After Hank left, I sat on the porch swing and stared into space. Despite the last hour of fun, I couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that descended after all the distractions had gone.
I pulled one knee up and chewed on my pinky nail.
Em’s head poked out of the front door. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re chewing on your nails and you only do that when you’re worried about something.”
Smart aleck. “Just thinking about Aunt Bryn. And I’m tired. As usual.”
“Go to bed, then. I’ll send Brim up with you. Trust me, having him in the room makes you feel better.”
Before I could turn down the offer, she whistled for the enormous beast, opening the door wider and telling him to stay with me. That was all she had to say and that damn beast would stay with me until she told him otherwise. It was uncanny, their bond; the way they communicated with each other. She didn’t just order him around; she loved that ugly beast. And he loved her right back, enough to run all the way downtown, up fifty flights of stairs, and onto the roof of Helios Tower to save my life.
Brim stuck his big, goofy face in mine, sniffing my breath. I ruffled his ears affectionately.
“Thanks, kid.”
“Don’t mention it.”
The door closed and I smiled to myself. Sometimes she sounded just like me. Other times like Bryn. Always trying out new sayings, trying to grow and figure out who she wanted to be, and how she wanted to present herself to others. It was fascinating to watch. But I worried, too; I worried about this special talent she had for communicating with Brim. Hell, she’d even sent me flying through the air with only the force of her will.
Emma had raw, and apparently very strong, abilities. And more than anything I prayed they wouldn’t hurt her.
I stayed on the swing for another ten minutes or so. “Wbeasty boy, you ready for bed?” He turned away from the screen with a whine. Poor Brim, he looked so lost when Emma left him. “Come on, let’s go in.”
Dutifully, he climbed the stairs and then circled repeatedly in the corner of my bedroom before lying down and settling into relaxed yet watchful guard dog mode. It was like having a gray, bald tiger in the corner, only this one had the jaws of an oversized pit bull and eyes that reflected red in the light.
And for some odd reason, I was starting to think the thing was cute.
I chuckled at that thought, lifted the down comforter, and slid into my cool bed.
I am on the rooftop of Helios Tower watching a sporadic replay of last week’s events. Dawn of the winter solstice. Llyran parts the darkness churning above and then uses its power to slide the lid off the agate sarcophagus.
The agate no longer masks the power inside. An enormous surge radiates over the tower, a pulse of energy so heavy and thick that it steals my breath, a surge that flows through every fiber of my being, so deep and powerful and stunning.
There is fighting all around me. It comes in broken flashes.
Brimstone attacks Llyran.
My chest tightens painfully. I know what comes next. Tears sting my eyes as Llyran kills my daughter’s beloved hellhound.
Then I am crawling toward the sarcophagus, pulling myself up, and grabbing the only weapon I can find. I hold the sword aloft, over Llyran’s head. The hilt sears my hand, but I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. Tears slip hot and fat from my eyes as I bring down the weapon with every bit of strength I have left.
And then suddenly, they are gone and I am standing alone beside the agate tomb, gazing down in wonder at what it contains. Llyran is dead. My hand is useless, but I am transfixed as I stare at one of the most beautiful creatures I’ve ever seen. A divine being. A First One. Ahkneri. The Creator’s Chosen One. His Star, and then, later, His instrument of Vengeance, Retribution, and Punishment. The sword is back in her grip as though I never touched it, held between her breasts. It is a named weapon, a divine weapon called Urzenamelech, “Anguish by fire.”
And now I understand why because my hand and even my arm burn from the inside out.
The scene shifts in a blur.
Gray landscape. Valleys. Mountains. Cloud-laden sky. Mist-covered ground. All moving by at great speed. Down over foothills covered in grass to flatlands that eventually turn to sand. To a desert and a sparkling river under a blazing white sun. To the walls of a massive temple rearing up on the other side.
Straight up the face of the wall and over the balcony. Between massive columns, so high their tops are lost in shadows. To a courtyard.
“No!” A voice pleads. Feminine. Familiar. And I know immediately who this is. Ahkneri. She speaks in an ancient language that somehow I understand.
Then another voice. “Our purpose is at an end. Our lives here, in this state, are over. It was always meant to be like this. You know is.”
Another denial. Anger. Shouting.
And then the scene is speeding away again back through the columns and out over the land to a dark place, a place of mist and jagged mountains that scrape the sky.
Then inside a tunnel of light so blinding.
Darkness. Inside of the mountains. Into blackness. Earth.
An eye blinks open.
My eyes flew open. A cold, heart-pounding sweat covered me. Foreboding tensed every muscle and dried out my mouth. That dream, or whatever the hell I’d just experienced, struck me with bleak fear.
Brim’s sudden whine made goose bumps spread over my skin.
My sight quickly adjusted to the dark room, and I stayed beneath the covers, moving only my head so I could see the shadow of the hellhound—still lying down, but his head was up, short ears pointed.
His soft panting was the only sound in the room. But still I hesitated to move. I could detect auras, sense presences, and those senses were telling me there was nothing else here. Nothing. Yet it didn’t feel right; something wasn’t right.
Slowly, I turned my head to the other side. The street lamp from outside faintly illuminated my dark curtains. There was nothing in the bedroom. I drew in a deep breath and let it out. It had to have been the odd dream. And Brim’s response could be due in part to the vibes I was giving off.
Just as I decided to turn over and go back to sleep, a small hand slapped down on my right arm in a bruising grip. A second hand landed flat between my breasts, shoving me back into the mattress.
A body materialized into a pert-nosed waif with clear blue eyes, white hair in two long braids, dressed in some type of silvery, body-hugging tube around her flat chest and a matching miniskirt. Her midriff was bare and sported a belly button ring. Oh, and she was floating—I squeezed my eyes closed and opened them again—yep, still hovering over me.
“Do you accept my gift?” she asked vehemently, producing a giant syringe and pressing it against my skin.
“What the—Stop!”
Her eyes went narrow. “So you deny my gift, then?”
“What? Yes. No …” Jesus. Okay. Calm down. Gift, she’d said gift. “What are you doing?”
“What I’m doing is not fooling around with some stupid test of worthiness like my backwoods sisters. You want it or not?”
My eyes fixed on the syringe. “Want what exactly?”
“Air. A hundred mils of it, pulled from yours truly, clean, blessed, and ready for the joining. Snagged this big boy”—she nodded toward the syringe—“from a horse farm in Conyers.”
“I thought that was just a myth, that air couldn’t—”
“Kill you? Sure it can. In big enough doses. Look, you don’t have to accept death to accept a gift. That’s my sisters’ deal.” She shrugged. “If you’re big enough to take the risk, then it’s fine by me. So, are you?”
“And the risk would be?”
“Brain damage. You in?”
“Brain damage,” I repeated numbly.
“Yeah. See,” she snorted, “you’re already halfway there.” When I didn’t laugh, she rolled her large, slanted eyes.
It was like I’d just woken up in some alternate never-never land, where Peter Pan was a smart-ass little female floating above me.
“My gift will move slowly because I told it to. Once you accept all the gifts, and use them for your purpose, you’ll be fine, and what I just gave you will be used up. Should you fail to accept the other gifts or don’t use them within four days of receipt of the first one, then mine is free to make its merry way into your brain. So, what’ll it be?”
These tests were all about worth and sacrifice. If you were willing to show you meant it, you were given the gift: the element.
I knew my heart, and because of that I wasn’t afraid.
I met her eyes and nodded, tensing as her grip on my arm tightened. She still hadn’t removed her other hand from my chest.
“Once I have all of the elements inside of me, how do I use them to see inside of my sister?”
“I’m not sure how it works. It just does.” A lethal grin spread across her face. “Don’t worry. I’ll try not to hit an artery.”
And then she shoved the needle into my skin.
I gasped at the sting and the instant bloom of hot pressure as air forced its way into my tissue. The sylph drew back and finally lifted her other hand off my chest. “It should only hurt for a little while.”
I sat up, rubbing at the burning skin. My arm was beginning to numb.
She glanced around the room, saw my small trash can, and tossed the syringe inside. “Later.”
“Wait!”
But she was already spinning into … nothing but air. And as air, she had no problem going wherever the hell she wanted—through cracks, under doors, through window screens … Nice power to have.
I fell back onto my mattress, heart pounding, and pressed my palms to my eyes and cursed. Great. I was a walking air embolism, and I had no idea how to use the elements inside of me to see inside of Bryn and the other ash victims.
Brim stood, stretched his long body, and then began circling again several times before lying back down.
I’d received the water gift first, so I had roughly three and a half days left before I needed to use what was inside of me or die. Funny, Alessandra never mentioned that part.
Two more tests to go. And the next time I saw a sylph, she wasn’t going anywhere until she told me exactly what to do with my s. Not if I could help it.
“Mom.” I was shaken so hard, my teeth clattered. “Momma, wake up!”
I groaned in protest, trying to turn over and pull the comforter over my head. “Stop, Em. Not time to get up yet …” The alarm hadn’t even gone off.
“Momma, get your butt out of bed. Miss Marti is on the phone. Something’s wrong with Amanda.”
I rolled over to see my daughter leaning over me in her pajama tank, hair in a cloud of wavy tangles, with the phone in her hand. I took the phone, my stomach already knotting. “Hello?”
“Charlie,” Marti’s unsteady voice came through the speakers. Please, don’t let this be bad. Please … “We’re at the hospital. Mandy”—she broke off with a sob—“tried to kill herself this morning.”
Amanda was one of the ash victims. She was also supposed to be under guard like the others.
“Where?”
“We’re back at Grady.” The same place Amanda had been taken a couple months earlier when ash had begun making its way into the population, when she’d ingested it out of teenage curiosity, and was later found lying on the bathroom floor of Hope Ridge School for Girls. My daughter’s school. My daughter’s good friend—older, yes, but those two had developed a sisterly relationship in the years since Marti and I became friends and carpoolers.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I ended the call and got out of bed. Em stepped back and watched me jerk my shirt over my head. “Get dressed,” I said. “I know you’ll want to see her.”
The breath she’d been holding released in a long whoosh. “Come, Brim.” And then they were gone.
I stepped to the bedroom window, praying my SUV had been dropped off like Hank promised. Thank God, it was there. I dressed quickly. I could hear Em’s racing footsteps on the stairs, the sound of the back door as she took Brim outside to the kennel, and then her heading back to her room to dress.
Twenty minutes later, we hurried into the hospital and up to Amanda’s floor, passing a nurses’ station and heading a few doors down to where a plainclothes officer stood against the wall. He straightened as we approached.
“You were the one guarding her?” I asked.
“Who are you?”
Badge out. “Madigan. What happened?”
Red tinged his eyes. Unshaven. Dress shirt wrinkled. The guy could use a coffee or two. He stared over my shoulder for a moment, gathering his thoughts, and then opened his mouth, but the door to Amanda’s room clicked and Marti poked her head out.
“You’re here. Come on in. Titus is here, too.” She stepped back, opening the door wider. Emma went first. Marti gave her a gentle smile and a hug.
“Give me a sec,” I said to the officer and went side of the room.
Atlanta’s resident genius, the man who’d discovered the alternate dimensions of Elysia and Charbydon, stood as we entered. I could tell he’d come from the lab, most likely working all night as usual. Titus also happened to be Amanda’s uncle, and with his brother, Cassius, having fled the country after his involvement in the production of ash came to light, Titus was the only one left to help pick up the pieces and lend support to his abandoned niece and sister-in-law.
He was a better man, by far, than Cassius had ever been. The incredibly wealthy scientific empire Titus had built on the foundation of his discovery over a decade ago hadn’t gone to his head. He was constantly working, constantly trying to invent better things and help our world deal with the influx of off-world immigrants and the crime factor that came along with it. Titus had invented every single one of our weapons, and he’d streamlined a better portal device to compensate for growing inter-world travel. The terminal here in Atlanta was the biggest and busiest, but there were terminals now in all the major U.S. cities.
Marti returned to the chair by Amanda’s bed. She still wore her pajamas, a matching set of soft pink silk pants and top. I didn’t know how she managed to look put together even here in this situation, but she did, as always. Only the tight line of her lips and the haggard look in her eyes gave her away.
It was easier to focus my attention on them first and not the girl who lay in the bed—Amanda.
But it wasn’t so for Emma. She went right to her friend and placed her hand over Amanda’s. “Is she going to be okay?” she said, looking at the array of monitors, the thick neck bandage, and the oxygen mask covering Amanda’s nose and mouth.
“She’ll be fine,” Titus spoke up, sliding down his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. “The restraints are for her protection.”
I turned to Marti. “I’m going to talk to the officer. I’ll be right back.”
I could’ve asked them what happened, but I didn’t want to put Marti through telling the tale. I closed the door behind me and walked a few steps away, motioning for the officer to follow. Then I turned and waited for an explanation.
“It all happened so fast,” he said, guilt eating through his voice. “We did everything we could think of … got rid of every razor and knife, took all the doorknobs off the doors. She was never alone. Marti even sat in the bathroom while Amanda showered. And then this morning …” He rubbed a hand down his face. “She shoved a plastic protractor from her book bag into her jugular.”
“Christ,” I said on a faint breath of shock.
He rubbed a shaky hand down his tired face.
“There’s no way you could’ve known,” I told him. There was only one way to stop something like this from happening again. I walked away from the officer and hit the chief’s number.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Chief, it’s Charlie.”
“You at the hospital?”
“Yeah. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That an eight-by-ten holding cell looks pretty good right about now.”
“So let’s round them up, get them all into the station. Whatever strings you have to pull, whatever lies you have to tell them, just get them into a goddamn cell, like now.”
“Already working on it. We’ve alerted the guards we have out there as to what’s happened, and have personally made contact with the ash victims. Most of them are coming in on their own after this latest … attempt. I’ll handcuff and drag the others if I have to. They can sue us later.”
“And Bryn? Have you talked to Bryn?”
“She’s on her way in.”
Oh, thank God. “Thanks, Chief. And will you send a fresh officer to the hospital? Amanda’s guard is here now and the guy could use a break.”
“Will do. Is Titus there yet? If we had a cure for ash, our problems would be solved …”
“I know.” Without ash in their systems, they’d be strong enough to force out an unwelcome spirit. “He’s here, I’ll talk to him.”
And then I proceeded to fill the chief in on the sylphs. He was just as thrilled with the idea as Rex, but he also knew the stakes. And he believed in me. “Christ Almighty,” he breathed through the phone.
“If Titus doesn’t come up with a cure soon and we can’t get an exorcist here … this is the only option we have to identify the ones in danger.” Not to mention an option that I had to see to the very end. The process had already been started. Neither Alessandra nor Nivian had stated the facts and then let me decide beforehand. I was underwater, drowning, before I accepted the first gift, not even knowing what that really entailed, not knowing the elements would kill me if I didn’t complete the process. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t back out now. Even if a cure was found, I still had to complete the sylphs’ ritual.
“For God’s sake, just be careful. The warlocks are bringing Bryn in now. So just focus on the job at hand, all right?”
“I will.”
After I hung up, I headed back to the officer. “Thanks,” he said, and I knew he meant the request for relief. I hadn’t exactly been whispering on the phone.
“Sure. Why don’t you go get a coffee or something? I’ll stay until you get back.”
He gave me a nod and walked off. The guilt pouring off that guy was pretty heavy. I had no doubt he’d done the best he could … I just wished we’d corralled everyone sooner.
Titus stepped quietly from Amanda’s room, his shoulders slumped, his look weary. He removed his wire-framed glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose again, and then slipped them back on. His brown hair was a mess as usual and he needed a shave and a cut.
Titus’s rise to fame and fortune as the genius who’d discovered “heaven” and “he” had come in his late twenties. The guy was in his early forties now and was still going strong, still making new discoveries, modifying his inventions, and growing his scientific and research empire.
“How close are you close to finding a cure?” I asked him, my voice as tired as he looked.
“Close. We’ve been testing a type of Elysian seaweed. It looks promising. So far it’s breaking down the Bleeding Soul extract found in ash. That extract is the active ingredient in the drug. It’s quite remarkable. Once it’s introduced into the system, it bonds to the neural pathways in the brain. Once there, it begins to fade, to break down all on its own, but it starts breaking down the brain, too. Which, as you know, is why we have to keep giving the victims ash in small, regulated doses. But if the Bleeding Soul is neutralized or made to turn on itself, destroy itself without destroying anything else, then … then maybe they’ll be free.”
“And this seaweed does that? Breaks down the Bleeding Soul without harming anything else?”
“In a petri dish, sure. I have yet to move my tests to live subjects.”
“We’re running out of time, Doc. If you can cure them of the ash addiction, they’ll be strong enough to fight off what’s inside of them.”
“I know, Charlie.” He let out a weary sigh. “I know.”
As we stepped back in the room, I saw that Em had taken up Titus’s earlier position on the other side of Amanda’s bed.
“Can I stay here for a while?” she asked as soon as she saw me. “I don’t have school.”
“I can drive her home later,” Marti offered. “I’ll have to go home and change at some point anyway.”
I met my daughter’s eyes. They were hopeful, soft, worried … “Sure. You can stay.” I turned to Marti. “Rex should be home, but have Emma call him when you’re on the way. I don’t want her home alone.”
Marti nodded, and my chest ached for her. I knew what it was like, to fear for your child’s life, for your hands to be tied, and there was nothing you could do but wait. Mentally and emotionally, it was the toughest thing I’d ever had to deal with.
Emma crossed the room and gave me a tight hug, which I returned wholeheartedly. She gave me strength and she didn’t even know it. “You’re wearing all your amulets, right?” She nodded. “Good. I’ll see you after work, then. Call me if you need to.”
I paused in front of Marti, unsure. Wanting to give her some words of comfort, some support; but I froze up. I didn’t know what to say to make her feel better. First Amanda had almost died from ingesting ash, then her husband had been involved with the drug—using one of Titus’s labs to manufacture it into an easily ingestible form—then he’d fled the country, leaving his wife and daughter. Now this …
“She’s a strong kid. She’ll be okay,” I said, feeling my words were so inadequate, but needing to say them anyway. She gave me a grateful nod.
On my way out, I stopped at the nurses’ station, flashed my badge, and told them to keep Amanda in the restraints. She wasn’t to get out of that bed, not even to use the bathroom. It was catheters and bedpans until we figured this thing out.
Amanda might be the one in restraints, I thought as I walked out of the hospital, but it sure as hell felt like it was my hands that were tied. I paused just outside of the main doors, glancing up at the rolling darkness above me. My mood was gray like the sky.
How do I fix this?
Ash had only been on the market for a few weeks before we’d gotten it taken off the streets, but in that short time it had long-lasting, devastating effects. All because of some stupid flower—the Bleeding Soul, Sangurne N’ashu, an extremely rare, bioluminescent flower from Charbydon.
Cassius Mott was gone, Mynogan was dead, and the only other person of the three responsible for putting ash on the market was Grigori Tennin.
And he was right here. In my city.
And he was about to get another visit from a very pissed-off, potentially divine ITF officer.