Page 49 of Midnight in the Garden of Okay and Meh
“OK, I’m down to less than an hour before I have to leave,” Mabel said, looking out of sorts with everyone. “Mysteriously appearing flamethrowers aside, please, for the love of Freed, go rescue your father.”
“Who’s Freed?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Maker of my favorite pointe shoes. Vámanos!” she answered, shooing me toward the water.
“Oh good, this has a handy intensity knob. I just know those boggarts will appreciate the maximum distance of flame. Are you ready?” Sally twirled a couple more underwater flares.
“Yes,” Parisi said, snagging the bolt cutters and also tucking them into her belt. “Although I have my doubts about these snips being able to cut through the chain binding the man Desi.”
“Oh, you’re going to have to help them along,” Sally said as she flipped a few switches on the flamethrower I one hundred percent had not seen her bring with us. “Give them some oomph.”
“Oomph?” Parisi wrinkled her nose. “I do not know this oomph. Is it a spell?”
“It means you’re going to have to use your power to help,” I told her, eyeing the black water. I really didn’t relish going in there and possibly freezing this fabulous form, but I couldn’t leave my dad down there. Not only were the vamps counting on him to deal with their big, bad, but he was my dad. It would be nice to have more family than just Aisling, Drake, and the spawns.
“Then let us proceed and relieve the poor sufferer from his torment,” Parisi said with a lift of her chin as she marched into the water with a gesture toward me. “You do not wear the wet suit?”
“Naw, I’m a Newfie. I gots me a waterproof undercoat.”
“Very well, then,” she said with a nod. “Come along, demon Jim!”
“Aye aye, mon capitaine,” I said, giving her a jaunty salute that she completely missed. Sally saw it, though, and smiled as she snapped two flares to mix the chemicals inside them, then tossed them into the water as I dove in.
This time, we stayed close to the surface, where none of the dead sinners could grab at us. It wasn’t until we hit that freezing cold corner that we dove down into a darkness that seemed to be made up of dense, dark nothingness. Cold nothingness.
I ignored the burning of my ears and toes as the cold immediately seeped into them, and focused on helping Parisi as she approached the man around whom there still remained tattered bits of the black shroud. He twisted around as we approached, his legs kicking wildly.
Dimly, in the distance, I heard some sort of an air horn sound; then the top of the water was lit up like someone was letting off fireworks right above the surface.
That’ll get the boggarts’ attention, I mused as Parisi deftly avoided being kicked or captured by Desi’s wild legs, and sank down to the bottom, where she started to cut at the manacles.
She kicked around a couple of times, which I assumed was her getting her oomph on, and by the dim light of my headlamp, I saw one of the shackles drop. The instant it fell free, Desi grabbed Parisi by the front of her wet suit. I dove toward him, knocking his hand away and baring my teeth, but before I could do more, the black shapes were on us again.
Sally’s distraction clearly failed, but the two attacking boggarts didn’t last long. I bit one hard on the arm, spitting out the nasty blackish-green blood that filled my mouth. Parisi dual-wielded her beheading axes and put them to use. She stared at Desi, who was struggling to release his still-bound hand, but the booming noise we’d heard before—which Sally had said was an ancient alarm system intended on drawing more guards to the area—was making the water reverberate, so we swam upward again.
We were attacked three more times as we made our way to the edge of the lake, brilliant flashes of flame momentarily lighting up the entire area, making the surface of the water dance with its reflected glow.
Parisi beheaded the last boggart that had followed us, leaving us to drag our half-frozen selves out of the water.
Sally stood with one hand on her hip, surrounded by a pile of blackened and burned boggarts.
“We must leave now! Effrijim!” Sally said, slipping the flamethrower’s strap across her chest.
“I know, I know. Mabel takes Parisi out, and you zap me back to the Akasha. Please tell Ash not to wait so long this time. It’s cold with wet fur.”
Fifteen minutes later, I was snuggled up with the same electric blanket, and another bowl of boring broth in front of me. “At least it’s hot,” I said as I sipped at it, wondering if my toes would ever be the same.
FOURTEEN
Parisi
The dragons were having a discussion. It was useless, but I’ve ever believed in allowing people to make their own choices, whether for good or ill, without input from me unless I was specifically asked.
The dragons did not ask.
“We need to get Parisi and Jim some protection while Parisi is undoing Desi’s shackles,” the one named Aisling said, looking to the other dragons present for agreement.
“I don’t know how we can pull that off,” May, mate of the silver wyvern, said with a look of doubt toward Jim. “Sally, can you banish Gabriel and me to the Akasha like you do Jim?”
