Lich Queen

Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2017 Naomi Clark

ISBN: 978-1-77339-360-5

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Melissa Hosack

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To the silent, the strong, and the survivors.

LICH QUEEN

Blood Canticles, 3

Naomi Clark

Copyright © 2017

Chapter One

Dawn dreamed of rats. Thousands of them, surging through the streets in a dark mass, red eyes glowing. They swamped everything, pouring from the sewers and out of the walls, consuming the city, leaving bare bones and filth in their wake. Their thick, sour musk poisoned the air. And they whispered as they rampaged on, whispered in shrill little voices that they were hers, that she could stop them if she wanted, if she was willing to learn how.

Dawn stood in the sea of rats and fired wildly, her shots hitting nothing. The bullets just vanished into the seething horde, swallowed up and useless. It was exactly how she felt. Her anger was a bitter, sharp lump in her throat she could never choke up, and it clouded everything. Every waking hour and every precious scrap of sleep.

But you could do something about it, the rats whispered. You could change things.

Dawn shrieked and flung her empty gun into the writhing knot of rats at her feet, her heart thudding painfully. I can’t! she screamed. The rats scrambled past her, around her, little bodies pressing against her legs, cold tails whipping at her ankles. It was grotesque, but she couldn’t get away. There were too many of them, carrying her along like driftwood on the tide, forcing her to move with them or fall and be swarmed by them. The thought squeezed the air from her lungs, left her shaking from head to toe as she stumbled along in the thick of the rats, powerless.

But you don’t have to be, they told her. You can change this, Dawn.

Dawn.

Dawn.

Dawn!

One of the rats shot up her back, clinging to her hair and shirt collar, shaking her as if it was a dog and she was the rat. She screamed again, slapping at it but unable to reach it. Panicked dread rocked her.

Dawn! Wake up!

She snapped awake, swinging her fists blindly at the figure looming over her. They yelped and grabbed her wrists, pushing her down on the bed. A crushing sense of claustrophobia swept over Dawn, bringing the panic from her dream to a fever-pitch.

Get off! Get off! She kicked, but her legs were tangled in the bed sheets, and all she did was tangle them further. But now her too-sensitive eyes were adjusting to the dim, pre-dawn light, and she recognized Imani leaning over her, face etched with concern. Get off, Imani, she said, struggling to sound calm.

Maybe she managed it. Or maybe she didn’t but Imani didn’t care either way, because she released her, backing away from the bed. She hugged herself, rubbing her arms. Upset. Fidgety. Not like Imani. Something was wrong.

Some of the fog from Dawn’s nightmare lifted, although the gnawing panic didn’t. What’s happened? she asked. What now? She sat up, throwing the bed sheets aside. She didn’t actually remember going to bed. Most nights that she slept, she just fell asleep in front of the TV.

Dawn, I’m really sorry, Imani said, voice tight and high, reminding Dawn nastily of the rats in her dream. I thought she was trying to help. I’d never have agreed if I knew…

You’re not making sense, Dawn said. Her heart was fluttering somewhere in her throat, dark anticipation churning her stomach. Who? What happened?

Lola. Lola’s gone. She asked me— Imani leaned forward and grabbed something from under Dawn’s pillow. She said it was to help you sleep. Which, I mean, it was, and we all know you need it, but it was just a cover so she could get out without you knowing, right? It had to be, because she’s gone! Imani threw her hands up and sat down hard on the bed, eyes wide and worried.

Dawn tried to make sense of Imani’s torrent. She scrubbed at her dry eyes, picking through the words and putting a picture together. She went to meet a client, she said.

Yeah, but it’s nearly seven in the morning and she’s not back yet. Her phone just rings through to voicemail.

What’re you holding? Dawn asked, reaching for it.

It was a little velvet bag, tied with pink, blue, and brown ribbons. Dawn sniffed it suspiciously, catching a waft of flowers, and looked questioningly at Imani, who looked uncharacteristically ashamed of herself.

She said it was to help you, she repeated. You don’t sleep enough and we all think…You need more sleep, so when she told me, I just… She trailed off, toying nervously with her braids.

You put a spell on me? Dawn wasn’t sure whether to be outraged or just depressed. This was her life now, a constant pendulum swinging ceaselessly back and forth between the two. Was it a new low that her friends had used magic on her, or was it unsurprising, given who and what they were? She had no idea, so she decided to just feel numb instead.

A charm. To help you sleep, Imani said, as if repeating it was a charm in itself, a ward against Dawn’s anger. But I think that was a cover, to keep you from knowing she’d gone until it was too late.

Why? Where would she be going that she’d want to hide it? A faint sense of understanding itched at Dawn, but it wasn’t quite strong enough to grasp yet. She knew something here, she did, but the knowledge slipped away from her.

I don’t know! Imani all but wailed. I just know she’s not home and she’s not answering her phone, so something’s wrong. Something’s happened, and I let it happen by going along with her stupid fake babysitting scheme!

Her presence was too much, made it too hard to think. Everything was louder and sharper nowadays, Dawn was finding, and sometimes people were too intense, making her head ache and her eyes water. It was one of the reasons she liked being here, at Lola’s, because Lola would shut herself away all day and not press her presence on Dawn, allowing Dawn to be alone without really being alone. She wasn’t ready to be alone … but she still needed space.

Dawn climbed out of bed and went to the window, pulling the curtains back. Outside gray mist and washed-out sunlight heralded the start of a new day sluggishly beginning. The sight of the sunrise filled Dawn with a quiet despair, as it always did now. She tried to push it away and think like a detective. She still was one, technically, after all. Her boss had refused to accept her resignation and she hadn’t yet found the strength to fight with him about it. She was on leave. Recovering from the shock of Eddie’s death, that was the official line.

She pressed her forehead to the cold window and sighed. Okay, she said. What do we know? What did she tell you?

She couldn’t believe that Lola was gone. There was a rational explanation, of course. She wouldn’t just go, just disappear. That was unacceptable.

Just that she had a client to meet and she wanted you to get some decent rest. She asked me to slip the sachet under your pillow once she was gone.

Okay. Have you checked her diary? She glanced at Imani and saw her looking blankly back. Her work diary? In her office? She lists all her appointments there.

Oh! Imani bounced up, energized. I didn’t even think. We just kinda freaked out when she didn’t come home. I mean, after everything that’s happened and all, I just … I just assumed the worst. She headed for the stairs.

Dawn followed, feeling grim. Down in the kitchen, Jonah was nursing a cup of black coffee, looking pale with exhaustion.

Hey, Dawn, he said. Sorry we magically drugged you.

She waved it off, heading for Lola’s office. It was unlocked, which was unusual. Lola was funny about her office and people weren’t allowed to just come and go. Dawn’s spine prickled as she switched the light on. Lola’s diary sat closed on the desk, a big leather-bound planner that Dawn knew she kept meticulously up-to-date. She had a flashback to their first meeting, when she and Eddie had come investigating the murder at the Red Lotus. How huffily Lola had shown them her diary, thinking it would provide her alibi.

She eased into Lola’s chair, catching a faint trace of incense and the plummy shampoo Lola favored. Lola's pet tarantula watched her from within its tank, unmoving and somehow accusing. Imani hovered behind her, irritatingly close, but Dawn restrained herself from snapping at her. Leafing through the diary, it quickly became clear Lola had no appointments booked in for last night. Dawn closed it with a frown, her mind working away at that picture she’d started to form.

She’s gone after Tristesse.

How? Jonah asked from the doorway. We don’t even know … well, anything about where she is.

Dawn pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to stir her memory. Right after Tristesse disappeared, Lola was talking about going after her. But she had a concussion, so I didn’t really take any of it seriously. She was talking about finding Isaiah … I don’t know. None of it made sense and I… Was a mess. Too much of a mess to notice that Lola was a mess. Dawn bit her lip, guilt washing over her.

She’s barely said a word about Tristesse since then, Imani said. She wore the same look of guilt Dawn imagined she had herself.

No, because she’s been waiting for me to go back to my place, Dawn said. It was a guess, but it felt right. All of them would have rushed to help Lola find her lover if any of them thought it was possible. She knew that for a certainty. But Lola’s horrific story of Tristesse’s abduction had them all convinced the demon was as good as dead. So Lola had stayed quiet and waited for Dawn to go, and when Dawn didn’t go, she pulled this stunt.

Guesses, yes, but dammit, they did feel right. Can you scry for her? she asked Imani.

Imani nodded and left the office in silence. Jonah started to follow, but Dawn stopped him.

Call Rowan. She’ll want to know.

Sure. You don’t think… Jonah ran his hands through his hair, clearly struggling with the words. She’ll be okay, right? I mean, how far could she get?

Dawn wished she had something reassuring to say. But the truth was, she didn’t know how far Lola could get because she didn’t know how far Lola was trying to go. Call Rowan, she repeated.

The door swung shut behind him and Dawn slumped in the chair, feeling a pressure lift the second she was alone. Her eyes itched. Her throat was dry. Her whole body felt tightly strung, like a guitar string about to snap. And that was normal now, since she’d been attacked by Gwen Craig. She was sure part of it was down to the chronic insomnia, but some of the things she experienced now, like the hypersensitivity to noise and light, she couldn’t explain away so neatly. Even in their worried hush, Jonah and Imani were too loud, too … vital, and they exhausted her. Everyone did. Everything did.

She’d chalk it all up to depression if not for her eyes. Her irises had darkened and she was permanently bloodshot. She could have persuaded herself to dismiss even that if the irises had gone from blue to brown or green, say, but they were black now. So black her pupils were all but lost. Nothing she’d read about heterochromia or any other traumas or disorders that might cause eyes to change color could explain that deep, perfect black.

Even then, even with all that, she could have lied to herself, if not for his voice. It had started in her dreams, but now it crept slowly and surely into her waking hours. Soft and persuasive, he told her that he could help. That she could be powerful if she listened to him, powerful and back in control. That was the thing she couldn’t deny, the thing she couldn’t explain away with grief and depression.

Isaiah whispered to her and she couldn’t tune him out. It wasn't so bad as long as Lola kept the wards in the attic fresh, but now… Now that Lola was gone and her spells were gone with her, she feared he'd only whisper louder.

Chapter Two

Rowan paced Lola’s front room, smoking her third cigarette since she’d arrived twenty minutes ago. Her hand shook as she raised it to her lips, and Dawn was sure she’d drop it every time. Rowan’s boyfriend, Caleb, hadn’t come with her, and she seemed unanchored without him, constantly reaching out with her free hand as if to grab at some invisible support.

I don’t believe this, she said for perhaps the tenth time. I don’t believe it.

Dawn closed her eyes, wondering if calling Rowan had been a mistake. With Imani shut in the kitchen, scrying, and Jonah hovering over Imani as he always did, that left Dawn to handle Rowan’s near-hysteria. She would have been able to, not so long ago. It was part of the job, and every cop had to develop some method for it. But now Dawn felt like she’d be sticking her hand in a wasps’ nest.

She decided to try just being a cop. Maybe if she stayed calm and factual, Rowan would too. Rowan, can you think of anything that might help?

Like what? I’m not the one dabbling in black magic! I didn’t understand half of what Lola did at the best of times! Why would now be any different? Rowan sank onto the sofa, taking a deep, shaky drag on her cigarette. Getting involved with demons. It was only ever going to end badly.

Tristesse helped us all, Dawn reminded her, more sharply than she meant to. And if what Lola said was true … the creatures that took her… She couldn’t finish. Calm and factual was useless in the face of magic and demons.

I know. It’s horrible. All of this has been horrible, though, and it all started with fucking demons. Fucking Yvette. Rowan pressed her lips together in a thin, angry line. Fucking blood and black magic, all of this is down to that.

Dawn tried again. Did she say anything to you recently—

No! She never says anything when she’s planning something stupid. She just does it, because she knows it’s stupid and she knows everyone will tell her so.

Head pounding, Dawn fell silent. Even that short exchange had drained her. She glanced at the clock and wondered how long Imani would be. Even upset and panicked, Imani would be more rational than Rowan was right now. Hopefully.

Another ten minutes ticked painfully away before Imani and Jonah joined them. Imani’s hands were wet and she had a glob of candle wax on her lavish dress. She shook her head as she sat down. I can’t find her. Not with basic scrying, anyway. There’s some other stuff I could try, but it’ll take time.

Leave it for now, then, Dawn said. She forced herself to sit up. There was a notepad and pen on the coffee table and she grabbed hold of them. Let’s start over, okay? What do we know for sure?

Their pooled knowledge amounted to very little, and showed how very little they’d all really talked to Lola—and each other—since Tristesse’s disappearance. Dawn could put together a rough timeline of Lola’s last known movements, and if they filed a missing person’s report with Fort Rosser PD, she could get the police looking for her car. But she had a feeling that was already a dead end.

Okay, she said, trying to sound good, like they were making progress. That’s the factual stuff. What do we know magically that might help? Anything about Tristesse, anything Lola might have done to find her? She struggled again to recall her conversation with Lola that day in Crown Hill. She was looking for Isaiah’s body, I’m pretty sure of that. Why would she do that?

Rowan shook her head. Maybe she thought he could tell her where Tristesse was taken?

Rowan didn’t know about the head in the attic, Dawn thought, and decided she didn’t need to. Possibly, but—

She knew where Tristesse was taken, Imani interrupted. Those hounds that were hunting Tristesse were from Gehenna, weren’t they?

Rowan turned so pale Dawn thought she might