Allie Beckstrom 09 - Magic for a Price (21 page)

Zay, in the front seat, just shook his head.

“Maybe you don’t see them the way I do,” I said. Then, “Wait. You see them, Shame? Without a Sight spell?”

He inhaled. Thought better of whatever he was going to say, and just said, “Yes.”

It must be a side effect of what Death magic had done to him. Of whatever it was he had become.

“Do you see them, Terric?”

“No. Only Shame and you see them. We’ve agreed it’s not worth drawing their attention by casting a Sight spell.”

“Good choice,” I said. The Veiled were always hungry for magic. We’d closed down every network, every cistern, and almost every well. It only made sense that they’d be here, swarming around the crypt, drinking from the last resource in Portland.

“Do you see thousands?” Terric asked.

“At least a thousand,” I said. “It’s hard to tell. They’re…well, I see them as sort of water-colored people shapes. Kind of ghostly, but with holes where their eyes should be and serrated teeth in their mouths.”

“Pretty much dead on,” Shame said. “And now that we agree on what they look like, we need an idea for getting into that crypt and taking care of the well.”

“They’ll be drawn to the disks,” I said.

Zay shook his head. “Maybe not. They’re right here and the Veiled haven’t come close to the van.”

“So maybe they don’t sense the magic in them because the well has more and easier magic to access?” I said.

“A sound theory,” Terric said. “Which means they might not even bother us. Until we close the well.”

“Will they disappear when we do that?” I asked. “I mean, like ghosts?”

“I don’t think it’s just magic that keeps them here,” Shame said, his voice low, as if dragging old memories out of a long, dark drawer. “They would be here even if there was no magic. But they are hungry. For magic. Or life. Either will sate them.”

“Okay,” I said, “so here’s an idea. We are not going to use magic until we get to the well. Hopefully, they won’t
be interested in us. We get to the well and open it. I’m sure that will catch their attention, but I don’t care if they all dive into it. I’ll cast the purification spell. That’s when things might get tricky. We’ll need to keep them off Stone, and off the magic inside of him. Zay, I want you to open the well. Shame and Terric, you’ll deal with the Veiled. Kill them, distract them, hell, make them waltz, just keep them off Stone. Once the well is purified, Zay, I want you to close it.”

“What about the Veiled?” Zay asked. “If Shame’s right”—he shifted in the seat so he could look back at both of us—“then once the well is closed, the Veiled will turn toward the living and begin draining them.”

“Right.” I dragged my fingers through my hair, thinking. My hands were shaking a little. “I don’t know. Ideas?”

No one said anything.

“Have you asked your father?” Zay asked quietly.

I shook my head. “He’s not…I don’t know. That last spell really took a lot out of him. I don’t think he’s conscious.”

“I think you’d better ask,” Shame said. “That’s Davy’s car over there, isn’t it?”

I squinted past the headlights slowly rolling our way. “Yes,” I said. “Give me a minute. Don’t let them do anything stupid, okay?”

Zay opened the door. “I’ll go talk to them.”

The cool air gave me chills. I was sweating, not hot, just tired, hurting, and all around uncomfortable. My dad wasn’t the only person that last spell had taken a lot out of.

The weaving and shifting colors of the Veiled not far beyond the window was distracting, so I closed my eyes.

Dad, are you awake?

Silence. Then the distinct feeling of pain, but distant, and not my own, rolled through my thoughts. I could almost hear his thoughts as he steeled himself to be conscious, aware, and focused enough to cast magic. He knew he had to pull himself up for this last effort.

It frightened me how difficult that was for him.

Dad?
Okay, now I was concerned. I’d never felt him so ragged, so weak in all my life.
Do you need help? Can I help you?

I…Give me a moment, Allison,
he said softly.
Just a moment more.

I’ll try,
I said.
We don’t have a lot of time.

I opened my eyes.

“Any luck with the old man?” Shame was sitting next to me now, his legs stretched out between the two front seats of the van.

“He’s…he needs a minute.”

Shame’s eyebrows lifted. “Really. Your da needs a minute? For what? A shower and a shave?”

“We’ve all been working hard, Shame,” I said. “He’s been doing everything we’ve been doing, only dead and in someone else’s brain. If he needs a minute, I’ll give him one.”

“Maybe you’re right, Ter,” Shame said. “It is the end of the world. Beckstrom’s gone soft on her dear ol’ da.”

“I’m not soft on him,” I said evenly. “But I don’t want him to decide to let go and slip into death right when we most need his knowledge.”

Terric, in the front seat, nodded. “Were you able to ask him if the Veiled are going to go after people if there’s no magic available to them?”

“Not yet.”

Zay climbed back into the car and sat sideways—well,
as much as those shoulders of his allowed him to—and looked back at me.

“Davy, Sunny, and Collins will wait for our signal. Collins said the device he’s rigged up runs on electricity, and is only triggered by magic. So once it starts, they won’t need more magic to fuel it.”

“What about Davy?” Shame asked. “Are the Veiled staying away from him?”

Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. Davy had magic worked into him. He might look like a very tasty treat to the Veiled.

“None of them approached,” Zay said. “Davy can see them too. Very clearly. Allie, what about your dad?”

“I’ll check again.”

I closed my eyes, blocking out Shame, Zay, and Terric’s quiet conversation.

We’re out of time, Dad,
I said.
We need your help.

Dad formed next to me, as if he and I were standing together in a dark room. He looked haggard, the lines in his face more pronounced, his bottle-green eyes faded to a thin silver sheen.

However, even here, in the middle of my head, he appeared to be wearing a three-piece suit, his gray hair combed back and neat, his shoulders set square as if he were ready to end the negotiations of a very long business meeting.

Open your eyes, Allison
, he said.
I’ll be no good to you blind.

Before we purify the last well, I have a question,
I said.

He waited.

We need some way to make sure the Veiled don’t attack the living once we close the well. Do you know of any way to get rid of them all at once?

I’ve never experimented with removing Veiled from the living world. It seems to me, Zayvion would be able to open a gate to death and perhaps force them through, Close them.

Wouldn’t that risk letting more Veiled through into life?
I asked.

Yes
. He was quiet for a moment.
I don’t know, Allie. It is not a tested method.

I had to admit that surprised me. It didn’t seem like there was any magical problem we’d faced that Dad didn’t have some kind of answer to or plan for.

He could Ground them,
he said.

But I’d seen Zay Ground a mob of Veiled before. It had almost knocked him unconscious and that had only been maybe a couple hundred Veiled. There were a thousand out there.

I don’t think that’s going to work
, I said.
Don’t you have any other ideas?

I am not a Death magic user, Allison.

He sounded irritated. So: normal. I couldn’t believe I was actually glad to hear that tone of voice, well,
thought
from him.

Why don’t you ask Mr. Flynn if he can’t do something with them,
he said. End of conversation.

I opened my eyes.

“Well?” Shame said.

“Dad said you should do something with them.”

“Me?” Shame said. “No. And you may stick a hell no up that no.”

“Shame,” Zayvion said. “We don’t have the luxury of you saying no.”

“Fuck you, Jones. I have sworn off interaction with the dead. Permanently.”

Eleanor, who was sort of hovering in the seat behind
him, slapped him across the back of the head. Shame twitched.

She started talking again, though I couldn’t hear her. I didn’t know if Shame could hear her either, though one shoulder hitched up as if he were trying very hard not to turn around and look at her.

“Shame,” Terric said. “I think Allie’s right. You and I…we can take care of the Veiled.”

“We? You’re no Death magic user,” Shame said.

“No, I’m not. But if they want life, I can give them all they want.”

“Jesus, have you all gone mental? You’re going to feed them?”

“I’m going to keep them away from Stone and the well.”

“Good,” Zay said opening the door. “It’s settled. Let’s go.”

I didn’t think anything had been settled. But Zay was right. The longer we sat in the van arguing, the more chance there was Leander and Isabelle had tracked down another Soul Complement pair.

Terric got out of the car.

Shame reached over for the side door. Eleanor’s hand was already there. He hesitated, then gripped the handle and pulled anyway.

“You can see her, can’t you?” I asked.

“Who?”

“Eleanor.”

Eleanor stopped midrant and slid through the seat and Shame so that she was hovering in front of him.

He shivered at her passing, but didn’t look at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Eleanor threw up her hands in exasperation.

“Lying won’t change anything, Shame.”

He took in a deep breath. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not…I’m not going to talk about it now. I can’t,” he added in a whisper.

Then he started off toward the cemetery gate. Eleanor gave me a considering look, then nodded and mouthed “thank you.” She drifted off after Shame. We might not be able to hear her, but she could hear us and it was clear she was going to remember Shame wasn’t the only one who could see her.

Stone cooed.

“You ready for this, Stoney?” He squeezed around from the back of the van and rested his chin on the seat so I could rub his head. I did so. Yes, I was procrastinating. As soon as I got out of this van, I would be only minutes away from having Dad use magic through me again.

The idea of going through that much pain so soon made me want to slip into the driver’s seat and drive this van until I ran out of land.

But that wasn’t going to happen. We were going to lock magic down. We were going to fight Leander and Isabelle. We were going to save the world.

And if it meant I’d have to go through a little pain for that to happen, so be it.

I shoved at Stone’s nose and he rubbed his forehead on my arm. “Come on, you big lug. Let’s go be heroes.”

Stone clomped out of the van and toward the graveyard.

I walked over to Zayvion, who was still on this side of the open cemetery gate.

“We have a plan?” he asked.

“We go in there, open the well. That will keep the Veiled interested enough that I don’t think they’ll notice Collins opening the gate.”

I glanced over at Collins, who was only a few yards away. He wore a jacket and leather gloves, and was setting up something that looked, at the moment, like a pair of tripods.

Davy was watching. Intently. Probably so he could set the thing up himself if he needed to. Boy was smart that way.

Sunny was keeping an eye on both of them. They had all changed into dark coats and gloves, and were carrying backpacks. Probably supplies they’d need if they had to go into hiding or were on the run.

Not for the first time, my stomach clenched at the thought of throwing Davy and Sunny into the path of Leander and Isabelle with Collins at their side.

“That’s it,” Collins said.

Davy nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. He walked over to me. He was frowning, and his shoulders were hitched up against the cold.

“Don’t power that thing until Shame and Terric give you the all clear, okay?” I said.

Davy nodded. “Boss? You’re not looking too good. There are a hell of a lot of dead people in there. Someone got your back?”

I gave him half a smile. “Zay’s got my back. Shame and Terric too. If you get in too deep, if things get too tight, I want you to haul ass for home, you understand me, Silvers?”

“If there’s one thing I’ve found that I colossally suck at, it’s dying.” He glanced at Sunny, who was keeping close tabs on Collins, then at Collins, who was adjusting a netting of thin silver wires in a circle around the tripods.

“I’ll make sure we find our way back. Breathing,” he added. “Do not do some damn stupid heroic thing while
I’m gone, okay? Pike would kill me if he found out I left you alone.”

“I promise not to do anything heroic—stupid or smart.”

Collins dusted his hands together. “We should be going, Mr. Silvers.”

“See you soon, Davy,” I said.

“See you soon,” he said.

There were no good-byes between Hounds, unless it was spoken to a gravestone.

“Shame, Terric,” I said. “When Zay opens the well, and when you think we’re making enough magical noise to keep the Veiled off Collins and his machine, tell him to fire it up.”

“Been thinking.” Shame exhaled smoke from his cigarette. “This could be suicide.”

“Don’t like the odds?” Terric asked.

“Dead people, untested magic, untested technology all stirred up together?” Shame paused and brushed his trembling fingers through his bangs, his bravado broken. A shadow crossed his eyes. Sorrow, or maybe fear. “I’m sure it’s all going to work out perfectly,” he said softly.

Z
ay stepped through the gate and headed down the road that cut the graveyard east and west. I was at his right, and Shame and Terric were at his left. The graveyard was only about the size of a city block, and tucked right in the middle of what were busy streets and bustling businesses during the day.

During the night, with all the spells stripped from the buildings and city, the cemetery glinted like cut obsidian, slices of electric light sliding off the polished edges of tombstones and statuary, shining white on marble carvings, catching deep indigo ink under the branches of tall pines, firs, hollies, and maple trees.