The Children and the Blood (40 page)

The girl cut off as Ashe stepped around the door. Carter turned, and Spider’s gaze flashed between them.

“Carter…” Spider started, tension in her voice.

He glanced back at her. Spider stared at him.

“We… I was going to tell you,” the girl began.

“Go wait in Twitch’s apartment,” he ordered her quietly.

She hesitated.

“Spider.”

Her eyes went from him to Ashe and back, and then she nodded. She crossed the room carefully, pausing as she passed him.

“She saved my life, Carter.”

He nodded. Echoing the motion briefly, she left.

Gripping the doorframe behind her, Ashe held her breath, waiting. Down the hall, she heard Spider close the other door, but for a long moment, Carter didn’t look up from the ground.

And then he chuckled ruefully.

“Ashley.” He glanced over at her. “It’s Ashley, isn’t it?”

Cautiously, she nodded.

“I should’ve recognized you,” he said. “Though, in my defense, the last time I saw you, you were seven. And you hid behind your mother.”

Her brow drew down, and he gave her a small smile. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He motioned her into the room, and warily, she released the doorframe.

“So I guess you heard him?”

Ashe hesitated. “Why didn’t you tell him I was here?”

Carter sighed. “He’s a wizard.”

“Never trust a wizard,” Ashe finished.

“Almost never,” he said, nodding to her.

Her gaze dropped to the floor.

“Truth be told, I needed to hear it from you first,” Carter continued. “I’m not going to hand you over to some wizard at the drop of a hat, even if he is my cousin.”

“Hear what?” she asked nervously.

“That you’re a wizard.”

She couldn’t breathe. She nodded again.

“And why you didn’t say anything.”

“I was scared.”

He looked at her seriously. “I told you, I’m not going to hand you over to them. Not unless you want to go.”

She shook her head quickly. “I don’t know them. I don’t…” She trailed off. “I just want to find the Blood who killed my family.”

He grimaced. “And that’s something they won’t help you do.”

“Because they think it’s a fantasy,” she said, half-asking.

Carter nodded.

“But will you still help me?” she tried. “Even if I’m… one of them?”

He looked at the floor and then chuckled again, shaking his head at a joke she couldn’t see. His gaze rose to meet hers and hope fluttered up inside her at the look in his eyes.

“Do you have
any
idea who you are?” he asked softly.

Her brow furrowed in confusion.

An explosion rocked the building.

Clutching at the doorframe, she stared at Carter as the man stumbled, trying to keep his feet. Eyes wide, he looked to her for a heartbeat, and then rushed for the door, holding her back to keep her from following as he scanned the hallway.

Spider raced from the room at the end of the hall, and in the apartment, Ashe could hear Twitch howling.

“Blood!” the girl yelled, drawing her gun.

The building shook hard. Spider crashed sideways into the wall. Behind her, Bus grabbed the doorframe, one hand clutching a sobbing Twitch.

Gasping, the girl started forward again.

The ground beneath her buckled.

“Spider!” Bus shouted.

Frantically, the old man snagged her hand and yanked her back as the floor where she’d been standing crumbled.

“Go!” Carter shouted as the building groaned. “Get to Seagull!”

Spider nodded. With a glance to Bus, she rushed for the exit behind them. Calling to the dogs, the old man brought Twitch in tow.

Gun in one hand and Ashe’s arm in the other, Carter headed for the stairs.

Smoke filled the stairwell. Orange light flickered on the first level far below.

Carter swore and pulled her after him, racing down the steps. Gunfire popped in the distance. Shouts echoed beyond the hallway doors. Explosions made the stairs lurch and pieces of the building pelted the ground.

His grip on her arm was unrelenting.

Smoke from the fire surrounded them and the first floor was an inferno, but Carter didn’t hesitate. Coughing hard, he held her behind him and pushed open the door to the second level, checking quickly around.

Nothing. Pulling her with him, he rushed across the space.

A figure stepped from the hall ahead.

Carter’s bullets ricocheted away, shattering the monitors on the far side of the room.

And the man smiled.

Calmly, he walked toward them through the red-lit shadows and the falling debris, towering larger than life, more giant than man.

Just as she remembered.

Energy surged around him. Carter’s eyes went wide.

Her magic rushed outward, surrounding her and Carter, and then shuddering hard as the giant’s power smashed down.

She gasped, uncertain what she’d just done. But the Blood wizard simply chuckled.

“Hello Ashley.”

Carter shoved her behind him.

“My name is Mason Brogan,” the giant continued as though Carter wasn’t there. “Pleasure to meet you.”

More bullets ricocheted away.

“My people are killing your friends as we speak,” the Blood told her calmly, “so if you don’t wish this one to die, I’d suggest you tell him to stop shooting at me.”

Trembling, she stepped past Carter, pushing his hand aside.

Brogan smiled. “That’s–”

Her magic slammed into him.

She could feel his defenses buckle. Feel them crack. And then energy a dozen times stronger than before rushed out of him and hit her.

The blow threw her to the ground as the protection around them vanished. Gasping, she rolled to the side, looking for Carter. He lay next to her and in the dimness, his eyes met her own.

“Kill him, Ashe,” he whispered. “Whatever it takes.”

She stared at him as Brogan’s footsteps crossed the room.

“Do it!” Carter ordered.

Shaking, she pushed up from the ground and backed away. Eyes locked on hers, Carter nodded.

Ashe’s gaze went to the giant.

He began to smile.

She let the fires rise.

“You can’t kill me, little girl,” Brogan said, energy like an electrical storm rushing up around him and crackling from his fingers and hands. She could feel the magic inside him, like a river of power coursing through his veins.

He chuckled. “You don’t even know what you’re up against.”

Lightning struck out at her.

And from her shields, it rebounded away.

Fire covered her, and she met his eyes through the flames.

“Yes I do,” she whispered.

Her hand flung toward Carter.

The room exploded.

Boarded-up windows blew outward as the blast wave rolled. Brogan crashed back through cinder-block and drywall. The ceiling over him crumbled, pouring down in a torrent while the girders of the building snapped and howled.

She spun, fires vanishing as she rushed toward Carter. Shoving to his feet as her shield around him disappeared, he grabbed her arm and raced for the door.

Something moved at the corner of her eye. Carter slammed into her, driving her to the side.

A gunshot rang through the room.

Carter clutched her arm, staring at her as his brow drew down. Horror spread through her.

“No,” she gasped. “No!”

Choking, he stumbled, and then crashed to his knees.

Her head shaking, she grabbed him, trying to haul him up as her eyes went to the far side of the room.

Bracing himself on a shattered wall, Brogan climbed to his feet. Blood drenched him, but his mouth still curled into a smile.

She trembled. Heat twisted through her, like white light spreading beneath her skin. She could feel the energy inside Brogan, rising from deep within his veins to strike. She could feel the source of it, like a cord just at the edge of reach.

Carter’s blood covered her hands.

She could feel everything.

Electricity burned the air as it screamed toward her.

Magic surged around her, faster than thought, faster than him. Reaching across the distance, it drove down to the root of his power and twisted, choking it in her own.

She tore it from his body. Gasping, he stumbled as his magic roared into her, shrieking through her bones.

Her gaze met his.

Brogan’s eyes went wide.

She flung the magic back in his face.

Fire and electricity slammed into him, engulfing his body as it smashed him through the concrete and metal of the walls. Smoking girders and burning drywall rained down, but in the wreckage, the Blood wizard didn’t move.

Not knowing what she’d done and not caring, she grabbed Carter, taking in his graying skin and the blood soaking his chest at a glance.

He coughed wetly. “You have to go…”

“No.” Desperately, she tugged at him. “I’m not leaving without you.”

Coughing again, effort twisted his face as he staggered up. “Get to Seagull…”

Ashe nodded frantically, pulling his arm around her shoulders to take some of his weight. “Seagull,” she agreed.

The hallway was a million miles away, and the stairs an eternity. Limping and lurching, she dragged him toward them both.

Wizards rushed up the stairway.

Fire consumed them before they could scream.

In the first floor hall, they charged her.

Flames flowed from her hand, and she barely noticed as the wizards died.

The doorway was all she could see.

Metal flew backward and, hauling Carter with her, she stumbled into the night. Behind them, the windows gushed smoke and the building sagged, crumbling from its wounds. On the concrete, the security lights lay shattered and their glass crunched beneath her shoes.

Tears ran down her face as she set fire to the trees, burning them from her path. Carter’s breathing was growing fainter, and his trembling had begun to fade. His feet stumbled forward with her own, and gasping, he slowed as they rounded the corner into an alley.

“Ashe,” he whispered.

“No.”

“Ashe, please…”

She looked over at him, her muscles quivering with the effort of supporting his weight.

He sank down, and she couldn’t hold him. Tumbling to the concrete, he gasped and then coughed. “Have to go on.”

“No. You’re coming with me.”

His head shook weakly. “They’ll be coming.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

He coughed again. “It’s… an order…” His fingers fumbled at his pocket, and he winced with effort as he drew a scrap of paper from inside. Awkwardly, he shoved it into her hand.

“Go…” he said. “Have to protect you… tell Merlin about the Blood… make them believe…”

Clutching the scrap of paper, she shook her head. “No, please, Carter…”

Blurry with pain, his eyes rose, meeting hers, and his hand came to rest over her own. His mouth curved into a kind smile.

“… would have done anything for you…” he whispered. “My queen.”

The smile faded. His gaze drifted beyond her.

She stared.

Beneath his hand, she trembled, and her brow drew down in numbed disbelief. She gasped softly, her body forcing her to draw in air.

Sirens called in the distance.

She looked up at the dim alley and the apartment buildings lining the street. Along the road, people emerged from their homes, drawn by the fire if not the magic and filming the blaze on their cell phones.

Her gaze dropped back to Carter.

Unwillingly, her fingers slipped from beneath his and, for a moment, her hand hovered beside him. And then she pulled away.

Shakily, she rose, the scrap of paper crushed in her hand.

The people on the street couldn’t see her. And because of her, perhaps they couldn’t see him.

But survivors of the fire would be coming.

Tears fell as she closed her eyes.

Choking back a sob, she swallowed hard and then drew a shuddering breath. She had to go. She had to leave him.

It was an order.

Trembling till she thought her bones would break, she forced herself to turn.

Amid the chaos and commotion, no one saw the dark-haired girl in the alley as she slowly walked away.

*****

Gray sky greeted the sun as it rose, and on the stone wall at the edge of the river, Ashe watched it with eyes that had long since run dry. Blood covered her clothes, though she’d washed her hands by the riverbank a while before. The stretch of service road running along the river was empty at this hour, but she wasn’t really worried about people seeing her anyway.

One of the benefits of being a wizard.

Boats drifted past, water sloshing against their hulls, and on the bridges in the distance, she could see early morning commuters speeding toward the skyscrapers towering over the riverside. Seagulls swooped down on the river, welcoming the morning with their cries.

Quiet footsteps sounded on the gravel behind her, and then came to a halt.

She glanced back.

Spider stood at the edge of the road.

Ashe looked away, and let the magic around her fade.

Seconds passed. Gravel crunched. The girl hoisted herself up onto the wall, and her legs dangled by Ashe’s over the side.

“Where’s Carter?” she asked softly.

Ashe closed her eyes.

A moment slid by.

“How?” the girl whispered, her voice tight.

Eating at her slowly, the words took a long time to arrive. “The Blood wizard shot him. He was trying to hit me.”

Spider drew an uneven breath. “Did you kill him?”

“Yes.”

The girl nodded in reply.

“Is Bus…” Ashe trailed off, afraid to know.

“He’s helping Twitch. He’s fine.” Spider paused. “They all are.”

Silence fell, interspersed with bird cries.

“We need to go,” Spider said quietly.

Ashe nodded. “You should.”

Spider looked over at her. “What about you?”

Ashe shook her head. “I’m going to find the Merlin,” she said, her eyes on the water.

“Why?” The girl’s tone was incredulous, and encompassed a thousand reasons for not going in the single word.

Answers flitted through Ashe’s mind as the river swept by. Cornelius. Her father. Eight years of unanswered questions, on top of the others she couldn’t even recall.