The Lie Spinners (The Deception Dance) (5 page)

The
cronies each take a step back, the hand restraining the panhandler
drops. The cronies look at each other. One says, “We need to
get Raven Smith out of here.” Then they step up and grab
another
woman.

The
woman shrieks. Then she yells, “What are you doing? Get your
hands off me!”

While
I’m distracted with the scene of the poor woman trying to fight
off
my
cronies, a stinky, old beer smelling, jacket swings over my shoulder.
“It’s Madeline. We need to go,” the panhandler
says, the smell of his, or, I guess
her
breath makes me want to retch.

She
ushers me over to a dirty dilapidated old car and shoves me inside of
the passenger side. The majority of the front seat is taken up by a
bushy houseplant, a small tree potted in the center-divider. When the
panhandler jumps into the front seat, the house plant bends forward
of its own accord, moving a branch to wind around the steering wheel
while another branch sticks into the ignition and turns on the car.
And then the car just starts driving, or… the plant just
starts driving the car.

“
Crazy,”
I say, breathlessly, meaning:
disturbing
.

The
panhandler’s face cracks like a mask and when the panhandler’s
head shakes, large hunks of dirt fly in all directions.

“
Crazy,”
I repeat, as a dirt-rock falls into my hands.

The
plant steers the car onto the freeway. Grabbing the granny handle for
dear life, I bite my lip, hard.

Madeline
wipes away the last hunks of the panhandles face and goes to work on
her hair. As she pulls the short dirty locks from her head, grass
falls from her fingers and her red hair tumbles away from her scalp.

“
We
have, at best, fifteen minutes before those guys throw off that
spell. It’s a transformation-of-thought spell; I bought it,
Mother help me, I did not make it. I do not know how easily they can
throw it off. Those demon-killers are trained to resist unnatural
spells. We can hopefully get to the plane in that time,” she
says, her accent back with her face, “and if we’re very
lucky, off the ground.”

“
Madeline,
what’s going on?” I ask. “And is that plant driving
or are you using your knees?”

“
We
don’t have time for explanations,” she snaps.

“
Yeah,
but I need a couple. As of one exit ago, we just left hallowed
ground. I’m taking a lot on faith here—“

“
You
are taking nothing on faith here; I didn’t give you a choice.”

I
hold my breath for a second as our little car dodges between two
semis, then I say, “I need to know you’re not leading me
into a trap.”

“
You’ll
just have to trust me,” she says, not really even paying
attention to me because now, she’s stripping. Again, I’m
thankful that she has some kind of unitard under her panhandler
clothes.

“
I
don’t,” I say.

“
Well,”
She replies, “you don’t have much of a choice now, do
ya’?”

Maybe
I know nothing about people, but something tells me that if she was
lying, then she’d at least try to convince me otherwise. But if
I’ve learned anything in the last year it’s that I’m
easily duped. Sad, but true.

As
we turn onto the airport exit, I put both my hands against the window
and press my face to the pane, feeling the cold glass against my
bruised cheek.

“
What’cha
doing?” Madeline screams at me, “Get down, you’ll
be seen.”

“
My
face is on fire,” I say, slumping back into the seat.

“
Yes,
I’ll have to fix that, you are much too conspicuous,” she
says, then she exhales loudly, “But we have no time, I’ll
fix you in the plane. I’m sorry, for the way I…”
she trails off as she looks into her rear view mirror. “Bloody
Hell!” She shouts, as the car speeds up and passes the normal
exit for the airport. “Bloody fecking Hell!”

I
try to look behind, but our car screeches around a curve and the good
side of my face smacks into Madeline’s seat.

“
One
of Albert’s, it has to be,” She shakes her head. “No
way could the soul-bound or the demons know I took you, there’s
just no...”

Our
car bumps over a curb and the back tires jolt back, possibly
considering ripping off. Then we’re racing over a scrubby grass
patch, straight for the airport’s (probably electrified) fence.

I
scream. Madeline swears. And with one of the loudest, most piercing
sounds I’ve ever endured, we crash through the metal link
fence.

I
turn around, seeing the black sedan that follows us spark on both
sides as it widens our tear in the fence.

“
You
told someone,” Madeline says as we speed away from the small
commercial airport, across the grass toward the even smaller private
airport. “You must have. I knew I should have put a silencing
spell on you!”

From
the other side of the airport, a police vehicle races toward us,
sirens blaring.

Our
car veers for one small aircraft that’s idling away from the
rest of the small planes.

“
Do
you know what you’ve done?” she shouts at me.

As
the sedan’s back spins out, I whisper, “Yeah, I’m
starting to really regret it too.”

Our
beat up little car screeches to a halt just as the door to the plane
swings open revealing a staircase on the inside of the door.

“
Get
out! Run for the plane! I’ll handle your tail.”

“
No,”
I say, “Linnie is in there.”

“
You
idiot! You’re never done putting your family in danger are
you?” Her words are a punch to my gut. “Get out; I’ll
protect your sister.”

I
hesitate; then I do as she says. The sedan screeches to a stop behind
us in the dirt, from one side, Linnie jumps out, from the other
stupid-jerk-face Richard Jones, stands behind the open door pointing
a handgun directly at Madeline.

“
You
can’t take her, witch!” Jones yells. “Linnet Smith
told me where you’re planning to take her and I’ll shoot
you first.”

Linnie
runs straight for me, and whether it’s because of what Madeline
said, or because I’m just now realizing how much I screwed this
one up, there is one clear mission in my mind:
get
Linnie away from the guy with the gun.

“
Then
why aren’t you shootin’ me, soldier? Why don’t ya’
go ahead and shoot an unarmed woman? Bloody Hell!” Madeline
says as she leans forward, looking at Jones, “Of all of
Albert’s men you could have picked, you picked Richard
Bloody
Jones?”

My
thoughts, exactly
.

As
if this situation wasn’t screwed up enough, the airport
security cop stops his car about ten yards from both Madeline and
Jones, lights shooting in all directions, and calls over a
loudspeaker, “Drop your weapons! Put your hands up! You are
on—”

Madeline
pulls out what looks like a wad of dirt from a pouch around her neck;
as she throws it she says, “And there goes nine-thousand
euros.” The wad of dirt hurdles toward the cop car, somehow
gaining the trajectory it needs to fly all the way to one of the cars
back window and fly through the tiniest of cracked openings. I don’t
see what happens to the dirt wad after it enters the car, but the
sirens turn off, and the cruiser backs up and turns around.

We
all seem to sigh a bit, then focus on each other again.

“
Leijonskjöld
would track you down alone for making a mind control spell, witch;
think about what you’re doing,” Jones yells, “Give
her up now and you might get away with only a fine.”

Linnie,
who had paused, catches up; I grab her and back to the stairs leading
to the plane. I need to get Linnie out of the open.

As
if Jones can hear my thoughts, he shouts, “Raven Smith, do not
get on that plane! She’s taking you to Thailand on a suicide
mission.”

“
She
doesn’t have a choice,” Madeline shouts, as she crouches
down to the dirt, “And you’re forcin’ me to do
this, too.” She grabs two handfuls of dirt and grass and chucks
them at Jones. Midair, the grass separates from the dirt and
lengthens, winding together into a green rope, while the dirt hurdles
into Jones’ gun, and splashes his hands. He shakes his arms
which look to have been cemented together by the dirt. The grass rope
winds around him, snaking up his whole body.

“
What
are you doing?” Linnie shrieks, trying to get out of my hold
and run back.

Madeline
turns on me and Linnie, “Richard Jones! You brought Richard
bloody
Jones! You are seven ways stupid! And then you told him where we’re
goin’ and he’s figured out exactly what we’re
doin’.” She screams, “Ahhhh! Now, we have no choice
but bring the fecker with us.”

Madeline
runs over to where Jones fights his, seemingly, living rope. His
hands and gun truly look like they are encased in cement.

Jones
looks up at her, relaxing in his ropes, “Stop and think about
what you’re doing. We have agents right now, closing in on
Stephen’s location. He’ll be saved at any moment. You’re
risking her; you’re risking life imprisonment, needlessly.”

Madeline
grabs Jones by his shoulder and bends down. “Liar!” She
spits into his face. Then she drags him toward the open door of the
plane.

“
Raven,
come help me with him,” Madeline says, voice strained.

Seriously
?
I shake my head; no way am I helping her
abduct
a man. “Why don’t you just mind wipe him or something,
like with the cop?”

“
That
was a thought-transformation spell and I bought three of them because
I can’t do them; three, they’re all gone,” She
pauses to stare at me like I’m an
idiot
,
“And besides, this is the Leijonskjöld’s number one
soldier, you brought their number one soldier! He’d throw off a
spell like that before we boarded the plane. We need to leave. Now.
Get your scrawny arse over here.”

I
turn to my sister. “Run, go, now, Linnie.”

Linnie
says, “No way,” at the exact same moment Madeline says,
“She’s comin’.”

I
wheel on Madeline, but before I can say anything Madeline shouts,
“Well if you’re not goin’ to help me, get on the
plane before someone else shows up with a gun!”

I
pause for one more second, then usher my sister in front of me and we
climb the ladder. We duck through the entrance of the small jet. I
look behind me to where Madeline drags Jones across the runway by his
feet. One side of the grass ropes, wrapped around Jones, lengthens
and snakes up the stairs to tie onto a metal handle inside of the
plane. Madeline grabs his head while the rope reels him in.