by Jen Ponce
“We had heard she was dead. Killed by her successor, Queen Nephele.”
I nodded, my eyes still half on Jack. They weren’t eating him, and he didn’t seem to be drowning—he hadn’t had gills that I’d seen, but he didn’t look scared or desperate. He looked … wide-eyed. Curious.
The fleshcrawler turned to follow my gaze. “Perhaps he is not prey. But you will be if you don’t leave.”
“My name is Devany,” I said, wondering if I could bond with this fleshcrawler, or at least make it not hate me. “I’m not Gaius. I’m imprisoned here by his design. Are you sure there’s no way I could get out? Could you help me?”
The fleshcrawler cut its forearm with a claw and held out the blood. “I am Cazsada. Drink and you will know me.”
I didn’t want to drink, damn it. I was so tired of being offered gross things in order to do more gross things. Couldn’t someone give me chocolate? I sucked, briefly, on Cazsada’s arm and then waited awkwardly a good minute before realizing he … she … it was waiting for me to offer my blood.
I didn’t have a claw, something that it looked at me funny for and then offered its claw to do the deed. I did. It sucked. Yay, we were blood siblings. And then, all at once, a series of gory scenes rippled through my head. Gaius killing fleshcrawlers. Gaius attacking their home with Ravana by his side. Gaius stealing their children, their young adults, their powers, their claws. It was disgusting and, I was sure, only the tip of the iceberg. “I’m so sorry. I swear, I’m nothing like him. I could prove that to you, but I have to get out of here. Can you help me?”
Cazsada glanced back over its shoulder, then said, “I am male, so you can stop thinking about that. And I could take you to the barrier, but I doubt it would let you through. It was designed by the mad one to keep her kind trapped. We can swim through without any trouble, but I’m afraid you might seem more Originator than fleshcrawler.” He wrinkled his nose. “You smell of many things.”
“Yeah, I’m a freak.” I studied Jack, who was still okay, and asked, “Will he be harmed?”
“You must go. I will send a message to you soon. Until then, go before my clan decides to rip you limb from limb.” I started to protest, and he swam at me, teeth glinting. “Go!”
I went, swimming upward until I broke the surface and Ty was pulling me from the nasty water.
“Damn it, Devany, you’re going to get yourself killed.”
“Yeah, yeah. Powerful, immortal being here … or something.” I sighed, my shoulders slumping. “They wouldn’t let Jack come back with me, but it didn’t look like they were going to eat him, which is good.” I looked at Gaius who was still too close for comfort. “You are a super, duper asshole. I hope you die hard.”
He didn’t answer, just curled his lip at me. “You have gills? You engaged in congress with those filthy beasts?”
“What?” I looked at Ty. “Did he just accuse me of having sex with a fleshcrawler?”
“That’s what it sounded like.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “Maybe that’s why I was so hot for Jack, huh?” I said and let Ty lead me to the far end of the room. When we got there, I put up a barrier between us and Gaius, ignoring his cry of protest. I thickened it until we couldn’t hear or see him. “We might have a way out.” I told Ty about Cazsada and his promise to send a messenger.
“Devany, he could have just wanted you out of the water, no matter what he had to say to get you to leave.”
“I know, but it’s worth a shot. Maybe the barrier is weaker in the water, or maybe Ravana didn’t make it as strong knowing the fleshcrawlers would destroy Gaius if he dove down there.”
Ty shook his head. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
“We have to do something. I can’t just sit down here and rot, or worse, sit down here waiting for Gaius’ stupid runes to make us into baby-making machines.” I paused. “Did you get the rune magic done?”
“Halfway. I’ll need to do a few more on the other side.” He glanced at me, a strange look on his face. “Of course, we’ll have to figure out something else to distract Gaius with.” His thumb came up to trace along my bottom lip. “What happened to an argument?”
“Jack wasn’t playing along.”
“He sure played along with the kiss.”
I knocked his thumb away. “Quit. Did you know jealousy is a red flag? It indicates you might be an abusive person. At the very least, it signals that you have an unhealthy view of relationsh—”
He covered my mouth with his hand, which I thought was rude. It was also another red flag, and I planned on telling him about it as soon as he let me go.
Except he didn’t let me go. He held me there until I swore I saw smoke rising from the heat between us.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Is this the magic?” I whispered, annoyed that I couldn’t bring myself to pull away.
“Yeah.”
“It’s stronger.”
“Yeah.”
He was holding himself back with all his strength, which meant I had to be the strong one. It was hard, because I didn’t want to be the strong one.
Think of Krosh, I told myself. Kroshtuka. His golden yellow eyes, his kindness. His hands. His teeth on my skin. The way he accepted me and cared for my kids. The way he loved me, and I loved him.
I eased power between us an inch at a time until it was like a wedge between us, pushing us apart. Krosh, I thought again, when the pain of the separation was an almost tangible thing. When we stood more than a foot apart, I saw the magic clear from his eyes, saw it go but not the want, the need.
“He’s been fucking with the runes,” Ty said in a ragged whisper, turning away from me so I couldn’t see his expression.
“Oh, but I haven’t,” Gaius said and Ty and I both realized we’d dropped the sound barrier between us and him. “It’s the beauty of the trap I laid for you. Every touch, every look strengthens the magic. Even if you try to avoid one another it will pull you back together inexorably. The more you fight, the tighter the web wraps around you both.”
“Have you ever considered becoming a poet?” I asked him, trying to give Ty time to collect himself. I felt shaky too, but thoughts of Krosh and the kids kept me from giving into the magic. What did Ty have to fortify himself?
“There once was a man from Nantucket …”
“Stop. Ew. Coming from you, that’s just nasty. Creeper.” I glanced at Ty, who was still looking down at his feet, a muscle in his jaw jumping. Would the magic compel him to force me even if I said no? It was an even nastier thought than Gaius’ joke and the thought of it made my stomach hurt. I didn’t want to fight off Ty. I didn’t want to have him in that position in the first place and I certainly didn’t want to get attacked. I’d never be able to forgive him even if I knew he’d been under a compulsion.
Worse, I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t say no, didn’t fight back, and ended up enjoying it. I heard Gaius take a deep breath and I held up my hand. “Don’t you dare say, ‘Why fight it?’ you hear me? I will stuff your tongue down your throat.”
“Humans,” he muttered, then bowed low with an elaborate wave of his arm. “Sorry. Originator. It’s only a matter of time. Honestly, it’s working a lot faster than I figured. Perhaps because you two are half in the sack already.”
“In the sack? Do they have Earth TV here or something? You’ve been binging on episodes of the Single Dude or something?”
“I may be trapped here physically, my sweet, soon-to-be-mother, but I can travel inside the minds of my Scriven wherever they roam. Haven’t you discovered that little perk of being an Originator?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “No. Maybe you can tutor me, huh? Give me classes, make me better able to kick your ass?” I thumped down a barrier between me and him just because I could. “You all right?”
Ty gestured, beckoning me. I came closer slowly, unsure what he was planning until he bent and touched his finger to a rough spot on the ground. A flare of light flashed across our
prison cell, connecting the rune Ty had drawn earlier when Jack and I were … distracting Gaius and the one he must have drawn while I was letting Gaius baiting me.
Only problem?
Ty was on the wrong side of the barrier. Gaius’ side. “Ty, what are you doing?”
“Keeping me away from you.” He held up a hand when I started to protest. “He won’t hurt me. He needs me, remember?”
Before he was even done speaking, Gaius was lunging for him. Ty managed to get up a barrier, which sent HG into a frenzy.
“Oh really? Does that look like he won’t hurt you? Ty? Take down this wall. Ty!”
No.” I could barely hear him over Gaius’ shrieks of rage. “I’m not letting him do this to you.”
“To us and damn it, we can fight him together. You don’t need to do this. Ty!”
He ignored me, having to concentrate on the bundle of fury in front of him. I slammed my hands on the barrier, but it just spat sparks at me and stayed solid. I paced away and back, wincing at every punctuated shout or scream from HG. He didn’t look very grandfatherly now, though, not with his face twisted and spittle flying. I could easily picture him ripping into someone’s flesh with his teeth. Ty’s flesh. Damn.
“I’m getting us out somehow.” The words felt hollow, hopeless. “You hear me? We’ll get out.”
Ty didn’t answer, too busy maintaining the bubble around him to acknowledge what I’d said. Or maybe he didn’t believe it any more than I did.
I tried breaking through the walls with my magic. I tried blasting into the barrier above us. I paced, I sighed, I cursed, and I very carefully kept myself from looking over to the other side of the prison cell. Any time now, Ty’s concentration would slip, and Gaius would be on him. I didn’t think Gaius would try to kill him, but if he hurt him bad enough, it was possible Ty could lose his life. He had his soul, after all. Of course, if Gaius killed him, his planning was for naught. I doubted there was another like Ty or me out there.
If Ty died, I’d be alone with a crazy asshole. At least I’d be separated from him by Ty’s barrier, but I’d have to listen to him spew his madness for eternity or until my Skriven figured out how to spring me.
I sat by the water and dipped my hand in it, hoping Cazsada would see it and talk to me, but nothing nibbled on my fingertips or tugged me into the water.
Gaius screamed.
Ty held on, best he could.
I have no idea how long I saw there, paced there, listened to Gaius scream. Maybe days, maybe months. Without a sun or moon, night or day, I didn’t know. Time dragged, stretched onward into an unseeable distance.
“Devany.”
I looked up to see Nex bobbing above me and I almost cried at the sight. “Nex! Oh my god. I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I insisted Kali bring me and she finally gave into my repeated requests. I was quite persistent.”
My laugh was watery, but I hadn’t spilled any tears—yet. “I’m so glad.”
“It seems as if you’re in some sort of a pickle.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” I laid down on my back with my feet dangling in the black water. Ty had stopped giving me dirty looks about it several iterations of Gaius’ scream ago. Cazsada had forgotten about me or had lied to get me out of his realm. “I don’t suppose you have any ideas on how we can get out of here, do you? You know, without releasing the unstable asshole over there?”
“I don’t, but I brought someone over who might.” Nex moved to reveal Vasili, who didn’t look as angry as he usually did.
“I never thought I would be this close to one such as he,” Vasili said. He looked entirely too impressed with Gaius, which was dumb, since Gaius was batshit insane and noisy as hell.
“Vasili? Stop drooling over the crazy person and talk to me. Can you get us out? Us being Ty and me, not your crush.”
He narrowed his eye pits at me but didn’t deign to respond. I suppose it was a little catty of me, but I was feeling catty and stir-crazy and nutso. “What type of magic is at work on the walls?”
“Some kind of rune magic Gaius cooked up to, uh, keep Ty and me in here.”
“Hmm.” He studied the walls, his tentacle-like hair writhing on his head. “That’s part of the trap. But after the fact. Oh, hmm.” He walked around and round the top of my prison, taking in the runes, studying the symbols etched on the lip of the prison. “It will take some time, of course.”
“Of course,” I muttered. “But you think you can fiddle with the magic to get us out?”
“I will look into it.”
When he didn’t say more, I growled and said, “Nex? You know of a way to get me friendly with the fleshcrawlers in the Slip? I met one called Cazsada, but he hasn’t gotten back in touch.”
“You would be wise to treat with his queen.”
The last time I’d treated with a queen I’d almost been killed. And I’d had to send word via a gigantic, disgusting mosquito. As far as I could tell, there weren’t any mosquitoes in my cell. There was nothing in my cell. Nothing but boredom and insanity and—
“Devany, do not despair for we are all working on a way to get you free.”
I blinked back tears. “Thanks Nex. I don’t know how long I can stay in here before I go mad.” I yearned for a book or a cell phone or something to make the never-ending march of seconds a little more bearable. “Will you bring me things to do, Nex? And maybe handcuffs? Rope? Chains? Cattle prod?”
“I can do that, yes. Um. Why the cattle prod?”
“Maybe a machine gun, even.” I rubbed my face. “I have to figure out how to rescue Ty since he was dumb enough to trap himself on the same side as Gaius.”
“I heard that,” Ty said, leaning against the wall with a haggard expression. Gaius had taken to pacing in front of him, lunging forward at random times to see if he could catch Ty unaware. And he would, eventually. As far as I knew, Ty didn’t need to sleep, or at least he hadn’t when he was soulless? Now? He probably needed about as much as I did, which was about two, three hours a night.
I used to think that would be a wonderful thing. Now I knew that the oblivion of sleep was a good thing, better than lying awake, thinking.
I sat up. In my head, I said, ‘Hey Nex, do you think you could have my Skriven find a pedophile or murderer or someone who doesn’t really deserve to draw breath again?’
‘I could. Delivered here?’
I thought about it for a moment then shook my head. Stared at the pool of water at my feet. ‘Drop them into the water. I’ll dive in after them, take their soul, and see if I can come up on the other side of that barrier. I could kill Gaius before he ever knew what hit him and then you could get me out of here.’
‘It will be done. I will come personally to distract and that will be your signal to ready yourself to dive in. Perhaps we will make him think it’s someone important to you. Then he won’t suspect anything when you rise from the water.’
I turned my head away from Ty and Gaius, not wanting them to see the excitement on my face.
How long would it take them? Not long, surely. My Skriven were nothing if not ruthless. I could count on Nex to make sure that they didn’t grab an innocent, so I tried to push away the wriggling guilt that I was taking another life. Another. It hadn’t been so long ago when I was absolutely adamant I would never kill anyone. That was how Nex and I met. And it had been a good thing, that friendship.
Now?
Now I was willing to kill a stranger to get out of this hole.
God, how far I’d fallen and I still had no idea when I’d hit the bottom.
Nex had gotten one of my Skriven to bring books, books for both me and Ty and Gaius—I’d hoped it would keep him busy or maybe distract him from his endless raging. It had worked for a few minutes until he’d devolved into screaming and then he’d ripped up the books and threw them into the pool.
“What are you, three?”
He didn’t answer me, just cursed in languages I’d never heard.
I tried to read, but my mind kept going to the water, to Ty’s barrier, to wondering if I would be able to swim under it to get to the other side. If he’d sealed it up, we were both screwed unless I could get him a message. My magic went wavery when it touched the energy between us, so I couldn’t block Gaius from hearing me.
If only Ty and I had a secret code. It was the first thing on my list to develop if we made it out of here.
I tried to read, but I couldn’t help staring over at Ty, wishing I could tell him the plan. He looked … ragged. Keeping the bubble between him and Gaius had to be draining and he’d been holding it forever. When would he slip?
What would Gaius do to him when he did?
Nex had given me twenty-five books and I’d read three of them before Nex returned with Kali. They were shouting at each other, seemingly in a terrible argument. Or maybe it was an actual argument, I couldn’t quite tell.
“It is time to get her out. We will deal with the other one later,” Nex said. “Vasili told me he cannot break the rune magic. Not the way Gaius has created it. And we cannot let her rot in there. If you won’t help me, I’ll do it myself.”
He sounded so righteously offended I almost cheered him on. But I figured if I did, Gaius would know something was up. Instead, I shouted, “Nex! I know you want me out. I want out too, but not like this.”
Kali didn’t look amused and four of her eight hands were on her weapons. I hoped Nex had brought her in on the scheme. Surely he had. “I will slice you open from forehead to neck hole if you try any such thing, fleshcrawler.”
“I may be just a head, but I have magic you do not want to mess with, Skriven.”
It was like an old West shoot out. Gunfight at high noon. I couldn’t imagine what magic Nex had that made him scary to a Skriven, though I was smart enough to keep that curiosity to myself.
