Secret Worlds (242 page)

Gaire throws up his hands, slaps them against the sewer wall and growls, “What the fuck?”

I quickly answer Gaire’s frustration. “The doppelganger, wearing Vuur, told a berserker in Purgatory that he was going to kill Jane.” I ask Mother. “What do you mean ’we’?”

“Just what I said. I intend to help. We need a plan.”

Before I can rebuke her offer, Gaire says, “Have any ideas?”

I want to kiss him and slap him at the same time. It’s disconcerting.

I love when family comes together during a time of crisis.
Nan’s hands are clutched in front of her flowered dress, half way into her stomach.

I swing what I know will be a useless slap in her direction. The ghost bolts straight up and plasters herself along the top of the sewer. And I can’t help but laugh.

Mother clears her throat. “Are you two going to stop playing like fledglings so I can answer the wendigo’s question?”

We both hold our own hands—only Nan’s are inside each other—and stand quietly.

Mom turns to Gaire. “As a matter of fact, I do have an idea.”

My mother looks horrid in her natural form. She is bigger, thicker, and almost solid in consistency—gel instead of smoke—and darker than me. Her eyes are large and bright red above a lippy mouth, over-filled with jagged teeth. All of this kind of roils gel-like on a lumpy, bumpy face. Two long arms with long knotty fingers hang to the bottom of her sooty form and drape over two small feet that I’ve only seen once or twice.

She stares at me for a human heartbeat before saying, “I think we should double up on Jane, quickly. Capture the original little slut, and tie her up somewhere until we kill the doppelganger dressed in Vuur.”

“If anyone is going to double up on Jane, it will be me,” I say, “because I don’t trust you, Mother.”

“Don’t be silly,” Mother says. “You can’t shed Gracie because you won’t be able to see Nan.”

“And you know this how?” I hood my eyes and glare at her.

She’s right, dear
, Nan says,
I can only communicate with you if you’re wearing my daughter
.

“Mom can,” I challenge.

Yes, that’s true, but we would have to be sitting at my kitchen table. I can’t leave the two-story without Gracie. The real Gracie, if you’re not wearing her double, child.

I’m not ready to give up. “Maybe if we all take a big breath and blow, Mother will go away.”

“Young lady, you’re going to have to trust me,” Mother says. “Nan is indispensable at the moment. We may need her ability to warn us of human possession again. Neither you or I are capable of sensing that.” She turns to Gaire. “Are you?”

“You know I’m not,” Gaire says. “I had no idea what Luna was when I met her.”

“See,” Mom tells me, “you need my help.”

That’s what mothers are for
, Nan adds.

“Meh, I don’t think so,” I tell her. “We got this. You can go hunt another ripe one.”

“Hold on,” Gaire says. “This isn’t a bad idea. Think about it.”

“I did think about it,” I sputter. Yeah, right, for all of three seconds. “Mother’s hosts always end up dead.”

Gaire rolls his eyes. “Not if your mother can double up on her, and we find a safe place to keep the real Jane hostage, until you and I help your mother kill the doppelganger wearing Vuur.

Y’all can use my house
, Nan says.
The basement is haunted. I have a lot of friends down there. They’ll help me keep your friend safe.

“We need to move fast,” Mother says. “The doppelganger selected Vuur for a reason. Your father hired him to assassinate you, Rogaire, and you almost killed him. And he selected Jane to entice you.” My mother’s red, beady eyes pause on me. “So, I have no doubt it knows exactly how the both of you are going to react. He did not go into Purgatory wearing Vuur to drink casually, or to buddy up with a berserker. He went into that bar to be sure the both of you hear that he plans to kill your last host, using the wendigo’s nightmare.”

That’s true. Mothers are always right, more so if there’s a nanny tickling their brain cells.
Nan chuckles.
And my two cents says your momma wears Jane. She’s an ancient one, she is
.
Her powers are greater than yours, child.

Nan floats up beside my mother, making a stand.

“Ancient?” My mother looks down at the ghost.

Well, certainly not on your death bed, honey chil’, but you’ve seen some miles.

“Like you haven’t? Well, for a human, anyway. And I like to think of myself as—”

“Enough!” I shout. “Why can’t you wear Gracie and I wear Jane? I want to kill the bastard and share the glory with her!”

I toss a death-threat look at my mother. Gracie probably doesn’t wear it well.

“Have you ever fought a doppelganger?” Mother asks. “Have you even seen a fight between two doppelgangers?”

I don’t answer. I try to muster up an adult stance and a bit of anger in Gracie’s eyes. I’m sure it comes off as stubborn child.

“I didn’t think so,” Mother says.

She’s probably not mocking me, but it sure feels like she is.

“I have fought a demon’s gaffe—it was a wicked battle, even with elder approval—and that doppelganger wasn’t half as strong or evil as the one wearing a dragon-shifter assassin.”

I don’t really see Mother’s little foot tapping impatience, but I know it is. She stares me down. I look to Gaire for help.

“Are you saying we need elder approval?” Gaire says. “We are not going to do that.”

Way to go, Gaire! I’m dancing under Gracie’s skin.

Mother says, “I
am
an elder, and I’m not only capable, but allowed to make a spontaneous decision based on the need to defend my guardian in a life-threatening situation.”

“Oh,” I say, sounding like an adolescent teen. “Even if I’m wearing Jane?”

“No.” My mother shakes her head. “The doppelganger has seen you. Did it pass through your smoke after killing Jane?”

I have to think. I playback the knife coming at us and Jane sprinkling around me on the drive, watching the dark guy take Jane’s bullet, fall, and rush past me.

“I’m not sure,” I answer my mother. “Why?”

Mom looks at Gaire. “Were you there?”

Gaire nods. “He said, ’I’ll be back for you,’ and then he evaporated, blew through Luna while she shed Jane, and was gone.”

“Uck!” Gracie’s body shudders, and I feel it to my smoky toes. Wearing a human can be disconcerting at times. I am experiencing my first gag reflex. I doubled up on him in the hotel room! I wore his host!”

Child, that can’t be good
, Nan says.

“That explains how he was able to fine you, Luna,” Mother says. “It is how I follow you. When we are given a ward, we mingle with it. If you shed Gracie and don Jane, he will know it is you. The doppelganger will strip you of your host in seconds, latch on, and draw life force until you are no more, making it and the dragon it wears stronger. At that point, I’ll probably not be able to save you.” Mother looks at me, her garish mouth in a grimace. “But you can be damn sure that after you are gone, I will destroy them both, or die trying.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Gaire says and turns to me. “We’ll have an advantage if we play this your mother’s way.”

“Crap!” I am so not wanting my mother under Jane’s skin. “Damnit, you’ve made your point. Fine, Mother! You win.”

And it’s very grown up of you to notice
, Nan jibes.

“I am going to double up on someone, immediately,” Mother says. “I’ll meet you both at Nan’s home in an hour. Together, we’ll come up with a plan we can execute by tomorrow evening. Do you have a cell phone?”

“You’re doing an awful lot of doubling up, talking about cell phones, and now assisting actions you condemned me for just yesterday. What’s up with that, Mother?”

“One is never too old to learn, young lady. I hope you remember that.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to Luna,” I tell her mother.

We’re in the kitchen at Gracie’s home. Nan and Luna are on a screened porch that wraps around the northwest side of the house. I can see them through a French door at the end of a small hall on the north side of the kitchen.

“Neither do I,” her mother answers with a guy’s voice.

She’s doubled up on a Sumter Community College student. He looks about twenty, brown hair, freaky yellow eyes—might be contacts—and a stocky body that probably knows it’s way around a gym. His name is Eric.

“Another three hours until sunset. How much longer after that are we going to wait?”

When Eric smiles, dimples pop on both cheeks. The All-American face definitely does not depict the murky creature dwelling beneath.

“I’m leaving soon,” Eric says.
You’re
hangin’ here until I text, and only if there’s a selfie of Jane attached.”

“What if Vuur kills Jane before you get there?” I ask.

“He won’t kill Jane,” Eric’s double says. “I’ll be dressed in her double before Vuur gets back from Purgatory, and the real Jane will be here, with you and my daughter. I’ve taken care of that. In fact my ride should be arriving any moment. I’ve commissioned two berserker friends to help.”

“How can you be so sure?” I ask. “Do you have a plan in case Vuur gets to Jane before you get there?”

“The doppelganger is still in Purgatory.” She raises Eric’s cell phone. “These things are amazing. Who would’ve known?” Luna’s mother laughs. “The doppelganger told one of the berserkers that he will proposition Jane later this evening. Only it will be me on Jane’s corner tonight. And I feel quite confident he will hold her hostage until Luna show ups. My daughter’s destruction is his ultimate goal.”

“I’ll be with Luna, tonight,” I say.

“I’m sure Vuur is counting on it,” Eric says in the same tone Luna’s mother uses.

“Do you mean the dragon-shifter is still alive?”

“I don’t think so. I was speaking of my brethren under the dragon-shifter’s skin. But I wouldn’t put it past your assassin to have worked a deal with the dark doppelganger for his life.”

The thought is disturbing. Then there would be two of them, the real Vuur and the carbon. I would have to deal with two of the beasts, and I couldn’t kill one the first time. I bit him during that fight in Michigan, and I’d never run across any Down Under creature that is immune to my poison. To think that in less than a month, I’ve run into two. It makes me uncomfortable.

A flash of reflected sunlight glides across the tiled floor. I glance down the hall at the back of the kitchen as Luna steps through; Nan probably follows. Not being able to hear or see the ghost is unnerving.

“This wait is killing us,” Luna says.

She’s wearing a patch of bright colored cloth across her chest with leather straps attached to cinch it to her neck and around her back. Low cut jeans sit several inches below the halter top and show off a tight tummy and gold navel ring. Her leather belt is hand tooled and threaded with bright colored beads that depict a rainbow sunset in the middle of her back. She’s barefoot but there is a pair of leather thong sandals by the French door. I want to scoop her up and swallow her whole.

“Me, too,” I say, “but your mother is not leaving until nine, and through Eric has made it very clear we’re not to move until she lets us know she’s wearing Jane and standing on the corner of OBT.”

“That’s because it’s the smart thing to do,” Luna says and then surprises the beast in me when she gifts Mommy Dearest with a lovely Gracie-smile.

So why am I pretty damn sure there is a surfeit of unpleasant surprises hidden beneath her words?

There are at least fifty ghosts floating all over the house. I’m going nuts with their constant chatter. Hands over my ears, and for the umpteenth time, I tell Gaire, “Because Nan said they can watch Jane and if something happens here, she’ll send one of the ghosts to warn us. Nan is covering bases in case the doppelganger shows up for Jane.”

“Why are you shouting?” Gaire laughs and exaggerates a glance around the room. “I don’t see anyone.”

“Okay, so I heard Eric tell you they’re here. One more smartass remark, and I’m gonna spell your ass into the next millennium. I have the power. Don’t make me use it.”

“You don’t have any power,” Gaire teases. “Gracie’s grandmother does, and Nan is nurturing it.”

Damn him. He’s about to burst with laughter.

“Shut up!” I scream at the ghosts. And blessedly they do as Nan herds them into the kitchen.

The screen door squeaks open seconds before the knocker on the front door bangs.

As I walk toward the door, ghosts swarm me like a pack of blind mosquitoes in spring. Gaire watches me duck and jab, and he chuckles. He can’t hear Nan shouting for the spirits to return and chuckles.

I swing wildly and only manage to slice, dice, and mix body parts into a tornado that flutters everything in its path, including Gracie’s hair which is now totally covering my face.

“I want to kill something!” I shout, palms raking my face and fingers combing long hair back over Gracie’s scalp.

“Good,” Gaire chokes out between laughter. “Hold that thought for the hotel. Right now, we need to deal with the two berserkers at the door with Jane. The real Jane.”

He pulls the door open in front of me, and I pfft fine hair from my face.

“Wha’s-a-matta with you sons-a-bitches? Eh? Eh? Were the hell am I? I could’a been nice. I would’a been more helpful, but
no
, youse bastards gotta get rough. Well, youse guys are fuckin’ dyin’ tonight, goddamnit!”

Jane stumbles in, blindfolded. Her short leather skirt keeps flashing red silk and so does her low-cut halter top. Her blond, over-processed hair is sticking out above and below a blindfold. They should have gagged her.

“Get your fuckin’ greasy mutts off my goddamned arms, or I’m going to start biting again.”

Jane turns and, like a pup searching for a teat, finds the berserker on her left, latches onto his shirt sleeve, and shakes.

The berserker, red hair flying, jerks his body around and pulls his clothes out of Jane’s mouth. She stumbles and one of her barely street legal pumps slips off. As she hobbles to stand, one of the idiots makes the mistake of trying to right her. She gets in two very impressive side
-
kicks, sending him to his knees.