Thirteen
Page 20
When Mom didn’t respond, we looked over to see her holding Jaime’s cell phone.
“Hey, how’d you get—?”
“Shit, these have changed a lot in a decade,” Mom said. “Don’t worry, I won’t send dirty text messages to Jeremy. You do enough of that anyway.”
“I never—”
“Ghost, remember? I can see you even when you can’t see me.” She paused. “That doesn’t sound good. Let me clarify that I never stick around when it goes beyond texting.” She pushed a few buttons. “I wonder how many heart attacks I could cause by calling up a few folks, reminding them that they owe me favors?”
“They’d think it was Savannah.”
“Damn.”
“Back to the topic at hand,” I said. “We can’t rest—at least not for long. That’s what Mom was about to say before she got distracted by the shiny twenty-first-century technology.”
“Oh, yes, we can rest.” Jaime reclined on the bed and shut her eyes. “Look, I’m doing it right now. It’s so relaxing. You guys should try it more often.”
“We—”
“—just escaped a bomb, incarceration, a werewolf, a hell-beast, a sorcerer, and Eve’s really sharp sword. We have earned a break. Or I have. You guys can play along.”
“We need—”
“Does it involve running? Fighting? Slaying? Uh-uh. Not for the next”—she checked the bedside clock—“six hours.”
“One.”
“Five.”
“One.”
My mother laughed.
Jaime glowered at her. “You think that’s funny. Of course, you do. You raised her.” She turned to me. “Four and a half.”
“Two.”
“Fine. Two hours. During which time we will do or say nothing—”
“We need to discuss what happened and plan our next steps. If you want to rest instead, I’m sure a few blankets will make the bathtub very comfy.”
“Fine. Talk.”
*
We started by piecing together what happened at the police station. Or a reasonable guess, based on what we knew. Medina had been working for the Supernatural Liberation Movement, sedating supernaturals and ultimately delivering them to the laboratory, where they’d become guinea pigs for the vaccine. Then sorcerer dude inserts himself into the equation. Either he wriggles his way into SLAM or he takes out Medina’s usual drug supplier. He gives her drugs that will agitate the supernaturals in custody, making them everything from ill to crazy to psychotic. Why? Well, that was the first of many questions. He hadn’t seemed surprised by the reactions to the drugs. Why would a supernatural intentionally cause a scene that risked humans discovering our powers? Sure, that’s what SLAM ultimately wanted, but this wasn’t the kind of “reveal” that made us look like peaceful and productive members of society.
Whatever the reason, he gives Medina the drugs. Then she picks us up following a call from SLAM. He finds out. And he decides this would be a really, really good time to try that new spell he’s been working on. Use Jaime and me to lure my mother, then conjure her into the world of the living.
Why?
“An angel is always handy,” Jaime said. “Even in a fight between demons. Especially if you’re also half-demon yourself. Eve gets hit up by more influence peddlers than any politician.”
“I can see that,” I said. “With Balaam leading the pro-reveal
side, even I’m useful. He made a personal appearance a few days ago.” I turned to Mom. “Turns out the reveal movement is harboring a couple of his lackeys. A real nice brother-sister duo named Sierra and Severin. Ice half-demons with a talent for torture. Balaam had them hold me hostage so he could propose an alliance.”
“That son of a bitch.” Mom’s sword wobbled beside her, glowing bright blue. “I heard he’d spoken to you, but taking you hostage—”
“Um, Eve?” Jaime said. “Can we hold off on threatening a lord demon? Even if he is your father?”
“So he contacted you, too?” I said. “Or tried?”
Mom hesitated.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m a big girl. I’m used to being second choice. And also being kidnapped as a way to get to you.”
Her expression made me regret saying that.
“I’m sorry, baby,” she said. “I know you’ve gone through hell because you’re my daughter. I never intended that.”
I shrugged. “Honestly, the cost-benefit ratio comes out in my favor. I get a lot of mileage out of being your daughter and only the occasional threat on my life. Even that’s just in the last week or so. Which I suspect isn’t coincidental.”
“It’s not. The Fates have always been able to keep this angel gig a secret. If that’s not the case anymore, something’s broken down.” She paused. “Actually, lots of things have broken down. It’s hell over there. No joke intended.”
“The movement,” I said. “It’s got the demons divided, and that’s rippling through everything, isn’t it?”
“Not just the demons. The angels are split, too. The ascended ones, at least.”
“Are they supernaturals?”
“Most, but the divide isn’t along those lines. Some—former human and supernatural—think exposure is the best thing for everyone. Others, like me, think it’ll be a catastrophe. So it’s chaos, with the Fates and everyone else trying to keep order and doing a damned poor job of it. Balaam has had imps and demi-demons out for weeks, scouring the dimensions trying to find me. I’ve been slaughtering them left and right. But a full-blood angel saw me talking to one. Next thing you know, the rumor’s circulating that I’m a double agent for Balaam, which is what a lot of them believe anyway.”
I remembered what Kimerion said. “They think you helped Leah escape, don’t they?”
Jaime sat up. “Seriously? Oh, yes, you freed the bitch who tried to kill Paige, so she could go back to earth and give it another shot. Maybe take your daughter out, too.”
“According to their theory, I wasn’t really all that upset about what Leah did with Paige. Considering Leah was working for Kristof, I probably had a hand in it so he could get custody of Savannah easier. Later, I came to feel a little bad about Leah getting a raw deal. So I agreed to free her for Balaam, to help this liberation movement, with her promise that she’d stay away from Savannah. When she reneged on the deal, I dragged her back to her hell dimension before she could tattle.”
“Hey, how’d you get—?”
“Shit, these have changed a lot in a decade,” Mom said. “Don’t worry, I won’t send dirty text messages to Jeremy. You do enough of that anyway.”
“I never—”
“Ghost, remember? I can see you even when you can’t see me.” She paused. “That doesn’t sound good. Let me clarify that I never stick around when it goes beyond texting.” She pushed a few buttons. “I wonder how many heart attacks I could cause by calling up a few folks, reminding them that they owe me favors?”
“They’d think it was Savannah.”
“Damn.”
“Back to the topic at hand,” I said. “We can’t rest—at least not for long. That’s what Mom was about to say before she got distracted by the shiny twenty-first-century technology.”
“Oh, yes, we can rest.” Jaime reclined on the bed and shut her eyes. “Look, I’m doing it right now. It’s so relaxing. You guys should try it more often.”
“We—”
“—just escaped a bomb, incarceration, a werewolf, a hell-beast, a sorcerer, and Eve’s really sharp sword. We have earned a break. Or I have. You guys can play along.”
“We need—”
“Does it involve running? Fighting? Slaying? Uh-uh. Not for the next”—she checked the bedside clock—“six hours.”
“One.”
“Five.”
“One.”
My mother laughed.
Jaime glowered at her. “You think that’s funny. Of course, you do. You raised her.” She turned to me. “Four and a half.”
“Two.”
“Fine. Two hours. During which time we will do or say nothing—”
“We need to discuss what happened and plan our next steps. If you want to rest instead, I’m sure a few blankets will make the bathtub very comfy.”
“Fine. Talk.”
*
We started by piecing together what happened at the police station. Or a reasonable guess, based on what we knew. Medina had been working for the Supernatural Liberation Movement, sedating supernaturals and ultimately delivering them to the laboratory, where they’d become guinea pigs for the vaccine. Then sorcerer dude inserts himself into the equation. Either he wriggles his way into SLAM or he takes out Medina’s usual drug supplier. He gives her drugs that will agitate the supernaturals in custody, making them everything from ill to crazy to psychotic. Why? Well, that was the first of many questions. He hadn’t seemed surprised by the reactions to the drugs. Why would a supernatural intentionally cause a scene that risked humans discovering our powers? Sure, that’s what SLAM ultimately wanted, but this wasn’t the kind of “reveal” that made us look like peaceful and productive members of society.
Whatever the reason, he gives Medina the drugs. Then she picks us up following a call from SLAM. He finds out. And he decides this would be a really, really good time to try that new spell he’s been working on. Use Jaime and me to lure my mother, then conjure her into the world of the living.
Why?
“An angel is always handy,” Jaime said. “Even in a fight between demons. Especially if you’re also half-demon yourself. Eve gets hit up by more influence peddlers than any politician.”
“I can see that,” I said. “With Balaam leading the pro-reveal
side, even I’m useful. He made a personal appearance a few days ago.” I turned to Mom. “Turns out the reveal movement is harboring a couple of his lackeys. A real nice brother-sister duo named Sierra and Severin. Ice half-demons with a talent for torture. Balaam had them hold me hostage so he could propose an alliance.”
“That son of a bitch.” Mom’s sword wobbled beside her, glowing bright blue. “I heard he’d spoken to you, but taking you hostage—”
“Um, Eve?” Jaime said. “Can we hold off on threatening a lord demon? Even if he is your father?”
“So he contacted you, too?” I said. “Or tried?”
Mom hesitated.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m a big girl. I’m used to being second choice. And also being kidnapped as a way to get to you.”
Her expression made me regret saying that.
“I’m sorry, baby,” she said. “I know you’ve gone through hell because you’re my daughter. I never intended that.”
I shrugged. “Honestly, the cost-benefit ratio comes out in my favor. I get a lot of mileage out of being your daughter and only the occasional threat on my life. Even that’s just in the last week or so. Which I suspect isn’t coincidental.”
“It’s not. The Fates have always been able to keep this angel gig a secret. If that’s not the case anymore, something’s broken down.” She paused. “Actually, lots of things have broken down. It’s hell over there. No joke intended.”
“The movement,” I said. “It’s got the demons divided, and that’s rippling through everything, isn’t it?”
“Not just the demons. The angels are split, too. The ascended ones, at least.”
“Are they supernaturals?”
“Most, but the divide isn’t along those lines. Some—former human and supernatural—think exposure is the best thing for everyone. Others, like me, think it’ll be a catastrophe. So it’s chaos, with the Fates and everyone else trying to keep order and doing a damned poor job of it. Balaam has had imps and demi-demons out for weeks, scouring the dimensions trying to find me. I’ve been slaughtering them left and right. But a full-blood angel saw me talking to one. Next thing you know, the rumor’s circulating that I’m a double agent for Balaam, which is what a lot of them believe anyway.”
I remembered what Kimerion said. “They think you helped Leah escape, don’t they?”
Jaime sat up. “Seriously? Oh, yes, you freed the bitch who tried to kill Paige, so she could go back to earth and give it another shot. Maybe take your daughter out, too.”
“According to their theory, I wasn’t really all that upset about what Leah did with Paige. Considering Leah was working for Kristof, I probably had a hand in it so he could get custody of Savannah easier. Later, I came to feel a little bad about Leah getting a raw deal. So I agreed to free her for Balaam, to help this liberation movement, with her promise that she’d stay away from Savannah. When she reneged on the deal, I dragged her back to her hell dimension before she could tattle.”
