Wicked resurrection 5, p.9
Wicked: Resurrection 5, page 9
The floor shook again.
"It's coming from the basement," he said over his shoulder. "Is that what you're saying?"
This isn't how I pictured this, Tommy thought, his heart thundering. "Yes."
The veteran soldier had his back to him, his head cocked as he continued to sweep the area with the barrel of his Micro Uzi. "Are you asking me or telling me?"
Tommy swallowed. "Asking."
"You want my blessing?"
"Yes, sir." Richard half-turned around. He smiled at Tommy, and he looked younger than he had in years. "That's a nice show of respect."
"I respect you," Tommy said simply."And I respect you."
They shared a moment. Was that a yes? Unsure, Tommy cleared his throat. "They're in the front yard. If something's going to happen--"
Richard nodded. "Go to them. Take them to the caretaker's cottage. And, son, the answer's yes."Like all the other outbuildings, the cottage stood empty. According to the lawyer, upon the death of James Moore all of the servants had vanished overnight. Literally.
Tommy nodded and hurried to be abreast with Richard. The black-and-white marble felt more substantial than the wood. Richard reached out and clasped him on the shoulder, and Tommy smiled briefly, then headed for the door. Richard crept past the stairway. Behind it there was a door to the basement, with a plain set of stone steps leading down into the darkness.
The boiler's down there, Tommy thought. Maybe there's something wrong with it. What if it blows up?
He was five feet from the door when the marble squares ahead of him suddenly buckled and cracked, as if someone had placed too heavy a weight on top of them. Tommy reared back, aiming his weapon. His mind flashed ahead to an image of Nicole, Owen, and Amanda coming toward the door, and being hit by stray bullets.
"Richard!" he shouted."On it." Richard hastened to get up beside him, and the two fanned the area with their weapons.
"If they come through the door--Amanda, I mean--"
"Get them. Tell them to make sure their magical wards are intact. Something's in the house."
Tommy darted to the right, gasping as he passed into frigid air that turned his breath to mist.
Then the air shimmered a deep purplish green, extending the length of the foyer. It was blocking him from the door.
"Amanda!" he shouted; then regretted calling out. He didn't know where Richard was, and he didn't want to alert anything to their presence.
"Come back, son," Richard bellowed, but Tommy stayed where he was. The purple-green light danced like sparks along his skin. It was thickening, like a sheet of ice.
"Tommy!" Richard shouted.
If Tommy hadn't shouted for Amanda, he would have retreated. Shaking, he made his mind still and called to her: Stay away. Run. The light hardened. He realized only then that it was coating his face, too, and if it closed up his mouth and nose--Richard grabbed his shoulder and yanked him backward. Tommy wiped his mouth and eyes, spitting on the floor; then he looked back up to see the purple pulsating and changing color to a deep, vibrant red."What the hell is it?"
Richard said.
"A portal?" Tommy took another step back.
There was a huge roar, and the crimson light shattered. The house rocked on its foundations, throwing Tommy and Richard to the floor. The marble began to crack as a fissure formed, separating the foyer into two jagged halves. Tommy and Richard rolled toward the stairway as smoke and steam erupted from the crevice, followed by the shrill scream of some kind of animal-
---or demon.
"Go, go, go!" Richard shouted, and Tommy went on automatic, scrambling up the stairs after Richard as the staircase itself tore from the wall and began to wobble like a gyroscope. Then fire shot straight up out of the hole, followed by another inhuman shriek.
His legs spread wide apart in a fight for balance, Tommy grabbed on to the wooden railing of the banister and aimed his Micro Uzi with one hand. Beside him, Richard swore.
"If you see the door open, stop," he said. So Richard was worried about the girls and the baby being shot by accident--Stay away, Tommy called out to Amanda in his mind. Danger!
Marble squares shot into the air, smacking the cathedral ceiling overhead, crashing down and shattering. Flames licked the walls, singeing the ancient portraits.
Then something red and leathery burst through the fissure. It was a lizardlike head, at least as long as Richard was tall, and its green, glowing eyes were the size of the kitchen table. Its snout was elongated, and as Tommy aimed his weapon, preparing to fire, it opened its long jaw, exposing dozens of fangs, and fire shot out of its mouth.
"It's a dragon," he shouted, so Richard could hear him. Despite everything he had seen--demons devouring his loved ones, a sea monster rising from the sea--something in him refused to believe what he was seeing. A dragon. Oh, God.
It screeched again, and then fixed its eyes on the two men. More of the floor gave way as the dragon pushed its enormous body through the floor. Two long wings unfurled, and its neck telescoped, smashing into the walls of the foyer. Cracks bulleted up the wooden walls and split them apart. Large chunks of the ceiling rained down like bombs. The dragon threw back its head again as it slammed against what was left of the ceiling. Snow sprinkled down. Tommy was thrown to his knees, and Richard grabbed his arm.
"Let's go," he said, dragging him up the stairs. Tommy followed, his mind on the front door and Amanda, outside with Owen.
"We should open fire," he bellowed at Richard.
"It hasn't attacked. No need to provoke it," Richard replied.
Tommy! Help us!
It was Amanda. He heard her as clearly as if she were running beside him.
He heard a whoosh; it was the dragon, spouting another geyser of fire.
Outside the house.
He stopped, pivoted, and shot off rounds from his Micro Uzi. The smoke was so thick that he couldn't tell if he had hit the dragon's body, but its head slammed back through the ceiling as a stream of fire rocketed Tommy's way. He flattened himself on the swaying staircase and covered his head with his hands. Stinging heat ran along his skin. He stayed as he was, praying that he wasn't simply giving the dragon a better target.
Richard's weapon kept firing. Tommy felt the hard metal of his own Uzi and contracted his chest, drawing it out from underneath him. Although he couldn't make himself look up, he aimed it in the direction of the heat. He was afraid the flames would burn the eyes right out of his skull.
The noise was deafening; his eardrums shut down until he could hear nothing but a soft pounding he realized was his heartbeat. Then the staircase tilted forward and he started to slide. He reached his hand forward and splayed his fingers, hoping he would snag one of the railings. If he didn't, he'd go flying directly into the path of the creature's mouth. Maybe by the time the dragon munched him, he'd be fried to a crisp.
His hand made contact with something hot; his skin sizzled and he grimaced. Then his shoulder slammed into a piece of burning wood and he cried out. The space in front of him was devilishly hot.
Then someone grabbed his right ankle and yanked him backward. He assumed it was Richard.
Then he was hoisted up by his shoulders to his feet. His center of gravity was wildly out of whack because he was hanging at a strange angle--the staircase had fallen over. He scrabbled for purchase, and managed to get toeholds on the stair. Cautiously he opened his eyes… to a wall of smoke.
If Richard was talking to him, he couldn't hear him. Nor could he see him. When his arm was jerked to the left, he blindly turned, struggling to keep his footing, trying to grip the railing without letting go of his Uzi. His burned fingers were stiff, and he swore as he felt the weapon go.
Richard pushed against Tommy's back as the two climbed the stairs like it was a ladder, his feet slipping and sliding. More than once he hung in the air, and Richard pushed his feet back onto the stairs. He had a moment of giddy hysteria when he imagined they were going through a fun house. Then they at last stepped onto an even surface--a landing--then forward a few feet--and up another flight of stairs, this set solid and upright.
Cold air washed down on him, and then snow, soothing his hands and prickling his face. A blast of wind told him they were outside, and he forced his eyes open. They stood on the slate roof of House Moore, wind and snow dervishing around them, as the huge red dragon burst from the front of the house and rose into the air. Its huge scarlet wings flapped with such force that it drew flames out of the house. Snow flurried around it in a vortex as it raised and lowered its enormous wings.
Beside him, Richard raised his Micro Uzi, tracing its trajectory. Then he lowered it with a frustrated shake of his head and turned. His mouth moved, but Tommy didn't hear a word he said. Tommy squinted, then shook his head and pointed to his ears.
Richard gestured forward, and Tommy gave him a thumbs-up. Together they crab walked along the side of the roof, past turrets and gables, chimneys and skylights--none broken--silhouetted by the flames, until they reached the front edge of the section that had been ruined. Tommy looked down. There was no sign of Amanda, Nicole, or Owen.
There were several ways to get down from the roof; as he recalled, there was an old rusty ladder that ran down to the second story, and from there, more stone steps. They found it handily; Tommy scaled it, sending out his thoughts to Amanda, receiving no sense of her anywhere. He had no idea how he managed to move so fast--adrenaline, magic.
Soon they were racing down the gravel path that led to the caretaker's cottage. Amanda burst out through the front door and caught Tommy in her arms. They held each other for an instant; then Tommy looked past her to see Nicole on the threshold, with Owen in her arms.
"We need to call the fire department," Tommy mouthed. He didn't know if he was speaking or yelling.
Then the tiny baby stretched out his hand. Nicole's mouth dropped open, and she spoke. Amanda pulled gently away from Tommy and looked in the direction of the mansion. Her face lit up.
Tommy turned, and looked. House Moore was no longer on fire. A few wisps of gray steam were all that were left of the masses of flames and cauldrons of smoke. And instead of serious destruction of the front part of the house, ancient stonework had replaced the wood that must have burned away. The country house looked as if it had been built over an ancient castle, which the fire had now revealed.
Amanda said something. He stared at her blankly. She waved her hands and moved her lips."…
castle," Amanda said. He could hear her again. "Do you think it was there all along?"
"Did you see the dragon?" he asked her. His ears were still ringing.
She smiled faintly. "How could I miss it?"
"How did it get here?" Richard said, giving Amanda a tight hug, then moving on to Nicole and his grandchild.
"They say that every castle has a dragon in the dungeon."Tommy closed his eyes and staggered a little. Now that the crisis had passed, his nerves were beginning to take over. Amanda slid her arm around his waist.
"Come into the cottage and sit down," she urged him.
"I thought I'd lost you," he said in a rush.
"I thought I'd never see you again." Tears welled in his eyes.
"Amanda Anderson, will you marry me?"
She stared at him, openmouthed. And then she shrieked with happiness and threw her arms around him.
Part Two Balthasar
And the Deceiver who nearly destroyed us all will come again and this time his wrath will not he checked and the whole world will burn for him.--Gospel of Balthasar FIVE
FRANKINCENSE
Twisting, turning through the year
Death and carnage do we cheer
We close our fists and we find
Our enemies torn, body and mind
Seasons change and we sing
For all the good that they bring
But we also shed a tear
For they also bring us fear
Scarborough: Tommy, Amanda, Nicole, Owen, and Richard
Richard didn't trust the lawyer Derek as far as he could throw him. So he sat in the kitchen and watched as the warlock presented stacks of papers to Nicole. The incident with the dragon had rattled all of them a lot more than they were admitting to one another. It had served as a grim reminder that none of them was safe.
Which was why Nicole was making out her will.
"So, in the event of your death you have your father, your sister and her fiancé, and Philippe who could raise Owen. Which order do you want those put in?" Derek asked.
"What do you mean?" Nicole asked, looking confused."He wants to know which of us is your first pick to raise Owen," Richard explained.
His daughter looked at him with anxious eyes that nearly broke his heart. "Why do I have to choose?"
"It's just the way this is done," Derek said, and to his credit, his voice still sounded patient even after three hours.
Nicole looked like she was going to cry. Richard sighed. "Sweetie, it's not a popularity contest.
None of us is going to take the order personally," he said.
She seemed to brighten at that. "Okay, then, that order. First dad, then Amanda and Tommy, and then Philippe."
"Great. Now, given that you are a witch and that the first three are here with you and the last one is… um… missing for now, who do you want as your backup?" Derek asked.
Nicole put her head down onto the kitchen table. "Aren't those enough?"
"Ordinarily, yes. But you are far from ordinary. Even for a witch, you are extraordinary. Frankly, it's a miracle you're still alive."
"Thanks," she groaned."I'm putting a family locater spell on the will so that if all of you should die in the same incident…"
"You can say battle," Richard informed him grimly.
Derek winced. "As Nicole's legal representative, I do not want to hear about any battles or any other activities that might break the law of either of our countries."
"So, trying to be an officer of the court and raining down the type of destruction I'm sure you're capable of, you're a masochist, aren't you?" Richard asked.
Derek rolled his eyes. "I have been accused of having identity issues, if that's what you mean."
The lawyer turned back to Nicole. "The spell will find Holly, if she's alive, and any other Cathers."
Nicole straightened up. "You mean, that's all we would have had to do to find other relatives?
Holly didn't have to go off with Alex? We could have just worked this spell?"
"No, this spell is the exclusive property of the law firm I represent. It's one of the specialized services we offer. No one else can use our spell, and we don't run a detective agency and so are not in the habit of using it just to find missing persons."
"So, what, you've got a patent on the spell?" Richard asked, letting his cynicism show.
Derek smiled faintly. "Something like that."
"So, then, just use the family locater spell," Nicole said."Do you want to consider, as many witches do, putting the Mother Coven into your will as beneficiaries or possible caretakers for Owen?"
"No!" Richard and Nicole chorused together."Glad we've got that settled," Derek said, raising an eyebrow."Can we be done now?" Nicole asked."I think I have enough here. I'll have my assistant draw these up, and I'll be back out Friday so you can sign them," he said, gathering his stacks of paper.
Richard rose, ready to accompany the younger man to the door. They moved toward the side door of the kitchen, which led to a garden outside. The front entrance had been almost completely destroyed by the dragon, and Richard and Tommy hadn't been able to finish clearing away all the debris.
"Do you want me to have the house repaired?" Derek asked, pausing for one last look around.
"We're fine," Richard said. The last thing he needed was more people in the house, where they could hide any number of traps and curses. "You sure that dragon wasn't in the will?"
Derek shook his head. "I'm afraid not, which means they weren't keeping it as a pet."
"No kidding."
***
It was the day before Thanksgiving, but Amanda felt anything but thankful as she made breakfast. Every day the darkness at the corners of her mind seemed to encroach a little more, swallow up the light. The worst part was, with the exception of the still mysterious dragon, there was nothing she could point out to her family. No, the danger seemed to be all in her mind, though she refused to believe she was imagining it.
Since the engagement, Tommy had been trying to coax her to stay in his room, but more than ever she didn't want prying eyes upon her when she slept. She knew that she had nightmares, and more than once had woken up to find that she had been sleepwalking. Still, even though she recorded all her memories, it wasn't enough. It didn't tell her why every third night she woke up staring at a portrait of Sir William in what had to have been his study. She had been working on a spell, though, that, while it would not capture her dreams, would at least allow her in the morning to watch herself having them. It was a third night, and she was determined to watch herself in the moments before she woke up in front of the portrait.
She stared down at her notebook with her latest collection of dreams. There was the usual collection of people, Holly being predominant this time. There was also a series of images including a great phoenix with a key in his talons.
"I knew I shouldn't have watched that Harry Potter movie on television last night," she joked to herself, thinking about the phoenix the school's headmaster kept as a pet.
She closed her eyes and tried to conjure the image to mind, fairly certain that the movie and not the house had been to blame for that one. What do I know about that phoenix? Suddenly she could hear a scream in her head followed by a woman sobbing and the crackle of flames. She gasped and opened her eyes. Around her the entire kitchen was engulfed in flames and her very skin was on fire.
She woke up screaming. Her bedroom door flew open and her father raced in, eyes wild and gun in hand. She stared at him wondering how on earth he had come to be there, or even how she had come to be in her room instead of downstairs in the kitchen.
