Page 106 of The Shade of Things
I wrapped my cardigan tighter around myself.
Eli laughed. “A bit late for crow o’clock.”
While Sadie sang the Twilight Zone intro, I looked up at the sky expecting to see thousands of crows winging their way from downtown Vancouver to Burnaby like they did every night and froze.
It wasn’t crow o’clock. It was ravenpocalypse.
Hundreds of them landed on the branches of the trees here in the park, jammed wing to wing, their cold, black eyes trained on us.
“This is too Hitchcock.” Eli focused on his feet, holding a hand in front of our daughter’s face. “Sades, look away.”
I barely heard him over the pounding of my heart, gripping their arms with sweaty hands. “Count of three,” I whispered, “I cloak and we run home to the wards. One. Two.”
A raven larger than the others landed on the grass, shaking out their feathers.
Poe. I felt it in my bones.
Slamming my mesh over us, I shoved Eli and Sadie to get them moving, but we barely made it past the dog park fence when the ground shook, knocking the three of us to the dirt.
Before I could restore the cloaking, we were pinned down by an invisible force. I lay on my side, able to move my arms and head, but not get up. My leg was bent at an awkward angle. It wasn’t broken, but my knee throbbed painfully.
Eli was on his knees, Sadie on her butt.
She pressed a shaking hand to her heart, her breathing fast and shallow.
I shivered, the sight of my girl having a panic attack while I was unable to protect her making me want to jump out of my skin. I struggled to get up, but I was helpless. “Sades, honey. Breathe deeply. In and out. You can do it.”
Two shadows fell over us, the people’s faces coming into view: Jason Maxwell and Isla.
An icy spark of fear deep in my belly exploded into shards, freezing my blood and zapping all the strength from my muscles. I blinked rapidly as if I could will these two somewhere far from my family—like the depths of the earth.
Eli got a ferocious look on his face, reaching for the weapon he hadn’t brought to dinner. “Daw trusted you,” he said. “How could you?”
“For immortality.” Isla beamed at Jason. “I told you I could find Miriam.”
“Haven’t you done enough?” I said. “Leave my daughter alone. It’s me you want.”
“Personally, I don’t give a damn about you,” she said, though she averted her gaze from Sadie. “I’m just doing what I was ordered.”
“Poe,” I pleaded.
The raven did nothing to help, nor did any of the other birds. Was Jason or Isla the new player Poe had warned me of? Was that why they were here? They tricked me into bringing this player into being during a game of blackjack and now just sat there impassively? I’d have strangled the feathery asshole if I could.
Jason flexed his hands, one of which was wrapped up from where I’d stabbed him, but only sparks came out. Nothing magic happened. He shook them out while I pressed on.
“Jason’s lying to you,” I said. “Even if Sapiens can host dybbuks, they’ll die, leaving the dybbuk in control of your body. Just like with Ohrists.”
“No.” Isla fixated on me with gleaming eyes. “The point is to find a way to let us remain in control. Then everyone who’s ever caused us pain and preyed on us will be at our mercy.”
“You’re a fool,” I said. “It’s not possible.”
“Enough talking.” Jason flicked his fingers, and the breath left my lungs, my body slowly compressing like the trash compacter that almost killed Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie. Except substitute my organs for the Star Wars characters. He shot more magic, grinning at my wheezing bagpipe impression. “Finally. My powers have been on the fritz thanks to your antics. Anyway, my employers have granted you one chance to live. Did you find the Ascendant?”
Blood leaked out of my eyes and nose. My head was about to split like a ripe melon.
“She can’t answer you if you kill her,” Eli snarled.
“True.” Jason let up the pressure long enough for me to answer the question. When I shook my head, clawing at my throat for air, he sighed. “Sadly, they expected too much, as I told them. But at least it affords me the pleasure of killing you.”
