Skin Deep

CHAPTER 37

LAURA RAN UP the stairs, Saffin’s raspy breath in her ears. She did not want to think about what she had seen. What had happened. What she had caused to happen. She did not want to think about what she would say to Saffin when it was over. If she lived long enough to give explanations. They left bloody footprints on the marble steps.

Saffin growled deep in her throat. Laura put a soothing hand on her head. She had never seen a brownie so deep in a boggart mania. “Stay with me, Saffin. It will be okay.”

They reached an unguarded landing on the ground level. Above, essence-fire and fighting echoed down from the main floor. Laura grabbed Saffin by the arm. “You need to get out, Saf. Find Terryn macCullen. Tell him about the bomb in the Rotunda. Can you do that for me, Saf?”

Panting, Saffin stared with a crazed light in her eyes. She trembled and made a sound between a cough and a bark. Laura fought tears at the sight of her twisted and bloody face. Saffin touched Laura’s cheek, using the flat of her palm to keep her claws from scratching. “Go, Saf. Hurry.”

The boggart burst into motion. Laura fought back her emotions as she watched Saffin leap from side to side toward the entrance lobby. With a deep breath, she ran up the last flight. As she made the final turn to the main level, a stray shot of essence ricocheted down at her. She flattened herself against the wall and called up her body shield. After fighting through the basement hallway, no one was left to pursue her up the stairs. That wouldn’t last long. Once the bodies in the basement were found, more fighters would be coming up behind her.

Where are you, Jono? she sent.

Public Vault. His sending came through rough and faint.

She breathed a short-lived sigh of relief. The Public Vault was on the opposite side of the Rotunda from her. Any fey support with you?

Foyle, he responded. The sending sounded forced and broken. Either she was too far away from Sinclair or his weak ability was failing. She was losing time. A short flight of steps separated her from the Rotunda. She bowed her head and said a prayer of protection. Tightening her body shield, she sank to the floor and crawled up the stairs. Another essence-bolt sparked around her. Laura screamed in panicked alarm, holding her hands out.

“Help! I’ve been shot!” she shouted.

Keeping her head down, she sensed an Inverni above her. She hunched forward, gathered essence in her chest, and released it in a single burst. She ran as it struck, and the Inverni fell. At the top of the stairs, she yanked him out of sight behind her.

On the opposite side of the loge, a door led to the Public Vault. She peered around the corner. Inverni fairies lined the loge area, powering an essence barrier across the entrance gate to the Rotunda. The barrier sizzled and crackled with light as the fey trapped inside fired at it. She leaped into a roll across the floor, wildly firing as she came up onto her feet. The Inverni returned fire, but their shots went astray.

She leaped over two prone humans at the entrance to the Public Vault, Capitol police officers who hadn’t even drawn their weapons. She didn’t stop to check if they were alive. Racing through the documents exhibit, she weaved in and out of display cases and room dividers to the back. Sinclair’s head rose from behind a bank of computer displays and waved her in.

“Get down!” she said. He ducked as she joined him behind a panel. Foyle lay on the ground, his uniform coat and open shirt soaked in blood. His gun was on the floor beside him. “Is he alive?”

Foyle’s eyelids fluttered open. “Yeah, he is. What’s the situation?”

“Unknown number of hostages in the Rotunda. What’s back here?” she asked.

“They made a sweep and took everyone down. We’re the only two left,” said Sinclair.

“Is the president inside?” she asked.

Foyle shook his head. “We aborted in time.”

Laura exhaled in relief. The fallout from the attack was going to be bad enough without the added nightmare of a trapped sitting president. She threw out her hand for silence. A faint whir carried on the air, the sound of gossamer wings in flight as they shunted essence. A wave of Inverni essence swept over them and passed on.

Laura waited until she no longer felt them. “They’ll be back. Can you move, Foyle?”

He shook his head. “Two hits. Leg and chest.”

Laura looked up at Sinclair. “We’ve got to get into the Rotunda. There’s a bomb.”

“Where the hell is our backup?” Sinclair said.

“Fighting to get in through the entrance,” she said. She leaned out to check the area. “Give Foyle your gun,” she said to Sinclair. Sinclair checked the clip and handed it over.

Laura crouched in front of the downed officer. “Hero time, Foyle. You up for it?”

He gave her a crooked grin. “If I recall, you don’t like hearing no.”

She smiled back. “Good man. I’ll do everything I can to come back for you. Do not let those Invernis come in behind us.”

He grabbed Laura’s arm. She and Sinclair helped him into a better vantage point. Foyle placed both his and Sinclair’s guns in his lap. “For what it’s worth, Agent Tate. I’m sorry I listened to the wrong people.”

She squeezed his shoulder. “Apologize later. Good luck.”

She grabbed Sinclair by the arm and pulled him into the open. Halfway to the exit, shots rang out behind them. No one followed them.

They stopped at the loge. “What’s the plan?” asked Sinclair.

“Unbutton your shirt,” she said.

He smirked. “Danger turn you on?”

She lowered her brow at him. “We need to get through that essence shield. Make sure I can get at that medallion of yours.”

He started to lift the chain. “Just take it.”

She stopped him with a hand on his arm. “We’ll keep your fey nature secret if I can salvage that. If not, don’t worry. I’ll rip it off your neck.”

He smiled. “I love it when you talk like that.”

She thumped him on the chest. “Stop it. We’re going to charge the barrier. The moment we’re through it, hit the ground.”

He peered out the door. “Isn’t the point of the barrier to keep us out?”

She nodded grimly. “Gambling time. I’m betting on your grandfather for help. Come on. And don’t get hit.”

They charged the Rotunda gate, streaks of essence leaping from Laura’s hands. More Inverni opened fire on them from the far end of the loge. Laura picked out essence waves from at least six Inverni maintaining their barrier. Laura shoved Sinclair toward the entrance gate. He stumbled in surprise as he hit the barrier and froze in place.

Spinning away, Laura hardened her shield and focused an essence shot on the Inverni directly above her. His head snapped back, and he fell hard inside the Rotunda. Without him, a thin spot formed in the essence barrier.

Laura lunged at Sinclair. He hugged her to his chest as they collided. She screamed as essence raked across her back. The barrier resisted them, slowing their momentum. Essence-fire burned through her body shield, and Laura screamed again. She clutched Sinclair’s medallion and fired essence directly into it. Its field exploded in size. The essence barrier thinned. She hit the medallion again. Its field ripped a hole in the barrier, and they fell through. Laura landed on top of Sinclair with a gasp as the wind left her.

Sinclair’s eyes went wide. He rolled and wrenched her with him as a bolt of indigo lightning scorched the floor. An Inverni had followed them through the barrier. Laura scrambled up, dazed. She thrust out her hand. A gunshot exploded in the air. The Inverni’s cheekbone shattered in a spray of blood. Laura looked down at the gun in Sinclair’s hand. “I thought you gave your gun to Foyle.”

“You didn’t say both guns,” he said.

Fanned around Sinclair and Laura, fey of every stripe ranged in an arc and fired at the barrier. Behind them, human and fey diplomats huddled against the wall, a riot of body shields creating layers of protection. Laura picked out Hornbeck near the back of the crowd under a distorted layer of essence generated by Resha Dunne. Blume was nowhere in sight.

At the back wall, the emergency alarms had activated, and the display cases were empty. Except one. The Treaty had reached the Rotunda. Cress stood in front of it, gripping the edges of the casement.

“Can you stop it?” Laura whispered.

Cress held up a hand for silence. A complex maze of essence enclosed the Treaty, an intricate web of layers within layers. Security and preservation charms and bindings pulsed and vibrated in rainbow hues of essence. Beneath them all, a deep green orb radiated with a force that burned against Laura’s skin.

“Helhound, is that thing the bomb?” asked Sinclair from behind her.

Laura nodded. “It’s enough pressured essence to vaporize everyone in here.”

Protection spells wrapped around the core of the bomb. Cress’s deep violet essence threaded its way through the levels, sorting out the purpose of the spells. Her tendrils danced along a green grid, wrapped around it, and tugged. The essence leached away, pulsing back up the strands into Cress. The grid faded. She started on the next one.

“Too many,” Cress whispered, her stark, black eyes wide.

“What is it?” Laura asked softly.

Cress paused. “They’re all trigger spells. I have to sort each one to find its purpose. I can’t identify which one triggers the bomb or how.”

“Can Sinclair’s medallion help?”

Cress shook her head. “Weakening the protection essence is a fail-safe on some of the triggers.” Without a word, Sinclair moved back.

“What can I do?” Laura asked.

Cress focused on the document. “Power. If I can tap someone’s Power, I can move faster.”

Body essence. Cress wanted body essence. Laura trembled as she took a deep breath. “Take mine, Cress. As much as you need. All of it, if necessary.”

Cress moved her head slightly. “It won’t be enough. I need more than one person.”

Laura swallowed hard. If Cress needed more than one person, she meant at least one would die as she drained them. Laura looked around the room. She didn’t know what to do. Pick someone, she thought. Hit them with a binding spell and let Cress work. Her eyes came to rest on Orrin ap Rhys. “What about the Guildmaster? He’s Danann. Does he have enough?”

Cress absorbed another spell layer. “He’s the strongest fey here.”

Guildmaster, you’re needed by the Treaty, Laura sent.

The barrier is weakening. We will be through in minutes, he sent back.

Laura appealed to his vanity. We do not have minutes, sir. There’s a bomb. Only you can stop it.

Rhys dropped his hands. He gave one last look at the essence barrier and started toward them. As he drew near, Laura saw his body signature towering around him like a storm cloud. Powerful was an understatement.

Cress gasped. “Something’s happening.”

Laura looked down at the Treaty. A wheel-shaped layer of yellow essence glowed in a pattern, bolts of light arcing along its radial spokes. The arcing grew, jumping from one part of the pattern to the next. They bent and swirled, twisting together and leaping out in the same direction. Laura followed the line of their path to Rhys. The bolts grew larger.

“Rhys, stop!” she shouted. He froze. The bolts stabilized but didn’t dissipate. Laura looked at the strange essence leaning toward Rhys, and she saw it for what it was. “The Treaty was supposed to rise during Rhys’s speech, Cress. The bomb is keyed to his body signature. He’s the trigger.”

Cress swayed. Black spider fractures appeared on the orb. “I think… I think it’s too late.”

The orb pulsed and expanded, white light burning in the fractures. Cress’s essence plunged into the cracks. Her violet essence became thick ropy strands as they sucked greedily at the orb.

“Cress, you can’t contain that!” Laura shouted. She tried to pull her away. Cress screamed. The orb bulged and burned brighter. Laura threw out her body shield. “Everybody down!” she screamed.

A shock wave of white essence exploded. It slammed against Laura and threw her off her feet. The white light enveloped her, and she stopped motionlessly in the air. Bodies hung in suspension surrounded her, trapped in the frozen explosion of a brilliant white haze. Within its center, Cress glowed in black-and-purple silhouette. The light collapsed. Laura hit the floor, blinded by the afterimage. Dazed, she forced herself to stand.

Cress hovered like a lavender flame above the floor, scorching the stone beneath her feet. Her head fell back, and darkness oozed from her lips. Essence convulsed and radiated outward in waves. Laura staggered into Sinclair’s arms.

“She can’t hold it, Jono,” Laura said.

He dragged Laura away, shouting. “Get everyone back! Shields! We need as many shields as possible.”

Everyone retreated from Cress’s burning figure. Hemmed in by bodies, Laura joined the other fey on the far side of the Rotunda. They extended their body shields, the human guests tangled against the wall behind them.

Light shivered off Cress and struck the body shields. They warped, and people fell. Another burst released. The shields shifted again, pressing against the crowd. A third burst pulsed, stronger than the last. The shields shuddered, leaving little room between them and the wall. Laura fought to retain her balance.

Get against the wall, Jono. Your medallion’s fighting the shields, Laura sent. She didn’t wait to see if he complied. Another pulse of essence burst from Cress. The body shields retreated, tightening the gap. Screams went up as some collapsed. The odor of burnt flesh filled the air. People spread out to cover the breach.

Laura cast a broadcast sending. She’s trying to do a controlled release. Time your energy to the waves! Another burst and the entire line of fey stumbled back. The screams behind her were deafening as Laura fought to hold herself up. Again, and half the line fell. Laura bowed her head under the strain.

Cress floated like a brilliant mauve star beneath the Rotunda ceiling dome. The skylight in the center of the dome shattered under the pressure, shards of glass disintegrating as they fell into her burning field. She rose higher, her body cycling to a deep lavender as the energies within her fought for release. Tears sprang to Laura’s eyes. The essence was too much. Cress was burning out. She was dying.

The damaged skylight framed her body like a broken eye, the top edge of the Inverni barrier rippling just below. Laura’s skin prickled as she watched essence escape through the skylight.

Up, Cress! Release the essence up! Cress didn’t acknowledge.

Blow the roof, Cress! Straight up! No response. Cress burned brighter. The next wave mounted in Laura’s vision. Body shields were no match for what was coming.

Dammit, Cress! Go up!

Cress’s arms moved. Laura bit her lip as she willed the leanansidhe to hear her. Cress’s arms floated out, then lifted. Laura almost laughed. She had heard. Cress’s mind was still in there. Clasping her hands over her head, Cress pointed up as the essence crested within her, burning with power.

She let go.

White essence geysered in a violent surge from her chest. Laura shouted as the torrent hit the dome and blasted it off its base. Chunks of masonry showered down, pum meling her body shield. Laura poured the last of her energy into her shield and prayed to whatever goddess would listen to her lost voice. Wild wind tore through the Rotunda as the raging column of light lit the night sky.

In the rumble of stone and bodies, Laura collapsed.