Vesik 04 - This Broken World (21 page)

I looked up toward the old brick buildings at the top of the embankment. “Damn, Glenn. Practically door-to-door service except for the whole river thing.” I walked up to the cobblestone street and smiled as Death’s Door came into view. I crossed the parking lot and waited for a minivan to pass on Main Street before I walked over to the front door. I glanced to my right, looking at the newer stretch of cobblestones that formed the street. Ashley had done a number on them during the battle with the blood mage, but the city had been quick to repair the road.

The shop’s sign was flipped to open. I pulled on the door and the familiar chime of bells welcomed me home.

“Take them off,” a stern voice said from above me.

I looked up to find Cara hovering with her arms crossed. “What, these old things?” I asked as I shook my muddy foot at her.

“Yes,” she said with a small laugh.

“I was totally going to do that anyway.” I grimaced as I undid the muddy laces. “What a mess.”

“We don’t normally take that path,” Cara said.

“I can see why.”

“Damian!” I heard Frank say. “Have you been in the river? Sam’s not going to let you into the SUV looking like that.”

I leaned my staff on the doorway. “The SUV?”

“Yes,” Cara said. “Sam is bringing one of the Pit’s SUVs to drive you to Gettysburg.”

I nodded. “I just need to towel off and change. I’m good. Glenn said we should go through Cumberland on the way. Are you coming with us, Mom?”

Cara shook her head. “Aideen and I are travelling to Gettysburg with Vik and some of Sam’s Pit. Zola, Sam, and Foster are coming with you.”

“I’m staying here with Ashley and her coven,” Frank said. “Cara’s leaving some furry muscle behind for us.”

“The cu siths?” I asked.

“Yes,” Cara said. “I don’t want them in the battle. They made an appearance in the courts. I don’t want them targeted on the battlefield. Their job is done for now.”

“Have you heard from Happy and Vicky?”

Foster swooped into the room and glided to a running stop by the register as I walked by. His golden armor gleamed as the chain mail slithered around his waist. “They’re travelling with the Ghost Pack.”

I nodded. “Makes sense. Keep the Harrowers together.” I turned back to Cara and asked, “How soon are you leaving?”

“Now,” Cara said. “They’re waiting on me.”

“Are you going to fly to the Pit?” I asked, only half joking.

“I’ll take the Ways.”

“The Ways are shut.”

“Not to everyone,” she said. “Be safe, all of you.” She looked at Foster and Frank as she said the last.

“You too,” Frank and Foster said at the same time.

Cara glided to the back and I didn’t see her again that day.

“Perks of knowing the King?” I asked.

Foster hesitated, and then said, “No doubt,” as he glanced toward the back room.

“What? What aren’t you saying?”

“It’s not always perks you get from knowing the King. Sometimes you just get dead.”

I didn’t think Foster was trying to be dramatic at all, which just made that statement all the more scary. I rubbed my face. “How soon are
we
leaving?”

“Sam should be here in less than five,” Frank said.

“So, after a thirty minute goodbye between my sister the vampire and her tasty mortal snack, we should be out of here in an hour.”

“Ha!” Foster said. “It’s funny because it’s true.”

Frank laughed and I caught a smile as I passed through the saloon-style doors. I slid the duffel bag off the second shelf and dropped it on the Formica table. The grandfather clock’s rhythmic clicks made the shop feel even more like home. I really just wanted to go upstairs and curl up in one of the overstuffed leather chairs with a good book, but that wasn’t going to happen for a while. I took a deep breath and pulled out some fresh, dark jeans.

I removed my belt and holster before stripping out of my muddy pants and dropping them into a plastic grocery bag. I slid the duffel bag back onto the shelf. A moment later, I decided I’d take the spare clothes with me. I piled some snacks and bottled water into the empty space in the duffel bag, rearmed myself, and headed back out front.

I pushed through the doors. “If things go south, stay with Ashley. Protect what you can.”

Frank nodded. “I’ve been talking to some of the Watchers.”

“Really?” I asked as I set the duffel bag on the counter.

“Edgar’s right hand man, er, woman,” Foster said.

“Who?” I asked, having no clue what he was talking about.

“I’m glad Mom left,” Foster said, as he slapped his hand on his thigh. “She’d beat your head in if she knew you hadn’t been paying attention. I told her not to say anything when you were focused on talking to Nixie. But what do I know? Nothing. That’s what! I don’t know a damn thing.”

“Foster!” I laughed and asked, “Who?”

He blinked at me. “I don’t remember her name.”

Frank and I exploded into laughter.

“Oh, shit,” I said as I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “That was priceless.”

“She’s a blood mage,” Foster said. “I just don’t remember her name.”

I nodded. I remembered Edgar telling us they had at least one blood mage in their ranks. A horn beeped in three quick beats from the front door. “That must be—”

Sam crushed Frank in a hug before I could finish my sentence.

“Yep,” Foster said. “Sam.”

Sam leaned into Frank like she was going to swallow his face. I grimaced, and smiled, and then grimaced again.

“I know how you feel,” Foster said.

“Shut up, bug,” Sam said. “Are you lazy bastards ready?”

“Aye-aye, captain.”

She glanced at my feet. “You don’t even have shoes on.”

“Ezekiel doesn’t stand a chance against my toenails of doom.”

Sam rolled her eyes and turned back to Frank.

“I’ll miss you,” Frank said.

“I love you, Frank.” My sister wrapped her arms around Frank and I wondered just how much his ribs could take.

“Eww,” Foster said. “Here we go. I’ll be in the car. Watch your ass, Frank.”

“You too,” Frank mumbled around Sam’s hair.

Frank extended his hand and I gave it the forty-five degree thumb wrestling shake. “Watch over your sister for me.”

“I will, you silver-haired bat.”

Sam started giggling.

“Who told you about
that?”
Frank said, horror obvious in his voice.

“About your vampire nickname?” I asked with as much innocence in my voice as I could. “Vik.” I laughed a slightly evil laugh.

“Bastard.”

“At least they didn’t call you the silver caterpillar.”

Sam laughed and brushed one of Frank’s eyebrows.

“I’ll meet you in the van, Sam.”

She nodded, and I carried my backpack and assorted weaponry out the front door. I blinked as I looked at my shoes and staff. They were perfectly clean, and my socks were dry. Clean, dry socks are like magic after have frigid river water socks.

“Thanks, Mom.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

I
opened the back door to the SUV and found Zola staring at me from behind the driver’s seat. Her eyes were almost glowing in the darkness until the overhead light brightened.

“You don’t want shotgun?” I asked as I stuck my head in.

“Is your sister driving?”

I looked up and to the side as I thought about it. “Probably.”

“Then Ah’d prefer not see my imminent death on the roadway.”

I laughed and tossed the duffel bag onto the floor and backpack onto the back seat. I slid my staff into the far back. It fit fairly well at an angle.

“She’s not the best driver,” Foster said from the dashboard.

“She has vampire reflexes,” I said. “We’ll be fine.”

Zola blew out a breath, and something told me she wasn’t so sure about that. “The Old Man tells me your training went well.”

I nodded as I closed the back door and then let myself into the front seat. The SUV smelled like new leather. I shifted so I could look back at Zola. “Well, at least I survived it.”

“The Hand of Anubis is no small thing, Damian. Ah know of no one outside of the bloodline able to do that.”

I nodded. “How long have you known what I was?”

Zola met my eyes as the overhead light began to fade, leaving her in shadows once more. “Ah suspected early in your training. Hinrik alone raised my suspicion. Ah did not truly know until Edgar told me.”

“When?” I asked.

“Long ago, Damian. Ah hoped to keep it from you. Hoped it would never come into your life, but Ah trained you as if it one day would.”

One part of me was hurt that she’d kept a secret from me for so long. The other part was grateful she’d let me live as normal a childhood as possible, without worrying about the real monsters that would be crossing my path.

“I understand,” I said. “Thank you.”

She leaned forward and patted my shoulder. “You’ve done good, Damian. Lots of good.”

I began to notice the voice on the radio and turned up the volume. “… not a hoax and have declared martial law across both sides of the river. The bridge over the Ohio River was indeed destroyed and the casualties have not yet been identified. We’ve been unable to get an answer as to what, exactly, the creature was. We understand the local authorities are speaking to the world’s most accredited marine biologists, but no more information is available.

“Two dozen men and women have been confirmed dead in Cumberland, Maryland. The attack there, some say by the same creature, destroyed a small section of downtown. To make matters more confusing, several eyewitnesses are claiming to have seen several bigfoot-like creatures. Others are calling them werewolves. Terrorists, radicals, or rabid bears? More after the break.”

I turned the radio off and stared at Foster.

He flexed his wings and shook his head. “This can’t be covered up anymore. Ezekiel is bringing us into the open.”

“We’ll worry about that once the war is over,” Zola said. “Humanity has witnessed worse men than Ezekiel. The Fae have defeated stronger enemies than him.”

“Some of those Fae are on Ezekiel’s side now,” Foster said.

The driver’s door opened and Sam slid in. She smacked her lips and grinned at me.

“Did you leave him some blood?” I asked, thankful for the change in topic.

“Breakfast of champions.” She started the SUV.

“Let me get my blindfold on,” Zola said.

Foster and I chuckled. Sam looked at me, and then into the rearview, before she said, “My driving is not
that
bad.”

“Mmm,” was Zola’s only response.

Sam started to pull out of the parking spot when we noticed the traffic backed up on Main Street. “Hell no.” She made an overly quick U-turn that sent us all hurtling into the right side of the car. She turned right onto Adams Street.

“That’s a one way street!” Foster shouted as Sam zipped down the short road and cut right onto Riverside Drive.

“It’s short,” Sam said. “No one’s ever on it.”

I glanced at Sam from the corner of my eye. “Maybe, uh … Maybe I should drive.”

“No way, Demon. I love driving.”

“We’re going to die,” Zola said. Her right hand dug into the edges of Sam’s seat and her left strangled the oh-shit handle. “Ezekiel won’t even get the chance to kill us himself.”

“Oh, stop it,” Sam said.

Foster clung to the rearview mirror. “Is it safe to come down now?”

“You might want to wait until we hit the highway.” I watched the back lots of the Main Street buildings zip by. Foster grunted his agreement. Several of the old brick structures had wooden decks and staircases leading up to the second floors. Ancient faded signs painted onto the bricks graced a few walls.

The river was on our left. Tourists wandered along the paths and the riverside. A few relaxed on benches and gathered in gazebos and pavilions along the Katy Trail, talking animatedly about god knows what. Most were probably talking about the Leviathan. With the radio and televisioin coverage, people weren’t going to think it was a hoax.

The SUV bounced down the cobblestones briefly, as Riverside Drive became Boone’s Lick Road. I rolled the window down and leaned close to it, taking in the smell of the river and the nearby brewery. Tourists milled around the shops, but the crowds were light at this end of Main Street.

“Which way are we going?” Sam asked as she pulled onto Fifth Street.

“Take Seventy to Sixty-Four East,” I said. “We’ll take Sixty-Four all the way to Lexington.”

“Why Lexington?” Zola asked. “It would be a shorter route to stay north.”

“Just outside Lexington, actually. Glenn told us to take the scenic route through Frankfort.”

“Oh, Ah’m sure Ah know right where Glenn wants us to go. That’s fine. Ah could use some bark juice.”

“Some what?” Sam asked.

“Whiskey,” Foster said, rubbing his hands together from his perch on the mirror.

“That doesn’t sound half bad,” Sam said.

“You are so not driving if you whiskey up,” I said.

“Hey, my whole vampire thing lets me drink you under the table, Demon.”

“Yeah? Well my whole necromancer thing makes you slap yourself in the face.”

“Don’t even think about it.”

Zola chuckled from the back seat. “Children, children. Let’s just drive to Frankfort and see what Glenn wants us to see. Though Ah suspect Ah know
who
he wants us to see. It’s an old rendezvous point for an old friend.”

I eyed Sam as she glanced at me and grinned.

“So,” I said. “If Cara and some of the other Fae can still use the Ways, why are we driving all the way to Gettysburg?”

“Probably timing,” Foster said. He glided from the mirror to Sam’s shoulder. “If we show up at different times, and there’s a large enough force waiting, we could be in deep shit.”

“Ah agree,” Zola said. “Not to mention whatever is waiting in Lexington. Glenn would not send us there without reason.”

***

We were halfway to Lexington by three in the afternoon when we zipped by a sign pointing to Jasper, Indiana. Sam and I looked at each other and laughed. Foster sat with his legs crossed, watching the world pass by through the windshield.