This Broken Wondrous World (27 page)

“Are you sure that was a good idea?” I asked. “We don't want to upset people.”

“A bit of melodramatic flattery and she had you practically eating out of her hand,” said La Perricholi. “Don't forget that they are military allies, not friends.”

“She's right,” said Claire. “I know how tempting it is to take
this all at face value, but like you said before, there are no good guys here. They will take advantage of us as much as they can.”

“Yeah, okay, you're probably right,” I said.

“Of course we are,” said La Perricholi. “Your problem, Boy, is that you assume everyone else is as sincere as you are. Claire and I know better.”

The ambassador returned to the lobby, a smile back on her face. Of course, now I wondered how honest it was.

“Wonderful news, Boy,” she said. “Agent Holmes assures me that your father will be waiting for you in Houston, along with another monster who was apprehended during the raid.”

“That's awesome!” I said. “And he's okay? He's not hurt?”

“He is perfectly fine,” she said.

“Who is this other monster?” asked La Perricholi.

“Agent Holmes did not share that with me,” said the ambassador.

“Maybe it's old Kemp,” said Claire. “Maybe he's been in custody this whole time, and here we've been thinking he went over to Moreau.”

“That would also be very good news,” said La Perricholi.

“YOU TOTALLY NEED
a plane,” I said to La Perricholi as we settled into the soft leather seats in the small, private jet that the FBI had chartered to get us to Houston.

“Helicopters are better,” she said. “Planes are too difficult to land in tight spaces and rugged terrain.” Her dark eyes scanned the interior appreciatively. “It is a nice plane, though. I think I'll go have a peek at the cockpit.”

Once La Perricholi was gone, Claire and I sat there in silence
for a moment.

“How are you?” I asked.

She shrugged.

“What happened back during the fight with Stephen? Between you and Sophie.”

She sighed. “I knew you were going to ask that.”

“So then just tell me.”

“She got it into her fuzzy little head that she was going to be all noble and self-sacrificing. She more or less tried to force her life energy on me.”

“That would have weakened her like Robert?”

“And it would have made me as strong as Stephen so that I could beat him. But like I told her, I may be a Hyde, but I'm not bloody Stephen. I'd sooner die than take advantage of her like that.”

“You nearly
did
die,” I said.

She reached out and placed her hand on my cheek. “Nah. I knew you'd stop him.” She gave me a light slap. “You owe me a few, anyway. 'Bout time you started paying back.”

“But I didn't. The Dragon Lady did.” I sat there for a moment, staring out the window at the puffy white cloud line below us. “Stephen said he could beat me because I'm not a killer. But I'm not sure he was right.”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember back in New York when Henri got kidnapped by the maenads?”

Claire shuddered. “Not likely to forget that.”

“I was so angry. I think . . . I would have killed them. If Sophie hadn't stopped me.”

“She didn't stop you,” said Claire. “She just reminded you of who you are. And when you remembered that, you stopped
yourself.”

“Still, the fact that I could even be capable of—”

“We're all capable of terrible things,” she said. “Even the weakest little human. Trust me, I know. What separates us from Stephen and Moreau is that we choose not to do those things.”

“Integrity,” I said.

“If you like.”

“I told Henri that integrity is the one thing nobody can take away from you. You have to choose to give it up.”

She slid into the seat next to me and put her arm around my waist. “And we'll show them we don't
need
to give it up, eh? We're better than that. We'll beat 'em without sinking to their level.”

“Yeah,” I said. And I really hoped she was right.

Where the Wild Things Are

H
OUSTON STRETCHED OUT
below us, flat and sprawling in all directions like one big suburb. We landed at a private airstrip, where a black SUV with black-tinted windows waited for us.

“They don't want us to be seen by the locals,” said La Perricholi as we walked down the steps from the plane to the runway. Then she smiled. “I imagine they are not pleased with your rather public pledge of support. Well done. It's good to keep them on their toes.”

“You think they wanted me as a secret consultant or something?”

“Probably.”

“But then everyone would have thought all the monsters were joining up with Moreau,” I said as we climbed into the back of the SUV.

“You think they care?” asked Claire. “That's why we've got to look out for ourselves. Be careful we don't get too cozy with these people.”

“I think it's likely they can hear us right now,” said La Perricholi, nodding toward the man in the suit up in the driver's seat.

“You think
I
care?” asked Claire.

We didn't get to see much of Houston. The driver took us
down a street that seemed to have nothing but car dealerships on it. Then he turned onto a side road that crossed a wide stretch of plain to a massive concrete building surrounded by fences and barbed wire.

“Looks like a prison,” said Claire.

“I don't know whether that's a commentary on our status or theirs,” I said.

The inside of the building didn't look much better. The driver led us through a maze of hallways with plain white walls and drab green linoleum floors. The few people we passed pretended not to notice us, but I turned behind us once and caught a guy looking back at me. When our eyes met, he looked away hurriedly. They'd probably been told not to stare.

Finally, the driver led us into a big, open room. It looked sort of like a waiting room. The walls were lined with metal folding chairs and there was another door on the far end of the room.

“Please be seated,” said the driver. “They'll be with you shortly.” He turned toward the door, then hesitated. He looked back at Claire. “For what it's worth, ma'am, personally, I
do
care. Thanks for coming.” And then he quietly left.

I scanned the room. “Couple of cameras,” I said quietly.

“Of course,” said La Perricholi.

“What, exactly, are we waiting for?” asked Claire.

“Me,” came a deep, familiar voice behind us.

I turned and looked up at the towering form that had just come through the door.

“Dad!” I didn't care about cameras or looking tough in front of the Feds. I was over there in two steps and hugged him as hard as I could.

“Boy,” he said quietly, and hugged me back just as hard. He tilted his head to one side and rested his cheek on the top of
my head. After a few moments, I felt something wet in my hair. I gently pulled back a little and looked at my father, the most famous monster in the world. And he was crying.

“I'm sorry,” he said hoarsely as he pushed away the tears with his hands and took in a huge, shaky breath.

“Don't be,” I said.

“Aw, look at you, ya big softie,” said Claire as she came over. “Now I know where he gets it from. Make room, I want some of that.”

“Claire,” said my father. He hugged her tightly and kissed her on the top of her head as tears began to fall again.

After a few more moments, my father turned to La Perricholi. “You must be the new Perricholi.”

“It is an honor,
Señor el Monstruo
,” she said as she shook his hand, which completely covered her slim brown one.

“Is it true?” he asked. “About—”

“Mozart?” she asked. “Yes. He was murdered by Stephen Hyde last night.”

He looked at her a moment, then nodded. “I'm sorry to hear that. He was a good friend to me, and a good mentor to my son.” He turned back to me. “How is your mother?”

“Worried about you,” I said.

“She hasn't killed anyone, I hope?”

“She almost joined Moreau,” I admitted. “But he didn't really have any better plan to free you than Ruthven.”

He smiled softly. “Her impatience was a blessing this time.” He turned back toward the hallway and called, “Come in. There's no reason to be shy here.”

A female trowe with glittering sapphire eyes stepped into the room. She had a bandage wrapped around her head, and one foot was in a support boot. She had a crutch under one arm.

“I didn't want to get in the way of the reunion,” she said.

“Bakru, you're alive!” I said, grabbing her by the shoulders.

“Ow.” She winced, her hand going to her side. “Yes. Alive. Let's keep it that way.”

“We have to tell Liel,” I said. “We have to get word to her somehow. Maybe she'll come back if she knows you're still alive.”

Bakru's eyes narrowed. “Back? From where?”

“We all thought you were dead,” said Claire.

“I would have been.” She turned to look up at my dad. “If it weren't for you.”

He nodded, looking a little embarrassed. “I broke your foot and two ribs, and gave you a concussion in the process, so it was not my most successful saving.”

She turned back to me. “They were about to open fire. I was standing in the lobby like an idiot, too scared to move. He threw himself on top of me and took the bullets.”

“Jesus, Dad, are you okay?” I asked.

He waved his hand. “Of course, of course. I am fine.”

Bakru turned back to me. “You still haven't answered my question. Where's Liel?”

“She joined Moreau.”

“Shit,” said Bakru.

“She was so upset about losing you and her mom. You know how she just gets angry and nothing else matters.”

“I know,” she said. “God, I know. I just . . . hoped she'd evolved past that.”

“But now that you're alive,” I said, “I bet she'll come right back to us.”

“Unless she's in over her head already,” said La Perricholi quietly.

“She is.” Holmes came striding in from the doorway at the
other end of the room. She looked even more disheveled than the last time I'd seen her. But her blue eyes looked sharper than ever before and never stopped moving. She offered her hand to La Perricholi. “Agent Holmes. You must be the famous Perricholi.”

Holmes turned to me. “And you look a bit different from the last time we met. I assume this is your natural appearance?”

“Yeah. I was using faerie glamour to blend in with humans before.”

“Neat trick. I wonder, if
I
were to take some, would it allow me to blend in with monsters?”

“Uh, I have no idea. . . .”

“We'll have to try it sometime, then.” She turned to Claire and offered her hand. “I don't believe we've met, Ms. Hyde.”

“We did, sort of,” said Claire, shaking her hand. “When you accosted Sophie.”

“You are still aware when you aren't the current form? So Sophie can hear me right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Fascinating,” said Holmes. Then she turned to my dad. “It looks like Moreau is using the trowe as a sort of covert sabotage team. I've gotten several reports that someone who looks like Bakru, but with diamond eyes, has been leading a small band of her . . . people? Should I call them that?”

“That would be accurate,” my dad said.

She nodded. “She and her people have disabled a huge number of power stations. Right now, there are massive sections between Phoenix and Denver that have gone dark.”

“That's a large area,” observed La Perricholi.

“It is,” said Holmes. “Which has me worried that Moreau has a much bigger plan in the works than holding Phoenix hostage. If you think there's a possibility this Liel would be willing to defect,
I can facilitate a peaceful acceptance. But I can't promise a full pardon. It's going to depend on how much intel she can give us. She is guilty of treason, after all.”

“Is it treason if someone has been barred from citizenship?” my father asked. His tone was casual, but there was an edge to it.

“We've talked about this,” said Holmes. “The question of monster citizenship is way out of my jurisdiction. About all I can say is that if we come out of this alive and I can prove that monsters played a pivotal role in our victory, it
will
help your case.”

“Technically speaking, I'm a British citizen,” said Claire.

“Really?” Holmes frowned, staring off into a corner. “I'll bet Moreau is, too. That could present a complication.”

“I don't think he'd claim British citizenship,” I said. “The only country he's interested in is his own.”

“Yes . . .” said Holmes, still frowning, as if working something out in her head. Then suddenly, “Okay, everyone follow me. We can discuss this further on the way.”

“On the way to where?” asked La Perricholi.

“New Mexico. Apparently, a giant fortress just suddenly appeared out in the middle of nowhere. The military seems to think it might be monster-related. Can't imagine why.”

THE THING THEY
never show you in those adventure movies with people traveling all over the world is the percentage of time they spend actually traveling. I wondered how many hours I'd spent on a plane, bus, train, or boat in the last couple of weeks. Looking back, it seemed likely Moreau had done that to us on purpose, leading us back and forth like a yo-yo so we could never really
gather our full strength.

This was a much shorter trip than the last one, though. And we were riding in a helicopter, which I'd never been in before. So I thought it wouldn't be too bad. But it turns out that helicopters are loud and really uncomfortable.

“Only the large military models like this one,” La Perricholi said defensively when I mentioned it to her.

And it
was
big. Nearly a hundred feet long with a large enough cargo area to drive a car into. Holmes said we needed something big that could carry a heavy load.

“You and your dad alone would probably tax the load limit of a small helicopter,” she said. “I'd like to take Moreau alive if possible. And any other monsters we come across. So I got the biggest helicopter I could find. Just in case.”

There wasn't a passenger section, just the front cockpit for the pilot and crew. The rest was an empty cargo hold with little metal seats that dropped down from the sides on hinges. So we sat in two parallel lines facing one another.

“In case of what?” asked Bakru. Holmes had wanted her to stay back at the base, since she was wounded. But she insisted on coming, in case we ran into Liel. I had to agree that Liel probably wouldn't believe that she was alive unless she saw her in person.

“That's a good question,” said Holmes. “All I know is that a huge building just appeared out of nowhere a few hours ago.” She turned her sharp blues eyes on me. “Maybe
you
can shed some light on this miraculous building in New Mexico.”

“I think it's The Commune.” I turned to Claire and La Perricholi. “Right before the Dragon Lady bit his head off, Stephen said, ‘You made it. Mission accomplished.' What if he wasn't just trying to lure
us
down there? What if he was also trying to get the
Dragon Lady away from The Commune?”

“So that Moreau could move in,” said La Perricholi.

“But why?” asked Claire.

“Good base of operations?” I suggested.

“Perhaps,” said La Perricholi. “Or else there's something there he wants.”

“Or some
one
,” said Claire. “There are a lot of very scary monsters in there.”

“What
is
The Commune, exactly?” asked Bakru. “I've heard people mention it every once in a while back at The Show.”

“It's a community of monsters who are too big to hide among humans,” I said.