Lord of the Feast, page 22
“Looks like I’ve managed to piss them off, but that’s about it.”
“One of us will have to stay out here and work the mirror while the other goes in and gets the parts. We won’t be able to make the shadow rats leave the unit – they’re too addicted to being near the arm and leg’s power – but if we’re fast enough, we can keep them at bay so we can liberate the parts.”
“If we’re fast enough.”
“You’re young and can run faster than I can,” Haksaw said, “so you should go in.”
He held out his hand for the mirror, but Kate didn’t hand it to him right away.
“How do I know I can trust you to keep the light shining on the rats? This would be an excellent opportunity to get rid of me. Then you’d have the right arm and leg, the eyes, and the torso.”
Haksaw gave her an exaggerated hurt look that would’ve been comical if the circumstances had been different.
“I can’t believe you would say such a thing!”
“Right. I’ll stay out here and you go inside.”
“How do I know I can trust you? You want the torso. Don’t deny it; I can feel it. You could just as easily kill me, then you’d have all the parts.”
Kate wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that she’d never hurt anyone before, and she didn’t intend to start now. But her cold practical side wasn’t so sure. Haksaw was a killer, not some innocent who’d gotten swept up in all this. Who knew how many more people he might kill before he finally died? By killing him here and now, she’d be saving the lives of his future victims. While the rats were devouring his body, she’d be able to get the arm and leg, and exit the storage unit before the creatures could attack her. Then she’d close the door and drive off with her two prizes – three, if you counted the torso – and let the rats finish their meal in peace.
Her thoughts must’ve shown on her face, or perhaps it was a case of takes one to know one, because Haksaw smiled and his eyes glimmered with darkness.
“I like the way you think, Kate.”
Horrified and ashamed, she thrust away all thoughts of killing Haksaw. She may have been born a Shardlow, but that didn’t mean she had to behave like one.
“Looks like we have a stalemate here,” Kate said.
“Looks like,” Haksaw agreed. He didn’t sound upset about it, though. If anything, he sounded amused.
“I guess it’s a good thing I showed up then.”
Kate and Haksaw turned to see Lee walking toward them. Kate wanted to play it cool, but she was so happy to see them that she ran to them, threw her arms around them, and gave them a big kiss. When she pulled away, Lee laughed.
“You weren’t supposed to do that until after I said I’m sorry.”
“How’d you get here?”
“Took an Uber then climbed over the outside fence.” Lee glanced into the open storage unit and frowned. “What the hell are those things?”
“Shadow rats,” Kate said. “And they’d rather we didn’t take their friends away. They don’t like light, so we were going to reflect a beam into the unit and scare them away from the parts.”
“Is that my rearview mirror?” Lee asked.
“We needed it,” Haksaw said.
Lee shot the killer a dirty look but didn’t reply.
“We were just about ready to try it,” Kate said.
“Now that there’s three of us, it’ll be a lot easier,” Haksaw said. “I can shine the beam inside, and each of you can run in and grab a body part.”
“I don’t think so,” Kate said. “Lee can work the mirror while you and I go in.”
Haksaw looked at Lee doubtfully. “I don’t know….”
“Lee won’t let the rats get at you. There’s too great a risk that they’d end up getting me, too.”
Haksaw thought for a moment, then smiled.
“Makes sense. But I’m only doing this because the torso wants to be with the rest of its family. Don’t get me wrong, I like you. You have a lovely torso of your own.” Haksaw looked at Kate like he was imagining sawing off her limbs, and she shivered. “But all I care about is getting those parts out of there. Understand?”
“It’s every woman or serial killer for themselves. Got it.”
“You know,” Lee said, “this would be safer if we used fishing poles. We could shoot a sunbeam in there to drive off the rats, cast our lines, hook the towels, and pull the arm and the leg out.”
“It’s a good idea,” Kate said, “but I don’t think we have time to run to a sporting goods store and buy some. Ethan is going to show up here probably sooner rather than later, so we need to get those parts out now. Unless you happen to have a couple fishing poles in your trunk….”
“I’m afraid not. Okay, so it’s the mirror by itself then. Let me practice with it a few times.”
Lee stepped closer to the entrance, and as Kate had done before them, they tilted the mirror at different angles to learn the best method of reflecting sunlight onto the shadow rats. After much angry hissing and scratching of rodent claws on concrete as the creatures fled and returned, fled and returned, Lee announced that they were ready.
“Stay close to the sides of the unit until you’re ready to grab the parts,” they said. “That way you won’t block the beam any more than you have to.”
Kate nodded, then she looked at Haksaw.
“Ready?”
Haksaw grinned. “On your mark….”
Kate couldn’t help grinning back. “Get set….”
Lee got into position and raised the mirror.
But before any of them could act, the roar of a car engine came from the direction of the gate, followed by the sound of crashing metal. Someone had broken into the facility, and Kate didn’t have to guess who.
Ethan had arrived.
Chapter Thirteen
“Remember, we can’t hurt Kate,” Ethan said.
“Why is that again?” Mrs. No asked.
“Because both sides of the family have to be present during the Incarnation.”
Ethan was merely repeating what his aunt had texted him. He didn’t understand why this should be so, and he hoped No wouldn’t question him further.
“I don’t really get magic,” Mr. Yes said.
That makes two of us, Ethan thought.
As they approached Stronghold Self-Storage, Yes pressed the accelerator to the floor.
“Think we can break through the gate?” he asked, grinning.
No grinned back. “It’ll be fun to find out.”
Ethan grabbed hold of the back of No’s seat to brace himself. He really hated working with these two.
Yes swung the Mercedes into Stronghold’s driveway, then gripped the steering wheel tight as the car raced toward the metal gate. Ethan was certain that the gate would hold and the Mercedes’ front end would crumple like tissue paper, but one teeth-grinding impact later, the gate burst open and they were in.
“I’ll be damned,” Yes said. “I didn’t think that would work.”
“Live and learn, love,” No said.
“Remember, we’re looking for unit 342,” Ethan said.
“Row three, unit forty-two,” Yes said. “Got it.”
The numbers were prominently displayed on the end of each row, and Yes quickly found Number Three. He turned the Mercedes into the aisle, and Ethan saw the silver Camry – the one he’d watched drive away from High Strangeness – parked near an open storage unit. He grinned.
Gotcha! he thought.
As Yes raced toward the Camry, Ethan saw three people standing near the open unit. Was that Kate? She looked so different, but…yes, he saw the little girl he used to know in the shape of her face and the color of her hair. He felt an unexpected pang of sadness upon seeing her. They’d been close once, best friends, really. And now they were on different sides of a small-scale war whose outcome would determine the fate of all who lived. Life sure was weird sometimes.
Ethan didn’t recognize the other two people.
“Hey, that’s probably Haksaw!” Yes said. “What the hell is he doing here?”
“Who cares?” No said. “The Gods of Blood and Death have smiled upon us this day, sweetie. If Haksaw is here, so’s the torso.”
Ethan was elated. Once they were finished here, he would have the Lord’s left and right arms, the right leg, the eyes, and the torso – and of course, Caprice had the head in the Repository. That meant he’d only have the left leg and the brain to retrieve. Easy-peasy.
Earlier, he’d slipped his two knives into the storage pocket on the back of No’s seat. He drew them now and gripped their handles tight.
“Pull up behind the Camry,” he said, “and let’s get this over with.”
* * *
With a sinking feeling, Kate watched as the Mercedes – its front end badly dented – parked by Lee’s car. She was acutely aware that they were armed only with a broken rearview mirror, and although she’d never held a gun in her life, let alone fired one, she wished she had one now.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“Stay quiet and don’t move,” Lee said. Before Kate could ask what they intended to do, Lee began walking toward the Mercedes.
“Don’t!” She started after Lee, but Haksaw grabbed hold of her arm and stopped her.
“There’s a scent on Lee,” he said. “Like Shadow but not Shadow. I don’t know what it is, but there’s more to that one than meets the eye.”
“Let me go!” She struggled to pull free of Haksaw’s grip, but the man was too strong. All she could do was watch Lee approach the Mercedes and hope her partner wasn’t throwing away their life for nothing.
Three people emerged from the vehicle – a man and a woman wearing suits and holding handguns, and a younger man in a white T-shirt armed with a pair of knives. Ethan was ten years older than when she’d last seen him, but she recognized him right away. The thing that had changed about him the most was his expression. She remembered him as a normal kid, smiling, laughing, joking. This Ethan’s face was expressionless, eyes cold as the grave. God, what had Caprice done to make him like this? She had no idea who the other two people were, but she didn’t need to know their identities to recognize they were dangerous. It was in their hard, calculating gazes and the relaxed way they held their weapons, as if the guns were part of their bodies. She noticed the tip of the woman’s left pinky finger was missing, the wound uncovered. What was up with that?
Lee stopped when they were within five feet of Ethan and the suits. The latter trained their guns on Lee, but they didn’t fire.
“Who are you?” Ethan asked. “I like to know the name of the person I’m about to kill.”
“I’m Lee Taylor.”
Kate was impressed by how calm Lee sounded. They were obviously tense, but not pants-wetting terrified, like she was right now.
Lee went on. “I’m an Observer for the Unbroken Court, and I invoke my right to Aequus.”
Ethan frowned. He looked to the two suits and they shrugged. Then he turned back to Lee.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It’s Latin. It means fair, balanced, equitable. Although I suppose in this instance, the best translation would be level playing field.”
From above came the sound of movement, and everyone looked up to see what was causing it. Everyone but Lee. They kept their gaze focused on Ethan and his two companions.
Figures leaned over the edge of the rooftops on either side. There were a dozen in all, men and women, different ages and races, all dressed normally in everyday casual clothes. They said nothing, but their expressions were grim. Then one of them – a big guy in a loud Hawaiian shirt – waved a hand, and the blue-suits’ guns and Ethan’s knives jerked out of their hands and flew upward. Several other knives jumped out of the suits’ clothes and streaked upward to join the other weapons. People on the roof caught the deadly objects as they ascended and then withdrew. The man in the Hawaiian shirt gave Lee a stern look before he went.
“Who the fuck were they?” Ethan said.
Lee turned back to look at Kate. “That’s all the help they’re going to give us. We’re on our own now.”
Kate had no idea what had just happened, but she understood that Lee had somehow given them a fighting chance, and they couldn’t afford to waste it.
“Come on, Haksaw! It’s time to do what you do best.”
“Take care of my love?”
Kate didn’t bother explaining. Either the man would figure it out or he wouldn’t. She started running toward Ethan and the suits, and as she passed Lee, she said, “After this is over, you and I are going to have a talk!”
Lee started running alongside her. “Agreed!”
Ethan remained standing and watched them come. The suits, however, weren’t so patient. They ran forward to meet Kate and Lee, savage grins on their faces, as if they weren’t upset about the loss of their weaponry, but were actually grateful for it. They’re born killers, Kate realized, and they didn’t need guns or knives to do their work. It suddenly looked like a frontal assault wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had. A thought came to her then.
The woman’s wounded finger is the most logical first point of attack.
When the black-suited woman reached her, she tried to drive a knifehand strike into the side of Kate’s neck with her right hand. But Kate, moving faster than she ever had before, ducked, grabbed hold of the woman’s left wrist, pulled it to her mouth, and bit down on her wounded finger close to where it joined the hand. The woman screamed and reflexively tried to jerk her hand away, but Kate bit down harder, her teeth cutting through flesh and hitting bone. The hot metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, and for a moment she feared she might vomit, but then she thought, It’s just blood. It can’t hurt you, but the woman whose body it’s flowing from can. She blocked the blood-taste from her mind, and thrust the heel of her hand upward toward the woman’s face. It collided solidly with her nose and made an extremely satisfying crunching sound. Blood sprayed from the woman’s nose, and she made a thick, liquidy gah sound. She pulled backward, and the rest of her pinky finger came off with a tiny pop-crack, the severed digit remaining in Kate’s mouth like a cigarette made of flesh and bone. Kate turned her head and spit the finger onto the ground.
While the black-suited woman was distracted, Kate risked a quick glance to see how Lee was doing. The answer: surprisingly well. As far as Kate knew, Lee had never taken any martial arts classes – they’d never mentioned doing so, anyway – but now they were blocking the blue-suited man’s attack strike for strike. Lee had an expression of fierce concentration on their face, but there was absolutely no sign of fear in their eyes. This was a side of Lee Kate had not only never seen but never suspected existed. She had two simultaneous and very different reactions to this. She had never really known Lee at all, and she couldn’t believe how hot they looked kicking ass.
Bright light flashed behind Kate’s eyes as something hard collided with her left jaw. It took her a split second to realize that the black-suited woman had punched her. She took a couple stagger-steps to the side and stood there, unable to believe what had happened. She’d never been hit before, and she was as shocked by the experience as she was by the actual pain of the blow. The woman – blood streaming from her nose and wild fury burning in her eyes – brought her bleeding hand around for a second knifestrike, going for the neck once again. Kate began to bring her arm up, hoping to bat the woman’s hand away, but as soon as she started, she knew she wouldn’t be fast enough. Could the woman kill her with a single blow? Given how galactically pissed off she was, Kate thought she probably could. She was surprised by how little the prospect bothered her. If she died, at least she wouldn’t have to deal with her family’s fucked-up legacy anymore.
Then Haksaw stepped forward and slashed his hand down toward the black-suited woman’s. She cried out in pain, blood sprayed, and Kate saw the woman no longer had any fingers on her left hand, just her thumb. The woman stared at the four bleeding stumps with shocked disbelief. Haksaw held up his hands, and Kate saw that lines of serrated bone now thrust outward from the pinkies to the wrist. They were moving rapidly back and forth, making chkk-chkk-chkk-chkk-chkk sounds.
Haksaw grinned. “Look what my love gave me.”
Kate had wondered if long-term exposure to the torso had mutated Haksaw. Now she had her answer.
Kate realized then that she didn’t know what Ethan was doing. Was he readying an attack? No, he was standing by the Mercedes, not doing anything, just watching.
He’s waiting for his moment, a voice inside her that both was and wasn’t hers said.
Lee and Mr. Blue-Suit were still fighting, neither able to gain an advantage over the other. As they’d fought, they’d moved in front of the open storage space, and they now stood only a few feet from its edge. The shadow rats had gathered close by, coming as near to the sunlight as they dared, crimson eyes shining with anticipation. Kate decided to do the little monsters a favor. She ran toward Mr. Blue-Suit and shoved him as hard as she could. He stumbled away from Lee and across the boundary between outside the storage space and inside. That was all it took. The shadow rats swarmed, engulfing him in a surging, clawing, biting mass of darkness, and he screamed. The black-suited woman, her wounded hand pressed against her side to staunch the bleeding, cried out as if she were being eaten alive as well.
Kate stood next to Lee, watching in fascinated disgust as the rats did their grisly work. She caught a flash of movement in her peripheral vision then, and her first thought was that Ethan had decided to attack while they were distracted. She was half right. He had chosen to act, but instead of coming at them, he ran past and into the storage unit.
