Total Eclipse

I almost, almost smiled, but I didnt think I had that particular expression in me at the moment. Rahel didnt wait for a response. She walked past us to lean against the doorway to the lobby, peering out with infinite patience as she nibbled down the candy bar.

I looked at David. You going to be all right for a few minutes?

He nodded. Be careful.

Trust me, nothing is going to stand between me and that shower right now. Id shoot Gandhi and Mother Teresa both to get to it. Thats literal. Because I have a gun.

I kissed him and felt him respond, just a little. He wasnt that bad off. Be careful, he said again.

I stood up. Luis and Cassiel were huddled together, talking in low voices, but they looked up when I cleared my throat. Shower, I said. See ya.

Selfish, I know, but at least Rahel had reinforced my obsession with getting clean. I ducked into the staff shower area. Lockers were mostly empty, although a few employees had left behind bath products andin some casesmagazines of questionable taste. I grabbed a selection of shampoos and conditioners, and a still-clean towel, and I dumped my filthy clothes into the sink to soak with some liquid soap on board. Even the rough wash Id given my shirt back at the nuclear plant hadnt held up well.

The water was on, butno surprisecold. I yelped in surprise when the icy drops hit me, but the sensation of water around me was so breathtakingly good that I ignored the temporary discomfort. I used a little candle flame of power to heat the water locally, and that was even better. It took three shampoos of my hair to get all the dried blood and grit out of it, but by the time Id finished I felt, once again, clean and whole. I shut off the water, dried myself, and went back to where Id left my clothes in the sink.

They werent there. The sink was empty and dry.

I wasnt alone in here.

You should burn those, said a voice from the shadows, outside of the reach of the thin light trickling in the door from the other room. They really dont suit you.

Ashan. I pulled in a breath to yell, but my vocal cords seemed to be paralyzed. I couldnt even get out a squeak. I saw him now, materializing out of the shadows, perfectly manicured, with that faintly contemptuous expression that never seemed to leave his face. He looked like every terrible boss Id ever had, and every bad boyfriend, too.

Except for the white eyes. Those werent like anybody Id ever known at all.

Its over, he said. And you owe me pain, Joa

I needed to scream. I needed to move, but my whole body seemed to be frozen now, and all I could do was watch as he paced forward, confident and steady as a panther.

He was in no hurry, and it seemed to take forever before he was standing in front of me. I realized that there was someone else in the shadowsthe avatar, left abandoned like a defective toy. His eyes, too, had gone white.

Ashan closed his hand around my arm, and my towel disappeared in a flash of heat around me. For a second I thought he wanted me nakedand that was particularly sickeningbut no, he just wanted me clothed. Ill say this for Ashan: the bastard is cold and brutal, but he does understand fashion. The clothes that settled on my skin were tailored, understated, and more or less what I would have picked, if Id been able.

Dont thank me, he said, as if hed read my mind. I just dont want you to imagine I have any use at all for your flesh. Humanity serves no purpose to me except as . . . fertilizer. He smiled, a thin razor-cut of his lips. Therell be a rich growing season for years to come, in the silence that follows this day. And we have you to thank for it. You and my imposter brother.

I wasnt sure which I hated morethe sad, resigned distance of my daughter about the loss of the human race, or the lip-smacking delight of Ashan. No, I was sure; Ashan, for the win.

Im going to kill you, I thought, and I hoped he really could read minds after all. Im going to smash you until there arent two aetheric particles sticking together with your name on them. Im going to stop you.

It was about as effective as a rabbits scream in the jaws of a wolf, but I was going to have attitude to the end. What else did I have?

I had power.

His blackout of the aetheric had distracted me, and so had his special guest appearance in my shower, but I could still pull power. I had to pull power, even though the whole area seemed resistant to it.

I filled myself with Earth power, and reached out for the metal pole behind him. With one swift pull, I yanked it out of the tiled floor, bent it, and slammed it into his back. There was no pointy end. I wanted it to hurt.

He jerked and looked down at the hollow metal poleabout three inches in diametersticking out of his chest. A human would have bled, but Ashan never bothered with genuine human flesh and blood, so it was really more of a shella particularly convincing plastic doll. It probably hadnt hurt him, but it had really fucked up the line of his expensively tailored suit, which did my heart good.

I pulled the pole out of him before he could get a grip on it, remove it, and beat me dead with it.

It obviously hadnt hurt him much, but that was okay, because the pole was a distraction, and I hit him with my second attack, which was a vicious piledriver of wind that focused on that hole Id made in Ashan, from front to back. The wind forced itself into him, and I increased the pressure to insane levels. Ashans white eyes widened. I suddenly found myself back in possession of my voice.

Bye now, I said, and with a brutal burst of Weather powers, I blew him to pieces. His scream was short-lived, but very satisfying, and then he was a misty after-image on the air, and I blew that back to hell where it belonged.

I hadnt killed him, but Id definitely hurt him that time. The fact that he didnt re-form and come after me was proof of that.

David hit the door at a run and skidded to a halt, staring at me.

One second, I said. I have something to do.

I walked out to the other room and began yanking open cabinets until I found a bottle of some kind of coffee flavoring. I dumped its contents out and walked back to the shower area. By then, David had oriented on the remaining threat: the avatar, who was still standing frozen in the shadows.

Sorry, I said to him, but we cant let you run around loose. Youre too much of a wild card. I held out the open bottle. Be thou bound to my service. Be thou bound to my service. Be thou bound to my service.

Nothing happened. I frowned at him, then at the bottle. Yep, it was empty, and open. I shook it, which was a stupid thing to do, but to no effect. I tried again, reciting the words thrice.

The damn thing just stood there.

It wont work, David said. Theres nothing in him to capture. He has no soul. Hes just a vesselhis body is already an empty bottle, in a way. He sounded ragged, but sure of what he was saying.

So what do we do with him?

Kill him, he said, very softly. The avatar is physical. It can die.

There was something really unpleasant about that idea, and I didnt care to examine it too closely. Cant weI dont know, evict Mommie Dearest from the avatar?

No. We either leave it here, where it can strike at us any time she wants, or we kill it. But theres no other choice, Jo.

It felt vile, somehow, and I couldnt shake it off. But he was right, Id be destroying a shell, not a person.

Not a person whod driven me halfway across the country. Whod saved my life.

I couldnt stand to think about it any longer. I picked up the gun from where Id left it sitting next to the sink, cocked it, and aimed at the avatars head.

David put his hand on my shouldernot to stop me, but to steady me.