I took one look at the blackened-hand imprint on my shoulder, larger and more prominent than ever. The thing looked like a tattoo, only it now seemed to twist and turn as if trying to dance across the surface of my skin.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit,” I cursed, putting my shirt back on.
Jackie looked up to it. “Does this mean you’re still immortal, Mister Booth?”
“No!” I snapped at her, causing her to take a step back. Seeing her reaction, I winced and looked away, feeling ashamed. “I broke the spell. Jessica’s awakening is proof enough of that.”
“The Hand of Nyarlathotep is more than that,” Katryn said, almost resigned. “You have been marked by the attention of the God-Who-Walks. His presence will follow you no matter what.”
I couldn’t help but feel the pangs of fear. Nyarlathotep was a god; no other word could properly describe the extra-dimensional thing I’d summoned. I’d stupidly thought I could use the Necronomicon to make him obey my commands, but instead I’d become a source of amusement to the twisted deity. I wanted to take a knife and cut the offending mark off my body, to cast the excess skin into a fire and watch it burn. I could feel the magic burned my skin now and imagined the mark’s sorcerous energies leaking into my blood, slowly transforming me into something horrible. “Does this mean I’m doomed to become a monster? To go insane? To die screaming? What?”
Katryn looked down, speaking softer than I expected. “I don’t know, John. The last person who bore the Hand of Nyarlathotep disappeared centuries ago. I only know of it from hearing the holy diaries of Wilbur Whateley. One can never say the final fate of those who have attracted the attention of the gods, sometimes it is glorious and sometimes it is horrible beyond imagination.”
“Can’t you guess?” I confess, as rebuttals went, it wasn’t my finest.
“The mark has been reinforced. It is now many times more powerful than it was before. You have been touched by the Trickster directly. I …” Katryn trailed off, which spoke volumes about the situation. She wasn’t the sort of woman to shy away from uncomfortable truths.
“Go on, please.” I felt my head, feeling helpless before the curse afflicting me.
Katryn didn’t respond for several seconds. “Without someone to draw the breath of life from, the Hand of Nyarlathotep will in all likelihood turn in on itself.”
“You mean, it’s going to kill me.” I dropped my hands to my side. It made sense in a twisted sort of way: I’d summoned Nyarlathotep and he’d repaid me for my hubris by condemning me to a slow death by the same method I’d had my life extended.
“In all likelihood, yes.” Katryn’s words were meant to sound clinical and detached but she couldn’t keep the emotion out of her voice; it was a deep and welling sadness. I felt flattered she felt so much for me. “You may have a few years but more likely nine months to a year. Eventually, the Hand will drain away your life as it did Jessica’s. Then you will die.”
My shoulder stung, which only made the horror I felt all the worse. “Is there anything to be done?”
I was acutely aware of Jackie’s presence at my side. It was staggeringly unfair the little girl was being orphaned again, on the same day she’d lost her first adoptive father no less. I was prepared for death; I’d made peace with the fact I was going to die fighting the Great Old Ones long ago. It wasn’t right or fair for a little girl to suffer through that, however.
Katryn’s prognosis wasn’t good. “The Hand of Nyarlathotep earlier laid upon you by the Necromancer is one thing, but I can tell this one has been done by the Trickster himself. I cannot think of anything mortal which could undo it.”
Honestly, we didn’t know for sure that Ward had placed the Hand of Nyarlathotep on me and Jessica. However, who else could it be? Richard certainly couldn’t have done it, such magic was beyond him. However, it was a moot point now. My own stupidity was to blame for transforming the mark from a threat to Jessica’s life into a death sentence for me.
“I see.” There was little more to say.
Jackie tugged on my pants leg. “Mister Booth?”
I looked down at her, realizing I was scaring the child. “I’m sorry, Jackie. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’ll be fine.”
Jackie furrowed her brow. “Mister Booth, you’re a horrible liar.”
I burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all then gave her a pained smile. “I won’t lie to you, Jackie. This is very frightening, even for me. However, I will face whatever threat comes with dignity and courage. I will not go quietly into the night but shake a fist towards heaven until the very end.”
I resolved to find some way to survive for Jackie’s sake more than my own. It was a foolish thing to do, one could not simply will oneself to live longer, but I would not roll over and die either.
Katryn placed her palm on my shirt where the hand was. “I believe if there is any being who is capable of defying the will of the Other Gods, John, it is you.”
I knew Katryn was lying, she was just better at it than me. The Dunwych believed very strongly the will of the gods was immutable, that they existed in every moment simultaneously. If Nyarlathotep had condemned me to death, it was impossible for me to defy him in her mind. Worse, it was blasphemy to do so. Thankfully, I wasn’t Dunwych. I didn’t know how I would defy the will of the Great Old Ones but I’d try.
“He’s lucky I’ve got other things to do right now. Otherwise, I’d be summoning him right now to beat him within an inch of his life for this.” It was an empty boast. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to fight a being like Nyarlathotep, but it sure as hell felt good to say.
“I’d help!” Jackie piped in.
Katryn actually gave a half-smile, a rarer thing than me doing it. “I half-believe you could.”
I was tempted to tell Katryn about Nyarlathotep’s prophecy, his statement that humanity had less than three generations to live, but I hesitated. I didn’t have enough information regarding it yet. He might have meant humanity had less than sixty years left to exist or he could have been speaking in terms of three human lifetimes. Either interpretation was unacceptable to me.
Instead, I reached over and kissed Katryn again, our bodies pressing against one another as her hand pushed down hard on my scar. The wound burned when it was touched, still aching from where the nightgaunt had pierced me. There was no affection there, no love, but I could pretend for the sake of keeping an ally. “Thank you for that, a little support goes a long way. We’ve already lost a lot of time, however. We need to prepare.”
“For curing you?” Jackie asked.
“No, Jackie, for rescuing Mercury. Don’t worry about my condition.”
“Sir …”
“Don’t.”
“It is a treacherous path you walk, John.” Katryn pulled away, turning to look out the door with a longing look on her face. “I also realize how well you played me. Together we will retrieve Mercury and avenge any indignities she may have suffered. Then I will offer up Peter’s heart to Shub-Niggurath. From there, we will go on to kill the Necromancer and spread his entrails on a tree consecrated to Yig-Seth.”
“Good,” Jackie said, gritting her teeth.
“Don’t mind Katryn, the Dunwych just have a very visual way of expressing their displeasure.” I heard my stomach growl. “Let’s go get something to eat first.”
Jackie nodded. “Sounds good. You’re pretty stoic about this whole dying thing.”
“I’m not dead yet and where there’s life, there’s hope,” I said.
“That’s what I said.” Jackie looked up, cheerfully. “You promise you’re not going to die?”
“I promise.” For a moment, I was able to forget all about the various evils assailing my life. “Katryn, I’ll need your help planning the assault on Peter in about two hours.”
“With pleasure, John.” Katryn bowed her head reverently. “What will you be doing in the meantime?”
“After I eat? Burying Richard’s body,” I said. “Just because we must always struggle for life doesn’t mean we can’t take time to honor the dead.”
“Can we visit my Da’s grave too?” Jackie said. “I never got a chance to say goodbye.”
“Of course.” I didn’t tell her my promise not to die was a lie. The Necromancer’s power was unbelievable and even if I did rescue Mercury, I had no idea how to stop Ward.
But I would.
And I would make it painful.