Bad Luck, Baby

33 - Bad Influences

"Ellie, please..."

Kyrie stepped towards us, but Lucian raised his gun (which he'd brought along in a holster strapped beneath his coat) and aimed it at her head. I didn't know if bullets did any good against demons, or if Lucian had special demon-killing bullets of some kind, but regardless, Kyrie took the hint and stopped.

"That's close enough," he said, shifting his grip on me. In my ear, he murmured, "I take it you know this... person?"

I sagged against his side, hardly able to stand as pain and weariness sapped my strength. Nothing made sense anymore: friends were enemies, and enemies, friends. I just wanted to find Ro, and then to lie down and sleep for the rest of everything.

"I... thought I did," I mumbled. "I thought she was... a friend."

"I am a friend, Ellie, I swear it!" Kyrie pushed back the hood of her black robes so I could more clearly see her face, revealing her shaved head and the heavy gold jewelry she wore. "Please," she said. "I have made terrible, unforgivable mistakes, but I swear I meant no harm to you, or to Ro. Please, we are nearly out of time. Let me help you while I can!"

"Janelle..." I breathed. "She's... the one behind this?"

Kyrie's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "No! Oh, no no no! Janelle is not part of anything. Gods!" She pressed a hand to her mouth as her face twisted with a grimace of pain. "Oh, gods. I did not want her to know. But now..."

I slumped a bit more, and Lucian adjusted his hold. The pain in my back made me want to cry, but I forced myself to keep my feet under me and look Kyrie in the eyes.

"Do you know where Ro is?" I rasped, my tongue feeling thick and dry in my mouth.

"No," she said, tears slipping from her eyes and sliding down her cheeks. "I do not. But I will do everything in my power to help you find him. I will—"

Her voice faded out as if someone had stuffed cotton in my ears, and I blinked as sudden darkness pressed in from all sides. My whole head rang, and for a moment of confusion I thought we were under some new attack. Then, blinking up at Lucian, I realized I'd almost passed out. He'd dropped his gun to catch me, careful of his hold on my back, and the metal object now lay between us and Kyrie. I watched as if in a dream as she stepped forward slowly, bent down, and picked it up.

Then she held it towards Lucian — butt end first.

He took it warily and holstered it.

"I cannot undo what I have done," she said, "but let me help if I can; and if I cannot, then Janelle surely will."

I gazed up at her as a cold stillness settled over me, and the pain retreated a little as Lucian helped me back to my feet. I met Kyrie's eyes again and spoke in a ragged whisper.

"If you're lying... I'll destroy you," I said.

I meant it; but if I were in her place I'd have laughed in my face. Kyrie, though, looked as if she believed I were perfectly capable of making good on my word, and shivered as she nodded.

"I know you will."

Lucian, too, seemed impressed for some reason, and as Kyrie led the way up the alley to the cross street and down the block to Janelle's shop, leaned close as he helped me along.

"You know," he said mildly, "for my own sake, I'm rather glad we've ended up on the same team."

I said nothing, for I wasn't certain that we had; then again, at that moment, I wasn't certain of anything.

❧

At the door of Janelle's Spells, Kyrie paused and bowed her head, eyes closed.

"Something wrong?" Lucian asked, sounding a little out of breath. We'd done our best not to attract attention to ourselves as we traversed the length of sidewalk leading to the shop, but he'd basically had to carry me part of the way.