Chapter 159

We made our way down the street until I spotted what I was looking for - a little place tucked between two storefronts, its sign painted in curling script - Prose & Cons.

The moment we stepped inside, Lilae and Elise lit up.

“Another library?” Lilae asked, already craning her neck to take it all in.

“No,” I said with a smile. “A bookstore.” I picked up a random book, flipped it over, and tapped the back. “Prices are usually here. Use the number marked U.S. You each get five hundred dollars.”

Her eyes went wide.

“Only take what you can carry,” I added. “We still have to get it home.”

That was all it took. They practically vibrated, then vanished between the shelves.

I turned to Mirri. “You want to pick something out too?”

She shook her head, her eyes crinkling with a smile beneath the mask. “I’d rather sit with you.”

We found a bench tucked between two shelves and settled in.

“So,” I said, leaning back slightly, “what did you think of the library?”

“There was so much,” she said softly. “So much I didn’t know. My great Granda was right - there’s so much love here.” She paused. “But also so much war. Why fight when so many people didn’t want to?”

I let out a quiet breath. “That’s a really complicated question. Mostly because the people in charge told them to. And the people underneath didn’t get a choice.”

She sat with that, turning it over in her mind. “The music was beautiful,” she said after a moment. “So different.” A small sigh slipped through. “I wish we could bring some of it back with us.”

“Maybe we can,” I said. “We’d need a steady source of electricity, but… maybe magic can bridge the gap.” I shrugged. “As long as we’re careful, we might be able to come back a few more times. But it’s still dangerous. Even if the Covenant wasn’t lurking.”

We stayed there, talking quietly, the world narrowing to just the two of us for a while.

Nearly an hour passed before Lilae and Elise reappeared, arms full.

“Are you sure you don’t have more money?” Lilae asked immediately. “There’s another one I really want.”

I chuckled. “You’ve got a limit. If you want that one, something else goes back.”

She huffed, clutching her stack tighter.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, heading toward the back shelves. It didn’t take long to find what I wanted. I grabbed four books and brought them up to the counter. The cashier rang everything up, eyes widening when I paid in exact cash - over a thousand dollars. She handed me a few coins in return.

By the time we were done, we had more books than any of us had planned for. Even Mirri and I ended up carrying bags.

“I thought I said only what you could carry,” I said.

“We can carry this,” Lilae insisted, eyes bright over the edge of her mask. “We just need your help.”

I shook my head, smiling despite myself.

We turned toward the door.

A man passed us on the way out - and for just a second, I caught it. A flicker. Black, threaded with veins of green.

My stomach tightened. “Time to go,” I murmured. “Stay sharp.”

We stepped out onto the street, moving faster now. Lilae nearly ran into someone in her hurry.

“Sorry,” I said automatically.

“It’s fine- Seth?”

I blinked. “Jennifer?”

Yeah. That Jennifer. My ex-wife. Or technically still my wife, considering I’d been kidnapped before signing the papers.

“Jennifer?” Mirri asked, glancing up at me.

Jennifer stared, her face pale. “What happened to you? You just… disappeared. We filed a missing persons report. I thought you were dead…”

“Nope,” I said. “I, uh… took a vacation. Started over.” I gestured beside me. “This is Mirri, Elise, and my daughter, Lilae.”

Her gaze snapped back to me. “Daughter?”

“Yeah. Mirri and Elise are my girlfriends. I’ve got two more girlfriends at home.” I shrugged. “How’s Derek?”

Her brain visibly stalled. She looked between Mirri - bundled up with rocker girl energy even under layers - and Elise, the pale goth girl composed at my other side.

“We… aren’t together anymore,” she said, each word slow, like it took effort to put the sentence together.

“That’s a shame,” I said. “You two were perfect for each other.” I shifted the bags in my hands. “Hey, it was good seeing you, but we’ve got to run. Give me a call - we’ll grab a drink or something.”

And then we were moving again, leaving her standing there in stunned silence.

A block later, Mirri glanced up at me. “She seemed… nice.”

“You think?” I said, surprised.

“No,” she replied flatly. “She’s a bitch. You’re better off without her.”

I laughed. “God, I love you. Where were you fifteen years ago?”

“I was nine,” she said, laughing, “and in another world.”

“Wow,” I said, shaking my head. “that really puts things in perspective.”

The light turned green. We stepped off the curb, crossing the street.

I almost didn’t see the SUV as it blew through the red light.

* * *

I shoved the girls aside as the SUV plowed into me.

Something cracked in my chest, sharp and deep, but I locked onto the crumpled hood and held fast as it kept accelerating, dragging me down the street. Screams blurred together around me - people scattering, shapes darting out of the way. Something slammed into my back, knocking the air from my lungs. Then another impact.

Then we hit a building. The stucco facade burst apart in a spray of dust and debris. We tore through it and slammed into a cinderblock wall beyond. That was what finally broke my grip.

I skidded across the floor and slammed into a raised platform - a semicircle desk perched on top of it. Blue and purple lights flickered wildly, broken by sharp flashes as bulbs popped and died. There were still screams, but fewer now. Quieter. Wherever we were, it was less populated than the street.

The SUV’s tires spun uselessly against the broken wall, engine whining as it failed to move.

I **** myself up, vision swimming, trying to orient.

Doors opened. Four men stepped out, faces hidden behind balaclavas, rifles already in hand.

I hauled myself onto the platform and ducked behind the desk just as gunfire erupted.

There was a kid back there - early twenties, curly dark hair, tracksuit, headphones half around his neck. He was frozen, pressed back against the wall.

I glanced around.

Was this a nightclub? It seemed kind of early for a place like this to be open, but maybe that was why I didn’t see a lot of people rushing out. With any luck, that would keep injuries to a minimum.

“Hey,” I called.

Nothing.

I grabbed his arm. “Hey. You a DJ?”

He nodded, barely.

“Good.” I jerked my head toward the laptop. “You got anything from the nineties? Rock? Metal?”

A blank stare was his only answer.

I tried again. “Rock? Metal? Nineties?”

Another nod.

“Queue it up,” I said. “I’ll get you out of here.”

His hands shook as they rose to the keyboard.

The gunfire stopped.

I stood and stepped out from behind the booth. “I’m here to chew bubblegum and kick ass,” I said, because I’d always wanted to. “And I’m all out of bubblegum.”

A piano cut clean through the room.

“Oh baby, baby-”

I turned slowly to the DJ. “Seriously?”

Rifles came up.

I leapt from the platform as my mana surged, snapping into a shield in front of me. Bullets struck and ricocheted, whining off into walls and ceiling.

I drove forward, slamming the shield into the nearest attacker-

He unraveled.

A tangle of vines exploded outward, slipping past the impact in a dozen directions. For a split second, I saw it - a stone buried in the mass, pulsing faint orange beneath the club lights.

Then he reformed behind me - gun pointed at my head.

I couldn’t shift the shield - bullets still hammered it from the front. So I did the only thing I could - I dropped.

“My loneliness is killing me-”

The SUV flew past me, slammed into him, and clipped two others before smashing through the far wall.

Mirri stood where it had been, cinderbocks floating around her like a storm held in place.

“Watch the DJ,” I called. “They’ve got glow stones!”

The SUV was launched back toward us. Mirri pummeled it midair with a barrage of cinderblocks while I reinforced my body with mana and knocked the wreck aside.

“Hit me baby one more time!”

Elise screamed.

I spun.

A gallowborn had her wrapped - vines cinched around her throat and arms, thorns buried deep. Blood poured down her front.

Something inside me twisted - the marble of Faith ached and nearly cracked as it hammered in my chest. Stars burst before my eyes and it was all I could do to keep standing.

I exhaled silver flame.

It poured over the creature, burning through it without touching Elise. The thing shrieked and dropped into the rubble, dragging her with it. My flames chased it until it let go and fled.

The wall caught fire, flames rising to the ceiling.

Elise collapsed, ****, her throat torn open.

Gunfire slammed into my back and I dropped to my knees.

Mirri was already there, hands glowing as she worked to keep Elise alive.

Across the room, flashes of light streaked toward another attacker - only to vanish into spheres of darkness with a flick of his wrist.

The floor liquefied beneath us and we sank about a foot.

Mirri lifted Elise’s head above the surface, keeping her from drowning in it.

I turned and fired lightning. The gallowborn collapsed - forms unraveling into nothing, their clothes dropping like shed skins.

The floor snapped solid again, trapping us.

A shot cracked and Lilae screamed.

I could barely breathe. My Faith suffocated me as it compressed into a single point and went still, taking everything that was me with it.

I ripped myself out of the ground and charged with a roar.

That’s what they were waiting for.

It is what I was waiting for, too.

My Faith detonated outward, flooding the void within me - and my perception shattered. Four perspectives, all slowed to a crawl.

One gallowborn stood before me, mana slamming into me - threatening to melt my flesh with acid.

Another leapt toward Lilae - its sharp vines poised like scythes to cut her down as soon as it was in range.

A third erupted near Mirri and Elise - piercing Elise’s shoulder, then driving through Mirri’s chest.

The fourth squeezed the trigger of his gun - a tiny red dot trembling on Mirri’s forehead.

I hugged Mirri and pulled her close.

The shot rang out and that point of view collapsed.

I scooped Lilae into my arms, lifting her small form with ease as that perspective collapsed.

The gallowborn slashed with its bladed arms but there was nothing to strike.

A silver tendril tore from my chest, driving through Elise’s wound, burning through the vine and into the rubble.

The gallowborn screamed, thrashed in slow motion, then turned to ash.

Elise wrapped her arms around me as that perspective collapsed as well.

I snapped back into myself, flames pouring from my mouth as the remaining attacker leapt clear.

I hit the ground hard.

Mirri, Lilae, and Elise slid across the floor.

Everything hurt. Everything weighed too much.

But I stood.

There were three left.

“One of you will walk out of here tonight,” I told them. “When you do, give a message to your boss. I’m coming for him. And I’m going to kill him in the most painful way I can. I’m going home tonight to research it. I’ll be prepared. Tell him to as well.”

“And give me a siiiiign!”

I lunged toward the one in the middle.

They split - the two on either side leaping past me.

I pivoted, spun, summoned a blade of fire, and carved through the one on the left.

It split cleanly in half.

I finished the turn and hurled lightning at the one diving for Lilae. It spasmed midair, vines jerking, and slammed into the wall.

The last one hit me - its scythe arm biting deep into my shoulder, cracking bone.

I slashed with the fiery blade and it expanded, twisting out of the way and wrenching the thorns embedded in my shoulder.

I reversed the blade and severed the vines that remained in my shoulder.

The gallowborn flowed back out of my reach but another three bolts of electricity shattered it to splinters.

The song ended.

White light tore through the room - radiant bursts reducing the gallowborn near Lilae to ash.

The one I’d split still twitched, barely holding together.

“Remember my message,” I said as I summoned my mana and encased it in ice.

It froze solid.

The fire had engulfed one and a half walls at this point and roiled over the ceiling in waves. I summoned my mana, sang a small tune, and extinguished it before it spread to other buildings.

Then I limped back to the others.

Mirri was upright now, pale but alive. Elise lay still, blood-soaked but stabilizing - her throat a mess, but scabbed over now.

I reached into Elise’s pocket, pulled two glow stones, handed one to Lilae, and one to Mirri.

“We need to go. Police and fire will be here soon.”

They worked quickly - closing Elise’s wounds, then Mirri’s.

“Don’t waste it on me,” I said. “I’ll heal.”

The DJ peeked up from behind the booth, wide-eyed.

“You good?” I asked.

He didn’t answer. Just stared.

“Maybe expand your library,” I said. “Britney Spears isn’t nineties. Or rock. Or metal.”

We left.