To Summon Nightmares (20 page)

"They might already be down there!" Cohen hissed back. "We have to stop him."

"You're going to get yourself killed, lad."

"I'm trying not to. If I don't go a lot of people could die."

"All right," said Myrna, and she grabbed Cohen's arm as he started down the hill. "But you should let me go. I don't like risking civilians."

Cohen swallowed. "I'm not exactly just a civilian. For one thing, I'm protected, and anyway, if we don't stop him, I might be one of the ones who die. I have to do this."

Myrna shook her head as if she had stopped trying to keep up with Cohen's explanations. "Fine. Let's go."

They reached the stones, stepping in amongst the tall, dark shadows. The feeling was stronger now, emanating from somewhere below him. It made him want to be sick, to curl up and hide. "There must be an entrance underground," he said. "Look for one."

"I've been here before," said Myrna, looking around anyway. "There's never been—oh. Here."

Cohen came around the stone she was gesturing at, to see a large stone carved out from the ground. It had obviously been done recently. The upturned earth was still fresh. Cohen peered down and thought he could see a stairway leading down.

"I'm going," he whispered. "You should stay here."

"I think you should let me go first," replied Myrna.

Cohen shook his head. "It's safer for me. Jacky will probably just kill you, but he knows I'm valuable to Niall. He might keep me alive so he can use me to control him. It sounds terrible but..."

"Is there a danger Niall might try to save you?" asked Myrna. "Instead of doing what needs to be done?"

Cohen swallowed. "Yes," he whispered, his voice cracking. "But he'll be with Kathleen, and I know she won't hesitate. All right, I'm going down." He took a few gulps of air, and slowly lowered himself down onto the narrow staircase. A wet chill crept up from the earth and he looked up at Myrna, trying not to panic. "If Niall and Kathleen show up, tell them what's going on."

"If I hear anything, I'm coming down after you," Myrna replied. "I hope you know what you're doing. You're certainly brave enough, I'll give you that."

Cohen didn't know if he was brave or just stupid. He certainly didn't feel brave. As the light from above receded and he was enveloped in cold darkness, he felt more and more like he was on the verge of panicking. Just when he was about to give up and go back, he thought he saw a light ahead. It wasn't a lot, only a bit of moonlight, but when he reached the ground and turned the corner, he could see clearly.

It was a vast chamber, carved from cold stone, and in the centre were statues, taller than any human, with blank stone eyes. The smell of dust and earth was nearly suffocating. He shouldn't be here. No one should be here. There was an altar of some sort at the base, and a man kneeling in front of it, breathing heavily.

A gasp caught in Cohen's throat and he whipped his head back around the corner. Whatever Jacky had been doing, it seemed to be finished; the cold feeling was gone, left only by emptiness and the echoing noises of Jacky's breathing. He didn't see Niall or Kathleen anywhere. Hopefully that meant they were still safe, and Jacky hadn't done the last sacrifice yet. Either that or he had left their bodies somewhere. His stomach lurched at the thought. Either way, he should get out of here.

"Hello." Jacky was in front of him suddenly, grinning widely, his hand around Cohen's neck. "Fancy seeing you here."

Cohen tried to scream, but it was cut off as Jacky's hand tightened around his neck. He couldn't breathe, and Jacky's fingers were pressing into the bruises left from the branches earlier. His vision spotted and blanked as Jacky dragged him towards the altar.

"I'd hoped I could use your heart, but you know how it is. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices." He laughed and slammed Cohen against the altar. His neck free, but the wind knocked out of him, Cohen tried desperately to breathe. He could smell blood and something rotten. "You'll be the perfect bait."

Cohen choked and drew in a wheezing breath, desperately tried to get his brain working again. Bait. So that meant he was still waiting for Niall and Kathleen. They were alive. Niall was alive. But Jacky could kill Cohen right now. He had no reason not to. Cohen hadn't realised until this moment, breathing raggedly and shaking on the dirt floor, how badly he didn't want to die. He'd only just begun his transition. He didn't want to be remembered by his old name. Last night at this time, he'd been sleeping next to Niall. There was so much he wanted... but looking back, he knew he'd make all the same decisions again.

Niall... he tried to think of Niall. He'd be coming soon. Jacky didn't know that Cohen had broken the wards. They, or the Guild, someone would come. He hoped they would get here soon, before Jacky had time to set up a trap, and before Jacky hurt him too badly. He'd been hurt so much tonight. He didn't think he could live through too much more.

He choked back a sob. Stall, he had to stall Jacky. "They don't know where I am," he managed to cough. "They think I'm safe at home."

"Really?" Jacky touched a hand to Cohen's temple, and there was a sharp, painful flash. He brought his hand away, hissing. "Goddamn Guild, they've got their teeth in everywhere don't they? Well, it doesn't matter if you're lying," he spat. "They'll figure out where you are anyway, eventually. They'll come, and I'll be ready for them." He slid a hand down Cohen's face, to the string around his neck, and pulled on it until it snapped. "I think I'll wait to kill you until he's watching. So he can see the light leave your eyes..."

Cohen's head snapped back as the string broke, and he struggled to focus his eyes. He thought there was something moving behind Jacky. A light.

"Jacky!" said a woman's voice, and then Jacky was thrown off his feet and backwards into one of the statues, narrowly missing the altar. It crumbled under the force, the stones hitting the floor heavily, and Cohen flinched. Jacky hissed and sat up from among the rubble, and Cohen caught sight of Kathleen's blonde hair as she rushed towards Jacky. There was a loud ripping noise and a large piece of the ground in front of him lifted of its own accord and flew towards Jacky. Cohen turned his head just in time to see Jacky throw his arms up, shattering the packed earth into pieces.

Cohen had thought Jacky and Niall had been fighting before, but he saw now that it had only been a dance. Jacky and Kathleen were fighting, tooth and nail, like a clash between gods. Jacky was furiously blasting magic at Kathleen, destroying the walls and the ground around them. But Kathleen was controlling that ground, ripping and shredding it and moulding it into a fierce onslaught of rocks and earth.

Cohen jerked as a hand grabbed his arm, and he turned into Niall's embrace. "Are you all right?" Niall gasped, and Cohen shoved him away.

"Don't worry about me, you have to help Kathleen!"

"No, we've got to get you out of here!" Niall insisted.

"Niall, no! Stop Jacky!"

Niall gave a strangled gasp as Jacky appeared next to him and clamped a hand to the back of his neck. He screamed and tried to pull away, but Jacky had a vice grip on him and Cohen could see it burning Niall's neck. Cohen lunged forward to try and stop him, but it was too late. Jacky had wrapped a leg around Niall, and an arm, and the other was held between their heads and glowing like a miniature sun. "Stop!" he shouted gleefully at Kathleen. "Stop, or I'll kill us both."

Kathleen froze. Cohen tried to dart towards them again, but Jacky turned and held him at bay as well. What could he do? Would Jacky really kill Niall? Could he risk it? Somewhere in the back of his mind, Cohen knew he must, but he couldn't make himself move.

"Jacky!" screamed Niall, his voice thick with panic.

"I'll do it, Niall," laughed Jacky. "Don't either of you doubt that I'll do it."

"Kathleen!" shouted Niall. "Stop him!"

"She won't," said Jacky quietly to Niall. "She won't stop me because if both of us are dead, then she's failed, and it's lights out for little..." he turned to look at Kathleen. "What's her name? Mina?"

"Don't say her name," hissed Kathleen.

"Right," said Jacky. "Well, Niall, walk this way." He took a step towards Kathleen, and then another. Kathleen stood still, her face twisted in rage. Finally they were close enough to touch. Jacky extinguished the light from his hands and pressed both hands to Niall, shoving him to the side. Cohen lunged forward to catch him as he fell, so he heard the noise before he saw what Jacky had done.

A thick squelching noise, and a crack, and then a wheeze from Kathleen. Cohen turned and screamed, his hand flying to his mouth. Jacky had thrust his hand into Kathleen's chest. Slowly, they sunk to the ground, Jacky laughing as he dug deep. Kathleen heaved, and blood spurted from her mouth.

"You failed," Jacky whispered to Kathleen as his hand moved around in her chest, snapping the arteries and sending blood spurting. "You know that? Your daughter, what's her name? Mina," he pronounced her name slowly, with venom and delight. "I'm going to find her, and when I do, I'm going to kill her. I am going to
tear her apart
."

A deafening bang echoed around the cavern. Cohen's head snapped towards the entrance of the cavern, and he drew a sharp breath.

Myrna stood at the entrance, her feet spread and her hands still holding her gun steady in front of her.

Jacky gave a wheeze, and then a cough. Cohen turned to look at him, and heard Niall gasp. Jacky looked confused. He pulled his hand from Kathleen's chest with a thick, sucking noise and touched it to his chest. It was hard to tell where Kathleen's blood ended and his began at first, until it began to seep out into the fabric of his hoodie. He gasped, and gave a wild, feral scream that cut off prematurely, then fell sideways with a thump that echoed through the room. Cohen instantly knew he was dead. He could see his eyes, glazed and distant. It was like looking into eternity.

"Jacky," whispered Niall, and Cohen grabbed him and held him tight. Niall was shaking all over. Myrna was there a moment later, grabbing and shaking Cohen by the shoulder, and he looked up at her. He felt as if his reflexes were slow, and everything was a little too bright.

"Tell me I've just shot the right person, Cohen," she said.

Cohen nodded wordlessly. He felt Niall stir and get up, rushing over to the bodies. There was blood pooling on the dirt floor, but he knelt in it, regardless.

"Niall," said Cohen tentatively, and Niall let out a sob.

"I know I'm awake now," he said. "This can't possibly be a dream." He looked at Cohen, his eyes red but focused. "They're coming now."

"I know," said Cohen. He felt a sob creeping up his throat, but he couldn't even piece together why. Not when there was so much crowding his consciousness. "You have to go."

"I have to destroy all of this," said Niall. "I have to, the Guild can't know what happened here. And you two, you both need to go right now."

"Niall, I don't want to lose you—"

"I know!" shouted Niall. "So you have to go right now. You both have to go and you have to pretend that none of this ever happened, and you were never involved with me. Cohen, listen." He touched his hands to Cohen's cheeks, and pressed their foreheads together. "Remember what you said? About us running away together?"

Cohen nodded; the misty fantasy of him and Niall together, far away and safe, sprung up again, fragile and hazy.

"It can only work if the Guild has no idea that you ever knew me, and no reason to think that you did."

"But..." Cohen's heart was racing again. He was thinking about how the Guild had tracked Niall and Jacky down, what they'd done to them, how they had used Kathleen's daughter against her. How they were part of the government. Part of everything. "Niall, that will never work. They'll know I'm connected to you. I bailed you out of jail. I came here with Myrna to help you. They'll see her memories. They'll see
my
memories. They've got me under surveillance, right? Under their control?"

"They have," said Niall. "But—"

"Then I don't have a choice," said Cohen. Tears were welling up in his eyes. This was never going to be all right. Nothing was. "Don't you see, Niall? They'll use me to get to you. At the very least they'll watch me forever to see if I ever contact you. And they might do worse. They might use me as bait. And Myrna, and Myrna's daughters." He glanced at Myrna, who was staring at him stonily. "And if I go with you, try to escape, they'll use my family. There's... there's
nothing
we can do."

Niall took a few steps back from Cohen. "You're right," he said. "Of course, you're right. There's only one thing to do, isn't there?" He glanced down at Kathleen and Jacky's bodies. "I have to turn myself in."

"What?" Cohen gasped, realising at once that he was right, while every fibre of his being rejected it. "You can't."

"Of course I can!" shouted Niall loudly. "I was willing to sacrifice everything to stop people from dying, wasn't I? Well, this is the result!" He stared at Cohen, and Cohen could see the fear in his eyes. "No," said Niall after a moment. "No, I've got a better idea." He looked at Myrna.

"What?" said Cohen. "What are you doing?"

"I don't want to go back there," said Niall levelly to Myrna. "I'd rather die. They'll use me to do things I don't want to do. They'll make me into something I'm not. Myrna, Jacky would rather have died. And so would I."

Myrna stared at him for a long moment. Then she unhitched her gun from her belt.

"No!" said Cohen. "Myrna, no, you can't!"

"I can." Myrna's face was still, her eyes dark. "I would do anything if it means protecting my daughters, Cohen."

"No." Cohen shook his head. "No, that's just like Kathleen. They're making you all like her."

"She's choosing to sacrifice one person for the lives of many," said Niall. His voice was shaking, his face devoid of colour. Cohen could see his lips trembling. More than anything he wanted to kiss them and make everything okay. "She's nothing like Kathleen."

"Well I'm not letting this happen," said Cohen. He glanced around, to the altar with the withered hearts, the bodies of Jacky and Kathleen on the floor. Kathleen's body was losing blood fast, the cavity of her chest ripped open, with her organs on full display. She didn't look real any more. And that was a good thing.