Serpent's Storm Part 9

Hyacinth didn't seem too unsettled by what I was saying.

"You love him. Of course you don't want to hurt him."

"Isn't that just the worst?" I said, smiling wanly. "I'm just like every other girl with a s.h.i.+tty boyfriend: in denial."

Hyacinth patted my back.

"When the time comes, you'll do the right thing, Callie."

I hoped she was right. I didn't know how I felt anymore. I just wanted to see my mom and dad and my little sister. I wanted to help them if I could before Thalia did anything else to destroy our family.

"I just want to go home, ya know?" I sighed, some of the pain receding a little when I realized what I wanted. "Right or wrong, I just want to find out what's happened to the rest of my family."

Hyacinth was smart enough to remain silent, knowing that nothing she could say would make things any better for me-because she understood something I did not: My life had changed irreparably . . . whether I liked it or not. whether I liked it or not.

eleven.

We stayed on the sh.o.r.e, the clear blue sky stretching out into the horizon above us while I watched the water foam around the edges of the marsh. The sea looked as lonely as I felt, empty of any life on the surface, but a tumultuous mess of activity below the cresting waves. My brain couldn't stop rehas.h.i.+ng everything I'd seen, all the c.r.a.ppy bits compressed into one big ball of awfulness. I saw Jarvis propped up against the toilet, his head hanging forward, lifeless. I saw Daniel pacing his purgatorial cell, choosing power over love. I saw my mom and dad, just a still frame of the last time we were together: my mom sitting on the living room couch, my dad sitting in an armchair reading a book. The image faded to black and I felt terror at what that might mean. I chose not to think of my little sister. If anything had happened to Clio . . . I couldn't bear to think about it.

There was one positive thing. Our h.e.l.lhound pup, Runt, was still down in h.e.l.l with her three-headed dad, Cerberus, the Guardian of the North Gate of h.e.l.l. That meant she wasn't at Sea Verge, and that if anything bad had happened there, then at least she was okay. I couldn't see Cerberus letting anyone touch his little girl as long as he was guarding her. This thought gave me the first glimmer of hope I'd had in hours. It wasn't enough to dispel the depression settling over me, but it was a beginning.

Hyacinth was a good thinking companion, silent and ever watchful, never pus.h.i.+ng me to pull myself together, letting me take all the time needed to find my way back on my own terms.

"What was my dad's plan?" I asked as I picked at a piece of marsh gra.s.s, shredding it. "I mean, his contingency plan if anything bad happened."

"I was to bring you here and call out Watatsumi from his coral palace," she said. "He would give you a gift, one you might need to a.s.sume control of Death."

"What gift?" I asked as I fingered the jewel the old man had given me.

"The one you're holding in your hands right now," she said. "It will help to restore the power of Death to its rightful owner."

"What will I I have to do?" I said, not sure how one jewel and one girl could fight both the Devil and my sister. have to do?" I said, not sure how one jewel and one girl could fight both the Devil and my sister.

"You must make sure the Devil is not allowed to install Daniel as the head of Death, Inc. He has groomed his former protege for many years to usurp your father's position from you. If he were to succeed, then the Devil would control Daniel and, through him, Death-which would be disastrous."

After all those years in service, I'd guessed that the Devil might still have some control over Daniel. It only made sense, especially in light of what I'd witnessed between him and my sister.

"Why? What does the Devil have on Daniel?" I said. I was really hoping Hyacinth had the answer. I'd spent many nights quizzing Daniel about his past, but I'd never been able to get much out of him, especially when it came to why he'd been the Devil's protege.

"I don't know the whole story, only the gist of what happened," Hyacinth said.

"Tell me," I said, standing up and walking off some of the pent-up energy ricocheting around inside me. I paced in front of the sh.o.r.eline, anger fueling my movements as I waited for Hyacinth to tell me what she knew.

"Your friend-" she began, but I interrupted her.

"He's not my friend anymore."

Hyacinth nodded, conceding.

"The Devil knew exactly who the young man was, and what possibilities lay in his future, so he went all out wooing Daniel, promising him Heaven and Earth in order to steal his soul. I don't know what compelled Daniel to accept the Devil's offer, but he did and he was bound to h.e.l.l for all eternity unless . . ."

"Unless what?" I asked, my feet crunching the marsh gra.s.s with viciousness.

"You saved him, Callie," Hyacinth murmured. "By allowing him to make the ultimate sacrifice-his life for yours."

"I didn't do it on purpose," I offered, but Hyacinth shook her head.

"And that's why the Devil's bond was broken. Daniel sacrificed willingly, in the moment, to save you, an innocent. He was not compelled to protect you; he did it of his own free will."

"But now he's doing what the Devil wants-"

"Yes," Hyacinth said, interrupting me. "And he must be stopped at all costs."

"I promise to do what I can to protect Death, Inc.," I replied, "but I want to go to Sea Verge first. I need to speak to my dad, see what he wants me to do."

Hyacinth pursed her lips then nodded.

"You will need someone to take you there. Wormholes are no good to you," she intoned.

I could only think of one person I trusted enough-and who was powerful enough-to help me. I closed my eyes and screamed the first name that came into my brain out across the heavens.

"Kali! I need your help!" I need your help!"

A crack of thunder skated across the sky and my senses p.r.i.c.kled as the air filled with electrical tension. The ceiling of sky remained intact, but a skeletal arm of lightning broke through the clouds and shot toward me, sizzling as it pa.s.sed within a few inches of my head. The lightning struck the marsh, igniting the dry and brittle gra.s.s with a pop pop that made me and Hyacinth scurry out of the way. I waited for the fire to ramp up in intensity and start spreading, but it didn't act how I had expected. Instead, it flamed upward, a column of undulating orange and red flame flickering wildly as it funneled smoke into the atmosphere. that made me and Hyacinth scurry out of the way. I waited for the fire to ramp up in intensity and start spreading, but it didn't act how I had expected. Instead, it flamed upward, a column of undulating orange and red flame flickering wildly as it funneled smoke into the atmosphere.

There was a loud crack crack like the sound of an iceberg calving on a lonely stretch of the Arctic Ocean, and then Kali was standing before me, wrapped in a bright purple sari, henna tattoos covering her olive body from the nape of her neck to the tips of her purple-painted toenails. Around her throat hung a fiber necklace strung with tiny human teeth that glinted like opals in the fading sunlight. like the sound of an iceberg calving on a lonely stretch of the Arctic Ocean, and then Kali was standing before me, wrapped in a bright purple sari, henna tattoos covering her olive body from the nape of her neck to the tips of her purple-painted toenails. Around her throat hung a fiber necklace strung with tiny human teeth that glinted like opals in the fading sunlight.

Her dark hair was tied up at the crown of her head, revealing a streak of oxidizing blood that ran across her cheek and down to her collarbone. At first, I thought it was Kali's blood-that she'd been wounded and had bled out-but when I realized she was intact and unblemished, I knew it must've come from someone else. Then I noticed the rest of the blood on her sari that the deep color of the fabric had camouflaged from me.

We both spoke at the same time: "Kali, you came-"

"You're safe, white girl-"

I was so ecstatic to see my old friend, I grabbed her in a giant bear hug, which she totally slipped out of as fast as she could, her dark eyes narrowed in an angry glare that sliced at me like a sharpened knife.

"Uhm, this is my boss, Hyacinth-" I started to say, but she interrupted me.

"I was in the middle of kicking some serious a.s.s, white girl," she seethed. "So this had better be d.a.m.n important."

I swallowed hard.

"Jarvis is dead and I think my dad may be, too. I can't use the wormhole, so I need someone to take me to Sea Verge."

Kali's mouth fell open.

"The little faun? They got him?"

I nodded, a tear spilling from the corner of my eye before I could wipe it away.

"I need to find out what's happened to my family-"

Kali shook her head.

"Your mom and dad-along with your dad's lawyer, Father McGee-were taken hostage at Sea Verge earlier today. We were under the a.s.sumption you might be with them-"

I walked over and took her by the wrists.

"Then I have to go there and help them," I whispered, holding her wrists in my firm grasp. "Please . . ." "Please . . ."

Kali rested her chin on her chest, unable to look at me.

"There's a war on, white girl. And now that we know you're still free," she said, her voice hoa.r.s.e, "you gotta stay out of harm's way."

"Kali, please," I said, begging.

Torn, my friend sighed, her brown eyes ringed with exhaustion.

"All right, white girl, I'll make you a compromise. I'll send your spirit back so you can see what's happening-"

"Thank you," I said gratefully, knowing it was the best I was going to get.

"Don't thank me, dipwad," she glared. "Just keep your lily-white a.s.s out of trouble."

"I hate it when you call me that," I laughed, releasing her wrists so I could wipe away the tears of grat.i.tude.

"Then don't be a dipwad, dipwad," the Hindu G.o.ddess replied matter-of-factly.

"You said there was a war on?" I asked. "What's happening?"

"Your sister and her minions are colluding with the Devil and the Ender of Death to take over Heaven, as you may or may not know," Kali said, gesturing to the blood on her sari. "This is from fighting a whole horde of h.e.l.lsp.a.w.n outside of Purgatory. And you better believe my a.s.s when I say it's been a b.l.o.o.d.y mess. They've overrun the building and taken prisoners, holding them hostage so they can lord it over us."

"And Sea Verge?" I asked.

Kali shook her head.

"We've been out of contact with them since this morning. We sent Clio over to do reconnaissance once we heard there had been trouble-"

I grabbed Kali's shoulders, almost shaking her.

"Watch the sari, white girl-"

"You said you sent Clio. That means she's not with you now . . ."

I trailed off.

"She was with Indra, but she volunteered to scout out Sea Verge for us," Kali confirmed.

"She was with Indra?" I sputtered. "Wait, you mean she was with with Indra . . . like having a Indra . . . like having a sleepover with him sleepover with him with him?" with him?"

Kali shoved me aside and walked over to the water.

"I don't go messing in other people's nasty business, white girl."

"Okay, totally doesn't matter," I offered, following her over to the water. "As long as she's all right-"

"I didn't say that, either, dumb girl," Kali shot back, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know what Clio's found, because we haven't heard from her, so I don't know if she's A-okay or not."

"Take me there, then," I said. "Let me find my sister."

Pulling a razor-sharp blade from her cleavage, Kali faced me and plucked my hand from my side. She raised it high into the air, holding the knife out with her other hand. I watched, transfixed, as the steel blade caught the light, reflecting the mottled sky.

"You know what happens next, Death's Daughter," Kali said-and then she plunged the blade toward the meat of my palm. At the last moment, she slowed her momentum, letting the blade only kiss the skin as it drew a straight red line of blood across my hand.

She dropped my wrist and pressed the blade into her own hand, the blood burbling up like an oil slick. She wiped the blade on her sari before resheathing it in her bodice, leaving another bloodstain to dry on the matte purple fabric of her dress.

"I have to sever your body from this plane, hold on . . ." She grabbed my bloodied hand and squeezed, our blood comingling like we were two children completing a blood brother ritual.

"Ow!" I cried as she ratcheted up the pressure, the tiny bones in my hand cracking like kindling being thrown into the flames of a fire. I could feel the cartilage and tendons being ripped out of place as Kali twisted my hand in hers. The last time this happened, the pain had been so intense that I'd blacked out. This time, I was prepared for what was to come, so it wasn't as bad.

"Close your eyes, dipwad," Kali hissed in my ear, yanking my wrist with enough force to dislocate it. I did as she asked, shutting my eyes so tight you couldn't have pried them open with a crowbar. My hand ached like a b.i.t.c.h and I was sure the G.o.ddess of Destruction had permanently crippled me, but I didn't care. I was grateful for her help.

"Thank you, Kali," I whispered, my body going numb as a subarctic wind whipped by from out of nowhere and enfolded me in its wintery embrace. My body became light as a feather and I drifted in the air, my fragile soul floating on the back of the wind. I spun in the air, faster and faster, until I was a human top dancing on the slipstream.

As the wind dropped and I felt myself falling, I ignored my fear. It was a controlled fall and I relaxed into it, consciously working to ease the tension from my muscles. I hit the ground hard, my left hip taking much of the brunt of the fall, but there was no pain.

"Get up!"

Adrenaline coursed through my veins, making my heart beat like a metronome set to an "extra fast" tempo. My eyes flew open and I found myself lying on my side in the backyard of Sea Verge. Only, it wasn't me anymore. At least, it wasn't my body body-my body was back at the marsh in New York. My soul soul was here at Sea Verge, enmeshed with someone else's soul. was here at Sea Verge, enmeshed with someone else's soul.

And that someone else was my dad!

I was filled with joy-my dad was alive and kicking! I couldn't believe I'd listened to any of those false p.r.o.nouncements, that I'd let them trick me into thinking my dad was dead. I wanted to tell them all where to stick it, but I put my anger on hold to deal with more pressing matters: namely, why was my dad lying on the ground in the backyard with the Ender of Death standing over him?

"I know what your weakness is, Death," Marcel said as he stood over me/my dad, grinning like an idiot.

I wanted to kick the guy right in his pointy little eyeteeth, but I wasn't in control of my dad's body, so I was forced to sit back and, like a pa.s.sive spectator, do nothing. It was pretty frustrating, but I told myself to relax, because it was a futile waste of energy to get worked up about it. Luckily, my dad seized the moment himself, rolling away from the Ender of Death before crawling back onto his feet.

"You are the Ender of Death," my dad said, lifting his hand to wipe away a smear of blood from his nose. "It's your job to know my weakness."

Apparently, there'd been some kind of fight before I'd gotten there-which was where the b.l.o.o.d.y nose came from. Once my dad was standing, Marcel lunged, but my dad sidestepped him, slamming his fist into the Ender of Death's cheekbone and giving the crazy man a nasty-looking cut on his cheek.

Wait a minute, I thought, something clicking in my brain. I thought, something clicking in my brain. I saw that cut on Marcel's face back at my office. But if my dad had just given it to him . . . I saw that cut on Marcel's face back at my office. But if my dad had just given it to him . . .