Part 41 (1/2)
”Lord Anton?” Cadmus called. ”I'm terribly sorry about that business after dinner, but-ow!”
Filima had given him a light swat on the arm. ”Later!”
”Yes,” Anton agreed. ”Later. Do come over and lend Myhr a hand, there's a good fellow.”
Cadmus lurched toward us, as though wading. ”It's gotten rather thick. Very odd.”
It didn't feel thick to me. Must have been a magic thing. They all had Talent and were floundering; I was immune. ”Where's Terrin?”
”Underneath. Refused to come out. Helikes it.”
Botello suddenly shook free. He was a big guy and pretty determined. ”What?” He rounded on me.
”You'renot the wizard?”
”Only because there's no money in it.”
Boy, did he look p.i.s.sed. ”Where is he? Takingmy power?”
”Heads up, Cadmus, megalomaniacal episode coming through.”
”Grab him!” Anton yelled.
We grabbed him. Cadmus was full of muscles, and I had a feline edge that made me strong for my size.
We each had an arm, but it was even money how long we could hang on. ”Now what?”
”Push him under!”
We did that too. Botello didn't fight us, which was alarming. He didn't fight us for the longest time, like maybe a minute, then began thras.h.i.+ng.
”What's going on?” I asked.
Anton had moved off to one side. ”The magic's too much for him to absorb.”
”We're feeding him magic?” That seemed a remarkably bad idea. So bad that Cadmus and I let Botello struggle to the surface. He wheezed and choked just like it had been water.
”You're drowning him in it,” said Anton. ”Put him back under.”
”But won't that kill your body?” ”It will kill Botello. That's more important than anything else.”
”You . . . can't!” Botello objected.
”I must. You're the one who's upset the balance. Better you die than those poor people back on the Reality plane.”
”You'll die, too! What you're in is all that's left of me! You'll remain here!”
Anton shrugged. ”I'm willing to make that sacrifice to save them. Part and parcel of being an overduke, you know. Kill him.”
”But Lord Anton . . .” Cadmus was horrified.
”Just do it, Cadmus. Be quick. I don't want my body to needlessly suffer.”
This I didn't like, but I went along with Cadmus and shoved Botello under. Responsibility can be a b.i.t.c.h.
He fought us, a last-ditch madman's effort, but was losing momentum.
Terrin surfaced. Literally. He bobbed up from the fog like a submarine, one with a big grin painted on the bow. He looked better. His hair had gone back to its normal red, and the ruddiness had returned to his skin, which had lost a good century or so of wrinkling.
”Hey,” I said. ”How you doing?”
”I'm cool. Lot of great stuff floating around here. You should try it.”
”No, thanks.”
”Check this out.” He pointed to his forehead. He had horns. ”Ain't they cool? I may keep 'em!”
”Terrin, I'm a little busy here. . . .” The sight of me and Cadmus trying to drown a man in magic fog didn't seem worthy of comment from him.
”No prob.”
”And there's a bunch of demons about to do a tsunami on our a.s.s.” I'd noticed the roar of my tornado had ceased, replaced by other roars. And I thought they'd been annoyed earlier.
”No prob.”
”Anton said if you visualize-”
”Oh, hush, I can fix it.”
Since he was back to being his old confident-to-the-point-of-being-snotty self, it was safe to a.s.sume he could fix things and put my whole attention on Botello. It was really way past awful holding a man down, waiting for him to die. I'd seen something like it in a Hitchc.o.c.k movie that had made me squirm. This was real, though, and I was an active partic.i.p.ant. Cadmus looked the way I felt, but his gaze was on Anton, not the horror at hand. Anton swiped blood from his eyes and watched, his face solemn, sad, and so weary it hurt to see. I felt terrible for him, and hoped he could slip back under the Gate when it was over. He shouldn't have to stay in h.e.l.l, not after this.
Botello had pretty much spent himself. His desperate bucking subsided to an infrequent, reflexive twitch.
Not long now.
Wading over, Anton gave a nod. ”That should do it.”
We lifted Botello clear of the fog. He drooped like a dead man, and seemed heavier than he should be.
We dragged him to the riverbank and laid him out.
Anton came forward and took Botello by one hand. Nothing happened for a moment, then I glimpsed a faint rippling between them.
”What was that?”
No answer. Anton's eyes rolled up, and he keeled over like he'd been shot. Cadmus caught him and hauled him over next to Botello. Filima cautiously approached, not eager to get close to either of them, but staring hard.
”I think he's done it,” she said. ”The auras have changed. Can you tell?”
Cadmus and I both tried. I wasn't sure what was there, but some kind of swap had taken place between them. He shook Botello. ”My Lord Anton? Are you there?”