chapter 24
“PSST!” SOMEONE HISSED AS I STEPPED ONTO THE front porch.
I looked to see a girl with a heart-shaped face, long blond hair, and doelike brown eyes. Typical nymph. She looked as if she should be sprinting through the woods, clothed only in a few strategically placed leaves.
“Yes?” I said.
She motioned for me to follow, then scampered off to the woods, as silent and nimble as a deer. I looked around. Kris hailed me with a raised hand. I gestured toward the nymph. He nodded, and I took off after her.
When I got to the edge of the woods, I slowed. Last thing I needed was to get attacked by one of Luther Ross’s jealous students.
I found the girl hovering by a tree. She looked around nervously.
“He’s lying,” she whispered. When I frowned, she hurried on, “Mr. Ross. He’s lying about the Nix. She was here. I saw her. I heard them talking. Is she really—” She shivered. “Is she really as bad as you said? She kills people?”
“’Fraid so. Is she here now?”
“She left last night. I can’t believe I was in the same room as her. I talked to her! Do you think—do you think she might have done something to me? Made me evil, too?” A whimper. “I’ve never killed anyone. I did some bad stuff when I was alive, but it wasn’t my fault. I always picked the wrong kind of friends. Do you think she infected me? Turned me into a murderer?”
“She can’t turn anyone here into a murderer.”
The nymph turned her wide eyes up to mine. “Are you sure?”
“The only people in the ghost world are dead, hon. You can’t kill them.”
“Oh, right.” Her shoulders relaxed. “That is such a relief.”
“I’m sure it is. Now, you overheard Ross and the Nix talking…”
She nodded. “They were discussing a plan. Mr. Ross said—”
Something crackled in the undergrowth. The nymph jumped like she’d been shot. I scanned the jungle, but saw nothing.
“No one’s here,” I said. “It was probably an animal.”
“What kind of animal? Oh!” She shivered and looked back to the house. “I shouldn’t be doing this. If Mr. Ross found out he could—he knows some scary stuff.”
“So do I. Now, you were saying?”
Her fingers wrapped around my forearm, tugging me farther into the jungle. When I hesitated, her lower lip wobbled and her eyes filled, as if she might cry from sheer terror. Obviously she wasn’t talking until she felt safe, so I let her lead me. After a few steps, she mumbled something.
“Hmm?” I said.
She kept muttering, her face forward as she pulled me into the forest. I caught a couple words of Latin and knew she wasn’t talking to herself. She was casting.
I yanked my arm back. Her grip only tightened.
“Hey!” I said.
I tried to shake her off, but she just looked over her shoulder, fixing me with eyes that had lost every trace of girlish innocence. Her lips kept moving in their cast. Once more I tried to fling her off, unable to believe this sudden show of bionic strength. She yanked back, and I flipped forward, nearly falling.
As I twisted up again, I snarled my own cast. A binding spell. I finished it…and she only smiled, her own incantation still flowing. I started a knock-back spell, but the first words had barely left my mouth when the air around me started to shimmer. The unmistakable first sign of an opening portal. Shit! Again I struggled to pull my arm from her grasp, but couldn’t budge. Demonic strength. Only thing with demonic strength was a demon. Or a demi-demon.
I mentally shouted for Trsiel. While I’d have loved to hog-tie the Nix myself and present her to the Fates, I knew better. A demi-demon was too strong, and immune to spells and demonic shows of power. This was a job for an angel.
The portal split open, a black hole to nowhere.
I threw myself in the other direction, but the Nix jerked me back, and I flew off my feet. I saw the portal. Saw it yawning before me, knew I was about to fly into it…and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it.
Then something hit the Nix from behind and her grip went slack. I sailed across the clearing, hit the ground rolling, and sprang up. I wheeled to face the Nix. She was charging Kristof. I threw myself at her, but Kris dove out of her way in time. As she wheeled, she snarled at him, lips curling, teeth bared. Something in that snarl sent ice water through my veins and I froze, just long enough for her to lunge at Kristof again. He feinted. I cast an energy bolt. It passed right through her. She spun on Kris and flew at him. He ducked, but this time she managed to snag his arm. She swung him off his feet, and whipped him toward the portal.
My gut went cold. I pitched forward and hit Kristof in the side just as his feet passed into the portal. The Nix lost her grip, and Kris and I tumbled to the ground. As I hit, I remembered a spell that might work, an incantation to protect the unwary spell-caster who summoned something she couldn’t handle.
As I ran through the spell, I braced myself. The moment the final words left my lips, a thousand-watt jolt ripped through me and I collapsed, writhing and convulsing. Had the Nix attacked me in that moment, I’d be helpless to fight back. But as my body jerked and shuddered, I caught sight of her on the ground across the clearing, racked by a seizure double the strength of what I was feeling. Then Kristof’s arms went around me, lifting me up, his face ashen.
“S’okay,” I managed as the last twitches rippled through me. “Anti-demon spell. Nasty side effect. Damned demon blood.”
As he lifted me, the Nix struggled to her feet, still unsteady.
“A demon witch.” She spit the words with a sneer, but made no move to come closer. “Half-demon, I should say. A substandard demon from a substandard race of spell-casters. I suppose the Fates grew weary of wasting their angels on me. Perhaps they’ve given up trying to catch me and now seek only to annoy me. Go away, little gnat. This isn’t a game for you.”
“No? But I’m doing so well. Found you faster than those angels ever did, I’ll bet.”
She laughed. “Found me? I found you. And almost sent you into the great beyond.”
“Yeah, great plan. Too bad you f*cked up, huh? Foiled by a half-demon witch. That’s gotta sting.” Come on, Trsiel! Where the hell are you?
The Nix’s face clouded and I readied another anti-demon spell and hoped I still had enough power to cast it.
“Do you think that portal is the worst I can do? You really are a fool, witch. And the only way to teach a fool is with a demonstration.”
She lifted her hands…and disappeared.
“Shit!” I said, rushing forward.
Kristof strode up beside me, frowning as he scanned the forest.
“You called?” said a melodic voice behind us.
I wheeled to see Trsiel, standing there as nonchalantly as if he’d been summoned to tea.
“You!” I said. “Where the hell were you? She was here—the Nix—I called you.”
His lips formed a soundless word that I’m sure was a very unangelic oath. I explained what had happened.
“So now she’s in this nymph’s body—”
“That’s not a nymph. It’s the Nix. That’s her form in this world.”
“What? You knew what she looked like? When the hell were you going to tell me?”
“You’ve seen the books, haven’t you? The pictures? There wasn’t one of her specifically, but they all resemble one another.”
“I’ve seen human renderings of mythological Nixen. And, yes, they looked like nymphs, but they were paintings, done by humans. What kind of idiot would assume that’s what the damned things really looked like?”
“Er, well, yes, I guess that makes sense.”
“You guess?” Kristof strode over to Trsiel. “What are you people playing at? Eve nearly got herself thrown into a hell portal because she doesn’t know how to stop this Nix. Or was she supposed to read that in some book, too?”
Trsiel’s eyes hooded and he looked over at me. “Who is this?”
“Kristof Nast. Kris, meet Trsiel.”
From Trsiel’s expression, he knew who Kris was, or maybe he just knew who the Nasts were. Either way, he was not impressed. He gave Kris a slow stare, turned on his heel, and marched out of glowering range.
“That’s your guardian angel?” Kris said, jerking his thumb at Trsiel.
I nodded.
“He’s doing a hell of a job so far. Time to apply for a replacement, if you ask me.”
“No,” Trsiel said. “I don’t believe she did. Eve?” He motioned me aside.
I shook my head. “If you have something to say, you can say it in front of Kris.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Eve?” Kris said.
I looked at him. He, too, waved me over for a personal conference. As I walked toward Kris, Trsiel’s jaw tightened.
“I’d better leave you to handle this,” Kristof murmured. “Otherwise, I’ll be sorely tempted to slug this idiot, and I don’t think that’ll go over well with the Fates. Would you like me to go have a chat with our poltergeist friend?”
I nodded. “Please. If he did double-cross me—”
“I doubt it. You’re a good judge of character.”
“Yeah? I did a great job last night with that wolf-pirate.”
A tiny smile. “Ah, but you didn’t trust him, remember? You just gave him the benefit of the doubt. No, I’m sure Ross will be as surprised as we were to find he had the Nix in his midst. But I’ll test that theory with a little…interrogation.”
“Thanks.” Before he could leave, I reached for his arm. “And Kris?”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks for earlier. With the Nix.”
He smiled. “Anytime.”
I watched Kristof go. As he rounded the corner of the house, a jolt of alarm ran through me. Would Ross tell him about the poltergeist lessons we’d arranged? Shit. I hoped not. Kris had bit his tongue the day before, not asking why I knew so much about Ross. He didn’t need his suspicions confirmed now…and we didn’t need a reason to start arguing about Savannah again.
“Where is he going?” Trsiel asked.
“To interr—talk to Luther Ross. See whether he knew he was tutoring a Nix.”
Trsiel shook his head, anger falling from his face. “This isn’t a good idea, Eve. I know Kristof is your daughter’s father, and you’re obviously still close, but this is your quest. He can’t help. The Fates should have explained this to you.”
“The Fates sent Kris along to Lizzie Borden’s house with me. They must think it’s more important for me to catch this Nix, using whatever resources I have, rather than insist I fulfill my debt by myself.”
“It’s not that, Eve. It’s—you can’t—when you ascend—” He bit the rest off. “I’ll speak to them. In the meantime, Kristof is right. You do need to know how to hold this Nix until I can capture her. The problem is that, as far as I know, the only thing that can bind her is this.”
He lifted his right hand, said a few words, and a gleaming sword appeared, his hand already in the grip. He lowered it and held it out for me. I leaned over for a better look. I’d seen Janah’s sword so this one shouldn’t hold any great fascination, but the moment it appeared, I couldn’t rip my gaze away. My fingers clenched, as if imagining the feel of the hilt in my hand. I remembered how it felt and a shiver raced through me.
“So that would stop her,” I said. “But I can’t have one, can I?”
“Not until you’re an angel. Perhaps, though…” He hefted the sword and looked at me. “I wonder if you could use mine.”
“Sure—I mean, if you don’t need it.”
“Not anymore.” His eyes clouded. “Not lately, at least.”
He held it out. I lifted my hands, with every intention of casually reaching for it. Instead, I fairly snatched it from his hands. He chuckled. I gasped as the white-hot heat licked down my arms.
He grabbed for it. “I’m sorry. Here, let me—”
“No.” I stepped back, hands still on the sword. “Hurts like hell, but I can handle it.” I managed a wry smile. “Don’t get much pain in this world anymore. Feels very strange. Is this what normally happens if a nonangel touches it? Or is it my demon blood?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never had any reason to let anyone hold it before.”
I lifted the sword, expecting to feel the strain on my wrist muscles, but it flung upward as if it was made of aluminum instead of steel.
“Wow.”
Trsiel gave a soft laugh. “You like that, don’t you?” He stepped back and looked at me, his lips curving in a mischievous smile. “It suits you.”
I gripped the hilt tighter. In my hands, I held what might very well prove to be the answer to my problem with Savannah. If Trsiel was right, and I was being tested for angel-hood…
I rearranged my fingers, staring at the light filtering through them, almost hypnotized by the glow. There would be strings attached to this beautiful piece of weaponry. Responsibility, for one thing. Big responsibility. If I brought in the Nix, and the Fates offered to reward me with angel-hood, I couldn’t just say “Thanks for the cosmic makeover” and run. To get those powers, I’d have to promise to use them for the purpose for which they were intended. I’d need to join the ranks of the celestial bounty-hunters.
A big price…for a big reward.
I tore my gaze from the sword. All hypothetical right now. Even if Trsiel was right about the Fates’ plans, I still had the catch the damn Nix.
“If it hurts too much—” Trsiel began as my grip slackened.
“It’s fine. But will it work for me?”
“Only one way to find out. Swing it at me.”
“At you?”
“At me, through me, whatever. Slice away. Can’t do any damage, but I’ll be able to tell whether it’s working as it should.”
I stepped back and sized up Trsiel, then hefted the sword a few times, getting a feel for it. A practice swing, testing the arc. Then a readjustment and another trial run.
“You’re not trying to decapitate me, Eve. Just take a swing.”
I did, executing a samurai-worthy slash. The blade sliced through his torso and shot, bloodless, out the other side.
“Still a bit upset with me, I see,” he said, rubbing the side of his abdomen.
“Did it hurt?”
“Will you be disappointed if I say no? I felt it, but, no, I don’t think it hurt.”
“You don’t think it did?”
“Having never been human, I’d hardly recognize pain if I felt it. I can say, though, that it didn’t work. In your hands, the sword won’t incapacitate the Nix. Not until you become—”
“An angel, which I can’t become until I finish this quest. Love those catch-22s.” I glanced over at him. “Do you think that’s really what they have in mind? Testing me for angel-hood?”
“Ah, so after she holds the really big sword, she begins to think ascension doesn’t sound so bad after all.” He smiled. “Yes, I’m ninety-nine percent sure that’s what the Fates intend, and I’m holding back that final percent only to preserve my dignity, in the unthinkable event that I’m wrong.” He reached out and touched the sword. It evaporated. “Best way to find out for sure? Complete this quest. First, we need to go back to that penitentiary. If the Nix intends to show you something, it’ll be in the living world.”
“A death,” I said. “Or deaths. Let’s go, then. We have to—”
Trsiel put his hand on my shoulder. His touch was almost as hot as the sword. “Slow down. This is what she wants, for you to rush off after her.”
I hesitated, my gut telling me to ignore him, move fast, head her off. Another classic Eve Levine error-in-judgment in the making.
“She may succeed,” Trsiel said. “She probably will. You have to be prepared for that.”
“She’ll kill someone, you mean. Take a partner before I can intercede.” I nodded. “I know. But if I’m going to move cautiously, then the first thing I need to do is make damned sure that the Fates don’t have any tips to help me contain her. Could you visit Amanda Sullivan by yourself?”
“You want us to split up again,” he said with a soft sigh.
“This is the best use of our resources. Now, give me an hour—or do you guys keep time?”
“We can.” He hesitated, then nodded. “Let me give you a code. Someplace safe you can wait.”
I waited until he was gone, then headed to the house to meet up with Kristof.