A Blade So Black Read online

  Movement caught in her peripheral vision, and she stiffened, daggers partially drawn. That wasn’t a Shadow-Wisp. It was bigger, quicker. She remained still for a moment before picking her way across the square, pace brisk, eyes fixed ahead. Several more steps and it happened again, to her right. She turned and saw nothing but broken stone and rusty dirt. But she knew better. Her skin prickled. The hairs on her arms stood on end.

  She wasn’t alone.

  Alice’s heart beat faster. Her muscles tensed. The faint buzzing of alarm bristled at the base of her skull. Stopping in the center of the square, she crouched, reaching to trace the fingers of one hand against the ground, scrutinizing nonexistent tracks.

  Calm.

  Wait.

  Something emerged from a building at her four o’clock, several paces back. It slunk forward, movements measured and deliberate. The sound of steps against cobblestone held a significant difference from the sound of those same steps on dirt, and when they reached the patch of stone on which she now knelt, she struck.

  Her calf caught legs and swept them loose, sending her stalker sailing for the ground with a startled cry. She drew both Figment Blades and leaped onto him, one knee in his gut, the blades pressed against both sides of his neck like scissors waiting to lop off his head.

  “Stoy!” he shouted, hands lifted and fingers splayed to show he was unarmed. He stared at her with wide, surprised eyes belonging to a face she recognized.

  “Dee?” She narrowed her eyes.

  He nodded slowly, mindful of the blades poised on either side of his neck. “Da.”

  Every muscle in her body turned to water, and by force of will alone she didn’t sink down on top of him. “I coulda killed you.”

  “I am very aware.” He swallowed, tension thickening his Russian accent. He didn’t relax until she withdrew her weapons.

  “What the fel you doin’?” Sheathing her blades, she rose and offered him a hand up.

  “Trying to surprise you.” He brushed his hands over his front, then ran them through his blond hair. “Just a joke.”

  She snorted and folded her arms over her chest, her bandaged wound aching dully. “You gone get yo ass kicked behind these jokes one day.” Her attention shifted as she eyed the rest of the ruins for Dee’s other half. “Where’s Dem?”

  Laughter rang out, rich and thick like syrup. Alice followed it to a nearby house as Dee’s twin brother swung into view, holding on to the doorjamb.

  “Idiot,” Dee muttered, still brushing dirt from his clothes.

  “That was priceless.” Dem snickered as he jogged over to join them.

  “Har har. Jerk.” Her glare bounced between two identical sets of ice blue eyes.

  Dimitri and Demarcus Tweedlanov—Dee and Dem for short—were mirror images of each other: tall, teenage versions of Spike from Buffy. Dreamwalkers as well, and only a couple years older than her, they comprised a well-oiled killing machine that sometimes pulled dumbass pranks. She worked with them whenever there was a job to do farther in than Hatta could come, like the fight at Ahoon. They were there, and probably the only reason her ass didn’t end up filleted. They had to be the backup Hatta mentioned.

  Alice jerked her chin at the twins. “The Duchess would lay y’all out if she knew you were dicking around.”

  Anastasia Petrova, aka the Duchess, was to the Tweedles what Hatta was to Alice, only less patient and far more strict. Alice had never met the woman, but she heard plenty about her from the twins and from Hatta. After the war, the Duchess was exiled as well, but kept her formal title at court as a sort of code name. She watched over the Northern Gateway somewhere in Saint Petersburg.

  “Contrariwise to popular belief, she doesn’t mind if we loosen up from time to time.” Dem grinned, his hands clasped behind his head.

  “That’s not even a word.” Dee shoved his brother. “But yeah, we’re here to back you up.”

  “No orders to be on our best behavior, though.”

  “It was implied,” Dee countered. The two of them were dressed in their customary black and gray, with leather, spikes, the works. Semigoth, or whatever it was, worked for them. Alice was careful not to appreciate the look for longer than a few seconds.

  She shifted her weight to hide her fidgeting. “You know what you’re backing me up for?”

  Dem turned his attention to her, then out over the village. “See if any trace of the Nightmare remains. If it wasn’t purged completely.”

  “If I messed up.” Alice snorted.

  The Tweedles fixed their gazes on her, heads swiveling in tandem. So hot, and yet, so Children of the Corn creepy sometimes.

  “That is not what was said,” Dee emphasized, no doubt trying to make her feel better. The twins were good for that, getting her to laugh when she felt like crap.

  Alice shrugged, hands dropping to rest against her weapons as she scanned the village again. “It is what it is.” The twins had been there, had helped her fight, but it was her weapon that struck the final blow to the monster’s core. That meant her weapon had to perform the purge, and she had to be the one to do it. Figment Blades were funny like that, drawing off the strength of their wielder. Muchness and whatnot. Guess she wasn’t that strong. “Either way, it won’t hurt to make sure. Last thing I wanna do is be in my feelings for no reason.”

  “There she goes with her feelings again,” Dem murmured before barely managing to dodge a kick aimed for his balls.

  “How ’bout you feel my foot up yo ass,” she threatened as he shuffled away, laughing as he went. She couldn’t help grinning herself. “Keep it up, Dem. Ain’t nobody playing with you.”

  Dee slid to her side, scratching at the faint shadow of hair on his chin. “You know that only encourages him, yes?”

  She waved a hand as Dem slipped into the nearest half-worn building. “Like I could discourage him. You guys check any of the buildings?”

  “A few in the north end.” Dee shrugged. “Nothing so far. We have not been here long.”

  Alice turned her attention heavenward. “Sky’s going blue.” It would be dark in a few hours.

  “We should keep searching, then, da? At least for a little while.”

  “Da.” She nodded, and the three of them split off, moving to hunt through separate areas of the ruins.

  Figment Blade in hand, Alice scuffed through a few patches of dirt, uncovering little more than hunks of stone and wood. With the twins nearby, she was less antsy and able to concentrate on the job. Even so, she didn’t find any trace of Nightmare taint. “This place is full of a whole lotta nothing.” She brushed a bit of dust from her hands.

  She was searching her third building when Dee called out, “Zdyes’! Over here.”

  Alice rushed to the square, joining Dem as he raced from another direction. The two of them floundered briefly before a sharp whistle drew their attention. Dee stood near the eastern edge of the town, waving them over.

  Inside one of the more intact buildings, the air hung heavy, musty.

  “Look.” Dee pointed at the far corner.

  Dem made a face like he’d caught a whiff of something rank. “What the hell?”

  The same question played through Alice’s mind as she eyed what looked like black water spilling out of the ground. Instead of soaking the dirt and spreading, the liquid bubbled in on itself. It hissed and popped, glopping but never landing anywhere.

  “I did screw up the purge,” Alice murmured, the words bitter on her tongue. How could she have been so sloppy?

  “I don’t think so.” Dee knelt to get a closer look, still a respectable distance from the spill. “It looks like corruption, but not.”

  “Whaddya mean?” She kept her eyes on the phenomenon. Something about this wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on what. Aside from it being … gross.

  “This does not behave like taint,” Dee said. “It doesn’t affect the ground, or spread. It’s … isolated.”

  “You guys notice it’s in the corner fa
rthest from the light?”

  Both boys looked up, blond heads turning to take in the room. Three of four walls remained intact. The position of the two broken windows made it impossible for sunlight to reach the corner. The roof was still in one piece as well.

  “Coincidence?” Dem stepped closer to his brother, his hand on the hilt of the dagger at his hip, similar to Alice’s.

  “Baba taught us not to believe in coincidences.” Dee produced a small glass container along with a tiny pair of tongs.

  Alice’s gaze bounced between the twins. “What you doing?”

  “Sample.” Dee uncorked the vial and, with steady hands, extended it toward the liquid via the utensil.

  “You sure that’s a good idea?” She had no idea why she whispered or held her breath as the liquid trickled into the vial.

  “We take this to the Duchess, we maybe figure out what it is.” Dem kept his eyes on his brother, shoulders tense, jaw locked.

  “She told you to bring it back?” Both brows rose. Anything the Duchess told them to do, they often did the opposite, meaning she probably told them not to touch anything. And here they were bottling it like a fifth-grade science experiment.

  Dee corked the vial and gestured for his brother to join him. “Idee syuda.”

  Dem edged closer, only to jump when Dee latched on to the edge of his twin’s shirt with one hand, the other slicing a small section of cloth free with a switchblade.

  “Ah!” Dem pulled away, clutching at the hole in his shirt like a wound. “Mudak, why’d you do that?”

  “I needed something to clean with.” Dee wiped the vial with the cloth, then tossed it aside.

  “Use your own damn clothes.” Dem glared at his brother, muttering while he fingered his torn shirt, and Dee slipped the vial into one of the pouches along his waist.

  “The Batman belt finally came in handy.” Alice smirked, earning a glare from Dee and a snicker from Dem. “Way to go, Bruce. What now?” She eyed the gurgling fountain.

  “Now?” Dee glanced around. “You try to purge, I guess.”

  Alice eased one of her daggers free. She dug one shoe into the ground, not wanting to approach whatever the hell that stuff was just yet. It gave her a serious case of what Nana Kingston called the heebie-jeebies. “Okay,” she said more to herself than anyone else. A few careful steps brought her to the edge of the shadow. It continued to pour outward, running over itself and into nothing. She didn’t know whether to stab it directly, or the ground beneath it.

  Kneeling in the dirt, she tightened her grip on the dagger and looked to the twins. Dee nodded, eyes on her. Dem stared at the … whatever it was. With a deep breath, she lifted the dagger and drove it into the floating yuck.

  Crack! With a flare of light, the Figment Blade went flying. Alice shouted as pain danced up her arm. The twins called out to her, moving forward, weapons sliding free.

  “I’m all right!” She cradled her throbbing hand against her chest. “I’m all right.”

  “Do you need our help?” one of them asked, probably Dee.

  She shook her head, shaking her fingers out. The pain faded, leaving them tingling. “No, I got this.” She drew her second dagger.

  Hatta’s words from her training played across her mind. The Figment Blade is an extension of your will, your courage, your confidence. It is very much you. Your Muchness. If you believe you can slay monsters, you will.

  “I believe I can slay monsters,” she mouthed. She hadn’t had to talk herself up like this since … well, since the last time she set foot in this village. I believe I can slay monsters. “Cosmic moon power.”

  Light bled along her lifted blade, or maybe it was a trick of the shifting shadows. It only lasted for a brief second before she drove the dagger into the yuck as hard as she could. There was another flare, but this time the bubbling liquid vanished, hissing as it evaporated into gray mist. The Figment Blade sank into the ground beneath it, spewed the usual sparks and lightning, then went quiet.

  Alice stared for a few seconds, panting faintly. She yanked her blade free and dropped back to sit on the ground, her muscles aching from how tense they’d been. The throbbing in her hand had faded completely.

  “Ey.” Dem held her other blade out for her, wiggling it.

  “Thanks.” She took it, slid them both into their sheaths, then took the offered hands.

  The twins pulled her up, both clapping Alice on her shoulder or back, nodding. Alice smiled, giving a thumbs-up. A quick glance at where the liquid had hovered revealed nothing but the empty, bare ground. Whatever it was, it was gone, but she kicked at the dirt a bit just in case.

  “You think that’s it?” she asked.

  “Maybe. We should look, just in case.” Dem started for the door.

  “It may not be the usual taint, but thankfully it purges like one.” Dee followed his brother.

  “Thankfully.” Alice stole one last glance at the shadowy corner. She couldn’t shake this cold, slimy feeling trying to crawl its way through her. “You’re just freaked at being back here. Grow up, Kingston,” she said to herself. Wrinkling her nose, she hurried after the twins to search the rest of the village.

  * * *

  By the time the three of them finished searching, finding nothing else, the dimming light had further bruised the sky. If they didn’t leave right the hell now, she wouldn’t reach the Glow before dusk: prime Nightmare time.

  “You want company?” Dem stood with his brother at the entrance to Ahoon.

  Alice glanced back from where she’d already started toward the main road. “No, I’m good. Thanks, guys.” Gratitude warmed her. Annoying as they could be, the twins had her back and she had theirs. At least, she used to.

  Remembering her plans to quit, she was hit with a sudden sinking feeling at the thought of never seeing them again, never kicking butt with them again. She was gonna miss them and, unlike Maddi and Hatta, she couldn’t pop over to Russia for a visit whenever she felt like it.

  “Hey, Dee.” She stepped back over the crumbling wall to join them. “You got a pen and paper in the Bat-belt?”

  Dem snickered while Dee glowered, but he produced a small pad and tiny pen.

  Alice took them, smiling. “Here, this is my number.” She handed over a freshly scribbled-on scrap of paper. “Country code and all. I’m … I’m retiring. From Dreamwalking,” she explained at their dual looks of confusion.

  Confusion flashed to double incredulity.

  “What?” they both barked.

  “You’re quitting?”

  “Why?”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Did we do anything?”

  “May talk too much, about her feelings.”

  “Is just jokes!”

  “Guys! Guys.” She lifted her hands to calm the storm. And she was starting to get whiplash. “It’s complicated. Family and stuff, nothing you or your jokes did.” She smiled, hoping to reassure them. They just fidgeted, looking like someone had kicked their puppy. It was sweet. “I promise, it’s not you. I’d go into details, but it’ll be dark soon. So call me. I wanna keep in touch.”

  “We understand,” Dee murmured as he pocketed his pen and pad.

  “We promise to call. All the time.” Dem nodded.

  “Maybe not all the time.” Dee elbowed his twin. “But we will miss you.”

  “Very much.”

  “Ahh, guys.” She waved them over. “Bring it in.” She hugged both of them, wheezing faintly when Dem squeezed a bit too tight. Like being hugged by a brick wall, that boy. After a few more minutes of hugs and lamenting, she actually did have to go. She had a lengthy walk back, by herself.

  “Take care, Alice.” Dem waved, as did his brother, and the two headed north.

  She headed west. As she went, she thought over what they’d found back at the village. Maybe she had failed to purge the Nightmare, but this made up for it, right? She cleaned up her mess. On the flip side, if whatever that gunk was didn’t have anything to d
o with her screwup, this was an entirely new mess, one the twins had never seen, and they’d been at this longer than her. And she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was all centered around some major bad juju. Could she really leave Hatta to deal with it all on his own? Or the twins? Sure, they had each other, but some things required a team, not just a partner.

  Then there was what happened with her blade. Had she imagined it? She tugged it free, holding it out as she walked. It looked fine now, no special glow or anything. Maybe if she concentrated. She focused on the weapon, pushing every ounce of will into it. Right when the area behind her left eye started to throb, a faint light poured over the weapon. Her heart leaped in her chest for a split second before she realized it was the moon. Then her heart dropped to the soles of her feet. It was the moon.

  She was still a good twenty minutes from the Gateway, and the dark had caught up with her.

  Seven

  A MESSAGE

  Night in Wonderland was similar to home in many ways. The moon burned the sky with its cold light. The woods came alive, teeming with nocturnal creatures—only the ones here were a bit deadlier. She had to hurry. Surely Hatta would be near the Gateway, waiting for her, worried out of his mind. Rule #1 of being a Dreamwalker, you didn’t go wandering Wonderland alone after nightfall.

  Alice picked her way through the thick brush. No dazzling flowers or trees illuminated her path, but she moved with the sure-footedness of a jungle cat. The Gateway wasn’t far ahead, maybe another fifteen minutes? She couldn’t see the telltale brightness of the Glow just yet. Almost there, girl. One foot in front of the—

  Something snapped in front of her. She froze. Silence descended like a plague. She scanned the brush, following sounds she thought she heard. Her fingers curled tight around the hilt of her dagger.

  Another snap. A crunch of leaves, at her seven. Whatever was out there was fast, and circling her. The twins? If they were playing another prank, she was going to hand them their asses. But they wouldn’t follow her clear to her Gateway for no reason, or risk pissing off the Duchess by dicking around this much.