Stone Cold

Chapter 27

SHAME

Hit solid ground on the other side.

Concrete floor.

The Gate slammed shut. Thunder so loud I covered my ears, palms sticky with blood.

A hand grabbed at my shoulder, dragged me up by my hoodie.

I reached out, got ahold of a shirt. Terric. Blinked until the burning in my eyes, ears, and mouth backed off a bit.

We were in a room that might have been an art gallery. Beige walls carved out alcoves of more beige walls, track lights running across a white ceiling with the glyph for Lock painted across it in black. The torn-up strip-wood floor looked like it was made of old pallets and was painted, carved, and burned with dozens of glyphs: spells for containing, draining, binding.

Terric panted beside me, hand on my shoulder, mine on his. Dash was gone. He hadn’t made it through the Gate.

Magic users only? Or maybe it was a door made just for Terric and me.

There, right in front of us, was Stone the gargoyle. He was on all fours, wings extended, head down, and lips pulled back from his teeth. But he was not moving.

He looked like a statue. As if someone had found his “off” button.

Ah, Stoney, no.

“Here they are,” a voice behind us said. “The Soul Complements.”

We pivoted.

Eli Collins stood about forty feet away from us, wearing the white shirt, suit/vest combination I usually saw him in, his sleeves rolled up, wire-rim glasses hiding his eyes.

But nothing hid the automatic rifle in his hand.

Behind him was an alcove as wide as the room, filled ceiling to floor with what looked like security camera monitors.

“Good to see you again, Shame, Terric,” Eli said. “I’m glad you finally accepted my invitation. Although it did take you long enough.”

“And you’re not shooting us, why?” I asked.

“You don’t die easily. Either of you. Good news for me.” He licked his lips, smiled. “Well, killing you would have been nice too, but there is so much more I want now that you’ve proved you can keep on ticking. Death. Life.” He waved the gun between us. “Revolving door for the two of you.”

I could kill him from here. One quick strike with Death magic. Totally worth a few bullets. I reached for the Death magic inside me.

And got nothing.

“There it is,” Eli said. “You’re getting it now. No magic, unless I say you can use magic, Shame. And no leaving this room unless I say you can leave.” He pointed to the glyphs on the floor. “You are locked down. Just like Stone.”

“Bullshit,” I said.

“Just ask Terric,” Eli said. “Terric, tell the poor boy how good I am at keeping a person exactly where I want him to be.”

“What do you want, Eli?” Terric asked.

“I want my Soul Complement back. I want Brandy. Alive. And I want you two to make that happen.”

“The hell,” I said. “Brandy’s been dead and buried for months.”

“She has not been buried. She was never buried.” He tipped his chin toward the alcove to his left. Not an alcove, a room with a door open just enough I could see the foot of a cot.

“She is waiting for the man who killed her to bring her back to life.”

Eli stared straight at me, that gun pointed at me.

“I can’t bring her back,” I said evenly. “My return from death was a fluke, a onetime shot, Eli. I can’t bring people back to life. I don’t have that power.”

He lifted the gun, aiming at Terric. “You will make sure she lives,” he said to him. “You”—he pointed the gun back at me—“will fetch her soul for me.”

“Not going to happen,” I said.

“That’s unfortunate.” Eli took two steps to the side so we could see the monitors behind him. “Every spell-filled drone under Krogher’s control is there on the screens.”

A dozen screens. On one of them: Zayvion and Allie, on the way to the operating room. Good. They’d gotten out of the house. Another: my mum in ICU, Hayden beside her. The Den. The Inn. Two other remaining Soul Complements eating somewhere in Rome. Cody. Kevin and Violet and their kid, Daniel. The police department. Every hospital in the city.

All being stalked by a walking bomb.

Son of a bitch.

“What are you doing, Eli?” I asked.

“Krogher isn’t the only one who has control of these weapons,” he said. “I worked a loophole into each of those spells I carved into them. I’ve found it prudent to have a back door, seeing how consistently I have been betrayed.

“With one word, I can trigger every spell simultaneously. And then . . . well. You lose. Everything.”

“I can’t bring her back,” I said.

“Oh? Then maybe I should show you just exactly how I can trigger a bomb.” He took several steps over to the monitors.

“He’ll do it,” Terric said. “He’ll bring Brandy back.”

I looked over at him. Terric knew I could not do that. I didn’t have a road to heaven or hell or anywhere a soul might be and had never put a soul back in a body successfully.

“You’ll have to let me heal her first,” Terric went on, like a teacher who was reciting a lecture on a subject he’d been over a hundred times before. “And then Shame can get her soul.”

Calm words, yes. But Terric’s heart was racing. And no wonder. He had just offered his torturer a little private time with him in the back room.

“Fuck. Fine,” I said, going with whatever plan Terric had. “If you want this to work, I need to see what Terric does. So where he goes, I go.”

Eli tipped his head, the light sliding down the lenses to pool shadows under his eyes and in the hollows of his cheeks.

We were promising a madman things we could not deliver—that was going to end well.

“Jesus, Eli,” I said. “You and I want mutual destruction. But I don’t want all those people dead because you’re being a dick. You keep your finger off the big shiny red button of doom, and I play by your rules.”

He nodded. “I can do worse than kill you,” he said quietly. “You understand that, don’t you, Shamus?”

“Sure.”

He strolled closer to us, to where we were held imprisoned, trapped by magic. “Keep that in mind. While you go retrieve her soul.” He fired six or eight bullets into my heart.

Bastard.

I went down. Terric’s hand on my shoulder, but no magic in his touch. He couldn’t use magic here, locked in these damn spells, just as I couldn’t use magic here locked in these damn spells.

It was, in a sick and twisted way, kind of funny. Eli was betting everything on killing me to go find Brandy’s soul, expecting, of course, that the Death magic in me would bring me back . . . even though he had blocked me from using Death magic.

Not like him to be so stupid.

I was so going to kill the fucker.

“Those are Void stone bullets,” he said. “To keep your options limited, Shame. Now, Terric, drag him outside the circle.”

I didn’t know what Eli did to cancel the Binding spells that had held us in place, but I was dragged ten feet or so.

Magic hit me like a falling anvil. I cussed and moaned.

Outside the circle sucked more than inside the circle.

Life magic flared in Terric’s hands, poured over my wounds, both burning and numbing as it washed through me. Pain backed off a bit, so that was good.

“It’s going to be okay,” Terric said. “It’s going to be fine.”

I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be either of those things, but you know, nice of him to say so.

“Step away from him,” Eli demanded, “or the next bullets are in your head.”

Terric placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezed. He had that killing fire in his eyes. He stood. “Let me see Brandy,” he said.

Now would be a good time to ambush Eli, if I could move.

I tried moving.

Nope.

They walked to the cot in the other room, Eli behind Terric, the gun at his back.

I was a mess. Death magic tried to fill all the cracks and corners of me while the Void stones held it, and all other magic, at a distance. I reached for Death magic, but it hovered just beyond my reach, a heavy, caustic power snarling to be used.

Bloody. Hell.

Maybe a master Death magic user couldn’t die, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t suffer.

Shamus, Mum said. Son, can you hear me?

I could; it was just difficult to talk. And breathe. “Yes.”

“He’s going to kill you and then have Terric revive you. Do you understand that?”

“Yes.”

“We have a better idea.”

“All ears.”

Eleanor bent so her eyes were even to where I sat in a sort of useless pile.

She was beautiful. That might be a strange thing to be thinking when I was apparently dying, but not for the first time I wished I’d known her when she was alive. Maybe said yes to that date she’d asked me out on all those years ago.

Now listen carefully, she said. Eli has some spells on Brandy’s body that should help a soul reenter her. It’s like the spell Mina cast except much more advanced. He’s obviously had some time to work out the kinks.

He’s coming back, Sunny said. Eleanor, they’re coming back. Hurry.

I think I can step into her body, Eleanor said. It will buy you and Terric some time. Probably not a lot, but maybe enough for you to kill him.

They’re back, Sunny said. Shame, they’ll hear you if you talk.

So be ready for that, okay? Eleanor finished.

I’d seen what happened to Mina. Reentering her own body had killed her.

There was absolutely no way I was going to put Eleanor through that. She might think Eli had the spell worked out, and yes, he was a genius, but he was also stark raving bat-shit insane.

“No,” I said.

My turn to call the shots, she said. Plus, I wasn’t really asking your permission. Just letting you know what I’m going to do.

Terric knelt beside me again. He placed his hand on my chest and the warmth of Life magic washed over me like soothing water, taking the pain down a notch again.

“Brandy’s body is alive,” he said quietly. “Eli wants me to drain your life. Just enough that you cross over to death. Coma.”

The look in his eyes told me he wasn’t going to do that.

Tell him, Eleanor said.

If Eli has a word to trigger the spells carved into those people, Mum said from where she was standing just behind Terric, he has a word for canceling them. He always has a back door. Make him give you that word in exchange for Brandy’s soul.

Crap. That was not a bad idea. We’d been trying to unweapon Eli and Krogher, and all these people they’d taken and spelled up for months now.

And this was our chance. It wasn’t a very good chance, but then, it was the only shot we had.

“Help me stand,” I said to Terric.

He shifted so he could pull me up by the arm and shoulder, putting his face near mine.

Eli was at a distance, blocking Brandy’s room, the gun still in his hand.

“I want a guarantee,” I said. It came out a little soft, so I put more air behind it. God, that hurt.

“If I bring her soul back, you tell us how to cancel the magic in all those drones.” That came out stronger.

Eli smiled. “And why would I do that?”

“It’s sad how you think you’re negotiating with a man who cares if he lives. I die, maybe I take Terric with me this time. Maybe I don’t come back. That makes you shit out of luck, mate. No me, no soul.”

“I’ll kill your friends.”

“Death doesn’t scare me, Eli. Not even their deaths. I know what’s on the other side. Been there. Drank the beer.”

He hesitated. He had the gun, sure. But his plan revolved around us staying alive. Mostly.

“You told me the disks could stop them,” Terric said.

Eli nodded slowly. “So you do have all your memories back. I’m impressed. I saw you—through Davy—as you cast that bastardized UnClosing spell. I hadn’t expected it to be successful.”

“The drones,” I said. “The spell. The deal.”

Eli made his decision. Had probably made his decision before we’d walked through that Gate spell.

“Bring me her soul, and I’ll tell you how to disarm them,” he said. “But I promise you, a single word will set them off. And then we’ll see just how comfortable you really are with your friends’ deaths, Shame.”

“Just take me to her,” I said.

Terric walked with me across the room, which hurt like every level of hell. I would use the pain to feed the hole of Death magic in me if I didn’t have half a pound of Void stones stuck in my chest keeping me from using Death magic.

Eli backed into Brandy’s room, and Terric crossed in front of me so he could walk on my other side.

“What are you doing?” he whispered.

“Eleanor will try to possess her.”

“If she can’t?”

“I’ll buy you a beer in heaven.”

The room was larger than I’d expected. Walls and wooden floor covered in an overlapping tangle of spells, an empty cot by the wall, and in the center of the room, a cot where Brandy slept, covered in spells and tubes, surrounded by medical equipment.

Eleanor drifted over and stared down at her for a long moment. Eli, or someone, had cut Brandy’s dark hair even shorter to keep it out of the way of the tubes that ran into her nose and down her throat. She was that corpse-y shade of gray, her cheeks and eyes scooped out by shadow, no color in her lips at all.

The labored hiss and clack of the machine that kept her breathing seemed too loud in the quiet of the room, in the utter stillness of her.

“Now, Terric,” Eli said. “Send Shame to fetch her soul.”

Terric tightened his grip around my ribs. Instead of draining the life out of me, he just poured a little more into me, easing my pain a bit.

I slumped against him and sent that Life magic to connect to Eleanor and the resurrection spells on Brandy.

Okay, Eleanor said. I think I see how to do this. I felt the rope between us stretch, tugging at my arm.

And then it snapped.

I gritted my teeth, but a groan still escaped me. That disconnection hurt above all the other pain.

“Shame?” Terric said.

I opened my eyes and stood on my own two boots. Terric kept his arm across my back so I didn’t lose the steady bleed of Life magic he was feeding me.

“It’s done,” I said. “She’s in there.”

“So quickly?” Eli asked. “Proof, Shame.”

“Fuck you. See for yourself.”

He waved us back with the gun, and we took a couple of steps away from the cot.

“Give us the spell, Eli,” Terric said. “Tell us how to disarm the drones.”

The machines around the cot were beeping and flashing. Eleanor was in that body, struggling to live.

I just hoped she wasn’t in pain.

“Brandy?” Eli said. “Wake, my love.” He briefly drew his finger away from the trigger and pressed one of the buttons on the machine just above her right shoulder.

Magic flowed. That was pure magic, untainted magic, unhealed magic, light magic. The only way to access pure light magic now that it had been all muddled up with dark magic was by having a Beckstrom disk from the old days.

So that’s how he’d powered all these spells. Jesus, he must have found a vault of them.

I was going to have to have words with Allie’s stepmom, Violet, and tell her the security on her labs was crap.

That is, if I survived.

The spells across Brandy’s throat flared a soft green.

Her eyes flew open, rolled back in her head, then focused on the ceiling. She arced back, arms pressing against the mattress, legs stiff, as the machines beeped even louder.

Eli was sweating and breathing hard. He hadn’t thought it would work either.

“Back out of the room. Now.”

“Tell us the deactivation spell,” Terric said.

“You need a Beckstrom disk.” He moved between machines, flipping switches. No gun on us, hardly paying attention to us. I couldn’t kill him with Death magic with the Void stones rattling around in my chest.

I glanced at Terric.

“And?” Terric said.

Eli turned toward us again, gun in his hand. “Get the hell out of the room.”

We backed toward the door. Stepped over the threshold.

“It’s Sleep,” Eli said.

“That’s the spell?” Terric said. “Just sleep?”

“Use the magic in the disk. Cast Sleep. It will drop them cold.”

“Will it kill them?”

“Oh, Terric. What I did to them? They are already dead.”

He could be lying. We’d find out pretty quick, hopefully before I bled unconscious. All we had to do was cast Sleep and send that spell precisely out to hit each of the drones on those monitors. Drones that were scattered across the world.

It was going to take a hell of a lot of concentration on our part to send a spell by remote sight. But hey, Soul Complements, rule breakers, blah, blah.

“Can you feel her?” Terric asked as we slogged across the floor to the monitors. “Are you still connected to Eleanor?”

“No. Why?”

“That means the spell worked,” he said. “That’s how we get your mom and maybe Sunny back into their bodies again.”

“Swell. Let’s deal with one disaster at a time,” I panted.

He dug the disk out of his pocket and held it in the palm of his hand, the watery blue light from the monitors catching against the glyphs carved into it.

“Sleep,” he said.

“I heard him. You’d better cast it, mate. I’m wrecked.” I walked over to the wall and pressed my back against it, locking my knees. From here I could see into Brandy’s room. The monitors were to my left.

Good God, I wished I had a smoke. Or painkillers. Or a drink. Or a working gargoyle. Or no bullets in my heart.

Terric stood at an angle to me so he could see the monitors and, from the corner of his eyes, Brandy’s room.

Any minute now, Eli was going to figure out that wasn’t Brandy in that body. A soul knew a soul. And Soul Complements, even the crazy ones, couldn’t be fooled for long.

“Hurry,” I said.

The Zen thing Victor had taught all his students came in damn handy. With a single breath, Terric cleared his mind. Another breath, and he was focused on the spell, drawing it in the space between us.

He didn’t need to pull magic out of the networks to fill the spell, didn’t need to pour Life magic from his body into it either.

All he had to do was tap the magic in the Beckstrom disk, and stay focused on the spell reaching out to each of the people he saw on the monitors.

Terric finished the spell, glanced at me.

I gave him a nod and he triggered the disk.

Magic flared through that spell and burned the room into a supernova. Spell after spell on the walls, the ceiling, the floor, triggered and filled with magic, burned to life, blew.

Son of a bitch. Those spells weren’t just set to keep Terric and me where Eli wanted us. They were a bomb ready to go off.

And that damn Sleep spell had been the trigger.

The room filled with spells: Impact, End, Pain. More. Spells I didn’t even know the names for. All of them aimed at killing Terric and me, at tearing us apart into so many pieces we’d never glue back together again.

We had one second, maybe not even that, before the spells all hit. Time to make a choice. Who would win?

Death?

Life?

Eli?

Then magic blew us to bits.