Bound by Light (32 page)

Menacing figure
. A hot rush of anger shoved the vestiges of her recent dizziness out of Merilee’s consciousness. Her teeth slammed together at the thought of the Stone Man.

This was proof, then. Absolute. Incontrovertible evidence that he was real and here in New York.

And sooner or later, coming for me.

Her hand burned to touch Jake’s talisman, and she hated herself for the urge.

What about the Keres? Are they coming for me, too? Damn. Damn! I can’t think about that right now.

Mother Keara picked up Mother Anemone’s thread as the two once more stood together on the opposite side of the table from Merilee. "We think this might be . . . a final battle. The last battle with the Legion, win or lose—though we don’t understand the details, the specifics. It’s as if the instigator’s plan isn’t yet fully formed."

The door opened, and Andy escorted Mother Yana into the conference room, holding the older woman’s elbow for support. Mother Yana had left her walking stick propped in the corner of the conference room so she would attract less attention when the OCU and the NYPD regular units snuck her into the basement at Alvin Carter’s headquarters. For that same reason, the elderly Russian paragon had her usual riot of white hair pulled back in an austere bun, and she was dressed in casual American street clothes.

An unarmed Mother wearing blue jeans and a short-sleeved white blouse was about the strangest, most unnatural thing Merilee had ever seen. Even stranger was red-haired, ultramodern Andy wearing the canary yellow robes that identified her as a water Sibyl.

Merilee would have laughed just to blow off a little steam if Mother Yana’s face weren’t so tense. Hectic red spots marred both of her cheeks, and her breath came shallowly with each jerky step she took under Andy’s guidance. When Mother Yana saw Merilee sitting at the conference table, unmistakable relief shone from her wrinkled face. "Good, good, oh, thank the Goddess. I feared for you, child. There vas poison in that room, poison meant for air Sibyls above all others."

Merilee sat up straighter, along with everyone else.

Andy helped Mother Yana get seated across from Merilee, and then Andy pulled up a chair for herself and sat by the Mother. Beside them were Mother Keara and Mother Anemone, and Riana and Cynda took chairs on either side of Merilee.

"It must not have vanted you dead," Mother Yana continued, her wolflike eyes bright with concern and certainty. "If it vished to kill you, you vould not be here. Hydrogen sulfide gas, mixed with a powerful, powerful bit of elemental containment and other energies I could not analyze. Very tricky. Very . . . elegant. Keyed to release in small measure vhen you vere present, then flow in earnest once there vas no air Sibyl present."

Merilee thought about the unnaturally bright and strong traces of sulfur. An unusual elementally locked trap, one
she
had sprung just by showing up? "So, when I arrived, my presence released the poison?"

"A bit. A tiny bit—but vith it being gas, vith it being borne by the air, you vere more vulnerable."

"Sibyls are exquisitely sensitive to poisons carried in their element," Mother Anemone explained to Andy, who looked extremely confused. "We’ll succumb to a very small amount, much too tiny to cause a reaction in most humans."

"Until there’s a shitload," Merilee said, thinking about the thickly coated dirt that had spilled into the basement. "Bela reacted, too, but only after a lot more gas entered the room."

Mother Yana nodded. "And after your Jake removed you and my Bela, the snare tightened." She raised a gnarled hand and curled her fingers, making Merilee shudder. "Only Jake could survive in the poisoned air, since at base, he is not human."

"Jake didn’t kill those techs," Merilee mumbled. "I did. In a way."

"A monster killed them." Mother Yana spoke like an elementary school teacher, albeit with a heavy accent. "A true monster, I fear. My initial tests suggest this creature may have unusual energy. The capacity to stir unrest and discord vherever it goes. It may
feed
on human misery and distress, like vhat is happening in your streets of New York City as ve speak. Riots. Beatings. Panic." She turned her gaze on her fellow Mothers. "Keara. Anemone. I cannot be certain, but ve must entertain the possibility, ve must face the probability that ve are dealing with an Old Vone."

The shock on Mother Keara’s face was unmistakable, as was the horror conveyed by Mother Anemone’s expression.

"There can’t be an Old One in New York City," Mother Anemone said so quietly Merilee barely heard the words. "Here. Now. In the modern age. You must be mistaken."

Mother Yana shook her head. "The traces vere very strong, and I do not believe any other creature could have vorked the elemental snare. It vas too complex, even for the best of Sibyls. The energy I sensed—it vas ancient. More ancient, by far, than our Sibyl orders."

At the same time, Cynda and Riana both asked, "What’s an Old One?"

Andy, who was uncharacteristically dry, kept quiet, but she went back to looking confused.

Merilee was confused, too. "One of the original paranormal entities on Earth," she said. "A natural demon, not created, but present before the first human life appeared on this planet." She couldn’t understand how that was possible. "Our records say all the natural demons were wiped out before recorded history began."

Mother Yana opened her wizened hands. "All things considered, this vone vas not."

"There are mentions of natural demons roaming the Earth in recorded history, actually," Merilee said, fighting back a resurgence of her earlier light-headedness. "Many ancient texts, like the Bible and the Kabbalah."

"Many Sibyls believe we ourselves are the descendants of the Kabbalah’s Lilith and her unions with natural demons," Mother Anemone said, looking thoughtful.

Mother Keara grunted and banged the table with her small fist. "Too much theory. Always with the theories, you air Sibyls. If we’re to go dealing with an Old One, what are we going to
do
?"

Mother Yana frowned at her. "Vat ve alvays do. Analyze. Plan. Implement. Ve vill discover the nature of this monster, kill it, and have done vith this chaos."

Her confidence flowed around the table like elixir, briefly raising Merilee’s spirits until she thought about her nightmares of a destroyed New York, of Sibyl fighting Sibyl, of herself being consumed by a giant, man-eating ibis. Then she thought about Jake, somewhere out in the city, miserable and without his badge, the only thing that had defined him other than his talisman since he came to awareness as an Astaroth.

Does he know I care about him?

She squeezed her hands together to remove all temptation to let them get anywhere near the talisman around her neck.

Please don’t let him shift and be lost to me forever.

As she sat straining to master her own impulses, something occurred to her about her dreams and the terrifying ibis. As succinctly as she could, Merilee shared what she and Jake had discovered at Phila Gruyere’s apartment.

"Yes," Mother Anemone said, her eyes growing brighter after Merilee gave the details of the fight with the god. "We have to assume that all the strange happenings in this city are related to the presence of this Old One."

"Like the exodus of the paranormal practitioners." Riana leaned back in her chair, folding her hands over her rounded belly. "That makes a lot more sense now."

"And the disappearances," Merilee agreed. "Especially Phila’s. Maybe she was summoning that protective fire Loa to send it after what she thought this monster was. That Egyptian god Thoth, the one in the book she placed at the center of her vévé. Could we be looking for Thoth?"

"It is possible—but most of those older gods were simply representations," Mother Anemone said. "Bits of the true essence of natural demons the culture encountered or remembered."

Mother Yana’s wolf eyes grew wide now, probably calculating a hundred possible avenues of attack against this creature. "Yes. Old Vones did not have determined form. They could change at vill, except in the element that spawned them."

Andy tugged at the neckline of her yellow robe, her expression definitely more law enforcement now than Sibyl Mother—which Merilee actually found comforting. "So Thoth," Andy said, "might be only part of this—this
true
demon’s persona?"

"Yes, exactly." Mother Anemone reached over and gripped Andy’s hand. "Very good."

"And we might be looking for a creature that can shift his appearance any time it chooses." Cynda massaged her temples and let off a new round of smoke. "Shit."

"There’s more." Merilee shifted uncomfortably in her chair, trusting her instincts but still feeling a shade idiotic, putting her thoughts about this into words. "I think it’s trying to breed."

Everyone at the table stared at her, openmouthed.

She ignored the agitation building in her chest and plunged ahead. "That’s the only thing that makes sense. The stuff in my nightmares all points in that direction. The practitioners who have disappeared, they’re all very powerful—like Phila. And all female. Like it’s handpicking stock to produce its next generation."

Mother Anemone’s clear blue gaze fell on her, and Merilee saw the light come on in the Mother’s face. "Your dreams. This creature—he has his sights fixed on you as well?"

"Well, that’s not happening," Riana said immediately, punctuated by Cynda’s "Oh,
fuck
no."

Water trickled from the sprinkler above Andy’s head. "I’ll drown the son of a bitch if he gets anywhere near you."

"I’m certain he tortured Derek Holston to learn about our weaknesses. Air Sibyls, I mean." Merilee stared at the table in front of her. "I think he used that weakness to get my attention. That he’s trying to scare me. Wear me down, so maybe he can grab me when my defenses are low."

"No, no, no, no." Riana’s voice was firm, like her quick grip on Merilee’s shoulder. "I don’t care what he—it—thinks, or what it’s trying to do. Screw that, Merilee. And I don’t care how pregnant Cynda and I are. We’ll be right beside you."

This time when Merilee lifted her hand to touch the talisman, she stopped her fingers just inches away from the leather-shielded ring hanging between her breasts. "How many more people will die if it doesn’t get what it wants?"

The conference room door burst open.

Freeman strode in, his expression more thunderous than usual. "We’ve got an emergency. The Jamaica Bay ranger triad was on its way here with everyone else, to figure out how we’re going to deal with this media exposure, but we lost contact with them around Hell’s Kitchen."

"Lost . . . contact?" Andy’s voice sounded as weary and shaky as Merilee felt.

"They didn’t check in, and they’re not responding to that wind chime–tattoo communication you guys do." He pointed to the inside of his right forearm, then frowned.

Bela Argos came into the room, looking more upset than Merilee thought possible for the normally stone-faced earth Sibyl. "We’ve checked everywhere," she said, panic edging through every word as she stared at them with wide, fierce eyes. "They’re missing."

(25)

Bartholomew August couldn’t help smiling as he stood on his balcony and gazed at the increasing tumult in New York City.

Sunset.

The perfect time for a riot.

He took long, slow breaths, drinking in the fear, soaking up the unrest, which was growing stronger by the moment. As he took in the delicious energy of conflict, he released it back to the universe in stronger, more targeted waves, striking every human energy form he could find.

Let the chaos come.

Let anarchy and commotion build now and grow until he chose to calm it—for his own purposes.

He imagined even the Sibyls were agitated by now, since they would have heard about their missing warriors.

Thus far, his plans were working out to perfection. Soon he’d have New York, and as a bonus, all the Sibyls he had chosen—especially Merilee. Oh, especially her.

He turned from the balcony to find the woman and the boy waiting. Just standing and waiting for his commands.

"Go back to the Sibyls," he said to the woman, but she shook her head.

"The streets aren’t safe." She kept her eyes on the floor in front of her, but her voice had that harsh carny’s edge again. "I won’t make it, and you’ll be losing your spy."

"I trust you to be resourceful, my dear." August tried to sound patient despite the sudden burst of rage pounding through his human form. "I require additional assistance with the air Sibyl since I can’t reach her myself."

The woman finally raised her head, and when she did, August was amused by the defiance and resolve marking her withered features. "I don’t want to go there anymore. I’ve betrayed the only friends I’ve ever known—the only ones to be kind to me. So you can kill me now and have done with it. That’s all I’m worth, after what I’ve done."

August reached her in one stride and struck her with enough force to drive her to her knees, but he held back on breaking her jaw. If he damaged her, she couldn’t perform her duties, and as of late, her observations and reports had proved beyond useful.