Dread Nemesis of Mine (31 page)

"I do not know a Mr. Gray. From what little
I can recover of my previous instructions, Nightliss is a person of
great interest. This revelation led to a chain of thought which
revealed even more." Cinder tilted his head slightly. "You are a
person of great interest to my creator as well, Justin."

Elyssa jumped in front of me, arms splayed
protectively. "I knew keeping him around wasn't a good idea. How
long until you act on those instructions, golem?"

The golem regarded her in silence for a
moment, then said, "I have no intention of acting on any prior
directives. Justin saved my spark, my continued existence. There is
no higher price to repay."

"It's hard to believe that little light is
life." Katie said.

"It's not life. It's what animates these
things," Elyssa said. "Sometimes it's in the chest. Sometimes, the
head. Disconnect the spark from the body, and they drop dead." She
took a step toward him. "It may look more lifelike than any golem
I've ever seen, but it's still just an inanimate object. I say we
end this charade now before Frankenstein's monster turns on us. For
all we know, he's a spy."

"Leave him alone." I grabbed Elyssa's arm
and pulled her back. "He hasn't done anything to show he's a
danger."

My girlfriend's blazing eyes turned on me.
"You're taking sides with that thing over me?"

I took an involuntary step back, hands held
up protectively. "No. But I know how it is to be judged and found
guilty just because of who and what I am. Things happen for a
reason."

She took a deep breath, pinching the bridge
of her nose and closing her eyes. "I know. I'm sorry. But we're on
a timer, Justin. You are dying, minute-by-minute, and diversions
like this—this
thing
are only getting in our way."

"Perhaps this is one of those emotional
girlfriend things you spoke of earlier," Cinder said, his voice as
calm and polite as if Elyssa hadn't just discussed destroying him.
"Although, I am unsure if it is awakening emotions in me."

"I'll show you emotions," Elyssa said, going
for her sword.

"Whoa!" I shouted, taking her arm. "Remember
the whole not killing thing we just talked about?"

"I believe I may be of help," the golem
continued, gray eyes studying Elyssa. "Before my awakening, I
believe my mind was part of a collective consciousness shared by me
and those of my kind. We were tracking the movements of this
being." He waved away the photograph and replaced it with an
overhead map of the world. His finger touched various locations
around the globe, including one in Atlanta and southern
Colombia.

"These are places she's been seen?"

"With some frequency, though most sightings
came here." He pointed to Atlanta.

"Because of me?" I asked. "Was she watching
me?"

"More specifically, she visited the
abandoned granite quarry called Thunder Rock." The golem zoomed in
on the area.

"Where did she go in Colombia?"

"The dead city, El Dorado."

Elyssa pinched the image, zooming it back
out to the world map. "And these other places?" She pointed to the
red dots. "Are they abandoned angel relics, too?"

"They are uninhabited," Cinder said.
"Interdicted by the Arcane Council, according to the records."

"I really don't want to go back to Thunder
Rock," I said with a shudder. It hadn't been so long ago I'd been
lost there, nearly devoured by cherubs, and shot through a series
of malfunctioning Obsidian Arches, only to end up in El Dorado
where shadow people had tried to suck me dry.

"So it's possible we could find her there,"
Elyssa said.

Cinder gave a stiff nod, as if he weren't
accustomed to using body language for expression. "My memories are
not complete. Only shards remain, though more may come back to me
with proper triggers. Still, Thunder Rock appears to be a place of
some significance for the…angel."

I raised an eyebrow at the uncertainty in
his otherwise calm voice. "I don't have time to sit around Thunder
Rock, hoping that Nightliss will show up."

A thud sounded against the door.

Elyssa groaned. "Great. Probably Fausta. My
father is already mobilizing forces for an assault on Maximus in
Atlanta." She swung open the door and gasped.

A petite woman with olive skin and dark hair
lay outside the door, her skin cut and bruised in so many places,
it looked like she'd been beaten and left for dead. Elyssa pulled
the hair away to reveal a bloodied face with several deep cuts.
Even so, I recognized her instantly.

"Nightliss!" I dropped to her side. "Oh,
god, what happened to her?"

"I'll get Meghan," Katie said, gingerly
stepping over the prostrate angel and running toward the
infirmary.

I tore the sheets off the bed and covered it
with towels. Elyssa set Nightliss down atop them. Kneeling by her
side, I took the angel's hand and pressed a palm to her forehead.
She felt cool. I put an ear to her mouth and detected the barest
hint of breath.

"Nightliss?" I said. "Can you hear me?"

She didn't even twitch.

Meghan showed up a moment later, a white bag
decorated with purple flowers in one hand. "Clear away from her,"
she commanded, drawing her wand and running it along the angel's
still form. Wisps of smoky vapor drifted from her body, forming a
ghostly outline. Some of the vapors were green. Most were orange or
red.

The healer shook her head. "I don't even
know how she's still alive." She reached in her bag and withdrew a
mason jar filled with glowing white light. "Justin, you'd better
back further away. This is soul essence. I don't want you
accidentally siphoning any away."

Too stunned by the oddity of soul essence in
a jar to say anything, I backed all the way into the kitchen and
watched as Meghan unscrewed the lid and held it beneath Nightliss's
nose. My incubus senses tingled. I felt the demonic part of me
strain against my control as the halo of light drifted toward the
angel's face like a lazy snowflake.

Nightliss groaned. Her eyelids fluttered.
Her chest heaved, and she took in a deep breath. The light swirled
into her mouth, unwinding like a ball of yarn until the last wisp
vanished. The angel coughed. Black fluid bubbled from her mouth.
Meghan turned her over, holding the other woman's head over the
edge of the bed. Nightliss convulsed. A guttural noise started deep
in her throat, a gagging, choking sound. More of the dark liquid
dribbled onto the tiled floor.

Katie and Elyssa jumped back, their mouths
clenched with disgust.

Meghan ran her wand up the angel's back,
chanting under her breath. The wand glowed brighter and brighter
until, with one gut-wrenching convulsion, Nightliss expelled a gout
of oily black goop. It splattered all over the place, soaking into
the bed mattress and Meghan's plain blue dress.

Forget cleaning the sheets. Fausta was going
to need a new mattress.

Seemingly oblivious to the foul-smelling
fluid, Meghan took a towel and wiped Nightliss's mouth and face
with it before turning the angel back down on the bed.

"What," said Katie, pinching her nose, "is
that stuff?"

Meghan shook her head. "I have no idea." She
looked at me. "Is there a bucket in the kitchen somewhere?"

I looked under the sink and found a plastic
trash can. Pulled the bag out of it and handed it to the Arcane.
She muttered an incantation, twirling the wand in a tight circle.
The dark fluid whirled, forming a funnel. Droplets of it struggled
free of the mattress, towels, and Meghan's clothes. She altered the
pattern of her wand. The liquid formed a floating sphere,
shimmering in the incandescent light. I picked up the trash can,
enclosing the liquid in it.

Meghan lowered her wand, and wiped beaded
sweat from her forehead. "Don't dump that down the sink until we
figure out what it is."

I nodded and put a lid over it.

"Will she survive?" Cinder said, his eyes
never leaving Nightliss.

"I believe she has a slim—" Meghan broke off
as Nightliss coughed, eyes blinking open.

"Jared?" the angel said, eyelids drooping.
"Please don't leave me." She drifted asleep, breathing easy.

"I think I'll upgrade her chances from slim
to good," Meghan said after the surprise faded from her face.

"Who's Jared?" I asked.

Elyssa smiled and crossed her arms. "I hope
you don't expect an answer to that."

"Yeah, but—"

My girlfriend crossed the room in a blur.
Gripped me in a fierce hug. Tears trickled down her cheeks.
"Nightliss is going to be okay. You're going to be okay."

Warmth spread from the very center of my
being as my thoughts shifted back to the impending doom infecting
my blood. "Yeah." I grinned. "Maybe you're right."
Provided
Nightliss can actually cure me.
The joy faded at the possible
reality she may not. As if to remind me, an icy cold ache dug deep
into my calf muscle, causing me to wince.

Meghan went into the kitchen and poured a
cup of water from the faucet. Dark circles underscored her eyes.
For the first time, I realized how haggard she looked.

"Are you okay, Meghan?" I asked.

She offered a wan smile. "Just exhausted.
We've been treating casualties non-stop since yesterday. Commander
Salazar requested Healers from other legions, so hopefully we'll
have a break soon." Her gaze shifted to Nightliss. "Let her rest.
Whatever you do, don't try to wake her." She finished her water and
headed for the door. "I'll return to check on her soon."

"How's Adam?" I asked.

She turned from the door, worry lines in her
brow deepening. "He hasn't left Felicia's side." A tear glistened
in the corner of her eye. "Will you talk to him, Justin? Make him
see it's not his fault?"

"Sure," I said, my throat suddenly dry. I
couldn't help but feel I was to blame. Sure, it was irrational.
Following Felicia's instructions had seemed the smart thing to do
at the time. But hindsight dug into my gut with a vicious twist,
showing me how I could have prevented this outcome.

"You can't save everyone," Elyssa said,
squeezing my hand.

"I guess if nobody else is going to say it,
I will," Katie said, her eyes fixed on Nightliss.

"Say what?" I raised an eyebrow as a female
mind once again succeeded in confusing me.

"How very convenient the one person you need
suddenly shows up on your doorstep." She crossed her arms and gave
me a look that dared contradiction.

Elyssa groaned. "Damn it, she's right. I
didn't want to say anything but…"

"Does it matter how she got here?" I
said.

"I was so happy to see her, to think you
might be cured, Justin." Elyssa shook her head. "But miracles like
this don't just happen. Not in the real world."

"Since when was the Overworld the real
world?" I said, crossing my arms tight against my chest to keep my
hands from shaking, even though deep inside, I knew they were
right.

"Maybe she was already looking for you,"
Katie said. "Maybe she got in trouble and you're the only person
she could turn to." She shrugged. "It doesn't explain how she knew
where you were, of course. But we need to be careful. Someone
messed her up bad. That same person might have done something to
her and dumped her here as a trap."

"You're sounding as paranoid as me," I said.
"Cripes, I guess it's contagious."

"Justin—" Elyssa started.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." I
slashed my hand through the air and suppressed a growl threatening
to rise out of my chest. "She's here, and that's all that matters.
Whether she's the answer to all our prayers remains to be
seen."

"I found this outside," Cinder said,
appearing at the doorway. He held up a clump of blonde hairs that
looked as though someone had grabbed a handful and yanked them out.
"They were caught in the grass outside the door where your friend
was."

"Meghan's a blonde," Elyssa said, then
glanced at Katie. "And so are you."

"Yeah, but someone tore these out," Katie
said. "I sure didn't see any bald patches on Meghan.

"An angelic cat fight," I said. "I'll bet
they're Daelissa's."

"So Daelissa brought her here?" Elyssa's
eyebrows pinched.

My stomach rumbled.
Not good
. "We'll
just have to ask her when she wakes up." The happiness I'd felt
upon first seeing my prayers answered all but evaporated. I could
see the hope fading in Elyssa's eyes as well.

Katie wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, Justin. I
hope I'm wrong. I just don't want anyone to get hurt." She sniffled
and turned. "I'm going to take a walk. It's stuffy in here."

Elyssa watched her go. "I'll keep an eye on
Nightliss. Maybe you should go talk to Adam. Make sure he doesn't
get too—you know."

"Too excited? Overly optimistic?" I sighed.
"Story of my life."

She gave me a sad smile, and nodded.

I kissed her on the forehead. "I'll go talk
to Adam. Let me know if anything changes."

"May I go?" Cinder said, rising from his
seat.

"Sure." I motioned him along and stepped
outside into the dark chilly night.

We headed for the long Quonset the Templars
were using to temporarily house the injured. I figured they hadn't
had to deal with such a large number of casualties as this before.
Then again, nobody had expected an army of vampires armed with
cursed bullets.

"Justin, is Nightliss truly an angel?"

I stopped and looked at Cinder, surprised by
the uncertainty in his typically deadpan voice. "I think so, though
not in the biblical sense of the word. Just like vampires aren't
exactly how most books portray them."

"Do you believe she is a being of great
power?"

I nodded. "No doubt. Why?"

His gray eyes focused on something in the
distance. "Can she make me real?"