Chapter 25. Jenny #3
He was taunting me, exactly like he used to taunt monsters, baiting them into foolish attacks or celebrating their defeat.
Instead of goading me, his words brought clarity.
I’d hoped so desperately that this cruelty was R’gngyk speaking through him, turning him into something he wasn’t. Something he’d never been.
These weren’t the words of some forgotten horror. Whatever Ringo had done to him—whatever he’d done to himself—at the heart of this monstrosity was Alex. And he didn’t want to be saved.
He dragged me toward the basement stairs. “I’m sorry it all turned out this way.”
“Are you?” How long had this resentment festered? “All those years of saving the world, and this is what you became?”
“I became strong,” he said. “You weren’t strong enough, and it broke you.”
Descending into the basement was like entering an arctic Salvador Dali painting. If there was a mystical veil between different dimensions, Alex had torn enough holes in that veil to turn it into a doily.
Each step sagged under my weight. The wooden railing felt ancient, covered in dust and mold and rot. Paint flaked away at the slightest touch. Icy fog dulled the lights.
The air smelled of salt and sulfur. Sickly yellow frost covered the basement floor and most of the walls.
A six-foot-tall triangle of dark green flame burned on the south wall. Smoky characters wavered within the flames. The triangle’s interior hurt to look at. The cracked limestone inside the triangle pulsed like an exposed organ. Flakes of white rock fell to the floor.
The spell wasn’t the only addition to our basement. Two of Alex’s thralls stood to either side of the flames. They pressed against the wall like leeches, gripping the stone with their bodies and limbs. Each had extended one arm into the green fire, but their flesh didn’t burn.
“They’re feeding,” said Alex. “Sharing their bounty.”
Feeding on our home and passing what they consumed through the portal to R’gngyk. I turned away and clutched my stomach to keep from vomiting.
“Try not to look directly at any of this,” Alex warned. “Your mind isn’t strong enough to handle it.”
I didn’t have to look. I felt the wrongness like oozing wounds in my own flesh.
The need to hunt burned, my blood quickened .
. . and I could barely force my fingers into a fist, let alone throw a punch.
I’d accepted the contract when I entered the house.
I was powerless to hurt Alex or anyone else.
Alex spread his arm and tentacle, basking in the green light. “The more R’gngyk stirs, the more his power enters me. And before you say it, I have control over the process. There will be no wiener-dog incidents today.”
“Were you always this stupid, or is it a side effect of letting Ringo into your head?” I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “The fact that you did that in the first place argues for preexisting stupidity, but—”
The blow from his tentacle knocked me to the ground and sent me sliding through the gross, putrid frost. I was pretty sure he’d popped a couple of my ribs out of place.
“You’re not here to mock,” he snapped. “You’re here to witness.”
IT’S TIME, JENNIFER.
I’d hoped to buy Annette and Ronnie more time to rouse Temple and undo Alex’s spellwork, but Artemis was right. This had to stop.
“Beloved Artemis, goddess of the hunt,” I murmured. The words were meditative. “Fleet of foot and keen of vision, hunter and guardian, whose aim is ever true.”
Alex turned back. “Stop that. Don’t speak your weak goddess’s name in this place.”
“Your servant calls to you,” I continued as I stood. “As a child I took up your bow. As a maiden I worshipped you. As a Hunter I slew those that threatened the natural cycle of this world. Hear my plea—”
A gunshot interrupted my words. The impact was like I’d been punched in the chest by a granite statue.
Alex held a silver revolver in his hand.
A thread of smoke rose from the barrel. “Felipe made you train with swords and bows and spears and knives and wooden stakes. Do you remember the bullwhip drills? Slicing soda cans in half and putting out candleflames like you were Indiana Jones. All those weapons. I never understood why they didn’t just hand you a gun. ”
I sagged against the wall. Blood pumped from the hole in my chest. A distant part of me pondered what exactly the bullet had struck. The right atrium, maybe?
“Hear my plea.” I couldn’t get a full breath. The bullet might have struck a lung, too. “Take this vessel as your own.” I tasted blood. Not good. I abandoned the rest of the formal prayer, saying only, “Help me save the children trapped above.”
Among her other roles, Artemis was the protector of children and young girls.
Alex stepped closer and pointed the gun at my face. I searched his eyes for any trace of guilt or regret, any sign of compassion for his former friend.
I saw none. No conflict. No second guesses. I saw only a monster who threatened my friends, my family, and my world.
“You could have been so much more,” I said. “So much better.”
He snorted. “So could you. But you were weak. Unworthy. You threw it all away.”
“Not exactly.” I straightened. “I just set it aside for a while.”
I swatted the gun away from him. Well, it was my hand that struck the gun, but it wasn’t me. I heard the small bones in Alex’s hand crack. The gun struck the wall so hard, the cylinder popped out and part of the grip broke away.
Alex’s face turned white. “How? You can’t—”
“I didn’t,” I said.
“I DID.” ARTEMIS’S WORDS ECHOED THROUGH THE BASEMENT.
I touched two fingers to the hole in my chest. The bullet had passed through my body, so there was nothing to expel. I grimaced as muscle and bone and at least one chamber of my heart knit itself back together.
“The contract,” said Alex. “You can’t hurt me.”
“The spell you repurposed is pretty airtight,” I agreed. “I won’t be doing any harm for the next year and a day. The thing is, Artemis didn’t agree to that contract. And she didn’t have to enter through the door. She’s here through me.”
Alex had witnessed this once before. We’d been nineteen years old and hunting an ancient vrykolakas, a kind of Greek vampire who’d turned out to be extremely good with a crossbow. I would have died from that shot if Artemis hadn’t chosen to join me in that fight.
This wasn’t me using the strength and power gifted from Artemis. This was the goddess herself, manifesting through her Hunter.
Alex’s eyes widened with understanding. “Oh, fuck.”
“INDEED.”
His tentacle whipped toward my head.
My xiphos sliced through the tentacle like it was air.
The severed piece flopped on the floor like a fish. Black goo dripped from the end. I kicked it away.
I felt full to bursting. The goddess’s presence overwhelmed me. Moonlight spilled from my skin. The strength of mountains filled my limbs. It would have been so easy to lose myself in her power. Her wisdom. Her wrath.
Alex grabbed a wooden spear from my bin of training weapons. He swung it one-handed at the side of my head.
I raised my left arm. The shaft snapped against my forearm.
He thrust the broken end at my throat.
I batted it aside with my sword.
“You can’t stop what I’ve begun,” he snarled. “I’ve performed the ritual. I’m a Hunter of R’gngyk. I’m—”
“I’m sorry.” I stepped toward him. He retreated past the punching bag. “I don’t have time for this. I have to deal with the real threat.”
“The real threat?” He swung the broken spear again. The attack was crude, driven by outrage.
I caught the end and splintered it in my hand. When I spoke, Artemis’s anger edged my words. “I thought you were the big bad, Alex. But you’re just another minion. A child who never got past his fear of the dark.”
He lunged for my throat.
I backhanded him into the wall. He slumped, unconscious but alive. His lip and nose dripped blood. His human eye was shut, but the other stared up at me.
HE FEARED HIS OWN WEAKNESS. YOU FEARED YOUR STRENGTH.
I set Alex on the weight bench. Tying him up didn’t appear to violate the “do no harm” rule, though I couldn’t pull the ropes quite as tight as I wanted to. Nothing that would bruise or abrade the skin or cut off the circulation. “You sound like my therapist.”
YOU CARRY TOO MUCH GUILT AND TOO MANY REGRETS. THEY MAKE YOU UNCERTAIN. SLOW TO ACT. GODS AREN’T BURDENED WITH SUCH SELF-DOUBT.
“I’ve read the stories,” I said. “A lot of gods could use a healthy dose of self-doubt.”
SO IMPERTINENT.
“I’ve missed you, too.”
She paused, then said, IF YOU SURVIVE THIS, I EXPECT MANY HOURS OF MUSICAL TRIBUTE. AND AN OUTING FOR MILKSHAKES.
“Agreed.” I turned toward the two thralls and the burning portal on the south wall. The sight of this infection destroying the foundation of my home filled me with revulsion. “Any chance you could do something about this, too?”
THE POWER WITHIN THAT SPELL IS UNNATURAL AND FROM BEFORE MY TIME. IT WOULD BE, AS YOU USED TO SAY, MY KRYPTONITE.
I approached the closer of the two thralls. They didn’t respond, not even when I dug my fingers around an arm and tried to peel it from the limestone. I felt Artemis draw back. I wanted to do the same. The skin squelched and wriggled, and an eyeball on the shoulder blinked up at me.
The thing wouldn’t budge.
R’GNGYK FEEDS THROUGH THEM. ALEX THOUGHT HE COULD CONTROL THIS, BUT NOTHING WILL STOP R’GNGYK FROM SUCKLING.
“First of all, I hate you a little for that image.” I released the rubbery-slick arm and backed away. I wanted to boil my hands to wash off the feel of alien skin and slime. “We have to get Morgan and Sage out of the house.”
I SEE YOUR THOUGHTS, JENNIFER.
“I don’t know how to stop this!” Fear and frustration turned my words sharper than I intended.
“I’m not Temple. I don’t have a library’s worth of magical spells and knowledge at my fingertips.
You think I want to destroy our home? But Ronnie was right.
It might be the only way to stop R’gngyk from coming through. ”
I THINK YOU AND RONNIE UNDERESTIMATE THE DAMAGE THE DESTRUCTION OF THIS PLACE COULD DO.
I paused. “How much damage?”
THIS HOME WITH ITS ACCUMULATED MAGICS RIVALS THE OLD TEMPLES. NO PUN INTENDED. IF ALL THAT POWER WERE RELEASED IN SUCH AN UNCONTROLLED WAY, IT WOULD DEVASTATE MUCH OF THIS TOWN.
I sagged against a bare patch of the wall. Blow up most of Salem, or let Alex’s new best friend eat the world. “That’s still better than letting Ringo come through.”
THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS, HUNTER. CHOICES BEYOND VIOLENCE AND SACRIFICE. YOU’VE SPENT THIRTY-THREE YEARS PROVING THAT. LIKE ALEX, I THOUGHT YOU WEAK WHEN YOU LEFT ME. BUT I WATCHED YOU. I’VE SEEN THE STRENGTH OF YOUR PATH.
Despite my despair, warmth filled me at the knowledge that Artemis had watched over me all that time. “You were right,” I admitted. “I was weak and afraid and ashamed. I cut out a part of myself.”
MORTALS ARE IMPERFECT. YOU’RE NO EXCEPTION. BUT PERHAPS SUCH TALK IS BETTER SAVED FOR AFTER YOU’VE SAVED THIS WORLD?
Rude. “If you have a suggestion, tell me.”
ALEX OPENED A WOUND IN THIS PLACE. HEAL THE WOUND.
“Oh, sure. I’ll just grab the giant metaphysical band-aids from the closet.
That and some Neosporin should—” I stopped myself.
Sassing a goddess was never smart, even when you were on good terms with said goddess.
“Forgive me. In the past, the house has always healed itself. Or else Temple has taken care of it. But Temple is too weak. The effort would kill him before he could fix this.”
HEAL IT YOURSELF.
“How?”
Her presence faded, leaving me once again in full control of my body. A body that felt better than it had in years. She hadn’t just healed the gunshot; she’d taken the edge off my arthritis. The tightness in my lower back had eased. I even had full motion in my neck.
I felt more like myself, more whole, than I had in decades.
Artemis’s laughter filled my thoughts. It was my favorite sound in the world, and it had been too long since I’d last heard it. DO YOU THINK TEMPLE FINN IS THE ONLY ONE WITH A BOND TO THIS PLACE?