The Messenger: A Novel (24 page)

T
yler opened his eyes to see a beautiful woman in an evening gown holding his hand. Why was she so sad?

He was cold. He looked down at his blood-soaked, nearly naked form, and felt shame that this woman was seeing him in this state. Her gaze never left his face, though, and he began to feel certain that she was trying to convey some message to him. The memory of the photo at Amanda’s house came back to him. This was Amanda’s mother. What did she so urgently need him to know?

A moment later, the knife sliced through him again—between his ribs, this time—and the woman disappeared. He strained against the manacles, the searing pain bringing him back to full awareness of his situation.

“Why are you being so stubborn?” Adrian asked. “It’s not as if I’m asking you to return my money. You can have it and keep all your powers. It’s selfish of you to try to deny me this one request, when I’ve done so much for you. Just give me the ring.”

Tyler wanted to scream, knew Adrian wanted to hear him do just that, and concentrated all his efforts on riding out the next few agonizing moments.

Not that Adrian had been denied the sound of his screams. The pincers had been at work, breaking his bones, tearing at his skin, crushing
his testicles. That he rapidly healed only gave Adrian another opportunity to torture him when he regained consciousness moments later.

Even Adrian had tired of this, though, and apparently realized that the potion he had forced Tyler to drink—designed to reduce the fevers and further speed his ability to heal—was only going to be of limited use against such harm to Tyler’s body. So Adrian chose to go about it more methodically, and ordered his assistant to take over the job.

That he had coerced his assistant into obedience was not lost on Tyler. There was reluctance in this man Daniel. Reluctance that even Adrian was aware of—no, Tyler realized, that Adrian enjoyed. Daniel’s evident disgust with the role of torturer made his submission all the more delightful to Adrian.

What plans did Adrian have for Daniel? He looked at the skinless form, the pincers, the thin legs, much of which appeared to be borrowed from other creatures, mostly insects and arachnids. Like a self-assembled Frankenstein, although clearly not all the parts had been taken from humans. He suddenly had no doubt that Adrian would make similar use of Daniel.

Despite the fact that Daniel inflicted pain on him again and again, Tyler began to pity the man. Daniel was doomed.

“Is there anyone in your family you’d like me to contact after you die?” Tyler asked him. “Any message for them?”

Daniel looked startled, then afraid.

Adrian began to laugh. He laughed and laughed.

Daniel turned away, but Tyler had seen a look of resentment briefly cross his face.

Adrian moved closer. “What makes you think you will get out of here to deliver any more of your precious messages, Tyler? Didn’t they teach you the story of Prometheus at Eton? Surely some tutor taught it to you even before then.” He laughed again. “But Daniel has no idea what I’m talking about.”

“He gave men the gift of fire,” Daniel said quietly. “He made Zeus angry.”

“Yes,” Adrian said, clicking his eyelids as he blinked in surprise. “And
was chained to a rock and had his liver eaten by an eagle every day, and had it grow back in time for the next round—not so unlike our friend Tyler here. But tell me, who taught you anything about Prometheus?”

“We have schools here, too…sir.”

Adrian stared at him for a long moment, then smiled. “Quite. Now, Tyler, you really mustn’t try to tempt dear Daniel into being your ally, because that will make me extremely angry, and Daniel knows more about that than he knows about Greek mythology. Am I right, Daniel?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You see, Tyler, you will make things easier for me and for Daniel and for your beloved Amanda and yourself as well if you simply tell me where the ring is.”

Tyler felt his stomach turn to ice when he heard Adrian say Amanda’s name, but made no response.

“I know all about her,” Adrian said. “I am a little surprised that you chose someone so—what was the phrase her cousin used to describe her, Daniel?”

“Clumsy and unsophisticated, sir.”

Tyler watched in fascination as the ghost of Thelia Clarke reappeared and moved toward Adrian. Her face bore a regal look of disdain, and she swatted at him, almost as if he were one of the insects he half resembled.

Her hand swept through him, and Tyler would have thought her blow had had no effect if he had not seen Adrian’s face change. Adrian turned and stared in the direction from which the ghost stood eyeing him with disfavor. His eyelids clicked rapidly, but it was plain to Tyler that he could not see Thelia Clarke.

Adrian loomed over Tyler. “What damned creature have you summoned here, fool?”

“I’ve summoned no one into your stinking presence. And really, you know far more about damnation than I do, Adrian. If for nothing more than what you’ve done to Daniel, I have no doubt you’ll soon be shaking hands with the devil himself.”

“I ask you who is here!”

“Afraid, Adrian? You should be.”

“Really? I might say the same of you. I don’t suppose that—given your limited view of the room—you can see the bag of quick-setting cement next to this table. I had Daniel fetch it for me from the garage during one of your unfortunate periods of unconsciousness. Isn’t this a wondrous age? Quick-setting cement.” He smiled. “I’m sure you don’t need to see it to imagine what it will be like to be encased in concrete for a time. I promise to leave breathing tubes to ensure that you have plenty of time to enjoy the experience.”

For a moment the image Adrian presented had its intended effect, and he felt fear, cold and unrelenting. It was all too easy to imagine endless decades entombed alive in silence and darkness, unable to move—and unable to die.

Then a hand took his own, and he looked up to see Thelia, smiling and shaking her head, as if to tell him that he should not let Adrian frighten him. Gradually her presence calmed him, and he began to consider the implications of being able to see her, when Adrian could not. He returned her smile and saw Adrian’s displeasure at his smile.

“Did it never occur to you, Adrian, that the rules of the game might not be the same for the two of us? That the way you choose to live affects all else? You’ve always been your own poisoner, Adrian.”

“Cut his throat!” Adrian ordered Daniel.

Daniel approached the table, but he was shaking and seemed unable to bring himself to obey Adrian’s command.

As if forgetting that he did not have hands, Adrian reached out with a claw to grab the knife, but only managed to knock the blade from Daniel’s hand. It skittered across the floor and came to rest beneath a desk.

Adrian turned in fury and grabbed Tyler’s throat with his sharp claw.

Tyler felt the claw pierce his artery, saw the warm blood spray from his own neck, and lost consciousness.

He awoke to hear Daniel screaming pitifully, although Adrian did not appear to be touching him. The sound was horrible, and Tyler began to pray for some way to relieve the man’s agony.

Thelia was still at his side. He saw her cock her head to one side and look up, as if she heard something outside.

In the space it took Daniel to draw a breath, Tyler heard it, too, and eventually, so did Adrian.

“Shut up!” Adrian snapped at Daniel. “Listen!”

The sound was unmistakable, one Tyler would have known anywhere.

The howling of a cemetery dog.

H
ere we are,” Colby said.

“There isn’t anything here,” Amanda said, suddenly fearing that she had been dealing with a creature who was in league with Adrian, who had guided her through the winding curves of a neighboring canyon and was now leaving her in the middle of nowhere.

Colby smiled. “I haven’t led you astray. Adrian’s up to some old tricks and has shielded this place from prying eyes and ears. Now, I really do wish I could be of more assistance, but you’ve got the ring and the dogs, after all. This is where I must take my leave of you.”

“You’re going?”

This time, when he smiled at her, it seemed to be with genuine tenderness. Before she knew what he was doing, he took her hand and kissed it in a courtly manner. “I hope we meet again, Amanda Clarke. I do mean that.” He let go of her hand and laughed. “And won’t that irritate the hell out of Tyler!”

He vanished.

Even though Tyler had warned her that this was among Colby’s powers, she gasped in surprise. And felt a little bereft.

They had stopped at what appeared to be a rough asphalt driveway leading to a lot that had nothing more than shrubbery and a few trees
on it. There was no other turn to make, but they also hadn’t reached any real destination.

She took a deep breath and turned into the driveway.

An instant later, she saw her father’s ghost. Her hopes soared, and she swore that if she and Tyler escaped with their lives, she’d beg Tyler to help Colby in return for his kindness.

Her father was beckoning her to get out of the van. She did, bringing the dogs and her flashlight with her. The dogs watched him but did not seem to be as hostile toward him as usual.

The moment she stepped onto the driveway, she saw the house behind the trees and shrubs. She was startled and wondered how she could have missed seeing it from the road.

The two-story house was old for this part of Los Angeles, probably built in the 1920s, judging by its style. The windows were darkened by heavy curtains, but she saw no sign that anyone was at home.

“Is this where Tyler is?” she whispered to her father.

He nodded and pointed toward a narrow garage, one with hinged double doors. She crept toward it. The doors were not latched, and when she swung one open, she saw the truck in which Tyler had been taken. She glanced toward the house, then dared to turn on the flashlight. She aimed its light into the back of the truck, already sensing he would not be there, and cringed at the sight of the darkened bloodstains on the truck bed.

She saw a tool bench and looked it over. It didn’t have much to offer—mostly odds and ends of small hardware, greasy nuts and bolts that appeared to be left over from a previous tenant. “No ax, not even a crowbar,” she said wistfully. “I wish I had thought to bring one.”

She crept back toward the house and looked for a house number. There was none to be seen. She took out Tyler’s cell phone, thought of calling Alex, and changed her mind. Better to keep the others safe. She had a plan, one she was sure would not meet with their approval, but which was the only way out of this she could think of. A possible fault in her strategy occurred to her, though.

She knelt beside Shade and Wraith and said, “Tyler needs the ring, right?”

The dogs wagged their tails.

“I’ve been thinking about what happened when Tyler became…as he is. You chose him, didn’t you, Shade?”

The dog looked toward Amanda’s father, who nodded his head. The answer was yes.

To be certain, she said, “If he doesn’t have the ring, can Adrian force Shade or Wraith to serve him?”

Some communication seemed to take place again, and her father shook his head.

The last question was the hardest. “Wraith seems to like me, so, since I have the ring right now, should I—well, if it looks as if Adrian is going to take her or the ring before I can give the ring to Tyler, should I—should I try to kill myself so that Wraith becomes my dog instead of Adrian’s?”

Her father shook his head vehemently. He came closer to her, placing his hands on either side of her face, though all she felt was a slight chill. She could read the message in his eyes.

“No, it seemed wrong to me, too. But I had to ask, given what’s at stake here.” She sighed. “Thanks for helping me out, Dad. I just wish there was an army of you at my back.”

He smiled and gave her a cold kiss on the forehead before releasing her and stepping back.

“Where’s Mom?”

He pointed to the house, then hesitated, then touched the ring on her finger.

“In there with Tyler?”

He nodded.

“Well, I’m glad of that. At least he’s not alone.” She made sure the necklace of rings was hidden beneath her clothes, and found herself calming as she touched them. She took a deep breath. “Let’s get on with it, then.”

The dogs seemed to take this for a command and herded her toward a back door.

She reached a shaking hand to the doorknob and tried turning it.
The door was locked. She was considering breaking the window in the door when the dogs threw back their heads and began to howl.

The moment they did so, she also heard screaming—horrific, painfilled screams that at first frightened her, then quickly made her fear turn to anger.

G
et my cloak!” Adrian snapped. “Hurry! She’ll find a way in any moment now!”

Amanda was here. Tyler knew it as surely as he knew that Shade and Wraith were with her. He ignored the sounds of Daniel scrambling to obey Adrian, ignored Adrian’s furious criticisms of his servant, and strained against the manacles. The intense pain in his wrists and hands told him to stop, but he pulled harder, until the skin near the manacles was torn away and the cuffs were slick with blood.

His shoulders and elbows were on fire, but he forced himself to keep pulling, hoping to break his own bones if that was what it would take to free his hands. His earlier injuries had weakened him, and with growing frustration he realized that until his strength was fully recovered, he was unlikely to succeed. Still, he tried, wanting desperately to be free to protect Amanda from Adrian.

“Stop him from doing that!” Adrian shouted.

Daniel moved over to Tyler, looked frantically about him, and grabbed a rag that he tore into strips. With these, he began to wrap Tyler’s left hand and wrist. “No,” Tyler protested. “Please…”

Daniel met his eyes, looking scared, but continued working. Both hands were throbbing with pain, but Tyler sensed that the big man was trying to be gentle. He finished tying up the ends of the makeshift
bandage and moved to Tyler’s right hand. The left was now so thickly covered there was no question of pulling it free.

Tyler could have wept with frustration. He tried to calm himself, to keep his head clear. Amanda would need him to have his wits about him, however little use he might be in physically aiding her. He felt Daniel give his shoulder a quick, awkward pat.

Daniel had already stepped away to obey Adrian’s next imperious summons when Tyler realized that something cold and hard had been bound into his right hand, almost completely covered by the bandages. He folded his fingers over the end of a small metal object.

A key.