Meanwhile, Jacks had been even less helpful. He told me to kill Jasmine so that my chi could return to me. It was shocking that a former agent of Light could think such a thing, much less say it. If he were a Shadow agent, or worse, if he were the Tulpa…
What would he do if he were the Tulpa? What would I do?
I sat up so straight in the backseat that the cab actually rocked and the driver cursed.
“Strong winds,” I muttered, but he only frowned at me in the rearview mirror. I fumbled for my phone, again dialing Hunter’s number.
“The Tulpa doesn’t want me dead,” I said as soon as his voice mail allowed. “He needs me alive. If I die, my chi will unite again. In Jasmine.”
The energy would be reabsorbed in Jasmine’s body, the same way the energy of the people Jaden Jacks used for crossing into Midheaven was absorbed into that world.
“But the Tulpa can’t let that happen. Because then the manuals would be written again.” Our troop would be strong again. Skamar would have her recorded name. Li would be healed. Sure, he wanted Regan to bring me to him, he probably even wanted to punish me for all the trouble I’d caused him this past year-especially for siccing Skamar on him-but he didn’t want me dead. Yet.
“He needs me alive. He can’t touch me.” And I hung up without saying good-bye. There was a sonic boom in the distance, the tulpas warring over the black mountains, but I smiled grimly at the embattled sky. My powers had been taken from me, but I could walk freely on this side of reality, a power in itself. I’d cross over for now, work with the others to figure out how to use this knowledge to best the Tulpa, and we could all heal the Zodiac together.
After that, I thought, leaning my head back, I could truly rest.
I had the driver drop me at Town Square, a likely destination for Olivia Archer, with its upscale shopping and dining and nightlife. It was a straight shot down the Strip to the Peppermill, but also far enough away that I could approach by stealth. With my speed, one of the super strengths I’d managed to retain, I’d make it to the old-school Vegas lounge well in time for the dusk crossing.
But the low ceiling of cloud cover was throwing off my senses. The sun and sky were still there, somewhere, but the razored sheets of bulging gray obscured both. Gregor would have to sense the moment rather than using the light. I wasn’t worried. For us, the splitting of dawn and dusk was like the dissection of a vein. It might be a small thing, but we felt it when it happened.
I dodged onto Koval Lane, where a cluster of kids was hanging around outside a run-down apartment complex. They were bundled in clothing more suited to the East Coast than anything I’d ever thought to see in the desert, and one greasy-haired punk glanced up from blowing on his knuckles and hooted, obviously recognizing me as Olivia Archer. Grumbling, I rounded the corner and yanked a hooded sweatshirt from my bag-it would conceal my hair if not my shape-and slipped my mask on as well.
I cut through the parking lot of the Guardian Angel Cathedral, an unlikely dome created in the fifties, where visitors to the valley could go get their Catholic on before the day’s gambling began, and was just edging by the giant, and odd, odalisque out front when I heard the first whisper.
“Such a good day to die…”
The glyph on my chest shot to life, but when I whirled around I saw nothing.
“Over here…Archer.”
Shit, shit, shit…The scent was that of Shadows…but I saw nothing. They’re on the flip side. Concealed behind a portal.
I backed up in a swift skipping beat, blinked once, then softened my gaze as if looking through the air in front of me.
He was so close I could kiss him. He was especially white, with flat black freckles dotting his cheeks, and looked like he’d be a redhead on this side of reality. I back up more…straight into another Shadow. That one would have grabbed me but for my speed. I raked my heel down his shin on the way to stomping on his foot. My elbow connected with his jaw as he fell. After that I backed up more quickly. The first Shadow continued advancing, not letting me escape, but in no great hurry either.
“The Tulpa wants me alive,” I blurted, expecting to feel another pair of hands on me at any minute. I had no way of knowing how many there were.
The would-be redhead shrugged. “There are lots of ways to hurt an agent and still keep them alive.”
Not for me. I couldn’t easily heal from anything more dangerous than a paper cut…but I had yet to tell my allies that, never mind my enemies. And I wasn’t going to try to stand toe-to-toe and exchange blows. I could barely see the guy, much less guard against him.
I decided to put my formidable speed to the test. Letting a smile I didn’t feel bloom on my face, I looked over the almost see-through shoulder. Sometimes the simplest plans worked best. I bolted even as he turned, on guard for an attack, and shouts sounded behind me. God, there were others. The pounding of their feet in reality’s flip side was as loud and insistent as my own.
I hit Cathedral Way like I was late for mass, but put the skids on as soon as I saw a souped-up Honda wheeling in my direction. Instinct was to run the other way, but instead I backed up to the building’s corner and ducked low. The Shadow chasing me was already turning as fast as I had, and he flipped over the top of my crouched body like he was auditioning for Cirque du Soleil. I was pretty sure that was the only reason the car didn’t immediately run me down. But the Shadow driving it revved the engine in warning.
Obviously I was expected to turn and run. They were herding me away from Gregor’s cab, I realized, which was behind the Honda. I could see its headlights on the other side of the Peppermill and wondered if he saw what was going on not two hundred yards away.
The Tulpa wants me alive.
They were trying to capture me.
I took advantage of my unlikely savior’s prone form and bolted across his body-making sure to land one solid boot heel into his skull as I vaulted over the top of the Honda. It started backing up immediately, but the driver had to shift gears first and that bought me time. I waved my arms as I ran, and Gregor’s headlights flashed in response. He saw me. The cab pulled out, barreled toward me, and swerved at the last moment. I flung open the back door, catapulted myself into the backseat, and yelled from a prone position, “Go, go, go!”
The door swung wide as he smoked rubber to get us going, and I anticipated another attack. Sure enough, an outlined hand clawed its way onto the frame of my open door. Stomping again with my feet, I heard the Shadow scream before falling away, and I pulled up into my seat to yank the door shut. Swiveling, I saw the Honda bounce over two parking blocks and mow down a handicapped sign as it flipped around to follow. Even as we fishtailed in front of the giant Stripside mall, I knew we wouldn’t last long on the boulevard. It was a near straight shot from there to the boneyard, and the street was totally deserted in the wild night. Both things left the faster Honda free to rear-end us.
“We’re too exposed,” I yelled, reeling around to face Gregor. “We’ll never make it all the way to-”
I stuttered off because the long-lashed eyes that met mine in the rearview mirror were most certainly not Gregor’s. The manicured fingers tightening on the wheel were on the right hand, and Gregor only possessed his left. More than anything, the skull burning through the layers of muscle and tissue and skin to skim the surface could only belong to a senior Shadow agent.
“To the boneyard?” the Shadow finished for me, and suddenly I knew what they were doing. She smiled as my eyes widened. “Don’t worry. We’ll still make it.”