Public Enemies (38 page)

Then he said, “For now. I'm sure that's not what you wish to hear, and there is a corner of me that would like to be your knight. But I am not selfless, nor am I kind. There will come a point when I must ask for something back, and you will not want to give it.”

Those words chilled me a little, for I'd put myself completely in his power. Yet I wasn't without the ability to defend myself. “Thanks for telling me the truth. But actually, I didn't mean you. I was talking about the others.”

“Fell and Wedderburn?”

I nodded.

“You're out of the game, but you know a great deal about us. And you have the means to do us harm. Though I can't say for certain, I imagine you will be hunted.”

That was pretty much what I expected. “Okay. I'll watch my back.”

“I could watch it. You know my price.”

“I'm
never
becoming your pet. I like personal agency too much to live in your cage, however gilded.”

“It wouldn't be,” he said, making me shiver.

“So tonight is basically it for us, then. You're not getting paid for protecting me after all, so there's no reason for you to intervene again.”

The Harbinger looked away, as if he didn't enjoy hearing it stated. “Indeed, dearling. This is a farewell party, however melancholy that may seem. I shall take pride in the fact that I did you no harm.”

“I wouldn't let you,” I reminded him.

“I appreciate that too. Occasionally it is a welcome change to be saved from yourself.”

One thing had become crystal clear to me, however. I would never have a normal life. Most likely I wouldn't last long with various immortals gunning for me. There was always the Black Watch, but despite my respect for Raoul, his mentor worried me. Plus, I didn't want to spend my life fighting, though it didn't look like I had much choice.

My dad will never be safe, as long as I'm nearby.

Wedderburn probably wouldn't strike at him, even now, because he might still hope to control whatever tech my father eventually invented. But without my mom and me, it would take longer, if it came to fruition at all. Which left my dad's primary value as collateral. They would target him repeatedly, until I gave in and handed Aegis over, but I had no illusions that we'd be set free to live in peace. At that point, we'd be executed and probably not quickly or painlessly.

I have to go.

Making up my mind, I asked, “Could you do something for me?”

“The answer to
could
is probably yes, depending on your request.” The dolls stopped dancing and toppled over, telling me I had his complete attention. “Will I? That's an entirely different matter. However fond I may be, I'm still a mercenary at heart.”

“I want you to make another me. To keep my dad company.”

“A doppelgänger, you mean?”

“I thought those were always evil, though.”

“Only sometimes. They're also known as changelings. Tricking your father, this is certainly my wheelhouse. Will you tell me why?”

“It's not a secret. Since I won't be around and I don't want him to worry, I need somebody there, someone to be me, so he's not alone.”

“She won't be real,” he warned. “Not much personality. And she won't last forever. My power has limits.”

“That's fine. If she could just stay for a while, until I'd be going off to college, that would help. It'll give him time to get used to the idea.”

“Of losing you?” The Harbinger's mouth tightened. “I was a father once, and trust me when I say, there is no time sufficient for that.”

“Do I remind you of your daughter?” I asked.

That might explain his unwilling interest.

He shook his head. “I had two sons, strong, beautiful boys. They took after their mother.”

Wow. That's the most personal thing he's ever said.
I was tempted to follow that line of questioning but I had limited time to make this deal. The night was ticking away, and when the morning came, I had to move quickly. It seemed unspeakably wrong to mourn for Kian in a single night, but he'd said it with his dying breath.
He wants me to fight.
I never promised I'd live to a ripe old age or settle down with someone else.

“So we've established this is something you can do. Now here's what I'm offering—you can feed on me like you did Nicole, so take as much as you deem fair for this service.”

He stared at me. “You have alarming confidence in my decency. I could steal anything from you and call it just. You
do
know I'm the trickster, yes?”

“But
not
when it comes to your bargains. The only rule you respect comes from such agreements.” I quoted him directly, reminding the Harbinger what he'd said at our first meeting.

His gaze intensified, his aura kicking in. Somewhere along the line, he'd stopped using it with me, and its return was overwhelming. “And what is the first rule? The trickster lies.”

“I think you mean the doctor, and I don't believe you were, not about this.”

Finally, he glanced away, his gray eyes on the fireplace. “I'm only agreeing to this because I want to keep a little of you with me. Do you understand that?”

“It's a little gross and parasitic, but yes. Did you want to keep Nicole too?”

“No. I don't keep everything I take. Sometimes people are just fuel, like wood for a fire, and there's only ashes left.”

“Even ashes carry traces of what they used to be,” I murmured. “That's how they can tell certain buildings in Scotland have been patched up with mortar made from the dead.”

“You know the oddest things.” But he was smiling.

“Then we have a deal?”

“Indeed. When do you wish your replica to appear?”

Much as I wanted to say good-bye to my dad, it would rouse his suspicion and might endanger him. Squeezing my eyes shut, I spoke the most difficult word of my life. “Now.”

“Then first you must pay,” he whispered.

“Okay.” I stood up, unsure what he wanted me to do. The black gypsy shawl trailed down my back, and the woven rug felt soft beneath my feet.

“Come here.”

Weirdly I felt like some gothic bride, going to her doom, after having married the scarred, demonic lord of the castle, despite numerous warnings that he was no good. The Harbinger held up a hand when I got within arm's reach. If he didn't look so serious, I might be worried that this was an elaborate joke, wherein he'd chortle and turn me down. If that happened, I didn't know what I'd do because I couldn't
stand
to think of leaving my dad alone.

“Did I do something wrong? Oh, did you want me to call some power from my spirit familiar? That might make me … spicier or something.” God, it was weird talking about myself like I was a plate of Buffalo hot wings.

“No, I only want you. I'll try not to hurt you.” With that alarming statement, he pulled me against him, and it was like being embraced by cold light and marble.

I knew he didn't have to touch to feed, but maybe this was his way of communicating that I was different from Nicole. A pang of pity went through me, and I wondered where she was, if she was in a mental facility for loving him too much, giving him everything; to him, she was disposable, a brown-bag fast-food meal. That should make me hate him, but I couldn't quite get there. He'd shown me too much of his heart.

The Harbinger touched his brow to mine, and the first sharp pull felt like a pinch inside my brain, not quite a headache, but pressure. I went light-headed. It was invasive and awful, and I could
feel
him practically inside of me, learning my secrets and hidden longings. Every fear and insecurity, it felt like he fondled them before moving on. When he pulled away, I felt nauseated and a little dirty.

“Is that enough?” My voice came out hoarse.

“Yes.” To my surprise he didn't sound any better, rough and shaken, though his face had more color. But when he stumbled back to his chair, his hands were trembling.

“What … are you all right?”

“Don't ask me that,” he bit out.

“Why not?”

“Because you have too much of me already. You won't know this, Edie Kramer. I won't give you that answer.”

“Sorry. Can you send the other me home now?”

“In due time.” He got a bit of clay and worked it into a rough replica, then he whispered to it, and it shimmered before my eyes, evolving into … me. Without another word, it vanished, I assumed to my apartment.

“Thank you.”

“The business between us is concluded, dearling. You cannot stay the night, for my impulse now is not to comfort or be kind.”

I nodded. “Take me back.
My
work's just getting started.”

 

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS

I spent the night in a twenty-four-hour diner, nursing my coffee and watching my phone. I'd sent several texts and now I was waiting to hear back. The waitress was tired of topping me off by the time I left, but this was better than roaming around in the dark. Better than anyone, I knew the monsters lurking in the shadows. At daybreak I paid my ridiculously small check and went out into the cold.

I'm never going home again.

From the diner, I headed toward the subway station, but halfway there, I heard the unmistakable ring of hobnail boots. The bag man had chased me once before and then I'd run after him, before I came into power.
The Harbinger saved me from myself.
But now there would be an end to this. I didn't know if Wedderburn had sent him after me, but I wasn't afraid of the bogeyman that murdered my mother.

There's nothing you can take from me.

Whirling, I pressed to activate Aegis and braced in battle stance. I heard his boots but I didn't
see
him.
More immortal glamour.
So before he could blindside me, I got out my compact and opened it. Cameron's face greeted me in full reflection; I hadn't used him since I took Dwyer's heart. I whispered the word Rochelle had taught me, and then that dark strength surged over me, enveloping me. She'd said I would learn about Cameron's abilities as I used him, but each time I did, it felt like I lost a little of myself.

Who cares?
he whispered.
Together, we're stronger. Now we make this thing pay for what he did to us.

Hazily I questioned that pronoun but then my eyes shifted focus, nothing I could quantify but suddenly I was seeing across multiple spectrums, incredibly distracting but also wonderful, and it showed me in purple inverse glow how the bag man was sneaking up on my left. I spun with my blade up and laughed quietly.

“Did you think that would work? I'm not the same frightened little girl anymore.”

“No,” the monster said, smiling. “You're practically one of us.”

That horrified me, but not enough to make me drop my weapon. His jagged blade flashed, then the dead-eyed children appeared on either side of him.
Three against one.
I didn't know if the kids would actually fight. The girl-thing had given me the impression that she'd feed on me, though, if I had been dumb enough to let her in.

“Let's do this.”

“Do you think I've come to do battle, you who slew a god?” The bag man shook his head. “I'm here to deliver a message.”

Say it. And then I'll kill you.

“From Wedderburn?”

“He says he's waiting … and that he knows you'll come.” He'd hardly finished speaking when I rushed him.

The bag man threw up his blade to block but he was too slow. Through the icy spirit armor, I hardly felt the slice on my forearm. Aegis sailed past and through his neck, severing his head. He vanished in a shimmer of smoke. Maybe I should've hesitated but as the children lunged at me with claws and fangs bared, I struck them too. The girl-thing died first, followed by the boy, and then I was alone on the sidewalk in a shimmer of black particles. The bag dissipated too, so I couldn't retrieve my mother's head, assuming he still carried it. I should've felt some satisfaction at making them pay for what they did for my mom, but the pit in my stomach grew. Not hunger but something like it.

See how weak they are, compared to you?
Cameron hummed with pleasure in my head, and when I checked my compact, we'd hardly expended any power. I nodded absently as I returned Aegis to its position on my wrist, then I continued toward the subway. Though I felt like absolute shit, I made the decision not to look for Kian's mom. The state would find her and give her the news. When I had the Harbinger send the replacement to my house, I'd abdicated from normal life.

As I went down the steps, my phone vibrated. I skimmed the message and then adjusted my destination. On public transport, it took longer for me to get to the church where I'd first met Raoul than when Kian drove me.
Will his mom sell the Mustang? No. I can't think like that.
Dwelling on the past would make it harder to do what I had to.

Until people started stepping away from me on the morning commute, I didn't realize I still had Cameron powered up. But evidently they could feel the cold or something off about me because there was a huge gap between me and everyone else. Smirking, I left it alone. I might be attacked anytime, and what did I care if I creeped some random strangers out?

Raoul was waiting in the confessional, as before. “Have you thought about our offer? This is faster than I expected.”

“Kian's dead,” I said flatly. “And that changes everything.”

He swore in Spanish. “You promised—”

“It was
his
choice. I hate it and I wish I'd died instead, but … I didn't. He made sure.”

“Stupid boy.” Raoul's voice sounded thick, and I could tell he was fighting tears. “This was never part of the plan.”