Tome of Bill (Companion): Shining Fury (7 page)

The sureness I’d felt collapsed as my old self, the weak one, the one who’d once accepted without protest a backhand across the mouth upon expressing simple displeasure with the traffic on the road, took control again.

A hand grabbed hold of mine and for a moment, lost in the memory as I’d been, I was sure I’d look up and see Bill’s spectacled face grinning back at me, radiating a warmth that I didn’t deserve. But it was Kelly. Despite looking as if she was in the grip of panic herself, she was still trying to drag me out of the field of fire.

Dozens of muzzle flashes lit up the street and, thankfully, my power reflexively flared up against the assault. It was both blessing and curse that sometimes it almost had a mind of its own. This time, however, it was definitely the former as the protective aura expanded around me and the witch.

Though I felt nothing, tiny sparks could be seen all around us as the bullets were either deflected or flat-out vaporized. Faith was a powerful thing indeed.

“Come on, you too!” Kelly shouted to someone, continuing to drag me along, my power protecting but thankfully not hampering her.

Another barrage of shots were fired, all ineffectual against the wall of pure faith magic between us and them. Nevertheless, a cold sweat broke out all over my body. Again and again, I felt the phantom pain of the fatal shot fired by Remington. Much like a scared little girl, I closed my eyes and allowed Kelly to lead me away, trusting her.

Some Blessed One I was.

* * *

I’d awoken in darkness following my encounter with Remington. Though in incredible pain, I had been amazed to be alive. However, then a cold fear struck me. Part of that had been the darkness. In a panic, unable to see anything, I’d tried to sit up only to realize I was trapped in something – a body bag. Worse, gone was the surety that had propelled me until then. Raw, naked fear, a feeling I’d nearly forgotten, took hold.

I felt like me again, the old me before any of this had happened, but in the worst possible situation imaginable. I’d heard the shouts of surprise from the ambulance driver, felt the swerving of the vehicle.

Then, despite my despair, the power had erupted out of me, an almost palpable force behind it as it shredded the body bag and freed me.

Frightened, alone, and as far from confident as I’d ever been, I somehow still had my power.

It was then I realized that becoming an Icon was a one way street. Unworthy as I’d become, once a prospective Icon’s full sense of worth was realized, there seemed no going back.

* * *

“Come on!”

I stumbled and forced myself to open my eyes again, feeling ashamed as well as a little bit stupid. We were in an alleyway between buildings. I heard footsteps behind us and turned to see Vincent following us a few paces back.

“Where are the others?” I asked.

“Hopefully running in the opposite direction,” Kelly said.

“They were,” Vincent panted from his place in the rear of our little parade. “Sister Bernadette used your distraction, Blessed One, to rally the others into a strategic retreat. You saved them.”

If he heard the derisive sound I made in response, he made no mention of it. Kelly, however, definitely noticed it. “What the hell happened back there?”

“I’m ... not sure,” I said, uncertain if she was referring to my power or the police taking a proactive stance on bringing us in dead, not alive.

“Well, whatever the case, douse the light show. They can’t see us in here, but the second we emerge I’d just as soon not paint a giant glowing bullseye on us.”

She let go of my hand, but I kept pace, extinguishing my power until we could barely see the ground in front of us.

“We need to get off the street,” Vincent said.

“No shit,” I replied acidly.

If Vincent was shocked by my language, he thankfully kept it to himself, instead changing tactics in a surprising way. “I don’t suppose you can mask us somehow, witch ... Kelly.”

“Well, will you look at that, he
does
know my name,” she replied, skidding to a halt as we ran out of alleyway. “Will miracles never cease?”

“Do we really need to do this now?” I hissed.

“Sorry.”

“How’s it look?” Vincent asked.

“Empty for now. There’s a couple of dumpsters to our left, should provide a little cover. Let’s head across the back lot and see if we can find someplace better than this.”

Vincent pushed his way forward to take a look. “I think I see a fence back there. The neighborhood looks like it turns residential. Maybe we can find a place to hide.”

More gunfire erupted from somewhere behind, causing all of us to jump.

“Did they find us?” Kelly asked.

“No,” Vincent said. “Listen.”

He was right. The sounds were more sporadic than they’d been and were echoing from different places. “They’re fighting back.”

“Or providing cover fire as the rest regroup,” he replied.

I nodded. Either way, that was good. Not that the Templar were in a firefight with the Boston PD, but that they’d managed to form some semblance of defense.

“Maybe we can circle back to them?” Kelly asked.

Fear once more gripped me at the thought of walking back into the fray. Damn Remington for what he’d done to me. Though, physically, all the trauma from that night was long gone, deep down inside, I could still see his cold eyes glittering. “I don’t know.”

“We should wait until it’s over,” Vincent said, sparing me from the indignity I felt. He turned to Kelly. “Unless your magic can perhaps help.”

“Lesser of two evils, eh?” She had a sarcastic edge to her voice, but then her demeanor changed. Though it was hard to tell in the darkness, an apologetic, almost embarrassed look appeared upon her face. “Err, this sort of thing is really not my specialty. I’m thinking your idea is best. Let’s wait this out and then head back.”

There came a noise from behind us, a can or something else rattling along the ground. All of us spun back, thinking perhaps we’d been found, but there was nothing there.

“Probably just a raccoon,” I said unconvincingly.

“You’re really not helping,” Kelly replied. “I hate those things. Rabies and all. Ugh!”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Off the top of my head, I’d say rabies are the least of our worries right now.”

Vincent was right. A fence, it’s bottom obscured by trash and weeds, sat on the other end of the lot. It was a matter of seconds for us to hop over it.

Throughout it all, I couldn’t help but get a sense of being watched, but dismissed it as little more than paranoia.

Thankfully, by the time we climbed over the fence, finding ourselves in a small but neat backyard, the gunfire had mostly tapered off. Though there was no indication that our side had won, I nevertheless felt better. That familiar supernatural confidence once more began to wake up inside of me and push its way to the forefront.

Before us was a row of tightly packed houses, so close that I could imagine neighbors opening a window to request a cup of sugar and being handed it without either leaving their own home.

* * *

The firefight we’d run from could have woken the dead, but here, things were eerily quiet. Strange that it should be so peaceful. Under different circumstances I might attribute it to the early hour. I let my mind wander for a moment back to my old life. Though I’d originally moved – or fled, if one wanted to be truthful – to New York in the hope of losing myself in the bustle of the big city, it hadn’t been a bad life. I’d gotten a good job, found a decent apartment, and had actually enjoyed the routine of it all. Just a year ago, I’d have been rolling over in my bed right about now, taking a look at the clock and debating whether I could sleep for five more minutes. More often than not, I didn’t, but there’d been a comforting normalcy to it all.

I missed that.

For a time, that simple life had been enough. I’d been content if not entirely happy. But then, one day, I wasn’t.

“I believe in you. I believe you can do better.”

Those words, I’d needed to hear them at the time. I’d needed someone to tell me that there was more to life than the little shell of an existence I’d built up. How was I to know that he’d also damned me?

There was a mix of both love and hate in that memory. At times, I wasn’t sure which was stronger.

* * *

“Are you okay?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you were okay,” Kelly repeated as Vincent scouted the block ahead.

My pulse quickened, but I kept my voice neutral. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Back there,” she said. “When those pigs opened fire on us. At first you were like a fucking spotlight. I half expected the Bat-Signal to appear above you. Then all of a sudden, it was like your batteries ran dry. I thought for sure they were gonna plug you.”

Now was not the time for longwinded explanations. Also, I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to spill my guts to anyone, much less a girl I’d only met the day before. “Thank you,” I said, evading her question. “There’s not many who would do something like that.”

“You mean not many in the supernatural community who would put their ass on the line for the Icon?”

I let out a quiet chuckle. “No. There’s not many people period who would step in front of a firing squad for another person, especially a veritable stranger. That took guts.”

“And a complete lack of forethought.”

We both laughed, the sound of it quite loud now that things had quieted down again. Regardless, I think we both needed it.

“I hope that wasn’t at my expense,” Vincent said, returning to us.

“Don’t worry, there’s bound to be plenty of opportunities,” Kelly replied.

He looked for a moment as if he were unsure as to how to answer. Finally, he allowed the ghost of a smile to cross his face and nodded. Thank goodness for small miracles. Now was really not the time to toe the party line.

“How’s it look?” I asked.

“Clear for the moment. I suggest we put some distance between us and them for now.”

“What about the others?”

“My brothers can take care of themselves.” He turned to Kelly. “I trust the same can be said of ... your sisters.”

“It’ll take more than some trigger-happy baboons in uniform to stop Meg.” Though her voice was steady, I could see the worry in her eyes.

“They’ll be okay,” I said.

“Have faith,” he added. “We were bound to face tribulations. This is but one. Ours is a righteous mission and we will prevail.”

I quickly changed the subject before we got mired down in dogma again. “Aside from not being riddled with bullet holes, how are we looking? Supplies, I mean.”

“Not great,” Kelly said, sounding annoyed. “I dropped Skull Smasher back when you told us to dump our weapons.”

“Skull Smasher?”

“My mace,” she explained. “All good weapons have a name. That’s just the way it works. Don’t judge me.”

I considered that. I had only ever referred to my sword as just that. Maybe it was for the best, though. I was missing its comforting feel. I was certain that would only be made worse if I started naming it like a pet.

“Oh yeah,” she continued, “I still have a couple of chocolate bars in my jacket pocket.”

“Beats me,” I replied. “Right now I have pants, shoes, and a sweater to my name.”

“No underwear?” she asked. “Kinky.”

“Of course I’m wearing...” I sputtered, feeling heat rise to my cheeks. I quickly glanced at Vincent, who’d had the good graces to turn away and pretend he was coughing on dust. “How about you?”

He turned back to us, all business again. “My crucifix, a blessed rosary ... and this.” He unclipped a walkie talkie from his side.

I could have whooped in joy.

“I am definitely sharing my Kit Kats with you,” Kelly said.

“Have you used it to...”

“Not yet, Blessed One. I’d suggest we wait to check in, no less than a half hour. That’s standard protocol in situations such as this. If those bedeviled fiends are searching for our allies, it would be wise to not give them away.”

“Or us,” I added, seeing the wisdom in his words. “All right. Let’s get moving. We should find a place to lay low before someone spots us.”

Unfortunately, my timing was impeccable for just as I started to walk, a flashlight beam cut through the darkness and shone upon us.

* * *

“Who are you?”

I couldn’t see anything save a dark silhouette behind the beam of light. Thus I had no way of knowing how many there were or whether they were armed. However, that we’d been asked a question as opposed to immediately shot was a considerable improvement over our last encounter.

I took a slow step to the forefront of our trio. The fear inside of me reared up for a moment before being replaced by the cold certainty of my station. Mine wasn’t the only life at stake here and my power could, at a moment’s notice, protect my allies as surely as it could myself.

“That’s far enough,” the voice, a male with a distinctly non-Bostonian accent, said.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” I replied.

“Considering I’m the one with the Winchester, I should think not.”

I swallowed hard, imagining the unseen barrel of the gun pointed my way. I got a mental flash of the owner giving one cruel smile before pulling the trigger and sending me into that awful darkness again. Maybe this time there would be no escape.

“What are yuh doing snooping around back here?” he asked, dragging me back to the present. "Those gunshots, were those you?”

“We didn’t start it.”

“Didn’t ask that. I saw the lights. Were they shooting at you, or the other way around?”

“We’re not criminals,” Kelly said.

“Missy, the jails are full of people who say the same thing. Or at least they used to be. Not so sure anymore.” The owner of the voice let out a gruff laugh, the light wavering ever so slightly. I considered letting my power flare to life, taking advantage of the momentary distraction and disarming our would-be attacker, but something in his voice made me reconsider. “As for those fuckers, well, they ain’t police ... at least not real police. No familiar faces in the bunch, and I don’t know whose laws they’re following, but it ain’t the law of the land, that I can tell yuh.”