The pixie was silent for a moment. "No. The spell won't care."
Françoise had been looking back and forth between the two of us, trying to keep up with the conversation. "What? What is this? What is 'appening?"
"In a minute. Radella, did you see a little girl in the kitchen—blond, brown eyes, about five?"
"There were several younger children. I didn't—"
"Clutching a bear? She never goes anywhere without it."
"No."
I nodded. It was the first good news I'd heard. "Billy, I need you to find a way out of the casino for the kids upstairs. One of them, a little girl, is clairvoyant. She should be able to hear you. Get the kids out into the open. Into direct sunlight." Pritkin had said that worked on most demons. I only hoped these were among that number.
"Right. I'll go play with the kiddies while you sacrifice yourself. Not happening."
"I don't have time to argue!" I said, tugging off his necklace and putting it into Françoise's hands. "Give this to the little clairvoyant. I think her name is Jeannie," I told her. She took it, but looked very confused; I wasn't sure how much of this she was able to understand.
"What do you think you're doing?" Billy demanded.
"If I don't make it, she'll look after you."
"That's not the point!" he said, more angry than I'd ever seen him.
"Billy will find you a way out," I told Françoise. "Look for three old crones—they will probably be in the lobby." Casanova had said the Graeae were drawn to trouble. I just hoped they hadn't decided to take the day off. "They'll help you get to the kids."
"A ghost, three old women and a witch who has already fought us and lost," Rosier mused. "Personally, I would reconsider, pixie."
I didn't even bother to look at Radella. I knew how she'd choose; the expression on her face had been eloquent. Besides, Françoise had me in a hug that was threatening to choke me. "No! I weel not leave you again!"
"I am Pythia!" I said, detaching her arms with a less-than-dignified struggle. "And you will do as I say."
"Yes, do as she says, witch. You're no match for us," Rosier added helpfully.
Françoise turned on him, eyes furious, and uttered a single, harsh word. It wasn't the liquid syllables of French, or any other language I knew. It was low and guttural, and the power behind it made my skin crawl. Something flew straight at Rosier, something I couldn't see too well in the low light, but he turned it back with a tiny, casual gesture. The spell slammed into the stained-glass window above my head, sending a shower of brightly colored shards raining down all around me.
I grabbed Françoise by the arms before she could try again, shaking her as hard as I could. "He's right! You can't help me. But you can help them! Now get out of here. Go!" I gave her a shove toward the stairs.
She looked from me to the demon and back again, confusion and pain on her face. I don't know what she would have decided if Rosier hadn't flicked a finger, sending several dark shapes peeling away from the main mass. They didn't bother with the stairs, but shot straight up through the ceiling. Straight toward the rest of the children.
I was going to point out that Rosier must be more worried about her power than he let on, to send reinforcements. But I didn't get the chance. Françoise turned and ran.
Billy didn't budge. "Billy!"
"I—this—you can't seriously expect me to—"
"You can bring the cavalry back here once the kids are safe."
"You'll be dead by then!"
Rosier laughed. Apparently demons could hear ghosts, too.
"And how do you expect to prevent that if you stay?" I demanded. "Go where you can do some good!"
"Don't ask me to do this."
"Billy, please," I stopped, not knowing how to convince him. If he refused to help, it decreased Françoise's chances by a hell of a lot. The longer the kids stayed in the dark, the longer Rosier's servants had to find a way to destroy them. And Misfits or not, they were only children.
"The Cassie and Billy show, remember?" he said, suddenly tentative. "Where you go, I go."
"Except that doesn't work anymore." And God, didn't I miss the days when it did. "Please, Billy. Do this one thing for me."
His shoulders sagged and his face crumpled. "It better not be the last thing, is all," he said, quietly furious. "Because if you end up dead, I'm going to make your afterlife hell!"
Radella fluttered in front of my face the second he disappeared. "If you die, how do I get the rune?" she demanded.
"Pritkin. He'll give it to you, assuming you get the kids back safely. You can do that, right?"
"Yes."
"And take the kitchen staff with you." Miranda had said they'd defend a crèche with their lives. I wasn't real keen on having her prove it.
"But…they're Fey. Dark Fey," Radella said, as if maybe I hadn't noticed.
"What difference does that make? Just take them with you!" I didn't know that the demons would attack them once the kids were gone. But I didn't know that they wouldn't, either. Rosier certainly seemed to have the concept of revenge down cold.
Radella was silent for a moment. Then I heard a softly spoken, lyrical sentence, almost like bells ringing. "What was that?"
"Nothing." She sounded embarrassed. "Just…good luck, Cassie."
I felt the rush of air as she flew past me, and Rosier smiled his ghastly smile. "A Fey blessing. So rare. And so useless, outside Faerie." The black cloud had finished assembling minutes before and hung in the air behind Rosier, awaiting his pleasure. "I told you I'd trade you the lives of the children for your sacrifice. You should have made the deal. Now you die, and so do they."
I was going to tell him that I preferred to trust my allies over his word. But I didn't get the chance. The hideous, squirming mass suddenly froze, like soldiers coming to attention. Then it dove, straight at me.
Chapter 27
I screamed, too exhausted to even pretend I wasn't terrified. The damn knights remained inert, incapable of detecting the creatures who were about to kill me. But a plume of fire, the strength of maybe a couple dozen flamethrowers, shot out of the other end of the corridor.
Maybe Casanova had installed some new security measure; I didn't know. But whatever it was, it was effective. The cloud screamed with the sound of a hundred voices, and writhed madly in the air, a twisting, burning black mass that reminded me of the maggots working on Saleh's headless body.
The glare of the flames glinting off the armor shed more light on the scene, although I might have been happier in the dark. Rosier dropped from the ceiling to land in the middle of the corridor with a faint plopping sound. Then something jumped me from behind, sinking what felt like a rack of small knives into my back.
I shrieked and staggered back, hitting the wall and driving the claws in that much farther. I lurched back into the room and let my gaseous knives loose, but they took one look at the larger fight going on a few yards away and deserted me. I looked around frantically, but although there were about a hundred weapons of various kinds in the knights' hands I didn't see any that would help dislodge something that high on my back that I couldn't even see.
Another of the things latched on to my left arm, piercing deep enough to hit bone, while another attached itself to my right thigh. I went down to my knees, blinded by pain and shock, only to realize that the things weren't continuing the attack. Instead, they forced me onto my back, pinning me down, waiting. I raised my head a little to look between my feet, and saw why.
Rosier was crawling my way, dragging himself forward with those spindly arms, his rudimentary legs trailing behind. His face turned unerringly toward me, despite the empty eye sockets, and over the screeching of the burning demons I could hear the soft sound of scales whispering over the floor. He looked harmless, a vague, unfinished creature with a toothless mouth and small, barely formed claws. But I so didn't want him touching me.