Part 34 (1/2)
”Which would damage the overduke's body, and thenhe'd be p.i.s.sed. If we had Pentothol we might be able to do something, but we don't. To get him to cooperate requires a lever or a bribe, and we ain't got squat. And there's no guarantee that Botello knows what we want him to know. For all his power he's an amateur, and they tend to cut corners when real work is inconvenient to their desires. I still need you over there to find Anton and help me work out how to deal with the river, but when it comes down to bra.s.s tacks, Anton is a side issue. The river is the big deal.”
”So I go to h.e.l.l?”
”You go to h.e.l.l.”
”d.a.m.n it.”
”Ain'tthat the truth?”
Cadmus and Velma walked in. His gaze went right to Filima and took the rest of his body along. He guided her off into a corner for a quiet talk. Apologizing like crazy if I read his body language correctly. I could have listened in, but was too busy smiling at Velma. She came over to me, smiling back.
”I think it's a brave thing you're doing,” she said. ”Terrin told me how you're going to find Anton and bring him home.”
The last I'd heard I was going to find Botello and kill him. Of course that was sc.r.a.pped what with Botello being Anton. I switched gears quick, though. It's not often I have a major babe hanging on my every word. Very cheering, considering the circ.u.mstances. ”Well, it's a dirty job, but someone has to-”
”Can it,” said Terrin. ”We gotta get moving. You guys, front and center in the chairs. We're going to do a modified kind of seance.”
”Really?” Cadmus perked up. ”You liked my idea?”
”It has angles I can use, so listen. We're all going to sit, Myhr lies on the floor in the middle. I'm going to be his anchor for this side of Reality, you guys are gonna add your psychic energy to the pot. It means less work for me so I can focus on keeping him safe.”
I was all for that.
”But Botello drained off my magical energy,” said Cadmus.
”Good. Less static on the line. This is a mental thing, not a magic thing. Filima, you keep your power to yourself, don't try to help me.”
She nodded, and everyone picked a chair, standing ready. They looked as nervous as I felt. He gave them each a small quartz crystal and told them how to hold it. I got a larger crystal and a sword.
Cadmus stared. ”I say! That's my sword, the one made with-oh, ah, that is . . .”
”Cold iron,” Terrin completed for him. ”Yeah, I got it off of blondie-boy. Told me it was a family antique.
What's your family doing running around making wizard killers?”
”Haven't the faintest,” he said, looking uncomfortable. ”The thing's very old. Forgot I had it.”
”Yeah, sure, whatever. Myhr, there's two things you have to remember to make this work: hang onto the sword, hang onto the crystal.”
”I get the drill. If I don't then horrible things happen to me, right?”
”Exactly-you lose these and we'd have to buy new ones 'cause they're borrowed.”
”Then I won't be trapped in h.e.l.l and eaten by demons?”
”I never said that. And stop speculating on what you think might be there. It won'tever be what you think, besides I'll s.h.i.+eld you from seeing the worst of it so-”
”Worst of what?”
”What do youthink ?”
Oh Gawd . . .
”Just tell yourself it's a movie with production design straight out ofAlien and you should be able to keep from going into shock.”
My back fur was up. In a big way. All over my spine like static electricity. ”Terrin . . .” He gave me one ofthose looks. No smart-a.s.s grin, no patronizing, snarky frown, but something of the real person he kept well hidden inside. ”It'll be fine. I promise.”
Jeez, but I'm a sucker for sincerity. One of these days I'd have to get therapy before it killed me.
”Places everyone,” he said to the others. They all sat except for Terrin. ”We're going for a take. Myhr, lie down in the circle, your head to the south.”
I did so. Terrin stood before the southern chair, looming over me. He had a small crystal ball in one hand, and a large quartz crystal in the other that he held out over me. He muttered some kind of chant, waving the quartz around in a power pattern. The chalk sigils surrounding me kindled and brightened, feeble at first, then glowing like embers from a fire. They began to pulse; it was pretty, until I realized their pulsing exactly matched the beating of my heart.
Oh, s.h.i.+t.
He stopped waving, stepped back, and dropped wearily onto his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose.
”What's wrong?”
”Nothing, just this gawd-d.a.m.ned magic-sucking world! It's trying to kill me. I ain't gonna give it the satisfaction.”
Something about him had slipped. His aura was wrong. What in the world . . . I focused and realized he'd cast a glamour on himself. It seemed to melt from him, at least to my eyes. I didn't know if the others saw the reality.
He looked to be a hundred years older, hair turned bone white and so much color leeched from his skin that the veins underneath were visible. His weight was down, too; he'd gone gaunt, from cheekbones to hands, which were downright spidery.
We'd been here only one night, a day, and another night. At the rate he was deteriorating . . . I got a nasty, dark, cold feeling inside that he was dying and that it would be only a matter of hours.
”Yeah,” he said, as though hearing my thoughts. Sometimes he picked them up if they were strong enough. ”This is as serious as death.” From the expression on his wasted face I knew he wasn't exaggerating.
He made an effort to straighten. I could see now that he was moving like an arthritic chicken. Despite the warm gold glow of the sigils he looked sickly. One-good-breeze-and-he-might-float-away kind of sickly.
d.a.m.n . . . and d.a.m.n again. That wasn't fair. It sucked ca.n.a.l water.
”Yeah,” he said. ”It does. I can't do this alone, Myhr. I need your help.”
Jeez-I knew what it had cost him to saythat .
”What do I do?” I asked. I was nervous. Didn't like it. Couldn't help it.
”Close your eyes, breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. The same for the rest of you.Clear your minds.”
Easy enough, but I couldn't ask questions. Maybe he just wanted me to shut up so he could concentrate.
I did the breathing for awhile until a dim flas.h.i.+ng took place beyond my closed eyelids. That would be the sigils pulsing brighter. Their pace still matched my heartbeat-which was speeding up.
I gripped my crystal and the sword hard.