A practice in truth, p.16
A Practice in Truth, page 16
Sena took a step after him and stumbled. This time, Lena and I both moved toward her, but she caught herself and gave us a warning look.
“Now Gant, is that any way to treat the man who saved your wife?” Loki mocked.
The hubris was one step too far. I drew on Doirsain’s power and threw a ball of purple energy around him. Blue streaks crisscrossed it, tying the restraint to me, but most of the magick came from the stone. “We aren’t done talking,” I said.
Gant stalked up to the bubble, careful not to touch it. “You knew for decades where Sena’s heart was. You could have returned it to me at any time, but you didn’t. You were looking for a buyer, weren’t you?”
Loki backpedaled, trying to step into the Shift, no doubt. When he realized I’d cut off his escape route, he paled. But he recovered quickly. Straightening, he smoothed down the lapels of his jacket, an air of nonchalance in his expression. But I noticed he stayed in the middle of the bubble, out of Gant’s reach.
“What good would it have done you to have the stone when you didn’t have the sarcophagus? I was keeping it safe for you.”
“Liar!” Sena said. “I don’t remember everything, but I’m getting bits and pieces. Most of them involve you, using me at someone’s behest to force truthful answers out of helpless victims.”
Loki’s eyes shifted nervously. “Oh, come now. None of them were innocent, or helpless. And besides, I didn’t know where your body was. No one did. Why shouldn’t I turn a profit while waiting for it to turn up?”
“Bastard!” Before anyone could stop her, Sena nocked an arrow, drew, and loosed. The missile bounced off my barrier with a hollow ping. She turned blazing eyes on me. “Release your protection. This is not your fight, and you have no right to keep me from my revenge.” Her breath came in short, hard gasps, which I mistook for anger.
“First, that’s not protection, it’s a prison,” I replied. “And second, forgive me if I’m wrong, but if I understand this correctly, Loki isn’t the one who carved out your heart and left you for dead.”
“No, but he delayed our reunion for decades,” Gant countered.
“Maybe. Maybe not,” Lena said. “He’s right about you not having her...” she hesitated, looking at Sena. “The sarcophagus. And you couldn’t restore her without it.”
“How can you defend him?” Gant demanded.
“I’m not,” Lena protested.
“Either way, we aren’t here for vigilante justice,” I said.
Umm, Char?
“And I’m not going to let you slaughter him in a fit of rage,” I continued, ignoring Sasha for the moment.
Char.
“Thank you, dear girl, for being a voice of reason in a tense moment. Now, if you’ll just release me...” Loki trailed off as I laughed.
“Release you?” I asked. “You’ve got to be kidding. Gant is going to call his buddies and they are going to turn you over to the celestial court for judgment. I don’t think you’ll—”
CHAR! This time, everyone looked around and I knew Sasha was speaking to us all.
“What?!”
You all need to move. This place is about to get crowded fast.
I started to question him, but then I heard it too. The strident warble of authority approaching the museum.
Crap! Aloud, I said, “On second thought, we may not be going anywhere for a while. Listen.” My heart sank. The last thing I wanted was to spend the night answering questions at the police station.
In the distance, the wail of sirens grew louder, more distinct. Sasha’s head jerked up, and we all heard his thought. Not police. Fire trucks. I’d bet Gizelle set the place ablaze on their way out. Spiteful little wench.
Sasha was right. Whether it was Gizelle’s doing or not, as the sirens grew louder, I could tell it wasn’t cops on the way, or not just cops. Plus, though I didn’t smell smoke, I trusted his senses more than my own.
“We need to get all of us out of here,” Lena said.
A tiny sound. Not much more than a sigh, but it contained enough defeated pain to pull my attention to Sena as she sank to the ground, her bow falling next to her with a clatter.
Gant caught her before she hit the floor and lifted her into his arms. “I’m taking Sena to Danae,” Gant said.
My headache was getting worse the longer I held on to the ward. Sena needed medical attention, but I needed to hand Loki off before I passed out and the ward fell. “First, you’re going to call your friends and get Loki out of here before the fire department or the police arrive and start asking questions.”
He looked down into Sena’s unconscious face and shook his head. “My wife needs treatment for her wound and Danae is a healer,” Gant said. He shot Loki a hard look. “You kept us from killing him. He’s your problem now. I’ll tell Fomor you have him.”
He held Sena close, and before I could protest further, they were gone.
“Shit.” I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes. “Now what?”
“I have a suggestion,” Loki said.
I looked at his not-so-innocent face and sighed. “Of course, you do.”
CHAR
SMOKE AND FIRE
Call if you need me. With that terse suggestion, Sasha returned to his accustomed place and size on my necklace.
Smoke drifted in under the door in thin wisps. The fire was getting closer, and the firefighters weren’t on site yet. Plus, I didn’t really want to be there when they arrived with the inevitable police escort in tow.
“Come on.” I pressed a hand to my aching temple. Lena fell into step beside me, but Loki just stood there, hands on his hips.
“How?” he demanded. He pounded a fist against the blue-streaked purple barrier and flinched when sparks erupted, then faded. “You have me locked in a cage.”
“Just walk. It will move with you. I just don’t want you escaping into that Shift-thingy.”
He stiffened. “I am not a hamster to be confined in an exercise ball.”
“Maybe if you were more trustworthy, you wouldn’t get into these situations,” Lena said. “Let him burn, Char. He hasn’t been much use so far.”
“The ward will prevent the flames from reaching me, so—”
Lena smirked at him. “Will it? Let’s find out.”
I stared at my sister. Obviously, she was far less gentle than I’d thought.
She’s playing him. Sasha whispered the words in my head, sending a message just for me this time.
I shot her a sideways look that she didn’t meet, but if Sasha was right, it was genius. I decided to play along. “We could leave him, but we aren’t getting answers from a charred body.”
“He’s a demon,” Lena replied.
“I am not!” Outrage boiled in Loki’s voice, but Lena ignored the comment.
“He ought to be used to playing with fire. Let’s go,” she said.
Following her lead, I started walking, feeling the tether between me and the ward lengthening. I wasn’t sure how far I could maintain the connection, but I’d pick him up if I had to. My mouth quirked at the mental vision of Loki floating along behind us like a parade balloon.
My body throbbed, letting me know I was close to exhaustion. I really hoped he wouldn’t make me carry him.
“Wait! I’m coming.” Sure enough, he walked toward us, the ward rolling around him like a... hamster ball.
I didn’t laugh, but mostly because I was too tired. We threaded our way through the illegal artifacts and into the auction room. Here the smoke was thicker, the air hotter, attesting to the approaching flames.
Lena and I pulled our shirts over our mouths to filter out some of the smoke, and Loki pretended to follow suit, but I could tell he wasn’t really worried about the air. He kept glancing around — probably looking for an escape route.
Not that any of us could see much. The smoke was too thick now to allow for much visibility. My lungs burned, and I knew Lena’s were doing the same.
The sirens stopped abruptly.
Help appears to have arrived.
I don’t need help. I need sleep, I thought back.
Lena coughed and pulled her shirt higher to cover her nose.
Hurrying across the auction I touched the door. Warm, but not hot. Yet. We might get out safely through the offices if we were careful.
I glanced over my shoulder. Lena was a step away, but Loki was still in the staging room, eyeing the urn doubtfully.
“Not to be a bother, but I have no idea what will happen if your ward touches the Urn of Chaldea, and I don’t particularly want to find out.”
I spun on my heel, suddenly realizing what had really happened to Draxley. If Loki was right, Draxley was trapped in one of the most horrific prisons ever created. The most corrupt wizard of his time had created the Urn of Chaldea around 500 BC. He meant it as a holding cell for his enemies. The thing was classified as an edax animae — a soul eater. It was holding the museum director inside, feeding on his soul.
I shuddered. Even Draxley didn’t deserve that. But I didn’t know how to get him out.
“Ms. Knox, I can see the compassion on your face, but let me assure you, Draxley got exactly what he deserved,” Loki said. “My only concern is not joining him.”
“You are no better than he is, was,” Lena said.
He bristled. “That is a discriminatory assumption based on—” He cut himself off and changed course. “It doesn’t matter. Unless I miss my guess, your sister’s aura marks this ward. Whatever happens to me will probably affect her, too.”
Lena caught her lower lip in her teeth — something she did when she was worried — and looked at me.
Visualizing the effect I wanted, I held my hand out. I grasped the boundaries of the ward and closed my fingers loosely. I didn’t want to crush him. Much.
The ward constricted, sinking through his clothes, clinging to his body, pressing in...
“Too tight, too tight,” Loki gasped in a strangled tone.
I loosened my fingers a fraction, and he sighed in relief. A moment later, he stepped through the door, careful not to touch the urn. Now the ward fit him like an invisible glove. A witch or earth elemental could probably see it, but no one else would notice it.
“Thank you, I—”
“Never mind. Let’s go.”
We hurried through the room, and out the doors. The corridor looked different. Spaced around the perimeter, dark humps loomed; temporary bars where waitstaff could gather drinks to distribute, and where guests could order beverages stronger than champagne. They weren’t fully stocked, but they had ice, glassware, etc. The smoke in here was worse, though there were no flames. We could barely see, let alone breathe.
“You must let me take us out through the Shift,” Loki said. “I swear to you, I will take you to the parking lot, no further.”
“And what parking lot would that be?” I was coughing, but Loki’s reputation as a trickster preceded him. I wasn’t about to trust him in the Shift, given what Ward had told me about it.
Crouching to access air that was slightly more breathable, I led the way along the wall toward the stairs. Halfway there, I bumped into a cloth covered temporary bar. Grabbing a towel from the shelf inside it, I drenched it in the half-melted ice and handed it to Lena.
I drenched another cloth and looked at our captive. “Sorry, Loki, but I can’t risk it. Do you even breathe?” I asked as I put the wet cloth over my mouth and nose.
“Do not concern yourself,” he replied stiffly.
“Right. Come on.” We hurried along the wall and up the stairs to the main museum, the air getting worse as we climbed. I hoped they wouldn’t lose the whole structure.
Finally, we reached the door and I let Lena use magick to unlock it. We stumbled through and fell into the embrace of two firemen.
Crap. I knew this was taking too long.
They led us through a hellscape. I didn’t know whether the Amazon or Gizelle had started it, but either way, they’d done a bang-up job. Smoke filled the museum as the heat escalated. Fire fed on paintings and art displays alike, burning everything in its path. Some of the statues might survive, but even they would be damaged.
“Why would they set a fire?” I asked Lena.
“To cover their exit?” she suggested.
Loki rolled his eyes. “Why would they do that? They were home free if they exited fast and quiet. Setting the fire delayed them and brought in a raft of attention.”
The firemen handed us off to EMTs outside in the parking lot. I sat on a gurney next to my sister, both of us sucking down clean oxygen while we watched the GMASH go up in flames. Loki stood a foot away, trying to be inconspicuous.
The gargoyles were nowhere in sight, and I wondered if Draxley’s abrupt disappearance terminated their contract.
Loki’s assertion made sense, but it only raised more questions. “So then, why didn’t the fire suppression system go off?”
“I was about to ask you about that.” When I saw who had spoken, I closed my eyes wearily. I’d had dealings with detective Garrett MacAllen before. He was a good cop, and he often turned out to be too perceptive for comfort. “I’ll have to examine them, but my guess is some computer whiz overrode the fail-safe — you know, put it in maintenance mode? Or...”
I returned the stocky, middle-aged man’s gaze calmly, carefully keeping my thoughts to myself. I knew what he wanted me to say. That the system might have been spelled. But the only way I’d know that is if I was involved, which I was, indirectly. But I wasn’t going to admit that to him.
“I don’t know anything about computer systems,” I said instead. “So, I can’t help you there.”
“But you do know a considerable amount about magick, don’t you, Ms. Knox?” Zeb Farrell, MacAllen’s spindly, younger, not as good looking, partner sidled up to us.
“Detective MacAllen didn’t mention magick. I’m not sure how a person would shut down a fire suppression system with a spell.” That much was true. I’d have to research the system first to see what weaknesses could be exploited. But since I had come here to rescue someone rather than to burn the place down, I hadn’t done that.
I didn’t think the Amazon had the technical or magickal know-how to pull it off. And Loki was right; Gizelle was smarter than that. That didn’t leave a lot of candidates.
Loki’s words kept spinning in my head. Was this meant to be a distraction, or just extremely expensive revenge?
MacAllen cleared his throat, clearly waiting for an answer. Now I needed a distraction.
An EMT strode past, and I flagged him. “Hey, do you have anything for a headache? I hit my head on something and it hurts pretty bad.” True as far as it went, though lacking in details.
MacAllen’s brow contracted. “I didn’t know you were injured.”
“Yeah, I don’t think it broke the skin, but it hurts.”
“Let me look you over,” the medic said. “Sirs, if you’ll give me some room here?”
I sighed in relief as the detectives stepped back. The smack Prowder had given me back at the house provided a convenient bump on the side of my head, under my hair. The soot and other bruises were real, and I was sure I looked battered enough at this point to need a hospital. That ought to keep the cops and DMES off my back for at least an hour or two.
“How’s your vision? Did you lose consciousness at any time?” The questions, all centering on symptoms of concussion, continued for a couple of minutes with me answering in short, direct phrases and doing my best to ignore Lena’s worried look.
“OK, I think you may have a concussion,” the EMT concluded. “Could be light, but, coupled with the smoke inhalation, you should come with us to the hospital to get checked out.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll do that. Lena, you should too. You’ve been coughing a lot,” I gave her a meaningful look and, right on cue, she underwent a coughing fit. Our witch’s constitutions were already repairing whatever damage the smoke had done to our lungs, but if it meant getting out from under MacAllen’s eagle eye, I was all for it.
“Yes, I think you should both go,” Loki said. “Smoke inhalation can be deadly serious.”
I managed not to roll my eyes, but only just. If Loki thought I was about to cut him loose, he was seriously mistaken. I pulled on Doirsain for help and sent out a thin, powerful thread of energy through the link to the ward. It hit him right where I intended, in the chest.
Loki suffered a coughing fit strong enough to bend him double in a spasm that shook his entire body. The EMT rushed over and helped him onto a gurney.
“He’s coming as well,” the man said.
MacAllen didn’t argue, but he gave me a sharp look. “I’ll talk to you later, maybe at the hospital.”
“Sure thing, detective. But I can tell you now, there isn’t much I can add. I don’t know how the fire started or why the suppression system didn’t kick in.”
The EMT helped Lena and me into the ambulance next to Loki, now strapped down for his own safety on the gurney.
Just before they closed the doors, MacAllen leaned in. “Maybe not, but I’d sure be interested in what you were doing there in the first place.”
The doors closed, and the ambulance rolled away.
CHAR
LOKI IN ACTION
At the hospital, I found myself wishing Uncle Declan was there. The headache kept getting worse and the doc on duty insisted on a head CT before giving me pain meds. Thanks to my witch’s metabolism, any evidence of the damage Prowder inflicted was fading. So, they wouldn’t find evidence of a concussion, but I didn’t have a good excuse to refuse. At least it didn’t take long.
In the ambulance, they fitted Lena and me oxygen masks, and that continued at the hospital, making breathing easier and talking difficult. Loki accepted a mask too, but I saw him shut off the valve to the tank when the EMT wasn’t looking. By the time we reached the hospital, he declared himself much better and took it off altogether.
Show off.
They took our belongings, including Doirsain, and put them in little bags for us. The bags stayed with us, so I wasn’t too worried. After putting Lena in a room for observation, they took me for the CT.
