Black City (A BLACK WINGS NOVEL) Read online

  I stared at him, startled to realize that the fear in his eyes had been for me. He correctly interpreted the look on my face and sighed. “I do not know why you cannot credit me with human emotions, even after all we have been through.”

  I didn’t have anything to say to that. There would always be a part of me—although that part was shrinking almost daily—that would be suspicious of Nathaniel, that didn’t trust his veracity.

  Samiel tapped me on the shoulder. This really isn’t the time for a heart-to-heart.

  “Yeah,” Beezle agreed. “We need to get out of here before the police start firing on us just because we look weird.”

  “The gargoyle is right,” Nathaniel said, lifting me up again. I felt a magical veil settle over us, hiding our appearance from human eyes. “The humans are in a state of panic, unable to distinguish friend from foe.”

  “That, and Maddy’s covered in blood and carrying a sword,” Beezle added.

  As we flew away I turned my head from the carnage below. I knew Nathaniel was right. I knew that continuing a battle we couldn’t win was foolish and pointless. We’d barely made a dent in the endless stream of vampires. But I’d never run away before, and leaving felt less like good sense than defeat.

  We continued north toward my house. Sturdier barricades were being assembled by the police farther away from the epicenter of the attack. It looked like the authorities were trying to contain the vampires to the Loop.

  The sad truth was the density of commuters and residents downtown would probably keep the vampires busy there for a while. There was no need for the vamps to leave that area as long as there was food, and there was plenty of food to be found.

  I could feel the pent-up tension in Nathaniel’s arms as he held me, and knew that he longed to have another go at me over my hardheadedness. He held back likely due to the presence of an audience. Of course, if he was waiting for an opportunity to get me alone, he would be waiting forever. There was always someone hanging around my house these days, and Beezle had completely lost all sense of personal boundaries.

  We landed on the front lawn, Samiel and Jude beside us. In silent concordance we all trooped back upstairs to my apartment. The television was still on. Jude returned to human form, pulling on his discarded clothing.

  I stopped in front of the TV, staring. Nathaniel took my coat from my shoulders. Beezle flew out of the pocket and went straight to his brooding spot on the mantel.

  A sober-voiced anchor spoke over footage shot from a helicopter. I guess they weren’t stupid enough to send another cameraman into Daley Plaza.

  “We are trying to identify the nature of this threat; however, as unbelievable as it may seem, eyewitness reports have indicated that these creatures are attacking anything in sight, biting and, it seems, feeding on the victims. They are like…like some kind of vampires. All we know for certain is that there are hundreds of them, as you can see from our aerial footage of the Loop. The police are attempting to halt the creatures’ progress as best they can. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office has said that the mayor has contacted the National Guard and that he will be making a statement to the press in approximately thirty minutes. The mayor and his staff have been airlifted out of the danger zone…”

  “What about everyone else?” I murmured. I’d been there, fighting all morning, and it looked so much worse on TV. The news camera was far enough away that detail was blessedly lost, but the black horde seemed to swell even as I watched, a pulsing, cancerous growth engulfing the heart of Chicago.

  I saw dark spots before my eyes. The picture on the screen went blank. A few moments later I opened my eyes to see four anxious faces above me.

  “What happened?” I said. Somehow I’d ended up prone on the couch.

  “You fainted,” Beezle said.

  “I did not,” I said. I don’t know why, but I was embarrassed.

  “You did,” Beezle said.

  “And no wonder, since you have been exerting yourself and have not eaten since yesterday,” Nathaniel said.

  “You look thinner,” Jude added.

  “I can’t have lost weight since yesterday just because I didn’t eat breakfast,” I scoffed.

  “Who knows what this baby is doing to you?” Beezle said ominously.

  I really didn’t enjoy it when Beezle implied that Gabriel’s baby was trying to kill me from the inside out, so I waved the lot of them away without replying and sat up. Mistake. Everything went wobbly again.

  “For the sake of the Morningstar, just rest for a moment,” Nathaniel said, pushing me back down.

  “Quit manhandling her,” Jude growled.

  “I will do what I must to get her to take care of herself,” Nathaniel snapped.

  “You didn’t show such a touching concern for Maddy’s health when you were trying to kill her in Azazel’s mansion during the rebellion,” Jude said.

  Nathaniel stood to face Jude, his hands curled into fists. “I do not have to explain myself to you, wolf.”

  “Not this again,” I muttered, then louder: “Enough, both of you. I don’t need you talking about me like I’m not here. If you want to be helpful, you’ll go and get me something to eat.”

  “I wouldn’t mind a little something myself,” Beezle said.

  “You don’t need it,” everyone in the room replied, including Samiel, who signed the words.

  “If you’re going to be that way about it,” Beezle grumped.

  “We are,” I said.

  Samiel went into the kitchen. Nathaniel and Jude continued bristling at each other.

  “Why is my life filled with men?” I said to no one in particular.

  “Beats me,” Beezle said. “It’s not your charming personality—that’s for sure.”

  I gave him a sour look.

  “I don’t even have to try,” Beezle said. “The punch line was right there.”

  “Stand down,” I said to Nathaniel and Jude.

  They both turned to look at me, and it was only then that it really registered that they were both covered in blood. And so was I. I was abruptly aware of the gore drying on my face, of my red-stained hands. It was a sad commentary on my life that I was so frequently covered in blood that I wouldn’t notice its presence even when I was soaked in it.

  Samiel reentered the living room carrying a sandwich. The thought of eating it while covered in the ichor of dozens of vampires made my stomach turn.

  “Help me up,” I said.

  Nathaniel rushed to help me but I gave him a pointed look. “I asked for Samiel.”

  My brother-in-law put the sandwich on the coffee table as Nathaniel backed away with a frozen look. I knew there was a reckoning coming with Nathaniel. Sooner or later I’d have to decide whether he was an ally or an enemy. I couldn’t keep him floating in the netherworld between forever.

  Don’t touch that sandwich, Samiel signed to Beezle.

  “I know how to get my own food,” Beezle said loftily.

  Don’t touch that sandwich, Samiel repeated.

  He came around to take my arm as I stood. Now that the adrenaline of the fight had worn off, my legs had turned to mush.

  “Bathroom,” I said, and Samiel helped me limp along while the other three silently watched us go.

  Samiel helped me as far as the tub, then looked at me expectantly, his face red.

  “Yes, you do need to help me get my clothes off,” I said. “I’m sorry. Chloe would be better for something like this.”

  Samiel’s face went tight at the mention of Chloe. The Agents we saved from Azazel were taken to Northwestern. I overheard Sokolov’s goons talking about it.

  Sokolov. The lapdog of the Agency administration who seemed to have devoted his life to making mine miserable. Just thinking about him made my fists curl.

  I knew what Samiel was worried about. Northwestern Memorial Hospital was downtown, just off Michigan Avenue. But it was several blocks north and west of Daley Plaza.

  “Don’t worry,” I said, and
I was glad Samiel could only read lips. I didn’t sound very convincing. “The barriers were being set up south of the river. The hospital is well north of there.”

  You know and I know that if the vamps get inside the hospital, it will be a bloodbath, Samiel signed.

  “Chloe’s tough,” I said.

  She’s also recovering from major trauma.

  “All right. All right. We’ll go get her,” I said. “Just let me clean up first.”

  Thank you, Samiel signed, his face relieved.

  We managed to get me through the bathing process with a minimum of embarrassment on both sides, and Samiel helped me dress. As I pulled a tank top over my head he touched the long scabs on my back where my wings used to be.

  Do you miss them? he signed.

  I put a sweater over the tank top and nodded. “I never thought about how much I relied on them before they were gone.”

  I wonder if you’ll ever get them back.

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “They were part of my Agent’s powers, and I’m never going back to the Agency.”

  But you’re Lucifer’s granddaughter.

  “Much diluted by thousands of intervening generations.”

  Samiel shrugged. You’ve had other latent powers appear.

  “I suppose,” I said doubtfully, looking at the missing two fingers of my left hand. Lucifer had assured me some time ago that the digits would grow back, and they never had. So I wasn’t putting a lot of stock in the idea that I might regrow my wings.

  Samiel left the room for a few minutes. When he returned I’d managed to get my socks on. He carried a plate with a sandwich.

  “That doesn’t look like the same sandwich,” I observed.

  Can you guess what happened to the other one? Samiel signed. Now, eat up. I swear you are looking thinner by the minute.

  I’d thought they were all exaggerating about my appearance, but I’d noticed my jeans were looser than they were yesterday. This was probably a worrisome development, but given all the other worrisome developments in my life, losing a little weight ranked low on the priority list.

  I stuffed the sandwich in my mouth. I didn’t realize just how ravenous I was until I took the first bite.

  “There’s one thing I want to do before we go to the hospital,” I said after chewing the last bit of sandwich. “Call J.B.”

  He won’t be able to help us, Samiel signed. He’s on thin ice with the Agency as it is.

  I had a flash of J.B. spread-eagled on a table, tortured by Sokolov and his goons. “Yeah, you could say that. But he’ll be able to confirm the location of the hospitalized Agents for us.”

  I’ll get your phone, Samiel said, and went out again.

  I could hear raised voices coming from the living room, but I didn’t have the energy or inclination to intervene in yet another argument. Jude and Nathaniel probably needed to have it out once and for all anyway. I just hoped they didn’t destroy the living room in the process. My house had been trashed enough in the last month or so.

  Samiel returned and handed me the phone. I saw that there were four missed calls, all from J.B.

  I dialed his number and waited for him to pick up. There was barely half a ring before he barked into the receiver. “What’s the point of having a phone if you never pick it up?”

  “So sorry. I was busy battling the vampire menace taking over the city,” I said dryly.

  “I know where you were,” J.B. said. “I saw you, and so did everyone else in Chicago with a television set. You and Jude and Nathaniel and Samiel.”

  “We were on the news,” I said, dread filling me. This was not good.

  “Goddamn right you were on the news. And you’d better be more careful from now on. Half the reporters have decided you’ve been sent from heaven to save humanity from the plague of vampires, and the other half have declared you should be shot in the street with all the other monsters,” J.B. said. “I’ve got to go. It’s total chaos here. The whole Agency is in lockdown mode.”

  “Wait,” I said. “Can you tell me if Chloe and the other Agents we saved from Azazel are still at Northwestern?”

  “Yeah, the Agency hasn’t had time to move them with everything else going on. We can’t even come close to keeping up with the new souls. The board is diverting Agents from other regions to help. Wait—why do you want to know about Chloe?” J.B. asked warily.

  “Samiel wants her with us,” I said shortly. “Why doesn’t the Agency put together an army to fight the vamps instead of struggling to clean up the mess?”

  “You know the answer to that,” J.B. said.

  “If the Agency doesn’t get off their ass and do something, there won’t be any souls left to collect in this city.”

  “You don’t have to tell me that,” he said. “But I’m not exactly a trustworthy figure around here anymore. No one in upper management is going to listen to me.”

  “You spend too much time with me.”

  “That’s the way I like it,” he said. “I’ll call you later. My mother is outside the window doing her best banshee impression.”

  “I thought you had devised some spell to keep Amarantha away from you,” I said.

  J.B.’s mother had been a faerie queen of her own court before I’d killed her. Unlike most creatures, she had chosen not the Door but an existence as a ghost. I think she did it just to piss off me and J.B.

  “The spell will keep her out of the Agency and out of my home, but it won’t stop her from hanging around outside and driving me crazy. Try not to burn down the hospital.”

  He hung up before I could respond.

  “Why does everyone think I’m going to destroy a building as soon as I walk into it?” I asked Samiel.

  Your track record speaks for itself.

  “But those were accidents,” I protested.

  Most people don’t have those kinds of accidents more than once.

  “Most people don’t have supernatural enemies trying to kill them every second of the day, either,” I said, standing up cautiously.

  The shower and the food had gone a long way toward making me feel human. I felt better equipped to fight another horde of vampires, although with any luck I wouldn’t have to.

  The barricades were north of the bridges that crossed the Chicago River. I didn’t know how long city authorities would be able to contain the vamps in that area once the monsters ran through their food supply.

  Of course, they would likely be evacuating most of the Loop and Michigan Avenue soon. And if they moved the patients at the hospital, we would have a lot of trouble finding Chloe.

  “She’s probably safer away from me, anyway,” I muttered. The sad fact of my life was that the low mortality rate of my companions was more luck than anything else. Since Gabriel had died I’d been braced for impact, waiting for the next, inevitable loss.

  What was that? Samiel signed. You have to look at me when you’re talking or else I can’t read your lips.

  “Nothing,” I said. “Let’s go get Chloe.”

  2

  NATHANIEL HAD PREDICTABLY ARGUED AGAINST REMOVING Chloe from the hospital.

  “She’s safe enough there, and it’s an unnecessary risk for you,” he’d said.

  But Jude had come down firmly on my side, and that meant Nathaniel was outnumbered. A couple of weeks earlier all of the werewolf cubs of Jude’s pack had been kidnapped and their memories stolen as part of a plot of Azazel’s. Even though Jude thought Chloe was weird and unpredictable, he’d felt indebted to her since she’d found a way to restore the werewolf cubs’ memories.

  “You can stay here if you prefer,” Jude sneered, the implications of Nathaniel’s cowardice clear.

  Nathaniel’s jaw tightened. “As if I would leave Madeline’s safety to you.”

  I could have pointed out that “Madeline’s safety” was not reliant on either of them, as I had saved my own self plenty of times, but I did not want to get embroiled in another of the stupid arguments that went around our
group with annoying regularity. So I just said, “Let’s go,” and we did.

  Nathaniel carried me, and Samiel carried Jude in wolf form. Beezle, surprisingly, had opted to stay home.

  “I need a nap,” he said.

  I suspected that what he really wanted was time to brood over what he thought were negative changes in my personality, so I let him stay. I didn’t want to argue with Beezle about every decision I made.

  Nathaniel hid all of us under a veil. I knew how to do this, but it was difficult for me to hold such a delicate spell over four people for a prolonged period of time. And Nathaniel had pointed out that secrecy was vital now that we’d been exposed on television.

  As we flew above the city I could see the streets below were jammed with fleeing citizens. People tossed hastily packed suitcases into cars, collected their offspring from schools and hightailed it out of town. It looked like a scene from an end-of-the-world movie.

  Lake Shore Drive was bumper to bumper, cars and buses moving only by centimeters. Several hundred people who either lacked personal transportation or decided to abandon their cars streamed in crowds up the bike path that ran along the lakefront. Everyone was heading north. No one wanted to go through the Loop, even if you could stay outside the barricaded edges.

  The mass panic, the sheer numbers of vampires…The problem seemed overwhelming for one ex-Agent of death and her merry band of misfits.

  “Where the hell is Lucifer?” I asked. “He could do something about this.”

  “He could,” Nathaniel agreed. “If it suited him to do so.”

  “If he could find some personal advantage, you mean,” I said bitterly. “He won’t intervene unless the deck is stacked in his favor.”

  “You must stop attributing Lucifer with humanity,” Nathaniel said. “He is not human. He is not even a mere angel. He is more powerful than any of us can comprehend, and the problems of humans are small things to him.”

  “Yeah, that’s what everyone keeps saying. But he’s scared of Puck,” I said thoughtfully.