The Darkness of Shadows (24 page)

Who knew my parents were into recycling?

“I’m not a normal preternatural.” If there was such a thing. “What am I? Really?”

“William and I combined our gifts in you.” She shrugged. “You’re a chimera.”

How nice for me. Couldn’t be something cool, like a unicorn or a mermaid. Nope, had to be one with the head of a lion and a serpent’s tail. How attractive.

“So I’m a preternatural cocktail that brings the long-dead back to life,” I said. “Bringing you wealth and power and all that great stuff. Remind me why you want to kill my father?”

“It’s the only way I can be free,” she said, “and you too.”

Was my mother really pissed enough to disrupt his plans? I would be. But lies were like breathing for her.

I finally had a bargaining chip. “I’ll only help if you get Val out of here.”

“She’s your Protector, she’ll never leave you.” She shook her head. “At a certain point, I will signal you, and you must interrupt the ritual. If this works, your father will be weakened. Then you must kill him.”

“How many drinks have you had?” I said. “He’s insanely strong. I don’t have my pistol. I’ve got nothing.”

She looked me dead in my eyes. “You are stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. No matter what we did to you, you never broke. You have your mind and your hands—it’s all you’ve ever needed.”

Sanity breaks before the fall.

“I came into this house uninvited. I don’t have any supernatural help here.”

“You won’t need it,” she said.

“You’re crazy.”

“After the ritual, there will be residual energies trapped in your body. If you died, they would dissipate naturally, but you will be healed. You need to harness them, control and release them.”

I couldn’t believe I was asking. “How?”

“You’ll know what to do.” She stared at the glass. “This has to work. For both our sakes.”

Doing what she asked wouldn’t make her love me. She was incapable of affection. It would give her what she wanted—revenge and peace. The same things I wanted. But if I accomplished this impossible task it would open up a can of William Gannon whoop-ass on me and Val.

“I’ll know what to do? Interrupt the ritual? Harness my powers?” I glared at her. “For once in your fucking life,
help me
!”

She closed her eyes. “You need to—”

A knock on the door.

“Karen, its time,” Walter said.

T
he Goths led us into another room—white, of course. In the center of the floor was a circle, carved into the tile, embellished with runes and sigils and creatures—a lot like what was on my back. Four shallow channels ran around the outer edge, then swerved to the center and emptied into a circular indentation. Four stakes came out of the marble at four corners of the circle.

Clear chairs were set up against the far wall, away from the only door. There were no windows, only a huge piece of circular glass in the ceiling, letting the moonlight through.

“Val, you have to get the hell out of here now!” I struggled against my captors.

Four Goths restrained her. “Not without you.”

My parents breezed in, followed by Walter.

“You know, Valerie,” my father said, “Augustina has quite the mean streak. Greedy too—plotting and planning to eliminate Natalie from your lives, and attaching a price tag to all of it.”

“My sister helped you with all of this?” Val said.

“I couldn’t have done it without her. She helped search for the missing pages. And when we thought they were gone forever, she contacted me again, offering copies of my missing work. Copies I believe she stole from you.”

My mother was still, inspecting the room.

“Rita’s magic is very strong, even after all those years of not practicing,” he said. “If it wasn’t for her interfering, I would’ve gotten Natalie here weeks ago. Healing such a serious stomach wound was impressive. And gathering the other Healers when Augustina switched the medications? She’s sly, that one.”

“If you wanted Nat so badly, why didn’t you just come in and take her?” Val said.

“If we enter another’s home without being invited, they get our powers,” I said.

“Very good, Natalie. It’s an old custom that can’t be broken. So if either of you think you can use your powers against us, you can’t. It’s Walter’s house and he has the extra muscle tonight.”

Score one for Nigel!

“Gentlemen,” Walter said to the Goths, “bring Valerie to the gallery. And make sure she doesn’t do anything she or Natalie will regret.”

They nodded and dragged Val behind the chairs.

“You sick freaks!” Val said. “Leave her alone!”

The first Goth slapped her hard across the mouth.

“Don’t,” I said to the floor. “It’s not worth it.”

“She’s right.” My father slithered next to me. He took my right forearm and twisted—hard. I choked back a noise.

“Bastard!” Val screamed.

“What did you say?” He twisted my arm further. I was sure my shoulder would pop out of its socket at any moment.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing, what?”

“Nothing,” she swallowed hard, “Mr. Gannon.”

“Not perfect, but we’ll work on that.” He let my limb drop and stared at me. “Now listen to me very carefully. If you do anything at all to ruin this, Valerie will pay the price. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir. Tell me what you want me to do.”

He led me to the circle and tugged at the zipper on the sweatshirt. I shrank away.

“What did we just discuss?”

“Sorry, sir.” I closed my eyes and tried not to throw up on him.

He slid the sweatshirt off my shoulders and let it fall to the floor.

“Take the rest of your clothes off and give everything to Walter.”

I stripped—the process made slower by my injured arm—collected everything, and handed the pile to Walter. “Here, sir.”

“Very good. Now lie facedown in the middle of the circle.”

“Don’t!” Val said.

That outburst cost me a smashing kick to my right knee. I inched my way to the appointed spot.

“Gentlemen, tie her to the stakes.” The Goths secured my limbs to the shiny posts. “Natalie, behave.”

The door opened. Nameless voices, both male and female, filed past me.

“Walter, please seat our guests and make sure to serve them refreshments,” my father said.

“Of course. This way please.”

“Walter,” one of the unknown female voices said, “your taste still runs to the horribly uncomfortable and most unfortunate materials.”

The plastic chairs creaked as the guests sat.

My parents’ guests were staring at me. I recognized the two good-looking guys from the park—they both had their hair pulled back, revealing slightly pointed ears. Elves!

The older couple was dressed in elegant clothing, like they were going out for a night on the town. Both had the same color eyes: dark brown, almost black. His silver hair was slicked back in a way that looked classy rather than sleazy. His skin was the color of a Tahitian vanilla bean. In contrast, hers was like a pint of heavy cream. She had waist-length, jet-black hair with not a bit of gray in it. His features were heavy compared to her delicate ones. They complemented one another as they gazed at me in wonder. The man smiled, revealing white teeth. I blinked. His canines were longer and pointed. The woman gave me a knowing smile—her teeth were similarly vampiric.

The other couple was athletic looking and strong in their movements as Walter handed them their drinks. The man’s yellow eyes were moving over the room, searching, assessing. The woman had deep green eyes and sharp features. She watched the other people intently. They had an unmistakable, predatory air.

Looked like Nigel was three for three.

“William, your invitation was such an unpleasant surprise,” the dark-haired woman said. “Is this another scheme to bring you wealth and notoriety?”

He said nothing. The truth can be one hell of a silencer.

“You know the girl is like a daughter to her.” Her melodic tones pulsed into the air. “And I see you have Valerie here as well.”

“That’s my business, Germaine,” my father said.

“If you bring harm to one of Rita’s children, we will all pay the price.”

“You’ve always been overly dramatic,” he said.

“I promise you: if I die before you, at Rita’s hand …” She paused for effect, which she played well. “Whatever circle of hell I land in, I will be back for you, dear boy.”

“If there’s anything left when Rita’s finished with him,” the athletic-looking man said.

“True, Philip,” Germaine said.

“That
thing
in the circle belongs to me!” my father said. “It’s mine to do with as I please. Rita has no say in the matter, nor do any of you.”

‘That thing,’ I guessed, was me. He confirmed my suspicions with a hard kick to the ribs.

My mother leaned down to me.

“These ghouls are useless!” She loosened one of the ropes. “Can’t even tie a knot properly.”

“Enough of this,” Germaine’s companion said. “William, we’ve all seen doppelgangers. Cute pets, but worthless replicas. You’re wasting our time. Germaine, what time are our reservations?”

“Gunther, please be patient,” my father said.

“Can you deliver on what you’ve promised?”

“Of course,” my father said. “Does everyone have a drink? Good. Karen, are you ready?”

“Yes, William.”

“Let’s begin.” My father’s voice resonated through the air. “Watch and learn, Valerie. This is the world your parents have kept from you your entire life.”

The Goths brought a shriveled corpse into the circle and deposited it into the station by my feet.

My father closed the ritual area with salt, rimming it like a giant margarita glass. Words in a tongue I didn’t recognize teemed through the cold room. The words turned into a chant between my father and mother, or doppelganger or whatever she was.

I thought I knew pain. I didn’t know shit.

A riptide of energy surged through me as the chanting continued. With pinpoint accuracy, the words they repeated coursed out the designs on my back, tearing them open. Scorching shafts of torment blasted through the scars. Blood seeped out of the lines and down my body, pooling at my sides and into the channels. I bled their evil.

Light was coming from somewhere close. After a moment I realized it was coming from me—from my back.

I didn’t know how much longer I could bear it.

My mother continued the mantra, but made eye contact with me. I thought I heard her speak, but it was so quiet I might have imagined it.

“It’s time. You know what to do.”

No one was watching as I wrangled my hand free. My fingers slid to the salt dam. I flicked at it, displacing some of the white.

Nothing happened. My mother had lied to me—shocking.

She nodded.
“Try again.”

I’m not sure why, but I endured until there was a break in the line and bare marble showed.

The light got stronger.

The pain sped through me, the chanting faster. My body lifted off the floor. The restraints were the only thing keeping me earthbound—then gravity took hold and I crashed back down to the slab.

“NO!” my father said.

Luminous energy coiled into the air, ready to strike. It burned with the strength of a thousand photons. It found its mark—the corpse. A violent cloud surrounded the mound. The energy arced through bits and pieces of bones and dead flesh as a serpentine whorl shot skyward through the glass and into the night.

Karen Benson Gannon’s soul was free.

My father rushed to the body but was thrown back and onto his ass by a zealous aftershock.

The pain got the better of me.

“N
at, please wake up.”

Quiet floated around me. Someone was holding me—I tried to pull away and was rewarded with searing pain.

“Stay still,” Val said.

I was dressed in the now-bloody sweatshirt and my jeans. I looked at her, confused.

She shifted her hold, careful not to touch my back. “The Goths brought us to this bathroom and told me to get you cleaned up.” She was trying to be brave, but her voice betrayed her. “Sorry if I hurt you.”

“Water please.”