Wintermoon Ice (2010) (22 page)

"Keth...
fell
?" As she glanced towards him, his eyes flashed blue and then faded to black in the intermittent puddles of light from the street lamps.

He patted the scabbard that rested at his feet. "This sword belonged to my mother, Gwenn Faircrow. She was... very proficient with it. When she died, my father buried it in her grave. When
he
died, I dug it up again. She taught me much of her craft when I was growing up, so I wanted to keep keth'fell in remembrance of her."

Tessa said, "I probably shouldn't be asking you this but... Why aren't you angry with me? I screwed everything up so badly."

He sighed and shook his head. "I was the one who screwed up. Grandmother has been after me all day to call you and apologize. It's just... Well, I have my pride, and I didn't want to admit that I couldn't do it alone."

"Can we... work together this time, do you think?"

He grinned. "Maybe. If we don't talk about it too much."

Ted's gate came into view. Tessa punched in the code. Jakob frowned. "Is this man such a coward that he must hide himself behind high walls?"

Tessa frowned too. "I think that might fall into the category of talking too much. Ted is not that bad. Just a little bit selfish." She parked well down the street from Ted's house, and they approached on foot, trying to keep to the shadows. Every time keth'fell glinted under the street lamps, Tessa's heart quailed, sure that some overzealous neighborhood watchperson would call the police on them.

When they reached the house Tessa whispered, "I don't have a key. But we can go round the back and peek in the window. Ted has vertical blinds in the kitchen." She checked her watch.
11:45
.

As they passed into the narrow alley between two fences, the next door neighbor's dog burst into a torrent of barks. Jakob swore softly. "That stupid animal will give us away."

Tessa pressed her lips to a crack in the fence. "Shh... Bruno. It's only me. Tessa. You know me, so don't bark, OK? Please..."

The dog quieted. Jakob grasped Tessa's upper arm in a gentle gesture of appreciation, and she felt her heart ratchet up a notch. They scooted around the hot tub, faintly humming in the darkness of the side deck. She closed her eyes for a moment and shuddered, trying to drive away the memories it woke.

As they turned the corner, Tessa saw an ominously tall figure lounging by the back door. It looked up and then took a step towards them.

"I got this one," Jakob whispered. "Once it starts to follow me, see what you can find out at the window."

She nodded and then hugged the wall of the house as the Poly went for Jakob. He backed away, seemingly terrified, and the Poly dutifully followed. Once he had gone back around the corner, Tessa heard the familiar squishy thunk of a head hitting the ground.

Ted had drawn the vertical blinds carelessly, and once Tessa had crawled to the sill she could easily peer into the kitchen. He sat at the table, nervously sipping a glass of wine. Another man sat across from him -- Daniel Redden, she guessed. She could hear them talking.

Redden spoke first. He sounded impatient. "Where is the mirror, Dr. Black?"

Ted sighed with studied carelessness and examined his fingernail. "I couldn't get it from Tessa. I tried and tried, but she is a stubborn little bitch."

Redden frowned. So did Tessa, outside the window. "I warned you what would happen next. My pets will have to do what you could not."

He shrugged. "Obviously I don't want her to get hurt. You'll stop your boys before they get too far, won't you?"

Bastard
, mouthed Tessa, wishing she hadn't defended him to Jakob before.

Redden also seemed unimpressed by Ted's words. "It does not change the terms of our agreement. I gave you some information --
privileged
information -- and I expected something in return. How do you plan to reimburse me?"

Ted spoke briskly. "I found the article you were after. The one about Ben Kivelson. This is the only remaining copy." He pushed it across the table to Redden.

He picked it up and perused the faded newsprint. "A small consolation, at best, Dr. Black. Has she seen this?"

Ted shook his head in another smooth lie. Tessa's jaw began to ache with the effort it took not to curse out loud. "Why do you care, anyway?"

Redden's voice was sharp. "The girl has a weapon inside her, something that would best remain asleep." His apprehensive expression smoothed itself as he tucked the clipping in the pocket of his suit. "I hardly think this is enough to repay your debt."

Ted took another big gulp of wine as his mind worked frantically. "Uh... Of course I will also map out all the portals within the cave system, and allow your people free access during my excavation."

He raised an eyebrow at this. "There is more than one portal? And how could my...
people
come and go, without being seen?"

Ted shrugged. "The cave has two entrances, and only one is even remotely accessible to the students. The location of the other is known only to myself."

He seemed indifferent to this. "I have other ways of travel in mind, once I leave here. But I will not forget that you are in my debt."

"Of course," Ted smiled. "I'll be happy to help you in any way I can. Would you care for some more wine, or do you need to be going? It
is
getting rather late." He looked hopefully towards the bedrooms and yawned.

Jakob stole up silently beside Tessa. When he saw the scene within the kitchen he inhaled sharply.

Everything after that happened very quickly. Jakob rose and then threw himself at the door. The screen slowed him slightly, giving the men inside time to gain their feet before he burst through, with keth'fell drawn. Tessa followed in his wake, feeling like a useless comedy sidekick.

"Who the hell are you?" Ted yelped. His hands groped in his pocket as he spoke.

"Well, well, if it isn't the idiot son of the Mariner." Redden looked at Jakob in amusement. "Who on earth is your tailor, my dear boy?"

Jakob snarled as he raised keth'fell. "Go to hell, Uncle. Here is a present from my mother."

Ted raised a gun and trained it on Tessa, who had stopped just inside the door. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

The sword lowered slightly. Redden spoke. "Well done, Dr. Black. Perhaps you might prove useful, after all."

Without taking his eyes off his uncle, Jakob kicked sideways at a heavy oak dining chair. It hurtled towards Ted, catching him in the thigh. He cried out in pain and dropped the gun, but not before Daniel Redden took the opportunity to flee.

Jakob looked wildly between Tessa and the place Redden had been standing, then pointed down at Ted with the tip of keth'fell. "Can you deal with him? I won't be long." She bent slowly and picked up the gun, enjoying the firm coolness of the butt against her fingers. "Oh yes. I can deal with this lowlife. Absolutely."

He stepped forward and a little to the left, leaving a wavering shadow that disappeared almost as quickly as he did.

Tessa walked over to Ted, who lay on the floor clutching his right kneecap, moaning in agony. "Get up."

"I... can't. My leg is broken. Truly, Tessie."

"Don't call me that! I always hated that nickname. Now get up, or... or... I'll do something. I mean it."

His voice sounded absolutely assured. "You won't hurt me."

"Won't I? Even though you just tried to sell me out to that creep over the mirror?"

She glared at him so fiercely that he struggled to his knees and then found his feet, leaning heavily on the table. "Surely you see why I had to tell Redden that? I planned to use the mirror as a bargaining chip to keep you safe."

Tessa gave him a withering look. "Shut up, Ted. Where is it?"

"In the bedroom. I hid it before he got here."

She waved the weapon at him. "Go and get it. Now."

He did not move. "I think we need to discuss this. Put the gun down and I promise I won't press charges."

Tessa shook her head incredulously. "
You
won't press charges? Ted, you just pulled this gun on me!"

He smirked. "In self defense, against that blond ogre. He a friend of yours? Guess not, since he took off and left you behind."

"He'll be back." She glanced doubtfully towards the broken chair. "Of course he will."

"You sure about that, are you? I think he had his own agenda with Redden. Which only leaves you and me, babe. Let's work out some sort of compromise. We can still come out of this deal smelling sweet. Once I write the book on the winged man..."

Tessa ignored the glazed look of greed in his eyes. "Ted, if you don't hand me the mirror in ten seconds I am going to hurt you very badly." She started to count. "One, two, three..."

His lip curled in a sneer. "You don't have the guts."

"Five, six, seven..." Tessa wondered to herself if he was right. Her hand tightened about the butt of the pistol. "Eight, nine..."

"Come on Tessie. Admit it. You still have feelings for me. Don't throw away the best three years of your life."

"Ten..." She took a wobbly pace forward, just as Redden reentered the kitchen from the hallway leading to the master bedroom. Tessa cried out in dismay when she saw that he held the mirror in one chubby fist.

He smiled unctuously. "Thank you
so
much for your help, young lady. Now if you will excuse me, I'll be on my way again. Don't fret, I will leave a couple of my pets behind to keep the party going." A pair of threatening figures appeared behind him.

Ted backed away in alarm. "No! Please... Don't leave them here. You have the mirror. Aren't you happy now? I kept my end of the bargain."

He raised an eyebrow. "Indeed. But I find your double dealing so
very
tedious, Dr. Black. This is one transaction you won't be able to cheat your way out of. Farewell, my dears."

The Polys moved forward, watching impassively as their master disappeared. Tessa slowly lowered the gun, as Ted's voice, sounding high and terrified, echoed round the kitchen. "What in the fuck are you doing? Shoot! It's our only chance."

"Bullets won't stop them," she said quietly, and withdrew the knife from the back pocket of her jeans. "Get behind me, Ted."

They came at her together. She moved sideways, trying to keep the table between them. Ted snatched the gun from her and emptied it into the nearest of the two Polys. It adopted an aggrieved expression that might have been comical if it hadn't also been so deadly.

Ted took one last look and bolted through the screen door, calling back over his shoulder, "Wait here, I'll... bring some help." He disappeared into the darkness, leaving Tessa alone.

With a casual, one-fingered flip, the other Poly turned the table over and then stepped onto the underside. Tessa fled towards the front door, and scrabbled frantically with the handle. But Ted had not unlocked it after their earlier meeting, and he still had the key in his pocket.

Something tapped her softly on the shoulder.

She turned, and they were there, right in her face. Tessa struck with the knife, a deep slashing blow that shredded the suit and found flesh underneath. The first Poly staggered back towards the kitchen, but the second caught her wrist and squeezed. After the weapon fell from her utterly useless fingers, the Poly transferred its grip to her throat.

She struggled pointlessly, as black spots swam in her vision, like a swarm of viciously biting flies.

One of the side windows on the door exploded inwards and an arm shot through. Tessa screamed as it grabbed the Poly's suit and yanked it back towards the door, as though trying to pull it through the tiny window. It didn't release its hold on her, and she felt herself swinging in a wide arc. But once it had dragged her away from the door the hinges gave a horrible screaming whine. The door fell inwards, torn off its mountings by a savage kick.

Jakob swung keth'fell and severed the Poly's arm with the sword. Tessa shuddered as she felt the dying fingers squirming against the skin of her neck. She grabbed the arm and flung it into the corner of the hallway, then dropped to her hands and knees, retching at the sour smell that filled her nose and mouth.

Jakob tried mightily to drag the Poly into the rear of the house, but it hung on to the door frame.

The sound of cracking timber brought Tessa's head up. "Keep it busy. I need to find the knife."

Jakob raised an eyebrow at her. "Sure. Whatever you say."

He wrestled with the Poly, destroying several of Ted's dainty hallway tables in the process. His antagonist stayed close, too close for Jakob to swing keth'fell.

The knife lay by the French doors into the living room. As Tessa retrieved it, Jakob and the Poly crashed through the glass, and landed on a fake Mies van de Rohe chair. Jakob seized a jagged shard and stabbed the Poly's eye. Tessa finished it with the knife, plunging the blade straight down into its throat.

She staggered back, breathing hard. "You all right?"

Jakob stood too. Blood poured from a gaping wound on his hand and another on his forehead. Tessa tutted. "Jane isn't going to be very happy about that."

He ignored this comment. "What happened to the other one?"

"I cut it with the knife. Only once though. It went that way." They passed back into the kitchen, following the trail of clear liquid that had left discolored etchings on the environmentally friendly bamboo flooring. The liquid led them through the back door. The Poly was nowhere in sight.

"Wait here. Shout if you see anything." Jakob went back inside, and Tessa knew he had gone to dispose of the other Poly's body.

Tessa peered into the darkness. "Ted... Ted, you can come out now." Nothing moved in the shadowy spaces of the garden.

Jakob returned. "Where is the mirror? We should find it and get going before someone calls the police."

Tessa frowned unhappily. "Redden came back right after you left. He must have heard Ted and me talking, because he went straight into the bedroom and took the mirror."

Jakob stood in the middle of the patio, quietly bleeding. He opened his mouth and then closed it.

Tessa thought he looked very disappointed. "Do you want to go after him?"