Hardboiled: Not Your Average Detective Story (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 5) (17 page)

I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, and using both hands, shoved the door as hard as my seventeen year old muscles would allow me.

It. Didn’t. Budge.

Panic seized me, rippling down over my skin like ice water as I pressed even harder on the door. Instead of closing, it widened even more, the gap between the door and the jam widening inch by inch. I screamed, my power flaring around me, and people turned to look at me as I forced everything I had into closing the damned door to the damned.

Only… only it didn’t work. The door inched open until there was a foot of space. A white gloved hand burst from the darkness and seized my wrist. It yanked me forward, pulling me into the murk as the face of a man I never thought I’d see ever again peered at me from the darkness.

“Hello, Lillim,” Jiroushou Manaka said in his sickly sweet voice. “Did you miss me?”

Oh. Crap.

Chapter 16

Manaka jerked me off my feet and through the door. I spun, trying to grab onto something, anything to stop myself, but my fingers slipped off his body like he was made of butter. He released me, and I toppled backward onto the landing. He shut the door with an ominous thud and stood in front of it, blocking my escape.

My little brain exploded as I looked around like a scared rabbit. I was trapped in here with him. I tried to breathe, tried to do anything that would keep me from breaking down into a hysterical puddle. There was nothing but stairs back down into Hades. I was screwed.

Manaka’s lips stretched into an obscene smile as he put his hands on his hips like a petulant teenager. I got to my feet as fear and rage fought for control of my body. Torchlight filled the room with sinister shadows that danced devilishly along the walls. His grey eyes seemed to flicker, mirroring the dancing flames around us as he stroked his too smooth chin with his hand.

“How come you’re not pushing a boulder uphill or having you liver eaten by crows or something,” I snapped, my hands balling into fists as I stared at the man I had sniped from a rooftop years ago. Why had I shot him in cold blood, killing an innocent nurse in the process? He had come to my home and had left my father bleeding and broken outside the gates of our city.

He had been responsible for sacking Lot, for killing Dirge, for unleashing the monster that poisoned Caleb. This man who stood before me with a stupid smirk on his face, and while not directly responsible for every horrible thing I had ever done, was certainly the butterfly who had flapped his wings in my direction. It wasn’t fair to pin it all on him, but if I was inclined to blame someone other than myself, this man would be the first candidate. Seeing him now made me so angry that it was almost enough to chase down the fear. Almost.

“The Emissary had some pull down here. He put in a good word for me, assured the boss man that I wasn’t evil,” Manaka said, voice still brittle and infected, like the growl of an angry attack dog who hasn’t decided when it will rip out your throat, only that it will. “The Emissary says you treated him well by the way. He says you let him eat a demon and a score of vampires. He is a little miffed about the dragon, though.” Manaka put one finger to his chin and tapped it thoughtfully. “I wonder, why did you pull back, Lillim? You’ve never been one for restraint. You’re more of a ‘costs don’t matter’ type of girl. It’s why I like you so much.”

I could have told him why I hadn’t let the Emissary of Tragedy consume the dragon, but there was no point, really. What was I going to say, anyway? After I killed you, took your Dioscuri sword, Haijiku, and tried to kill a dragon, the damn thing ran away? That was the
only
reason I hadn’t let the Emissary eat the dragon. The dragon was too scared to fight me
and
the Emissary. Truthfully, I hadn’t even mattered in the equation very much.

When I didn’t respond, Manaka swept his arm outward, throwing back his purple cape and drawing a katana as dark as the souls of the damned. Crimson butterflies were etched along its length, and as the flickering torchlight hit them, they seemed to flit across its surface.

“I can tell from your eyes that you are surprised to see Haijiku has returned to my hand. You shouldn’t be surprised, though. This was always
my
blade. The Emissary and I were always meant to be together.” Manaka took a step forward, pointing the blade at my chest.

Remember how I said that Dioscuri weapons were powered by supernatural beings? Well, Haijiku, Manaka’s weapon, was powered by a being called The Emissary of Tragedy. He was so scary that pretty much everyone I’d met while in possession of the weapon had warned me to stay away from him. I still wasn’t quite sure who the Emissary actually was, but if what Manaka was telling me was true, the Emissary had told Hades not to punish Manaka and Hades had complied. That was a scary thought because, well, who would Hades be scared of?

“You’re supposed to be dead,” I said, wishing with all my heart that I had the twin blades of Shirajirashii at my sides. The profound emptiness of not having them was like a huge empty chasm where my strength and courage should have been. Losing them was like losing a part of myself, and until this moment, I hadn’t realized the depth to which I’d counted on them. As I stared at this man who, even after his death, clung to his sword like it was his child, the true meaning of what I’d lost chilled me to my core.

I gritted my teeth, a flush of rage rippling over my skin. I was going to find Lang the body snatcher, and when I did, I was going to get Isis and Set back.

“I am a god, Lillim Cortez Callina. A god can be killed, but not destroyed.” Manaka’s voice slithered out of his mouth, filling the air with wicked intentions as he spoke. Horrible visions of what was to come played out in my head in the space of a nano-second. I couldn’t beat him, not straight up. My only chance was to get out of Hades and onto Earth. At least I was pretty sure that was my only chance, because I didn’t think he could follow me out of the realms of the dead.

“I’ve killed a god before. You are nothing like him,” I replied, my voice cracking partway through.

“I know,” Manaka said with a shrug. “Crom Cruach is dead. Good job. Do you want a ribbon?”

He swung Haijiku through the air, the movement so fast that the rush of air between us was enough to buffet my clothing. I took a step backward and nearly stumbled as my heel came partway off the top step. I spared a glance over my shoulder I shouldn’t have. I was at the edge of the stairway…

“Pay attention to me, whelp,” he snapped, the sound of his voice splitting the air like a gunshot.

I swung my gaze toward him as he licked his lips. “What do you want?” I asked. “What do you want from me, Manaka? Why have you wandered up here? Is it just to torment me?”

“I’m not sure,” he said, shrugging. “I want to kill you, that’s a given. But how? Do I want to perforate you with bullets? Do I want to plunge you into the river Styx and watch as you struggle, gasping for breath? Do I want to toss you in the Lethe and leave you to wander the halls of the dead for eternity, trying to figure out who you are?”

He was next to me in a second, his right arm wrapped around my back, pulling me against his fever warm body. “There is so much I want to do to you, Lillim. And here, in Hades, you can’t actually die. You can just experience agony for eternity. It will be glorious.” His eyes burned into mine, hideous and horrible. They weren’t the eyes of a cold emotionless predator. No, they were the eyes of a sadistic monster that had spent every waking moment plotting his revenge. “Here we can be together forever.”

I brought my left hand up, the bangle that housed Apep wreathing itself in black smoke. Manaka caught my wrist before I’d barely moved an inch, stopping me with no more effort than it would take to swat at a fly. He twisted. My wrist snapped, the sound of it echoing on the empty platform. He released me as I cried out in pain, my bangle slipping off and hitting the ground in pieces that skittered off into the darkness.

“You are no match for me, Lillim. I won’t tell you not to struggle,” he said, sheathing Haijiku and flicking my bottom rib with his index finger. My bone shattered. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even remember how, drowning me in an ocean of pain that left me unable to even think. “It’s pointless, but honestly, I want you to do it. That would be more fun.”

I reached out toward his sheathed weapon with my right hand, and he swatted it away. My hand hit the railing and went numb. “I know what you did to Masataka Mawara, how you pretended right up until you slit his throat and spilled his hot blood down the front of you. Did you like that? The feel of his mouth on yours as he realized what you had done to him?”

Tears filled my eyes as the memory burbled just below the surface of my thoughts. He was right, after all. I had done that. I hadn’t enjoyed it… but I’d still done it. It was one of a handful of moments that reminded me I was a bad person.

“What is it about you, Lillim? What is it that makes your enemies crave the touch of your lips?” His tongue shot out, and he licked my cheek, leaving a trail of saliva along my flesh. “You taste like roses, caramel, and something else…” he said a moment later, pulling back just a fraction of an inch so that his breath was hot on my cheek. “But what is that…” He trailed off, his eyes growing wide with… fear.

“No… no it cannot be,” he said, taking a step back from me so that his body was no longer pressed against mine. He gripped the hilt of Haijiku so hard that I could see his muscles straining beneath his black jumpsuit. “How could you do this? You made it so I’m stuck in Hades, forever. You made it so my plan to take over the Dioscuri failed.” He shook his head, turning away from me as a single tear slipped down his cheek. “You have made it so we’re all doomed.”

“What?” I asked, confusion welling up inside me as I slumped to the floor, my ribs throbbing and my wrist pulsing with white hot bursts of agony.

“You think I’m just evil, and maybe I am. Maybe I’ve become the villain, but what you don’t realize is that Nanashi is back.” Which was true. I had no idea who that was. Was he a Dioscuri? Some kind of monster? Why was it so bad that he was back?

“He has been back for a while now,” Manaka continued. “And everything, everything I have done to prepare for his return has been undone by my death. In my final moments, I hoped that our sacrifice had locked him away for good…”

Worry crisscrossed his features as despair swept over him, his shoulders slumping in defeat. His abrupt ‘about face’ through me for a loop. Hadn’t he been all vengeance and murder a second ago? What had changed?

“When I tasted you, I tasted your power, Lillim. I tasted the wild hunt. I tasted Isis and Set, their warring bodies still locked within you. I tasted the darkness of Apep, pushed to the forefront by necessity.” He turned to face me and drew Haijiku from its sheath and held the blade in front of himself. “Unfortunately, I tasted
him,
too. Now the Emissary is telling me to forgive you, prattling in my brain like an angry old biddy.” He shook his head. “And I’m dead, trapped here for eternity, and you… you’ve lost your swords.” He screamed, a low guttural sound that made my blood turn to ice water.

“What the hell are you talking about, Manaka?” I asked as Manaka glared at his own weapon. It looked like they were having some kind of mental conversation.

“Are you sure?” he asked the weapon, and it pulsed in the torchlight like a living thing. He shut his eyes for a long time. When he opened them, unshed tears glistened around the edges.

Without another word, he jerked the sheath free from his belt and held it and the sword out, offering them to me. “Take Haijiku once more, Lillim. The Emissary and I have come to an agreement, and he will assist you. You will need him to defeat Nanashi. I had forgotten my purpose, so caught up in rage and anger that my purpose, my
true
purpose became distorted, but right now, I am finally seeing clearly. I made a deal with a devil, and it got me trapped inside Hades for all eternity, doomed to wander the fields of battle, trying to fight my way out of a hole I created for myself. Through my own actions, I have imprisoned myself.” He shook his head, a tear dripping down his cheek. “I can no longer stop Nanashi from rising.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know who Nanashi is,” I said, looking from the Haijiku to him and back again. “I need to get out of here and do about a bazillion things. I don’t have time to go on a wild goose chase for no one.”

“I know that.” Manaka gritted his teeth. “I know you have a lot to do, Lillim. I know your boyfriend has been taken, and along with him, my friend the Blue Prince. I know you feel like you need to go after Lang and Polyphemus. I know that you’re worried about Thes. I know all this, and still I ask you to listen to me. You must kill Nanashi before he comes into his full power, or we are all doomed.”

“You just broke my arm and my ribs. You shattered one of my bangles. You licked me, and come on, who does that?” I shook my head as anger surged inside me. “You did all of that right now.
Right now
and then ask me to trust you?”

“Yes,” Manaka said. “Take Haijiku from this place. Find Nanashi and destroy him. Rout him from this earth so completely that he can never come back, can never lay a hand on any of us again.” Manaka sighed, an exasperated, desperate sound that made my heart sink. “You aren’t listening to me.”

“Of course not,” I snapped. “The only thing I am thinking about is grabbing Haijiku and stabbing you with it.”

“Very well,” Manaka replied, leaning back on his haunches and exposing his chest to me. “Do your worst.”

“Don’t think I won’t!” I screamed, snatching the blade to do just that. The moment I touched Haijiku, an electric current exploded through my mind. The feeling of a giant field of crows settled over the back of my mind, waiting for the chance to take to the air, to burst into a flurry of pecking and chaos. It was so strong, I couldn’t even think past it.

Manaka smiled at me as I stood there, Haijiku shaking in my right hand. Light pulsed out of it, a little spark of blue that carried itself over my body, and just like that, I didn’t hurt any more. Hell, I wasn’t even tired. I stared down at my left wrist in awe as the bones writhed and moved beneath my flesh until they were back to normal.