The Hatter is Mad: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 2) (15 page)

“What is this place?” The words rushed out of me before I could stop them.

While Rhapsody was dry just a moment before, she was quite suddenly drenched from head to toe. She bent down next to me and smiled, thick strands of hair matted against her face with mud. Her face was pale, exposing the tiny veins that pulsed under her skin. Goose pimples sprouted from her flesh.

“This is The Blue,” she responded, looking at me, her eyes so big that they reminded me of two giant blue saucers. “It always rains here. Raindrops so thick, they are like the backs of bright black beetles.”

“This is The Blue?” I asked. The concept was so foreign to me, I could scarcely imagine it possible. “How could I be here? I was just with Zef.” I had the sudden urge to cling to something, anything, to keep from falling off the world completely. It was a totally irrational fear… I think.

“The Blue is part of everyone. You don’t need to go anywhere to find it. It is within you,” she said simply. She looked at me as though considering a very strange bug. Her eyes were so endless in their constitution that it was like they were trying to suck me in. The wind blew past, and she sniffed at it. “This is yours,” she said, holding one of the blue blossoms out toward me.

“I’m not sure I understand,” I murmured as I watched a particularly adventurous beetle scurry up a rock to escape the water.

“I don’t quite understand what you don’t understand,” she replied. The beetle seemed to think it was safe and ventured downward only to be swept up by the current of rainwater. Stupid bug.

I took the flower from her and sighed. The weight of the rain made my clothing feel like a thousand pounds. Even my overcoat, which normally worked pretty well at fending off things as mundane as rain, was soaked. How do you dry something that’s fireproof? I sucked in a deep breath and let it go through my teeth. This day was going to get worse before it got better, I was sure of it.

“So this place is different from the nether because it exists inside of us and has something to do with life energy?” I asked, not sure whether I was going to get an answer that would make me less confused.

“Yes. You see the rain?” Rhapsody asked, pointing at the rivulets of rain that cascaded down the slope. “That’s time. It flows like rain. Always falling and getting everything all wet and out of sorts whether we like it or not. Then, sometimes the clouds soak it up and the process starts over.”

“Okay,” I said. “I have no idea what that means. What am I supposed to do?”

“Grow… soak up the rain and grow. I can lend you my power if you like,” she said.

“And what do I need more power for? Every bit of power I have has only hurt my friends.” I shook my head as I said the words. I knew they were silly, but I’ll be honest, I still remembered the way Caleb had looked at me when I’d saved him. If Rhapsody was really offering me her strength, how much more powerful would I become? Would it be so powerful Caleb would never be able to forgive me? I swallowed, knowing it was a silly thought to have. Was I really weighing the fate of the world against what Caleb thought of me? And sadly, I knew I was.

“You are a champion. Act like one.” Rhapsody smacked me across the face and breaking my train of thought. The force of it rang in my ears. There would be one hell of a bruise come morning. “Champions do the right thing. Always. They slay their dragons. They kill their demons. They reach down and do the right thing because it is the right thing.”

She shoved me. I fell backward into the muck. The mud squelched beneath me as I fought to get up. Rhapsody turned on her heel. “If you decide you want my help, all you have to do is ask.”

Chapter 24

I shook my head to clear my hazy vision, and when I looked up Rhapsody was gone. Morgan, the Red Queen stood in her place. The hard lines of her face drawn into a look that made it clear she was unhappy with her current surroundings. “Well, it’s about time Rhapsody left. And all this rain, quite a bore, eh?” she said and her words chilled me. Morgan was supposed to be the most dangerous, the craziest of them all. I’d heard that compared to her, Blue was the definition of sane and calm. And here I was, alone with her in crazyland.

She waved her hand, and the scene changed. We were both on the rooftop of a building, and what’s more, I was no longer covered in mud. My clothes were no longer sopping wet. That was a plus. Go, small victories.

“If this is where you tell me it is all in my mind, and I need to jump across the buildings I’m going to be very disappointed,” I said as I got to my feet.

Morgan quirked an eyebrow at me. Evidently, my nonsense was being dismissed, as it should be. She waved her hands over the expanse, nothing but buildings for miles and miles. I took a deep breath and glanced over the edge. It was a long way down.

I turned to Morgan and swallowed. “I thought you guys weren’t allowed to help me,” I said.

Morgan began to laugh. She punched me on the shoulder. It spun me around, and she reached out and held me still. Her hand was like fire on my flesh. The warmth of it radiated out from her grip and made me squirm. We were standing nearly eye-to-eye now, and I forced myself to make eye contact with the Red Queen.

“Do I seem like someone who would follow rules?” She took a step backward and gestured at herself. Morgan, the Red Queen, was wearing a blood red miniskirt and a black baby doll tee. Around her waist was one of those black leather belts with silver spikes. Her ebony hair was done up with streaks of purple and red. She didn’t look very traditional. Then again, I guess the Red Queen could do whatever she damn well pleased.

“Anyway, I’m not really helping you. I’m just sharing that what the Blue Prince really needs is a proper host. He doesn’t need someone truthful and good. He needs someone who is just screwed up enough that all his baggage will allow him to process Blue’s emotional strain without dissolving,” she said, smiling eerily at me and leaning her face so close that her nose touched mine.

Her breath was hot on my lips. I swallowed and tried to keep from freaking out. She poked me in the chest. “You know anyone like that? And don’t say Warthor either. He’s definitely crazy enough, but he isn’t a good seat of power. The idea of giving that kind of power to a guy like Warthor? Ha! Unfortunately, your dad is much too serious to be a suitable host. That’s the problem. The Prince keeps trying to pick totally sane people.” She twirled back a few steps and grinned one of those giant Cheshire-cat-style grins at me. Yes, it was as creepy as it sounded. “Everyone needs a little crazy in ‘em from time to time,” she added.

Morgan spun herself toward me and slid so close that our bodies were nearly touching. She ran one hand gingerly across my back and leaned down to coo in my ear. Her warm breath sent shivers running down my spine. Not the good kind either. Creepy, ice-cold shivers.

“So what you need is a willing ‘kinda-crazy’ person to take over
voluntarily
, someone who has done more than stick his big toe in the crazy pool, but hasn’t dived in. The only problem is, Blue doesn’t know what he needs. It’s been obvious for a millennium or more that he needs someone who needs him as well. It’s got to be symbiotic. Why do you think we haven’t changed hosts in so long? I wouldn’t spend thousands of years combined with the Red Queen if I didn’t enjoy her company. Zef wouldn’t stay paired with the Black Prince either. Same with Rhapsody, though she may not know any better.” Morgan paused for a second to tap her finger to her lips. I took that moment to try and disengage myself from her. She took that as a sign to sidle in close to my back and wrap her arms around my waist. She rested her chin on my shoulder, and I felt her grinning.

“So that’s the thing,” she said. “All his hosts rebel because they aren’t crazy enough. They don’t need him enough, and he doesn’t need them enough either. He always wants to be in control, but really what he needs is for someone to tie him down and make him the bitch for once.” She smiled at me in such a way I was pretty sure she was having a mental picture flash through her mind I would not like very much.

“Okay,” I said. I took a deep breath and tried unsuccessfully to worm my way out of her grip. “So what does a host need to do to be suitable? How do I find the right host?”

Morgan pouted. “My dear Lillim, I’m beginning to think you don’t like me.” She spun me around and somehow dropped me into a dip. Her eyes bore into mine, and it was one of the scariest things that ever happened. In her eyes, I saw nothing. I saw emptiness. I saw a barren wasteland. “You don’t have to do anything. Challenge him. Challenge the Blue Prince and see what happens.”

“Uh huh. I tried that last time,” I replied.

“Yes!” She interrupted me. “But you tried wrong. You need to try right this time. Let your voice resound. Break all the chains that keep him bound. Let him be free. Oh, and don’t forget Rhapsody’s promise to help. It’s important. I promise.” Her words struck me a little strange. How had I tried wrong before? Still, it wasn’t like I wasn’t going to try again anyway. If she said Rhapsody’s promise was important, who was I to ignore it?

Above her head, the crimson moon reminded me of the orcish world, where both the sun and the moon were painted in blood. I gulped. Could that have been why the orcs were so scared of me? Was it just a fluke that Shirajirashii’s spell happened to look like the bleeding light of their home world?

Grollshanks probably could have outlasted me if he tried. He would have kept healing over and over and after a couple minutes, I’d have run out of gas. He should have killed me. That should have been what happened. Why had he conceded after my first attack?

Morgan laughed as she pulled me to my feet and twirled me so close to the edge of the building, I actually held my breath. “I see thoughts bubbling in your little brain, Lillim. Let me tell you the truth. It’s right in front of you. Just put it all together.” She pulled me close to her. Her grin was so huge on her face that it was stretched beyond reason. “But, I could give you a hint,” she said, licking her lips.

“A hint?” I asked, and she nodded. “What would this hint cost?”

“Everything.” She grinned and ran her finger down my cheek, her nail scratching against my flesh in a way that made me tremble.

“Can I pay it later?” I asked, barely resisting the urge to push her creepy hand away.

“Sure,” she cooed. “Grollshanks works for Zef. The Blue Prince might have brought him here, but his loyalties have always been with Zef.”

She vanished in a flurry of red smoke, and I was left standing on an empty building. Wait, what? Grollshanks works for Zef? Well, that almost made sense since Grollshanks held the Death’s Edge, which if I had to guess, was probably one of Zef’s artifacts. The Death’s Edge did seem like something Zef would have created.

If that was true, it could mean Zef had ordered Grollshanks to come after me. I swallowed. If that was true maybe the big orc never worked for the Blue Prince. Maybe my confrontation with Grollshanks was Zef moving both of us around on a chessboard. But why?

“It makes sense if you remember something very important.” Zef’s voice crashed into me, and I whirled around to look for him. There was nothing but empty sky all around me. “You have to remember why you are here, Lillim Callina.”

Chapter 25

Just like that, I was standing before Mitsoumi Mawara and his brother Masataka. They were both wearing the typical skin-tight Dioscuri fighting suits, but neither of them were wearing any insignia of rank, which was odd being that Mitsoumi was heir to the royal throne. Why were they being incognito?

I took a step closer, peering at him when it struck me like a punch in the gut. Mitsoumi still had both hands! I swallowed and reached out to touch him as the scene sped up to real time. My hand passed straight through Mitsoumi’s arm as he took a step forward. The feeling of icy cold ran down my fingers, stabbing me with tiny pinpricks, and I snatched my hand back.

Okay… so I couldn’t interfere with this one either. The last time I was sent back in time to witness something that occurred before I was born wasn’t exactly butterflies and sunshine. Well, at least I wouldn’t get disemboweled this time.

Mitsoumi turned toward his brother and sighed the most powerful sigh I’ve ever heard. Masataka’s sea green eyes turned upon his older brother, and he scowled.

“What now, Mitsoumi?” Masataka said, voice cold and annoyed.

“Masataka, we are going to go into the Nether to retrieve the Revenant’s Diadem from the Blue Prince, and we don’t even know how it works or what it does. We’re just trusting Warthor that this relic will bring Dirge back to life,” Mitsoumi said and ran both his hands through his blue hair, making it shimmer like a handful of sapphires in the sun. “I mean, the likelihood that this won’t work, and that Warthor is insane, is extremely high.”

“Well… if you’re too scared, Mitsu, you can always go back home and wait for me to return. I’ll be fine without you,” Masataka said, taking a few steps past the stopped form of his older brother.

“Brother… you owe her nothing,” Mitsoumi said before sighing again. I was beginning to think sighing might be his thing. “I know Dirge was your mentor for years, but this…”

Masataka’s face turned into an emotionless mask as he stared at his brother. Like Caleb, Masataka Mawara was a prodigy, and as such, he was trained directly by a Hyas Tyee. So who trained Masataka Mawara? Dirge Meilan.

That was probably one of the reasons he loathed me so much. He expected to get his old teacher back, and instead, he got me. I could see how it would be upsetting.

“It isn’t that…” Masataka shrugged his shoulders, and the scruffy mop of black hair on his head fell in front of his face. “I have the feeling that Dirge was destined for something more. There is no way that the sum of her life was simply so she could be snuffed out stopping a bunch of demons. I also don’t think Warthor would send us off on something we couldn’t handle, especially considering how much we need this thing to bring her back. What I’m trying to say, dear brother, is that sometimes you just have to have faith in what you are destined to do. No one ever gained anything by running away or declaring that it was too difficult,” Masataka said, shaking his fist.