The Afterlife of the Party, page 21
“What—”
But before I could finish, I was being yanked back out.
“Ow!” I said.
“We were saving you,” said Zira.
“No,” I said, smiling devilishly. “We’re going in.”
I reversed the grip so that instead of Zira holding on to my elbow, I was gripping her forearm. I reached over to Crowley and grabbed the lapel of his black suit jacket. He started sputtering, but before he could really work up a protest, I gave Lilith a Let’s go head jerk and pulled my hostages through the non-wall.
“What is this?” asked Crowley as Lilith tumbled in after him.
“Isn’t it incredible?!” asked Aleister.
The room was filled with fae of all types. Some high-court like Morgan and Rowan but others more humanoid, with fur and four legs and long tails, but eyes that showed shrewd intelligence, and loud voices. Colored lights swirled around the room like at a nightclub, and pillows, cushy chairs, and elaborate thrones filled the room. And it wasn’t just the fae, although most of the group was. In this hidden room there were some black- and even occasionally white-feathered wings.
“Is this a pocket dimension inside a pocket dimension?” squeaked Zira.
“That seems unstable,” Lilith said.
Unstable or not, it was a real party, jovial and loud, with people extending greetings like they hadn’t seen each other in ages. I was sure we were going to be kicked out as soon as the adults noticed that a bunch of kids had invaded, but I was determined to enjoy it as long as we could. The music was way better.
“Is this supposed to be music?” asked Zira.
“This is what music should be,” Crowley said. “Experience and learn.”
Now, this felt like a reunion, and I imagined that if Heaven and Hell hadn’t spent eons viewing the other as enemies, this would have been what this mixer was about. But too much time had gone by and too much animosity had built up, and now this reunion was a diplomatic mission going awkward, at least for the angels.
Or at least most of the angels.
Who were these angels here who seemed to be besties with the fae? When did that happen and how could I get that job?
“There’s no way this is legal,” said Zira. “I mean, look at the ceiling, smell the air. This is a separate pocket dimension attached to the one we’re supposed to be in. We should leave.”
“No way,” I said. “Not until we get kicked out. Besides, creating this probably caused a bit of a glitch, right? So that mystery is solved.”
“Actually,” said Crowley, “that’s probably true. Now we just need to wonder what happened to the Purgatory reps.”
Having an explanation for the glitch led us to drop our guard more than we should have. We should have been more worried about why Purgatory hadn’t shown up, but we were kids, and if the adults weren’t panicked, why should we have been? There were people responsible for this stuff, and it wasn’t us.
Besides, it wasn’t like Purgatory was required to attend, like Heaven and Hell were. It was completely optional for them, and maybe the mortal world had gone off the rails again and Purgatory had been inundated with souls. It could have happened. It certainly had before, and Sean and Charity were definitely dealing with something. Anubis was probably just busy.
“… wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“… stop? Everything will be fine. Just—”
If there was one thing I was attuned to, it was the conversation of trouble, and that was conversation about trouble. It didn’t even matter that it was in some weird fae language I had never actually heard before. I could tell it had swooping lyrical sounds that blurred and blended even in the harsh tones they were using. But when you’re from one of the great hereafters, there’s no such thing as a language barrier, and I understood every word.
“How did you think it was going to happen?”
“Obviously there will be collateral damage.”
I glanced around, never able to resist gossip, and looked directly into a red pupil set in a black sclera. The red pupil narrowed, slit-like in annoyance. The eyebrow piercing glinted in the party lights, and I jerked my head away, which was stupid because I had already been caught, but maybe whoever owned the eye would agree to pretend that I hadn’t been eavesdropping.
“Hey!” said a voice.
I jumped back from the face that was suddenly inches from mine. I was already thinking up excuses before I realized that the irises were purple, and not the ones that had seen me eavesdropping.
“How old are you?”
“Uh,” I said. “I mean, I was invited.”
I took a step back, but the six-legged fae just shifted from standing on four legs to standing on two and leaned in closer.
“You look too young to be in here,” he said, before leaning his serpentine body backward. “But what do I know? You all look the same.”
“I think that’s offensive,” Zira whispered behind me. “Is that offensive?”
“Who cares?” exclaimed Aleister. “Besides, if he can’t tell us apart, he can’t get us into trouble.”
“I don’t think we can get in trouble,” Crowley said. “I mean, our parents literally brought us here.”
“They didn’t bring us here-here,” I said, scanning the room without being too obvious. I hadn’t seen whoever had been speaking to Red Eyes, but there was no one looking at me to make me think that person was still here or had noticed. Brimstone. A flash of black fabric caught my eye, and I turned to see someone striding through the wall.
“You were absolutely right, Angus,” said Professor Jophiel to the six-legged fae. “They are much too young to be here.” Jophiel turned to us. “I believe Cassandra set up a kids’ area, or if you’re not happy with that, you can find your parents.”
“Ah! No,” said Aleister. “Definitely not with our parents.”
“Is there a reason why we shouldn’t be here?” I asked, deciding to be brave. “I mean, we weren’t told anything was off-limits.”
“Pretty sure the hidden door was a message,” Jophiel deadpanned.
“Oh, our briefing didn’t tell us we had to stay in any one zone,” Zira piped up. Jophiel looked surprised. “I mean, they didn’t brief us on secret rooms, though….”
“Consider this a—”
And then the glitch we had experienced in the kids’ zone was seriously outclassed. The walls disappeared, the party lights died, and the dense nothingness of the void pressed in around us. The music changed to screaming and even a few roars.
“Run!” yelled Jophiel.
He shoved me toward the opening. At least I assumed it was him. I was jostled into Lilith, and I steadied her as I frantically looked to make sure our squad plus one was intact. Most people were shoving toward the portal where this room attached to the larger pocket dimension, while others looked like they were trying to stabilize the room. I wasn’t going to wait to see if they succeeded.
“C’mon,” I yelled, pulling Crowley with me. He had stopped like he was going to try to use his own magic to help. I didn’t know if he was capable of it, but I wasn’t letting him risk his life in the attempt.
“Brimstone!” he swore. “Fine, let’s go.”
We moved as well as we could through the crowd, the portal flashing as each person made their way through. The color flashed gold around Lilith’s wings, and then I was following through the light, pulling Crowley with me. But people were still rushing around here as well. The larger pocket dimension might have been more stable, but something was happening here, too.
“Come on,” I said, catching a glimpse of a black cloak flapping in the breeze.
The area was crowded, so I ran for a few steps before launching into the air. My friends called after me, but I kept flying. I knew I’d seen something suspicious, and I was determined to find out more. My intuition was screaming at me to follow, follow, follow.
So I did.
THIRTY-SIX
The floor beneath me was a mass of confusion, between those running around attempting to fix whatever was going on, others standing around bemused or assuming other people would deal with it, and of course my black-cloaked target weaving between them and any other obstacles. And now that I was really looking, I was startled to realize that this wasn’t just some random black cloak. This cloak was the same one I had seen at home. Over and over again.
I had seen it outside my house when I was checking the mail with my blue-flamed look, it had been at the concert on the stranger talking to Morgan after the world shook and the sky had turned strange, it had been on the stranger that hadn’t waved back when I was walking home from Lilith’s. I knew, without a doubt, that it had been the same one every time.
I was so focused on giving chase that when I first heard the flap of wings, I assumed it was my friends. When the voice came, I almost dropped from the sky.
“Which one?” asked Professor Jophiel. Was this guy everywhere?
“Um,” I said. “I was just—”
“Oh, unholy darkness, Malachi,” groaned my teacher. “You’re not in trouble. Which one are you following? You heard them plotting. You heard the Order of Puck agent, didn’t you?”
“I—I think?” I said, sparing a glance at my professor beside me, who just rolled his eyes. “Black cloak with a hood.”
“I don’t see… Lead the way.”
Uh, okay, then. I had barely been keeping an eye on my target, but I had managed to stay on top of the black flap of motion, even if I hadn’t gotten a better view of the wearer. I was worried my frantic flying would draw attention, especially with a teacher by my side and my friends following, but nobody seemed to pay me any mind. Maybe being with an adult made it seem like we were doing what we were supposed to.
It was only seconds later that I realized where we were going. The fountain. The portal. It had to be, right? But why? Were they trying to escape? I didn’t even know if they had done anything. I just knew that they were up to something, and that whatever their plotting had intended, it had gone wrong. And I didn’t think they’d just been plotting an illicit party.
Then we were there. The fountain was beneath us, and it was an odd combination of us giving chase and casual partygoers. I guess the glitches hadn’t affected the whole event. I lost sight of my target as they slipped through a group of black wings and suits, but then they turned, and bloodred pupils in black sclera bored into mine.
My wings must have been on autopilot, because the fact that I didn’t drop to the stone was amazing. The glare coming from those eyes was filled with power, but where I might have expected anger or rage, there was just curious calculation and not a small amount of irritation.
In the moment before the figure turned away again, I caught a fuller view of the fae. Sharp pale cheekbones on red skin and small twisted golden horns filled out a feminine face. And there on the shoulder of the cloak was a very familiar symbol: the Order of Puck. Professor Jophiel was right, but what did that mean? Social club, or world-ending danger?
“Stay here,” snapped Jophiel, and for once I listened.
Jophiel dove into the crowd, sending others fleeing with shouts of protest. I expected the fae to run, but she didn’t, and now that she had stopped moving, I realized how small she was, despite her having a presence that seemed so much more powerful. The fae stood as Jophiel closed the distance, and in the instant before he collided with her, she smiled.
Now I did drop from the sky, as the room burst into a swirl of color and screams. The air filled with sparks as a griffin of flame launched itself into the air, roaring like a dragon. I wasn’t sure that was the sound griffins normally made, but it was suitably terrifying, though maybe not as terrifying as the people around me seemed to think. I even saw a few powers scrambling at the peace bonds on their halos.
I stumbled to my feet and saw the fae take advantage of Jophiel’s distraction to twist out of his grasp. She slipped through the chaos to head for the portal. I wondered if I should follow, and turned my head to check in with my squad, only to see Crowley igniting his magic, Aleister and Lilith getting into a fighting stance, and Zira slowly backing away, her mouth dropping open in shock. I looked back up at the griffin, which was swooping and diving and roaring and very much not real.
“C’mon,” I said. “The fae went to the portal. We should follow.”
“What about that?” Lilith asked, pointing at the griffin flapping its wings over our heads.
“It’s a glamour,” I said. “Why is everyone freaking out?”
“That is real!” shrieked Zira. “Something else must have crossed over.”
“No, it isn’t,” I said, now completely confused. “That’s just a glamour, but that fae is getting away!”
“How do you know?” demanded Professor Jophiel. His halo was in hand, and he was still throwing suspicious glances toward the griffin, but he had stopped and was actually listening. To me. “How do you know it’s a glamour?”
“Can’t you see it?” I asked.
The griffin was loud and majestic. The wings dripped flames, the claws flexed, and the tail swished angrily, but the beast looked like it was a holovid superimposed onto reality—well, as close to reality as a pocket dimension could be.
Why was I the only one who seemed to realize that?
The griffin wasn’t here, and given the red-eyed fae’s smile right before it appeared, I assumed it was her magic that had conjured it. But then again, I had heard an argument at the illegal party, an argument between people who knew about whatever was going on, which meant there were other people involved. Other people who were potentially still with us, terrifying almost everyone with a make-believe monster.
A flare of red magic shot toward the griffin, while a halo sent sparks showering over all of us as it hit the wall opposite whoever had sent it flying. The glamour swooped and dodged, but I didn’t understand how no one else had noticed that the halo had gone right through the wing, without doing any damage. There were shouts and arguments breaking out, and the light from the portal flared as a black cloak made it through.
“It looks real to me,” Jophiel said. He seemed to argue with himself for a moment, before he turned and looked at me. “Go! Follow them. I’ll deal with this.”
“But don’t you think I’m the bad guy?” I blurted.
“Why would I think that?” he asked, and he was so confused that I wondered if rather than coming to a pocket dimension, I had inadvertently ended up in an alternative timeline. “We need people who can think for themselves, who are fearless and know who they are. We need more people like you, so I expect more from you.”
What? His pointed looks and glares were what? Support? Encouragement? Had he not seen me repeatedly changing my look, my distinct inability to fit in? Jophiel thought… that I mattered? That more people should be like me? I wasn’t actually a colossal screwup at this? Unholy night!
“Now go,” he snapped. “This is going to get ugly.”
And it was certainly getting ugly. The griffin roared, and the room was filled with smoke and fire. None of these were things griffins could do, but no one seemed to be considering that, because infernal and celestial magic was sparking up everywhere. Where were the rest of the people from Faerie? I didn’t know why no one else could see what I did, but I knew that this was a glamour, and I knew that if there was a chance for the illusion to end before everyone destroyed everyone else, we would need a fae to end it.
“Are you sure it’s not real?” Zira asked.
“Positive,” I said. Red Eyes was getting more and more of a head start. If we were going to stop whatever she was doing, we needed to go now.
But just as I went to follow, I was jerked back and to the floor, and before I could get to my feet, I felt a hand at my throat. When I was able to focus, I saw that it wasn’t Red Eyes or an angry adult. No, it was someone even more annoying.
“Call that thing off,” snarled Rachel.
I jerked myself out of her grip.
“It’s not mine,” I said. “And I really don’t have time for this.”
I turned, but Rachel’s friends had separated me from my squad and, maybe even more important, from the way Red Eyes had gone. Brimstone, Rachel was awful! We didn’t have time for this, but before I could completely freak out, Rachel was swept off her feet.
“Oops, sorry,” said Sidney from on top of Rachel, who was barely visible, squirming and making zero progress to get out from under the enforcer.
“Don’t even think about it,” snarled Azael from behind me. I turned. He spread his wings as he advanced on Rachel’s friends, and it wasn’t just him but Parisa, too.
Azael looked over his shoulder at me. “We’ve got this. Do what you need to do.”
“I owe you one!” I shouted, already moving through the gap. I only hoped that my new friends—yeah, definitely friend-friends—had come to the rescue in time.
“Let’s go!” I said as I reached my squad plus one.
“So, we’re going through that portal?” Crowley asked.
“Wait, really?” Zira asked, eyes wide.
“We are absolutely going through that portal!” Aleister said, with more enthusiasm than the situation warranted.
“Well, then, let’s go,” Lilith said. Crowley jerked his head in a sharp nod.
The smoke all around was thick and glittery, but even though others seemed to struggle to see through the haze, I didn’t have any trouble at all.
The fountain burbled delicately as we approached. The clipboard-wielding guards were long gone, no doubt throwing themselves into the fight behind us, and to my horror, the portal was closing. In a fraction of a second I debated whether I should follow and chance getting stuck in what was either a space between or Purgatory itself. But I thought back to the chill in my gut as those red eyes had met mine, to the instability in the worlds, to Sean and Charity missing and possibly in danger, to the graffiti on Glamourie’s wall, to Rowan’s cryptic words, and to my professor apparently thinking not only that this was a problem but that I could do something about it.
