Magic Without Mercy (23 page)

“Collins did this to keep you alive,” I said. “We’re working on a way to reverse it. You’re going to be back to your old self soon.”

Shame spoke up. “You’re just a temporary sort of ghost. Although I, for one, could see the advantages of being able to slip through walls.” Shame sounded calm, happy even. Our doom was closing in around us and Shame didn’t seem a bit flustered.

Then, I’d always wondered if Shame didn’t have a little too much of a death wish.

We made it to the walkway overlooking the warehouse. The sound of sirens I’d been ignoring was growing louder. The police were almost here. Maybe some were already here, outside, with guns drawn.

I hoped Jack and Bea had made it out safely.

The entire warehouse shook like a bomb had just gone off.

“What was that?” I asked.

“That,” Shame said, “is our gate. Davy, if you can walk any faster, now’s the time to do it.”

Amazingly, Davy picked up the pace.

I pushed the door open.

The room stank of magic and the hot salt and sulfur of the Gate spell.

Zay had opened the thing right in the middle of the room where Stone was frozen.

Correction. He opened the Gate
around
Stone so that Stone was already inside it. If Zay could push the Gate, he’d be able to close it behind Stone. I didn’t know a lot about Gates, but I thought that might make it so Stone ended up not so much going through to the other side, but having the other side pull him there.

Zayvion stood several paces in front of the gate, his arms out to both sides, feet spread, as if by will alone he physically held the gate open.

Hayden walked through the gate with Collins. There was no one else in the room, which I hoped meant everyone else had gone through.

“What is. That?” Davy asked.

“Our way out,” I said. “Shame—you got him?”

“No.” Shame helped me get Davy to the edge of the gate. “You take him. I’ll knock out Z and drag him through behind me.”

“We all go,” I said.

“Look at him. Allie,” Shame said, urgently, “look at him.”

I looked at Zayvion.

He burned with gold light. Black fingers of smoke curled around him, feeding magic into the Gate. His eyes were pure gold, no white, no pupils. He looked like a pillar of magic, a grounding wire, a storm rod.

“You touch him, and you’re going to get swept up in that. I’m just going to hit him over the back of the head,” Shame said. “Go!”

He let go of Davy, who slumped against me.

“Don’t hit him,” I said as I took the three steps needed to get to the gate. “And do not make me turn around and come back here after you two.”

God. I sounded like a den mother.

“Hang on, Davy,” I said. “This might be a little rough.”

I stepped into the gate.

Magic hit me like a truck. I screamed and fell as if I’d just stepped off a cliff. Magic poured through me, burning, slicing, taking me apart and fusing me back together with lashes of pain. I couldn’t breathe; I couldn’t see. And then I couldn’t even scream.

I hit. Hard. Shoulder, hip. Something landed on top of me. Someone. Davy. Damp grass beneath me, darkness around. Then hands helping me up.

“You’ll need to back away a bit,” Hayden said as he pulled me away from the Gate to where everyone else was gathered.

“Davy?” I couldn’t think. I was supposed to do something. Help someone. Where the hell was I?

“We have him,” Hayden said. “Terric and Maeve are walking with him right behind you. But you”—he pressed down on my shoulder—“need to sit before you pass out.”

Hayden stopped walking and I sat, unable to put more than two words together in my brain before they slipped away like a poorly tied knot. Collins sat on the grass next to me, mumbling. Talking, talking. To himself, I thought. Maybe to voices in his head. I didn’t think he was entirely sane.

But then, I didn’t think I was exactly up to par right now either.

Terric and Maeve helped Davy walk toward me. He looked a little better. Certainly looked more solid. I think the Gate hadn’t been as bad for him as it was for me.

They eased him down to sit next to Collins, and Davy bent his knees, folded his arms across them, and then
rested his head against his arms. He was breathing heavily. But he was still solid. That was good. I thought it was good.

I didn’t know what everyone was standing around looking worried about.

Then it hit me. The Gate. Shame and Zayvion were supposed to be walking through that right about now.

I stared at the opening in space that hovered there in the… Where the hell were we?

A park. No, not just a park. A very familiar park.

“You’re kidding me,” I whispered. I glanced over my shoulder. Yep. There was the St. Johns Bridge, stretching down the hill we sat upon, and pushing out across the river.

Why here? I didn’t know if this was where Zay had intended to take us, but if it was, I didn’t know why.

Where was he?

“Zay?” I said, though I don’t think anyone was in earshot to hear me.

I stared at the gate. It wavered there, flickering. Two shadows filled the hole in the air, filled the gate, and then the entire thing imploded. The shadows were thrown to the ground, and gray ashes rained down from where the gate used to be.

I knew who those shadows were—Shame and Zayvion.

I pushed myself up onto my feet and ran for them.

Terric was on his feet, running right beside me, reaching for Shame, fear hard in his eyes, on his lips, as I reached for Zayvion, my heart pounding too fast, fear caught in my breath, slick and hard in my chest.

We pulled them from each other, Shame having fallen beneath Zayvion.

“Zay?” I touched his face, his neck. Breathing, heartbeat,
he was alive, covered in ash, knocked out. Relief flooded me, and was swallowed down by fear.

Terric swore. “You fucking kill me, Flynn. That’s the way you go through a gate? What were you trying to do? Burn all the clothes off your back?”

He paused. “Breathe, you idiot.” Terric placed his right hand over the crystal that lay within Shame’s breast. Then, softer, “Breathe.” He exhaled, and it was almost like he dimmed just the smallest amount, that light filtering into Shame.

Shame coughed, groaned, and elbowed up. “Goddamn.” He turned his head and spit, then wiped blood off his mouth. “Forget what I said. Next time
you
can drag him through the gate, Beckstrom.”

Terric stood, and helped Shame up onto his feet, something Shame did not argue with.

I shook Zayvion, but he didn’t open his eyes. His skin was cold, which seemed really weird since the last time I’d seen him, he was surrounded by gold fire. I kept my hand on his chest. I needed to feel him breathing, and each rise and fall of his chest assured me that he was still alive.

“Allie?” Victor walked up beside me.

“He’s unconscious,” I said. “We need to get out of the park, somewhere safe. Do you have any contacts we can use in St. Johns?”

He shook his head, then crouched down and felt for Zayvion’s pulse. He looked as tired as I felt.

“We’ll need to do something with Stone too,” he said.

I glanced over. Stone stood there, where the Gate had been, his face tipped up to the sky, one hand reaching out, wings angled as if he could take flight. But he was stuck, frozen. Cold. Dead.

No, not dead. Locked. We’d find a way to unlock him. We’d find a way to fix him and fix magic.

We just needed a place to catch our breath and make a plan. Before the police showed up.

Or the Authority.

“Mama’s,” I said.

“Your mother?” Victor asked, startled.

“No. Mama owns a restaurant here. I used to Hound for her. She took me in once, when I needed a place to stay. She might take us all in. Might take Davy and the other injured at least.”

“None of us has a phone,” Victor said.

“I have a phone,” Collins mumbled weakly. He dug in his pocket and handed it to Hayden, who was standing over him.

Hayden brought it to me.

I turned it on, dialed Mama’s number.

“We’re closed,” her familiar voice said, with the buzz of the crappy landline rattling in the background.

“Mama,” I said. “This is Allie. I’m in trouble.”

Silence on the other end. Silence and the buzz of electricity.

“How much trouble?” she asked.

“More than I can handle. My friends and I need a place to land for just a few hours. Some of us are hurt. There’s magic involved. A lot of magic.”

Silence again while she considered. Then, “Come to the back door. Boy will let you in.”

“I don’t have a car.”

“You want me to do everything?” she snapped. “Fine. I send Boy with car. Where are you?”

“Cathedral Park,” I said.

Mama hung up.

I thumbed off the phone, hoping I hadn’t just given our location away to someone who would call the police. I didn’t think Mama would. She’d had too many run-ins with the law to turn to them in times of crisis. She hadn’t
even called for an ambulance when her youngest Boy was hurt. Zay had called it for him. And it had probably saved his life.

“Is she coming?” Maeve asked.

I looked up into her worried face. “I hope so,” I said. “I really hope so.”

I
t didn’t take long, maybe fifteen minutes, before we heard a car rumble into the parking lot. Zayvion was still out, still breathing evenly. I knew that because I hadn’t left him and my hand was still resting on his chest. Shame sat next to his mother, looking singed and sick. Davy was still sitting with his head bowed forward, and Collins had decided lying on the grass and staring at the sky was the best option.

Victor and Hayden were standing, and Terric was trying not to hover over Shame, though every time he paced near Shame, he slowed a bit.

Stone was stuck. Still a statue, still not moving.

Someone needed to go check to see if the car that had just pulled up in the parking area was our ride or not. Even though I didn’t want to leave Zayvion, the longer I sat here, the more restless I became.

I stood and started across the damp grass.

“Where are you going?” Hayden asked.

“To see if our ride is here.”

Hayden walked beside me, and I was fine with that. Better to have backup. Even though there was no magic in this neighborhood, that didn’t mean there were no guns.

We made the slight uphill climb and finally caught a view of the lot. An old pickup truck idled in the empty
parking lot, lights off. Two people in the cab. The passenger stepped out of the truck and into a bit of light.

Mama had gotten her name from taking in boys off the street and raising them up as her own. She didn’t legally adopt them, but she’d done a lot of good for kids who fell through the cracks. When they were old enough to make it on their own, some of her boys stayed on and worked her restaurant, which had living quarters above it. All of them went by the same name: Boy. Loyal and gun-toting, Mama’s Boys were pretty easy to pick out in a crowd.

And the thirty-something man with his hair pulled back in a ponytail and the shotgun in his hand was one of her Boys.

“Hey,” I said with just enough air to carry my voice to him.

He glanced our way, not lifting the gun, which I appreciated.

“It’s Allie,” I said.

He nodded. “Truck’s ready.”

“Wait. I’ll get the others.”

He walked back to the truck and Hayden and I turned around and headed back to where everyone was waiting.

“They’re here,” I said. “It’s a truck, so we’ll have to ride in the back. Hayden, can you help me with Zay?”

“What about Stone?” Victor asked.

“We’ll have to leave him here for now. Let’s get all the wounded to Mama’s first; then we can come back for him.”

“Shouldn’t someone guard him?” Maeve asked.

“Yes,” Collins said as he sat up. “It’s too dangerous to let that fall into the wrong hands.”

Interesting. I didn’t even know Collins had noticed Stone. And now he had an opinion about not only what he was, but also how dangerous he might be?

“Who wants to stay with him?” I asked. It wasn’t
going to be me, even though I felt guilty about it. I didn’t think Stone could get any worse—I mean, unless someone took after him with a hammer. But Davy, Shame, and Zayvion were all hurt and needed a bed to lie on. I had to make sure they were okay first; then I’d come back for Stone if I needed to.

Collins opened his mouth.

“Not you,” I said.

I didn’t trust him much before, and I wasn’t sure how much I could trust him now that he had even more of his memories back.

He shrugged.

“I’ll stay,” Victor said.

“Maybe I should,” Maeve said.

“No, I’ll be fine,” he said. “If anyone comes by, I can keep Stone and myself hidden.”

Terric paused in his pacing. “It should be me, Victor,” he said. “The Authority doesn’t even know that I’m not a part of them. They probably wouldn’t question me sitting in a park with a gargoyle.”

Victor shook his head. “You need to go with them.” He glanced over at Shame, who was groaning as he got his feet under himself and stood.

“How far is this car-topia?” Shame asked.

“Not far,” I said.

Terric took a step toward Shame, one hand stretched out for him. Shame had his back turned and didn’t see the gesture. But Terric seemed to realize what he was doing and let his hand drop.

“Fan-freaking-tastic,” Shame panted. “Mum? Shall we?”

He held his arm out for her. She gave Terric a soft look, then took Shame’s arm. “Careful, now, son. It’s a bit uneven.”

Terric watched them for a minute, then walked over to Davy. “Hey,” he said. “Need any help?”

Davy nodded. Terric helped him up, and wonder of wonders, Davy remained solid. They started across the grass, Terric talking quietly to him.

I glanced at Collins and at the unconscious Zayvion. “Think you can walk?” I asked Collins.

“I’ll manage.” He heaved up onto his feet, and swayed a little. Then looked over at Victor. “It’s been so wonderful seeing you again, Forsythe. These little meetings of ours are so… informational. Please do be careful out here. I’d prefer that you not get killed, as I don’t believe you’ve fully restored my memories.”