Destroyer Rising (29 page)

“Nixie’s queen?” I said as the blurrier parts of the
puzzle started clicking together in my head. “Then the attack in
Saint Louis could have been a setup for Alexandra. If she drove a
wedge between us, one of Nixie’s closest allies would be suspect.
Fuck.”

“Alexandra,” Beth said. “She doesn’t know. She’s not
safe!”

“Where is she?” Zola asked.

“She went with Hugh.” Beth looked at me, and then
Zola. “I’ve known her for years. She’d never do that.”

The old Cajun nodded. “I believe you.” I recognized
Zola’s tone. She was suspicious of any Fae, and not without good
reason. “The important thing is that she is safe. Hugh will tell
her more of the Kansas City attack than we know.”

Aeros shifted and shook the earth. “Alexandra is
cunning and quick. You need not fear for her.”

Beth traced the line of on old scar on her forearm.
“I hope you’re right.”

“You are safe too, child,” Zola said.

“Aside from all the Fae that want us dead,” Sam
muttered.

I blew out a breath. “Oh, and I thought that was
Camazotz sitting next to you.”

The Old God smiled and crossed his arms. The eyes on
his tattoo glowed red for a split second. My skin crawled.

I let the door to the cabin slam behind me as I
walked back out to the stone circle. “I told you we had some.” I
held up a box of graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows.
Six long poles made for grilling S’mores were tucked under my arm,
and I kicked a case of bottled water out next to Zola.

“Why don’t we stop for some real food on the way
home?” Sam asked. “We have time if we leave now.”

“Dell loves his S’mores,” Zola said, taking one of
the poles Dell had left at the cabin and a water from me. “Samantha
is right. You should get a decent meal. Drink as much water as you
can before the ceremony tonight.”

I opened a few of the chocolate bars and laid them
out. “Oh, funny story I forgot to mention, Zola. I met Graybeard in
the Burning Lands.”

She spat water onto Aeros and froze. The Old God
blinked.

I laughed through a smile. “You know he captains the
Bone Sails in the Sea of Souls? Not bad for a dead parrot.”

“A dead
parrot,”
Zola said, regaining her
composure. “You used a soulart on that bird when you were what?
Eleven? Twelve? Andi didn’t need more strangeness in that house. It
was a choice between sending him to the Burning Lands or killing
him. Again.”

“So you sent him with Ronwe.”

“How did you …” Zola started to ask as she narrowed
her eyes, and then she sighed. “That bird always did talk more than
he needed too. Ah’m still not telling you why that demon owed me a
favor. Ah gave her my word, Damian. Let us say Mike is not the only
demon to have had a change of heart in his existence.”

I could respect that, even if it didn’t answer all my
questions. I’d have to pick at it again when I got her alone. “Have
you heard from the Old Man?”

“Yes,” Zola said. “Ward has joined him in Falias. Ah
do hope they are safe.”

Camazotz harrumphed. “Leviticus is likely safe, no
matter his situation. And they have Edgar. He is an excellent ally
in a conflict such as this.”

Zola gave a quick nod and shoved her pole into the
campfire. “Either way, we cannot afford to divide ourselves between
Missouri and Falias. Not without more allies.”

Aeros’s eyes flared. “You want me to join
Leviticus?”

“No,” Zola said. “Ah want you to guard the commoners
from their own military. People have been killed. People who have
no ties to this conflict.”

“I will be seen,” the Old God said.

“Yes, and Ah hope that is all it takes to end the
bloodshed.”

“Where?” I asked, wondering where Zola wanted Aeros
to be.

“Near Main Street. Take up a post at the corner of
Adams Street by Death’s Door. Block the tanks.”

“The commoners may see that as an act of war,”
Camazotz said. “Or they may attack Aeros out of fear.”

“No,” Zola said. “His presence will
prevent
attacks. And if they do attack him? You think some paltry tank can
face an Old God? Rubbish. You saw what the Leviathans did to those
weapons.”

A part of me could only stare at Zola, watching her
take charge. Camazotz leaned forward, listening to her words. He
clearly valued her opinion, and it made me wonder what had led the
pair to this point. How had they known each other?

Another part of me traced the darkened scar on the
Old God’s arm, where Gurges had cut Aeros in our final conflict
with Philip, when we lost Cassie. I took a deep breath. Too many
questions and not enough answers.

“What of the dragon scales in your satchel?” Camazotz
asked, turning to Ashley.

The priestess straightened in her seat and leaned
away slightly. “What?”

“I can feel them,” Camazotz said. “I have not felt
rune tiles such as those since the wars of old.”

Ashley squeezed the black leather pouch at her side.
“Mike gave me some, along with several rune tiles.” Her eyes
flicked to Zola. “He said to keep them away from you.”

“Ah swear that demon can’t take a joke,” Zola
said.

“You were totally going to destroy those,” I said. “I
remember when he bought them at that farmer’s market. You weren’t
joking.”

“Perhaps,” Zola said, not really responding to my
statement. “They are dangerous things, Damian. Far more potent than
an ordinary chunk of Magrasnetto.”

“Have you been warned about their power?” Camazotz
asked. “Any strike you make from the Blade of the Stone will be
amplified tenfold.”

I remembered the cloud of death that had eaten away
cars and men and stone when Ashley struck with that art. I tried to
imagine what ten times the power would look like, and I
shivered.

Beth pulled a pole out of the fire and started
picking at a S’more.

“I hope to never use them,” Ashley said. “But
understand that I won’t let my coven be destroyed by Fae, or
anything else.”

“Some believe your coven was lost the instant you
took up the nine-tails,” Camazotz said. “Legend of your powers has
grown and rumors have spread far to the west and south. Far enough
that I knew of it before Zola told me you were an ally.”

“They are
fools,”
Ashley said. “My coven is my
family, and the few who could not stand it have already left.”

“Be wary of strangers who come to visit your coven,”
Camazotz said. “I speak this only as a warning. There are powerful
Fae who would see you cast out.”

Ashley stared at Camazotz for a short time, the only
sound the crackling of the bonfire and the grinding of stone when
Aeros moved his head.

I lifted a smoking pole out of the fire and made the
mistake of sitting it next to Foster.

“Gimme.”

“Hey now—”

He’d stuffed three bites into his face before I could
so much as finish a sentence. “It’s so good.” The fairy inhaled and
I could see his pupils widening. “I need more. Just one more bite.
Maybe two. Nice weather tonight. Who built the bonfire?”

I groaned and dragged my fingers down my face.

“Hey bug,” Sam said, “how about we go on patrol?”

“Patrol?” Foster said as he zipped into the air.
“Yes! Yes! Patrol! March, two, three, four.”

Sam mouthed
you’re welcome
as she walked
toward the cabin, a pale blur zooming around her head.

“Some things do not change,” Camazotz said. “The Fae
can’t handle their sugar.” He looked away from Sam and Foster and
focused on me. “It has been a long time since Anubis walked upon
the earth,” Camazotz said.

I picked up the remnants of my S’more and started
chewing on it. A bit charred, but still gooey and chocolatey and
smoky.

“What does he mean?” Beth asked.

“Damian is the seventh son of Anubis,” Ashley
said.

“What? Like the god?” She laughed a little, blowing
her breath out through her nose.

“Ezekiel was Anubis,” I said quietly.

“No. He was not.” Camazotz pointed at me. “He may
have been worshipped as a deity, but he was not. You are a true
inheritor, a mantle bearer. Ezekiel was a corrupted monster in
every way.”

“He originated the bloodline,” I said, sticking
another S’more into the bonfire. “That’s all I’ve ever heard.”

Camazotz slowly shook his head. “The god who was
Anubis died long before Ezekiel’s time. He set the bloodline in
motion. Ezekiel was the first to inherit the gifts, and Leviticus
the second.

“There is an old magic in the world, Damian, bound up
in prophecy and time and what some would call destiny. You can
embrace it, or let it destroy you. It can consume everything you
are, or open the door to worlds you cannot yet imagine.”

“Destiny,” Zola said, drawing out the word. “There is
no destiny here. There is only life. Pray you learn that before the
end.”

“A series of coincidences, if you will,” Camazotz
said. “Nonetheless, events that were set in motion thousands of
years ago are affecting us today. How do you not call that
destiny?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said.

Camazotz started to protest, but I cut him off.

“No, listen. It doesn’t matter if this is destiny or
coincidence or events setup by some sadistic pre-ordained puppet
master. I’ll fight to protect the people I love, and I’ll die for
them if I need to. That’s all I need to know. That’s all anyone
needs to know.”

Camazotz frowned at me.

“Ah said you’d like him,” Zola said.

A small smile lifted the god’s lips.

“He’s one of the greatest friends I’ve ever had,”
Ashley said. “I’ve seen him kill for his friends, and I’ve seen him
do everything he could to save them. There is no one I’d rather
have at my side.”

I turned to Ashley, nearly speechless. “Thank you,” I
finally said.

Ashley nodded and squeezed Beth’s leg.

I held out a fully toasted S’more to Camazotz. He
frowned at the gooey mess as he pulled it out of the holder.

“Trust me,” I said.

“Don’t always trust him when it comes to food,”
Ashley said. “He’d eat a tire if it was seasoned right.”

“Umm, no I wouldn’t,” I said. “Rubber comes from
plants. That basically makes tires really durable vegetables.”

Camazotz bit into the graham cracker and chewed. He
nodded and held up the sandwiched marshmallow. “It is a good food,
but I have yet to find anything that rivals the cacao drinks of
ancient times.”

“Perhaps because it was a gift of worship?” Zola
asked. She lowered her voice and raised an eyebrow. “When they were
worshipping you? Ah would suspect that might earn your favor.”

“Not the traditional ceremony, but yes. It happened
at times.”

“Gifts,” Aeros said. “I have never understood the
need for physical gifts. I awake in the morning to see the earth
and the sky. There is little more I need.”

We sat there for a time, quietly eating our S’mores
and listening to Sam shout at Foster in the distance.

“Gaia offered a gift,” I said into the silence.

“What kind of gift?” Zola asked.

“I don’t know, exactly, but she says I can take her
power to help fight the dark-touched.”

Camazotz leaned back into his stone seat. “Take the
powers of a Titan into a mortal body?”

“At what price?” Zola said. “It could kill you
both.”

“It gets stranger. She said the only being that knows
how is Tessrian.”

Zola frowned. “We still have her bloodstone?”

“I already talked to Tessrian and promised to set her
free, to lead her back to the Burning Lands.”

“Why?” Zola asked. “It is a generous pledge, but what
favor do you owe that demon?”

Part of me was relieved Zola hadn’t started
screaming. Maybe I expected that more because we were at the cabin.
“Tessrian told me how to use the Key of the Dead to enter the
devil’s enclave.” I glanced between Zola and Camazotz. “And Gaia
says Tessrian knows how to transfer Gaia’s power to me.”

A slow smile showed on Camazotz’s face. “You intend
to return her to the Burning Lands, so long as she shares that with
you.”

I nodded.

“A bold manipulation that may only serve to get you
killed.”

“Welcome to my average weekend,” I muttered. Someone
squeezed my shoulder and I jumped. Sam stood behind me, watching
Camazotz. Foster snored on her shoulder.

“Tessrian will have no real concept of time inside
her prison,” Zola said. “Remember Gaia’s offer in case we need it
for the coming battle, but for now it is not worth the risk.”

“Agreed,” Camazotz said.

Beth watched me until I lifted a brow. Then she
stared at Camazotz before turning her attention to Zola. “This is
what you do? Plan ways to hurl yourselves into the paths of
oncoming trains?”

“An apt analogy,” Camazotz said.

Zola nodded. “I rather like that.”

Beth shook her head. “Cornelius was right. You’re all
crazy.”

“You have no idea,” I said before I paused. “Well, I
guess you have some idea now. Welcome to the club!”

“We should go,” Sam said.

I nodded. “I only have one other question. What do we
do with Vicky?”

“What do you believe is right?” Camazotz asked.

So I told him, and the ancient god smiled.

***

“Why did we rush out of there?” Beth asked once we
were on the highway and closing in on Farmington. “We have almost
two and a half hours.”

“Catfish Kettle,” Sam and I echoed at once. I glanced
at my sister and we both laughed.

“Should we get it to go?” Sam asked. “I’m not sure if
we really have time to stop.”

I nodded. “I’d rather get to Howell Island early. I
hope you don’t mind a little greasy food in the car.”

“No,” Sam said. “Vik can scrub it out.”

“You’re going to have the Lord of your Pit scrub the
greasy food stains from your upholstery?” Beth asked.