Soul Hook (Devany Miller Book 5) (Devany Miller Series)

by Jen Ponce

  “Nex! Don’t open the damned prison! We can figure out another way.” I worked very hard not to look at Gaius or Ty to see if either one was buying it. Gaius either would or wouldn’t. Nothing I could do about it now.

  Nex lunged for the side and Kali stepped in front of him, pulling steel. There was a shriek of sound, a high-pitched nightmare sound that made Kali almost fall to her knees. I almost fell to my knees; the noise sent a shudder of pain right through me. Ty was cringing and even Gaius was looking ill, like he’d eaten chicken gone bad. Nex shrieked again and that’s when the body fell, hitting the black water with a splash before sinking under.

  “What was that? Who was that?”

  “One of the prisoners! I tried to tell him I was helping but he panicked,” said a Skriven I’d never seen before.

  I didn’t wait for more, just dove in with Ty’s muffled, “Devany!” ringing in my ears.

  This was it, I thought as I swam toward the flailing human. I hoped to high heaven he was a nasty man who deserved to die because I reached inside him with my magic and took his soul.

  It was dirty, black, and oily and felt like death inside me. Nex had come through.

  Gagging, trying not to throw up in the water, I swam down with my hand on the barrier, sparks lighting up my field of vision, making it hard to see in the black water. ‘Come on, come on. Where’s the end. Please let there be an end.’

  The further I went, the more likely it would be that I would run into one of the fleshcrawlers and wouldn’t they be so happy to see me? I suppose I could tell them the dead human was a present, but I wasn’t sure they’d hear me out before they gutted me.

  Just when I thought I was toast, I found the edge of the barrier. I swam under and cheered inwardly. ‘Gaius, you fucker, you’re toast.’

  I kicked hard with my feet, my gills pumping madly as I fought my way to the surface, trying to aim myself toward Ty. If I was lucky, I’d come up under his bubble and slide right inside it with him. If I was unlucky …

  Something grabbed me by the hair and yanked me from the water. “Well, well, well,” HG said. “Did you think your little play would fool me?”

  I screamed when his fingers twisted in my hair and he pulled me to the far wall. Tytan was on him in a flash, but Gaius knocked him back with one well-placed swing to the jaw. I tried to swing around and kick him, but he yanked and spun me, keeping my feet away from his shins.

  Tytan struggled to his feet and Gaius thumped him back again, then shook me hard. “Put up a bubble between us before I kill him. Now!” he shouted, giving me another shake that made me tear up.

  “Devany, no!” Ty yelled, but I thumped down a bubble. It wouldn’t matter. I’d block off Ty long enough to—

  —a terrible ripping, tugging, pulling. I screamed again, this time doubling over as best I could with Gaius’ fingers still tangled in my hair. He was taking the soul. Shit! I clamped down hard on it, but he put his free hand on my throat and squeezed.

  Stars danced before my eyes. I heard Ty shouting at me to drop my bubble. I couldn’t figure out how my magic worked, though, not with the stars getting brighter. I kicked out but couldn’t get purchase on the stone floor. Just before I blacked out, I heard Gaius whisper, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat. I know, Devany, because I’ve skinned millions.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  When I woke, I was immobilized, Ty beside me, Gaius standing over us both like a prison guard ready to lay out troublemakers with his nightstick. I tried to wriggle, to see how I was tied up, but nothing would move, not even my fingers. I was just … frozen. “Let me go, Gaius. You don’t want to do this.”

  “Do what? Keep you from killing me? Oh yes, I smelled that soul on you the second you surfaced. How did you figure it out? How to kill us? Mmm?” He smelled weird, like burning electrical wires and it made my eyes water. I turned my head away, grateful for that small bit of freedom. Ty was out, his mouth slack, a slight pulse jumping under the skin on his neck.

  “Ty? Ty, come on.” I cursed under my breath. “What did you do to him?”

  “I hit him on the head pretty hard. I think I even left a dent. He was so focused on saving you, the poor, lovesick sap, that he forgot about me. Foolish of him.” Gaius nudged me with his foot, smiling his fucking awful smile. “Like the rune affect? I honestly couldn’t do without them. Lucky for me I was able to con one of Ravana’s Scriven to bring me several tomes on the subject.” He nudged me again, then kicked me, rocking my whole body. I was numb so I didn’t feel it, but I supposed I would if he finally let me go. “It’s easy to become an expert in a thing when you have centuries to study and practice.”

  “Blah, blah, blah. Let us go, Gaius. You aren’t going to get what you want.”

  “Oh, but I will. Because if he wakes up, he’ll still be under the influence of the runes in this cell and you, well, you’ll be easy to get at, won’t you?”

  I was tempted to plead with him, to try to appeal to his softer side, but he didn’t have a soft side, did he? He was a monster. Without remorse, without a conscience. The good thing about it all was that he had no concept of kindness or loyalty. He figured Ty and I thought the way he did. He certainly didn’t have any frame of reference for having a soul. It was his weakness, even if he would never believe it.

  I had to remember that. Had to remember it and exploit it to get myself—and Ty—out of there in one piece.

  Above me, Nex was hovering worriedly. I could tell because of the way he floated back and forth, his black eyes gleaming. “Are you all right, Devany?”

  “Yeah.” No. “Will you ask Vasili to work faster? Maybe send down someone to help us out?”

  “Oh no.” Gaius bit into his wrist. Black blood spattered on the stones by my head as he smeared his other hand in the fluid and slapped it against the wall. “No more unwanted guests. It’s just you, me, and your soon to be baby-daddy. No more distractions, no more nonsense. You’re here until I get what I want.”

  I ignored him. “Nex? Get Vasili. Talk to Baow. Talk to every Originator that will listen. Gaius wants to create a soul hook and make himself all-powerf—” My words cut off, my throat working but no sound coming out. It didn’t matter. ‘Wants to make himself all-powerful. Tell them all. Make them listen. Please.’

  I sounded desperate and hated it, but Nex nodded. He’d heard me and he would do whatever it took to help me. I knew it.

  “What are you telling him? Hmm? Do you think it will make a difference at all? Do you think my brothers and sisters will come running, will be concerned? They don’t care what happens to you two. In fact, I’m guessing a few of them will be glad you’ll both be gone. I can’t imagine you’ve made it easy to like you. In my experience, humans are dull and dimwitted and that’s how you lived for the longest time, wasn’t it? With humans, thinking yourself a human? What a miserable existence you must have had, trapped down there on such a mundane planet.” He paused, waiting and I rolled my eyes. “Oh right. You can’t speak. Refreshing.” He got up and moved away, scooping up one of the books Nex had dropped in and settling against the wall.

  I was left mute and motionless on the floor beside Ty.

  Ty, who had a terrible head injury and who still hadn’t moved or twitched.

  Despite my big talk, I was scared. I had no idea how I would get myself out of the mess I was in. I had no idea how I’d ever get away from Gaius. But I knew that Ty wouldn’t hurt me or force himself on me, no matter what Gaius said.

  Right?

  Okay, the old Ty would have, probably in a heartbeat. But the old Ty was absent a soul and the new Ty had one. That had to count for something. Plus, he’d sworn to me he wouldn’t give into the rune magic and I believed him. I hoped I wasn’t a fool for believing him.

  A slight moan caught my attention. Ty’s eyes fluttered but didn’t open. “Devany?”

  ‘I’m here,’ I said as quietly as I could since I guessed his head was pounding. ‘How are you feeling?’

  �
��Like I got run over by a truck.’ He moaned again and I wanted to shush him but restrained myself. Gaius would know he was awake anyway. Somehow.

  Thinking of Gaius, I put a bubble up around Ty and I. That, at least, was still something I was capable of doing. ‘He’s done something to me. I can’t move. Another rune thing. And he muted me. I thought he couldn’t access his magic.’

  Ty cracked an eye, groaning with the effort of it. ‘He’s using the runes to manifest power. Probably has a thousand of contingency plans etched in the walls and floors. If we could roll you over, we could get you moving again.’

  He’d said we but there was no way I was moving him, and Ty was having trouble lifting an eyelid. He wouldn’t be much help for a while.

  ‘He is hoping if I’m trapped here, you’ll get overcome with lust and have your way with me.’

  “Have my way with you? Did he say that or you?’

  ‘Me.’

  His weak laughter was worth it even though he was laughing at me. He said, ‘What the hell were you thinking? Why didn’t you stay out of here?’

  The question I’d been dreading. ‘I couldn’t sit back and watch you get your ass kicked by a hipster.’

  ‘Devany, this is serious. We can’t let him have what he wants. What he wants is a world-ender of a different sort than ripping apart the Slip. None of us would be able to resist him. He could kill us at will. No one should have that kind of power, but especially not him.’

  I knew that. I also knew it was serious. But what good was serious when the odds were stacked against you? That was when you needed to bring out the big guns: humor and sarcasm. ‘Can you get me off this rune, then? So we can kick his butt in all seriousness?’

  I knew he was feeling better when I heard his all-suffering sigh.

  Gaius didn’t look up from his book when Ty was finally able to muster up enough strength to shove me off the rune. I surged to my feet—every place Gaius had kicked screeching in pain—and prepared to kick hipster ass. Ty clamped a hand around my ankle. “No. Maintain the bubble and stay here.”

  I scoffed and shook off his hold, wincing at a sharp pang in my ribs. “Fine.”

  “I could use some of your magic touch. I think my head is going to explode.”

  I eased myself to the floor beside him, not letting Gaius out of my sight. When I laid my hand on his chest to begin pumping healing magic into him, he covered it with his. “Ty,” I said warningly.

  “Sorry.” He cleared his throat but didn’t move his hand from mine and I couldn’t muster up any outrage over it. I knew it was a bad idea, but I couldn’t quite remember why it was a bad idea, so I ignored it and worked on him, sending energy into the damaged places of his skull, to his brain, to the bruises that covered his body.

  “What did Gaius do to you while I was out?” I could see the injuries with my Magic Eye, and they made me angry. “You’re garbage,” I shot across the room.

  “Mm.”

  Warmth filled me, Ty’s magic, healing my sore spots too. When he looked like he might live, when he had color in his cheeks again, I moved my hand away. Reluctantly. HG’s rune magic at work, tying Ty and I closer and closer together. How long would it be before I thought it was a good idea to kiss him and not stop? How long would it be until he didn’t push me away?

  “Can you take down your barrier now that we don’t need it anymore? Maybe put us both on the opposite of him this time?”

  Ty shook his head. “I tried. It won’t fall. I don’t know what he did while we were out, but he screwed with my rune magic.”

  “What about another one, bisecting this area in half?” We were losing ground rapidly, but I didn’t care as long as it kept Gaius from getting close. I eyed the freak in question. “What’s he up to? Why did he let us go so easily?”

  He didn’t answer, his fingers digging into the stone beside him, beside the barrier, scratching until I was sure I’d see his fingernails peel off.

  “Ty? Quit. Come on. We’ll figure out something else. We always do.” I covered his hand with mine and he stilled, his nostrils flaring.

  “Don’t touch me.” His voice was tight, tense. “I can’t—”

  Shit. I let him go and he went back to digging at the rough floor. “Nex! Nex, can you hear me? Kali?”

  My friend and the Skriven both poked their heads over the rim of my prison. “We are working on it as fast as we can,” Kali said. “Vasili has found several tomes about runes and he’s studying them now. I’m sure he will find a way to get you out.”

  “I don’t know that we have that much time. We may have to let this thing out. I don’t think—”

  “Devany.”

  I didn’t recognize the voice but thought the creature that stared down at me looked familiar. Grey eyes, grey hair, grey skin. He looked like a black and white TV show’s caricature of a ghost. Where had I seen him before?

  “Who are you and what do you want?” Courtesy wasn’t my middle name.

  “I am Tesseray. It has come to our attention that you have found yourself trapped with Gaius Regulus.” The Originator—I could see power all over him—nodded coldly in Gaius’ direction. HG didn’t look up from his book or acknowledge that he’d heard Tesseray at all. “Perhaps you have considered releasing him in order to gain your freedom.”

  “Well, yes, I have. I’m not staying down here forever.”

  “If that’s what it takes to keep Gaius imprisoned, I’m afraid that’s exactly what you will do.” The Originator waved his fingers and a chair appeared, in which he sat. “I will stay here to make certain of it.”

  I wanted to scream. “Why can’t you just come on over and contain him when he’s set free?”

  He didn’t answer and I realized it was because he was scared. Gaius wasn’t just any Originator after all. He knew how to kill them, and he knew how to rip their worlds apart. As much as I hated to admit it, I could see where he was coming from. “At least help me figure out how to get free.”

  “He won’t get involved, that one,” Gaius said, licking a finger before flipping a page. “Likes staying in his hidey hole for centuries. I’m sure that’s why they had him come down here. He once spent three hundred years as a rock.”

  I rolled my eyes. Lord save me from crazies and fanatics. And rock wannabes. “Fine. We’ll do this without letting Gaius out. We still have our people working on it. Right? We’ll get out.” Ty was quiet and I glanced over at him. The look on his face left me breathless. “Right?”

  He broke away from my gaze and I knew, just knew, we didn’t have much more time. Whatever Gaius had done while he had us knocked out also sped up the magic. It was worse for Ty for some reason, probably because there were already strong feelings on his side.

  I wished I knew something about runes.

  I wished I’d been able to kill the bastard when I’d had the chance.

  I wished I hadn’t fallen into this damnable hole at all.

  I was still wishing when Cazsada’s head appeared above the surface of the water. “My king summons you, Devany Miller.”

  I surged to my feet and Gaius was in motion, swinging a booted foot at the fleshcrawler’s head. I cried out and Cazsada disappeared in a flash. “No!” I shouted, taking two clumsy steps toward the water, toward HG. Ty grabbed me again, but it tripped me instead of catching me back and I fell, hitting the stone hard with elbows and palms. I missed cracking my nose by a hair and then I was being dragged to my feet by HG.

  He held me as close as a lover, his entire body pressed tight against mine. He had a hard-on, which was super unpleasant to find out this way. “Oh no. You’re not disappearing on me again. Back to your pet. Get busy before I start breaking your bones one by one.” He lifted a piece of my hair and sniffed it, his erection stirring against me, writhing almost like a snake. For all I knew it was a snake. Originators were gross and disgusting creatures for the most part.

  “Let go of me.”

  “Not yet. I don’t think you understand just what
I’ll do to get what I want.” He pressed his thumb to my temple hard and suddenly I was in the room upstairs, Ravana’s torture room. Ty was pinned down—literally pinned, with gigantic silver nails embedded in his arms, his legs. He was bleeding but aware and somehow, someway he was staring right at me.

  I jerked my head back and kneed HG in the balls. He just laughed and stepped back, his creepy gaze raking my body.

  “I don’t get the allure. Kind of a dumpy housewife type, aren’t you? Sure, you have power, but those with power are a dime a dozen here in the Slip, aren’t they? You are a mutt, not even pure Originator. A bastardization of a true power. Lucky for me, he’s a mutt too and he goes for that kind of thing.”

  I slapped him. He hit me and it felt like he hit me with a brick. Blood spattered across the floor, my blood. My face exploded in pain and I staggered back, tears in my eyes. Leon had been evil, but he hadn’t ever put his hands on me. Threatened me, sure, but had never touched me. I’d always had the upper hand. Even with Yarnell or Adamante.

  I thrust power at him, and it gusted by without so much as ruffling his hair. I tried again and he just laughed.

  “Do you think I’m stupid? Apparently you are. Giving me time to study the way you use your magic, giving me time to learn to counter it. Such a foolish little girl. Go back to your corner and do your duty to me before I decide you don’t need your arms.”

  I went, more terrified than I’d been in a long time … and that was saying something.

  Ty held out a shaking hand and I took it. Heat flew between us. He struggled to make it healing magic, struggled to keep it from being anything but that. The pain in my cheek eased but my fear didn’t.

  “I thought you said he wasn’t an evil genius,” I whispered, easing to a sitting position close by but not touching him.

  “He’s brutal.”

  “No kidding.” I couldn’t look up, couldn’t look over at him, felt a rising panic I couldn’t quell. I’d faced so many things, but nothing had freaked me out this badly. Why?