Fierce Lessons (Ghosts & Demons Series Book 3) (22 page)
Read Fierce Lessons (Ghosts & Demons Series Book 3) Online
Authors: Robert Chazz Chute,Holly Pop
“What?
Why
, girl?”
“Because owing me will bother you.”
“I don’t — ”
“I didn’t want to be a freak so I risked my life to come to you. That was stupid. You didn’t want to be a freak, either, and look what that made you do. Look what it made you be. Like Mama would say, ‘See ya. Wouldn’t want to be ya.’”
I tossed Excelsior to the ground at the wizard’s feet. Then I removed the short sword he had given me and threw it so its point stuck in the dirt. Its hilt vibrated between his feet. “Keep it.”
The wizard chuckled. “I have trod this world for centuries. Still, I want to keep on living because, occasionally, there’s something new to see. Thank you for showing me something unique. Your choice, girl.”
“I am Iowa, Castrator of Demons. If you call me ‘girl’ again, I’ll find a way to add greedy wizards to my title.”
“You don’t have that power.”
“You have to sleep sometime, old man. All magic has its limit and every Magical has a weakness. You taught me that.”
Merlin’s smile faded. “You are unusual…Iowa.”
“You’re such a dick, Merlin.” I turned away and left with Manhattan.
The rest of the Magicals were pretty cool. They applauded. Even the Amish warlocks smiled at me.
35
I
made my way to the parapet so I could watch New York from the top of the Keep.
Manny came up beside me and gave me a hug. I hugged her back and we watched as the city slept. “Merry Christmas,” she said.
“I almost forgot it was Christmas. I guess Wil gave the world the gift of life, at least for a little while longer.”
Manny took a long, shuddering breath. I could feel the weight of what she wasn’t saying.
“Yes?”
“You sure you want to keep the horns?” she asked finally.
“I’ve still got the stupid hat.”
“I’ll get you more stupid hats,” she said. “What happens now?”
“Did you know that in the history of the world, there have only been a couple hundred days of peace? Think of that! We couldn’t even make it a year without war.”
“Is that true?”
“I read it on Facebook so…sure.”
“The Ra will be devastated,” she said. “This is a major victory, right?”
I looked in Manny’s eyes. They were wet and her mascara had run black down her cheeks. But I told her the truth. “Wilmington did not die in vain, but this is
a
victory, not
the
victory. As much as I hate my father for what he’s done, I do see his logic. Victor was one of the Ra once, but I don’t think we’ve won any hearts and minds over there.”
“But, Iowa, it was a
nuclear freakin’ weapon
! We took them out!”
“The Ra is a place, a planet and a people, Manny. It’s a whole dimension. If somebody blew up Los Angeles with a nuclear bomb, that wouldn’t
decrease
our chances of going to war, would it?”
“Heh. No,” she said. “Definitely not.”
“I remember in high school, I watched a movie about Pearl Harbor. The Japanese devastated the American fleet. That didn’t end anything. It was the beginning. A Japanese admiral said, something like, in attacking America, they awakened a sleeping giant.”
“But Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war,” Manny said. “And that was with a nuclear bomb.”
“The Japanese didn’t have the bomb so they surrendered. But think about it. The device we used on them, we stole
from
the demons. I doubt Chronos had it lying around for gits and shiggles. They were going to use it on us.”
I looked out over Brooklyn. Soon all those oblivious Normies would be opening Christmas presents and searching for batteries for toys and loading up on turkey. For a few minutes there, I thought the bomb would go off on our side of the dimensional divide. Merry Christmas, New York. Merry Christmas, world. We’re still here.
I began to count on my fingers the number of people I knew personally who had already been lost to the secret war. “Wilmington, Minneapolis, Chumele, Vlad, St. Charles…much of my hometown. Then there was Rory’s torment and Devin Anguloora getting turned into roast asshole…everyone dead at Castille…and now Victor. “I’ve run out of fingers,” I said.
“What?”
“Never mind. Just figuring out the butcher’s bill.”
“It was all worth it, though, right?” A tear slipped down Manny’s cheek. “You aren’t saying it wasn’t worth it, are you?”
“Their sacrifices bought us time,” I said. “We’re still here and the demons aren’t running around turning everyone into deli sandwiches. So, yeah, it was worth it.”
“But you don’t think we can win, do you?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe not. I guess. Since everyone shares just about the same destination, we’ll have to enjoy the journey.”
“You going to put that in your next book?”
“Maybe.”
“I wouldn’t,” she said. “It sounds kind of corny.”
“Noted.”
A light snow began to fall. Soon, New York City’s dirty snow would be covered in a fresh white blanket.
“The Choir will need a new conductor now,” Manny said.
“Mr. Chang is the logical choice. He’s the only remaining founder of the Choir Invisible.”
“Kevin Chang thinks more pushups are the answer for everything.”
“You think your pushup bra is the answer to everything.”
“It isn’t?”
“I was going to get you another for Christmas,” I said, “but things got a little crazy in Palo Alto and I got distracted — ”
“Excuses, excuses.”
“But I do have this.” I dug into a hidden pocket and held out my palm.
“A charm? What does it do?”
“It’s pretty.”
“It is, thank you.” She held it in her hand to admire it.
“It also finds lost things,” I said.
“Like what?”
“I have a few thoughts.”
“Go on.”
“Well, I heard a rumor in the mess hall that, somewhere in the armory, the sword of Damocles is hidden away somewhere.”
Manny pursed her lips. “Well, you do need a new sword since you gave up that kickass one.”
I shrugged. “I’ll find a badass one instead.”
“Anything else?”
“Well,” I said, “there is the matter of the Circle of Knives. We left two of those douchebags alive.”
“And they probably still have that special jewelry that keeps you young and healthy and fierce,” Manhattan said. “The Tree of Life necklace has that green leaf that clashes with most of my wardrobe but it could be really helpful. I could buy new clothes to match.”
“Yeah, it’s not immortality
exactly
, but it could give us an advantage at the end of the world. Interested?”
“Road trip?” Manny asked.
“Definitely. I love the snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but by late afternoon, I want sunshine, palm trees and a beach again. Wilmington bought us time. We should use it right.”
“I loved her, Tam.”
“She loved you, Poala.”
Manny managed a smile. “Poala. I didn’t know you remembered my birth name.”
“Of course, I do. I’m your sister. I love you. We’re all about the love.”
“And all this schmaltzy badass kickass stop-the-demons, save-the-world crap.”
We didn’t have it in us to laugh but we stood on the parapet, leaning on each other and sharing our warmth for a long time.
When Manny began to shiver, it was time to go. She stopped me and asked, “Do you think we’ll ever get tired of doing this? Being this? Do you ever wish you’d stayed Tamara Smythe?”
I smiled and took her hand. “Mama likes to sleep in on Christmas. Let’s let her sleep. Then I want to crawl into bed with her and give her a hug. For now, let’s start at the top of the Armory and work our way down. I’ve never seen all of it. There’s so much more to see and do before we’re done. ”
I am Iowa of the Choir Invisible, Castrator of Demons. I fight for you. But I think our only real chance of winning will come when we all fight for each other.
I’ll leave you, for now, with Lesson 195. You’ve heard it before, but that’s not because it’s trite. It’s because it’s true. None of us has a lot of time. Use your time well. That might be the best lesson — the best gift — I can give you.
About the Authors
To be continued in Book Four of the
Ghosts & Demons Series.
Subscribe at
AllThatChazz.com
to be alerted when the next book is released.
Suspense novelist Robert Chazz Chute is a former journalist and winner of eight writing awards. His epic apocalyptic saga,
This Plague of Days
, won Honorable Mention from
Writers Digest
Self-published Ebook of the Year Awards
in 2014.
Holly (Pop) Papandreas studies biology in New York when she is not reading and writing dark fantasy. She is the author of the novellas
Ouija: Based on a True Story
and
What Angels Dread
.
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.
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