Shades of Gray: A Jude Magdalyn Novel (22 page)
“I’m going.
That’s final, Jude. Either I walk in with you or I sneak in after you but I’m going.”
I shook my head before she finished her declaration. “No, Elizabeth, you’re not. You’d be distracted, which is bad enough, but you have no weapons training, no way to protect yourself. I can’t risk getting Celia back just to lose you.”
I turned to leave the room when she grabbed my arm, forcing me back around. She had a hell of a grip - I’d have a bitch of a bruise by morning. Her eyes, normally calm and collected, were slightly wild, determined.
“She’s my sister and the only real family I have left. I can’t stay here, wondering if she’s hurt or scared, or….” Elizabeth trailed off, and I knew what she didn’t say. It’s what none of us said, even if we thought it. It was the white elephant in the room.
I hate elephants.
“Look, I can’t begin to understand how you’re feeling. That doesn’t change the fact you have no training. Hell, you don’t even have a weapon.” My eyes widened when she pulled a gun from underneath her jacket. “What the crap?”
“It’s a martini glass. What does it look like, Jude?”
“Alright, stupid question. Maybe I should have said what the crap is a seventeen year old doing with a revolver?”
“It’s a Glock .26, a 9 mm semi-automatic, not a revolver. And I’ll be eighteen on Halloween.” Elizabeth flushed a pale pink, probably owing to the fact I looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “It belonged to our father, and when he died, I sort of….”
“You stole a gun.”
“No, I just made sure my relatives didn’t put it somewhere I couldn’t get it if I needed it.”
“Do I want to know what kind of home life requires access to a gun?”
“No, you don’t.” Elizabeth slid the gun back underneath her jacket, and I admitted unless you knew what to look for you’d never suspect. In the few seconds she’d had the gun out she’d handled it like she knew what to do, which raised a few more questions.
“Can you actually shoot, or is this just show?”
“Celia has dance class twice a week. I go to the shooting range over near Poydras. It’s only a little bit away from the studio.”
“You carry a gun on the streetcar?”
“Don’t be silly. Theo drives us.” With my head reeling from information overload, Elizabeth grabbed both of my hands. “Please, Jude. I know how Celia thinks. If she’s hiding somewhere, I’ll know where to find her. Please. I have to go.”
“Jude.” I looked over my shoulder to meet Gillian’s gaze. I don’t know how long she’d been standing in the doorway listening to us but I’d bet long enough. “Let the girl go. It’s her family. Whatever the outcome of tonight, she’ll regret not being present.”
I knew when I was outgunned - no pun intended. I shook my head. “I don’t like this, but fine. You can come. Just do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Don’t die on me. My nerves are stretched a little thin right now.”
Elizabeth smiled slightly. “I’m pretty sure I can manage that.”
I turned to leave, this time for real. “Try for damn sure. Now, let’s go get your sister.”
“Everybody had their
tetanus shots?”
“Now is not the time for humor, Jude Magdalyn.”
“I’m serious. This building is a landmine of potential diseases.” Williams and his guard had tracked Celia to a house in the 9th Ward, one of hundreds abandoned after Katrina flooded the city. Entire blocks stood empty, ghost towns eerily reminiscent of the cemeteries.
Thinking about cemeteries made me think about dead people. Not the best thought when you were on a rescue mission.
“We’ll worry about diseases later. Williams, how many does Hart keep around him?” Trust Gillian to cut to the heart of the matter.
“Two dozen stay with him constantly. Most of the members of our former clan are in hiding, waiting until a winner emerges before showing themselves.” Williams ran his eyes over our number. “If he chooses to fight, this has the potential to go badly.”
“Everything has the potential to go badly.” This from Theo, who had shocked the hell out of me by strapping on a sword, easily four feet from tip to hilt. It was also shocking that the implied danger made him a little bit sexier. Okay, a whole lot sexier.
God, celibacy was going to kill me.
I shook my head sharply, clearing my thoughts. Focus. Must focus right now. Distraction would do nothing but get someone killed.
Gillian, Williams, and Theo talked in hushed tones. Actually, they argued, that’s what happens when you put too many head cheerleaders on the same squad. Nothing gets done, just talked about. Beside me, Elizabeth vibrated with tension, rapidly reaching the point where she’d take matters into her own hands.
I placed my hand on Elizabeth’s arm, raised a finger to my lips. I gave the huddle behind us one more look before I crouched down and pulled Elizabeth with me. Using one of the dozens of rust covered cars for cover I eased my way into the deserted street, careful to make as little noise as possible.
Enough abandoned vehicles and general debris remained uncleared after almost two years that it made keeping to the shadows easy. Elizabeth was better than I’d given her credit for. Living in a house with Wily, Lies, and Guile had probably made keeping to the shadows a genuine survival technique.
The fence around the house had bent under the flood water weight, almost touching the ground. Knee high grass covered both yards, and my feet squelched in the mud created by the evening’s earlier rain. Holding the fence down to minimize any noise, I widened my eyes at Elizabeth, jerking my head in the direction of the house. She took two huge steps, one directly in the center of the rusting fence, crossing over in complete silence. Kneeling, she held the top of the fence down, and I followed her lead. Two giant steps, and we were both in the yard.
Still crouched, I took Elizabeth’s hand and headed toward the back of the house. Quickly and quietly, we made our way around to the back, keeping to the shadow of the house. I remembered to breathe as we turned the corner completely hidden from the sight of everybody across the street. Elizabeth let out a low, shaky laugh.
“Part one accomplished. Now things get interesting.”
My knees were starting to ache but I ignored the pain. Turning, I looked at our options for entry. The tiny porch had a door and four windows about waist high from the ground. I rose slightly, shifting until I could peer in the window closest to us to get a glance at what lay inside.
Debris. Rotted floorboards. Moth-eaten sheets. No vampires.
Motioning to Elizabeth, I waited for her to stand before beginning to push the window up. Worried it wouldn’t open, and scared it would squeak and squeal if it did, I held my breath. Together, we pushed the glass high enough to squeeze through. Elizabeth knelt and helped boost me up through the gap without jumping.
Inside, I scanned the room, checking to make sure we hadn’t missed anything. I grabbed Elizabeth’s elbows, and helped pull her in. We left the window open, although if this went as badly as it had the potential to, I didn’t think we’d be going out the way we came in.
Treading carefully, concerned not only with squealing floorboards but falling through them, we crossed the room. Elizabeth stayed close behind to my right. I’d discovered my left hand was my go-to hand for throwing fire, something Elizabeth knew.
When we got to the door I pressed my ear against the wood, listening for any sounds. At first it sounded like the house was empty and I panicked, sure Williams had screwed up. Then I heard a rustle and a high-pitched giggle, which could only belong to one person. They were here and just down the hall.
I eased the door open, stopping when we had enough space to slide through. It wasn’t easy, what with having breasts and all, but I managed. Elizabeth slid through a little easier, but not much. I kept to the wall. Walking on the balls of my feet, I eased in the direction of the annoying, manic giggle, pausing every few feet to listen.
We were close to the front of the house when I could finally make out voices. Relief flooded through my system as I recognized Celia’s. Amusement followed relief as I listened to her words.
“I don’t want to and you can’t make me.”
A crash, followed by cursing in French. “You will do as I say you little brat or you’ll face my wrath.”
I didn’t have to be in the room to see Celia cross her arms and stick her lower lip out. “I don’t have to see things if I don’t want to, Elizabeth said so.”
“But your lovely sister isn’t here, cherie, and we are. You don’t want to disappoint us, now do you?” Evangeline’s voice was silky smooth. Celia wasn’t impressed.
“I don’t want to, and I don’t have to.”
A crash came from outside, the opposite direction of where Elizabeth and I had entered. Sounded like the rest of the rescue group had finally noticed we weren’t around. Inside the room, Hart apparently thought the troops were coming in after him, yelling for various people to go and deal with the problem.
I heard the sound of rushing feet, and worried they’d come out and discover us. Through divine intervention or dumb luck, they didn’t. I took a deep breath and eased across the hallway, Elizabeth at my heels. The door to Hart’s room stood slightly ajar and I nudged it open slowly, to get a line of sight.
They’d placed Celia in the center of the room, her feet swung back and forth, kicking the chair. Her arms were folded over her chest, and I’d been right - her lower lip stuck out far enough to be comical. An agitated Hart paced back and forth behind her. Clearly, he’d never had to deal with a stubborn five year old before.
Evangeline seemed to be doing somewhat better. She murmured to Celia, low enough I couldn’t make out anything but the sound of her voice. I would guess she wasn’t whispering sweet nothings in her ear.
I took a step back, and whispered to Elizabeth, “You take Hart. I’ll take Evangeline. On three.”
With a deep breath, I began pushing power through my veins. “One.”
Elizabeth pulled her gun out, clicking the safety off. “Two.”
I sent a quick prayer to any saint I could think of, including my namesakes. “Three.”
I slammed the door open, ducking low, fire blasting from my hand almost before I had time to aim. Jerking slightly to the right, I caught Evangeline full in the face. Above me, Elizabeth fired six or seven times before I lost count. I only noticed when the thundering booms stopped.
At first I thought the room had gone quiet, and then I realized I couldn’t hear because the gunshots had momentarily deafened me. Sound began to seep back in. The raggedness of my breath came first, then Hart’s cursing and Evangeline’s shrieks. Something thudded on the floor next to me. I looked up to see Elizabeth ejecting the clip and slamming another one in.
Hart lay on the clapboard floor, writhing in pain and cursing in French and English. As for Evangeline, I don’t know if being burnt alive qualified as a fate worse than death, but it sure as hell didn’t look pleasant. I’d sworn I’d make sure she stopped giggling, but part of me wondered if I might have found a cleaner way.
Celia hopped off the chair, skipped across the room and wrapped her arms around Elizabeth’s waist. “I knew you’d come and get me, Lizzie.” She turned and squeezed my leg. “And you, Jude.”
“And here we are. Let Elizabeth carry you, so we can get out of here.” Elizabeth hoisted Celia up, switching the gun to her right hand. I stood and gave Hart and what had been Evangeline one last look before pushing Elizabeth out the door.
A crash sounded behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Hart using the chair to pull himself to his feet. You’d think a full clip would have kept him down longer. Another crash as a door across the room slammed open and more bad guys swarmed in.
“Run. Now.”
I pushed Elizabeth toward the front door. Behind me I could already hear the sounds of pursuit, and I knew we weren’t going to make it. Not all of us.
Keeping my eyes on Hart’s door, I pushed the girls ahead of me. Elizabeth cursed, ramming her shoulder into the door once, twice, before the wood gave. The timing was fortunate for her because the hallway suddenly flooded with bad vamps. I poured fire from my hand, less concerned with hitting anyone in particular than with just hitting anyone.
I kept pouring fire as I stumbled backward onto the porch and my hand jerking up caught the roof on fire. Two more steps and I fell down the stairs, the grass catching fire around me. Someone hoisted me up by the elbows, and I craned my neck back to see Theo above me.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Jude, I swear to God.”
“Just like your mother was to your father.” I jerked my head forward to stare in shock as Hart walked through the flames. After what he’d witnessed happen to his little blonde cupcake you’d expect some concern, but no. He strolled as nonchalantly as if he was taking a walk down Canal.
“Your mother was the more powerful of the two. And yet all it took was a simple knock on the head to put her under.” Hart smiled, looking like Satan himself emerging from the flames of hell. “The accident was harder to arrange than actually killing them.” He directed the next smile toward me. “But then, you’d have found that out with your little friend. Izzy, correct?”
I felt Theo falter behind me and pushed him back. Hart kept walking toward us. I couldn’t seem to move, like the horror of his last few sentences had frozen me and Theo in place. He stood within arm’s reach when I felt the ground rumble beneath me, and even though we were in Louisiana, my first thought was still earthquake.
Hart stumbled back and Gillian suddenly appeared, her hair flying in the air. I wanted to step forward, to help, to do something, and couldn’t. A wall of magic like the one I’d thrown up the other night kept me out.
I beat my hands against the invisible shield, battered them until my fists went numb. I called her name, again and again, until I screamed it while Theo tried to pull me back. Gillian and Hart remained locked in some intricate battle, so tangled together you couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
