“You do realize you just said a bad word, right?” Rick asked.
He wasn’t far behind me and I could hear the laughter in his voice. I wasn’t feeling jolly, so the immediate response he got was my fresh-from-killing-four-people glare.
“It’s a saying. It doesn’t actually count as saying a bad word.”
I didn’t pretend I didn’t know what he was talking about. I could’ve and he would’ve gone on for about ten minutes teasing me. We didn’t have time for that, so I went a different route. The easiest would’ve been to just say “so what”, but I couldn’t take away all his fun.
“Are you feeling okay?” he asked, rather than having the fun I expected.
I wasn’t stomping as quickly as I had out of the cornfield, but we were already back to the part of the road I’d paused to look around. I should’ve probably followed the warlock to make sure he was a good boy and fixed the town. There was a lot of should’ve, could’ve and would’ve going on in my mind, and I needed to focus on what I was going to do, so I assumed he could follow directions.
I about kicked myself for making that assumption. Warlocks couldn’t be trusted, and I had a strong urge that I needed to stick around, but I just didn’t have the time. Getting to Malphas and ending the stupid game we were playing took precedence.
I rotated to look at the mass of uniques following me around. Everyone other than Nate had been kind enough to give me a little room. He turned with me and held onto my hand; I wasn’t really sure when he’d grabbed it. He knew what was going on in my head, and he didn’t seem to be overly concerned. If anything, he was a little excited.
“I don’t think I have to tell you I’m pissed off. Other than that, I’m feeling perfectly fine. If you’re bored and want to check out my vitals, I’ll give you five seconds to get the rhythm of my heart.”
“You’ve all fought her enough to know that battle puts her in that mood. This isn’t any different,” Nate added. If his words were needed, the warlocks’ stupidity had worn off on them.
“But what was all that about what it’s like to be in Purgatory?” Kyle asked. “It sounded like you had firsthand experience, and that’s the kind of thing you share with the group. There are stories in our background about people getting out of Purgatory, but they’re rare and something you should’ve mentioned to us.”
I rolled my eyes and turned to look out at the corn. I really wished it was taller and I had time to run through it. Ever since I’d gotten my memories back I’d wanted to be out in nature. It helped me think, and running through crops meant to nourish people was one of my favorite places. It didn’t beat getting lost in the woods, or soaring through the sky, but it was pretty high on my list.
“I wanted to see if they’d doubt Malphas’ leadership when they heard what was going to happen to them. I guess that plan didn’t work out too well, since they were too stupid to believe me.”
“I don’t think that was what Kyle meant, and you know it, little sister.”
Rick put his hands on his hips, imitating one of my favorite poses. I was fairly certain I looked better doing it. It was unfair that his size made him look more intimidating than I did, and in most cases would probably make people take him more seriously.
“I’m well aware of what Kyle meant, and I don’t think now is the time to talk about it. We need to figure out what’s waiting for us in Amana.”
I saw my statement was met with a lot of confused faces when I looked over my shoulder at the group. I knew what to expect, but I was hopeful they’d learned I sometimes just magically had the answers. I sighed and massaged my forehead for a second.
“The message,” Nate said taking over for me. “Avery thinks Malphas wants us to go to Amana. I can’t say why she knows about the quality of bacon there, but I agree that it’s probably a good place to start whatever game Malphas is playing.”
We’d actually already started the game, but I refrained from correcting him. I couldn’t say for sure when the game started, but as soon as someone shared the prophecy tying us together, the fun began.
“I’m not over my questions about Purgatory, but why in the world would we go to Amana? We don’t have any of our people there and I think figuring out where they are is probably a bigger priority.”
“Normally I’d agree with you, Rick,” I said, shaking my head, “but unless one of you can follow energy trails that have been gone for days, I don’t think we’re going to have any instant luck finding our people.” I didn’t like the idea that we were left doing what Malphas had mapped out for us, but I wanted to find him and kill him, and the only way I could see to accomplish that was to follow the clues.
I wore the knife that could kill the demon in a sheath around my waist. It was one of the only knives I never bothered hiding, and I’d kept it even handier than usual since my wedding day. My fingers wrapped around the handle and I felt a gentle pulse in the knife.
It scared me a little, since I’d never felt it before, but I hid my reaction. I wasn’t sure what the pulse meant, but I figured I’d find out as soon as I caught up with Malphas.
“Can you answer what was up with the giant fireball? You’ve never done anything that big, and they usually don’t incinerate warlocks, at least not that I’ve ever seen.” Vinnie was asking for technical reasons. He’d want to try to take the concept and weaponize it so everyone could use it.
“By the time we get back home, there won’t be any warlocks left to use it on, so I don’t think we need to worry about it now. The warlock I left alive said Malphas had a few days planned out for us, so we should probably get on our way. If we can pick up all the clues quicker than he expects, we may be able to catch him off guard.”
I was ready to move. I had three very special reasons to make it back home as soon as possible. With the guards and my parents there, no one would get to the babies, but I wouldn’t feel at ease until I saw them again. I wasn’t sure that the babies were completely safe from Malphas; I figured if I kept telling myself they were, it would have to be true.
“I don’t think we should go anywhere before you explain exactly what’s going on with you, baby girl. The fireball wasn’t normal.”
“But it was, Rick. You just didn’t know. No one did, not even Avery.” Eva’s words drew my attention and I turned to focus on her. She’d managed to go unnoticed for a little while, which wasn’t like her.
The fireball hadn’t bothered me as it did everyone else, but I’d felt the raw power coming from me when I’d generated it. It wasn’t a power I remembered having. It was different than the other fireballs I’d made, none of which had the power to burn through warlocks.
“You see, Eva, that’s why you grate on my nerves so much. You know things about me no one else does.”
“And that’s why I’m your best friend, even if you’ve tried to replace me in this life. It’s not time for you to learn about the month missing from your memory. I already know you’ve seen things from it you shouldn’t have, but I have to put my foot down when it comes to you trying to dig for more details too soon. You’ll thank me for that, trust me.”
I had to laugh at the thought of trusting Eva. It sounded like a punchline of a very sad joke, one I wasn’t going to be involved in.
“Can you tell me if I’m going to find more surprises when I deal with whatever is waiting for us in Amana? I barely envisioned a fireball frying the warlocks a few minutes ago and it was there and it did exactly what I wanted it to.”
Eva skipped away from Liam’s side and moved to stand two-feet in front of me. She stared into my eyes and tilted her head to the side.
“I know you’re in for lots of surprises before the week is out. Some will come from you, but not all of them. You’re more powerful than you remember, my darling friend.”
Her eyes stayed glued to me, like she was trying to figure something out. It was never a good thing when a Fate didn’t know the answer to something. She looked over to Nate, and I followed her gaze.
They d
idn’t say anything, and I didn’t hear anything spoken between the two of them, but there was definitely something being said. I waved my hand in between their eye contact to get them to cut it out. They continued for another second, and then Eva skipped back to Liam.
“What in the world was that about?” I asked. Everyone else around me had been confused by my actions, and evidently confusion was catching.
“Nothing, silly. I just remembered a recipe I wanted to share with Nate so he could surprise you for your birthday.”
“One of these days I’m going to figure out a way to kill you, Eva. I know you’re pretty attached to her, Liam, but I can find you a new girl who will be easier to get along with.”
I looked over to Nate to see if he had anything he wanted to say about the exchange. He didn’t even bother speaking, instead choosing to shake his head.
“Fine. So we have no explanation about the fireball and I don’t want to talk about the other thing we mentioned. Is there anything else someone is dying to know, or should we make guesses about what we’re going to find when we get to our next location?”
“Maybe I should go ahead and check it out for you,” Mak suggested.
He was the only jinn with us on the trip. If there had been more, I would’ve maybe thought longer than a second about it, but no matter what, I wasn’t sending him anywhere without the rest of us. Demons had enslaved the jinn for as long as demons had been around.
I’d made it so Mak wasn’t able to take orders from someone, but that didn’t mean a demon couldn’t find a way to put shackles on him again. If Malphas was waiting for us to send recon in, Mak would’ve been in trouble.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “There’s no more recon. We’ll follow the clues where they lead, but we’ll do it as a team. We’re strongest when we’re all together.”
“What about the missing team? You don’t seem too worried about them.” Joseph didn’t seem too worried when he asked the question either, so I got the feeling he wanted me to repeat what he already assumed for everyone to hear.
“He’s not going to kill them, and we have no way to follow them. It’s not that I’m not worried about them, it’s that I know there isn’t anything I can do right this second. We don’t have the resources to go on two wild goose chases at once.”
“But either Eva or Mak could be sent to try to find them. She might even know where they are,” Joseph pushed.
“I’ve always loved your need to ask the question others are thinking, even if you already know the answers, Joseph, but wouldn’t it be just as easy if you answered them directly?”
Being able to read his troops was part of what made Joseph good at his job. He couldn’t directly read anyone’s mind, but he knew the details about what made them hesitate to follow orders and he was capable of making sure the hesitation was limited.
“I see your point, but I think it would be better coming from you. So, why don’t you think they’ll be killed and why won’t you send either of the two I mentioned.”
“Fine. If you guys really need to hear it, he won’t kill them because he plans to use them against us. The warlocks wouldn’t answer my question about whether skin-walkers were involved because they are. I can’t explain exactly why I thought they might be, but the fact remains that if they are, our comrades can’t be killed.
“As far as sending Mak in, would you rather him fight with us or against us? If there is a demon trap set and Mak gets captured, I can’t be sure they won’t find a way to turn him against us, not that he would do so willingly, but he may not have a choice and I for one prefer to have him fighting next to me.
“I’m not sure why anyone is wondering why I don’t ask Eva to go. I thought it was pretty clear she’s only here because she finds me amusing to watch. I’m sure when the time comes she’ll try to figure out something to do, but in a battle, it’s her sisters you want by your side. No offense.”
I didn’t really care if I offended her. As far as I was concerned I should’ve tried to offend her as much as I could in hopes she’d get tired of hanging around.
“None taken. I’ve seen the looks questioning what I’m doing here. Truth be told, I’m here to make sure Avery doesn’t do anything stupid. My calendar had that task penciled in for a while now, so I decided I would take a vacation from my regular duties to ensure things happened as you’d want them to happen.”
I gave the Fate a mental slap for being cryptic. She knew I hated it, but she loved finding new ways to drive me crazy. When I saw her rub the side of her face I’d seen myself slap, my eyes widened just a little. Making physical contact wasn’t something I’d been able to accomplish.
Eva laughed. “Should’ve seen that one coming. I told you you’re stronger than you know. Why don’t I act like I’m here for a purpose and transport us to our next location. It’s the least I can do for pissing you off, my queen.”
I saw her dip into a curtsey before things went hazy and I felt the usual pull of being teleported to a location.