The Tome of Bill (Book 7): The Wicked Dead (62 page)

* * *

Alex departed shortly after, presumably to meet with the remaining Draculas. There were reinforcements to gather, plans to make, intelligence to ... err ... not be dumb about. In short, all the things one would expect of a commander.

As for us, Sheila sent the Templar topside to guard the place. No point in being lax just in case there were still zealots, thralls, or more zombies about. I’d had enough surprises for one day.

Christy’s sisters set up a scrying circle on one of the upper levels to track where Calibra had gone – just on the off chance we were wrong about her intended destination. I didn’t have a lot of faith that they’d succeed. After all, we were dealing with the witch who’d pretty much written the book on magic. Still, it didn’t hurt to try, and it gave them something to do.

Since this place was a fully stocked complex, complete with living quarters, I managed to snag some new clothes to wear – ones that weren’t lined with explosives, hopefully.

Once that was done, I decided to help my friends sift through the rubble. Maybe there was something still there that might give us more of a clue as to what was going on.

On the way down, I ran into Sheila – thankfully not in any way that would have ended with me being blasted through a wall.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey yourself.”

“That was some awesome timing you guys had back there.”

“Funny how that worked out,” she said with a smile. “Believe me, it wasn’t planned.”

“I can live with the occasional happy coincidence.”

“I’m not sure it was.”

“What do you mean?”

“Seems we’ve had an awful lot of coincidences lately, happy or otherwise.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that too.”

“It’s almost like fate has...”

I held up a hand. “Let’s not get started with the F word again.”

She nodded and, for a moment, we stood there in uncomfortable silence before she said, “I’m sorry about your friend.”

“Which one?”

“All of them. We’ll save them. I promise you that.”

“Hopefully,” I replied, leaning against the wall. “So far, I’ve been batting zero in that dugout. I mean, my D&D group and I weren’t what I’d call close, but they deserved better.”

“It sounds to me like you tried.”

“Not hard enough.” I sighed. “There’s nothing else I can do for them, but we can still save Ed. As for Tom...”

“That’s just a
little
weird, no pun intended.”

“You can say that again.”

“Do you think we can ... fix him?”

She, the girl with the freaky healing powers, was asking
me?
That somehow didn’t instill much confidence. Rather than voice that, though, I just shrugged my shoulders.

After a couple of seconds, she reached out and put a hand on my arm. As usual, I felt a slight tingle at her touch. I had to assume it was just her power reacting with mine, because right at that moment, I was too drained to do the puppy-dog thing. In some ways, that was a sobering thought.

“We’ll find a way,” she said.

Though I knew she was talking about Tom, I nevertheless asked, “Will we?”

Again, she hesitated. When she finally answered, it was guarded. “For now, let’s just concentrate on the task at hand. How’s that sound?”

“Probably a smart idea.”

She nodded and started to walk past me.

“But what about when it’s over?” I asked, the words slipping out of my mouth.

She stopped, but didn’t turn to face me. “I don’t know, Bill. We might have bigger problems than our powers.”

“What?”

“Fate.”

“I told you not to use the...”

“I know, but I can’t help myself.”

“Okay, fine. So what’s the issue?”

“The Destroyer is dead.”

“Trust me, I’m aware. I was there.”

She paused for a moment, then glanced back at me. “What was it like, facing him?”

I couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter. “You really don’t want to know.”

“Fair enough. You did good, though. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, but I can’t help but hear the
but
in your voice.”

She once more turned away and this time didn’t stop. “You’re the last Freewill again, and I think we both know how that’s supposed to end between us.”

* * *

Sheila’s little pep talk certainly hadn’t done any wonders for my morale as I entered the ruined chamber where, during better days, James had once held court. Ah, fate. It seemed no matter what I did, it just didn’t want to leave me be.

A conversation from up ahead caught my ear, and I gladly turned my attention toward the participants. Christy wasn’t resting like she should have been, but at least she wasn’t doing any heavy lifting. She was sitting on a boulder holding Tom, while Sally shoved aside some debris.

“So how come nobody told me my sister was a vampire?” Tom asked as I approached.

“We didn’t want to worry you,” Christy replied.

“Oh sure, because that’s no big fucking deal. When the hell did this happen anyway?”

“Remember when I took that trip to Vegas?”

“You said that was just business.”

“It was,” Sally added, “and maybe a little gambling too.”

“With my sister as the all-you-can-eat buffet?”

“Yeah, sorry about that. If it helps, though, she’s doing pretty well.”

“My parents are going to fucking flip when they hear this!”

“Oh?” Sally asked, turning over a slab of broken rock. “And they’re not gonna freak when they find out you’re a GI Joe doll?”

“For starters, I’m an action figure. Secondly, do I look like General Hawk to y...?”

“How’s it going?” I interrupted, walking up to them.

“Pretty pointless so far,” Sally replied.

“I was hoping to find some notes in her office,” Christy said, “but there’s nothing left – at least nothing that hasn’t been burnt beyond recognition.”

“If we had scared her off, maybe,” I said. “Unfortunately, she had time to cover her tracks.”

Sally stood up and wiped her hands on the seat of her pants. “Yeah, and if she’s been hiding right under the Draculas’ noses for all this time, then that means she’s become damn good at covering them.”

“So that means all we have to go on is the Jahabich’s lair.”

“Which, if you recall,” Sally said, “we sort of blew up the entrance to.”

“There were other tunnels leading out from it.”

“Oh yeah. Those should be a breeze to find. We’ll just spelunk down every cave on Earth until we find the right one. I somehow think Alex is gonna expect just a bit more of a detailed plan than that.”

“Probably,” I conceded. “Too bad I can’t sniff out Gan like she seems to be able to do to me.”

“Would you really want to?” Christy asked.

“Not really,” I joked, but there wasn’t a lot behind it. The truth was Gan had helped us out big time. We ...
I
owed her. It was a debt I didn’t take lightly, even if I had no intention of repaying her in the way I knew she wanted.

I looked around with a heavy sigh. We were just spinning our wheels in this place. “Oh well, if there’s nothing else here, let’s bug out. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I really don’t want to use this place as our temporary HQ.”

Sally nodded. “I think it’s safe to say that Alex can probably find us no matter where we are. Let’s just make sure wherever that is, it has a shower and hot water.”

“Amen.” I helped Christy down and we turned toward the exit.

...ease me.

I stopped in my tracks. “Did you hear that?”

Whatever it was, it had been faint, barely audible. Maybe sound carrying through the pipes from another part of the complex.

e ... had a ar ... gain.

No, I was wrong. It hadn’t been barely audible to my ears, but in my mind. One glance at Christy confirmed she’d
heard
it too.

“No way.”

“That’s Harry,” Christy declared, turning back. “We need to find him.”

“Do we really?” Sally asked. Christy fixed her with a glare, and she held up her hands in mock surrender. “Relax. I’m just kidding.”

* * *

It was the work of two more hours. Decker kept calling during the entire time – all of it faint and hard to understand. Unfortunately, unlike a person trapped under rubble, it was really hard to home in on a psychic cry for help. Thus, it was all trial and error, with a lot of digging on my and Sally’s part.

By the time we shoved aside a heavy pile of rocks and caught a glimpse of skull – dirty and almost imperceptible from the debris around it – we were covered in grime.

A sickly purple glow, just barely visible beneath a layer of dust, though, told us we’d hit pay dirt. I reached down and lifted him out.

“Ugh. He’s seen better days.”

Indeed he had, and that was saying something. His lower jaw was missing, and there was a wide crack across the side of his skull from which that purplish light appeared to be leaking out of.

Christy snatched it out of my hands without any preamble.

My child, you came for me
, it weakly said.

“What’s wrong with it?” Sally asked.

“The binding is starting to wear off,” Christy replied. “I need to fortify it.”

“Um, is that safe?”

“Not really, but most of the strain is in creating the link. I should only need a little bit of power to strengthen the tether.”

Before we could stop her, she placed a hand on either side of the broken skull and started muttering words.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Tom said, having been propped up where Christy had been sitting.

“Hush,” she snapped. “I’m concentrating.”

A few moments went by and Christy’s hands began to glow. Whatever she was doing was seemingly absorbed into the former desk toy – like water flowing down a drain. It all lasted less than a minute, but when she was done, the glow of power from Decker’s noggin appeared to be back to normal.

Christy, however, needed to sit down again. Though her body was exhausted, when she spoke, her tone was iron. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t leave you down here to rot.”

I raised you. I...

“Cut the shit, Harry,” she snapped. “I heard you laughing as she held you.”

As you wish. Think of the honor – to meet the one you have spent your whole life revering. To have a chance to speak with her, to listen to her wisdom. It was marvelous. All I could ever hope for and more.

“Yeah, I’m sure it was an emotional asshole to asshole chat,” I said.

A fool such as you could not hope to appreciate the glory of Kala the White.

Christy rapped the top of the skull with her knuckles. “Back to the point, Harry. Like I said, tell me why I shouldn’t leave you, and you’d better make it good.”

The light inside Decker’s skull pulsed. I knew I shouldn’t attribute human emotions to the equivalent of a sentient lava lamp, but I could have sworn he was thinking it over.

“I’m waiting.”

I will admit I was led astray. Her grandiose plans were hard to deny.

“Not really convincing me.”

She was to take me with her, show me the glorious works she had performed. To be able to assist her in even the most base incantation would have been glorious.

“I assume there’s a point here,” Sally said.

But then the Freewill goaded her to battle...

“What?! No I didn’t.”

“Shhh. Let him finish,” Christy said.

The White Mother, she dropped me. I assumed she would come back. I cried out to her, begging her to do so, to take me – her loyal devotee – with her.

“But instead, she abandoned you like a rat from a ship,” I surmised.

Betrayed!

“This is pointless,” Christy said, pushing herself up again. “Sally, find me a nice spot to bury him, please.”

I know where’s she’s going,
he quickly added.

“So do we,” I said.

In the basest sense, fool. But do you know how to get there?

“Be nice, Harry,” Christy warned. “I’m this close to picking up a shovel and making sure nobody finds you again.”

The flow of false life. I know what it is
! He sounded kinda desperate now. Guess he knew she wasn’t fucking around.

“I’m listening.”

It is from whence they come, the Jahabich.

Sally and I shared a glance. “This wouldn’t happen to be a glowing pool of orange monster jizz, would it?”

“Hey, I got splashed with that shit,” Tom protested.

You have no idea what it is! But I do.

“Go on,” Christy said.

You alone among this rabble can appreciate what I am about to tell you. It is The Source.

“Impossible,” she said.

“Wait, what?” I asked.

All of the remaining ley lines on the planet, they draw from it. It is the last of its kind. It is the well from which all magic flows into this world. It is the last gateway to the realm of spirits.

“Okay, that sounds pretty heavy,” I said. “What does that have to do with Ed?”

The pure one? I don’t know.

Sally picked up a fist-sized rock, which she began to toss back and forth. “If you’re holding out on us...”

I swear, I don’t. But I do know it can be used to imbue life.

“Those things aren’t life!” Christy snapped. “They’re abominations. They’re...”

I am not talking about them. They are a perversion of the flow’s true power. I am talking about true life. It can be used to restore your lover.

“Whoa,” Tom said. “That’s kinda cool.”

I glanced at Christy and saw that her eyes were misting over at the thought of it. “Be careful,” I warned. “He might just be saying what he wants you to hear.”

That is not all,
Decker continued,
The spell, the one from the cave wall. I have been studying it, divining its meaning. It created the Jahabich and is the key to stopping them.

“We kind of figured that. But how?”

The spell is incomplete, but I believe it can also be used to close the doorway to seal The Source. If done, those creatures will never darken your lives again. They...

Decker went silent as Christy touched the top of his skull with her fingers, producing a yellow flash.

“Wait. He wasn’t finished.”

“I’ve heard enough,” she said, rising.

“Was he telling the truth?” I asked dubiously.