Rose: Briar's Thorn (13 page)

The door to the motel room, two doors down from the one with glass all over the ground in front of it and curtains fluttering out into the wind, swung open before I reached the room.  It was Nicole and Red.  Mari asked, “Did you catch it?”

I nodded somberly and said with satisfied malice tinging my voice, “Poison, kill, dead, torn to shreds.  I sent it back to hell where it belonged.”  I held out my package to her carefully, unwrapping my vine as she took it.  “But Conrad here was the hero of the day.  The gremlin was quick, quicker than my vines.”  I gave her a predatory grin. “But not quicker than this brave little guy.”

Nicole had claimed my hand as hers as we spoke.  The Red Hood looked at the squirrel then me.  She listened to him him with her wolf like hearing, which was much more acute than mine.  Then she said, “We need to get him to Gretta fast.  His breathing is choppy and he's drenched in blood and I'm damn sure squirrels don't have much blood to spare.”

Everyone streamed out of the room I assume they had commandeered after I had destroyed the window to our old one.  With a smooth movement, Ella took the little squirrel, and with a more refined English accent than she normally spoke in she said, “Give him to us, we can get there faster.”

Then she handed Conrad gently to Parker.  They leaped onto Ella's black motorcycle, she kicked once and the beast roared to life with a throaty growl.  They squealed out of the parking lot in a plume of blue smoke from the burning rubber of the tires.  The rest of us looked at the other vehicle then each other and started laughing.  Daria was chuffing.

Nicole was smiling in confusion, “What?”

I explained,  “We have nobody to drive us.  The wolves are out protecting Gretta as she works, Ella and Parker are gone.  The vehicle would run maybe two minutes with Maireni at the wheel, one of us has no thumbs...”  Daria chuffed.

“
And the two of us are so out of time, I wouldn't have a clue how to drive one of the contraptions even if my black soul didn't interfere with the vehicle's workings.”

She rolled her eyes at us. “And how did you get around before them?”

Red and I answered in a comical unison, “We ran.”

I realized I had kept talking. “Fast, gazelle, speed, must move, vines churning.”  I trailed off as the women looked at me.  Oh.

Nicole said, “Then go!  One of your own is injured.”  We looked at her then the walls of the city in the direction Ella had just driven off in.  I nodded once to Mari and she and Daria were bounding off in a blur of speed and motion.

I smiled at Nicole and said, “You are one of our own too.”  Then she squealed in surprise as I snagged her around the waist and we dashed off after the blurs of red and fur that were somehow on the rooftops now, leaping from one to the next.  My my thorny vines and brambles churned and could barely keep pace with them.  They weren't just wolf fast, they were faster.

I had only ever seen one wolf move as fast as them.  I was pulled back into the memory of watching Alister Marcus bound away from the London Bridge all those years ago after tossing my Nicole off the deck to the river below.  I narrowed my eyes as I watched them, they were moving like Alphas.  I smiled, realizing exactly what the Scales had done to create balance.  It must have stuck in Alister's craw before he died at her hands, to see the Red Hood wielding what he and his kin had coveted for their own.

We arrived at the base of the wall where Ella and Parker had already parked and were speaking with Gretta. We caught up and I set Nicole down, who had been playing with my hair as we went along.  She gave me a little smile and we all stepped around Gretta as she, carefully unwrapped the bark and leaf bundle.

We saw Conrad take one last shuddering breath before his form went still.  Rachel and Amanda's heads snapped up to the sky and they let out anguished wolf howls.  Daria joined in and I could feel a wave of power that rolled off of the sound.  It carried her sorrow with it.

Gretta hissed and was suddenly just Perchta.  There was so much white hot warmth radiating from her power, I wanted to weep as I basked in it.  I could see the red of the leader of the Wild Hunt being held in check behind that bright white furnace.

She tilted her great antlered head down at the tiny fallen warrior and touched his chest.  He spasmed once.  She did it again then he spasmed and took a labored breath.  The howls all stopped and everyone's eyes swung to Gretta, who simply Gretta now.  It was disorienting how fast the changes were.  She held a hand out toward Conrad and I saw a fluttering of wings, butterfly wings, made of wisps of white energies, I could see the energy flowing from her heart.  It was part of her very life force.

She lifted her hand in front of her lips and she whispered something in a language I had never heard or maybe it wasn’t a language, it felt like light, and joy, and life as it echoed like a forgotten whisper in my ears.  Then she gently blew across her hand and the wispy ball of delicate power drifted out in a flutter of wings into Conrad.

I saw him heal as the light faded.  Then the squirrel hopped up, chittering.  Gretta looked like she was in pain, but she schooled her face and nodded at the little guy, smiling.  She said, “Of course you helped.  And you were brave.”  He chirped and chittered and she just nodded.  He skittered up her leg and disappeared under her coat, and popped up at her neck, he flowed out then spiraled down her arm to her pocket and stuffed his cheeks full of nuts and berries.

He made a bleeking sound as Amanda caught him by the scruff of the neck and lifted him to her saying in a hoarse voice, “You're going to be a fat little piggie if you eat so much brat.”  She nuzzled him then stuffed him into her carry bag.  He poked his head out and bleeked at us then hid himself away.

I turned to Gretta just as she collapsed, Rachel and Mari were at her side to catch her faster than I could follow.  They lowered her to Rachel's lap, who was stroking her white hair and looking down at her lovingly.  “Stupid bird girl, giving out part of your life force like that.”

A little color was slowly returning to the pale woman's cheeks as she smiled, laid a hand on Rachel's cheek, and said, “Shush Wolfie, he's pack.”  I noted Parker had a tear on her cheek that looked to be made of crystal.

After a couple minutes Snow seemed to be back to her normal self. I could feel nature flowing into her from below, filling the hole she had torn into her herself to save one of her own.  I also noted that her tiny antlers seemed to be poking just a fraction of an inch farther above her snow white hair.  Was she losing herself into her Perchta aspect the more she used it?

I felt very protective of her now.  We all agreed to stay until dusk, to guard Gretta in case the gremlin was not the only one lurking, besides Pike and a couple other SUVs down the road watching us.  We would need to get the two wolves of our group locked up before nightfall, and into position downtown.

I sat with my back against the wall with Nicole at my side at each location.  She helped me pass the time since it seemed like the longest day of my life, anticipating the upcoming battle.  I wondered what sort of evil we would be facing.  She had me telling her of all the wonders I have seen from afar while she slept.

Then before long, the sun was hanging low on the horizon.  Parker had been monitoring the radio in Rachel's vehicle and talking to the Chief of Police throughout the day. Only three-quarters of the people in the walled portion of the city were out.  They were faring a little better than that in the town outside the walls.

The Outer Seattle police were already heading out of the city to their homes to lock themselves into wolf cages before the full moon.  That was our cue.  Nicole rode with Gretta's pack and the rest of us headed back to the motel at our best speed, following the crazy woman and her girl on their motorcycle.

As I arrived on flowing, spidery legs I heard Ella blurting out, “Oh, for fuck's sake!”  

Red landed beside Ella from somewhere, followed by Daria, as my eyes traveled to the door of our new motel room, to see the grinning Scales sitting there with their backs to the door.  Before any of us could beat her to it, Mari muttered, “Fuckin' Grimm brothers.”

We all ignored the men until we got Rachel and Amanda stripped of their clothing and secured in silver cages in their motel room.  Good lord Rachel was built.  Gretta took Conrad outside and spoke to him like he could understand English,  “No, it is too dangerous for you.  I almost lost you once today.  You get back to the forest, be our eyes there.”

He seemed indignant as he rose his tail high and sort of stomped off and disappeared around the corner of the motel.  Then we finally walked over the brothers Grimm, who stood to greet us.  In a scarlet blur both men were suddenly up against the outer wall of the motel with their feet dangling off the ground and one of Red's arms across each of their chests, pressing against their throats.

She growled at them as they squirmed.  “Demons?  God damned demons?  When were you going to tell us?”

Wilhelm choked out, “It is not our place to say,  we just maintain the balance.  We've already interfered too much, but they cheated so we just moved the pieces to compensate.”

She pushed harder for a second and let them drop to the ground.  She growled out, “Threatening you with bodily harm wouldn't help, from what I've gathered, you're as old a Perchta herself.”

Jacob was rubbing his throat and grinned over at Gretta as he said, “We walked the Earth when it was young, true, but it was only when balance was required.  Perchta walked long before us, part of her soul is in Snow there.  Well, soul is a misnomer, more... her life force.  She sacrificed it for someone she loved.”

Wilhelm was nodding. “Yes.  Love is the great equalizer.”  He said that as if it meant something more.  I looked around at the women gathered, each paired to the other half of their soul.  A balance.  Something the Scales could appreciate.  Scales, whales, happy in their hells, smarmy bastards.

Ella said in a dangerous tone, “Enough games you sodding wankers.  Give us some straight answers.  You may be immortal, but you can still feel pain.”

Wilhelm regarded her for a moment with a slow nod. “We're not quite immortal, and you Deathbringer, I believe could actually harm us with those devastating strikes of yours.  But you won't.  That is the beauty of the Avatars, at your cores, you are driven to do the right thing, no matter how the darkness tempts you.”

Ella narrowed her eyes at the name and Wilhelm held his hand up in surrender, a teasing look upon his face.  “We will give answers to questions three.  That is your due to bring the scales into parity.”

Parker mumbled, “Oh dear lord.  Please tell me thy aren't going to speak in rhymes.”

Ella looked back at her with a grin.  Then without warning she struck Wilhelm in the face without looking back at him.  Then she turned to face the men as she cocked her elbow out, Wilhelm was holding his nose.  Parker placed her fingers lightly on Ella's offered arm and they stepped into the motel together as Ella said in a French accent to the men, “We do not 'always' do zee right thing.”

Red snorted and Daria chuffed as they followed.  The brothers regained their composure and went next, followed by Snow, Nicole and me.  Jacob promised, “No rhymes nor riddles.  Willie is just playing with you.”

They all sat around the beds, Wilhelm let go of his nose, uttering an,  “Ow.”  I stood behind where Red sat, with Nicole leaning into one side of me, and Daria leaning into the other.  Snow just sat silently on one end of the bed, observing everything calmly.

Mari said, “We have to be quick about this, we have to be downtown in less than a half hour.  We expect the brothers Marcus to attack about five minutes after sunset.  That would give themselves and any wolves with them, time to go through the change before they transport into the city.  Rose has some work to do before that.”

Wilhelm had regained his composure and just nodded once.  “Ask your questions.”

She looked around at all of us, but nobody spoke, we just nodded.  We had all accepted her as our leader long ago, she was not the strongest. That was Ella.  Nor could she weave much magic, that was Gretta.  Nor was she as deadly as me.  She, however, had a keen intellect and a mind for strategy that we did not possess.  That coupled with the combination of her abilities, made her the most formidable in our group.

She nodded back to us then looked at the men.  “What kind of demons are we up against here?”

The men looked at each other then Jacob said, “They are working with a greater demon, whom they allowed to bring hordes of lesser demons to our plane of existence.  Never before have so many walked the Earth at one time.  This has never been allowed.  This is why we needed to move even more pieces on the board to attempt to bring things back to equilibrium.  Even this we fear will not be enough.  They may upset the natural balance irrecoverably and the Earth would plunge into chaos.”

From all the stories the ladies have shared over the past few weeks, we knew the types of attacks to expect from the lamias, the Romanian witches, and the druids.  And also the types of targeted talismans to expect them to direct against us.  And wolves were the simplest of creatures to defend against.  They are unthinking beasts, driven by three primal instincts.  To hunt, kill, or mate.  We didn't know what new horrors the demons could bring to the fight.

I swear Maireni was reading that in my face or she had come to the same conclusions, because she asked next, “What are these demons capable of doing?”

Wilhelm shrugged. “They are the unnatural spawns from the hell of the Christians.  Most just prey on the weak, or weak-minded.  They could have almost any ability you can imagine, and sometimes only because you imagined it.  We have no way of knowing what any individual demon is capable of until we observe it.”

She muttered, “Thanks for nothing.”

Jacob gave a toothy grin. “You're welcome.”

Mari furrowed her brow and said, “Fair enough.  Then the last question is... who is the major demon we are dealing with here?  I see him as more of a threat than the Alphas.  You can never deal with a demon and not get some sort of unexpected mayhem and chaos instead of what you really intended.”