Chapter Ten

Nicodemus

Something's happened to Lucrezia. Some spell gone wrong, or just that tosser Damien getting to her worse than usual. It's really fucked her up.

Ever since Pitch and his boyfriend got me in that brawl of a fight, Cree's been walking 'round me like I'm made of glass. All, Nicky, what do you need? and Nicky, can I get you anything? Just 'cause I'm a little sore and a lot pissed doesn't mean I'm some crippled idiot. I'm just biding my time. I'll hit when I'm ready, and I'll hit hard.

The thing about what she's doing, though-Cree-isn't that she's suddenly being all nice. She's always been nice. A bit cold, sure, but aren't we all? It's the way she's doing it. Like she's trying to put me off. Oh, Nicky, you're not ready for that yet. Rest a little while. Grabbing my arm when I say I'm gonna head down to the bar. No drinks. Then we'll get in a catfight, yelling and hissing, and by the time we're both done I'll be too exhausted for the bar, anyway.

I know she's up to something. And I know it's gotta be about Damien, in one way or another, 'cause she's been in love with him since the day he Turned her. She'd follow him anywhere. Cree's one of our best (she Turns more Normals than any of us, when we're in the mood for recruiting), but when she's 'round Damien it's like she's a bottle with the bottom tapped out.

She's coming in now with a mug, her long blond hair all bound up, and as she moves to close the door, for a second the light comes weird off the back of her head and she looks like Ebb.

"Tea," she says, shoving the mug at me.

"Don't want it."

"It's good for you."

"You're not my mother."

When I don't take the mug, she sets it down and takes a seat next to me. She's stopped looking like Ebb. Looks like a stranger, now. Won't meet my eyes.

"Where's Damien at?" I say.

She flinches. "Out."

"Hunting?"

"Something like that."

He went hunting earlier, 'bout an hour or two ago. If he's out again now, he musta got practically nothing before.

I slide my tongue into the gaps where my eyeteeth used to be. Finally pick up Cree's tea and take a sip. "I need to get out, too. I'm thirsty."

"Not now," she says.

"I can't live on preserved blood forever."

"Your leg-"

"Fuck my leg, Cree, I'm going insane in here. Just down to Hyde."

Her fingers clench. "Not there."

"Why not?"

She flushes. Turns away. Cree's shit at lying.

I sit up and throw off the covers. The edge of the blanket knocks the mug, and a second later there's tea all over the floor. I ignore it. "Where's Damien again?"

"Hunting," she says, but she's got this look like she wants to get out.

"Yeah. Where's Damien?"

Her whole body just goes stiff, and she tips her head back so her throat's exposed. She's wearing a necklace, something Ebb mighta worn. Just a plain gold token on a leather cord. Like the cross the Snow kid had on. She says, "Don't go after him, Nicky."

I'm on my feet, ignoring the seize of pain in my left leg. "He's with them, isn't he?"

Damien. I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill Pitch and Snow, and then I'm gonna kill Damien, and I don't care if that means we'll lose Cree too 'cause all that matters is getting rid of them all, getting them outta my life, outta Ebb's-

Cree's hand's on my shoulder. She's pinching the nerve there, pushing me back. Wants me down and in the bed and outta the way. Wants me weak. "You can't go."

"I bloody well can."

I shake her off, knocking her down. She's strong, but right now, I'm stronger. "Hyde," I say, stepping back towards the door. "Easy enough."

"You don't have a wand." She struggles upright, bracing herself against the bed. "They'll rip you to bits."

"I know where to find one. I got nothing to lose."

Her jaw's set, her hands trembling. "Why do you want this, Nicodemus?" It's the first time she's called me by my full name.

"I want my sister at peace."

"She is at peace."

"Says who?"

"The Mage killed her, and he's dead."

"Tasha's boy did, too. I could have saved her. She's got unfinished business, Cree."

"She's dead."

I hiss at her from the doorway. "You don't talk about Ebeneza like that."

"When are you going to wake up?" she shouts. "When are you going to realize that nothing you do is going to change anything?"

"Shut your mouth!" I scream back at her, but the magic doesn't go anywhere. (Even a gelded one.) I say it again. "Shut your mouth!"

She laughs, all cruel, like she knows a secret. "Keep trying, Nicky. Once you go get yourself a wand, why don't you come back and kill me, too? Maybe that'll make Ebb rest easy in her grave."

I'm shaking so hard, I can barely see. I shriek a long, wordless curse, stagger backwards out of the room and slam the door closed behind me.