Minutes to Midnight (10 page)

Mike couldn't see her face from his vantage
point, which sort of ruined the effect. He was listening, though.
"So? What does she want?"

"She wants blood."

"I know that. She tried to kill you. I mean,
what kind of proof does she want that you're not a Djin?"

There wasn't any other way to do this, and
the energy needed to hold her in place was wearing on me. Expending
energy for the blast had already decreased the power meter by a
quarter, and I hadn't had nearly enough quality sleep not riddled
with fever or food to replenish any of it. This was the only way. I
just hoped she knew to stop before she killed me.

I rolled up the right sleeve of my gi. "You
kill me, and Mike kills you. Got it?"

"Wait…what're you doing?" Mike asked.

"Just keep that gun at her head, please?" I
stepped forward and put my wrist against her lips. I felt the hard
surface of her fangs. "And if she kills me, blow her fucking brains
out." I was tired and irritable and this might have been a stupid
thing to do, but right now having a Revenant's trust and knowledge
seemed like a good idea.

She didn't waste any time, opening her mouth
to take a wide bite. Most Revenants as they aged didn't bother
using their fangs. I'd seen Jason simply open skin with a wave of
his hand, feed, and then close the wound with little to no
scarring. He'd told me the ones who still used fangs were the First
Borns who enjoyed the taste of adrenaline in the blood as the fear
the sight of their teeth infused their intended food.

Not to mention the vampire myth was still
pretty vogue right now. So…go figure.

But vogue or not, it hurt like a mother and
I hissed as she locked on. My arm and shoulder trembled, still
aching from being pulled from its socket. She closed her eyes and
took her first swallow—

I don't know if it was because I was already
tired or if the blood ended the magic, but I woke up on the floor,
cradled in her arms with Mike hovering over me. I noticed her head
wasn't blown off so I knew I wasn't dead.

Not yet.

"Hey…you back?" Mike's voice was gentle and
worried. As usual.

"Yeah…" I looked up at the Revenant, whose
eyes had returned to their human brown color. Her skin was radiant
in the light of the hall. "Not a Djin, huh?"

"On the nose," she said, and her voice was
singular now. "I am sorry, Guardian. I didn't know who you were.
I've been told about you but never given an image."

"Ah. Interesting." I started to get up, hit
a wall of dizzy, and collapsed back down. "Oh gawd…what did you
take? A gallon?"

"I'm afraid I took more than I should. Did
you know your blood tastes of wood and iron?"

"Huh?"

"Wood and iron?" Mike said.

She pursed her lips in
thought. "Yes. I would assume the wood comes from the
Grimoire's
pages. But the
iron…it's not a mundane taste. It's what convinced me you were
'Pheral. It's as if you have a part of the Peripheral inside of
you, along with the Abysmal and Ethereal."

I blinked up at her. "Wow…that's way too
much happening inside of me."

She nodded. "I believe all of this is what's
made you anemic."

"Anemic?"

Mike snorted. "That explains a few things. I
thought his always wanting a nap was just being lazy."

"I suggest you have a nutritionist fix your
diet or you'll burn out too fast. Guardians like you aren't born
every day." Raven brushed hair from my face.

"I wasn't born. I was made." I took several
deep breaths and tried to sit up again. This time I succeeded, but
grabbed for Mike. He pulled me forward until I was sitting on my
own. "Mom, do I have to do katas today? I'm so fucking sleepy."

"Yeah…I think getting sucked on by a vampire
is pretty much the greatest excuse ever."

"Revenant," she said. "I'm not as into the
vampire pop culture scene as most. Though I do enjoy my teeth. But
then, three hundred years of using them sets a pattern." She turned
and settled down on one side of my legs as I pushed back to lean
against the wall. "My name is Raven. I was one of God Mother's
children before my Demon saved my life."

God Mother's children were those born with
the blood of Mother Nature in them. Through the centuries they were
called witches, but their first duty above all was to protect the
Material World against all other Worlds. They are, for all intents
and purposes, the real Guardians. And how did I know this? Because
Mike and I knew one. Samantha Hawthorne. A few months ago Sam saved
my bacon more times than I could count in a single day.

"Demon?" I narrowed my eyes at her.

"You refer to them as First Borns. But when
I invited mine in to extend my life, they were known simply as
demons."

You'll have to excuse
Diane
, came a strong female voice in my
mind. It had the echo and tonality of a First Born.
She's a bit old world. And please forgive her
attempt to kill you. She's suspicious by nature and you do have the
Peripheral stink about you.

Ah, so the host's real name
was Diane. I could hear First Borns if they wanted me to. I'd been
able to hear Mephistopheles, the First Born inside of Jason, as
well as Morgan, the one within Manuel. First Borns were apparently
both a part of their host and separate. So hearing this one wasn't
a surprise. Though I had noticed Samantha's aversion to them and
was a bit glad we hadn't encountered any while she was here.
And who do I have the pleasure of
addressing?

I am Nyx.

And the name
Raven?

It is the name she and I chose together. But
tell us, out loud, Guardian, why you have the taint of the
Peripheral if you are not part of it?

"Because I was in the Peripheral."

"She's talking to you, isn't she?" Mike
said, ignoring my explanation to Nyx and Diane.

I looked at Mike. "Yeah…you can't hear
her?"

"No, but you're making faces."

Raven put a hand on my arm. "You were inside
the Peripheral?"

I nodded. "I've been there more than
once—only the first time we didn't know that was where we were. We
just thought it was Alfheim."

Her eyes widened. "You've already entangled
yourself with the Faeries? Guardian, you live dangerously. Contact
with anything inside of the Peripheral is forbidden, and deadly.
What's in there should stay there. Forever."

I considered this new Revenant, so different
from the ones I'd met. Taking in her fighting skill and her
determination to cold-cock me back to the Peripheral, I took a shot
in the dark at why she was here. Why not? I felt like a mac truck
had plowed into my chest. "That's your job, isn't it? The part of
you that's still God Mother. You make sure the things exiled to the
Peripheral stay there."

She blinked. "Yes. I'm still God Mother's
child. I maintain all borders. How recently were you there?"

"Six days ago," Mike spoke up. "He came out
of it four days after he went in, then two days in bed."

Raven stared at me. "You had the sickness
then, when you returned. It's not uncommon. It was woven into the
border of that world to prevent things from coming out."

"You mean like the way a Faerie turns to
ash?" I said.

"Yes. Did you cross over using a Cairn?"

A Cairn was a Faerie created place between
their world and ours. "I have before, but not this time. Didn't you
see my past in my blood?"

"No. I only looked for the Djin. I don't pry
into others' personal lives, Mr. McConnell."

"You got my name."

"No,
I
told her your name." Mike leaned
against the opposite wall on the other side of me. "And she already
refreshed me on how the whole vampire slash First Born slash
Revenant thing works. Oh, and Raven is the new Shi-han here. She'd
actually closed up the dojo for the afternoon."

"But we have keys and let ourselves in." I
looked at Raven. She was certainly an attractive woman. Not too
thin, and well-muscled. Her hair was dark auburn, a much deeper
shade than Stella's, though I was sure Raven's wasn't a natural
color. Her eyes were more of a light brown and her facial features
spoke of distant Middle Eastern ancestry. "So, where's Shi-han
Shu?"

"Flew back home to Okinawa." Raven said. "I
felt he deserved a break. I was in the meditation room getting my
thoughts in order when I heard you two come in. I waited and
listened, and when I smelled the 'Pheral on you, I suspected you
were the power I sensed six days ago."

"You sensed a power or a Power?" I
emphasized the last power since I didn't know if she was speaking
of power in the culmination of strength or one of those Ethereal
zombie fighters.

She looked serious. "Not an Angelic slave.
Power—a way to say it would be a disturbance in the natural flow of
energies between the planes."

"That might have been when the Djin you're
looking for, Rippin' Ja—, pulled me in."

"Where in the 'Pheral did he take you?"

"It looked like a battlefield."

Raven stopped talking and looked away. Mike
and I exchanged looks, and I decided not to press it because I
didn't know if her reaction was an emotional one or not. So I gave
her a very quick recap of what'd happened with Officer Jones,
Rippin' Ja—, and Stella. "I didn't know I was in the Peripheral.
And I didn't know what was overshadowing him, just that something
was. And it was powerful." I omitted any mention of Gabriel again,
and if Raven didn't look into my personal thoughts, then the
Cherubim's meddling in my life was safe.

Not that I really cared about Gabriel's
welfare. I just didn't want her messing with mine.

Raven didn't say anything for a few minutes.
Then, "Ms. Rosenberg is still there?"

"I think so. I wasn't able to get to
her."

"Physical beings can exist in the 'Pheral
for a time, but the essence of the place will leach their humanity
from them."

Mike leaned forward. "Leach their
humanity?"

"They'll go crazy. Mad."

"How fast?" I asked. The thought of that
happening to Stella turned my stomach.

"Depends if they eat or drink something
grown or created there. Everything's made of the dust. And since
she's not in a Cairn, ten days on this side is the longest anyone
should be in the 'Pheral."

It was mine and Mike's turn to exchange
glances. My first trip into the Cairn had lasted two weeks. "So…is
time different in a Cairn as opposed to the Peripheral itself?"

"Yes. Cairns are the worst. I wouldn't let
her remain there much longer. But it's not just the crazy she has
to worry about or the sickness she'll have to endure when she
returns. It's the other things banished inside the Peripheral. And
a lot of them like human flesh. Nothing from this World survives in
the Peripheral for very long unless it's overshadowed. Which is why
once something goes in, it's my job to keep it in or kill it. My
original purpose in coming here was because about a month ago a
breach in that World was detected: a hole opened up and stayed open
for a while before it closed. I suspect many things escaped during
that breach, namely this Djin. Having that kind of thing running
free in the Material World isn't acceptable."

"But I thought things turned to ash if they
came to this world. You know, those safeguards?"

"Some do. Faerie are the
most susceptible to the preventative magics. Many of the other
creatures there will die if they attempt to cross over in
their
natural
form.
Most beings in the Peripheral can overshadow living things and ride
them over. But once on this side, they must stay attached to
something living or they
will
become ash."

I had a thought. And I didn't like it.
"So…all those old stories about the Faerie taking kids…"

"It was the easiest way for them to find a
conduit back. Children are the most susceptible to their control
and the easiest to heal from the safeguards. A Faerie can destroy
its 'Pheral form and possess a child—but they can't stay in that
child. Once the child matures, puberty forces it out and it has to
find another child."

Something about this bothered me.

A lot.

I just couldn't get a clear grip on what.
"And this has nothing to do with Changelings?"

"Fae? No. Those monstrosities are completely
different."

Mike spoke up. "That Djin was overshadowing
Officer Jones. It told Dags it was hired to take him. And it took
Stella to get to him. Now, if it's a thing that's been locked in
the Peripheral all this time, then how would it know that Stella
meant something to Dags? That he would react the way he did?"

"It wouldn't. Which means
whatever hired him—
hired
being another word for
summoned
—knows Dags. And knows him
intimately." She refocused on me. "What kind of enemies do you
have?"

I winced. "Take your pick. I got humans who
think I should be in a cage. Or dead. I got Dark things that think
the book should be returned to the Darkness and screw what happens
to the vessel—that would be me." I thought about Gabriel and made a
decision. "And I got Angels who think the book is a weapon of some
kind. So, any of those could be pulling the strings. Hell, we still
don't know where the zombies are coming from or why."

Raven looked from me to Mike and then back
to me. "Zombies? You've seen zombies? Ethereal Powers?"

"No. Not those.
Real
zombies." Mike
settled back against the wall. "You haven't seen the
papers?"

"You mean the mutilations? Those were done
by zombies?"