Better off Dead Book Three Page 9

  I could tell that he was deeply, deeply shaken by the fact I’d finally accessed the power of the Deep. I heard him muttering through the mouths of some of the possessed – and though I couldn’t catch every terrified word, some of them strung together. He would stop me. This was nothing. He had not waited this long to fail now.

  I found the last possessed under my bed. I dragged it out by its tail, removed Hilliker’s control spell, and threw it into a pile along with the rest of them in my library.

  Like I said – I had no real problem with the possessed themselves. Maybe they weren’t the prettiest to look at, but ultimately, they’d had no choice in what Hilliker had done to them.

  When they were all in my library, I used my transport node to send them out into the forest. I didn’t know where else to put them. I didn’t want to return them to the world lest Hilliker find them and find a way to control them again. I also didn’t want Hell creatures popping up in various cities around the planet. They could subsist in my forest for a while – though they’d probably put the wolves off.

  When it was done... I stared down at my hands and realized it was actually done.

  I had finally accessed the power of the Deep.

  But would it be too late?

  It had been for Sonos, and he was one of the few things that still mattered to me.

  Chapter 7

  I had to decide what to do. Sonos had told me to stay inside my castle, and now I’d kicked out Hilliker’s army, I appreciated it was a safe place for me to remain. Now I had the power of the Deep pulsing through my veins and echoing through my mind, it felt as if there wasn’t anything I couldn’t face. But that right there was wrong. I had not faced Hilliker in the flesh. I had only encountered a fraction of his power. When he broke out of Hell, the real fight would begin.

  I imagined I’d weakened him. Maybe he wouldn’t break out of Hell anytime soon, but it was still inevitable. That gave me time. And I needed to use that time.

  “I won’t do anything useful staying here,” I told the back of my vault door as I faced it, my arms crossed.

  There was only one place I wanted to go, but I knew it was inherently dangerous. If I headed to Sato’s Emporium, who knew what I would face? There’d be Hilliker’s priests – that would be for sure. There would be more possessed, too.

  But I needed to find out if there was any chance Sonos was still alive. I also couldn’t forget Barney – and to some extent Sato, though I was still apoplectic at him. Hell, I didn’t even want that drunk pigeon dying.

  “This is probably suicide. But screw it. Hilliker has always kept me on the back foot. It’s time to do something he won’t expect.”

  I went to thrust through my vault door and out to one of the external transport nodes, but I thought better of it as I glanced down at my clothes. They were completely ruined. It was time to change.

  I did not have to thrust up into my bedroom. My magic was well and truly back. All I had to do was concentrate, and I mentally traveled to my wardrobe. I selected leather. A leather jacket, a composite magic denim-leather pair of jeans that would not make me chafe nor sweat, a sturdy top, some serious boots, and my fanciest hair clip.

  I commanded the clothes to race down to me. They plucked off the rags of my current outfit, threw them to the side, and clad me, all in one blast of magic. When I was done, I tapped my boots to check they were on correctly, then shoved forward. I clutched my cross, letting my fingers linger as I opened my vault door.

  I walked out to see several of the possessed sitting on my porch, staring at some wolves. They were obviously having a confrontation. Maybe they were looking for who would rule the forest. I left them to it.

  I walked away, heading to one of the nodes right at the edge of the property.

  I paid attention to the forest, trying to figure out if Hilliker had breached it with any other forces. But he hadn’t.

  Several of the possessed followed me. They weren’t about to attack me, though. If anything, they just looked thankful.

  That half a monkey climbed in the trees beside me. It was hard for the little guy, but he easily overcame his disability with magic and tenacity.

  He stopped when I did. He was close enough that I patted him. He seemed to appreciate that.

  Yeah, fundamentally these were Hell creatures, but they had been abused by Hilliker just like I had.

  I leaned down to the little guy as I scratched him under half his chin. “I’m gonna make that bastard pay. I’m gonna scatter him across the universe. And as for the Banished, I’m gonna rip him up and shove him so far down the throat of the Deep that he will never, ever come out again.”

  The monkey chattered and hooted in glee.

  I nodded. “Wish me luck.”

  The monkey hooted again.

  I spread my arms wide and initiated the transport node. It swirled around me. I knew very well that this was my last chance to change my plan. If I stayed here, like I said, I’d be safer. But like I said, I’d be wasting time. And I wouldn’t do that anymore.

  I went back to the fact that if I had known that Hilliker had been after me all these years, I would’ve done something. I would’ve tried to hurt him – I would’ve tried to find out more about who I was.

  I understood why Sonos had kept the truth from me. I hadn’t been strong enough. And, considering my less than reasonable personality, I would’ve probably walked into Hilliker’s monastery, demanded an explanation, and got captured then and there.

  Not my point. I was no longer going to waste opportunities that were given to me.

  I appeared just in front of the steps that led down to the flood tunnels and Sato’s emporium.

  The street was eerily abandoned. It was night, and the neon signs of Tokyo were flickering above me. There was a light rain. I didn’t bother to shrink into my collar. I let it slash across my face and hair. I narrowed my eyes. I instantly tuned in to the sensations around me, and they were as dark as hell. Not literal Hell – chaos.

  I clenched my teeth and strode down the steps. Rather than have to fight a stick figure, I faced the door. It had been wrenched open. It was broken in half, its sparking remains jerking like a hand that had been chopped off.

  Wincing, knowing full well this meant Sato’s Emporium would likely be destroyed, I strode on through.

  The flood tunnels were empty. There were no market stalls. There were marks, however – singe marks and magic gouges littered the place.

  I walked through, my hands still in my pockets. I didn’t find a single person alive. But nor did I find any possessed.

  I made my way to Sato’s entrance. It, like the door down to the flood tunnels, was wide open. There were no bouncers. There wasn’t even a cheery sign above the door.

  With regret kicking in my stomach at what I’d find, I took the steps. They creaked and groaned under my weight as if they simply couldn’t take anything else anymore, including a feather.

  I walked down into the bar. It was destroyed. Tables and chairs had been upended. The bar itself was just a smoking mass of old magic, wood, and stone. The alcohol behind it was gone. Several bottles had caught fire – the rest was just a murky puddle of glass and smoke.

  Barney was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t detect a single person, in fact.

  I made it up the stairs to the second floor. They didn’t have to expand for me – they were already open. Some of them were broken, though – and I had to jump across and leap up the wall.

  The second floor was just as destroyed as the first. This was the business lounge. The only business it would get up to now was cataloging destruction. Nothing was left. The light fittings had been ripped from the ceiling. Every table and chair had been torn apart. Broken glasses and alcohol bottles littered the carpet. And as for that, it was so badly scorched, it looked as if someone had tried to use it to catch a meteor storm.

  Again, I could not see evidence that anyone was alive.

  This truly sick feeling descended through my
gut. I’d been ready to face destruction, but as my stomach kicked, I realized it would be complete. There wouldn’t be a single soul left. Hilliker... Hilliker would’ve killed them all to get to what he wanted.

  ... Before I could fill in that equation with me, I stopped. Hilliker hadn’t come here to find me. I’d heard Sato’s scared words over the phone. He’d told Sonos to come help him before the army of possessed stole it. But what the hell was it?

  Reluctantly, I made my way up to the emporium. I didn’t know what I would find. What I saw was total and complete destruction. Everything had been broken – even the Christmas ornaments. It looked as if a tornado of pure annihilation had spun through this place and gorged itself on everything in sight.

  I had not yet encountered a single body, but there was something particularly arresting about this sight. Maybe it underlined how powerful Hilliker was that he could even take on Sato without reply. Maybe it was something else.

  As I walked forward, I expected to see the little spiders that ran this joint, but they were gone. I almost stepped on one of their tiny signs.

  My gut clenched. I let my hands drop by my sides, and I rounded my knuckles in. I dug my nails into my palms as if I was trying to gouge the flesh out.

  I made my way to the back of the store. I stopped when I saw that simple table right before Sato’s sitting room. There was nothing on it. That’s where the snow globe had been. I ran my fingers across it.

  Maybe you could accuse me of wasting time – but there was nothing around. No possessed, no bodies, no screams – nothing.

  As I ran my fingers over the table, I swore I heard a light tinkle of music. Maybe it was my imagination – or maybe it was a far-off auditory memory of the snow globe.

  I longed to plunge back into it. Especially now I had learned that it had come from Saint Fredericks too.

  There was so much I needed to ask Sonos.

  But if he was dead....

  I finally found the courage to walk into Sato’s sitting room.

  It was not completely destroyed. His Edwardian furniture was still there, as were the tasteful Japanese lamps. The Persian rug wasn’t even singed. But the entire scene was strewn with broken smoke dragons.

  They were the same ones Sato had been smoking when all this mess had begun.

  They lay there, chopped in half, twitching. A few koi fish were scattered over the carpet beside them.

  I stared at them, shocked to the core. They were just smoke figurines, but they still affected me.

  I looked over at Sato’s chair. It was completely empty. It was on its side.

  I reached it. I picked it up and sat it straight. I wasn’t trying to neaten the scene. It would take a long time and an army of cleaners to get Sato’s Emporium straight again. It was out of reverence for the man himself. If I’d come here with the hope that anyone would be alive, it was now crushed. But something happened as I straightened the chair. This faint flicker raced across it.

  I immediately jerked my hand forward. I grabbed hold of that magic. I did something I’d never had the power to do in the past. I attuned to the magic completely. I went deep.

  I let my mind blast into it. I carried the magic, and I gave it strength until those few sparks started to grow.

  I opened my eyes and jerked back in time to see Sato himself appear.

  He had a hole in his chest, and blood was trailing down his lips.

  “Sato?” I jerked forward to grab his shoulders, but they were insubstantial.

  “Kid? Eve? Is that you? How... how did you find this? I thought you lost your magic?”

  “What’s happening?” I looked him up and down, trying to figure out what kind of spell this was. It looked like an echo. I’d seen magical echoes in the past, but nothing like this. It was almost like a live echo. It didn’t seem that I was accessing a true memory – but a version of the real Sato himself.

  “I had to go all nuclear on this place,” he said as he coughed, more blood splattering from his mouth.

  I jerked forward again, but I couldn’t help him – I couldn’t touch him.

  He smiled up at me. “You’ve finally done it, haven’t you?”

  “Done what?”

  “Accessed the Deep. I’m assuming that’s the only way you got your magic back. Good luck. I hope it’s not too late.”

  Sato went to close his eyes. There was something awfully final about the move.

  I bolted forward.

  I knew I couldn’t touch him. No – I knew that the magic spell for whatever reason wouldn’t let me touch him. But you know what? I could go deep. And it was time.

  I kneeled before Sato’s form, wrapped my hands around where his shoulders were, and concentrated. I attuned with whatever spell this was, and I pumped it full of magic.

  “Whoa,” Sato said, his voice shaking. “How are you even doing that, kid?”

  “How about you stop calling me kid and you tell me exactly what happened? Where’s...” I couldn’t even ask.

  He looked at me. His eyes might not technically have been solid, but I could still see his expression. He smiled slightly. “You know your engagement was meant to be fake, right? You haven’t fallen for him, have you?”

  “Where is he?” I begged. “Don’t tell me he’s dead.”

  “He’s not. Hilliker wouldn’t do that. He needs Sonos.”

  “So where is Sonos?”

  “Captured.”

  My gut felt like it would fall right out of my torso, plunge through the world, and keep going.

  “Captured?” I hissed. “How? An army of possessed came to my house – but they weren’t that much trouble.”

  Sato laughed again. It was too much for him, and he coughed up more blood, though it was a lot less now that I was pumping magic into his spell. “Maybe for you. They overran this place.”

  “Where are they now?” I demanded.

  “I’m assuming he sent them to your house. What did you do with them?”

  “I ripped his control out of them, put them in the forest, and made them my friends.”

  Sato chucked his head back and cackled. It was a costly move, and he coughed up more blood, but he really seemed to enjoy it. “That’s my girl. I will give you some free Christmas ornaments for that. If I get out of this,” he added.

  I tightened my grip on his shoulders, and I concentrated. “There’s no way the great Sato would ever be killed – not by a brat like Hilliker. Now tell me how to help you.”

  “Leave.”

  “What?”

  “This is a unique spell – one I paid half my fortune for. It’s keeping me hidden from Hilliker and his priests. They’ll come for me – because they’re not gonna want you learning what I know.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “They came here because they were looking for it.”

  My skin crawled. I didn’t need to pay too much attention to the way he hissed it to realize it was important. Hilliker had literally ripped this place apart to find it. But what the hell was it?

  Sato coughed again, so I just gave him all the magic I could.

  “You’ve got to get out of here. They will come for you sooner rather than later, Eve. Go home.”

  “Are you serious, Sato? Is this spell making you stupid? I’d be a sitting duck.”

  He chuckled, more blood splattering out of his lips only to splash against my arm and instantly disappear as if they’d never existed at all. “Having a hole in one’s middle can compromise intelligence, yes,” he conceded through another choking wheeze before looking up at me again, his eyes flashing. There was real defiance and energy behind the look – enough that it was clear he was no longer kidding around. He grabbed my arm. “You’ve got to leave, Eve. Go home.”

  “But Hilliker knows where I live. He’s already sent his army of possessed there. He knows exactly how to get in. The bastard found some way of spelling all the dust in my castle. If he can do that, he can do anything. I am not just going to sit at home tw
iddling my thumbs and waiting for him to snap my neck.” I spoke with so much passion, a few sparks shot out of my lips and played around my mouth.

  Sato watched them from underneath his skewed glasses. “You need to give Sonos a chance to escape. You have to hold out for as long as you can. That means going back to the one place you’re safest.”

  My gut kicked. As soon as I heard Sonos’s name, it was like Sato slapped me. I knew my cheeks became as cold as ice. Slowly, I let out a tense breath, then shook my head. Though it would have been tempting to believe in Sato’s words and hope that Sonos had a chance of escaping, I knew it was nothing more than a fantasy. I’d felt Hilliker’s power, and I knew exactly how injured Sonos was – and that had been before the fight for Sato’s Emporium.

  I shook my head, this time resolutely. As I locked my determined gaze on Sato, I rose, though I kept a supporting hand on his shoulder as I let my magic bolster him. “I’m not going to run.”

  “You’ll have no chance against Hilliker. He’ll break out of Hell soon if he hasn’t already.”

  “I delivered him a blow when I snapped his control on his army of possessed. I can do it again.” I had to add that last bit through a shaking, somewhat wheezing breath. On the face of it, it was a damn lie. I could do it again? I’d already ascertained that Hilliker had used a fraction of his power when he’d been possessing his army. He hadn’t been able to throw his full mind from Hell. When I faced him in the flesh, it would be like facing the Devil himself.

  I still didn’t retract my statement. I stood above Sato, my mind made up.

  Weirdly, I felt calm. Maybe it was just my brain giving up and surrendering to my stupidity, or maybe it was my greater awareness pointing out I really had a hope.

  I clutched at my cross.

  That brought Sato’s eyes to it. A strange smile flickered across his lips. “It found you, then?”

  I looked down at the cross and frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “That cross was a gift from your mother.”

  My stomach could have punched right out of my torso. “What?” I could barely push that word out.