Decimation, p.17
Decimation, page 17
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Dahlia’s disbelief was abrupt.
I couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment.
Magnus shot her a pursed-lip look.
“Spill while you change,” Dahlia said. “Anyone in the room who hasn’t seen you naked can raise their hand now. No one? Fine.”
Magnus stuck her tongue out. It was a childish but endearing gesture in the midst of everything else going on. She strolled into her bedroom, but she did leave the door open a few inches.
“The servers Vidar took are magically shielded.” Her voice was muffled, but carried out to us. “They were created to hold up to a lot of power trying to break them.”
“Or flow into them and enhance them?” Dahlia asked.
Bragi was staring at the comic book on the coffee table. “Can anyone besides you do that, Dahlia?”
She shrugged. “Probably. I’m not unique.”
“You’re the only dragon born in centuries who’s become a dragon.” To me, that was unique.
“You are pretty weird,” Magnus called.
Dahlia looked amused. “Takes one to know one, freak.”
Magnus emerged from her room, in casual clothing far more appropriate to who she was. She also wore half a smile. “I’m not ashamed of that.”
“What is this?” Bragi pointed at the book.
“We found it in an old house of Skuld’s,” Dahlia said. “It’s kind of like a comic book prophecy. Everything in it has already happened, though.”
“Is that me?” Bragi was looking at the scene I’d originally been drawn to. “Vidar and Skye?”
Magnus joined him. “Who’s Skye?”
“Former student. Used to be obsessed with me,” Bragi teased.
I didn’t understand the joke, though. “No she wasn’t.”
Magnus snorted and smacked him playfully. “Who was she really?”
Their familiarity nagged me. When did they form this level of comfort with each other? “She was an inventor and a conduit,” I said.
“How did you…?” Bragi trailed off as he looked at me.
I hated to admit I’d been reading his journals still. That felt like letting him know part of me still cared. This wasn’t the time to hold back. “She’s in your journals.”
To his credit, his only reaction was a quick twist of his mouth. “This never happened, though. Skye had that machine, however she never got it to work. Her sister—twin—Bridget, was an amplifier, and it took both of them to power it. But they never found the remaining pieces. Skye insisted they needed a key and a few other parts.”
Then why did the picture show otherwise? Dahlia had been convinced this had all come to pass.
“A few other parts,” Dahlia muttered, and pulled the amulet from her pocket. “Fuck me. What does the machine do?”
“Skye thought it would take them to other realms,” Bragi said. “She was going to explore the universe.”
No. Something tickled the back of my mind.
Dahlia dropped onto the couch, where she’d been before Magnus texted her. “You didn’t think to tell her you could offer that service without a big fancy machine?”
Bragi shook his head. “Not the way that I do or that you do or that anyone we know does. These were supposed to be gates to realms we can’t reach. Worlds that are supposedly forgotten.”
“If they’re forgotten, how do we know they exist?” Magnus asked.
“Because some of us remember.” Oh, no. I did remember. “These aren’t gates that should be opened.” I was talking to myself as much as the others. Tucked among the memories that had surged back were a handful I hadn’t seen in a long time. Centuries. They were old and foreign enough, even though they were my past, that I struggled to make sense of them. “When people mess with those gates, there’s a lot of death.”
Magnus frowned. “There’s already been a lot of death.”
“Not like this.” Had I blocked out the past or had it been hidden from me? “This level of death is of apocalyptic proportions. Ragnarök levels.”
The silence that settled in the room was deafening.
“That’s not what Vidar is doing.” Uncertainty rang in Dahlia’s voice. “He’s worked too hard to stop the prophecies.”
He hadn’t, though. “He’s worked to make sure he was strong enough to withstand whatever was coming for him.” I’d watched it for more than a century. From the outside, yes, but I still had a seat to the show.
“But why would he…?” Magnus sank onto the arm of the couch, next to Dahlia.
“You heard him in NOLA. He wants the world to be what it used to be.” The realization in Dahlia’s voice was peppered with doubt, as if she hated that she was putting the pieces together. “Ragnarök is rebirth. Those who survive see a new world.”
“He doesn’t have all the pieces, though. Even if he’s building that machine, he doesn’t have that.” Magnus nodded at the piece in Dahlia’s hand. “He doesn’t have an amplifier. Does he?”
Bragi looked as concerned as all of us. “Not that I’m aware. He holds a lot of things close, though.”
“In other words, we still destroy him, regardless of what he’s planning,” Magnus said.
“And we need to do it now, if Vindres knows who you are,” Dahlia added. “We’re out of time.”
It didn’t matter. “We can’t do anything if we can’t figure out how to destroy him.” I hated to be the bearer of bad news. “Unless we have that information, it doesn’t matter how urgent our need is.”
The lack of argument that met me was as disheartening as the new revelations themselves. What were we supposed to do?
TWENTY
BRAGI
The last time I was here, in this place, I was one apartment over and Fen was dying. Shot by magical god-killing bullets.
So much had happened since then, and I wasn’t sure how comfortable I was here. Especially because Fen and joined us, and he kept watching me, as if waiting for a reason to evict me.
I was surprised Dahlia let me in so easily.
None of that seemed significant compared to the revelation Nico just dropped. Was Vidar truly trying to start Ragnarök?
Why? What would he accomplish? If he had any allies left, this would destroy them.
My phone rang, and I frowned. “It’s Anubis.”
“Answer it.” It seemed it was possible for Magnus to be more on edge.
Not that I disagreed with her. I answered.
“I have some information for you.” Anubis got straight to the point.
I was grateful for that. The evening had been too choked with fakeness and formality. “When can I come visit, and may I still bring my friend?” When I checked in with him a day or two ago, I’d mentioned Magnus wanted to be present for our conversations.
“I would prefer you did bring her, yes. Are you free now?”
It had already been a long night. We were stuck without answers, though. “We are.”
“Are you going to visit him?” Nico’s interruption was out of character. “I’m joining you.”
“A moment, please,” I said to Anubis, and put the phone on Mute. “I’m not taking the entire fucking building,” I said to Nico.
Fen held up a hand. “We’re not going. We’re not even asking.”
“We’re not?” Dahlia asked.
He shook his head. “I’ll introduce you to Anubis one day. You’ll like him. That will be a social call when this is all over, and the more of us who go, the more it muddies the waters. Magnus is capable.”
“Yeah, she is.” Dahlia looked satisfied with the answer.
Good. I didn’t care to risk the hospitality Anubis had extended by turning this into a family field trip. I returned to the call. “Apologies. Nicodemus would also like to join me.”
“Absolutely. I’d like to see him again.” Anubis’s agreement was pleasant.
As we headed out, Dahlia gave Magnus’s hand a squeeze. “Bring back good intel?”
Magnus nodded. “Of course. It’ll be the best.”
There was a hint of doubt in her voice, and I suspected we all felt the same, but hope and spite were the things keeping us going.
The elevator ride down to the main floor was silent and awkward, with Magnus standing between Nico and me, and him casting the occasional glance in my direction.
The fact that he was willing to share a lift with me felt like a good next step.
We reached the main floor, and the moment we stepped out of NEON, Magnus took our hands, and we were in front of Anubis’s home.
When he answered the door, his smile didn’t reach his eyes, and his tone wasn’t as warm as when I called.
Magnus eyed him suspiciously.
“He’s a friend,” I said.
Her hmm was difficult to interpret. What did she feel?
He stepped aside to let us in.
The moment Magnus stepped into the foyer, she stopped. It looked as though she was pushing against an invisible wall. “What is this?” Anger spilled from her question. She leaned to the left and right, but didn’t fall.
I whirled on Anubis. “What’s going on?”
“Abomination.” Sylith stepped into the room from the far doorway.
Nico was already flying toward her, flame enveloping him.
“Stop.” Anubis’s voice stayed calm, and he looked at Sylith. “You were to let me handle this.”
“If either of you hurt Magnus, I will scorch you again and again.” Nico’s words were heavy and rolled through me.
Sylith didn’t flinch. “If you do, she will die.”
“No.” Anubis off the word. “No death. Not tonight.”
“Explain yourself.” I hated that the only thing I could do was talk. This was the most impotent I’d felt since losing my power. It didn’t matter, though. If this was a betrayal, and Magnus or Nico got hurt, I’d find a way to make someone pay.
“Let me go.” Magnus stumbled forward. In a flash, she had summoned a dagger and was flying past Nico, to pin Sylith to the wall.
Sylith held a blade to Magnus’s stomach. “Maybe you are more than a vapid child,” Sylith said. “You still need to die.”
“You’re definitely still a bitch.” Magnus’s hand was steady and her gaze never wavered from Sylith’s face.
“Enough.” Anubis’s roar shook the room. Magnus and Sylith were pushed apart by an invisible force. He had put them both in magical boxes.
Magnus gave a threatening chuckle. “It didn’t hold me the first time.”
“No, but it will hold you long enough to listen, and it will hold Sylith. Are you working with Vidar?”
Magnus’s face contorted with rage, and the flames around Nico grew.
The two were an impressive sight. Creation I loved them.
“So, one, super eww.” In the midst of combat, Magnus was still herself.
That was reassuring. “You know we’re not,” I said.
“How dare you even suggest it.” Nico seemed to be taking the question the hardest.
“Then why did you come to Vindres’s club, asking questions about Vidar’s project?” Sylith asked.
Magnus barely spared her a glance. “We didn’t.”
“I told you that you aren’t as good as you think.”
Magnus made a pft sound. “I’m the best, bitch.”
“Abomination.” Why did Sylith keep calling her that?
Nico reached for her, but the same box that restrained her, kept him from hurting her.
There was at least some level of miscommunication going on, and given how stubborn Magnus was, we could talk in circles all night if someone didn’t change the direction of the conversation. “Why does she keep calling Magnus an abomination?” I looked at Sylith. “Why are you using that word?”
“Why doesn’t Vidar trust Vindres?” Sylith countered.
Fuck.
“Vidar doesn’t trust anyone but Vidar,” Nico said. “Why would Bragi know his motives?”
“He’s one of the few remaining members of the board.” For the first time since we arrived, some of Sylith’s confidence wavered.
I shouldn’t be surprised to hear that Vidar was picking and choosing who he told about my walking away. “I left.”
“You don’t like him,” Magnus said. “Vidar, I mean.”
Sylith spat, and the liquid ran ineffectively down the side of an invisible wall in front of her. “I would crush him under my heel and feed him to the dogs if I could.”
It was a nice sentiment.
“Now that’s my kind of bitchiness.” Magnus’s posture relaxed, and her dagger vanished.
Nico was still tense and flaming. “Then why do you work for him?”
“I work for Vindres, because I owe him everything. He works with Vidar because he’s been sold on the lie of a better world.”
That checked out.
“What did Vindres do for you?” Magnus asked.
Sylith fixed her with a glare. “He saved me from vapid little girls.”
So we were back to that.
Magnus rolled her eyes. “Sticks and stones, bitch.”
“Answer their question, Sylith,” Anubis said. “Tell them what you told me.”
“You shouldn’t exist, but you do, Magnus.” The way Sylith ground out the syllables, it was as if she hoped to crumble the name simply by speaking it.
Magnus just scoffed. “I’ve been telling myself that for a long time. I’m a survivor, bitch.”
The fact that she remained herself through all of this, sassy and intentionally antagonistic, was so very much the woman I loved.
“You’re the woman with two hearts,” Sylith said. “The child who shouldn’t be.”
Shit. I knew those words. They belonged to one of the prophecies no one ever deciphered. It was hard to pin that one to any single individual, because it could apply to so many potentials.
Sylith turned to Nico, then me. “You truly don’t know. Neither of you. No one around you sees it?”
I recognized the phrase, but it could mean a lot of things. I shook my head no.
“Sees what?” Magnus asked.
“You don’t just have one aura.”
Magnus didn’t look impressed. “No shit. I’m pregnant. Half the world can see that, apparently, and I don’t even have a baby bump yet.”
“You do.” Sylith sneered. “And yes, each of the children has their own aura, but I mean you. Your auras are braided and intertwined. They look like one, but there are two.”
“She’s just vibrant.” As he spoke, Nico turned his head this way and that, attention on Magnus.
“This is dragging on too long,” Anubis said. “The Valkyrie’s soul is a mix of two. Magnus, you’re both conduit and amplifier. I don’t understand why Vidar created you, then let you go.”
Oh. Fuck me.
“Vidar didn’t create me. I mean, in the way any adult who tortures a child molds them in to a fucked up adult, but as far as I know, he didn’t give me any power, and he most certainly did not let me go.”
“He’s been fighting to get her back.” And I finally understood why.
The lingering sensation of fight and kill in the room was evaporating, but a new tension had floated in. How long had Vidar known this about Magnus? Because I had to assume he did. Since she became a Valkyrie? Longer?
“Maeve told me…” Magnus trailed off. “When my mother was pregnant with me, they thought it was twins. That she was carrying two girls. A couple of months into the pregnancy, Maeve decided she’d made a mistake.”
Nico looked like himself again. “You never told me that.”
“It’s been a long couple of weeks.” There was a weight Magnus’s words that pulled them to the floor.
The conversation from just a couple of hours ago rushed back. What Nico had to say about Skye’s machine and opening doors. About Skye and her sister.
“Vidar doesn’t need a separate amplifier.” I had to say it, even though we were probably all thinking it. “He just needs Magnus.”
“To what end?” Anubis asked.
Nico frowned. “The world’s end.”
Anubis sighed. “If I let you both go, will you behave?”
Magnus looked at Sylith, who shrugged. “I suspect we’ve all been played in many ways. I’ll stop trying to kill the girl,” Sylith said.
“Sure. Yeah. Me too,” Magnus said.
Visually, nothing happened, until Sylith leaned against the wall casually, and crossed her arms.
Magnus copied her posture. I didn’t know if it was to stay comfortable, or to mock the succubus. A bit of both, perhaps.
“Vidar is trying to end the world? Are you certain?” Sylith asked.
Could we trust her with this information? She was loyal to Vindres, not Vidar, but that was only one stop to the final source. I looked at Magnus, hoping she could read the question in my eyes. Then does your empathy say we can trust her?
Magnus pursed her lips. “Does the empathy lie?”
“If the person you’re talking to believes what they’re saying, but it’s not true, then technically, yes,” I said.
Magnus glanced sideways at Sylith. “Then she believes what she’s saying.”
“Sit, please.” Anubis gestured to the couches and chairs decorating the living room. “Let’s be civilized and direct.” The last bit of his request was pointed, and he glared at Sylith.
“I like that plan. I’m Magnus by the way. It’s nice to meet you.” She extended her hand.
Anubis shook it. “I’m Anubis. It’s a curiosity to meet you.”
Magnus moved to sit at the edge of a loveseat. “I get that a lot.”
“You’re not Gemma, then.” Sylith took a seat across from Magnus.
Magnus rose to offer her hand. “I wished for a long time I was. Truce?”
Sylith accepted the offering. “Unless you betray my trust.”
“That’s fair.” Magnus sat again, and the rest of us did as well, with Nico taking the spot closest to her.
“If Magnus is both conduit and amplifier, that explains why she’s had issues with control,” Nico said.
The clench of Magnus’s jaw said she didn’t appreciate the phrasing, but I suspected it was accurate.
