《Rest Stops Between Here and Hell》


 April 5, 2018

    l nine feet is," Rian protested. "Is that like... two cars?"


    "You know what, close enough," Liesel said.


    "This one?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    "Okay, so two ¡®96 Corollas tall," Rian said. He could be very precise that way. "Big black robes. That''s all you''ve got for me?"


    Liesel''s eyes flashed up to the rearview mirror where she could see Breath of Thanatos sitting in the backseat. He was tall enough that his berobed knees covered up where a normal person''s chin would be. But since Breath was neither normal nor a person, it just left what she supposed was his neck out of view, vanishing into the car roof.


    "His head is sort of shaped like a shovel. Like a narrow spade. And it''s... black."


    "Just sheer black? No hood, no glowing eyes?"


    "Just black."


    "Dark grey? Maybe with a warm or cool tint?"


    "Black."


    "Okay, okay, black. Geeze. Maybe you should draw him for me," Rian suggested.


    Liesel gave Rian a sideways glance. "You''ve seen my sketches."


    Rian''s nose wrinkled up. "It looked like a dick. And you left it on my desk.¡±


    "Your mom¡¯s gonna fuckin¡¯ kill me."


    Rian shrugged. "You''re gonna be dead anyways."


    That was a pretty hard point to argue with.


    The Mojave Desert flew past on either side. Liesel was actually going the speed limit. Nevada police loved to pick up tickets from anyone foolish enough to think they were alone in this forsaken stretch of earth.


    Night was setting in. She could see a small dusting of stars where the sky was darkest above them. The desert was turning into silhouettes of cacti and joshua trees and far-off mountains, tinged with the faintest golden beige. Anyone driving from LA to Vegas could see that.


    Liesel could see so much more.


    As stars twinkled into existence, so did sets of eyes. They glowed from behind brush and boulders, slithering through the sand around them. Just when Liesel''s headlights should have fallen on their owners, they blinked out of existence.


    Between the stars fluttered bats. Gliding between the bats were other creatures, just barely darker than the sky. Some were hunched, others bent. They dripped and sagged and twisted mid-air, minding their own business same as the bats did. In the road, on the side of the road, far off in the distance, there were figures. Pale grey, faintly glowing. Wailing, screaming, moaning, drifting. Ghosts who had died here and there. One got shot as Liesel drove past. Someone else was crushed by something--possibly a carriage that belonged to centuries long faded away. Another was struck by lightning, one by a flash flood. One, dying of dehydration, fell to her knees in front of the car, her blank-slate eyes stared deep into Liesel''s. She vanished as soon as the grill hit her in the chest.


    And of course, curled up in the backseat was Breath, impossibly tall, impenetrably dark, unbreathing and definitely not living.


    "I wish I could see," Rian pouted, as if he knew Liesel¡¯s attention had suddenly turned to other realms. "I wanna know what they look like."


    Another creature, even taller than Breath, had stilt-thin legs and arms, with wide hands and thin fingers. His face turned to watch the Toyota trundle past. There was nothing inherently threatening about him--no claws or fangs or eyes like voids. But there was a wrongness about him that, even after all these years, left Liesel actively fighting her heart''s impulse to race. So tall, so thin, always staring.


    "Count your blessings, kid," Liesel muttered, slowing as she reached the beginning of traffic ready to enter Las Vegas. "None of this was ever meant to be seen."


    "I guess." Rian looked over his shoulder again, as though thinking that Breath might magically become visible to him.


    "Why does he believe you?" Breath asked.


    His voice was deep, but muffled. It was like it wasn''t coming from inside the car, but being transmitted from far, far away.


    "Hey Rian, tell Breath why you don''t think I''m fucking insane."


    Rian looked politely at where he assumed Breath''s not-a-face was. "Aunt Li got rid of that thing in my room.¡±


    Breath was displeased¨CLiesel could feel it. His fingers, folded so neatly over his chest, gave the slightest twitch in her rear-view mirror.


    "Most mortals can sense even what they cannot see," Breath said. ¡°Most mortals know to leave what they cannot see alone.¡±


    "Why do you think we''re all so damn scared of the dark?" Liesel said ignoring the light chastizement. The lights of Las Vegas were visible now. She could see the Luxor''s light beaming into the sky, fading out the stars.


    Rian faced forward again in his seat, adjusting the flat-brimmed ball cap he always wore, flatting the bushy perm that topped his head. "When you said that fae thing was in my room, I could tell where," he said. "I couldn''t see it or anything, but I didn''t want to walk right there, you know? I never even noticed until you pointed it out. I never walk in that corner."


    "That wasn''t fae," Breath said.


    "Yeah, no. That was a wraith," Liesel said. "Not fae. Don¡¯t get it confused, you¡¯ll piss off both Sovereigns."


    ¡°Sovereigns wouldn¡¯t bother with the boy,¡± Breath said, almost with disgust. ¡°You know better than that, Liesel.¡±


    "Wraith, right. Realm of Shadow," Rian said, correcting himself quickly. "I tried to draw it like you described." He bent down to rummage in the glovebox--which he had claimed for his own as soon as the trip had started--and pulled out a small and battered sketchbook. A collection of energy drink cans, crumpled flat, cascaded into his feet. He flipped on the light, immediately making it that much harder for Liesel to see out the dust-coated and bug-spattered window. She glanced at the page.


    Breath shifted in the backseat. "It''s not so solid to mortal eyes," he said. "More like strips of grey that fade away at the wraith''s feet."


    "Wraiths don''t have feet," Liesel protested.


    "I didn''t draw feet," Rian said, brow furrowed.


    "Breath," Liesel reminded him. "Looks good, kid. Breath says it''s more like cloth. Like strips, y''know? But gray. See through."


    "Warm gray or cool gray?"


    "Gray." Liesel reached up to turn off the light so that she could avoid rear-ending the Chevy cruising in front of them.


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    "Okay, okay."


    They drove in silence for a little longer. Liesel appreciated that Rian didn''t have to fill the quiet with noise. He liked conversation but didn''t require it. That worked out fine for her. Liesel didn¡¯t remember that much about being fourteen, so maybe that was normal for kids his age.


    Breath didn''t like that Rian had come. Liesel didn''t know if he thought it was irresponsible to bring a minor along--which it certainly was--or that he just didn''t like the extra company.


    "Why bring him?" Breath had asked in that deep but tinny voice, just a few days before they set out.


    "He needs out of his mother''s house for a while," Liesel said gruffly. She didn''t bring up the scrapes and bruises. Breath would have seen those too. They weren¡¯t the kind you get from running into a door¡ªthese were on the insides of his arms and legs, small and hidden.


    "Rian''s mother is less dangerous than the life you lead," Breath said.


    "He can''t even see the realms," Liesel protested. "He can''t get into that much trouble. And if something happens to me prematurely, he knows how to get home. The kid¡¯s flown himself to his dad''s since he was about five."


    "What do we stand to gain from Rian''s presence?" Breath asked.


    Liesel had looked down into her drink. It was a murky mix of brown and clear liqours that tasted kind of like a demon¡¯s asshole, but a little more hot if you could believe it.


    "Maybe some human company before I die. I haven''t had much of that, you know. Not to cheapen my friendship with you."


    Breath didn''t answer, but Liesel was fairly confident that she hadn''t hurt his feelings.


    ¡°Mostly in case it, you know. Takes too long.¡±


    ¡°You could simply write it down,¡± Breath said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the same.¡±


    ¡°You are not Rick.¡±


    Liesel wasn¡¯t so sure about that.


    As she drove through the mountains surrounding Las Vegas, Liesel wasn''t quite so sure anything.


    From here, the city almost looked normal. As normal as Vegas could be. Suburbs glowed yellow in their neatly planned grids, dipping into darker splotches where the poorer areas stood. Then there was the Strip, like a neon scar crowning the city-filled valley. Dark mountains surrounded it on either side like a bowl, as though it could contain the famed debauchery and gambling.


    Liesel used to wonder why an oasis of tackiness and artificial luxury had ever been set up in the middle of a desert. Something to do with the Hoover Dam, maybe. But then, why throw a massive dam in a place like Boulder City?


    Well, historians had their answer. Liesel had hers. This little basin was one of the places where the Realm of Dream most securely touched the mortal world. Mare, the Sovereign, probably hadn''t intended on this being the result. But mortals had a funny way of perceiving the unseen, and Las Vegas was the result of that.


    Hopes, dreams, chance, nightmares. Las Vegas had become all that Mare''s realm represented. If it had Titania and the Realm of Fae who touched this place, humans would have reverently and fearfully erected some sort of monument, some sort of Stonehenge. If Thanatos and Death, more a pyramid. Sassanid and mirror, empty vastness.


    But this place belonged to dreams. It belonged to the night, and mortals belonged to it.


    And perhaps most importantly, Mare had inflicted upon this place his love of good drink and pharmaceuticals. And a good drink was exactly what Liesel needed.


    "Are we gonna stay in a casino?" Rian asked as they descended into the suburbs.


    "No reservation, not much cash. I think not."


    "Darn. But we''ll be on the Strip, right?"


    "There''s a Motel 6 we can try," Liesel said.


    "Aesthetic," Rian said, approvingly. ¡°Really roadtrip-core.¡±


    Liesel didn¡¯t know how to even begin interpreting that.


    "Hey, does Breath sleep?" Rian asked.


    "Not that I''ve ever seen."


    "I do not," came the voice from the backseat that only Liesel could hear.


    "He does not."


    "Cool. He can, like, keep watch in the night.¡±


    As they drove down the Strip, Rian moved around to peer out every window possible. His grin and delighted exclamations left Liesel feeling less crusty than usual. Even the dim flickering of the Motel 6 sign didn''t put a damper on his mood.


    "Room for two," Liesel said. She tried to look a little older than she was. Maybe a little less frazzled, and a little more like she was ready to enjoy a cool vacation with her son. Rian was doing his best annoying-fourteen-year-old impression, which mostly consisted of complaining that his mom didn''t let him drink Red Bull like his dad did. Liesel wasn''t entirely sure if he was acting or if he was actually just complaining.


    "$57 for two doubles," said the man behind the counter. He had looked nothing but bored when they walked in. Now there was something nervous to his actions, the whites of his eyes just barely widened. That was the usual reaction when Breath was present in a room, looming unseen in a corner.


    The total ended up being $64.61 with taxes and fees. Liesel only had about nine months to spend money, but parting with any amount over twenty bucks cut deep into whatever constituted as her soul.


    In the room, Rian began pulling out a computer and a tangle of cords from his backpack.


    "What the hell is all that?" Liesel asked.


    "My laptop. Duh. What else am I gonna do in here?" Rian asked. "Oh, geeze, the wifi sucks. Do they have an ethernet port?"


    Liesel stared for a moment. "Whatever. Breath, keep an eye on Rian. I''m going out for a drink."


    ¡°I am not a baby sitter,¡± Breath protested. ¡°I am a Vassal.¡±


    "Wait, you''re gonna do tourist crap?" Rian asked.


    "No. I''m going out for a drink. Don''t leave this room." Liesel let the door cut Rian''s complaint short.


    Liesel went into the lobby.


    "Closest liquor store?¡±


    The man didn''t even judge Liesel for her apparent bad parenting skills. "7/11 down the road."


    "Walkable?"


    "Don''t advise it."


    "Crosswalk?" she asked.


    "Just kinda dark out, you know."


    "Alright, thanks." Liesel headed out the door.


    It was just cool enough that she wanted a shirt with sleeves, or pants. The cool desert night might have been relaxing if it weren''t filled with neon and cars. She walked briskly towards the bright lights of the convenience store.


    Maybe if she''d grown up like a normal girl, Liesel would have been scared. Maybe she should have been. Just because she had survived creatures a dozen times more dangerous than a human didn''t mean humans were any less dangerous. But Liesel just couldn''t bring herself to be scared. She''d suppressed fear for too many years.


    And facing an inescapable death put perspective on things.


    Liesel left with whiskey and a box of rollers, but realized she didn¡¯t want to drink in the hotel room, in front of Rian. So she drank straight from the bottle, straight from the brown bag, like a goddamn cartoon.


    And she wandered.


    Ghosts, ghosts, ghosts. Endless ghosts. They were the most boring thing to run into, and the thing you saw the most. A snapshot of moments before a death too early, something that happened a lot. Thanatos was a lazy motherfucker. Liesel had gotten good at tuning them out, looking straight through each traumatizing diarama until they became white noise for her eyes.


    Cities weren¡¯t like nature. They had different creatures, little spirits twisted up and spat out by an unbelieving humanity. They scrabbled in shadows like pests, clung to walls like vermin. Most didn¡¯t have a mind enough to know what Liesel was saying if she said that out loud.


    Other things would take great offense. Many would kill her for it. Others enslave her, some turn her into something like themselves. There were a thousand hidden dangers surrounding her, surrounding everyone, at every moment. And humans, big fucking clonky humans, took fat shits on the rules every single day.


    That¡¯s why Liesel was here, at least for as long as she had been. To stand before a Sovereign, like a lawyer, defending the knuckledragger mortals of the world who didn¡¯t learn from their fairy tales that it¡¯s a bad fucking idea to sit in a fairy circle or do a seance.


    Liesel stumbled into a bar where a woman in a black bikini top took her ID and gave her a beer.


    There was a band setting up in the corner. They didn''t look too worried about hurrying up. The jukebox was doing just fine for the three patrons inside. The drummer had jet-black eyes.


    "Wanna open a tab?" the bartender asked.


    "No thanks." Liesel passed over a few bills. "Rest is tip."


    "Thanks, hon."


    Liesel watched the band set up. The drummer paused to look up and smile, flashing sharp teeth. They all curved outward. He had no lips to contain them, only a thin tongue that flickered out like a hummingbird trying to escape an ivory flower.


    "How much longer?" the drummer called across the room to her.


    "You know her?" asked one of his band members quietly.


    Liesel wobbled the beer bottle back and forth.


    "Give or take¡­. nine months." Her voice was steady. That was good.


    "So sorry, Champ," the drummer said.


    Liesel chuckled. It sounded like an innocuous pet name. Little did the humans present know.


    "Good place to spend it, though," the drummer said. "I like this town."


    "Not staying long," Liesel said. "Got too much to do."


    "Shouldn''t have procrastinated," the drummer said. He shook his head. A drop of blood slid out the corner of his mouth from where a tooth caught the edge of his cheek. He wiped it away carelessly. The other band members didn''t notice. "You''ll never train someone in nine months. Hell, good luck finding someone in nine months."


    Liesel went back to her drink.

 Spring 2007

    The radio was turned down so low Liesel could barely make out what Rick called the ¡°angel vocals¡± of Carrie Underwood. The morning outside the car was foggy, everything obscured in a veil of grey.


    Almost everything. Not glowing eyes, of course. They existed purely to pierce the mist.


    Liesel rolled her head to the side. "Patrick?"


    "No."


    She propped her elbow on the door, chewing a thumbnail as she stared out the front windshield.


    Liesel had been able to See for two years. Rick had known about her for two weeks. Liesel still didn''t know Rick''s full name.


    That was probably a good reason to not get in his car, but he had been the first person to see the same things that Liesel could. He''d been watching Mouth in a window reflection, speaking softly to the woman Liesel had been trying so hard to avoid over the past year.


    In fact, Mouth was there right now, hiding anything on the road behind them by taking up residence in the rearview mirror.


    Mouth of Sassnid, Vassal to the Sovereign of the Realm of Mirror. It was a lengthy, dignified title for a bitch who looked like a transgression on reality. She was pale, the sallow kind of pale that suggested terminal illness. She had greasy strings of black hair that fell to waif-thin shoulders, framing a neck that was stretched out longer than any human.


    The worst bits were above the neck. Mouth''s face was cut off at the nose. This lower half of her face was glitched several inches to the side, as though someone had taken everything from her cheekbone down and shoved it until her left jaw sat where a set of lips ought to be. Sometimes, the glitch swapped sides, the lower half of her face blinking into existence on the left and right at random.


    She was horrifying to look at, but Mouth couldn''t hurt her. Liesel had learned that most of the things she could see couldn''t hurt her, so long as she followed the rules that Rick set out for her.


    "Kendrick? Erick?" Liesel suggested.


    Rick flipped off the radio when the song changed to something pop-y. Liesel didn¡¯t recognize the new male singer. "No."


    Both of them went back to looking out the front window.


    "So similar," Mouth said. Her mouth, ironically, never moved. "So different. But twins."


    "Eh?" Rick''s eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror for just a moment.


    "Steel eyes. Set lips. Hard souls. One grey with a beard, pale and weary. One tan and slim, fresh and cold."


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    "What¡¯d I say about the fuckin¡¯ riddles, woman," Rick said. He jerked the turn signal into place and pulled onto the exit ramp.


    "She''s ready," Mouth said.


    "I''ve only known Rick two weeks," Liesel said. She didn¡¯t want his job. Not now, and maybe never.


    "You survived many years on your own. What more can Rick teach you that you cannot teach yourself?" Mouth asked.


    "That''s not how this works, dammit," Rick said. Liesel liked the way he tacked the dammit onto the end of his sentences.


    Mouth''s thin little shoulders shrugged in the mirror, her mouth glitching violently into place before sliding away again. "There are no rules."


    "She¡¯s got a lot to learn," Rick insisted. He turned into the parking lot of a McDonald''s. Liesel''s stomach turned at the thought of yet another hamburger. Maybe she''d try chicken nuggets, even if they didn''t seem like real chicken to her. "She hasn''t even been in America that long. Can¡¯t go back to fucking Dutch-land. Got a lot to learn."


    "Why not?" Liesel interrupted. The way he¡¯d said Deutschland almost made her giggle.


    "Titania," Rick reminded her gruffly. Everything about him was gruff. Rick''s idea of refinement was saying "on the rocks" when ordering his whiskey or trimming his beard a few times a week.


    She liked Rick.


    She didn¡¯t know if she liked his rules.


    "Titania likes me," she said uncertainly.


    "Not a matter of like," Rick said. "You''re lucky to be alive, alright? I¡¯ll explain later.¡±


    Liesel wondered if Rick cared that she was alive, or if he just didn''t want his retirement plan dying on him.


    "Titania wanted this one," Mouth said. ¡°Making her Champion now, it would protect her. Are you going to¨C¡± There were violent cracking sounds, like glass being shattered with a bat. Mouth¡¯s face darkened, eyes glowing, before returning to normal. ¡°-leave her unprotected?¡±


    Liesel looked at Rick with concern. She didn¡¯t like the sound of being unprotected.


    Rick didn''t look at Liesel, but he mouthed words anyways. She watched his lips, sounding out the familiar phrase.


    Do not feel fear.


    If she could not feel fear, she would be safe. Liesel knew that. Somehow, she had known when she found that thing playing with her toys. When she first woke up with Eyes of Titania watching at the foot of her bed. When she''d seen Breath of Thanatos in the corner of her room. Liesel had always known.


    Do not feel fear.


    Liesel got out of the car and walked into the McDonald''s. "Should I be afraid of what chicken nuggets are made of?" she asked.


    Rick scratched his chin as he walked in after her, eyes chuckling where his mouth didn¡¯t. He was a bear of a man. She wondered if anyone thought he was her father, even though he was white and she was tiny.


    "Y''know, that''s probably smart to be afraid of," he admitted, reaching over Liesel''s head to push the door open.


    Deep down, Liesel wanted to be much more scared of the creature hanging on the ceiling, built skeleton-thin with a head that faced the floor even though its knees and chest faced the vents it clung to. She wanted to let in the shock of fear that she should have felt watching a ghost back into an invisible wall, its stomach being ripped open by an unknown, long-dead assailant. She wanted to shrivel up and grab Rick¡¯s hand and never See again.


    She fought back a shiver and ordered chicken nuggets.

 April 12, 2018

    Liesel didn''t quite wake up with a hangover. But she was surly, vaguely aware of an angry buzz in the base of her skull, and watching Eyes vanish from the foot of her bed with the last rays of sun, which always made for an unpleasant evening.


    She kicked off one of the covers that had wrapped itself around her thigh in the sticky heat of the room.


    "Rian," she said, voice croaking. "The fucking AC."


    "Mphm." Rian''s muffled voice came from deep inside a pillow and a thick duvet. It was quite possible he was half-dead from heat, Liesel decided.


    She swung her legs out of the bed and hiked her tank-top to her ribs to try and get some air moving around her torso. Discovering the AC was already set to on, and cranked as high as it could go, did not improve her mood. She sat at the edge of the bed for a few moments, staring at the popcorn ceiling as the night set in, bringing cooler temperatures with it. After mentally resigning herself to the night¡¯s tasks, she made her way to the dingy bathroom and flicked on the dim yellow light.


    Liesel looked like hell. Her skin had gone from deeply tanned to a sallow brown. Her black curls, which she¡¯d always cut herself, were tangled in a big shaggy triangle around her face. Liesel didn''t remember the last time she''d worn anything but grungy tanktops, Rick¡¯s old flannels, and cutoffs. And until she thought about it, she hadn''t been certain the phrase "skincare routine" was in her vocabulary.


    Did it matter? It wasn''t like she''d live old enough to get wrinkles.


    No wonder her sister had slammed the door in her face in LA. Liesel dragged her fingers through her hair and tied it back, then washed her face with the provided bar of soap. It left her skin feeling tight, stretched thin across her skull


    Still looked like shit, but clean enough shit, so that was something. Liesel left the bathroom to hurl a pillow at Rian.


    "Wake up."


    "Mphhhmmm," he mumbled in protest. But he pushed free the bedding and rolled onto his back, so it was a start.


    Breath was standing in the corner, as he usually did. There was something comforting in his near omnipresence.


    "Did I do anything stupid?" she asked.


    Breath''s head nodded gravely. He had no features to show expressions, but Liesel could read him just as well as any other person.


    "Damn. Did it involve that guy from the bar?"


    "Did you hook up last night?" Rian asked in a sleepy yet slightly horrified voice.


    "I thought you were asleep." Liesel cringed internally at the thought of her lips nearing the creature with the outwardly-curved teeth.


    "It''s a terrible idea," Breath said. ¡°You¡¯ve promised now. Sworn.¡±


    "It''s not that terrible," she countered.


    "What isn''t?" Rian sat up, yawning. He was dressed in only boxers and a t-shirt with the name of some sport team Liesel didn''t recognize, and his hair was licked up on one side, spiky and disheveled. He got his mother¡¯s Desi hair, but the rest of him was his father¡¯s, whoever that was.


    "Get in the car." Liesel zipped her suitcase shut.


    "I''m not even dressed," Rian protested, wiping sleep from his eyes.


    "Figure it the fuck out."


    Grumbling to himself, Rian gathered himself up and trailed after Liesel, who already finagling both their suitcases through the door. Behind Rian was Breath, hands clasped far lower on his body than looked anatomically correct. Maybe where his knees should have been, if he had them.


    "Have a nice day," said a new attendant, this one a fresh and smiling lady with bright red lipstick and thick mascara.


    "Thanks," Rian said, knowing Liesel wasn''t going to reply.


    Liesel unlocked the car and threw her bags into the back.


    "You should consider your course of action more carefully," Breath said. "Who knows what Realm that man was from. His information could be very faulty."


    "He''s Fae. Fae can''t lie," Liesel said, getting into the driver''s seat. ¡°And Nails already said he accepted.¡±


    "If he''s from the Dream realm, he most likely speaks in nothing but lies," Breath said.


    "Fae. That''s Titania''s, right? The scary ones?" Rian pulled on his seatbelt. ¡°Who¡¯s Nails?¡±


    "They''re all scary," Liesel said. "But for the love of all things fucked, don''t act scared."


    "Number one rule, I know," Rian said. "Who¡¯s Nails?"


    "Vassal of the Unnamed Sovereign of the Realm of Shadows." Liesel started the car and made her way into the Vegas traffic.


    "Put on your seatbelt," Rian said.


    Liesel grabbed hers and clicked it into place.


    ¡°Why¡¯s he unnamed?¡± Rian said.


    ¡°Shadows. Secrets. Mysteries,¡± Liesel said.


    ¡°Unnamed Sovereign of the Realm of Shadows,¡± Rian repeated. ¡°Shadow Realm. If you change it to Unnamed Sovereign of the Shadow Realm we could call him the USSR.¡±


    Liesel gave Rian a long side glance.


    ¡°It¡¯s shorter,¡± he said defensively.


    ¡°Respect, kid. Rule number two. Be very, very respectful.¡±


    ¡°If he was being respectful of my time he¡¯d have a nickname.¡±


    Breath gave a tinny chuckle. Liesel wondered if she¡¯d ever heard that from him before.


    [///]


    ¡°Get out the phone,¡± Liesel said. ¡°I need your maps.¡±


    She never used technology, and never had. It upset too many of the creatures she needed to interact it. Even now, Breath took his leave, going off to do whatever he filled the time with when he wasn¡¯t around Liesel.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Rian pulled out his phone, tapping away at the screen to unlock it.


    ¡°Home Depot. Lowes. Something like that.¡±


    ¡°What are we getting?¡±


    ¡°Tools.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡±


    Rian lifted the phone so Liesel could follow the little blue dot down the road.


    In truth, Liesel wasn¡¯t sure how much to involve him. Enough that he could, perhaps, give pointers to the next Champion in Liesel¡¯s stead. Not so much that he was needlessly endangered. Not so much that he had to do or even see some of the things Liesel had to do. He was just a kid.


    Two years older than Liesel had been, when Rick found her.


    Just a kid.


    ¡°How do you feel about cultural appropriation?" Liesel asked him.


    Rian looked up at her, puzzled.


    "Cultural appropriation?"


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ bad?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°I mean, Mom didn¡¯t really teach me anything about, you know, our culture or whatever, so I guess it feels kind of weird when I see someone else enjoying Indian stuff who isn¡¯t even Indian and I¡¯m like, where do I fit in that, you know?¡±


    "We''re stealing some Native American relics."


    ¡°Aunt Li, that phrase doesn¡¯t mean what you think it means. And also what the fuck.¡±


    "Oh.¡± Liesel turned into the parking lot, scanning for a good spot. ¡°Well, forget the cultural appropriation thing, then.¡±


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    ¡°Aunt Li, you¡¯re fucking lying to me, right?¡±


    ¡°Does Hanna let you swear?¡±


    ¡°Aunt Li, I¡¯m not fucking around.¡±


    "It''s for the greater good."


    Rian turned off the phone, pocketing it.


    ¡°Is this what Breath was talking about? Because he¡¯s right, it¡¯s a bad idea. It¡¯s probably illegal too. It¡¯s definitely illegal.¡± He paused. ¡°Is it illegal?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Breath said from the backseat. When Liesel glanced up at the rearview mirror, she saw a twisted version of Breath, a trick from Sassnid to make her friend even more nightmarish to behold. Liesel maintained eye contact long enough to prove she wasn¡¯t jumpy, then looked back to Rian.


    ¡°You gotta pull up your big boy britches.¡± Even as Liesel said it, she heard Rick¡¯s voice.


    "I''m not even wearing regular pants," Rian said. "You didn''t let me get dressed."


    "Stay put.¡±


    Quietly, Breath said, "This is a mistake, Liesel."


    She refused to look in the mirror.


    #


    A string of curse words echoed off the rusty-hued rocks, settling into the ears of her nephew below.


    "You okay, Aunt Li?"


    "Shut up, kid." Liesel gripped the wall of rock that was sucking all the human heat from her fingertips. She spread her feet on the ladder to brace them on either side. "Did I-"


    "Yeah, you dropped the chisel."


    "Son of a-" Liesel bit off the rest of the phrase. "Breath, can you pass it up."


    "I don''t approve of what you''re doing."


    Liesel shot him a look over her shoulder. "Can you physically pick up a chisel and hand it to me?"


    "I will not."


    Liesel sighed, pressing her forehead to the rock in front of her.


    They were in the Valley of Fire state park. Rian was on the ground, ensuring no humans wandered into their definitely illegal activities. Liesel was standing on a ladder precariously balanced on a boulder. Breath was being condescending. And probably correct, but as he said, she¡¯d made her oath.


    The drive should have only been about an hour and a half from the Strip, but between having to go to a different hardware store for chisels, Liesel getting lost, and Rian insisting he put on pants, it was nearly midnight despite leaving the motel at a crisp 8 PM.


    Liesel had to finish before midnight.


    She went down the ladder, grabbed the chisel, and climbed back up. Bracing herself once more, Liesel leaned forward and struck the butt of the chisel with her hammer very lightly. A rain of reddish dust fell to the sagebrush below.


    For all the brusque bravado, Liesel felt terrible. There had been atrocities enough here without her adding to the long list of crimes. But what was one more wrongdoing on her list? A second execution?


    A tablet of rock fell off the cliffside. Liesel dropped the chisel and hammer to catch it before it turned into a pile of rubble at the foot of the ladder. She flipped it over in her hands, the rock far heavier than it should have been. A petroglyph was carved into the face, a symbol surviving centuries of weather and white people. It wasn''t recognizable as anything to her, but it didn''t matter what Liesel thought of it.


    Ignoring the guilt as easily as she ignored fear, Liesel climbed back down the ladder.


    "Let''s move," she growled.


    Rian dutifully grabbed the chisel and hammer, then grappled with the ladder as Liesel made her way to the car, wrapping the slab of rock in one of her own precious flannels.


    "Leave it."


    "Littering? C''mon, Aunt Li," Rian said. "And I bet Titania doesn''t like it either. Gifts or something. Fae doen''t like that, right?"


    Liesel stopped unlocking the car to look at Rian for a long moment.


    "...okay, but I''m taking these." He hefted the tools and ran towards the car, where Breath was already folded up in the backseat.


    Liesel opened the door to the driver''s seat, then walked around the front of the car.


    Rian paused where he stood, chisel and hammer still at his sides. "Uh."


    "Drive."


    "What?"


    "Drive. C¡¯mon, Hanna makes you drive, right?" Hanna was exactly like their mother, and their mother always made Hanna drive when she¡¯d had too much to drink.


    "...okay." Rian gingerly sat himself in the driver''s seat, throwing the tools into Breath''s lap where they fell through to the seat below. "Seatbelt."


    Liesel pulled hers on, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She didn''t want to discourage good habits.


    "Think you can get us going in a general easterly direction?"


    "Where are we going exactly?" Rian was already pulling out his phone.


    "Albuquerque," Liesel said. "New Mexico."


    Rian frowned. "That sounds kinda far away, Aunt Li."


    "Nine hours, if you go the straightest way," Liesel said absently.


    "I''m gonna need a Red Bull or something. It¡¯s, like, midnight.¡±


    ¡°Fuck. Just get us out of the park first. Fast as you can."


    "I''m not gonna speed," Rian warned. He pressed on the gas pedal and they lurched forward violently. "Not on purpose, at least," he added, brow furrowing in concentration.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re gonna fucking speed. Step on it.¡± She reached into the backseat, through Breath¡¯s knees, and dug around for a roll of something that looked like tin-foil.


    "Iron?" Breath asked.


    "I can''t promise it will work," Liesel said. "But it may help."


    "What may help?" Rian asked, slowing to five miles an hour as he took a turn.


    "Speed up, kid, I¡¯m not fucking around. Iron foil."


    "What does work mean?"


    "Buy us time." Liesel opened the glove compartment. "Got any Sharpies in here?"


    "It''s red."


    Liesel found it behind a stack of twinkies and charging cables. She nudged the glovebox closed with her knee and uncapped the Sharpie.


    "What are you writing?" Rian slowed again as he looked down.


    "Faster. I can tell when you slow down, fuckwad." He didn¡¯t deserve the abuse, but it was like Liesel was channeling Rick the more she let the stress rise in her chest.


    Rian grew quiet and focused on going as fast as he dared.


    Liesel glanced up from her writing to look at the clock in the car. Her heart jumped for a moment until she remembered it was seven minutes ahead.


    "She sleeps in sometimes, right?" Liesel said. She tossed the Sharpie back in the glovebox.


    "Queen Titania is as punctual as you are morally ambivalent," Breath replied. Liesel looked at him in the side mirror.


    "It¡¯s for the world."


    If Breath had eyes, they would be on the steel-covered slab in Liesel''s lap. It was growing heavier by the minute.


    "She''s waking up," was all Breath would say.


    "I know, I know," Liesel said. She wasn''t afraid. She didn''t sound afraid. She was just...


    What was she? There weren''t human names for it. After suppressing normal emotions, artificial ones rose up to fill the void. If she had to give this one a name, it would be semi-truck. Heavy but racing, always racing, ambiguous in destination, origin, and intent.


    "What''s going on? Exactly?" Rian asked again.


    "We stole something from Titania in her territory." Liesel adjusted uncomfortably in her seat. She was sitting on something. She lifted up, balancing the rock on her knees as she pulled one of Rian''s hats out from beneath her. Liesel shook it back into shape and reached over, setting it on top of Rian''s cowlick. ¡°And at midnight, in any given place, she reaches her maximum amount of power.¡±


    ¡°The invention of the clock was the death of her art,¡± Breath said mournfully.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s a fucking riddle,¡± Liesel said.


    They had two minutes. They were close. Rian was going as fast as Liesel would if she were driving.


    "This portion ends at the gate, doesn''t it?" Liesel asked. "Mortal boundaries aren''t too inaccurate most of the time."


    "I suppose we''ll find out," Breath said evenly.


    "Sometimes like you don''t even care if I die," Liesel said.


    Breath chuckled again. Twice in one day. He must be in a mood.


    They came up to the gate. One minute and thirty seconds left, roughly. Pale greyish-green brush flew past. Rian wasn''t a bad driver. Especially for someone inexperienced.


    One minute. Liesel found herself slouching over the rock. The smell of Sharpie wasn''t fading, even though the ink had dried. The petroglyph seemed to be sucking Liesel into itself, crushing her legs, slowing the car down¨Cit wanted to be back there as much as Titania wanted it back.


    Thirty seconds. They were going much faster than Liesel actually liked going around the curves. The semitruck inside her was tipping, one set of wheels just lifting off the ground in unbalanced chaos.


    Then Liesel sat back. If they''d not gotten far enough now, they''d know. There was nothing else to be done. The petroglpyh was cutting into Liesel¡¯s thighs and stomach, an almost unbearable weight, the edges sharp and biting.


    "Albuquerque, right?" Rian said. His voice was shaky.


    "No fear." Liesel''s voice was harsh. She softened it a little. "Yeah. Just keep going." She tapped the rock, iron foil sounding like a soprano thunder-roll under her fingernail.


    "What''s it say? Who''s it for? What... what is it?"


    It was so heavy. "The note is a bunch of fancy titles and greetings. It''s for¡­ USSR."


    "Oh, Liesel," Breath said. "This nearly went poorly. Bribing him will go poorly."


    "It''s not a bribe," Liesel said defensively. "You know that. It¡¯s a gift."


    Rian glanced at Liesel apprehensively. ¡°I don¡¯t really understand.¡±


    "We¡¯re flying blind, kid. Only one creature exists so comfortably in the dark.¡±


    "Who told you this was a good idea?" Rian asked


    Liesel looked at Rian sharply. "Who''s been doing this for longer than you''ve been in America?"


    "You, yeah, I know. It''s just... it sounds like Breath''s against it. And I''m kinda with him." Rian''s eyes didn''t leave the road. "I dunno, maybe the whole stealing-from-a-sacred-site thing has me on edge."


    Liesel wanted to push the rock off her lap and into the floor, but wasn¡¯t sure she even had the strength to do it. Her eyes watered pain from the pressure.


    "It''s your burden," Breath said, as though he could read her mind. Liesel looked at USSR¡¯s hastily scrawled title on the iron foil. It had pressed down into the pictogram beneath, leaving just a faint imprint in the iron. Liesel ran her fingers over it.


    "You''re living on the edge now, kid."


    On cue, the car rattled violently. They swerved into the rumble strips, Liesel¡¯s hands flying to brace herself and Rian¡¯s mouth opening but no scream coming out. He righted quickly righted them.


    ¡°What the fuck, what the fuck?!¡±


    ¡°Titania?¡± Liesel said uncertainly.


    Breath leaned forward, head coming out of the roof slightly, what would have been his chin hovering just over Liesel¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°What are you doing, Liesel?¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡± Rian asked, more insistently.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Liesel looked in the wing mirror. Something was behind them, but her eyes couldn¡¯t keep hold of it¨Cthey kept slipping off, like water meeting oil. ¡°Go faster. Go fucking faster.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s getting kind of nasty,¡± Rian said.


    The wind was rattling, and rain was spattering the filthy windows of the car. They were driving into a storm. Liesel felt a little relief settling over the semitruck inside her.


    ¡°Yeah, drive into that,¡± she said. ¡°When the headlights start going out, we¡¯re safe.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck does that mean.¡±


    ¡°Shadows. Dark,¡± Liesel said. The explanation clicked for Rian, and he fell silent again.


    In the wind, Liesel heard voices. They chanted a language she didn¡¯t understand, one she vaguely felt she wasn¡¯t supposed to hear. Water and oil. It left her mind feeling slippery, although maybe that was the effect of her lifestyle choices. She glanced in the wing mirror again, but whatever had been following them was gone. For the first time, Liesel wondered if not feeling fear was enough.