Circle of Enemies

One of those predators was getting away. I turned my attention toward it, trying to turn the will of the ghost knife toward it, too. I couldn’t hold out much longer against the compulsion; I had to distract it. The spells on my body weren’t going anywhere, but that predator would escape if I didn’t destroy it first.

The ghost knife turned toward the drape. I threw it. It flashed across the room faster than I’d ever seen it move and cut through the creature.

I called it back immediately. I couldn’t deny its hunger for the predator, and now that I’d opened myself to its will, it ran wild. The spell returned to me and I threw it again. Called it back. Threw it. I struggled to my knees, scrambling clumsily toward the drape, suddenly feeling as though I was as hungry as the predator I was destroying. Called it back, threw it.

The drape collapsed onto the carpet. I grasped my spell and fell on the creature, slashing and tearing at it in a mindless frenzy. I might have screamed, but I wasn’t aware of myself at the moment, only of the growing pain of my iron gate and the ghost knife’s unbearable urge to destroy.

Finally, the predator was dead, and my attacks against it felt empty and useless. The urge to cut was still strong, but the iron gate under my collarbone was blocking it with pain.

It would have been so easy—so easy!—to surrender to that need and slash through all the spells on my chest.

Instead, I turned to the drape on my leg. My hand trembled as I laid the edge of the spell against it. The predator wrenched at me and squeezed, but I didn’t even notice. All my perceptions had narrowed to a tunnel, with the compulsion of the ghost knife at the center and pain everywhere else. It wanted to jump out of my hand and cut me, but I held on to it like it was a rattlesnake. It slashed into the drape.

The predator recoiled, and I felt the ghost knife’s hunger for it. I couldn’t fight my own spell, so I let it pursue the drape, using all my will and strength to redirect it from my body.

The drape peeled off me, and I cut it until it died. At the end, I could barely feel the ghost knife’s compulsion anymore. The pain from my iron gate had grown large enough to fill my whole mind and will. It burned away the spell’s influence, and I was in control of myself again.

I rolled over onto my stomach, gasping for air, waiting for the pain to ease. My mouth lay open against the carpet, and I inhaled enough dust and hair to make me hack. The pain wouldn’t subside—my iron gate kept burning and growing, and I finally cried out pitifully, feeling tears running down my cheeks. Maybe it would never stop. Maybe it would go on and on until I lost my mind or ate a bullet or I really did slash it with my spell.

Then, finally, it began to subside. I struggled to my knees, not ready to stand yet. My ghost knife lay on the carpet beside me. It was mine. I’d created it. I’d used it against other people.

I shuddered. The pain from my iron gate had been so overwhelming that I thought it would destroy me, but I’d needed it to scour away the influence of the ghost knife. The spell hadn’t affected other people the way it affected me, but I had no idea why. I also didn’t have a coherent thought in my head; this was something I’d have to puzzle out later, if ever.

But my own spell had been just as hungry as the predators I fought, and by cutting myself I’d let it take control of me. I could never let that happen again. Never.

The pain wasn’t entirely gone. My face, neck, and head were burning, just as they had the first time a drape attacked me, and so was my leg. I struggled to my feet. Exhaustion made me unsteady, and my leg felt stiff and swollen. I needed to wash away the sticky acid the predators left on their victims. Maybe a shower?

I stepped onto the section of the floor that had closed over the gap, feeling miserable enough to risk my life. It felt solid—I didn’t fall through into the Empty Spaces, at least. Was it safe to bring Maria and Jasmin back into the room?

I glanced out the window. The big guy in the red shirt and camo pants was back, and he was looking right up at me. He took something long and thin from a hockey bag at his feet. One end was vaguely spear-shaped.

He lifted it to his shoulder and pointed it at me.

Oh, shit. I spun and hustled for the apartment door. It was seven or eight strides away—too far. I was never going to be able to run that far before the explosion hit. I ran anyway, because the only other option was waiting to die.

My stiff leg made me lurch across the room like a wounded drunk. I was halfway there and the explosion hadn’t come. Then I had my hand on the knob, then I was pulling the door open, knowing that would only make it easier for the flames to blast out into the hall. Then I shut the door behind me, threw my leg over the railing, and jumped toward the pool below.

The explosion, when it came, was loud but not as loud as I expected. The flames never reached me; I struck the water with a painful slap and was shocked by how cold it was.

The pain on my face and leg eased immediately, and I struck the bottom gently. For one disorienting moment, I lost my bearings, but I saw light above and struggled back to the air.

The building was burning. Fire alarms blared and doors around the complex swung open. What were all these people doing here so late in the morning? Didn’t they have jobs?

I saw Maria and Jasmin standing beneath a set of concrete stairs. They both had a shell-shocked look about them. I paddled to them and pulled myself out of the water.

“Take her out the back way,” I said, straining to keep my voice low.

Maria grabbed my hand. “What—”

“Don’t ask me questions!” I snapped at her. “It’s not the time! Take Jasmin out the back way and get her someplace public. She’s still not safe here.”

Maria snapped her mouth shut. Jasmin tugged at her arm. “Abuela, I want to go.”

They both hustled toward the little door on the far side of the pool, leaving me dripping water onto the pavement. People were charging around the complex, shouting at one another, demanding to know what had happened.