Meridian Read online

  Auntie

  I blew my nose and wiped my eyes. There was no normal now. I broke open a bag of trail mix and popped open a can of juice. I checked on the drying clothes and studied Charles's mural, glad he and Auntie found each other in the beyond.

  Tens still slept, but with an increasing restlessness. When he threw his blankets off. I walked over. I brought the lantern closer to him and gasped at the red blotches on his face, arms, and hands.

  "Tens! Tens! Wake up." I bent over his face. He was burning up, so hot his skin was both fragile and rough.

  "Men." He tried to move. "Too bright light. Sick."

  "What's wrong? Do you know what's wrong?"

  "Bad sick. Bad." He lapsed back into feverish shaking. "Barely see you."

  Did he mean he saw the light, the window? No! I wouldn't let him die. I couldn't let him die. Think. Think. Trust my instincts. Trust my instincts?

  Custos padded over and pawed at the front of my backpack. I watched her determined efforts to get into the zippered compartment. Great, now I'm letting a wolf make decisions. I leaned down to see what she was after.

  "Holy shit." I exclaimed, pulling out the papers with the cabbie's name and phone number on it and Doctor Portalso-Marquez's business card with her home number on it. The senora and her daughter could help. So would Josiah. I knew it.

  Think. Think.

  "Trust your instincts. Trust your instincts," I said as Custos's hackles rose and she growled, baring her teeth. She moved around me, backing me toward Tens. As I reached down to comfort her, a shadow fell across the entrance of the cave. The stench of expensive cologne and incense told me Perimo had found us.

  "Oh, isn't this cute, the little witch talks to herself." He clapped.

  I straightened, ready to protect Tens. "Reverend Perimo? What's your real name?"

  "Oh, Klaus Perimo is so catchy. I like being a reverend, too.

  People trust you. It works for me."

  "You're an Aternocti. You took Celia—that's why I felt such relief when you arrived that night, isn't it? You took her? She didn't push against me anymore."

  "Congrats. Call off your dog. Meridian. I won't hesitate to use this." He pointed a gun at Custos.

  I laid my hand on her head, but she refused to budge. "She doesn't like you."

  "Call her off." He waved the gun.

  I bent to her ear. "If you can understand me, I need help to save Tens. Run, go. Find help."

  She backed away toward the rear of the cave.

  "Go." I shouted. Custos raced into the blackness.

  "Sending a dog. So very Lassie. I find you amusing. Vexing, but amply entertaining." Perimo shrugged out of his jacket and pocketed the gun again. "It is toasty in here."

  "Bet you're used to heat, huh?" I asked, taking a washcloth and soaking it in melted snow.

  "Is that a hell reference?" He chuckled. "We are so misunderstood. I brought you a little present. Your first photograph." He unfolded the town newspaper and tossed it on the floor between us.

  I didn't move to pick it up. Instead, I placed the rag lovingly on Tens's forehead. My heart broke a little as he tried to move away from my touch.

  "Don't be that way. I'll even tell you what the headline says: 'Visiting Teen Anarchist Blows Up Train'—that's you in the photograph holding a dead baby. Not your best hair day. You killed one hundred fifty-seven people all headed home for New Year's."

  "I didn't kill anyone."

  "Didn't you? Seems there are witnesses who saw you at that junction earlier in the day and then you happened to be one of the first people on the scene. When your concerned pastor came to offer you spiritual guidance, you confessed and showed him where you'd stashed the last of the explosives used to blow up the tracks and train. Seems you burned your house down and killed your aunt to cover your tracks. You even have a criminal record in Oregon. We are nothing if not thorough."

  "No one is going to believe you. You did it. Where would I get explosives? You were there too."

  "But I'm a good guy and you're a bad one. Didn't you get that memo? Plus, you can buy anything on the Internet—haven't you heard it's the devil's own tool?" He chuckled.

  Tens moaned.

  "His fever is getting worse. His organs will start cooking and shutting down within the next few hours. I can feel his heart weakening. Snakebite?"

  Snake? Were there poisonous snakes here? "You're wrong."

  "I'm rarely wrong about death, little girl, or hadn't you noticed?"

  "What do you want?"

  "Oh, finally. Aren't you going to offer me a beverage?"

  "No."

  "Manners get you everywhere."

  "You are a lunatic," I muttered. I opened tins and cupboards searching for a first-aid kit, anything with aspirin or Tylenol. Something to bring down Tens's fever.

  "Au contraire. I am one of the sanest men I know."

  "What do you want?"

  "A trade."

  "You have nothing I want."

  "Are you sure?" He tossed a photograph to me of my parents and Sammy. There were palm trees in the background and they lounged by a pool. I'd never seen this photograph.

  Chapter 33

  Lux tenebras semper vincit.

  Light always conquers the darkness.

  —Luca Lenci

  "My family is fine." My pulse fluttered in my throat. I hoped he couldn't see it.

  Tens thrashed around and threw off the washcloth. I gave up on finding medicine and poured cool water over his head and torso. I didn't know what else to do. When I tried to get him to swallow some water, he choked on it.

  Perimo sat and tsked at me. "Tick tock. Tick tock."'

  "Ok shut up."

  "You should be nicer to me."

  "Or what? You'll kill me?" At this point I was tired of playing games.

  "I don't have to do that. Why don't we play twenty questions, Bible version? I spout off a verse and you tell me what book of the Bible it's in."

  "No." What did he mean, he didn't have to kill me?

  "I'm just trying to keep you company in the final hours. I can just sit here." He pouted, leaning against the wall.

  I started to pack snow around Tens's head and arms, but by the time I worked my way around him, it had melted.

  "If there's anything you want to tell him before you two go to my side of the stadium for eternity, I would get cracking. Confess those enormous teenage emotions. Man, I'm glad I'm not a teen anymore. Shakespeare made it all romantic, but the stench. You don't know how nice you've had it. I promise your bodies will be found and the note you wrote confessing to all the terrible things that have been happening around here will get to the authorities. Your parents will never have to know what a hellion they raised. Cross my heart."

  Don't do it. Don't do it "What are you talking about?"

  "Didn't Granny tell you? Shame on her. He dies, you do. And he's dying. Right soon, as they say in these parts." He cackled.

  "That's not true."

  "It's not? Really? Because last time I checked, I'd been at this a lot longer than you. He's dying."

  "You're lying."

  "Okay, okay, you caught me. It's not a snakebite, nope—it's poison. Got him at the train accident. Slow acting, but kills one hundred percent within ninety-six hours. Tick tock."

  "You're lying."

  "And you're getting on my nerves. What part of this don't you understand?"

  My mind spun, trying to figure out if there was any truth in what he said or if it was all a lie. But why?

  "He's had muscle aches, right? A headache? Dark circles under his eyes."

  "I was with him at the train."

  "Not the whole time."

  "So what do you want?"

  "Now you ask? First you refuse me hospitality? Call me names? Accuse me of lying? And just now get to the good part? I have so much to teach you."

  "What do you want?"

  "Who."

  My heart sped up again. "Who?"

  "You."r />
  "See, you are lying." I leapt to my feet. "I knew it." I wouldn't die just because Tens did.

  "How many times do we have to go over this? I am not lying. I am offering you a trade. You, alive, become my apprentice, and I'll let you take your boy toy to your side and let your parents live. I'm not sure I'm ready to give up Sammy, though, he's so cute. Loves his fudge ripple, doesn't he?”

  "Or?"

  "You die. Tens dies, and your whole family dies."

  That didn't sound like much of a trade.

  "If Tens here dies, you're going too. The fam is bonus for having to put up with your granny for the last few years. Bitch refused to see the light"

  When Charles died, Auntie didn't die. Maybe Perimo was lying. Of course he was lying.

  "You become a Nocti and learn from the best. My team is the best there is. We are everywhere and anyone."

  "How?" I wasn't seriously contemplating the offer, but I needed time.

  "You have to kill yourself—sort of. You pull the trigger, I blow you back into your body, and then you get to spend forever with Tens. I'll save him, too."

  "And my parents?" If he handed me the gun, then I would have control.

  "If you insist. Have I told you that Celia was accommodating? She was really quite easy to convince to step in the trap. Then to suck her away from the tea party she was having in your head. Delightful."

  My stomach churned. "How do I know you have my parents?"

  He pulled out a phone.

  "No reception in here." I told him.

  "Satellite. We have the good toys on our side. Money. Power. Beauty. Eternal life." He dialed a number and held the phone out to me.

  I took it and listened to it ring. My breath hitched when I heard. "Mer-D?"

  "Sammy?"

  Then Mom's voice came on the line. "Meridian? Our caller ID says this is Meridian. Who is this?"

  "Mom, it's me," I cried as Perimo yanked the phone out of my hands.

  "See? Not lying."

  I sank down next to Tens. His pulse was rapid and erratic. The hair on the back of my neck rose and I felt a soul push against me.

  "Oh, he's dying. Look at that." Perimo tapped his fingers on the cave wall.

  This wasn't a feeling that could be faked. I knew this was real. Tears blurred my vision as I waited for Tens to open his eyes and reassure me. If he was going to die, I'd just have to live enough for both of us.

  "Okay, I'll do it. Give me the gun."

  Chapter 34

  "I'm impressed. I thought it was going to take you actually feeling the pull of death to see my point."

  "I'll do it." I watched Tens's breathing slow and grow more shallow. "You win."

  Perimo handed over the gun. "Put it in your mouth. That temple position doesn't work so well."

  "Let me say goodbye first." I leaned down and kissed Tens's lips. "I love you. So much."

  I took a steadying breath, raised the gun, and pulled the trigger. Red bloomed from Perimo's stomach and he crumpled, then slowly stood back up, glaring.

  "Oh, that was sneaky. Didn't see that coming. Were you listening to nothing I said? I am done being nice to you. Your brother dies now, no matter what!" Rage pulsed from his words.

  My eyes widened as I watched him shake the blood off his shirt.

  "Did you not hear the eternal life part? You think you're the first Fenestra to try to kill me?"

  "But—'

  "But?" he mimicked.

  I'd let down my family. Tens, everyone. So much for my big plan. "Then I'll die with him."

  "He doesn't have to die, you moron. Do you need me to speak more slowly?"

  "I don't want to be a—"

  "Why not? We're fun. You think Destroyers are less than Creators? Without us there would be nothing to create from, or on, or with. We are an integral part of making this world work. You should be grateful to get the invitation."

  "You tried to kill Auntie. You terrorized a whole town. Where's the justice?"

  "Justice? You are young, aren't you? The world is full of assholes. Meridian. It's a choice between being vanilla or chocolate, you can't be both."

  Tens jerked me into my head. Suddenly, we stood together at the window. "What's going on?" he asked.

  "You're dying."

  "No, I'm not."

  "I think you are."

  "I'm not leaving you, Supergirl. I won't go. I'll wait like

  Charles." Tens crossed his arms and planted his feet

  I panicked. "Don't! You have to go. You have to. I need to know you're safe. No matter what. Please."

  I blinked and scrutinized Perimo. "You let me take Tens across. Then I'll do as you say for my family's safety."

  "That's fair. You're a top negotiator." He shrugged like we were trading baseball cards.

  I closed my eyes and visualized my bedroom at home. Tens leaned against the window frame and faced me. "I don't like this."

  "We don't have a choice. I tried to kill him. I can't."

  "I'm not leaving you to him."

  "You have to. It's either hell or both of us working for him, and one is more than enough. Tens, I'll figure it out, but if you're dying, you need to go to Auntie. Your family will be waiting."

  "I love you. I'm supposed to protect you."

  "You have. I can do this because of you. I have to save my parents and Sammy."

  Tens nodded sadly, moving to kiss me,

  I didn't feel his lips against mine, because blinding light filled the cave.

  "You can't behave, can you, old man?" A rich voice echoed off the walls, its accent one I found familiar.

  I leaned over Tens and peered up at a huge man dressed in combat boots, old army surplus fatigues, and a long black leather trench. Aviators covered his eyes.

  "Hell's bells."' Perimo paled and eyed the gun just out of his reach. His eyes darkened to black pits, and the light in the room spilled toward the pitch-black of his outline.

  The warrior laughed. "You no think a gun touch me, do you?"

  I blinked. "Josiah?" 'Ello, missy. Sorry I be late."' He peeled off his sunglasses and the light that streamed from his eyes almost blinded me. "Put these on. Cover the Proc's eyes too. Your family be fine. I'll see them next, 'kay?"

  I slid the mirrored glasses onto my face, nodded, and laid my arm across Tens's eyes.

  "Ha-ha, just seeing if you're paying attention. Guess you are." Perimo tried to scurry away.

  "You be goin" nowhere."'

  Perimo turned to face Josiah, drawing up to his full height. "I'll extinguish your light, Sangre. There are more of us. An army trained in the modern world. I'm only following orders. You don't know whom you're messing with."

  "No, you don'. You been messing wit souls for too long. Free will is sacred, Nocti, and you break that rule too many times."

  "My friends will carry on with or without me. I've started a revolution. You don't know whom I work for—"

  "Enough. What chase darkness, Meridian?"

  "Uh, light?" I answered.

  "That be right. Light it up!" Josiah raised his arms and I lowered my head as rays of pure white light poured out of him.

  I heard Perimo scream and I lifted my head to catch a glimpse.

  He sucked up light, agonizing as if it burned. But slowly the blackness lightened, degree by degree, until his outline began changing. Inch by inch, he was erased.

  I stayed crouched over Tens long after the screaming ended and the light flickered back down to normal.

  I raised my head at the gentle touch on my head and dog kisses on my face.

  "Luz, luz. Okay?" Senora Portalso held my face and peered into it.

  "Josiah?" I glanced around, but the only thing he'd left were his sunglasses.

  "No Josiah," the senora answered quizzically.

  "Hi, Meridian, let me have a look here." I recognized the senora's daughter. "I'm a doctor. Remember?"

  I gave her space to examine Tens. "I think he was poisoned. I think he's dead—"


  "Has he been in the woods a lot? Making trips up here?"

  "I guess, yes." I watched the senora empty one of the bags she carried, while her daughter took Tens's temperature.

  "Any muscle pain or aches? Headache? Has he had this rash long?"

  "He mentioned his back hurt, and he definitely has a rash. He rubbed his temples a lot and light hurt his eyes."

  "Do you know if he's been bitten by a tick?"

  "A tick?"

  "That's a no."

  "Would I know that?" What the hell did a tick look like?

  "Not necessarily, but it's highly likely we're dealing with Rocky Mountain spotted fever."

  That didn't even sound like a real disease. "Is he going to di—"

  "No." Senora Portalso turned to me and shook her head violently. "No fiebre."

  "He should be fine with antibiotics." I watched the senora spread supplies on a clean towel. The doctor deftly inserted a needle into Tens's arm, and handed her mother an IV bag to hold up. The senora turned to me and shooed me toward the other bags she had brought. 'Comida. Eat." She pointed,

  "I think I'd do what she says." The doctor drew blood from Tens's other arm.

  I dove into the food, not realizing how famished and drained I was. All the adrenaline left me wasted. Saffron rice, tortillas, and hard-boiled eggs. Chicken in three different sauces and strips of steak. I chewed and swallowed as fast as I could, barely able to take my eyes from Tens's furrowed brow.

  "Meridian, Tens will be just fine. We'll stay with you tonight to make sure. The surrounding land is crawling with FBI agents and search teams scouting for you."

  "Oh my God. I'm so sorry. You should leave—"

  "Stop. This is nothing. Someday maybe I'll tell you about all the patients who come knocking on the back door in the middle of the night."

  "Oh." I didn't know what to say to that. Illegal immigrants, maybe? "How did you find us?"

  The senora answered in a rapid avalanche of Spanish that I couldn't follow.

  Her daughter laughed. "Mama had a dream of you. Said the angels told her to drive to the rocks this way. To bring my supplies. So we got in the car and started driving here from home."