Joyce & Jim Lavene - Taxi for the Dead 02 - Dead Girl Blues (27 page)

Addie popped up in front of me in the mud room. “I never meant any of this to happen to you, Skye. How do you always get in such a mess? My husband’s twenty-year service to Abe was nothing—no sorcerers, no werewolves, no ghosts. I don’t understand why this time is so different.”

“It’s just me, I guess. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. And at least now I probably know who my father is.”

“A murdering scumbag? I hope you haven’t mentioned this to Kate. This man doesn’t seem like grandfather material to me.”

“I haven’t told her. I don’t plan to tell her. Take care of her, Addie.”

“Go on. Try not to get killed again.”

She disappeared, and I let myself out the back door. Lucas seemed to think that I could call Artemis from wherever I was and he’d show up. I wasn’t so sure after our last meeting, but I didn’t know how else to contact him.

First I had to get the magic gizmo Abe had for me. Two secret magic things on one dead girl seemed like a lot to get away with. If I could keep that concealed from Artemis, the rest should be a snap.

I walked into Deadly Ink. Simon was there, working on his snake tattoo. He flinched when he saw me. I didn’t know if it was because Abe had talked to him or because he was worried that Abe
would
talk to him.

I nodded to him as I walked by. Either way worked for me.

Abe and Brandon were in the office. I could tell by Brandon’s face that he knew what was going on. I closed the office door and waited.

“You still want to go through with this?” Abe asked.

“I don’t see any other way, do you?”

“You’re not taking Lucas with you?”

I thought about the sharp stab of pain in my foot. In a way, he was with me. “I’ll be fine.”

“All right.” Abe took out a black velvet-covered box that looked like a jewelry case. He opened it and then sat back in his chair, breathing hard. “This is a witch stone. Wear it around your neck. I’ll hear and see everything you do.”

The chain was made of heavy gold. The stone was purple with what looked like light blue glitter inside. The whole thing was big and gaudy. There was no way to hide this under my tank top as I’d hoped.

“I think Artemis is going to see this coming, don’t you? It might be better if I don’t wear it.”

“It’s the only way.” Abe feebly waved his hand toward Brandon.

Brandon got up on cue and picked up the necklace. He put it around my throat and made sure it was secure.

“Isn’t he going to know what this is?” I asked. “I don’t think he’ll spill his secrets when he sees it.”

“It’s actually disguised from its normal form. He won’t suspect a thing.” Abe seemed very certain of his plan. Looking at him made me wonder if he was going to last through his next breath.

“Okay. I’ll go see if I can find him.” Yet another secret magic charm that Artemis was expected to overlook. I felt like I was going to a gun fight with a switchblade.

“Be careful, Skye,” Brandon warned. “Artemis is pretty powerful by now. If he thinks you’re trying to trick him, he might kill you.”

His words of warning in this situation were funny. I had to keep myself from laughing. How would Artemis miss the fact that we were all trying to trick him? It seemed like I was doomed.

The one thing I had going for me was the feeling Artemis gave me when he’d offered to share Abe’s power with me. It was that feeling that had finally convinced me late last night that he was telling the truth about being my father. I was reluctant to admit it to Lucas, again, a little embarrassed to have an evil sorcerer as a parent. But I really believed he wanted me to share his life.

Maybe that was the most naive part of the whole plan. He was my father. Would he kill me the way everyone was predicting? The way Lucas told it, Artemis could have killed me before if that was what he wanted.

I thought about Harold’s gruesome death and shuddered.

“How do you plan to find him?” Abe asked. His words were followed by a five minute coughing spasm.

“I haven’t had any problem with that since we met. I don’t think that will be an issue now.”

Abe removed his sunglasses and stared hard at me with his white eyes. “Yes. I see the layers of magic Lucas has tried to use to protect you. I wish I had something to add to those layers. I’m afraid if you’re not successful, today will be my last day on earth.”

No pressure. “I’ll take care of it. Just hold on.”

I nodded to Brandon who leapt to his feet and hugged me. I returned his embrace, and he gave me a cell phone. “A little birdie told me that you needed one.”

“Thanks.” I left the room, closing the door behind me. As the door was nearly closed, I heard Abe say, “She’s never going to make it.”

It was nice to know that no one felt like I was up to the task. “Come on. I’ve been through some tough things,” I argued with myself. “Give me some credit.”

Glad that Debbie wasn’t with me, I got in the van and started driving. I had no idea where I was going. The van was headed for downtown. I went with the flow.

“Looking for me?” Artemis was suddenly there in the passenger seat. “Good morning, Skye.”

“Yes.” There was no point in pretending that he didn’t know what I was trying to do. As Lucas had told me, don’t lie to a sorcerer.

He smiled. “Thank you. That might be the first honest answer I’ve received from you. I’m waiting for you at this warehouse.”

The older abandoned warehouse near the heart of Nashville suddenly flashed into my brain.

“I’ll see you there,” he said. “I have a surprise for you.”

And he was gone.

I had no doubt that we were playing his game now—maybe we had been from the start. I still had to go through with this. There was nothing left if I didn’t.

Following the street map in my mind, it was a short trip to the warehouse where my surprise waited. I wondered if everything Abe and Lucas had told me would be of any use. It felt like I was on my own. I had to deal with my father by myself.

I parked the van behind the building. There were Enter and Exit signs on the doors. Broken bottles littered the parking lot. I guessed the building had been empty for a while.

As I got out of the van, the Enter door opened wide for me. I knew the Beretta was useless against Artemis’s magic. I started to take it out of the holster and leave it. But when I lifted it, I knew that I wanted it with me anyway. It was something from my past life—my normal life.

“It’s you and me kid,” I whispered. “Let’s do this thing.”

I marched into the empty building thinking about Kate, Jacob, Addie, and Lucas. I tried to stay focused. One thing I knew about sorcerers—they wanted people to be distracted. They didn’t want them to see what they were really doing. Watch what the left hand is doing while the right hand is doing something else.

Clearing my mind of everything except being there, I walked inside. I was surprised to see hundreds of people. They formed a circle around Artemis, who was on a raised platform.

Abe’s zombies. I recognized some of them. But they didn’t belong to Abe anymore. Each of them had a faint red glow about them.

No wonder Abe was so weak. That was a lot of magic to lose. I knew he depended on each person returning their life force to him when their twenty years was over. I had no idea how many people Abe had brought back from the dead.

“Welcome, Skye!” Artemis called out. “Come in. Come right up here.”

The people surrounding him moved apart so that they’d cleared a path for me to reach him. Each of them had a blank stare. They were completely under his control. It was different than what Abe expected of them. He allowed them to live their lives for the twenty years he’d given them. Artemis had taken their will.

I stepped up on the platform where he was standing. It was some sort of machinery that had been abandoned when the building was left empty. I faced him, and he stared at me for a moment before laughing.

“Did they really think I wouldn’t notice this?” He peered closely at the stone on the gold chain around my neck. “Really? Do they think me some hack apprentice sorcerer? I am insulted that this was the best they could do.”

I started to speak but recalled Lucas’s warning about lying. “Abe is nearly dead, but he still doesn’t think you’re responsible for it. He thinks Lucas and I have taken his magic. I was trying to prove to him that it isn’t true.”

His bright blue eyes widened as though my honest answer astonished him.

“It’s only a minor problem, my dear.” He snatched the chain and stone from my neck and threw it to the floor. “That’s better. Now let’s get that pathetic sorcerer’s magic off you.”

He walked around me several times, his eyes carefully scanning me. I kept my mind empty. I thought about him, about him being my father. His eyes met mine, and I knew without a doubt that he’d told me the truth about who he was.

“My little girl—all grown up. What they have done to you? It makes me very unhappy to see you this way. But don’t worry. Soon all of the trappings of the life you’ve led so far will be gone. It will be the beginning of a new awareness for you. The two of us shall do marvelous things together.”

“And my daughter, Kate?”

“Of course we’ll take her with us—after I’ve had a look at her. Sometimes breeding with humans doesn’t leave behind magic for the child. You’ll understand that we can’t take her with us if she doesn’t measure up.”

I bit my lip to remind myself that I had to stay in the present. I couldn’t get angry or lash out. “It’s difficult for me to imagine my life without her.”

“That’s only for this moment. When we’re finished here and we’ve absorbed all of Abe’s power, we’ll take what we can from Lucas. He may not understand the difference since he has forgotten who he is. Then we’ll decide about Kate.”

“Okay. What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing. Just stand right there, and I’ll take care of the rest. When the other magic has been stripped from you, I’ll tell you your real name. It is an ancient, powerful name that has been associated with magic in our family for a thousand years.”

I did as he said, just stood there as he used his magic to cover me in a red haze. I could feel something different happening to me. It felt itchy and hot. I took off my sandals. Both Abe and Lucas’s marks were gone. There was no mark left behind by Artemis either.

Did that mean I was free from all magic bonds that had been placed on me?

Artemis sagged a little when he was finished. “I didn’t realize Lucas had put so many protections on you. I’m surprised and not pleased. Never fear. They are all gone now. It only remains for me to place my charm on you. Once it is there, no one will be able to remove it because you are of my blood.”

I watched him cut his arm and take some of the blood that dripped from it into his hand. He rubbed his hands together so that both of them were coated in his life force, and then he came toward me.

Something surged through me at that moment. I don’t know what it was. But I knew I couldn’t allow him to put his blood on me. I was desperate—he was only a heartbeat away. I had to do something.

Without thinking about it, I drew the Beretta from the holster and whispered the spell I’d heard Lucas repeat several times while he was enchanting the weapons for the werewolf hunt. I steadied my hand and stared into my father’s eyes.

Then I pulled the trigger.

Chapter Thirty-two

The shot was loud in the large, empty space. It echoed around us until it was all I could hear. Artemis’s elated expression faded as his hands dropped to his side. The bullet had pierced his chest, blood gushing from the wound.

“No!” He yelled as he stepped away from me. “No. This can’t be. I’ve taken your protections. I’ve given you no magic of your own yet. You can’t hurt me, girl. What were you thinking?”

But he crumpled to the metal platform beneath us, his blood soaking his gray suit and pristine white shirt. I realized it was over and put the Beretta back in the holster.

From around us, Abe’s people began to awake as though they’d been in a dream. Some of them cried, while others screamed and ran out of the building. A few became hysterical and began to tear at their clothes and hair. I tried to talk to them, to calm them, but it was as if they couldn’t hear me.

What had just happened?

Dozens of zombies sat on the dirty concrete floor and didn’t move. The rest ran out the door and into the street. The cell phone Brandon had given me rang.

“You did it, Skye!” Abe’s voice was jubilant. “You’ve given them back to me.”

“How do you know? He took the necklace away.”

“I didn’t need it. I knew I’d feel the return of my people when it happened. That was just subterfuge for Artemis’s sake. Is he dead?”

I looked down at the metal platform. Artemis was gone. A part of me felt bad about that, and a part of me was glad. How would I ever know who I was or what my real name was without him?

We weren’t ready for each other, it seemed. He had underestimated me—I had surprised myself.

And I knew we’d meet again.

“No. Artemis escaped.”

“But you weakened him. It will take him some time to rebuild his power, and I’ll be ready for him. Thank you, Skye. I’m sorry I thought you had done this. It’s Lucas. You have to get rid of him.”

“I don’t think so, Abe.” I smiled as I thought about telling Lucas what had happened. “I’m going home.”

“Not so fast. I’ll need you to round up my people and bring them here to me. They’ll need to be reconnected.”

Why wasn’t I surprised? “I’ll get as many as I can.”

“Fine job.”

The connection went dead in my hand.

I gathered up all the zombies who were readily available in the old building. It was as much as the van could hold anyway. The others had disappeared and would have to wait until I dropped these off at the mortuary.

It wasn’t going to happen today though. After my load of people was Brandon’s problem, I went home. I ignored Abe’s dozen or so texts and voice mails. I wanted to know how it had happened. I wanted to tell Lucas everything and hope he could put my mind at ease.

I was excited about having used his spell against Artemis—and it working. Did that mean I had magic of my own, as Lucas had told me, even though my father hadn’t believed it? I had so many questions.