Ch. 36: Mal's Midnight Run
September 12 | Midnight
The grandfather clock in the foyer struck a quarter past midnight. I heard it from upstairs in my bedroom. "Something's wrong. I can feel it," I said as I stroked my neck to ease the lump in my throat. My voice felt like gravel. Ava, sitting on the chair beside my bed, took my other hand and removed the tortured fingernail from my mouth. Her stare was bleak.
"Cherie and I are all packed up."
I bobbed my head. "If Jack and Sunny haven't returned by tomorrow morning, I'll get the two of you out of here while Darcy is preoccupied with the Council of Overlay Affairs." My phone vibrated, and my eyes narrowed on the screen before widening with relief.
Where are you, Mal? I'm at Sunny's. Get here. I need you.
It was a text from Jack. I stared at the message, not sure what to make of its tone. Regardless, I clung to the hope that my companions had found the Map of Destiny. Even if they hadn't, they were alive. The mounting trepidation that had hounded me throughout their day of absence abated somewhat. But before I could respond, the shadows that gathered regularly in the corners of my scarlet and obsidian bedroom fled as if they, too, heard what I then heard. Darcy had re-entered the house.
"We're home. Be amicable," he told someone.
Ava and I girded our proverbial loins. I kissed her cheek and whispered, "Stay out of sight unless I call you. I'll see that Darcy stays distracted by Aurie. Be with you in a bit." My sister squeezed my fingers, rounded eyes glossy with concern. She didn't have to say her usual. It bled from her expression. Be careful. I couldn't. I had to be daring, reckless. The survival of the people I loved hung in the balance.
I strode past Cherie eavesdropping on the second landing and sent her to Ava. Gliding down the baroque staircase, I strained to put a face to the unfamiliar voice that answered Darcy. It wasn't Aurie as I had presumed. When I stepped into the antebellum great hall, more than the missing Hollywood director's daughter was waiting. There was another woman with ginger tresses accenting a dove white face sprinkled with freckles. She was classically attractive with a body most femmes would kill to have.
The front door remained open, and storm winds fluttered the black and gold brocade skirt I wore as I hurried to greet the new arrivals. The same gales tugged at locks of my hair, flinging them across my face. I tucked the strands behind my ear to glower at Darcy. I recognition his unannounced guest.
"You know you should not have brought them here," I admonished. Zyr Ravani's partner, Detective Tegan Stoney, had no business cowering beside the vampire.
Darcy dripped his falsest grin. "I don't expect the three of you to be privy to this, Mal. You and your sisters should have the night to yourselves."
With lips parted for as much of a tirade as I thought I might get away with, his words made me shut my mouth. I arched a winged eyebrow. If Darcy was willing to give my sisters and me our freedom for the night, that meant trouble for his guests but a boon for the Ashivants. The music room had been readied. My lovers wouldn't be back in time to save Yalina, Aurie, or this poor soul, Tegan, who had gotten herself ensnared in a sticky political web. I almost cast a sympathetic glance at the captives. Almost. To do so would've shown my hand.
The vampire's impromptu offer of a hall pass was my shot at getting to Jack and Sunny. Apparently, Darcy didn't think I would go far with a hurricane on our doorstep. Served him right for always believing he was the smartest person in the room.
"Ava! Cherie!" I called over my shoulder. My sisters came at once. Without a word, I led them into the dreary night. The heavy doors slammed shut behind us, and I said in a rush, "Quickly, girls. I have to get to the carriage house and take one of the Rolls before Darcy asks too many questions about where I'm going. Cover for me."
"It's not time yet?" Cherie chirped.
"No, not yet–but soon," I said of the mission to escape. Thanks to the portal cards, I could send the twins away, never to return, and hopefully eradicate Darcy, myself. But I had to make sure Jack and Sunny were safe.
Ava pulled Cherie along by the sleeve, both taking long strides to keep up with me. "You've heard back from the guys?" she asked breathlessly.
"They're at the angel's place. Do you have the djinn dust?"
"Of course." She handed the bag to me.
Not bothering with a driver, I climbed into the car. "I want you two to hang out at the guest house tonight. I don't know what Darcy is up to, but he's messing with some strange, dark magic, calling the Baron in for this. I'll return shortly." Stay alive, I wanted to add, but I didn't want to startle them. The fricative energetic signature of the night was ripe with foreboding. I couldn't tell who was in more danger–Jack and Sunny, Yalina and Aurie, or the three of us. Maybe we all were.
***
Rounding the parking lot at Sunny's apartment, I pumped the brakes at the gaggle of cop cars. "What's this about?" I grumbled as I parked. Jack and Sunny's nosy neighbor–I think her name was Denise–was outside talking to one of the uniformed officers. I killed the engine and hopped from the vehicle, catching the tail end of her monologue.
"...Just isn't that type of complex! When I saw those thugs lure that innocent elderly couple into their vehicle, I knew they couldn't be trusted so I called you guys," she described. "At first I thought it had something to do with their son–you know he's an ex-felon–but Jack has been a model citizen since his conviction got overturned. If anything, it's probably a case of mistaken identity."
"Yes, ma'am. Well, you leave the investigating to us, alright?" said the cop. "I think you've given us a good description of the men who took the Slobodniks, and now that they're home safe and sound, we'll find the culprits. In the meantime, we've put out an alert to lockdown the area. Please go inside, lock your doors, and if you see the men come back, call us at once."
"Absolutely, officer. You're a lifesaver," gushed Denise.
Darcy's exuberance at being close to the prize had him sloppy. I swore under my breath, then did a double-take at another officer who looked suspiciously like Kato. Older, more put together in the navy blue digs of law enforcement, the OASIS agent blended in with the others on patrol. A beard and mustache that matched the hair up top shaded the youth's face, contributing to the believability of the disguise. I also spotted Ajit and made a beeline for him.
"You found them?" I stated the obvious.
The attractive Indian familiar leaned with his arms crossed against a street lamp. He nodded at my approach. "Got 'em out, brought 'em home, and found this hullabaloo." He waggled his eyebrows. The cops looked like they were wrapping up, satisfied no one was hurt. I couldn't imagine what the Slobodniks had told them about their disappearance. Clearly, not the truth.
"Looks like Denise takes her Neighborhood Watch job a little too seriously," I replied. The woman looked pleased with herself as she went into her unit and locked the door. I watched her peek through the blinds. Jack would be astonished to hear that she had stood up for him.
Kato wandered over to us For my ears only, the agent relayed, "OASIS has recovered The Book of Tides. I repeat, OASIS has recovered The Book of Tides."
I stared at the ground as swells of hope threatened to steal my breath. They had done it. They had secured the most dangerous aspect of our mission. Now, all my team had to do was deliver the Map of Destiny, buy our freedom, and move on with our lives.
"I can't tell you how relieved that makes me," I replied. Kato nodded and ambled off. Ajit kept his steely gaze on us throughout the exchange.
"You know I don't like this, Mal. Too many variables that I can't control," the familiar said quietly. "Fortunately, with this place full of burps-and-cherries, none of the master's pets have shown up, but I'm trying to keep a low profile."
I nodded understanding. This time, Cherie had asked a lot of him. His aspiration to someday be with her was the only thing keeping him invested. "Don't worry about Darcy, Ajit. He'll be preoccupied for quite some time. Besides, I hid his surveillance laptop. He still doesn't know you're involved. Now, where are Jack's parents?"
"Packing overnight bags to skip town."
"Good. Get them out–I don't want to know where you're going–and make sure they're protected until Cherie gives you the all-clear. If everything goes according to plan, you, me, and everyone else we care about will finally be out from under the vampire's thumb. Plus, there'll be a fat paycheck with your name on it. Do you know where Jack and Sunny are? Jack told me they were here."
The question had hardly cleared my lips when the Slobodniks' door swung wide and Jack stomped out with Mr. Slobodnik on his heels. "I told you, you're barking up the wrong tree," Jack said through gritted teeth. "Everything I've done for Mr. Cyprian has been on the up-and-up. I don't know why he came after you guys, but I'm gonna find out. You have to trust me!"
"Son, how can I, when he sent his kidnappers after us?" his father retorted out of earshot of the police. Cop cars filed from the parking lot around them. He dropped his arms in defeat and added, "Mother and I want the best for you, and this ain't it."
Jack shoved his hands through his hair. I tugged my cardigan tighter and called for him, "Jack?"
He spotted me. "Dad, something really shitty went down today, and I don't have the emotional fortitude for more arguing. You're home, you're safe, and I've got a team ready to get you and Mom out of the city until I straighten this mess. There's Mal. I have to talk to her. I'll be back to see you and Mom off."
Stiff with tension, he grabbed my elbow and ushered me to Sunny's apartment. The fierceness of his grip was almost painful. My jaw dropped at the rough treatment. He yanked me into the studio and slammed the door shut behind me.
"Hey, calm down! Jack, what the hell has gotten into you?"
"Mal, Sunny's dead."
The world stopped. "What did you say?" I croaked.
There was something on the bed he wanted me to see. Jack flipped back a white sheet covering the bloated, discolored body of the fallen angel. Sunny's radiant brown skin had been rendered sickly yellow with blue veins curving away from a festering wound on his shoulder. It appeared as if something had tried to take a bite out of him.
I threw my arm across my eyes as my knees gave out. So, that was it. That was the reason for Jack's shortness with his parents, the redness of his eyes, the disheveledness of his clothes. I clutched his t-shirt as gravity brought me to the floor. He hugged me with fresh tears leaking.
"He's dead, Mal," he repeated hoarsely.
"No, no, no!" I sobbed. I had never mourned the loss of anyone, not even my own father. Death came as naturally to me as breathing, but not this time. "No! You were supposed to protect him! You were supposed to protect him, Jack!"
"Shh, shh, please–we can't afford to let anyone hear us," Jack murmured.
"What happened?" I wailed.
"We went to the stream, but it had become a river since the last time Yalina saw it. I told him to wait onshore and keep an eye out for the Fext as I dove in because the stone that was supposed to mark the spot had been submerged by water.
"Only, the current was stronger than I was prepared for," he explained. "I tried to take it on in wolf-shape, but I needed more agility so I transformed back. Then I saw the soldiers come from the woods. I don't know for certain what happened after that. I'm sorry, Mal. I'm so sorry, sweetheart." He sounded as broken as I felt.
Whimpering, I pounded his chest. The teardrops scalded my eyes. I turned away, dry-heaving from the horror of the body on the bed. "Come," Jack bade me. He guided me to the yellow living room where the midcentury chairs faced the sunflower wall art, and we sat. I was grateful; I couldn't bear to be near my beloved like that.
Jack shook his head, morose. "At some point, I hit a fallen log and went under. While I was knocked out, Haley appeared to me and told me the Map of Destiny had been moved, but she did an incantation to help me find it.
"When I woke up on the edge of the river hours later," he went on, "I realized Sunny had come in after me and saved my life. Lycanthropy reversed the effects of drowning. He would have made it. I know it, Mal. It's just that a gator got to him."
I clasped Jack's face in pain. I had almost lost him, too. Sniffling, I kissed him, wishing fervently that his survival meant we weren't yet doomed, although he had only the word of a mixed-up witch that we'd ever be able to find the map.
"And now my parents are grilling me about what I do for Mr. Cyprian," he groaned. "The police were asking questions about whether I was involved in their kidnapping. They even asked me about a fucking insurance settlement! I'm back at square one, looked at as a criminal. It's too much, Mal. It's–"
"Hush." I placed a finger to his lips. "Kato and Ajit have been out there misleading investigators and focusing on getting your parents away from here like you wanted. OASIS has The Book of Tides, Jack. It's up to you and me to do our part, so we have to pull ourselves together. We need to be strong. We can do this. We can't let Sunny's...loss be in vain." My voice cracked.
I smudged my nose with the back of my hand. "There's one problem," I said. "We have to find the best way to dispose of the body."
"No. No, Mal, I can't," Jack lost his composure. He balled up in the chair and covered his head as raging sobs wracked his frame. "Please don't ask me to."
"Oh, baby, I'd never," I agreed, stroking his hair. "Sunny technically never existed. Therefore, calling the coroner and having him picked up for a proper burial is out of the question. The indignity of not giving him proper rites is out of the question, too, though.
"We'll leave the body here for the time being," I decided. "We'll turn the thermostat down as low as possible, and let's get him in the tub with some ice. I'll have one of my staff come here and take care of the rest for us. Would you like that? We'll bury him close by–in a sunny glade or park–so that we can always visit his grave."
Agony lanced me. His grave. I stared at the ceiling, blinking rapidly, because I thought I might lose it, too. Our love hadn't been given a chance. Why had we been brought together and given the illusion that we'd defeat Darcy for things to end like this? Love was a cruel master. My spine quivered with the despair I suppressed.
I wanted to rip my clothes, tear at my hair, cover my face in ashes. I wanted to display my grief to the world so that people might know I had loved and lost and been wounded deeply by life's betrayal. But I couldn't. I had always been the strong one. I had to be.
"We can't let this stall us, beloved. Darcy has Aurie."
"Oh God, Mal." Jack's face was a mask of absolute terror.
I nodded, the feeling mutual. "For Haley's incantation to have any chance of working, we have to rely on it right this second. I brought my portal cards. Here, hold this." I handed him a card from the pocket of my brocade skirt. "Picture the woods and take us back. There may not be any hope for Aurie or Yalina, but we must find that map."