasn’t ready to let this go, though.

  “You still want me, knowing I’m a murderer?”

  He pulled back to look at me. “You’ve got a lot to learn. I’m willing to teach you, but I’m never going to fit into your idea of what is normal. You have a choice. You go back to your old life. Or you can embrace your destiny. It’s up to
you. What are you going to do?”

  A week ago, I would have had my answer ready, but now, I wasn’t so sure. I was a different person now, and I felt different. More alive. My life had purpose. And now that I finally gotten my old life back, I didn’t want it anymore. Rhys was right. I’d joined a brand new club; one that was eager to embrace me as a charter member.

  “I just accepted an offer to be the next Hand of Fate. I hear the hours are lousy, the pay sucks, and the clients are all anomalous.”

  “Yeah, but the benefits are mighty satisfying.” He came to me then, and folded me into the shelter of his arm, and kissed me good. Then he took my hand and we walked together toward the entrance, back into the light.

  “What color panties are you wearing?”

  I was pretty sure he didn’t want to hear about the long johns. “I’m not wearing any.”

  “That’s my favorite color.”

  ###

  CHAPTER: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Many thanks to early readers Christina Mercer, Elizabeth Beechwood, Paul Comstock, and Lorin Oberweger whose inputs helped refine and shape this story. Thanks also to David Farland, who suggested a couple of critical changes, provided encouragement and taught me how to improve my own editing.

  CHAPTER: ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  After working most of her career in the aerospace and high technology industries, Sharon Joss now writes speculative fiction full time. She lives amid a blackberry tangle in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

  Thank you for giving the book a read. If you enjoyed it, please tell your friends and consider leaving a review wherever you purchased it, or on Goodreads, even if it’s only a line or two; it would make all the difference and would be very much appreciated.

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  Don’t miss the continuing exploits of

  MATTIE BLACKMAN, the hand of fate in:

  LEGACY SOUL (Book 2)

  CHAOS KARMA (Book 3)

  Book 4 coming on 2016!