Dust + Ashes, page 42
“Go,” she urged, her voice little more than a hoarse growl. “I’ll hold them for now, but you need to hurry.”
“She’s turning into one of those things,” Daggett said. He turned a hand toward her, fire kindling between his fingers. “She needs to be destroyed along with the rest of them.”
“No,” Benjamin growled. “Leave her. If you kill her, the rest of the creatures will attack again, and we don’t have time to destroy them all right now. Just go, while they’re incapacitated.”
Becky shook the iron shackles at the bearded man in warning. Daggett lowered his hand, but he didn’t look happy about it. He shot another dark glare at Benjamin before waving his recruits to follow him down the curving road to the materials storage site.
Benjamin took a shuddering breath, feeling a mix of anxiety and anticipation. Sarah’s shield had grown so thin. She felt so close now, despite the physical distance separating them, and it was her anticipation mingling with his own emotions. She felt ready; to close the Rend, to end it, to be free. He had to be ready, too. Thankfully, the overwhelming presence of so many lost souls had been quieted, at least for now. He could focus again.
“What about them?” Becky asked, gesturing to Melanie and Officer Howard. While the older woman looked far worse, the policeman had regained a measure of his humanity.
“I’ll stay with Mel,” Valerie said. “I’ll keep her safe. Keep her focused.”
With some effort, Melanie lifted a shaking hand and took the other woman’s hand. “Thank you.”
“Guys...” It was Tia. She was staring ahead at the wall of trees. “It’s so quiet.”
She was right. A moment ago, there had been gunshots and roaring flames, but now it was dead silent. There was no buzz of insects or birdsong in the trees, not even a rustle of wind-tossed leaves. The air was still. But Benjamin could still hear a thudding in his mind, the Greater’s pulse, as well as Tia’s soothing hum, and he knew he had to stay with her.
Abruptly, there came a distant, pained cry. The voice was young, sounding neither male nor female. But Tia’s eyes widened.
“RJ,” she said and yanked her baseball bat free from the fallen abomination. She darted for the trees straight ahead.
“Tia, wait!” Benjamin ran after her, waving the others forward. “Come on.”
He was several yards beyond the tree line when a wave of vertigo slammed into him, almost causing him to stumble. He felt pulled, as if by gravity or magnetism, onward, and struggled to stay upright. He felt as if he might suddenly blast off if he ran too fast and take off flying into the sky. The trees stretched up over him, distorted and billowing. Behind him, the others seemed to be experiencing the same plummeting sensation, galloping forward in leaps and bounds. The pulse of the Greater thrummed louder the deeper he ran, the primordial energy within him reacting to it; his heart pumping, his blood pounding in his veins, every cell in his body alive and attuned to it.
He burst abruptly from the elongating trees onto the shore of Keener’s Lake. Ahead, Tia stood several yards away, face ashen, staring toward the pristine I of the new campus, all glass and white stone, on the opposing shore. Her hum washed over him, a relief.
“You see this?” she asked. “You see what I do?”
Scattered across the surface of the lake were dozens of viels standing upon mirror-smooth water. At its center was Catherine Greene, surrounded by her most loyal followers. RJ stood at her side, Dr. Lane at the other, and Eddie, looking almost inconsequential, lingered behind them all, head down as if regarding his reflection.
Benjamin didn’t think this was what Tia had meant. Most of what he was seeing wasn’t real, but the illusion was impressive. He could make out its edges, the foundation of the glamour’s construction, but the closer he examined it, admiring that construction, the more he saw through it. With the help of Tia’s hum, he focused and the truth of what it revealed made his blood run cold. Behind them, Becky, Ray, and Fox burst from the trees, while more of their allies emerged after them.
“You’re too late, Crows,” Catherine called. Her wicked, lacquered claws tightened on RJ’s shoulder. “Let’s say ‘hello’ to your sister, shall we? Hello, Tia! Won’t this be a fun reunion, but—Edmund, I don’t see Sarah with them.”
She glanced back at her brother. Eddie lifted his gaze but didn’t respond and, instead, held out his hand, palm up. The water of the lake rippled. An immense whirlpool began swirling around them. At its eye, below Eddie’s hand, the surface dipped, sinking into the depths while waves lapped violently against the shore. Benjamin grabbed Tia’s arm, pulling her away from the water, but they were sinking, down and down. Around them, the distorted trees loomed even taller, flexing with each terrible pulse of the Greater’s Will. The glamour was disintegrating.
Catherine cackled. She flicked her wrist and pointed at them. “Kill them.”
At her command, the Lesser raced across the surface of the vanishing water. There was no water, never had been; the lake was long gone. They were at the bottom of the excavated cavern, their harrowing trip through the trees little more than a glamour-aided free-fall. Overhead, a construction crane jutted out over the hole, while a lattice of scaffolding riddled the walls. Several latecomer Crows still running through what they’d perceived as forest screamed as the glamour lost its hold. Gravity reasserted itself, and they plummeted straight down the slopes of the pit, some tumbling, a few managing to control their slide, but all landing hard on the stone below. The viels no longer had reason.
Eddie was standing over the well, drawing up a dark miasma from within. It spilled over the sides, causing the stone to char and smoke wherever it touched. It oozed over the ground, lava-like.
The closest Lesser screamed and launched itself at Becky, who looked dazed from her haphazard journey into the glamoured pit. But her reflexes were solid, and she blasted the creature with a fireball, stopping it mid-jump. It hissed and crashed down to the muddy, rocky ground as the rest rushed past.
“Get down!” Benjamin yelled. “PELTHEL!”
A burst of pressurized air pushed back the advancing force, holding them in place while the other Crows and Blackwing regained their ranks. The effort to maintain it made it hard to breathe, but Benjamin persisted. By the Rend, Catherine was still laughing.
“This is futile but amusing!” she called. “And remember, darlings, I want to see Tia’s corpse, so whoever gets there first—”
“I’m right here, you old hag!” Tia cried. She pushed past Benjamin and Ray, making herself clearly visible. “Let go of my brother!”
RJ reacted to this, struggling against his captor for an instant, before suddenly relaxing, slumping against Catherine’s side in an almost affectionate stance. The viel patted his head.
“I don’t think he wants to leave me,” she said. “I quite think he—”
Something metallic smashed into the ground several feet from the Crow lines, interrupting her, and a thick plume of lavender smoke billowed out of it. Benjamin looked up. Metal canisters were falling toward them—purification grenades thrown by Daggett and his crew still up top.
“Look out!” Tia cried and pulled Ray away from one of them. They hit the stone and bounced, snapping open to release more smoke.
It had an immediate effect on Lesser. They began coughing and gasping for breath. Their scales started to swell as if welts, and some began juddering back and forth between their monstrous and human forms. Several collapsed.
“Fall back!” Catherine screamed. “Stay out of the smoke!”
Benjamin exhaled and relaxed his spell, reflexively wiping his nose. Several more canisters smacked down; wherever they landed, the miasma and corruption retreated toward the well. The smoke held the viels by the well, but it dispersed quickly. They only had a moment to regroup, and Benjamin still felt nothing from Sarah.
There was a grinding, mechanical sound from above, and he glanced up in time to see several of Daggett’s recruits preparing a second barrage. The construction crane lurched into position directly over the well. Hanging from it was the large payload of the purification bomb.
“Get up there and stop them,” Catherine ordered. Several of the Lesser that had not been affected by the smoke ran for the wall and began climbing.
“We can’t let them reach the top,” Evander Martin said.
“I got it,” Benjamin said, but Fox held up her hand.
“Allow me. Don’t waste energy you’ll need for closing the Rend,” Fox said. She smiled and closed her eyes. “Yáahl. Wáanuug. Hawíid.”
Nodding, Ray gestured to his Blackwing mystics. “Fan out. Blast anything that gets close but stay the blazes out of that oozing crap.”
“Right, that goes for everyone,” Becky said and pointed to Fox. “Stay with Benjamin and Tia. Everyone else, when the second barrage starts, be ready to charge as soon as there’s an opening. The Blackwings will provide cover while we rescue RJ.”
“And Lane,” Ray added, his gaze drifting toward the doctor. “And remember to use valerian: they’re enthralled.”
From the opening above came a raucous cawing. Hundreds of black birds appeared, circling the pit. Then, together, they dove in. The larger of corvids aimed for the Lesser, pecking at where their eyes should have been. Swarms of smaller birds surrounded the ones crawling up the walls, impeding their progress. One of the viels lost its grip and slammed into the rock below, moving slowly as it recovered.
“How much longer?” Tia asked, glancing at Benjamin. “Can you close it yet?”
Benjamin frowned. He sensed Sarah, but she didn’t feel ready. She didn’t even feel like she was at Blackwing anymore. She felt simultaneously a million miles away and yet almost within arms’ reach. It was strange, unnerving, and a prickle of fear threatened to throw off his focus—what would happen if Sarah didn’t hold up on her end? But there was something else in their connection that quashed his budding fear, a sudden, unexpected swell of joy and pride and—
He hissed in a breath, feeling as if every molecule of oxygen had been squeezed out of him. Like he’d been dropped in a vice; a freezing cold hammer against his back and the warmest, fiercest embrace he’d ever experienced, both crushing him from opposing sides.
The ground bucked. Cracks appeared in the stone around them, radiating from the well. Cries rose from the Crow ranks as they struggled to keep their balance. The swarming birds scattered. Benjamin reached out, feeling as if his arm was disconnected from the rest of his self, and steadied Tia.
“Ben?” she said. “What’s happening?”
He couldn’t respond, caught between the antipode as he was. He stared at the well. Darklight glared out of it like a blackhole. He couldn’t breathe and he couldn’t tear his eyes from it.
A wrenching noise echoed into the cavern from above, followed by frustrated shouts. The crane had stalled, its payload swinging precariously. The few viels that had managed to keep climbing through the flocking birds had almost reached the top, and Daggett’s crew was busy fending them off. Suddenly, there was another, strangled cry and one of them—Nhilven, Benjamin thought—came hurtling down. Both Blackwing mystics, Lottie Zazou and Frankie Iglesias, reacted fast, throwing up a force field to cushion the man’s fall. Nhilven slowed as he impacted against it and bounced off, hitting the ground hard near the wall behind the viel lines. Rolling over, he gave a blood-curdling howl of pain, his leg at a wrong angle. Several of the viels started toward him, claws twitching to finish the job.
“NO ONE MOVE,” Catherine bellowed, drawing all eyes to her. She was still gripping RJ’s shoulder, stroking his dark curls with her other hand. From his grimace, neither was a gentle touch. She scanned the crowd, disappointment crossing her face. “Birds, smoke, salt, and fire? Did you think all this would stop us? Is this your whole plan? Pathetic!”
“Ma’am,” Dr. Lane said. “The injured man—”
Nhilven’s screams echoed around the cavern, the sound becoming twisted and unearthly. The ground trembled again.
“I’ll take care of him,” Eddie said. He moved toward the fallen Crow, the corruption from the well swirling around and sticking to him. It spread like a chemical spill again now that the smoke had dissipated, the barrier between the two groups gone. Benjamin glanced up; the crane was still motionless. He no longer heard yelling from Daggett’s crew.
“Get away from me!” Nhilven spat as Eddie approached. His face was a mask of agony as he tried to crawl away.
“Still hurting from our fight in the bunker and now this,” the viel said, looking over him. “You’re having a rough day, bud.” He waved a hand, and the spreading corruption oozed over the Crow. Nhilven screamed again, twitching as it sank into his flesh, and he began to mutate. “Relax, let it take you. You’ll be just the first of many today.”
“Edmund,” Catherine called, studying the Crows. “This is all fine and dandy, but your daughter’s still a no-show. You said she’d be here.”
“She will,” Eddie said, shrugging. “I didn’t say she was with them.”
His sister didn’t look convinced. “Inept as usual. But it’s not a complete loss.” She turned and smiled at Tia, the scar on her face twisting it into more of a leer. “Tia, sweetie. It’s so nice you could join us with all your little Crow pals.” Her fingers clamped down on RJ’s head and began twisting it sideways. The boy cried out in pain. “You and I have a score to settle. Come here, or I’ll twist your brat brother’s head off like a bottle cap.”
Tia snarled and took a step forward, but Benjamin grabbed her hand, holding her back. Something was about to happen; he could feel it. “Wait,” he said. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Cathy,” Eddie said. He was watching Nhilven’s transformation, almost bored. “Is this necessary?”
Catherine rounded on him, indicating the hand-shaped scar on her cheek.
“This is her doing, Edmund,” she hissed. “Of course it’s necessary.”
“Holding onto a grudge?” he asked. “Isn’t that exactly the sort of behavior you always said made me a weak leader? Accusing me of acting on human emotions and such.”
His words had an effect. Catherine recoiled and somehow went even paler, save for two scarlet dots on her cheeks. Abruptly, she laughed.
“Oh, dear brother,” she said. “For once you’re absolutely right! Maybe I’ve been too harsh a critic toward you all these years. It is hard to ignore such strong, human emotional impulses, like petty vengeance.” She considered this a moment, fingers flexing on RJ’s shoulder. The ground shook again, and Benjamin felt a queasy lurch in his stomach.
“You always said the Edwards were a thorn in our side, even more so than the Crows,” Eddie said. He walked back toward her, gesturing around the cavern and finally, at RJ. “Sarah will be here in a moment. No need for hostages or vengeance anymore. You can just kill them all, like you always wanted, and I’ll allow it this time, starting with the kid.”
Catherine’s eyes narrowed, and she pulled RJ closer, almost protectively. She looked around at the Crows, and again at Tia, a sneering smile coming onto her face before looking back at her brother. “I think I’ll have it both ways, dear brother. I have such great plans...” She turned, and RJ yelped as she dragged him to the edge of the well. She glared at Eddie, a challenge in her eyes, before transforming into her Lesser form. Then, she didn’t have eyes any longer. “All my enemies here in one place, what a treat. You’ll all die, but only after knowing utter defeat.”
“Cathy,” Eddie warned. “I’d step back if I were you.”
The scarred viel barred her teeth. “You and your daughter are not worthy of the honor of being Blood. Sarah’s not here. She’s derelict in her duties. Another failed experiment. And since she was born, you’ve been an all-but-useless redundancy. Obsolete. Now, I’ll finally accomplish what you’ve been incapable of all these years.”
She hoisted RJ over the well. The boy shrieked. “I am the Greater’s greatest servant. With this clairy stock, I will birth a new Greene Legacy and see the Greater’s plans through to fruition. I will be made the mother of the perfect Vessel, stronger and more powerful than any that have come before, and we will finally achieve our paradise.”
Catherine let RJ go.
Where was I?
I WISH I COULD COME back and see you. That’s what I’d love to do, but I don’t think it’s time. Not yet. Maybe not ever. I hope that’s not the case, though. As I said, I miss you like crazy.
I miss it all. Because where you are is beautiful. What you have is beautiful. I feel like I never really got to experience that beauty, despite all the opportunity. I wish I could be there with you, but I don’t want to tarnish it. I’m still working on being the best version of myself. Whether you remember or not, I know how dangerous it is to try and force things back to how they were. And I don’t want to force something that no longer fits together. We’re still healing. You. Me. All of us.
Boy, I sound like a self-help book. “Love yourself before you love others.” Yeesh!
This is embarrassing. Maybe I should start over? Why am I even still writing this?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Compression
LILIAN’S MEMORIES AND thoughts filled Sarah’s mind as she battered back against the encroaching corruption. Hopes and failings, happiness and suffering, all the experiences that had comprised the woman now hanging on that spire. Even now, Sarah could feel her mother resisting the Greater’s tortures. She remained defiant; her natural fortitude compressed into a diamond-hard resolve that had yet to yield to its efforts to break her. It would, eventually. Despite the assurances of jewelry advertisements and James Bond movies, diamonds aren’t forever. Nothing truly is, but that doesn’t mean they still aren’t tough as hell.
And that’s my mother, Sarah thought. She made me. Not the Greater, though she could feel that bit of her raging inside, too. Bits and pieces of genetic material from Lilian Fenhauer, Edmund Karlsson, and the Greater itself, all cobbled together, all screaming defiance to that which would try to extinguish them, to make her who she was. But that wasn’t all. She thought of Marcus, Tia, and RJ, of her friends Rosie and Alex. She thought of Grams and Nana Dora, of Benjamin and the Crows in Hope Falls, and all the people and estranged family she had In Blackwing, all the places she had lived in and called home over the years. All of it—her physical being, her experiences and wisdom, her secret knowledge, and something else, something that was none of those things and all of it at the same time that burned at her very core—was her. She was not just the Greater’s Vessel, not just some tool or extension of it. She was different from the other Blood, more human, more herself, because she was born of this woman on the spire, conceived naturally, and not just another mutant clone of a long dead romantic. Though all of that was a part of her whole, too. She was Sarah. Sarah Fenhauer. Sarah Greene. Sarah Edwards. Sarah.
