Blue Moon Rising (The Patroness) (24 page)

“Are you alright?”

I nearly fell off my chair. I obviously wasn’t quite myself if Kylian managed to sneak up on me like this. I hadn’t even heard him opening the door, for Christ’s sake. “Been better, I guess.”

He pulled a stool from under the desk and came to sit directly in front of me, our knees touching.

“I hate waiting. I can’t stand sitting around, doing nothing,” I explained.

“You’re worried.”

Anger flaring abruptly I snarled, “Well, of course I am. You saw what they did to the others.”

“You think it’s your fault.” His voice, so matter-of-factly and distant, annoyed me, got under my skin and had my anger snapping. I punched him in the face.

“It is. Without me, she’d be safe, and this wouldn’t have happened to her.” That bastard didn’t even twitch. Just sat there, looking at me with those blue-brown eyes of his.

“That’s nonsense. Pauline is a grown woman, and you did tell her about the risks of living with you. And she accepted it, because she likes you and she trusts you.”

“Yeah, look how well that turned out.”

“Oh please, cut the crap, would you?”

I punched him again, and got his nose bleeding. It helped, my anger evaporated and I had the feeling as if a veil was finally lifted, and I could see clear and think straight again. “Shit, I’m sorry.” That was exactly what I’d needed. Hitting someone. It’d been good to let off some steam. Kylian kinda proposed, right?

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah, I do. I do.” I handed him a towel to wipe the blood off his face, though I could actually watch the bleeding stop and his nose heal. It was fascinating.

“Good. Maybe you’re ready to listen to me now.”

“Want me to punch you again?” I asked, but my tone was light.

“That was a punch? I really hope you can do better otherwise I won’t let you out of here again.” Absolutely serious now he continued, “If you want to help Pauline, find the suckers who did this to her and whose fault it really is. Stop beating yourself up, stop blaming yourself. It’s not your fault! You can’t be in every place at once, Maiwenn. You’re the Patroness of Paris and last night you did your job. Okay, we got arrested, but there could have been a fight or something else keeping you away. If you’d stayed with them, or gone home earlier, you’d have missed the rogue and we might have ended up with more shredded bodies on our hands. There are always two sides to a medal.”

“I know.”

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “And I know you know it, but sometimes you need someone to remind you, to hear it out loud.”

I looked directly into his warm eyes, and said softly, “Thank you for getting my head back on track.” Grabbing my weapons, I stood up and was out of there before I could do something stupid. Like falling out of my chair and into his arms. Not the moment, not the place.

I headed back downstairs. Before taking my shower I wanted to make sure that Viviane was alright, so I silently opened the door to my room to check on her. She was still sleeping, looking pale and exhausted, and I closed the door again. In the living room Mathieu, Philippe and Chastel were watching TV, their expressions rather blank. Everything might have seemed normal, but it just wasn’t. Pauline was gone and it was too damn quiet here. Her laughter, spirit and music gone. And missed. It was amazing how in a couple of days she’d made her way into all our hearts. It said a lot about her.

I would get her back! With new found determination in mind and heart I went into the bathroom, stripped and showered, which after a quick glance at my watch didn’t take as long as I’d hoped. I toweled off, braided my hair, strapped some of my weapons on, pulled on black pants and a long-sleeved top, to then strap on some more weapons and finally donned a sleeveless, black vest. I filled the sued in extra pockets inside my vest with first-aid stuff and acid. As the last and final touch I strapped Cutter’s leather harness across my back.

I was ready.

At five for seven I stood on the rooftop and showed Mathieu one last time how to load and secure the gun I’d given him, just in case. I’d taught him how to use it, and even had him shot a few rounds at a target on the roof. Turned out he was a quick learner and a good shot. Returning the weapon I watched him handling the gun with swift motions.

“Don’t pull anything stupid, while we’re gone!”

It brought out a small smile. “Get her back.”

We headed downstairs where Kylian and Chastel were, like me, clad in black, nicely accentuated by glinting metal showing here and there, and a shitload of silver on Chastel’s side.

“Let’s go then.” I moved past the door Kylian held open for me, followed by Chastel. With a last glance back I heard Mathieu close the door, and strangely calmed by it I headed down the stairs.

The park closed at a quarter to eight therefore, once inside, the chances were low to find trouble. The most pressing problem would be how to climb those more than four yards of spiked fence surrounding the park unnoticed, that’s why I searched for something big enough to cover up my little tardily visit. Kylian and Chastel were probably doing the same, after we’d split up earlier, each one of us securing one entrance.

Ah, trees and a bus station, where only an elderly woman was waiting for the bus. No real audience to worry about there, and luckily the backside of the bus station was only a few feet away from the fence. Perfect. Looking first left, then right – one couldn’t be too careful – I ran-up to jump against the bus station, pushing myself off with one leg to leap into the opposite direction and finally grabbed for the bars of the fence with both hands, pulling myself up. I carefully cleared those stupid spikes, and landed softly in a crouch on the grass in the park.

Like many Parisian parks, this one looked like one of the Sun King’s dreams come true with the grand, architecturally impressive building of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle as its showpiece and the symmetrical flowerbeds and white sand paths leading to it.

Moving from cover to cover, tree to plant, I checked for other uninvited visitors, all the while advancing through many breathtaking and fragrant flowerbeds, which now nearing the end of summer were overflowing with well-sized plants, like banana trees and high sun flowers, towards the museum. It seemed the higher powers were on my side for a change. Before reaching the museum, I turned to the right, moving past the big greenhouses coming to stand on a small hillock and overlooking a more deliberately designed area of the park. From up here I could already make out the altar with its stone table guarded by three standing stones, nearly black in the fading light. Every day hundreds of people passed these stones without even the slightest idea of their hidden powers.

While observing the area I made out Chastel hiding near to a smaller building behind the altar, and to my right perfectly camouflaged by bushes was Kylian lying in wait like the predator he was. So I moved to the left, towards the old and big cedar tree to find a nice hide-out of my own between the thick brushwood surrounding it.

The waxing moon had traded places with the sun and although darkness had long settled nobody had showed. We knew sooner or later someone would come along; the thought of a successful finish to one’s plan was just too tempting to be ignored. So we kept on waiting.

Then all of a sudden a burning hot pain pierced my shoulders, so strong and unexpected I howled from it and had to close my eyes to get my control back. When I opened them again I was airborne, and looking up I saw a big black bird of some kind carrying me in a tight grip, its claws sinking deep into the flesh underneath my collarbone and probably sticking out my back. The next instant those damn claws pulled out with a sucking and nauseating sound and I was dropped to land beside the altar. I tried to soften the impact, and rolled with it, using my drive to jump to my feet again. Ready to fight, my eyes searched for adversaries. In that moment Kylian and Chastel were dumped beside me, both of them coming to their feet in a blink; fury and rage consuming their eyes. I could totally relate to that.

“What the fuck is going on?” Kylian growled through his mighty fangs. His arms showed gray fur and were tipped off by razor-sharp seven inch long claws, since he’d changed halfway to animal.

Those three birds that had given us such a nice ride landed behind us, each of them covering one of us. Standing proudly on two feet and with their immense beak probably not only able to crack a nut but also a head, they looked like a nine feet tall battle version of a raven. Two of them had light gray and brown feathers, the other one shiny blue-black ones. I had to give it to them, they were of a lethal beauty.

Then a slender figure clad in a black cape appeared, its face hidden from the too curious and silvery moonlight beneath a hood, and followed by a fourth raven in humanoid form carrying five good-sized bags. No guessing here to know their contents; the faeries. Dead or unconscious?

The man in the cape stepped forward spreading his arms as if in greeting and said, “Mademoiselle Cadic, how nice to see you again.”

Again? And then I realized that his calm voice sounded indeed familiar to me. I wreaked my head about it, but I just couldn’t place him. No idea as to where or when I might have met him. I didn’t like being at such a disadvantage.

The man went on, “I knew sooner or later you’d figure it out. The pentagram. You’re not for nothing the Patroness of Paris, right? During these past nights on the streets I have often heard your name murmured and whispered in respect and awe. That impudence and blasphemy got me intrigued. And I had to tell him.” Blasphemy? And who did he have to tell what exactly? My stomach clenched with dread. “I take it you came here tonight to free your friend, then kill us all, arriving early and hiding out to then attack with the moment of surprise on your side, am I roughly right?” More than roughly. But I didn’t have to tell him that. “Your plan might have worked if I just hadn’t known you’d come.” Going by his voice I knew he was grinning. Enjoy it as long as you can, asshole.

Blood was still trickling down my front and back, and therefore time became an enemy. I was getting weaker with each passing second so if I wanted to do anything about this situation, I had to do it soon.

“I feel at a disadvantage here since you seem to know so much about me and I know nothing of you,” I pointed out.

“I know, but we have to keep it that way for the time being. You have to understand, my assistants here have a pressing business to attend to and we shouldn’t disturb them.” He turned away a little and motioned for the fourth raven in human form still carrying his heavy burden, who then moved towards the altar, only a few feet away from our little gathering. Perfect.

In my peripheral vision I saw Kylian explode into a burst of grayish-blue fur and Chastel going for his guns while I gave the raven in front of me an extra dose of my sleeping powder. It made him stumble and momentarily distracted him from his task, though actually he should have been out like a light. Those birds were strong.  Trusting Kylian and Chastel to have my back I ran towards the bags lying on the grass as at the same time I was grabbing for Cutter to cut them open. And one by one five faeries were revealed.

Another towering raven came at me. One of the gray and red-brown ones, and the eyes were like molten silver.

“Ever heard of fair play?” I asked looking up and up and up.

He flapped his wings and gave off two short shrieks that sounded like laughter.

I took it as a no.

The raven came at me, with its beak, literally pecking at me as if I were his favorite dish. I jumped out of the way and rolled to the side, getting up again I unsheathed Cutter and called out, “Hate to disappoint you, but I’m no grain. And not even half as good for your gut flora, believe me.”

I zig-zagged, maneuvering my way through this pecking slalom towards him, then with a last leap forward, I rolled under him to struck at his soft belly. Unfortunately he recognized my intentions early enough and hopped away so I only cut off three of his four toes. But at least he was bleeding and putting weight on his right foot would hurt.

He came at me again, flying and going for my head. I blocked him every time with my sword. Block, block, block. My arm soon tired out though, since blood kept oozing out from beneath my collarbone. My jaw tight, I searched a weakness, a way to get to him. But with his wings flapping and whirling sand up that proofed rather difficult. I decided to let my guard drop, leaned a little to the side, and as his beak went for my vulnerable left shoulder I pulled up my right arm and stabbed him in the eye. The raven shrieked. A loud, wailing sound that soon stilled.

With one raven off my back I ran up to the still motionless faeries lying on the grass. They were all unconscious so I slapped them and when that didn’t work I put a finger to their face and chanted. That worked, and I helped them to get up.

As I was already whirling around to attack a black raven heading for me I called out, “Run, run as fast as-“

Something hit my throat cutting me off midsentence. My hand shot up to pull it out. Stunned I looked at the thing between my fingers. Oh, no. Please, let it be a straying dart. No such luck. It was a tranquilizer.

Around me everything went black.

Drifting in and out of consciousness like a grain of sand caught in the surf, I dreamt of battle, a magnificent tiger, and heard voices. Harsh ones, softer ones.