Hollows 11 - Ever After (46 page)

“You can’t kill me. Therefore, I win.”

Ku’Sox’s words echoed over the dead earth between us, chilling me. Light glowed from the crater that Trent’s and my magic had made, and in the slashes of angry light, Ku’Sox smiled, shadows making him harsh. “You can’t kill me, even with your elf
slave,
” he said, the rock sliding from under his feet as he stood. “The collective won’t help you. And you—are—dead.”

Bis landed upon Trent, and the lines echoed in my mind. “I’ll jump you out,” the kid said, but both of us shook our heads. It ended here. It ended now.

“
Dali-i-i-i!
” Ku’Sox screamed at the rising moon. “Newt! Show yourselves, you cowards!” His head dropping, he looked at me with savage eyes from under his hanging hair, clearly shaken from the curse that had landed on him. “I will talk to you, you poltroons . . .”

“Stand up,” I said, poking Trent in the ribs to make him jump. “Fix your hair, will you? You look a mess.”

“Look who’s talking,” Trent said, even as he ran a hand through his hair to arrange it, his missing fingers obvious.

We both stiffened as the energy in the lines shifted. Nearly where the sun would rise in a scant four hours, a round, squat demon misted into existence, tired and slack-faced. “Is it done?” Dali said, facing Ku’Sox and taking in his ragged appearance. “Fix the damned line before there’s nothing left and we’re all . . .” He hesitated, breathing the air as if he could smell me. Or maybe he was smelling Trent. He reeked of cinnamon and wine, almost covering up the stench of burnt amber.

“She’s alive?” he exclaimed, spinning to us, his expression shocked. “You’re alive!”

“I’m alive,” I said, breathing hard.
For the moment.

“For the moment,” Ku’Sox muttered, echoing my thought, frowning as Newt misted into existence beside Dali, wearing exactly the same thing I was. Al slumped at her feet, and my heart leaped until I saw the chains about his wrists and the downcast slouch to his shoulders.

“Of course she’s alive,” Newt said, and Al’s head snapped up, his fervent eyes finding mine and tension pulling him straight. “She’s Al’s wonder child,” the demon finished lightly, smacking Al to make him glower at the ass-backward praise.

“Al . . .” I breathed, elated, and Trent stared at me. In my mind, Trent’s hatred for the demon rose up, anger for his missing fingers, his fear for having been helpless. It joined my memories of Al’s awkwardly given kindnesses when none was expected, and then my pity for the loss of his wife, his life, his love, being forced to live in a hole in the ground, an understanding found, a respect granted unasked, vulnerable and fragile.

“Al?” Trent said, and I blinked, not comfortable having shared that with him.

“I-I . . .” I stammered, then shut my mouth, unable to explain. Al was cruel, vindictive, angry, elegant, powerful. He gave me strength, he gave me wisdom, not only about magic, but about myself. He was a lot like Trent, only harsher around the edges.

Sensing my emotions, Trent turned away, head down and grimy hair shifting in the gritty wind. “I will never understand you. How can you forgive so easily?”

“Yeah? Well, that’s what’s going to save both our asses,” I said, hoping it was a prophecy, not a prayer.

“Take her!” Ku’Sox shouted. “Finish her!”

Heart pounding, I shifted my feet to find solid earth beneath the scree. My will strengthened our circle, and I felt Trent do the same, wild magic seeping up from the earth to send darts of gold through the black smut crawling over the barrier. “What’s the matter, Ku’Sox?” I mocked when Dali and Newt exchanged worried glances. “Since when do you need anyone’s help? I though this was between you and me? How come you called them? Can’t do it yourself?”

“You are hiding behind a
stinking elf
!” he snarled, gesturing wildly.

“He smells quite nice,” I shouted back, making Bis giggle. “And it’s not hiding, it’s using my resources to the fullest! You can use Nick if you want.”

Ku’Sox’s eye twitched. Next to me, Trent lifted his chin. “I stand with Rachel to fix the ever-after,” he said quietly, making a sharp contrast to Ku’Sox’s loudmouthed bullying. “I stand to save the demons. What do you stand for, Ku’Sox Sha-Ku’ru?”

Trent held up his mutilated hand, his ring glinting. Newt leaned to see and Al winced, dragged behind her as she came forward a step. “Al. Where did you get a working set of slavers?” she asked, and then she blinked in what had to be shock. “They’re using them backward! Is that even possible?”

Al slowly got to his feet, saying, “Apparently. And I didn’t give them to her, she made them herself.”

“No wonder she was able to strike me down,” Newt said smugly, but I didn’t think anyone believed her.

Ku’Sox limped forward. “You’re not going to help me finish her? She’s using an
elf
!”

“So?” Dali said, gesturing. “This is your issue. Your word against hers. If you can’t best her, then maybe she is right, and you are—wrong?”

“She ran away!” Ku’Sox said, gesturing, and I stiffened as I felt another demon show up. He was on the outskirts, listening. “It proves she’s at fault! I’d take her down now, but she’s grown inventive.”

“I think you mean powerful,” Newt said slyly, jerking Al closer to make his chains clink.

Dali crossed his arms, looking more confident as several more demons misted in beside the first. “Why should I help you? She fixed my line. My rooms won’t be shrinking when the sun comes up.”

“But she was the one who broke them!” Ku’Sox glanced nervously at the accumulating demons between us and the waning moon.

“Did she?” Dali’s head tilted, and the demons popping in one by one discussed.

Breath held, I did a mental count. Dali’s line was the one running through Trent’s compound? I looked at Trent, seeing his pale face as he figured it out as well. On my shoulder, Bis squirmed. He’d chosen what lines we jumped to with precision—mine, Newt’s, Dali’s . . . and Al’s?

“You are blind fools!” Ku’Sox paced in the fading light from Trent’s and my last joined magic. “If she doesn’t die before the sun rises and the energy tide shifts, you will lose too much, and the ever-after will fall regardless of whose lines get fixed.”

“Then
kill
her and let’s get on with it,” Newt said, making Al scowl at her pleasant smile. “I tried already, and she hit me.”

“Hey, would any of you mind if I go take care of a few things and get back to you in about an hour?” I said loudly, then ducked when Ku’Sox sent a token shot of energy at us.

It hit the barrier and was absorbed cleanly, making the surrounding demons buzz with interest.

Trent leaned close, whispering, “I think it’s funny how they keep trying to kill you when all you want to do is save them.”

“Happens to me all the time,” I said wryly, and he chuckled.

“Me too.”

A feeling of shared kinship darted through me, lighting both our thoughts, and Bis seemed to warm.

“I need your help,” Ku’Sox growled, pacing forward. “I can’t best her when she’s with an elf. The sun will be up soon, and by then it will be too late.”

The demons behind Dali didn’t like that, but Newt was undeterred. “Perhaps Rachel can.”

We had to get this done, and get it done now. Trent had the drive to kill Ku’Sox. I had the power, but neither of us had the skill to best a demon taught the arts of war. Blinking, I brought my head up, finding Al waiting, a devious smile on his face, his bound hands held out to me.
Al did.
My eyes went to his hands, and his gloves misted out of existence to show his wedding rings. Perhaps the three of us could actually do something.

“We need Al,” I whispered as Ku’Sox paced up and down, raging at us.

“Don’t be foolish. We can’t even get to him,” Trent muttered back.

“They aren’t going to help him,” I said, looking to the east and fidgeting. “They won’t help us. We need to forcibly take him.”

Trent frowned as Ku’Sox grandstanded, claiming another twelve hours of negative energy pressure would put the mass of the ever-after under a viable threshold. “We need Al,” I said again, and this time, Trent turned to me, his eyes flicking up to Bis’s as the gargoyle bobbed his head. “We can’t overpower Ku’Sox without the knowledge Al has. We need him!”

An ugly expression came over Trent, and I got into his face, mad. “Get over it, Trent!” I hissed, taking his arm. “You used me, and now I’m calling it in! What kind of world do you want your children to grow up in? One where they fear demons, or one where they understand them?”

Trent jerked away, angry and unwilling. Behind him, I could see Al waiting. “I am yours,” Trent said sullenly, and I swear, I saw Al’s lips move in tandem, his expression elated.

“Let’s get him!” Bis shouted, and I staggered as he sprang from me, our circle bobbling for a moment as he punched through, spinning madly to avoid Ku’Sox’s sudden curses.

“Bis!” I cried, feeling the broken glory of the lines vanish. Then I bolted to Al while Ku’Sox was staring at the sky. I knew Trent would get my back, and I felt him gather a spell, flinging it madly in the hopes of scoring on the distracted demon.

A thunderous boom behind me sent me stumbling, and I crashed into Newt. We went down, me on top of her. “Sorry!” I cheerfully cried as I grabbed my fist and swung my elbow into the side of her head. It met with a thump and my arm went numb. Breath hissing, I got off her, scrambling to find Al and drag him away. I’d broken three boards with that move before, and Newt was down—for a moment at least.

“Oh, you’re going to pay for that, itchy witch,” Al said, beaming at me, and I sketched a fast circle around us, catching quick glimpses of exploding fireballs and demons in white robes scrambling to find cover.

“Hey, if I’m going to get blamed for hitting her, I’m going to hit her,” I said. “Are you okay? Can you tap the lines?” In my mind, elven spells were unwinding, wild magic singing through me. It was as if I was in two places at once, and the adrenaline pounded through me. My head was high, and I breathed deep. When Trent spelled, he sang.

“Circle, circle!” Al shouted, and I ducked, deflecting a black ball of something.

“Not until Trent gets here,” I said, seeing Bis swooping around to drop another rock on Ku’Sox. I fumbled at Al’s bindings. They were simple cords, but my fingers hummed when I touched them. Clearly they were spelled.

“He’s wearing the slaver, yes?” Al said, grabbing my hands and yanking me out of the path of another spell. “He’ll get through. Your energies resonate as one.”

My fingers on the knot hesitated.
Ivy. Could I save Ivy with this?

“Look out!” Al shouted, shoving me backward, and I fell, my breath knocked out of me.

Al was standing over me, shouting to the skies, and fingers scrabbling, I reached out for the circle I’d scraped in the dirt, still not having breathed.
Rhombus,
I thought, getting a slip of air in, and Al jumped back, narrowly avoiding getting left outside. Dizzy, I looked up. Newt was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe, blood leaking from her ear as she sat on the ground and scooted backward to sit against a large rock.

“See!” she crowed, pointing. “I told you she hit me!”

Shaky, I sat up, moving a stone out from under my backside. Dali, too, was watching, standing in the middle of everything with his hands on his hips and a frown on his face as if nothing could touch him. Trent was ducking behind rocks as Ku’Sox pulverized them, each jump moving him closer. Trent’s charms were circling in my head, filling me with the need to do something, wild and demanding, drawing on me as needed to supplement his strength.

The demons weren’t helping. They weren’t hindering, either. Only the strongest could ensure the demons’ continued existence. I wanted it to be me.

“Trent!” I shouted, and he sprang for us. Ku’Sox took aim, then flinched when Bis dropped a rock on him. Snarling, the demon shifted his attention to Bis.

“No!” I shouted, helpless.

Bis spun, headed for the shelter of my bubble. Under him, Trent pounded over the rocks. Ku’Sox snarled, eyes on the sky as he wound up. Fixed on Bis, he didn’t see Dali stick his foot out, and the demon face-planted into the dusty stones.

Okay, maybe they had a favorite here, after all.

“Oh, sorry,” Dali said, getting between us and Ku’Sox to help the demon up, brushing him off and getting in his line of sight until Bis backwinged into the bubble, landing on my shoulder, his red eyes wide in excitement.

Trent was a moment behind, slipping through the protection bubble and sliding to a sudden, awkward halt inches from Al—far too close. Al smiled down at him with his thick, blocky teeth, and Trent smiled right back, more than a hint of deviltry in his green, green eyes. Trent was humming, and my thoughts hummed with him. I was alive with him, and it was glorious. Indescribable.

Trent’s eyes met mine, and we both flushed.

Behind him, a rock exploded as Ku’Sox’s discarded magic rolled into a rock. The watching demons complained loudly, and I felt a dozen protection circles go up.

“Yes, yes, slave rings have a silver lining,” Al grumped, holding his bound hands out. “If you two are done mooning over each other, I could use some assistance.”

I started, and Bis giggled from my shoulder.

“They are charmed,” Al said loftily, as Trent touched them and a strand of wild magic spun through my mind. The curse holding Al quavered, resisted . . . and finally fell when I gave Trent’s magic a push.

“Mar-r-r-rvelous,” Al drawled, a dangerous light entering his eyes as he turned to the east, to Ku’Sox. His thick hands clenched, and my skin prickled at the energy he drew in from his line atop the valley overlooking the dead city. “You work well together. Good to know.”

“Do we jump?” Bis asked, riding the high of the innocent.

I looked over the flat plain below us, seeing the world spread out, dim and red under the rising moon. It felt right that here, at the top of the world, it would end.

“We fight,” I said, and Al chuckled, low and long.

Ku’Sox was pacing, his form low and hunched as he watched us in our bubble.