Illusion (11 page)

In his mind he saw the Khereb sauntering toward him. The beast roared with laughter. Its power resonated through the streets, threatening to crush Resheph’s chest with the pressure.

“My name is Lebartu, daughter of Anu,” it said in a deep, throaty growl. Wind howled in the echo of its words—ancient Sumerian. “Where is your magic, warrior? I claim you for my brethren in the Abyss; we’ll share your flesh.” Sulfur blew down the street. “Why are you just standing there … run … run … little rat. The chase is part of the kill.”

Resheph continued chanting.
Annit and Sin, Divine spirits of the Abyss. Hear my call. Disguise this warrior. Transform him to that which is Unseen.

He cut his hand on the sword and spread his left arm wide, blood running down his hand to fall on the ground. Just as the circle snapped into place, something cold sliced through his shoulder. Resheph staggered back a step. The icy-burn of venom poured into his blood, and his breath came fast.

He opened his eyes. The Khereb licked his blood from its talons with long swipes of its black tongue. Resheph uttered a quick repairing spell and his heart slowed. With a fluid movement he stepped to the side.

The winged lion now stood to his left, eyes blazing in confusion at the place where Resheph once stood. Slime oozed from its fangs and its pupils glowed crimson with the fires of the Abyss. Shifting its head from side to side, it took a deep sniff of the air. Its canny eyes filled with crafty knowledge just before it swiped a clawed paw where Resheph’s scent was strongest.

Resheph leaped over the head of the beast, avoiding the barbed talons. The Khereb rose, trying to locate his scent. Spinning in midair, Resheph lifted his blade. Using the momentum of his fall, he landed on the other side of the beast and carved a channel between the Khereb’s ears, almost cleaving its head in two. Stepping forward onto the ball of one foot, he pushed the blade down, cutting through sinew and bone.

The Khereb roared and reared, lifting him off his feet. Resheph clung to the sword and pushed down again. The beast’s front feet landed hard, and the ground shook. Resheph pulled the sword free. Thick black blood streamed from the divided head, jetting over the street. The Khereb’s talons slashed out violently, sweeping in an attempt to grab hold of him.

Resheph ducked under one swipe and vaulted over the next. The Khereb’s blood slowed as its flesh began to knit together. It reared again. Ducking under the talons, Resheph whirled to the side and his sword sang as it penetrated the leathery hide of the Khereb’s neck. The severed halves of the Khereb’s head flew as if in slow motion, bouncing off the cracked road.

Blood gushed again from the headless beast, splattering and hissing as it sprayed in the gutters and pooled in the streets. One half of the head rocked on the pavement. Resheph walked to the curbside and pushed the tip of his blade against its eye.

“Why so intent on the woman?”

The Khereb stared, its eye filled with red flames. The eyelid blinked, the leathery skin twitching spasmodically. Resheph knew beneath all that blood, it smiled.

“Daughter of Mist.” Its half jaw clicked around the words.

Resheph stabbed the beast through its eye, hacking at the head, feeling the crunch of bone beneath the blade. Unconsciousness swirled close.

His sword shone with lust and power, and he placed it near the Khereb, dragging off his smoking coat before wiping the blade clean. He sheathed the sword in its scabbard and sent a column of white fire at the mess on the curb. The remains exploded.
Try reanimating now.
Despite the sweat covering his body, a cold shiver quaked within.

He backed away and looked up, whistling for his ravens. They cawed and flew down, resettling into his skin with a pinch he barely felt. The poison was numbing his body—making its way to his heart.

In moments, he was a dark shadow on the walls, running toward Maya McAdam.

Magicus

Maya licked sweat from her top lip. A high sandy cliff ran for miles and miles in both directions. She swung around, sinking to her ankles in dry white sand. Her shadow was a long black line pointing in the wrong direction. She flapped her hand. The shadow didn’t move. A shiver crept between her shoulder blades and up her neck. She shook her head and stomped to an outcropping of rocks casting shade over this vast, empty beach. Tiny shells crunched beneath her feet and the sun prickled her skin. If she could climb a boulder, she might see other signs of life.

She kept her eyes averted from her shadow, although she could hear it crunching along beside her. She whistled, an off tune nursery rhyme, to distract herself. The world went silent. Gulls’ beaks widened, emitting no sound, and the waves unfurled on the sand, leaving no echoing boom. The unearthly silence caused the hair on the back of her neck to rise. She reached the rocks and ran her hand along the surface of a tall boulder. It was strangely thick and rubbery beneath her touch.

The towering rock shifted. It stretched and unfurled.

A charcoal beast clambered to four legs. Sand spilled like a river from its bony back. It opened one reptilian eye and blinked over a yellow iris. Standing almost a story high, it stretched, arching its spine and revealing sharply defined ribs. Its black claws split the shore around webbed feet.

She backed away behind a second boulder and pressed her body against the hot stone, trembling. She craned her neck so she could keep the beast in sight. The beach vibrated under its heavy tread. It waded chest deep into the waves. The thick hide split open, exposing membranous bat-like wings. They stretched upward, reaching for the sun. The wings accelerated to a lazy blur, making her hair snap in the wind. Then the creature took off, screeching like a banshee.

It was as if the sound broke an enchantment. She could hear the echoing call of gulls and waves breaking on the shore. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she watched the serpent circle above the beach. It glided away, a triangular shape in the cloudless sky, black wings outlined against the bright light.

The sun exploded, showering sparks of yellow and orange across the heavens. The world dimmed, turning violet, then darkness fell. Moonlight refracted through the atmosphere, illuminating the beach in an eerie display of red. The strange glow fell on the boulders, emphasizing their huge height against the darkness. Her shadow grew. It lifted into a vertical shadow, a handbreadth away.

“Don’t touch me,” Maya said, squeezing her eyes shut.

The shadow giggled.

And the rock beneath her hand trembled.

* * * *

Maya fell back into her body with a racing heart and stared up at a white ceiling. Resheph knelt on the bed, holding her hand and crooning foreign words. He disappeared for a moment. When he returned he helped her sit up, offering water. She tossed it back, throat tight and rough with sand.

“You were yelling. I couldn’t wake you up.” He brushed her arm softly. His face was white under the light of the lamp sitting by the bedside table, and gray smoke swirled in his pupils. “What happened?”

“A big serpent ate the sun. My shadow wasn’t a shadow at all.”

“A snake?” He stilled, and touched her cheek with the back of one hand. When he lifted it, it sparkled with sand.

“I’ve been having bad dreams for years.” The words came out in a rush. “At least this time I’m not covered in scratches. This was from yesterday.” She pulled up the leg of her jeans and showed him the cuts on her leg.

She didn’t think he could pale further, but he did. “I sent you to sleep last night. The spell shouldn’t have allowed you to dream.”

She pulled away and sat up, glaring at him. “You had no right! Don’t do that again.” She could still hear the surf pounding in her ears. The dragon had seemed so vital and alive. But her shadow was something else again.

“I wanted you safe while I went out.”

“Safe? I couldn’t wake up, even though I knew it was a dream.” Her heart still raced and she licked dried salt from her lips.

“It seems I misjudged the situation.” He ran his hand through his hair. “What else have you been dreaming?”

She gave him the short version of the entities and the dark hole from her earlier dream. If he could cast sleep spells, maybe he could give her something to keep the entities away?

He asked a few questions, then became very quiet.

Her leg jittered under the covers and she slapped a hand on her knee.

He gave her a quizzical look. “You describe a portal. I found a ghoul outside your building the night we met, and exorcised it. You’re bringing things back from your dreams. Thank the gods I didn’t return to find a dragon in the room. I’m not sure I could transform the body mass into anything useful.” He twisted his mouth, the scar a white line bisecting his lip. “I need to prepare a tincture of pearl ash to ward your dreams. Earth’s meridians are cracked from the Mage Wars. Balkaith is a subtler psychic world and offers more.”

The scent of incense wafted across her face. She ignored the reference to his homeland. Really, did he think she was that gullible?

“But I didn’t draw anything.”

He got up and with a frown, tossed a pouch on the bed. “Who knows how you are doing any of this? Something is trying to reach you from the other side, and I don’t think you want a spirit tracing you right now. Your friend Don asked me to give you this. Unfortunately, the journal is missing.”

“Look, you’re obviously used to people following orders. I don’t know why you didn’t just let me fall asleep on my own. But I make my own decisions, and have for a long time. It was a bloody arrogant thing to do.” She lifted her chin. After her childhood, she couldn’t stand the idea of feeling helpless. Damn him for bringing back the crap memory of being drugged while her mother left with her latest “friend.”

He blinked. “You were planning on leaving once I walked out the door. In my haste to retrieve the journal I dispensed with the usual courtesies. In my world, I don’t need to consult before making decisions.”

“I might need your help, but we’re not in Balkaith. Don’t do it again, or we part ways.”

“You’ve made your point.” He glowered at the window as if it offended him somehow.

The first rays of dawn spilled through the sheer curtains.

“How was Don?”

“Your mage friend is fine.”

“Did he say anything about Jane?”

“He’s leaving the city and I understand your female friend is out of harm’s way.” He hesitated. “After you’ve eaten, we’ll look for damiana root and fox tail, along with serruta extract.”

“Are you sure my friends are safe?”

“Yes.”

“I know of an
alchemagical
shop near my apartment. It seems popular in the neighborhood.”

“That will do.” He seemed distracted as he walked into the kitchen.

“If I’m going out in broad daylight, I’ll need a disguise.” Her forehead creased. If she offered coin, the shop owners might sell her some spells. She didn’t have a license, so they’d charge her a fortune, but it would be worth it, especially now her supply was so low. She jiggled her leg restlessly.

“Shall we get moving?”

She couldn’t keep up with him, one minute tender, the next distant and cold. Perhaps he should try walking in her shoes for a day or two. She reached for her backpack and pulled out the spellbox from the side pocket. She winced at the click of the lid opening, but he didn’t turn around.

“By the way. I want to talk about the mirror. The
Conjurare
mentioned bugs,” she said, and stuck a datura transdermal patch on her stomach. The anti-muscarine spell would help her deal with any motion sickness caused by portal travel. It was too bad one of the side effects was rambling speech.

* * * *

The sun had breached the horizon by the time Resheph had convinced her to try the portal again. Maya had stiffened and stared at him like he was unreasonable. When they made it through safely, she’d brushed by him, smiling, her elfin features relaxed, even though her hands still moved restlessly. He sucked in air at the sensation of her touch and walked the thirty yards to the
alchemagical
shop, numb to her jabbering.

He almost growled when she took a breath and launched into another round of statements posed as questions.

“They don’t come out in daylight, Resh?” Maya’s head tilted to the side. “The Khereb, I mean.”

She’d started calling him Resh this morning. And the most unique forms of demonic torture couldn’t compete with her incessant questioning. For the first time in his life he felt at a loss for what to say. He was still struggling to answer the first question when she moved on to the next. He muttered an obscenity under his breath.

“Can we go by the public
comm-link
? I’d like to contact Jane. I hope she didn’t step into my apartment.” And several seconds later, “So the bugs are chaos magic. I wonder if they came through the mirror, or if Jhara conjured them to distract the
Conjurare
?”

What could he say to that? It was more likely that she’d evoked them, and if so, her active energy was volatile and dark—the polar opposite to his fixed state. If so, he could cast a transmogrification spell. They’d be able to move in one energy wave across the Abyss. He hoped he was right, or their particles would disintegrate and float in the Abyss until the High Council summoned them across.

At some point he’d have to tell her about her friend’s death, but he knew she’d refuse to leave if she knew the woman was dead. They’d argue over funeral rites or something equally ridiculous. Then he’d have to force her. The topic was an emotional minefield. Whichever decision he made, it would be the wrong one.

Despite her beauty and skills, she wasn’t vain or proud and she’d been ready to give herself up in the tavern instead of risking her friends. She could have disappeared down the fire escape, but she’d stayed, even though she had no chance against the Khereb. She thought like an incompetent warrior instead of a woman.

He fisted his hands to disguise their trembling. Several potions had only slowed the Khereb poison. He probably had twelve hours to reach Balkaith healers before he went into a coma. Soon he would barely be able to stand, making him more of a liability than a protector. He’d have preferred to take her to a different part of town, but knowledge of the area and proximity to one of his short-range portals was essential.