The Graves of Saints (24 page)

‘Damn it, Cat, what happened?’ Octavian demanded.

She looked at Tori, saw the mix of love and sorrow in her eyes, and let out a breath.

‘Something terrible,’ Cat said. ‘But something wonderful, too.’

And she began to tell him.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Allison rapped on Octavian’s hotel-room door. One way or another they were checking out today, but after the debacle at the cemetery they had come back here to regroup.
For her part, she felt as if she were made of lead, as if each step or motion took ten times the effort it had this morning. She had been so at home with the fluidity of her flesh that it had
become second nature. No, not even that; it was simply her nature. With the Medusa toxin coursing through her system, she felt like a comet that had crashed to earth.

She didn’t like that feeling at all.

‘Peter?’ she called, knocking again.

A low, muffled voice came from inside the room. She frowned, wondering if he had company and who it might be. Allison tried to listen more closely but the muted voice had ceased, and a moment
later there came the rattle of the lock and Octavian opened the door. He seemed distracted, not meeting her gaze as he slipped his cell phone into his pocket. The voice she’d heard had been
his, on the phone.

‘Hey,’ was all he said.

‘They’re all gathered,’ she replied, frowning. ‘Are you all right?’

Octavian laughed with something like real humor. ‘I don’t even know how to define that anymore. People keep dying because of me. What I’m feeling has got to be rage. Only rage
burns like this. But it feels a hell of a lot like guilt.’

‘What happened?’

He came out into the corridor and pulled the door shut behind him. ‘You mean what
else
happened? Cortez sent a bunch of his vampires to visit Summerfields Orchard during the
equinox ritual last night. A lot of people died, but it ended just like our fun at the cemetery this morning.’

Allison nodded. ‘Wow, okay. Did you tell them what you said to me about Keomany? About feeling –’

‘She’s there,’ he said, starting down the corridor ahead of her.

‘Wait, what?’ Allison replied, hurrying after him. She’d been on her own so long, hunted and hunter, that she was no longer used to chasing after anyone. Even when she had been
human she had never liked it, but Octavian was the only person still alive that she didn’t mind playing sidekick to.

He shot her a baffled look as she caught up to him.

‘The other night after I left, something started growing in the field where we spread Keomany’s ashes. It’s like an effigy made of wood and leaves and maybe even apple, from
the sound of it, but it’s in the shape of Keomany.’

Allison laughed.

‘That’s funny?’ Octavian demanded.

‘I’m laughing in disbelief, not amusement,’ she said. ‘You’re serious? And they’re sure it’s her?’

‘No. It hasn’t spoken. Hasn’t even looked at them. It might be just some kind of reaction to her magic, Gaea’s way of mourning Keomany’s death, maybe. But they seem
to feel pretty strongly that it
is
her, somehow, and that she saved their asses last night. After what happened in the cemetery this morning . . . well, I’m keeping my mind open to
the possibilities.’

‘Don’t you want it to be Keomany?’

Octavian shook his head. ‘Not in the slightest. Yeah, a selfish part of me – the part that misses her – wants her back. But she gave her life in combat; she’s earned a
rest. Hell, Keomany earned
Valhalla
.’

They reached the suite that had been converted into the TFV command center.

‘What do you think it means?’ Allison asked, thinking about the number of recent supernatural incursions into the world and wondering what it might be doing to Gaea, the soul of the
Earth.

‘I don’t know if it means anything. But I guess we’ll find out,’ Octavian said, banging on the door. ‘Right now, we’ve got other concerns.’

Corporal Galleti, the Brazilian woman who was part of Metzger’s handpicked squad, opened the door and stood back to let them in. As they entered the room, Galleti eyed Allison with thinly
veiled hostility and suspicion. Another day, Allison might have confronted her; it had become tiring, being painted as a renegade for her killing of the former commander of Task Force Victor when
they all knew she had been entirely justified. But they were all on edge today, and Metzger’s forensics guy, Barbieri, had told her there were whispers going around that Charlotte might have
led their people into the trap at Bannerman’s Arsenal on purpose – that she’d been working for Cortez all along. Under the circumstances, she couldn’t blame them for being
wary of any Shadows in their midst. And the truth was that she had felt the same suspicions about Charlotte herself. If Octavian didn’t seem so certain of her allegiance, Allison would have
been among those suggesting betrayal. But Octavian vouched for Charlotte, and Allison couldn’t ignore that – not when he had stood by her in the past when she had been the target of
similar suspicions.

A bustle of movement accompanied their arrival. As Allison and Octavian entered the suite, warriors rose to their feet, one by one. Kuromaku was first to stand, one hand on his sword, a silent
indication that he pledged his sword to whatever purpose Octavian wished to assign him. The short, powerfully built Santiago did the same, followed by the gigantic Kazimir – whose hair seemed
to nearly brush the ceiling – and the lovely Egyptian, Taweret. One by one, the others in the room rose as well.

Allison nodded to Amber Morrissey, to whom Octavian had introduced her in the aftermath of the carnage at the cemetery. Amber had dropped the glamour that made her look human, and Allison took a
second look at the deep burgundy of her skin and those vicious talons and thought of ancient goddesses of death and destruction. The air behind Amber shimmered slightly, and Allison assumed that
the ghost of Miles Varick was also among them. Two of the mages who had come to the funeral were dead and another was in the hospital with a bullet wound, but the two remaining – a pale old
man named Groff, who had a bad heart, and a skittish, greasy-haired kid named Tristan – also stood.

Commander Metzger waited with his arms folded on the far side of the room, in front of the windows. This was his suite, his command center, and his body language made it clear that he asserted
his authority here. But Galleti was the only other member of the TFV in the room. Allison figured it might have been just a lack of space – it was fairly cramped in there with this many
people – but she believed there was more to the absence of other troops. This might be a UN operation, but these people were Octavian’s new coven. They were here at his invitation and
would do as he asked, so as much as it clearly went against Metzger’s instincts, the commander gave no orders.

‘Mr Octavian,’ he said, ‘you have the floor.’

Octavian nodded and surveyed the faces in the room. Allison did the same, wondering what he saw. Some of these people he had not seen in many years, and yet when he had put out the word, each of
them had come running. Other than Kuromaku and herself, the Shadows among them had not even known Nikki, but they had come to her funeral. Had they sensed that more would be asked of them than to
help Octavian mourn? Surely, she thought, they must have.

They gazed at him like heirs at the reading of a will, grimly expectant.

‘Thank you all for coming,’ Octavian said. ‘Some of this you know already, so I’ll be succinct. My partner – the woman I thought of as my wife – has been
murdered by a vampire named Cortez. He did this, I believe, not only to hurt me but to antagonize me. Distract me. He sent the vampires that attacked the funeral this morning, and sent another
group to attack an equinox ritual friends of mine were conducting in Vermont last night.’

Metzger frowned worriedly at this new information.

‘There’s more, and you’ll all be fully briefed shortly,’ Octavian went on. ‘But that’s just one of the troubles we’re dealing with. Dimensional
incursions are under way in France and Italy and the forces responding are having difficulty containing them. All of these things require my attention, but I can’t be in three places at
once—’

‘Cortez is first,’ Santiago interrupted. ‘Not just because he killed your lady, but because whatever he’s got cooking, it’s going to boil over soon.’

‘What makes you say that?’ Amber asked.

Santiago shrugged. ‘Pretty obvious, don’t you think? He’s not going to go full force on Octavian at the lady’s funeral and try to take out those people in Vermont –
stir up that kind of shitstorm – and then waste the distractions he’s created.’

Allison nodded. Smart thinking. She decided she liked Santiago.

‘Agreed,’ Octavian said. ‘But while I can make Cortez my first priority, I can’t let these incursions go on any longer. The people over there need help. I can’t be
in three places at once, so I’m asking you all, now, to help me. Once upon a time, I helped found a coven that included vampires and humans. A lot of them are dead, but I’ve fought
alongside each of you in some way over the years. I think it’s time for another coven. One that isn’t just about survival, but about the survival of this world. Of the human
race.’

‘Damn,’ said the greasy kid. ‘Melodramatic, don’t you think?’

Octavian shot him a withering look. ‘I wish it were, Tristan. I really do,’ he said, then glanced around the room, looking at each face.

Allison nodded to him. ‘I’m in, obviously. Just point me where you want me.’

‘You’re with me,’ Octavian said.

Good
, she thought. Cortez needed killing, and it pleased her to know she would be there with Octavian to make it happen.

The rest of them began to speak or nod their assent, and it was clear there was unanimous agreement. No one whom Octavian had summoned intended to turn their back on him now. Not on him, and not
on the world – because whether Tristan thought it melodramatic or not, the peril really was global. These incursions were not just the cause of chaos and the deaths of innocents, they were
eroding the walls between dimensions, eating holes right through them like rust through metal. And, like rust, the erosion would spread.

Kuromaku stood a bit taller and took a step into the center of the room.

‘We are all with you, old friend,’ the samurai said.

‘What, you’re not going to draw your sword?’ Allison teased. ‘Raise it up, do some kind of Three Musketeers thing?’

Kuromaku raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m the only one with a sword.’

‘Yeah. It would look kind of silly.’

Octavian smiled and dropped his gaze. The others looked on in surprise, maybe thinking he would be angry. But of all those in the room, Allison and Kuromaku knew him best. He might be grim at
times, but he appreciated the confidence their banter implied. Confidence, and commitment. They were in this together, come what may.

‘All right,’ Octavian said, nodding toward the Reaper. ‘Amber, I’d like you and Miles to go up to Vermont right away. We have friends and allies up there who may still be
in danger, plus something is happening there that I don’t understand and I would like someone up there who I can trust to tell me the truth.’

He turned to Santiago. ‘Rodrigo, it means a great deal to me that you’re here and I hope we have a chance to talk at length when this is over. I’d like to hear of your
adventures since the last time we were together. But today, I need you to take Taweret and fly to Saint-Denis in France. There are mages on the ground already, but the troops there may need
somebody harder to kill to back them up.’

Santiago nodded. ‘Well, if I’m anything, it’s hard to kill.’ He pointed at Kuromaku. ‘No cockroach jokes.’

Kuromaku gave him that same raised eyebrow and Allison smiled. Someone who didn’t know better would think Kuromaku had no sense of humor at all, but it was there. Wry and sarcastic, just
below the surface of that dignified air.

‘’Maku,’ Octavian went on, ‘take Kazimir, Tristan, and Mr Groff and go to Siena as quickly as Commander Metzger’s people can get you there. Do what you can.’
He glanced around the room. ‘All of you . . . just do what you can. We’ve got to drive back these incursions. Somehow I’ve got to figure out how to reinforce the barriers the
church used to keep in place, but first we put out these fires.’

‘And kill Cortez,’ Allison said.

‘Yes,’ Octavian replied, his gaze turning to ice. ‘That, too.’

‘If I may?’ Metzger began.

‘It’s your room, Commander,’ Octavian said.

Metzger nodded. ‘Thank you, but it’s not my room for much longer. We’re all clearing out of here today. I’ve got transport ready to take you all where you need to go.
Before you depart, I wanted to update you on the TFV’s activities.’

Allison perked up. She could tell from his tone that he had something new.

‘Miss Vigeant, are you familiar with Octavian’s theory about these new incursions, that they’re coming through—’

‘Saints’ graves, yes. Go on.’

Now Metzger looked at Octavian. ‘While we waited for you, I briefed everyone else. I’ve got a team of UN researchers compiling a list of the burial places of saints, with a special
focus on Catholic saints who were known to have been beheaded; particularly if their heads were buried separate from their bodies. There are a surprising number, and they’re continuing to
search.’

‘Good thing I never tried to be a saint,’ Santiago muttered.

Any word on Charlotte?’ Octavian asked.

Metzger’s gaze turned grim. ‘I’m afraid not. There’s no sign she survived the explosion. You know it takes faith in her own—’

‘I know what it takes,’ Octavian said curtly.

‘Of course you do,’ Metzger replied. Then he glanced around the room. ‘Octavian and Miss Vigeant are not leaving as yet, but I’d suggest the rest of you gather your
things and meet Sergeant Galleti in front of the elevators in twenty minutes. Your transport is waiting.’

Sergeant Galleti, Allison thought, realizing the woman had received a battlefield promotion now that Sergeant Omondi had died. She wondered if Galleti felt glad or guilty, and if Corporal Song
– wherever he’d gotten off to – was jealous.