The Dark Lands

Chapter 5

5

Walker and I stand on a cobblestone path leading toward the Enmity brothers’ worm farm. That should be strange enough, but the day just moved from slightly weird to I’ll definitely need therapy after this territory.

Because Walker, my only “family” member outside my parents, just told me that he’s leaving. Forever.

Around me, the world takes on an unreal gleam. The gray sky, corduroy landscape, even Walker in his black ghoul robes … it all holds the wobbly look of a dream. Or in this case, a nightmare. It’s an effort to force out my next words.

“Tell me what you need. If I can help you, I will.”

Walker gives me a shaky grin. “You mentioned my brother Drayden.”

“Yes, Cissy just did a segment on him during Good Morning Purgatory.”

“Here’s the thing.” Walker straightens his shoulders. “Drayden’s not dead.”

“What? They showed his new memorial and everything.”

“My brother is alive. All this time, he’s been guarding Lucifer’s prison in secret.”

A sinking feeling creeps into my bones. “Becky said that one of Lucifer’s guards had been poisoned.”

“That was Drayden.” Walker’s deep voice cracks with grief. “He has less than a day left to live.”

I pop my hands over my mouth. “Oh, Walker! That’s terrible.”

“Drayden has unique skills that enable him to guard Lucifer. My brother must be saved or Lucifer will break free. Only I can cure him. Today, I will depart to do just that. Once I go, there is no return.”

“Whoa.” I take a half-step backward. “That’s a whole lot of confusing. What do you mean by cure, exactly? And why do you have to leave and never return? And who gave you this intel?”

“I can’t answer all your questions. What I can share is this: The person who gave me the information about Drayden is another, ah, jailer for Lucifer.”

Another, ah, jailer? Walker only stutters that way when he’s holding back. I add research sketchy Lucifer jailer to my list of things to uncover later, right alongside get definition of cure.

“Also,” adds Walker. “This fellow jailer believes that whoever broke in and hurt Drayden, they did so because they found a new item of Lucifer’s.”

“I knew it.” I snap my fingers and point right at Walker’s nose. “Back in the limo, I told Lincoln that this Lucifer situation included an archangel gadget. What got loose now?”

“I don’t know.” Walker’s gaze locks on the far-off farmhouse. “But I’ve heard the brothers who run this place are rather connected.”

“They sure are; Cissy told me all about it. For months, her agents have tried getting info out of the Enmity brothers. But those dudes do not talk. If they won’t open up to a fellow quasi, what makes you think they’ll confide in a ghou …” I stop mid-word as the realization hits me. “They’ll never talk to a ghoul. It’s me who’ll get them to blab.”

Walker nods. “Word is, the Enmity brothers are very religious. They love their Scala Mother.”

“Ick. I am not a religion. And I’m only mother to Maxon.”

Walker’s all black eyes fill with sympathy. “You know what I mean.”

A sick taste fills my mouth. I know what Walker means, all right. Plenty of quasis worship me as their Scala Mother. It’s more than a little disturbing. Some camp out at Pulpitum transfer stations, trying to glimpse me as I travel about. It’s gotten so bad, we had to install extra guards—plus a 24-7 waiting limo—so I could move around without getting mobbed.

Speaking of being mobbed, there’s no one around on the farm today. Which leads to another conclusion. “The Enmity brothers don’t know I’m joining you, do they?”

Walker shakes his head. “This isn’t an official visit. I thought surprise might help loosen their tongues.” He tries to smile again. It only makes him look more miserable.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get them to blab about the Lucifer thingy.” I scratch my cheek. “How else can I help?”

“I’d hoped you and Lincoln could be my back-up for saving Drayden. I only have a short time window in which to rescue him. If anything goes wrong, I need you and Lincoln to be available.” Walker takes off his watch and offers it to me. “All you need to know is loaded on this device.”

I take the watch from Walker’s hand. A series of images appear on the small screen. There’s a shield with a pattern of three feathers, a labyrinth map, and a massive gothic mansion surrounded by a funky gate. Interesting.

Walker speaks two words. “Alarm set.”

With that, a flash of purple light bursts from the device, followed by a poof of violet smoke. I hold the watch away from me like it’s infected with plague. I’ve seen this flash-poof scenario before. A spell is at work. And not just any magic, mind you. This watch just poofed out a purple spell from the House of Striga. Thrax society is divided up into houses, and Striga has the best warlocks and witches around.

Still gripping the watch by its band, I let the device dangle from my fingertips. “What just happened here?”

“The watch is loaded with a few spells. I activated one to alert you in case anything goes wrong on my mission to save Drayden. And if things do go wrong, that device will give you a countdown until the poison kills Drayden. You must save him before then.”

The world seems to pause as I soak in every aspect of my honorary brother, from his wide and capable hands to his large all-black eyes. He needs to save his Drayden. And to do that, Walker must go into hiding forever.

That can’t be right.

Walker nods to the farmhouse. “We should head over.”

My mind turns foggy. Things are happening so quickly and this is a huge decision. “Can’t we wait a few minutes?” My voice comes out with a desperate edge, and I don’t care. “Lincoln is meeting us here. Maybe he can help you plan.”

“Trust me, I’ve looked at this from every angle. First, you must discover exactly what the dangerous object is from the Enmity brothers. Second, I’ll save Drayden. Third, I go into hiding. If all proceeds according to schedule, then that watch will tell time only. But if anything goes ill, that device will start a countdown, as well as display all the data you need to help Drayden. Will you assist him? I need to hear you say the words.”

I purse my lips and tilt my head, which is my classic thinking pose. Walker wants my help. That’s all I need to know, really. And there’s no question in my mind; Lincoln will feel the same way, too. Straightening my shoulders, I meet Walker’s worried gaze straight on.

“I hereby make this solemn promise.” I raise the watch by its band. “If a countdown appears on this thingy, then Lincoln and I will save Drayden before the time runs out. We’ll also make sure you’re safe and sound. And whatever’s hurting you both? We will track that s**t down and kick its ass. Hard.”

Walker exhales. “That’s more than I asked for but … thank you. And I’m afraid some parts of saving Drayden may need your creative touch.”

Meaning he doesn’t know how to do it. “Bah. I’ll figure it out.” Hopefully.

“Thank you once again.”

“I have conditions, though.”

“Which are?”

“I fully expect you to be in touch from your disappearing place.” I make little air quotes with my fingers when I say the words disappearing place. “Maybe you can pick somewhere warm that Lincoln and I can visit, like a beach?”

The look on Walker’s face turns unreadable. “I’m not going to a beach.”

I tap the watch face. “Yet the details about your final location are in here somewhere.”

“Only if things go wrong, Myla. Don’t get any ideas.”

“You know me.” I shrug. “I have ideas.”

“Please don’t waste your time. There’s no way to break the information locking spells loaded on that watch.”

Bah. If Walker’s hiding place is loaded in this watch, then I’ll find him somehow. Besides, Walker’s done sneaky stuff before and has had to go into hiding. He always turns up eventually. My honorary older brother is filled with big secrets and extra abilities. I don’t put limits on the guy. Ever.

With my promise made, I wrap the massive watch around my wrist. The small square screen flashes.

10:21 a.m.

I hitch my thumb toward the farmhouse. “Let’s do this.”

“That’s my Myla.”

Walker and I resume our march along the path to Enmity Farms. This time, I take care to go slowly, considering how Walker’s still limping. Soon the sight of his pained gait gets to me. I’m part Furor demon, which means I have powers over two mortal sins: lust and wrath. Just knowing that someone hurt Walker? My inner wrath demon seethes with white-hot fury.

Whoever hurt my honorary brother, they will pay.

Minutes later, the main house of Enmity Farms looms just ahead. Up close, the place looks like it fell out of the movie, Gone With The Wind. I’m talking pale wooden siding, tall white columns out front, wrap-around porch, the whole plantation named Tara dealy-yo-yo. Which is totally unusual for Purgatory. Most of our buildings are run-down piles of crapola.

The white mansion gleams pristinely in the morning light. While the front porch is empty, vague shapes shift behind the large bay windows. The Enmity brothers are most definitely at home.

Perfect.

I pause for a weapons check. Sure enough, my baculum rods are in their proper place, strapped into a holster at the base of my spine. The cool metal feels chilly against my fingertips.

Yes.

Since I’m part archangel, I can ignite baculum into any number of weapons made from angel fire. I glance over my shoulder at Walker.

“You got yours?” I ask.

There’s no need to say anything more; Walker knows exactly what I’m talking about. After all, he’s part archangel too. “I do.”

“Good,” I lower my voice to a hush. “Because if half the things I’ve heard about these brothers are true, we might be in for a fight.”

The distinct sound of a throat clearing fills the air. Turning around, I face Purgatory Tara once more. Only now, the wide front porch is filled with seven stout men with red hair, full beards, and scorpion tails. And they way they’re all glaring at Walker? Clearly, these quasis are not ghoul lovers. Even worse, the Enmity brothers’ demonic power is wrath. It doesn’t take them much to go from zero to kill zone.

A smile automatically curves my mouth. These days, I may be a queen, mother, and demi-goddess, but in my heart, I’m still an Arena fighter.

If these Enmity brothers want trouble, that’s fine with me.