Dark Game (Merikh Book 1) (21 page)

The town was creepy without any people, like the opening scene in a zombie movie. Even the trucks on the highway seemed to have gone quiet. I heard a siren in the distance, but given how quiet the world was it could have been Greenridge.

“I have been fooled,” she said, her eyes snapping open, alarmed. “There is nobody in town anymore, and I can find no traces they ever were. It is like my sight is being…blocked somehow.”

“Like a mysterious being is trying to get us to do what it wants?”

She nodded slowly, looking down at the ground. “If that is true then we are in danger. Its intentions are unlikely to work in our favor.”

“Maybe, or maybe it’s trying to help and is going about it in the most annoying way possible.” I was going to have to assault Foster’s estate, a plan Mouse and I had decided early on was too risky.

“Perhaps.” She was lost in whatever thoughts bounce around in a god’s head. I didn’t have time to wait for her to focus.

“I’m going to find him. Keep an eye on Patty and don’t let her go wherever everyone else went.” I’d parked my borrowed hatchback around the corner and I turned to go to it.

“I know where they are,” Claire said softly.

“Who?”

“Everyone. They’re at Littleton. They’re fighting. Littleton is shooting back.” She shook her head slowly. “There are people dying.”

Whatever the being was, it wanted me to face Foster directly, in his home. It wanted Foster’s plan to come to fruition before I killed him, and so it had made sure we wouldn’t be aware of what was happening.

“I have to go,” I said. “Keep an eye on things and let me know if you spot anything.”

I hurried to the car and dumped my stuff in the back seat. I was racing through the street of Midway a moment later, unconcerned with the speed limit. I could still hear the sirens in the distance, though they sounded closer now.

My Blackberry vibrated against my leg. I’d left it on silent.

“Got something already?” I left Midway behind and hit the back roads.

“You’ll probably be able to see it soon,” Claire said. She spoke softly, as though she was in shock. “Foster’s magic is working. Their anger is feeding him, empowering him. The police are on their way and when they get there, the process will accelerate.”

“So I should hurry.”

“People are dying, and their deaths are feeding him. Anyone with ambrosia in their systems…their deaths are feeding him, as well.”

I hit a main road and took the corner at speed. “How strong do you think he’ll be?” This was what I’d been trying to avoid, but the best laid plans of mice and men, and all that. It would be harder, but not impossible. He couldn’t use his magic on me except to physically pummel me, and I was ready for that. Or, at least, as ready as I could be.

“He’ll channel it into his spell.” She didn’t sound sure. “You’ll have to get past his men first, but he should be at his normal strength.”

I stopped listening. Sherriff’s department cars raced down a cross street before me and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting them. There were loads of them, too; it looked like the sheriff had called in help again, in a big way. It took a while for the line of flashing vehicles to finish going past. They were heading for Littleton.

I accelerated away from the intersection and entered Foster’s road. When I was a short distance away, about where Mouse had been the last time I’d visited the place, I pulled over.

I had no plan of attack. I had no backup. I had no idea what I was about to face.

I also had no choice, really. I got out of the car, checked that I had my gear in place, and entered the woods.

Chapter 20

The darkness enveloped me like armor and I ran straight for the house. Claire believed that once I killed Foster his influence would end, meaning the fighting in Littleton would end, too, and people would stop dying.

I didn’t know if the being who’d convinced me to do this would actually bring Mouse back for me, but I was prepared to risk it either way. And if it didn’t, if it had all been a lie and I died without ever seeing her again, then I could console myself that I had at least a good thing before the end.

Branches snagged me as I ran, appearing out of the darkness and whipping away just as quickly. I kept on my feet but I was being careless, risking tripping and taking myself out of the situation via unconsciousness before even getting to the house.

I saw the magic as a subtle glow through the trees at first. It cast a haunting light and made the dark woods dance as though on fire. As I approached the house I could see more of it; ribbons of red energy like infected flesh winding through the air and descending on the mansion. It covered the house, surrounding and filling it, a malignant tumor on the countryside.

I broke out of the trees and kept going, forgetting that only I could see the magic. Everyone else could see me running across open ground.

The first shot missed, but not by much. I pivoted, aiming my headlong dash at the fountain. I threw myself to the ground as another shot rang out from the house. Gravel leapt into the air near my head.

I was being an idiot, forgetting to check my surroundings, to plan my movements. I was forgetting my training.

I had to get to the house and I was under fire. I couldn’t even see where the attacks were coming from.

I closed my eyes and focused, blocking out the bright world and the pounding of my heart. A picture slowly formed in my head of my surroundings, built half from memories and old blueprints, and half from the sounds I could hear.

A plane flew overhead. Something ran across the gravel and onto the grass behind me, startled by the gunshots. An animal put a foot wrong in the woods and stepped on a fallen branch or twig, snapping it. A bird on the roof shifted position and scraped its claws across the tiles.

No, not a bird. Too heavy for a bird. Too slow and methodical.

I put my hand up and brought it down again a moment before another shot went off. I was up before the first echo reached me, my pistol drawn and firing at my attacker.

I ducked, smiling as someone fell and bounced off a car I couldn’t see.

I was up and running immediately, heading for the cover of the car and making it a half second before another shot went off. This was a smaller weapon like my pistol. I rose and fired at the front door and someone screamed in pain.

I made it to the house on my next sprint but I had to open my eyes. The light of Foster’s magic crawled into my head, covered me, overpowering my briefly heightened senses. I hit the outside wall of the house and found myself behind the flow of energy.

I headed for the side of the house and the servants’ entrance, ducking under windows as I went. If there was anyone inside watching for me, they wouldn’t have long to fire before I was gone. Nobody did and I made it to the door without hearing another shot.

It was unlocked and I entered with my gun up and ready. The small kitchen was empty and I couldn’t see anyone in the corridor beyond. I moved slowly, anyway, not wanting to repeat my earlier blunder. I entered the corridor and moved toward the far end, and the entrance hall.

A head appeared in the opening of the far doorway and I fired without thinking. A man fell back, dead before he knew it.

Gunfire down the corridor, and I burst through a side door to avoid it. I was briefly in a laundry room before leaving via the opposite door, entering a well-appointed corridor with a plush carpet that muffled my footsteps.

For a moment I had no idea where to go. I’d been taken to a room upstairs but that didn’t mean Foster would be completing his ritual there. Then I noticed the energy all around me, diffused within the walls of the house. It traveled as though on a breeze, and I followed it down the corridor to a small wooden door near the end. The energy flowed through it as though it wasn’t there.

Another man entered the corridor from the laundry and I twisted in time to hit him before he could fire. He went down with a cry, wounded but not dead. I ignored him and opened the door, then took the stairs leading down.

The basement, which certainly fit the description of a lair. There was no light but I still had the magic all around me, casting flickering shadows as I stepped into the empty stone room at the base of the stairs.

There was no Foster, and no guards. The only thing waiting for me was a solid table and the dagger he’d used on Mouse. The energy was flowing toward it. Into it. It now gave off a soft glow and seemed to be hovering a few inches above the table.

I approached it slowly, unsure what to do now that I’d descended into a dead end with enemies at my back. I could take the dagger, but would it matter? Was this something he needed, or just something Claire had taken a special interest in?

There was blood on the iron blade, a fresh coating that covered older blood I hadn’t noticed before. It was so faded it almost wasn’t there, but in the light of the magic flowing into the room and into the metal I could see it now.

I heard the footsteps on the wooden stairs before they saw me. I moved back to the staircase and slipped under it. When the first feet came into view between the stairs, I waited.

A second set descended and I raised my pistol and fired. The bullet burst through the second man’s ankle before entering the first man in the back. They both went down at once and ended up in a tangled mess at the foot of the stairs. I stepped out of hiding and fired a shot into each of their heads. For good measure, I fired up the stairs, as well.

Nobody followed the dead men and I returned to the dagger. If there were more people in the house, they’d get up the nerve to enter at some point, and I needed to do something, so I reached out and grabbed the hilt.

It squirmed away from me like a snake, dropping back to the table. The movement sent a shiver through the energy flowing into the room. I tried to pick it up again only to have it fall out of my hand again. The thud as it hit the table was amplified until it sounded like thunder.

“That’s enough from you,” I said, more to say something than because I thought the blade was going to listen to me. “You do as you’re told and we’ll get on just fine.”

I reached out again and it avoided my grasping hand as easily as before.

“Oh, well,” I said, as though I actually thought it would work.

I pulled the small bag from my back and laid it on the table, then used one of my own knives to push the dagger inside. There was no squirming this time, just a static shock that traveled up my knife and into my arm.

Someone was waiting for me at the top of the stairs, a silhouette standing in the way of the magic. The man must have thought I couldn’t see him and he made no effort to avoid my gunfire. He went down quietly.

I pulled my Blackberry out and called Claire. The call was answered on the first ring.

“I’ve got the stupid dagger, but I—”

“And I’ve got your stupid god,” Foster said on the other end. “Want to trade?”

Chapter 21

It was so unexpected that I stood there in silence for a few seconds before replying.

“Keep her,” I said as calmly as I was able to. “I hear they grow back if you kill them.”

Foster laughed. “Too true, like weeds. You should have taken me up on my offer. I think we would have worked well together.”

“Maybe, but it would have been hard not to punch you in your smug face constantly.”

“Every job has its problems.” He laughed again but cut it off unnaturally. “My men are going to come down the stairs and I expect you to cooperate with them.”

“I expect you can bite me.”

“I don’t think I could kill Beyahn, anyway, but I’m pretty sure I could take care of little Patty.” He stopped talking, and I had nothing to say. No comeback, no nonchalant comment. He let the silence stretch for a few seconds. “Do what I want, and do it politely. Deal?”

I had no idea what the right course of action was. If I thought keeping the dagger from him might stop the fighting in Littleton that Claire had seen, I would have sacrificed both of them, but I knew that wasn’t the case. I had to kill him to pull that off and I didn’t know where he was. Giving him the dagger would probably let him complete whatever he was doing and summon whatever had a god scared, but it also meant I’d be in the room with him. I had a better chance of taking care of him if I could see him.

“Deal, but I bring it to you.”

“I expected nothing else.” He hung up and I let the hand holding my Blackberry fall to my side. I stood in silence and waited, the magic swirling around me on its way to the dagger. A minute of waiting and another silhouette appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Hurry up,” I called out. “I’m bored with killing you people.”

Three men descended the stairs, two with pistols and one with an automatic rifle, all pointed at me. The rifle guy stayed back while the other two approached me slowly. They didn’t look happy.

The one on the left reached for the bag and I pulled it away just as the other one punched me in the face. I dropped to the ground in preparation for a counter, but stopped myself before taking out more of Foster’s men. He wanted me to be polite, which I took to mean take my beating and smile. So I did.

The backpack was torn from my shoulder a moment before the kicking started. I took it as well as I could, protecting myself where possible. But they kept at it, over and over, and the pain was getting worse. Wounds that had barely healed reopened and muscles tore again. They got my face, and blood exploded from my nose as electricity tore through my brain.

Mercifully, the world faded away after that one.

I woke up in the back of one of Foster’s black BMWs. I’d bled all over the leather seat and the thought of his cleaning bill made me smile. Something had to.

I pushed myself up and into the path of a silenced pistol held by the passenger in the front. An ugly man grinned at me over the barrel.

“Stay quiet and we won’t hurt you no more,” he said. “Make a fuss and I’ll happily put a bullet in your head.”