Smoke and Shadows (13 page)

“I know who he plays,” Henry said gently.

“Right. We need to find him and free him.” He slipped into a break after a parade of SUVs and hurried across to the center line. Henry's hand on his arm kept him from moving on although he continued to shift his weight back and forth from foot to foot as traffic roared by inches away both in front of and behind them. “Arra, the woman who does special effects for the show, she's a wizard from the same world as the shadows. I'd seen some stuff and I told her and she told me what was going on, and then she made me forget.”

Henry maintained his grip as they crossed the final lane. Just in case.

“Anyway, this is where she lives.” Tony nodded up at the six-story, peach-colored building. “I checked the mailboxes before you got here; she's on the fourth floor in one of the front apartments. I have to make her tell me how to save Lee, and I need you to stop her from making me forget again.”

“All right.”

For the first time since Henry'd arrived, Tony was still. Pale eyes locked on Henry's face, he murmured, “You believe me? Just like that?”

“Why wouldn't I?”

“Wizards, shadow minions . . .”

“Vampires, werewolves, demons, mummies, ghosts.” Henry smiled reassuringly. “And besides, why would you lie about something like that?”

“I guess.” He shrugged, more because he needed to move than because he needed to add a physical emphasis to his words. “I mean, it's just that between Lee and the memories and the motorcycle . . .”

“I understand.” Well, not about the motorcycle, but under the circumstances, it seemed unimportant. Henry frowned at the building. It had gone up during the '80s real estate boom and was definitely not traditional architecture. Personally, he found the multiple angles aesthetically unpleasant but had to admit he was probably biased about the number of additional windows the design allowed. Large sunny apartments were not to his taste. “Are you sure she's home?”

“Someone's home. The lights are on and I saw a shadow moving behind the blind. A real shadow. Not the invading kind.”

“Are you sure she hasn't seen you?”

“Please.” This time the shrug was pure disdain. “From her angle I'm just another guy, and there's no shortage of
guys
around this neighborhood. The gym on the second floor of the hotel is one of the best cruising spots in the city. She's not going to expect us; she thinks I'm still completely fucking clueless.”

“Good. I imagine that a wizard on her own ground with a chance to prepare a welcome can be very, very dangerous.”

“You imagine?”

“This is my first wizard, too, Tony. They're not something you run into every day.”

“But you can handle her, right?”

“I don't know.”

“She knows you walk in shadow. I didn't tell her; she saw you at the night shoot and she just knew.”

“Probably because she's a wizard.”

“You think?”

“Best that one of us does.” Tony rolled his eyes and, Henry was pleased to see, looked as though the verbal sparring had helped him regain control of his emotions. For Tony's sake then, he was glad he'd managed to keep the edge from his voice. If this wizard had seen him at the night shoot, seen him with Tony, knew what he was, and still used her power on one of his . . . he'd do what Tony needed him to but the whole slightly ludicrous situation had just become personal.

They slipped into the building as one of the tenants left, a tan Chihuahua cradled in the crook of his arm. The tenant took one look at Henry's face and higher brain functions dealing with self-preservation in the twenty-first century kicked in, assuring him he had not seen what he thought he'd seen. That he had, in fact, seen nothing at all. The dog curled her lip and, in spite of the relative size differences, informed the invading predator he could just get the hell out of her building.

“I just don't get the whole gay men and Chihuahua thing,” Tony muttered as they headed for the elevators. The shrill, indignant yapping could still be heard fading into the distance.

“How do you know he was gay?”

“You means
besides
the Chihuahua?”

Three elderly women watched them pass from the safety of the laundry room. Before they could decide whether or not to raise the alarm, the elevator door closed and made the decision for them.

Tony jabbed at the button for the fourth floor, then bounced heel to toe as they slowly rose. “The stairs would be quicker.”

“I doubt it.”

“It's just Lee's out there, with that thing in him . . .”

“You saw this happen?”

“Yeah. I've been seeing lots of weird shit with shadows, Henry. That's what Arra made me forget. But she said the next shadow would take over someone in the studio to get information about this world and I saw it take over Lee.”

“And that made you remember?”

“Maybe. No. I don't know. I just did.”

Hard to keep his lips down over his teeth. “Well, we'll speak to her about that, too.”

“She's going to help him!”

“Yes. She will.”

“What are you smelling?” Henry's nostrils had flared.

“Besides you? Cleansers.”

Tony jerked as the elevator chimed and barely managed to stop himself from forcing his fingers between the doors and yanking them open faster. The moment the opening was large enough, he slipped through and raced down the hall, his Doc Martens thudding against the carpet. Although he'd neither seen nor heard him move, Henry was beside him when he reached Arra's door.

“Now what?”

Henry reached past him and knocked.

“Yeah, okay, I suppose that'll work.”

He waited, thought he heard movement, and had raised his hand to knock again when Henry's fingers closed around his wrist.

“She heard it the first time. She's standing just inside the door.” The words didn't so much get louder as more definite, more penetrating, as though they were being thrust through the painted wood. “I can hear her heart beating. It sped up the moment she saw us and it's beating so quickly now that I have a strong suspicion she knows exactly why we've come. And she knows that if she doesn't open the door, I will break it down, and even if there's an alarm or she's called for help, she'll be dead before security even knows there's a problem.”

Tony punctuated the threat by punching the air. He only just barely resisted the urge to sneer,
I've got a vampire by my side and I'm not afraid to use him!

The door opened.

“Do I have to invite you in, Nightwalker?”

“No.”

Arra nodded and stepped back out of the way. “There was always a risk you'd realize his memories had been tampered with.”

“
He's
right here!” Tony snapped, pushing into the apartment. “And Henry's not here because you screwed with my memories. Not
only
because you screwed with my memories,” he amended as her brows rose. “There's a piece of shadow in Lee Nicholas!”

“What?”

He turned to face her, his hands curled into fists. “You heard me. There's a piece of shadow in Lee Nicholas! It came through and it took him over just like you said it would.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I'm sure. I saw it happen!”

“So you're sure.” The sound of the door closing was almost the sound of a door slamming. “What do you want me to do about it?”

“Fix it!”

“I can't.”

This time, Tony heard the lie. “You can.”

She stared at him for a long moment, then brushed a bit of cat hair off her sleeve. “All right, then; I won't. And at the risk of sounding childish, you can't make me.”

“I got that covered. I can't make you, but Henry . . .”

“Can what?” she asked wearily, walking into the living room and dropping onto the end of the couch. “You can kill me, Nightwalker, but you can't force me to have anything to do with the shadows.”

Henry swept his gaze slowly around the apartment. Arra had turned out to be the middle-aged woman with the coffee who'd seen behind the masks that night on the street. He wasn't exactly surprised. He could smell two cats in the bedroom, judged by their heart rate that they were asleep. “All right.”

“All right what?” she snapped.

“As I'm sure you're aware, my kind are very territorial. Tony is mine.”

About to protest, Tony bit back the words. This was, after all, why he'd wanted Henry with him. To lean on the wizard. To act as metaphysical muscle. The whole
Tony is mine
thing was just a lever. At least he hoped it was because they'd settled that when he left.

“You put your mark on him and I can't have that.” He was at her side between one heartbeat and the next. Tony was almost used to the way Henry could move when he had to; Arra had no frame of reference and she paled.

“If you kill me, I can't help you with the shadow.”

“You've already said you won't help.”

Her nostrils flared. “You could try and convince me.” His hands cupped her head in an almost loverlike fashion. “I don't want to.”

Tony couldn't see Henry's face, but he could see the sudden realization on Arra's that this was Death standing in her apartment. Not an abstract death sometime in the future, but a flesh and blood and immediate death. Even knowing that Henry would no more follow through on this particular threat than he would feed on fear, Tony's skin crawled.

Lee had been out in the city, ridden by shadow, for over two hours. They didn't have time to be subtle.

“All right! I'll do what I can.”

Death lingered.

“Henry.”

Henry turned slowly, the Hunger still very close to the surface. He hadn't fed the night before and having allowed so much of the Hunter to rise, he would have to feed tonight. He fought for focus as Tony stepped forward, understanding in his eyes, and murmured, “The moment Lee's free of shadow.” No need to be more specific, his blood spoke for him.

“Why wait? Go now. Eat, drink . . . or rather just drink and be merry.” Arra looked from the Nightwalker to Tony and sagged back against the cushions in defeat. “Or not. Just a suggestion.”

“S
O, TONY. . .”Arra settled back into the couch cushions and crossed her legs, her posture suggesting that while Henry may have shaken her confidence he had by no means destroyed it. “. . . just what is it you and your friend . . .” Her eyes flickered left to where Henry stood; the motion involuntary. “. . . expect me to do?”

Tony couldn't believe she was asking. “Find Lee and get that thing out of him!”

“You know, you're really overreacting,” she sighed.

“I'm overreacting?” He wanted to grab her and shake her until she admitted that Lee was in danger. Until she agreed to do something about it. “There's a dark wizard from another world sending shadows through some kind of gate to gather information. Yesterday, one of those shadows killed someone, and today one of them took over Lee Nicholas and sent him off into the city acting way out of character. And I'm
over
reacting?”

“Well, I'd have to say you're underreacting about the wizard, but given your friends . . .” Another corner-of-the-eye glance at Henry “. . . that's hardly surprising. You're
over
reacting . . .” She matched his emphasis. “. . . about Mr. Nicholas. You don't need to go looking for him—and I certainly don't—because the shadow will return to the gate approximately twelve hours after it came through.”

“What?” Tony froze in place and stared down at her, searching for another lie. “It'll bring Lee back to the gate and just leave him?”

“Essentially.”

“So all we need do is make our way to the soundstage and wait?” Henry asked.

Arra nodded. “Be there at 11:15, it's as simple as that. Research also indicated . . .” She glanced over at Tony, who curled his lip. “. . . that the mirror image of the gate equations would also work. On this world, that means there's the potential for a gate every twelve hours. The Shadowlord will want to retrieve his spy and the information it carries as quickly as possible—he won't wait until tomorrow.”

“Wait a minute!” Tony took two quick steps closer to the couch. “What the hell does essentially mean?”

“It means that it's unlikely to be as simple as Ms. Pelindrake is indicating. It never is,” Henry continued when Tony spun around to face him. He returned his attention to the wizard. “Is it?”

She shrugged. “It could be. The gate will open, the shadow will leave; any complications will be completely separate from that.”

“Lee?” When she didn't answer immediately, Tony knew he was right. “Any complications will involve Lee, won't they?”

“It's possible he may have been damaged by the shadow's possession.”

“Possible?”

“Some are; some aren't. Those who are . . .” She looked inward, toward memory, and obviously didn't like what she saw. “Some of them shake it off, some are damaged beyond repair; it depends on the individual and there's no way of knowing until the shadow's gone.”

“So what do we do?” Tony demanded.

“To prevent the damage? Once the shadow is in control, there's nothing you can do. After . . .” Another inward look, then she shook herself free of the past. “There was a potion we had some success with in the early days, but the ingredients are a world away.”