Contractor (59 page)

Daniel’s bat came in strong. All five

swords crossed to block the strike. They

clashed there, white club against a defense of

black steel. Daniel’s powers flexed against

the weight of all the swords. "NOW!" he

shouted. "ATTACK NOW!"

Rothschild pressed on his earpiece.

"Hold your fire. I repeat. Do not engage."

"What are you doing?!" Eleanor said.

"It’s better this way." Rothschild

shrugged. "The lord will probably kill him,

but not before he puts up a good fight. Then

we kill the lord while he’s tired. Problems

solved."

"We had a plan! Order them to attack

before that thing can free itself!"

"Are you honestly taking his side?!"

Rothschild shouted. "He’s foolish, and on

top of that, totally irresponsible. If he gets

any stronger, he’ll pose a bigger threat than

the Vorid. Unless you’d prefer I withdraw to

Europe and leave you to fend for

yourselves?"

Daniel’s bat slipped off the swords. One

of them caught him across the gut; if it wasn’t

for his armor, he would have been sliced in

half. The strike threw him across the square,

but he managed to stop himself in the air

before he hit a building.

"What are you doing!?" Daniel shouted.

He leapt away as the lord attacked him

again. Rachel could only watch as he dodged

the swords.

****

Daniel slapped away a blade. Another

cut in. He beat it back, then jumped.

Even as he dashed into the sky, the other

two caught up. At top speed, he was faster,

but every time he made a turn they gained a

little ground. If he ran away, he was sure the

lord would turn his attention to the mages.

And Rachel.

To make matters worse, the lord had

some kind of secondary spell that let him

bring his swords back to his position

instantly. It had to be some kind of

teleportation; Daniel’s eyes hadn’t been able

to follow it.

He wasn’t getting any support from the

Dawn. Rothschild was probably holding

Eleanor’s feet over the fire.

Daniel shot back toward the ground. The

sudden reversal gave him a bit of breathing

room. He landed hard on his heels, bending

his knees to absorb the momentum.

He ran toward where the lord was

standing in the middle of the square. The

swords met him halfway. Daniel pushed

power into his arms.

His hands flickered and swatted the

swords away. They spun up from his strikes,

stopped, then fell back toward him. He kept

at it.

He slowly worked his way forward. He

focused carefully, striking just as they

reached him, a batter hitting every pitch from

a machine. The swords were too slow to

stop him.

They came all together in a last-ditch

attempt to halt his progress. He pushed out

about three quarters of his full strength. He

crushed them away with his bat and leapt the

rest of the distance to his enemy.

The lord teleported them back as Daniel

reached him. The five swords blocked him

again, but this time, Daniel wasn’t trying to

keep them in a shaky balance. That was

harder. He pressed every bit of energy he

had into his bat.

There was an explosion of white light.

The swords collapsed in under the force.

Daniel’s weapon struck the black inner

shield. The end of the bat punctured that final

magic barrier, but it deflected him enough

that he caught the lord’s shoulder instead of

its head.

The lord was blasted back across the

square. He smashed through a pillar of

concrete and through the doors of a building.

Daniel leaned on his bat, heaving his breath

back while he could.

The lord emerged from the dust and

rubble. Its clothes looked a little ripped up

where Daniel had made contact, but

otherwise, it wasn’t harmed in the slightest.

Daniel’s spine shivered.

The lord clenched its fists. A sigil spread out

from its feet. The swords multiplied. There

were dozens of them.

They sped for Daniel as a single swarm.

Daniel flew away, pounding his feet against

sigil after sigil to keep up his speed. The

cloud of steel curved to follow his path.

Ten or so swords had broken off the

main group to intercept him. He raised his

shield. It was like getting hit by a meteor

shower. He kept his arm stiff and weathered

through the barrage.

One of the swords cut into his shield. It

was alive with effort, wiggling and twisting

to enlarge the hole and get at him. Daniel

slapped its other end with his bat to dislodge

it.

Running wasn’t helping. He had to

attack. He dived back to the ground and ran

at the lord, but it just teleported the swords

back. They were on top of him in an instant.

Daniel put his strength into his arms.

The swords were slow compared to his

striking speed, but there were so many that,

by the time he’d swatted away one row, the

others were already moving back in.

The conveyor belt of swords pounded at

him. He felt his limbs burning. His

diaphragm was tired of breathing. He shoved

one more step forward.

The swords were getting faster. No. He

was slowing down. He was reaching his

limit.

He could tell that he wasn’t going to get

his bat to the next sword in time. He raised

his shield.

They beat against his steel barrier. He

magic sputtered like a rusty engine.

The shield was pulverized, but his

armor held. He was blown off his feet. He

crashed through a wall, kept going, slammed

through desks and tables. He struck another

wall, rebounded, and hit the floor face first.

He put an arm under himself. His hands

slipped. Tiles twisted and turned in his

vision. He thought he heard screams. He

wasn’t sure. There was a lot of ringing.

He looked up. A dark figure stood in the

light outside. Around it hovered clusters of

swords, poised to strike.

day, your souls, and the souls you’ve taken—

they’ll live again. The seeds of new life.>

Things in the office started moving on

their own. The lord hesitated. Daniel blinked

as golems pieced themselves together from

office supplies and swivel chairs. Long red

hair caught the corner of his eye.

The golems lined up and crossed their

arms in a defensive position. Rachel’s body

armored itself in staples and printers.

The swords would slice right through

her.

And they did. They stabbed through the

first few golems like they were air. Rachel

just didn’t have the power.

Daniel didn’t remember moving. He

was there, powers out, every bit he had left.

His shield rattled against the attack.

His willpower was enough to save her,

but not himself. A sword punched clean

through his barrier, through his armor, and

straight into his stomach. It was oddly

painless.

****

Rachel had barely reached Daniel

before the lord, and now this. The weapon

would cut him in half. And then the rest of

the swords would tear her to pieces, too.

At least death was better than Hell.

Purple light flashed around them.

Lightning struck the end of the sword. It was

pulled out of Daniel’s body without causing

more damage. Did the lord want him to

suffer?

The rest of the swords didn’t come. The

lightning buzzed and flashed around her.

Someone was there. A young woman was

holding up some kind of elemental shield

against the swords. The blades pressed

against the sphere of lightning, but they

couldn’t get through.

"You alive?!" she shouted. Daniel

groaned. His hand flopped up, then down. "I

can’t hold him off for long!" Even as she

spoke, the swords slammed against the

barrier. The violet electricity snapped back

like a rubber band. "If you can do anything,

now would be a good time!"

Rachel kneeled next to Daniel and

grasped his hand. It wasn’t quite as bad as

Henry’s—the sword didn’t cut all the way

through him—but he wasn’t going anywhere.

They were trapped.

"Daniel. I’m sorry. I love you. I love

you."

"I love you too," he whispered.

She held his arm to her chest. It felt like

holding on to the last chunk of the world as

the rest crumbled into the abyss. "I think this

is it," she said.

"Bullshit." She looked at him, surprised.

His eyes were bright. She could see that look

on his face, the look when he’d thought of

something too clever for his own good.

"How do your golems work?" he asked.

"My golems?"

"No time." He coughed. There was

blood on his lips. "They work like

extractors?"

Rachel rubbed her forehead. "Yes. Sort

of. They’re the same family of magic. Why is

that important?"

The shield rumbled. Rachel instinctively

laid herself over Daniel, but the electricity

held firm. Whoever she was, she was strong.

"…make a golem."

"What?"

"Do it. Now. Hurry." He clenched his

eyes shut. "Just do it. Small one."

Rachel focused her powers. A few bits

of a cubical divider crushed together to form

a small golem about two feet high. "What’s

—hey!"

Daniel had gripped his bat. He swung it

down, smashing the golem in half.

Her spell was ripped from her control.

The golem disintegrated. She felt drained.

Exhausted.

Daniel’s flesh knitted itself together.

The blood stopped. The wound turned into a

sort of massive scab. He sat up, winced.

"Another. Bigger."

Rachel didn’t hesitate. She pieced

together another golem, this time as big as

her. She shuddered as the power was torn

away. The force of the vampirism felt…cold.

But he was healing.

She was tired. Too tired. She wanted to

lie down and nap. The cold went away. Now

she felt warm.

Daniel stood and pulled her to her feet.

"A third one. As much as you can manage."

Rachel forced herself to send her sigil

into the floor. The wood and concrete under

them ripped out of the ground and into a

single, massive golem. Its head touched the

peak of the electric cage. In a flash, Daniel’s

bat destroyed it.

Rachel bent double. It felt like she’d

been punched in the stomach. Her legs

bucked. Daniel caught her. "Are you

alright?"

"…ugh." She grabbed his arms. Her

fingers were numb. Her vision was dark.

"Hard…can’t see."

Daniel’s hand clasped hers. He looked

over. "How you doing, Gabby?"

Gabby’s jaw was clenched tight. "Just

great."

Daniel wrapped an arm around each of

their waists. Gabby didn’t look away from

her spell. "Can you knock the swords away

with one big surge?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah. Here goes." Gabby lowered her

head and shut her eyes. The purple electricity

pulsed outwards. The swords flew back.

The shield vanished. And then, so did

they. Rachel felt wind rush by her head, and

in instant later, they were on top of one of the

skyscrapers overlooking the square. Daniel

set them both down.

"Hide," he said.

"Way ahead of you."

"Thanks," Daniel said. "I was pretty

screwed."

"I don’t like owing people things.

Consider us even." She cocked her head.

"What’s the plan?"

"You need to leave. I promised them I’d

turn myself in after the fight."

Gabby brushed a hand through her short

brown hair. "You’re a bigger dumbass than I

thought."

"In the business, they call that talent."

"Hey. Your girlfriend doesn’t look too

good."

"I’ve seen her like this before." Daniel

bent down. "…you ok?"

Rachel murmured something. She wasn’t

sure what it was. Her mouth felt full of sand.

She could barely see him.

"If they don’t hit him this time…there’s

nothing more I can do."

"Rothschild," Rachel said. "I…signal

Eleanor."

"Oh boy, I get to rely on Eleanor. Now

I’m just brimming with confidence." Daniel

rubbed his thumb on her forehead. It felt like

she was watching him do it to someone else,

and the real Rachel was floating up in the

air. "Well. You only live once, right?"

Rachel saw her fingers reaching for him.

She couldn’t feel her arms. He took her hand.

"Danny…"

"Yeah?"

"Live."

"I will. We both will. I’ll be right back,

ok? I love you." He turned away. "Signal

Eleanor, right now."

Rachel put the last of her magic into it.

She wasn’t sure if it worked.

The last thing she saw was Daniel

leaping from the edge of their skyscraper.