Reaper (17 page)

“Yeah, yeah, I'll pay for it,” Jane said, pushing past Wendy and Emma and heading up the hill back toward the car. “Come on, slowpokes! It's not even lunch and it's going to be a bea-ooo-tiful day!”

F
inally home, Wendy stood in front of Piotr, hair pulled back in a thick twist at her neck, tendrils escaping to tickle her collarbone. Smiling at her welcoming grin, Piotr reached out to brush the closest curl away but she stepped back playfully, tossing her head and laughing at his daring.

Then, unexpectedly, Wendy said gruffly, “Man, what are you doing?”

Wendy was not Wendy. Wendy was Eddie, and Eddie—while not upset by Piotr's attempts to draw him closer—wasn't exactly welcoming to his embrace.

“Don't get me wrong,” Eddie said, “you're hot and all, but I don't think you're my type. Plus, until we get this thing figured out with Wendy, I don't think it'd be very fair to play the field.” He winked to show he was kidding.

Shaking his head, Piotr dropped his arm and sat back, embarrassed. “Edward, my apologies. I…I was not in the moment. I did not mean to…I would not…please, accept my apologies. I did not realize it was you.”

“Well, that's flattering,” Eddie sighed. Then, eying Piotr more closely, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I am fine.” Piotr turned his face away, but Eddie took him by the elbow and guided Piotr to Wendy's desk, settling him on the chair gently and dropping to a knee beside a stack of books on the floor. “What were you seeing right then?”

“It is not important.”

“Look, man, you don't have to go into details. You turned twelve shades of red so I already kinda have the idea that it must've been personal, but dude, were you hallucinating? Seeing stuff? Or was it just a wicked vivid daydream? Cuz if you were, then that's probably something to keep in mind. Health-wise, I mean. You know, in case Wendy gets back and Lily and Elle are still
incommunicado
.”

“Wendy has left with her family. She cannot help me,” Piotr muttered, but Eddie had a point. Wendy was resourceful and may have gathered connections he was unaware of during their time apart.

“I do not like that she left with them,” Piotr said suddenly. “I do not like that, even after we warned her, after we told her of what we have learned, she would disregard our concerns so easily.”

“That's Wendy for you,” Eddie said nonchalantly, shrugging and plopping onto the corner of her desk, resting a heel on the tabletop. “She'll keep it in mind, no worries there, but she's got bigger fish to fry right now and she's not gonna let some dead gossip get in the way of figuring out what the deal with her family is.” He sighed. “No offense, man, but I've been there. You can lead a Wendy to water but you can't make her drink.” He smiled thinly. “She is a master of ignoring the obvious when it suits her.”

Brooding quietly, Piotr made his way to the bed and Eddie, and taking advantage of the free space, he flopped into the desk chair. They sat in silence in the room for some time; Eddie, at the desk, idly rifling through some of the spiritual detritus that Wendy had accumulated during her time as Lightbringer—a calculator, a vividly colored scarf, a wooden-backed boar bristle brush—while Piotr lay and gazed at the ceiling, musing on the female Walker's words over and over again.

She'd known the White Lady and claimed to know him. She was better spoken than any other Walker he'd ever encountered, and smarter. There was something about the way she carried herself and the familiar way she treated him that both repelled and fascinated him—it was as if he recognized her from somewhere, but he couldn't quite put his finger on where.

Of course, considering the wreck his memories had become, that was completely understandable. Who knew, was it possible that a few centuries before, they'd been friends? Unless Piotr could find a way to stop the drain of his memories every time he encountered a Reaper, he'd never know for sure. Mostly he worried about the debt the Walker swore he owed her. What had she done for him that she would ask such a great favor?

There was no way to tell now.

Piotr closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, Lily hovered over him, carefully brushing his long bangs off his cheeks.

“
Bystro
,” he croaked, then cleared his throat. “That was quick.”

“Elle thought she found a trail, but I could not find the taste as she did. We chose to separate,” Lily hurried to say, helping Piotr sit up, “so I brought a wise woman instead.”

“Hello Piotr,” Ada said, drawing up Wendy's chair and settling beside the bed. Gingerly she brushed her warm fingertips against his forehead and, glancing at Lily, frowned. “You are quite cool, Piotr. How do you feel?”

“Impaled,” Piotr replied dryly. He looked to Eddie to share his amusement at Ada's blunt probing, realizing that Eddie, in all the chaos of the past few hours, seemed thinner than before, paler at the edges. Piotr frowned. Why hadn't Eddie brought their attention to the fact he was fading as well? “As if a hook has been stirring my guts. And how are you this fine day?”

“Piotr,” Lily admonished, but Ada shook her head, chuckling. “I will always take a quipped reply, Lily. It shows that the spirit has not given in.”

“I thought that Ada might be of service because she is part of the Council,” Lily explained. “She knows everyone of importance in this town and, more importantly, she is a scientist. Doctors are so difficult to find, she seemed our best recourse.”

“Well, I have heard rumors of a Lost girl by the docks, but that was many years ago. Since then, I do not know for certain where any other Lost can be found,” Ada said apologetically. “Please accept my most sincere condolences in that regard. However, I knew that I had to try to help you. You are a very important figure to the Council right now, Piotr. We very much wish to do business with you; it would behoove me to keep you healthy for the interim, yes?” She winked at him to show that she was mostly joking, lessening the sting of her words.

When Piotr did not return her levity, Ada grew businesslike. She sat back and examined Piotr's face from a distance, her fingers gingerly probing under the sides of his jaw and softly rubbing the nape of his skull, wiggling his head gently. “Lily has explained that you are experiencing vertigo, chills, and unwarranted irritation. Rage, to be blunt. Is this the case?”

“Don't forget hallucinations,” Eddie added helpfully from the window where he was examining his hands, turning his fists back and forth in the dim light. “That's new.”

“Hallucinations?” Ada stiffened and glanced sharply at Lily. “You did not mention…never mind. Let me see this wound. It may have gone septic already.”

“Wait, that can happen to the dead?” Eddie asked, startled into looking up. “Oh, gross.”

“That is a concern of mine. It will not close,” Lily explained, ignoring Eddie and stripping the bandages expertly from Piotr's side. “At first I thought it was beginning to, but it was simply some initial swelling. His essence still flows sluggishly, see here? Both out the front and back. It thickens when it is touched.”

Ada leaned forward and sniffed delicately. “Oh no,” she whispered, dismayed, and pressed her hands to her cheeks. “This is…this is awful.”

“What is wrong?” Lily asked.

“No, no, child. This…this is no ordinary illness like soul rot. This is poison. A very terrible poison. And worse…look, there is a spirit web growing within.” Ada's fingers curled into a tight fist at the base of her throat, her nails digging into her flesh as she spoke.

“A spirit web?” Piotr pushed away, hands scrabbling at his midsection, fingers straining the buttons of his shirt as if he would rip the web free that very moment with his own two hands. “This is impossible!”

“It's not,” Ada said. She hung her head. “I am so, so sorry.”

“Can it be removed?” Lily asked seriously, chewing on the edge of her thumb as she regarded Ada and Piotr. “We do not wish to harm Piotr.”

“If it were just the web, certainly, I would be more than willing to make the attempt,” Ada drawled, obviously thinking deeply on their options. After several long moments, Ada nervously shook her head, “However, the web in conjunction with the poison…no, it cannot be done without endangering Piotr too much. Especially not here, in such savage surroundings.”

“You seem so sure,” Eddie said, crossing his arms over his chest. Piotr stared at Eddie so that he didn't have to think on his own issue, and noticed how Eddie's pale fingers seemed to stand out against the darkness of his sleeves, how Piotr could just make out the hue of Eddie's shirt beneath his wrists and hands. Eddie caught Piotr examining him and gave Piotr an odd, searching glance before turning to Ada. “So how do you know that for certain?”

Flushing darkly, Ada pulled back and had the decency to look ashamed. “Because I…I invented the poison it has taken root within.”

“What?” Lily shoved away from the bed, her hands automatically going to the knives at her hips. When Ada raised her hands in supplication, Lily's lip twisted in a sneer and Piotr tensed. Lily was not Elle; the likelihood of an altercation with Ada was slim…unless Ada trod heavily on Lily's sense of fair play and honor. “Explain yourself,” Lily demanded, and Piotr flinched.

“I do not know if I want to hear an explanation,” Piotr muttered to Lily, gathering up his wrappings and clumsily trying to rewrap his wound. Eddie moved to help him and for once Piotr didn't feel uneasy at his help. Eddie's expression was just as disgusted as Piotr felt. On this, at least, they were of one mind. If she were speaking the truth, Ada had crossed the line working with Walkers.

“Please, listen. I have no excuse to offer that can stand as a proper apology, but there are reasons!” Ada exclaimed, and the way her voice stretched thin and high grated immediately on Piotr's nerves. He fought the momentary urge to grab her by the shoulders and
shake
. “Know truly that I would never have given the recipe for my poison to an enemy of yours or any Rider,” Ada was saying, and Piotr forced himself to listen to her, to take Ada seriously. She'd braved the spirit web mess to come see him. The least he could do was listen to her explanation. “You do wonderful things for the children, I would not harm them for any gain! The idea that any spirit that would do such…that they would use such a barbaric weapon, much less coupled with a web, at all, is reprehensible. I could not work with such a soul.”

“Your job of explaining your position is poor,” Piotr said stiffly. “Did you supply the Walkers—any Walkers—with this poison?”

“No!” Ada cried, fists clenched at her sides. “The Council works with Walkers on occasion, yes, but I would never give them this poison! Silly boy, do you not understand what I am trying to tell you? You are important to us! And the poison…it isn't even really done yet! I sowed the seeds in a safe location but I hadn't worked on it for months when Mary…” She stopped and sagged, rubbing her forehead. “This is tiresome.”

“Mary?” Eddie looked between Ada and Piotr. Piotr wondered if he was the only one to notice the way Eddie's fingers momentarily clenched into fists, the way his disorganized focus suddenly became laser-sharp when the White Lady was mentioned. “You don't mean Wendy's mom, Mary, do you? The White Lady? You knew her?”

“We were friends,” Ada said stiffly, sniffing at Eddie's questions. “Before. And then, after she was sundered by the Lost, she was a completely different soul. Insane. Wicked. No head or patience for the delicate process of distilling the…the spirit webs properly.”

Grimacing, Ada turned away and buried her face in her hands. She walked quickly to the window and pressed her forehead against the glass and Piotr was forced to admire the theatrics of her gesture. She was obviously upset, but Ada clearly had a mind like a tack. She might feel sorry for what she'd done, he reasoned, but Piotr was willing to bet that, given the right circumstances and opportunity, she'd do it all exactly the same all over again. The science of progress didn't really care who it hurt.

“Oh my,” Ada murmured sighing deeply, “This…this is just a dreadful mess, isn't it?”

“You grew spirit webs for distillation, spirit webs like the one growing within Piotr this very moment,” Lily said, pursing her lips and crossing her arms across her chest. She tapped one foot and Piotr hid a smirk, glad that Lily was there to keep Ada in check. “What next? Please continue. You have my—our—undivided attention.”

“
Net
! Let me guess,” Piotr said, struggling to find a position that did not sicken him as he felt the tickle of the web coiling within. “You kept your plants, your specimen, at Moffett Airfield. And then one day you went to collect your samples and they were gone.”

Straightening and turning to face them, Ada nodded brusquely. “You are quite perceptive, Piotr. Yes, I had cultivated a field of sorts out there, where the webs were high in the air and could not harm passersby.”

“How noble of you,” Eddie sneered, and Piotr, despite his nausea, hid another smile. Eddie might have put his grubby hands all over Wendy, but at least he appeared to be on Piotr's side in all this mess. He wasn't cheering Piotr's illness. Perhaps Wendy was right about Eddie after all.

“I learned later that the White Lady had taken the strongest of the seeds for herself,” Ada said, shrugging and ignoring Eddie's aside. “She had her Walkers begin germinating the spirit web seeds in their bodies and then began implanting them in humans.”