And the witch was gone. Just that quickly, the room was once more only a room, dark, granted, but just a room.
“Fie,” Rune screamed.
Z and the others barreled through the doorway, weapons drawn. “What the fuck happened?” he demanded. “We couldn’t get in.”
Rune cleared her throat and rubbed her arms. “The witch was waiting.”
He grabbed her to him. “Are you okay?”
Roma turned to Nadaline, her voice a growl. “You led her into a trap?”
“Of course I didn’t,” Nadaline said. “The child was here.”
“She still is,” Blue said, holstering her swords. “Look.”
Shivering, Rune turned to look.
The little girl crouched unmoving in a corner, her arms over her head.
Rune pulled away from Z and strode to the child, all the while wondering how she was going to defeat the witch when she could barely speak in her fucking presence.
She was no redeemer.
“I’m here.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Rune muttered.
“What?” Blue asked.
Rune dropped to her knees in front of Fie and pulled the girl to her. “You’re safe now, baby.”
Slowly, Fie dropped her hands from her face, and didn’t appear to notice when the others gasped.
“The bad lady,” was all she said.
“She’s gone,” Rune told her. She stood, still holding the tiny child, and walked from the room, pretty sure she was even more eager than Fie was to leave the room.
Because Damascus could come back.
“I’m here.”
Gooseflesh erupted on her skin as she hurried through the doorway back into the sunshine.
“She’s the hand,” Blue said. “There’s no doubt. She has the face.”
“She has no face,” Roma disagreed.
“Exactly,” Nadaline replied. “Nikolai told us the hand would have death’s face.” She gestured at Fie. “But a child?”
“She’s powerful,” Rune told them. “But how are we supposed to explain this shit to a kid?” Then, she remembered where she’d heard the name Nikolai before.
When she’d been inside the net, Fie had visited Skyll. She’d visited Nikolai.
“Just tell her.” Z held out his arms, and without any hesitation, Fie went from Rune’s arms to Z’s. “Hi, sweetheart.”
“Hi.”
“Are you hungry?”
Fie nodded. “And thirsty.”
Nadaline shrugged a small bag off her back and uncapped a flask. “Water,” she said, when Rune looked at her.
Z took the water and put it to Fie’s lips, and no one spoke as she drank. Finally, she pulled back. “I want mama.”
Rune closed her eyes in a long blink. Poor kid.
“Do you remember what happened to her before we came here, Fie?” she asked.
Fie nodded.
Elizabeth was gone.
“Fie,” Z said. “Can you do something for us?”
“It’ll make the bad lady go away forever,” Blue encouraged.
“I’m scared.”
“We all are,” Roma said. “But we fight anyway. If the bad lady wins, we’re all dead.”
“Dude,” Rune said.
Roma shrugged. “She can’t be a child here.”
“There are no children here,” Nadaline said. “At least, not many. There’s the Flesh hand—he’s a kid. Sort of.”
Z kissed Fie’s forehead. “We need you to call your army, honey. The dead. Can you feel them?”
Fie nodded. “Lots of them.”
“Do you remember her now, Z?” Rune asked.
He shook his head. “Not really.”
Rune nodded, then turned her attention to Fie. “Remember how you called the zombies, baby? Do that. And when the dead rise, you’ll lead them to…” She paused, unsure of what to say. Despite Fie’s power, she was a baby. A fucking baby.
“You’ll lead them to battle,” Blue said. “You’ll command them to kill all the bad people in this world. Do you understand?”
Again, Fie nodded. And finally, her eyes sparkled, and her barely there lips turned up in a smile. “They’re my friends.”
“Sure, kid,” Rune said. “Friends. Call your friends.”
Roma tossed a look over her shoulder. “Crawlers.”
Rune shot out her claws.
Something long buried inside her responded to the crawlers. At some point in her life, she’d been exposed to them. It was the only way to explain her terror.
“Call them, Fie,” she said, and that time, her voice was hard and cold. “Call the dead.”
“Not even the dead can rid Skyll of crawlers,” Blue said. “We need to get our army and run. They’re after something and if we’re in their way they’ll…” She glanced at Fie and shut her mouth.
Z put Fie down. “Now,” he told her.
“Shhhh…”
“What the fuck is that?” Rune asked, but she knew.
“The crawlers,” Roma answered. “Come with me.” She grabbed Rune’s arm and began to drag her away.
Rune jerked free and glared at the slingshot girl. “Don’t ever do that again.”
“When I can save you,” Roma answered, calm, “I will do what needs to be done. Whether or not you agree.”