Fall From Grace, page 31
part #9 of the Preternatural Chronicles Series
There wasn’t.
Frustration lit a fire under my skin, making my flesh crawl while my top row of teeth braced against an attack from the bottom. The sound of grinding filled my ears as I stared at the bones, demanding to my rage-filled muscles to not try and rip the skulls off for fear of breaking them.
Like a car’s windshield being hammered by a surprise rainstorm, my vision went blurry in an instant as my boiling frustration found a suitable outlet.
It wasn’t often that I cried from refusing to let my anger manifest into what it wanted—specifically face-smashing blows from clenched fists, organ-rupturing kicks, and bone-shattering attacks from my Norse hammer.
“Mjolnir!” I gasped as my left hand shot to my waist, feeling nothing.
My skin-crawling frustration evaporated in an instant, like a drop of water on a flame-kissed cast-iron pan. Tears ceased as a face that had been prepared to ugly cry morphed into one of open-mouthed concern.
My left hand remained on my hip, where I could no longer feel Mjolnir’s presence. A part of me—a part of who I was—was missing.
Letting my hand drop away, I fixated on my personal loss with a jaw that tried to touch the ground. At least the war between my upper and lower teeth had been called off.
A single word was whispered, almost hauntingly, throughout my head, instantly bringing me back to the now.
Li-lyyyyyy.
My face went neutral, and I carefully stuffed the armor back into the bag, stood up, and walked to the back door. I could focus on what I had lost after Lily was safe.
Setting the ivory container holding Valenta’s armor against the back wall to grab on my way out, I lifted my fist and moderately pounded three times on the metal door.
After several seconds, I could hear Doc Jim’s familiar gait as he crossed the tiled floor toward the back entrance to the clinic.
A few locks clicked, and the door swung open to reveal the face of the good doctor. He had a touch pen made for a tablet nestled above one ear.
“J-John?”
“Heya, Doc,” I greeted in a tone meant to be jovial but that came out flat.
“You’re here for Taylor, I suppose?”
I nodded, and he stepped back from the door, letting it swing open.
Taylor’s ice prison was on the bed with various instruments attached, a growing pool of water on the floor where a handful of towels were positioned to soak up the mess.
I began taking a step inside when I froze in place, looked down at the bag of armor, and then searched all around the parking lot with preternatural senses. I attempted to use the Sight of the Gods, but was harshly reminded that Mjolnir no longer answered my call.
Not sensing anything, I shrugged and turned to continue making my way into the E.R.
Once again, I froze as a voice in the back of my consciousness screamed at me to take the bag inside. There was no reason not to.
My hand tingled as I commanded it to grab the bag, but nothing happened. I didn’t move to pick up the ivory manifestation that contained such an important weapon.
A furrowed brow marred my face as I questioned why I wasn’t picking it up. I wasn’t physically being prevented. I simply didn’t want to. It was like walking by a sink full of dishes, knowing it wouldn’t take long to wash them, and then just not doing it. Maybe it was because the armor was a direct reminder of the events that had unfolded, like a gaping wound to my ego.
“The ice started melting a few minutes ago,” Doc Jim said as he began walking to the table. “And the black snakes just…just vanished.”
Stepping inside, I felt a connection break, like the little voice inside my head had been physically trying to lasso the bag and hold on for dear life.
Instead, I opted to leave the back door open, knowing I could dip into a higher dimension and move literally faster than light should something touch my ivory manifestation.
“Yeah,” I breathed out, taking off my beanie and running a hand through my long black hair. “The Ether doesn’t control the crowns of Faerie anymore. Or anything, for that matter.”
“Ah, that would explain why the ice seemed to randomly start melting, even after everything Father Thomes and I tried.”
I thought back on the combined crowns of Winter and Summer atop Magni’s head—a mass of vines coated in ice.
“Yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and need Taylor to come in tomorrow,” I said in my best Bill Lumbergh from Office Space. Dropping the impersonation, I added, “We kinda need him. Now more than ever.”
“I see.”
I briefly thought of Lily before swatting the building emotions away, promising I’d address them soon enough. Taylor would have to rule over both Courts of Faerie until I got her home.
“So how long ’til he’s, you know, free?” I asked, returning my beanie and then crossing my arms.
Opening his left hand into the shape of an L, Doc Jim opened his phone, where an entire page filled with scribbles could be seen through the holoscreen.
His free hand began patting the pockets of his white coat before moving to his slacks.
“Here, Doc,” I said, pointing at the top of one of my ears.
“Huh?” he responded, frozen as his brain processed my odd gesture. “Oh, right, right, right.”
Reaching up, he plucked the touch pen free from his ear holster and clicked on an icon that showed a blank page. As expected, a fresh screen showed up which Doc Jim took no time in filling with mathematical markings.
I was actually impressed. He seemed to move at incredible speeds as he wrote out his calculations, taking brief moments to peer at the block of ice and the soaked towels on the ground.
“Unaided, I would guess by nightfall.”
“Unaided?”
“Well, I can place a space heater or two, but I’m not entirely confident they will speed up the thawing process.”
“Got ya covered, Doc. Watch out,” I instructed as I extended my right arm toward the block of ice and summoned my angelic gladius, ready to pour a healthy coating of heavenflame on Taylor’s prison.
Doc Jim stumbled backward, dropping his pen, and all but crashed into the sink with both hands shielding his face.
“Relax,” I assured, “I got th—”
The voice in the back of my mind screamed loud enough to almost make me drop to my knees, and I turned to the back door while dropping into the fourth dimension—at least, I tried to.
My energy reserves were critical, and I simply didn’t have the strength to utilize the higher dimension and stop whoever was taking the bag of armor.
Blurring to the back door, I stared in horror as the back half of an obsidian bag disappeared into a portal the same color.
“NO!” I shouted, lifting my gladius and sending out a torrent of flames using energy I didn’t have.
Heavenfire coated everything in the parking lot for a few moments before I suddenly dropped to my knees, the last of my energy gone. The gladius vanished as open palms caught me before I fell face-first onto the parking lot.
The fire was brighter than the dawn, and it crackled as it ate everything I had thrown it on.
I lifted my heavy head to see that the portal was gone, and so was Valenta’s armor.
A car alarm sounded, and I slowly turned my head to see a parked vehicle on fire.
It beeped once, and I managed to sit up on my knees and crane my neck to see a very confused Doc Jim holding a key fob.
“What was that?” he asked.
“I…I don’t…know,” I answered between deep breaths, trying my best not to pass out from how instantly exhausted I was.
I tried to get to my feet, but I was just too tired. So I decided to plop back on my ass with my knees pulled up to my chest.
“I fucked up,” I whispered.
The sky above had shifted back to the fluffy white of nonmurderous clouds, a multicolored sky slowly shifting to baby blue as the sun rose.
Closing my eyes, I began absorbing as much energy from the sun as I could, but I knew it would be a while before direct light shone upon me.
In my mind, I knew the endgame was approaching. It was like being tied to the tracks as a train barreled ever closer, helpless to stop it.
53
Doc Jim left me in the parking lot, sensing I wanted to be alone as I processed everything that had happened while slowly absorbing energy from the rising sun.
I had managed to save Magni from the Ether, but with the assistance of Ulric. Just the thought of requiring his help made me feel like I needed a shower.
But Magni was okay, and that’s all that mattered in regard to that. Plus, Ulric was once again our prisoner, protected by Father Philseep in a room I knew wouldn’t accidentally be opened once more.
That still bothered me. Either Director Baker—then the Special Agent in Charge of the FBPI—intentionally set Ulric free, or his worker was actually just doing his job and wasn’t expecting a monster lying in wait behind the door.
Thinking back, I wasn’t entirely sure if I had even mentioned Ulric to Collin. I could dive into the theater of my mind and play back every conversation with perfect clarity, but I just didn’t want to for fear of the distinct possibility that it was my fault Ulric had escaped. Had I told Collin of Ulric when I had asked him to revamp Father Thomes’s church, then the blame could be shifted away from me. But, unfortunately, the responsibility fit snuggly over my shoulders, weighing them down like Marley’s chains in the symbolic-filled tale, A Christmas Carol.
Shaking my head to clear the thoughts, I let the important fact linger, focusing on how Magni was now safe.
Then again, that also meant that the prophecy had not been invalidated, which meant I would kill him someday between now and when Hell opened.
“Errr!” I growled as I climbed to my feet, fists clenched in frustration.
Checking my energy, I saw I still had a while before my batteries were filled.
Turning toward the clinic, I easily jumped on top of the flat roof, allowing more of the lazy sun to hit me directly. I didn’t have time to wait for it to lift high enough in the sky to bathe where I had been slumped over in the shaded parking lot.
I strode to the edge of the building that faced east, my boots crunching over the material of the flat commercial roof.
Stepping up on the ledge, I held my hands out to either side and lifted my face to the early morning sky, feeling the wind tug at my coat flaps and loose black hair that spilled from underneath my gray beanie.
I let my brain go still, freeing me from the burden of inescapable consequences.
Lachesis came to my thoughts, interrupting my feeble attempt at me time like religious missionaries knocking on your door while filthy adult images dance across the screen in front of you and auditory moans of pleasure spill from high-end speakers.
I knew what she was going to say, as I had heard the two words over and over in regard to Magni and what the future held for him.
Squeezing my eyes shut and clenching my jaw, I tried desperately not to hear her give the answer to the question I had asked.
The missionaries of destiny kicked in my front door while I still held my shame in my hand, playing the scene back for me.
I was in the kitchen of the seer, with Lachesis staring at me with milky eyes.
“Who do I kill that I love?”
A knowing smile formed on her lips as she whispered, “Are you sure you want to know, child?”
My head felt numb as I nodded once.
“I will only give you one answer, and only one answer, to the question you have not paid for.”
I held my breath in anticipation of the seer’s answer as I shifted my weight where I stood, nervous to the words she was about to speak…
“The boy.”
I became dizzy as what she said struck my head like a semitruck. My knees turned to jelly as my hands slid on the wall, looking for purchase. “No. No! Not Magni! Not after…”
Lachesis began to cackle from the dining room as I stumbled to the front door, feeling my stomach roll in knots as the world swam around me.
Forcing my eyes open, I stared directly at the rising sun, feeling the light try and burn my retinas. I wanted it to burn. I wanted to feel pain. But either the celestial armor or my preternatural durability prevented anything more than a mild irritation that was barely perceptible.
I watched the sun, seeing the round orb illuminating the planet with unimaginable power, and briefly missed the tendrils that used to dance in the sky for me before I’d donned Da’s angelic armor.
I had to force a single chuckle at the ridiculous notion of longing to be nothing more than a vampire who saw the deadly, dancing tendrils of the dawning sun moments before potential incineration.
Or maybe I was missing simpler times where the biggest threat to my existence was my own poor time management.
I continued to soak in the light, a renewed appreciation for the magnificence of the sun filling my being with purpose and melting away the weakness that was wishing for my old, simple life.
“They’re counting on you,” I said, my eyes scanning the waking city of Houston.
Letting my gaze lift toward Heaven, I added, “All of them are counting on you.”
Strength filled my muscles as I sucked in a long, lung-stretching breath and repositioned my feet into a more powerful stance.
With my past, I wasn’t the hero this world wanted but the one it needed.
Closing my eyes, I said to both the world and myself, “I’ll do what must be done.”
I accepted the words as a necessary fact, despite what I wanted. It was time to grow up.
If I was put into a position where Magni must die by my hand in order to save the world, then I would have to do it without hesitation. And not just him.
Depweg came to mind, and my steady flow of determination paused, waiting to see if I meant the words I thought to myself.
Birds chirped as the sun continued to rise, and another breeze glided over me, bringing with it the smell of salt from the nearby Gulf of Mexico.
Without my conscious mind speaking the answer, I knew in my heart what I would do if it meant choosing Depweg’s life or all of creation.
Lily came to mind, and my thoughts went completely blank except for a single still image of her smiling at me. Samael had her, and he would no doubt use my unshakable love against me.
My face lowered to the ground as my arms slowly dropped to my sides, all the strength fading from me as I was forced to ask the same question of Lily.
Would I let her die…in order to save the known universe?
Though it had been a tough question to answer when Depweg had been the topic of sacrifice, I had at least been able to answer it within the privacy of my own thoughts.
For Lily…
“No,” I growled, jerking my face to the side as if turning away from the very question I would not answer—could not answer.
I banished the question with a sheer focus of will, lest a knife of guilt split my heart in two at even answering one way…or the other.
“He has her. But I have his general,” I explained to the gentle wind, chirping birds, and morning sun. “I’ll save her, no matter what it takes.”
My face slowly moved back toward the sun as determination once again filled my muscles with strength and my heart with purpose.
I stared out at the horizon, still perched on the edge of the clinic’s roof, when a passing car slowed and began lowering the driver’s side window.
“Hey!” a man that appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties called out. “Are you gonna jump?”
I ignored him, letting the feeling of renewed purpose overwhelm my senses.
“Do a flip!” he called out with excitement, finally drawing my focus.
Tilting my face down to where the car had stopped in the middle of the road, I saw the young man had opened his left palm and set his phone to record, judging by the red blinking light I saw through the screen.
Without thinking, I let my eyes flash crimson before leaning forward and falling toward the parking lot.
“Whoa, dude!” the man called out in excitement at the potential views his social media would probably get out of watching someone commit suicide.
As the ground neared, I sent out my senses until I found what I was looking for.
With a focus of mind, I threw out a jolt of static electricity from the humid air and fried the phone around the moron’s wrist with a satisfying sizzle.
“Ah!” he called out, right as I grabbed the air around me and prepared to shift to Valenta’s Saloon just before striking the ground, a smile cresting my face from how no one would ever believe the young man’s story about the guy who jumped off a roof, only to disappear as he hit the ground.
I didn’t know why I needed that little display of karma at ruining the young man’s idea of fun, but it sure felt good.
As I came within a foot of hitting the parking lot, I shifted, mentally preparing myself for the verbal onslaught I was going to have to endure after telling Val that I had both found and lost his armor.
54
“Oofff!” I wheezed as Valenta’s wooden floor smashed into my body with enough force to crumple my diaphragm…and balls.
Rolling onto my back, I grabbed my nads with both hands and rocked side to side, mentally trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.
“Shifted whilst fall’n, didn’t ya, boy?” Valenta asked in his Southern drawl.
My diaphragm finally relaxed, and I sucked in a deep, painful breath before croaking out, “I didn’t know…mo-momentum…came with.”
“Consider yerself learned.”
“Yup,” I groaned as my Rocky Mountain oysters finished healing. “Don’t think I’ll be forgetting that lesson anytime soon.”
Irony took hold of my mind and played back the stunt I had pulled to teach the young man in the car a lesson.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it, I admitted inwardly.
