Shaman, Healer, Heretic (40 page)

“Lightning!”

Her vision went white as the lightning exploded directly on top of her hands.

Impossibly, she didn’t die. Instead, she felt the energy rush through her with a power that made her skin crackle and her teeth buzz. The ground under her feet started to sizzle as she opened her eyes and lowered her gaze to Tiamat. She left one hand above her, still channeling the lightning strike, and thrust the other directly at Tiamat.
 

• • • • •

SK saw the sparks beginning to jump in the outlets. Thin bright blue tendrils were snaking out, trying to connect with one another along the wall. He spun away from Joel and lurched toward the fireplace. He grabbed the poker and whirled back toward Joel, who stopped.

“You think you’re gonna hurt me with that?” he said, laughing.

The ends of the long blue sparks were starting to dance behind Joel. SK knew he’d need to get rid of the poker soon.

“Seriously, you little midget, you’re funny,” Joel said, advancing again. “But I’m done with this.”

“Done with what, big man?” said SK, backing away. “What exactly are you done with?”

Joel stopped. The radiant blue electricity was beginning to arc behind him.

“With all this,” he yelled, gesturing around to the shamans on the floor. “This stupidity!”

“Why are you–,” started SK.

“Because of my mother!” he screamed, white spittle flying. “My mother, Carmen!” He thrust the needle toward the covered body as his lower lip started to quiver. “My mother,” he said, more to himself than SK, as he glared at the body.

“Well it’s over now!” he continued. “No more lies, no more pretending.”

He swung his face back to SK, his eyes bulging and glassy. “You,” Joel sneered. “And people like you. She suffered because of you.”

The blue electricity in the room was taking on a life of its own. The air crackled with ozone. SK could feel it starting to lift his hair. It was now or never.

“And you, big man–or should I say mama’s boy?” taunted SK, hefting the poker. “You done crying?”

Joel tossed his head back and barked a piercing, staccato laugh, before lowering his gaze to SK. The red-faced grimace was back as he took a step forward. The blazing white ends of two thick blue threads of electricity were snaking close to each other, almost over his head.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” Joel snarled.

“Me, too. Here,” said SK, tossing the poker at Joel’s face. “I picked it out just for you.”

As Joel caught the poker, two electric bolts vaulted to each end of it. As they connected, Joel went stiff and shuddered. Smoke came from his hand and the needle in his other hand exploded. There was a loud hissing sound and, as quickly as the electricity had leapt out, it evaporated. Joel collapsed where he stood, crashing to the floor with the poker welded to his hand.

SK ran over to Livvy. She seemed to be all right. He glanced around. Everybody seemed unharmed, and Wan-li was still breathing.
 

• • • • •

Tiamat’s screech rocked the Underworld as the lightning found her belly. Behind the kachina, Livvy could see Tiamat’s front paws flailing as the light of her eye swept around like a crazy beacon in the dusty atmosphere. The kachina turned around to see Tiamat, but as he did, she bucked to the side and sank into the dark dust cloud. Livvy dropped her hand. The funnel cloud retreated into the sky.

There was a great thudding sound in the distance, but the dust had yet to settle. Livvy headed in the direction of that last sound and Ursula quickly joined her. Cautious at first, they picked up speed as the brown billows dissipated.

Tiamat’s giant body loomed in front of them, lying on its side, but Marduk was nowhere in sight. As the wind died down completely, an eerie silence took over and they found themselves looking at the back of her neck. They moved left, around the top of her enormous head and eventually circled around the front.

There stood Marduk, spear in hand, gaping at Tiamat. The lightning looked as though it had struck her in the heart. He took off his helmet but didn’t look at the approaching shamans. Alvina and the Nahual appeared from the opposite direction, accompanied by their spirit helpers.

Shamans, spirit helpers, and Marduk all stood in silence for a moment and stared at the massive wound.

“Did we do it?” asked Livvy.

Slowly, the shamans shifted their focus to her and then to Marduk.

“No,” said Marduk, shaking his head. “Not we–you.”

He dropped his helmet on the ground and then the spear, unable to stop staring at Tiamat. They watched in silence as he solemnly approached her. Even as the elation of victory had started to well inside her, Livvy realized that the moment meant something entirely different to Marduk.

“She was a powerful opponent once,” he said, looking down her length. “A mighty god, in an age of mighty gods.” He smiled weakly. “Look at us now.”

As Livvy watched, he touched her beak.

“I never thought it would end like this,” he said as he patted her. “No, I surely did not.”

Finally, he drew in a deep breath, turned around, and strode past them, not bothering to pick up the helmet or spear. He stepped up into the chariot and turned to look at them. His bluster and anger were gone and Livvy began to sense what lay underneath. He had feared this battle, needed their help, but he had feared this outcome just as much.

“Well,” said Marduk, running a hand over his bald head. “So much for the old gods.”

Livvy looked back at Tiamat’s lifeless mound. Stunned, she looked down at her hands. Is that what had happened? Had she just killed an ancient god? She looked up to the other shamans. Ursula, Alvina, and the Nahual had come together, arms around shoulders and waists, hugging as though they were about to celebrate. Like Livvy, though, they had sensed that this was not the time or place, and their faces were somber.

Marduk picked up the reins and the horses gave a preparatory shake of their manes.

“Where are you going?” asked Livvy.

“Back to my garden,” he said, in a voice that seemed…small.

“We couldn’t have done this without you,” she said.

He looked at the others, then at Tiamat, and then back to Livvy.

“But you did,” he said, raising the reins. “You did do it without me.”

With that, he slapped the reins down and the chariot rumbled off.
 

AS THEY LEFT through the Middleworld, the soul traffic was enormous, rushing in every direction. As anxious as they were to learn what had happened to Wan-li, they lingered for a few moments enjoying the sight of the spirit helpers and the ancestors who had been scarce.

Back in the real world, Wan-li was waiting with SK. Immediately there were hugs all around. Livvy hugged each one as they crowded around her.

“We did it,” Livvy said.

“You did it, dear,” said Alvina.

“Wan-li!” said Livvy, as Wan-li stepped forward and hugged her. “What happened?”

Wan-li let her go and tilted her head toward the ground. The other shamans parted and Livvy saw Joel lying there, tied up with duct tape.

“What?” said Livvy. “What’s going on?”

The sudden burst of happiness was dimming.

“Joel?” asked Livvy, looking at him and then Wan-li and SK.

She started to go to him but Wan-li put a hand out to stop her.

“He tried to kill me,” said Wan-li.

Livvy felt her stomach plummet as she froze in place.

“That’s why you disappeared,” said Alvina.

“But…Joel would never kill anybody,” Livvy managed to get out. “He’s a paramedic.”

“Yes, he tried to kill SK too,” said Wan-li.

Livvy whirled to SK. “What? Is that true?”

“I’m sorry, Liv,” he said, nodding his head.

“No, but…”

“SK saved me,” said Wan-li. “He saved us all, yes? Joel was working with Carmen. He was her son.” Wan-li nodded toward the floor, and they looked down at where Carmen lay, a sheet over the body.

“What?” Livvy said again, even though realization was beginning to dawn–Joel’s impromptu visits, the accidental run-ins, the way he had seemed to care right from the start. It had seemed to good to be true–and it had been, of course.

She forced herself to look at him, afraid of what she would see in his face. “Joel?”

“Look at you,” he mocked. “All surprised.”

Carmen’s son?
Yes, she could see it now, the same mouth, and something about the eyes.

“But why?” Livvy whispered.

“The money,” he spat, his bloodshot eyes boring into her. “What do you think? She hated you, you know. Told me to get close to you. There was never enough money, never. You seriously thought I’d settle for someone like you?” His eyes began to dart around. “You ignorant bunch of–”

“Right,” said SK, picking up the duct tape and heading toward Joel. “Guess what?” He ripped off a piece of tape. “I’m not your little guy and I’m not a midget,” he said as he jammed it over Joel’s mouth, cutting off the string of curses that had begun to flow.

“I’m a dwarf, you piece of garbage.”

Livvy tried to process it. Joel had been working for Carmen. He was her son. They had meant to kill her, kill all of them.

“Did he hurt you?” Livvy blurted out, looking between Wan-li and SK. “Are you all right?”

“I slept for awhile,” said Wan-li, shrugging.

“Never better,” SK said, tossing the tape aside.

“Carmen was more capable than she seemed,” said Wan-li, picking up Carmen’s goggles. “Yes, she knew how to reverse her goggles and permit the residents of the Multiverse into this world.” She set them down.

“She was the last one with Sunny,” said Ursula, looking down at the body and shaking her head. “For the money.”

“I’m tired of living in poverty,” said Livvy. “That’s what she said.”

“Tiamat’s influence had been growing in the real world long before you tried to network the goggles together,” SK said. “With Tiamat’s help, Carmen was doing well for herself for the first time in her life. Then you showed up.”

The doorbell rang and Wan-li led the police in. Livvy sat down, still trying to absorb what she had heard. Eventually, Joel was taken by ambulance to the hospital with a police escort. According to one of the policemen, he’d probably be going to jail for attempted murder.

It had taken the remaining officers a few hours to get everybody’s story–except for the Nahual. In the tumult of returning to the real world, nobody had seen her slip away.

When Wan-li and Alvina weren’t being questioned, they had been talking quietly to each other and making phone calls. As the coroner took Carmen’s body away, Livvy and Ursula’s eyes met. In the Multiverse they had seen souls rushing in every direction, finding their way at last. Without having to say it, Livvy knew that she and Ursula were thinking the same thing. Among those souls were Bruno and Indra, finally able to find their peace as well. Ursula nodded, lifted her shoulders and straightened her back, although she didn’t smile.

The investigators had seemed to take most of it in stride, finishing the interviews, photographing the crime scene, and dismissing the witnesses. One by one, Wan-li, Alvina, and Ursula had taken their leave. There had been quiet hugs and whispered good-byes.

As Livvy and SK watched the last patrol car reverse down the driveway, she turned to him. “There’s one last thing I need to do.”
 

WEAK BUT AWAKE, Min’s smile could have lit up the Underworld. “You did it,” she said, holding open the one arm that wasn’t hooked up to tubes.

Livvy rushed over and gave her a hug as a spark jumped from her waist to the bed rail. Min reached behind Livvy and grabbed SK’s hand.

“Thank you,” she said.

Her family stood to one side, making room. Even Min’s mother was all smiles.

Livvy and SK both told their tales and, as Sam translated certain snippets, there was the occasional exclamation of wonder from their audience–especially the part where SK had tossed the fire iron to Joel.

“Nice one,” said Sam, nodding.

Min had listened intently to the whole thing. “Oh my gods, Livvy,” was all she could say. “Oh my gods.”

Finally, her mother came around the end of the bed and gave Livvy a hug and then SK, saying something in Korean and crying.

“She says she owes you her daughter’s life,” said Sam.

The father sniffled as he looked on, nodding.

Livvy didn’t know what to say and then SK said something in Korean.

The father and Min laughed, and mom smiled.

“Since when do you speak Korean?” asked Livvy.

“I never said I didn’t.”

“Well, what did you say?”

“He’s putting in an order for home-made kimchee,” said Sam.

Despite being asleep the last few days, Min was easily tired so the visit was short. As they left the hospital lobby and stepped into the parking lot, SK said, “Guess I’ll drop you off at your apartment.”