Blood for the Spilling

by TJ Nichols

  “A drop in an empty bucket is better than nothing,” Cadmael said, dismissing Saka’s argument.

  “Give me a day with Angus, and I can fill your bucket. You do not need to send his human lover to his death.”

  “Your method is crude and for the untrained. Anyone can fuck.” Cadmael’s face twisted into a sneer.

  “I have been trained in blood, soul, and sex rebalancing. You seem to thrive on taking souls. That is considered crude and simplistic where I am from. Why would you kill the offering when you can reuse it many times?”

  “You will watch pitz and see why. Terrance, will you do me the honor and play, or will you sacrifice Angus and save yourself.”

  Terrance shook his head. “If I refuse, Angus dies playing in my place, and you still don’t trust me because I’ve proven I act only for myself. Maybe I have… maybe meeting Angus made me think there was something worth fighting for, but you don’t care. You just want one of us to be sacrificed. Either way I’m a dead man.”

  “You don’t have to do it. We’ll get a boat and try somewhere else. Someone will help stop the college,” Angus pleaded with Terrance.

  Cadmael laughed. “The world is at war. The Sindu are targeting all magic users. New Holland is under attack, and even the Institute for Magical Studies is asking for all demon magic to be ceased. You will get no asylum anywhere. Flee to Demonside. I won’t stop you, but consider how far you can get. What country will those demons be aligned with? Not all demons are accepting of humans. You may find yourself stoned… at best.”

  The world was at war. What had changed while they walked? Saka was blind without other mages to talk with. He lived in a village but wasn’t a part of it. He was there only because Cadmael and Iktan allowed it. If they changed their minds, he’d be forced out, and then what? What would happen to Angus if Terrance played this game and lost?

  Terrance stood and hugged Angus. “It’s a ball game. I always wanted a crowd cheering my name. I think these games must draw them in. They’re a big deal, aren’t they, Cadmael?”

  Cadmael was expecting Terrance to die and clear the way. Saka bit back the horror that Cadmael expected him to be bound to another human, to be shared like a toy between children. “If you send Terrance to the game, then Angus needs to find an anchor.”

  Cadmael glanced at him. “He and you will be assigned one. He does not need to like or bed the anchor. And neither do you.”

  “You will have someone watch me you mean,” Angus said, his face set.

  “For your own good.” Cadmael’s smile was slippery.

  Angus pressed his lips together. “Terrance should be given the opportunity to train. It should be a fair match, not against one of your star players.”

  “This is wrong. Death is not a game. Human sacrifices should be given respect and thanks, not treated as a spectacle,” Saka said. What kind of people took life so casually? Angus had warned Saka that the Mayans had a reputation, but he hadn’t expected this.

  “Life and death are all part of the same game. You will attend and watch. Until then.” Cadmael put his hand on Saka’s chest, and the void swallowed him whole.

  Chapter 3

  ANGUS SPUN away from Terrance and reached for Saka, but he was already gone. “Why did you do that? He’s my demon. I wanted to see him.” Needed to see him. It had been too long, and Saka had been so close. Angus’s skin was warm from holding his hand. He wished he hadn’t held back and tried to be respectable.

  “And he was no longer required. My questions have been answered.” Cadmael turned toward the door.

  “And what about mine? When do I get to explore the city? Summon my demon and—”

  “And what? You cannot practice magic here without an anchor. Your relationship with him has already taken unnatural turns because you have lacked proper guidance.”

  Angus flinched at the judgment. He’d heard the same thing too many times in Vinland. Skitun. Demon fucker.

  It wasn’t the word they used here, but no doubt they had one.

  “Why is it unnatural? Why not use any means to raise power?” Angus took a step toward Cadmael. Terrance put a hand on his arm to hold him back, but Angus shook it off. He stalked closer, not sure what he was going to do, only that he had to do something. He wanted to use magic and live his life. Would he be forever judged?

  “It’s a cheap way of working.”

  “And death is better? One life can’t do much.”

  “That’s where you are wrong.” Cadmael glanced at Terrance. “One life can do so very much if used correctly. You will get your visa and be able to move freely about the city. But you are banned from using demon magic until such time as an anchor can be established.”

  “And if I don’t want the anchor of your choosing?” He wanted Terrance as the anchor… if that was what Terrance wanted.

  “Then you will not see Saka again. We have ways of ensuring….” He thought for the word. “Rogues do not operate.”

  Once again he was a dangerous rogue.

  “Enjoy the rest of the day with Terrance. He will be collected come dawn for training.” Judging by the way it was said, Angus wasn’t sure there’d be any training.

  That Terrance was going to play the game made his blood cold. Cadmael meant for Terrance to die.

  “Let’s make the most of what’s left of the day,” Terrance said softly. “It would be nice to be out.”

  Angus closed his eyes and curled his fingers into fists. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. They were supposed to be safe, supposed to get help and bring down the college. But he couldn’t strike out at Cadmael unless he wanted swift punishment. They were all dependent on the goodwill of the Empire. He uncurled his fingers and opened his eyes. Cadmael was watching him. Waiting for him to screw up?

  He forced a smile. It would be nice to be out, even if half a day was all they got. His heart squeezed hard at the thought of losing Terrance; it had been too close in the desert. This would be so much worse. His safety would be paid for in Terrance’s blood.

  No. Terrance would survive. Angus nodded in agreement. “Yes, let’s see some of the city.”

  And talk. And plan.

  Cadmael opened the door. “The guards will follow you to make sure you remain safe. We are at war with Vinland, and you might be mistaken for the enemy.”

  Angus slipped whatever it was Saka had passed to him into his pocket. He took Terrance’s hand and followed the soldiers onto the street, where the air blanketed him and almost smothered him in wet heat.

  The scent of food from a street market drifted down the road.

  “Where have you been staying?” Terrance squinted up at the sky as a flock of bright yellow parrots spiraled over the city.

  Angus pointed. “That white-and-turquoise building. You?”

  “I don’t know. There was no view.”

  “What do you mean?” He turned to face Terrance.

  “I mean this was planned from the moment he first sifted through our thoughts. From the time they offered sanctuary, one of us had to die.”

  Angus shook his head. “No.”

  The soldiers were standing too close, so Angus bit his tongue on his next words. He didn’t know if the guards spoke Vinnish, and Angus didn’t want to say too much in case they were playing dumb and reporting back.

  Terrance drew in a breath. “We need to find out what pitz is.” He turned to a soldier. “Hey, pitz?”

  That was the last thing Angus wanted to do. “Do we have to?”

  “I want a chance to see the game. It might be a ritual, but I’m guessing it’s played in the streets. If they have champion players, they have to learn somewhere, and kids want to be like their idols.”

  The thought of the ritual game turned Angus’s stomach, but Terrance squeezed his hand. “It’s just a game.”

  Angus couldn’t say anything to that. They both knew the stakes. If either of them had a chance at winning, it would be Terrance. Sports were his thing.

  The soldi
ers looked at each other and spoke a few rapid sentences that meant nothing to Angus. It appeared they weren’t in agreement. The first one shrugged and started to walk. They followed with the other soldier at the rear.

  Angus tried not to feel the prickles of the stares from the people on the street. His palm sweated against Terrance’s. They were the enemy, the cause of the cooling and the approaching ice age. There must be other refugees, people who took the risk to cross the southern border from Vinland. Or were they fleeing west instead, through the no-man’s-land and into the Nations territory? Maybe that’s what they should’ve done.

  But it would’ve been his luck to arrive in an area that didn’t tolerate demons at all, even though magic use linked the Nations. If the trek through the desert had been bad, trying to get out of Vinland in Humanside would’ve been nearly impossible. He didn’t even know where the underground—the wizards and warlocks who were trying to stand against the college—had been housing them most of the time. The underground had deliberately kept them in the dark… to keep them safe.

  They passed the food, and Angus’s stomach rumbled. It looked like flat bread things filled with meat and vegetables and beans. But he had no money and no way of earning it.

  Cadmael had only said he couldn’t use demon magic, which meant he could still use his wizard skills. There seemed to be others in the market. Glyphs advertised their skills and rates—or at least he assumed they did—and there was definitely magic in the air.

  “Can we get something to eat?” Angus pointed at the food stall. Eating would provide a temporary distraction from his thoughts. “Are you hungry?”

  Terrance shrugged. “Not really, but who knows how many more last meals I’ll get. Maybe I used up my luck in the desert.” He grinned, but his smile had an edge.

  “Don’t be like that.”

  “Like what? Truthful? I thought I was going to die in Vinland, first at the hands of the college and then the underground. I survived. Then again in the desert, and I’m still here. Who knows. Maybe I’ll survive this too. Kicking a ball isn’t that hard.”

  Under protest, the soldier bought two wraps and handed them over. Angus almost expected him to spit on them. Then Angus and Terrance followed the guards into a park and to a long, thin court with wide ends. Four teens were playing a game that looked impossible.

  “Oh shit,” Terrance said with his mouth full of food. There was no kicking a ball or even catching.

  “Pitz,” the soldier said with pride.

  Angus stared in horror. It wasn’t like any game he’d ever seen before. The ball bounced between elbows and knees and never touched the ground or the hands of the players. How did one even learn how to do that? How was Terrance going to learn? He glanced at the man who’d only moments before been almost cocky about his chances.

  Terrance was staring, tracking the game, the food forgotten in his hand.

  One of the boys sent the ball through a ring on the side, and everyone cheered.

  “He scored a try. It’s the same… ish.” The note of concern was clear in Terrance’s words.

  The losing team knelt in the middle, and the winners pretended to cut off their heads. The losers died silently without any flourishes, and then got up and started a new game.

  “It’s not the same at all.” No one died at the end of a rugby match. Those kids were acting out ritual deaths.

  “There’s a ball and a scoring area and rules, so it is like every game.” Terrance sat down on the stone bench around the top. The steep walls of the court angled to give a view of the players, and he ate in silence as he studied the game in a way that only a sportsman with his life in the balance could. Angus didn’t dare interrupt. He left his food half eaten as his stomach betrayed his anxiety.

  How long before Cadmael would force Terrance to play?

  Did they only have tonight? He wanted to summon Saka and run away again—there had to be somewhere safe in a world that was falling apart. The kids laughed and cheered each other on and then mock-decapitated the losers again. All in good fun.

  Birds chattered, and people talked. Life went on despite the war. How had he ended up here? He was a nobody with few skills beyond screwing a demon and leading people into danger. Angus rested his elbows on his knees and cradled his head. He should’ve stood up to his father and never gone to warlock school, but then he’d be ignorant about the truth and he’d have never realized what an oppressive regime the college had created. If he’d followed college rules and not opened his eyes to the truth, he’d still be there learning how to abuse magic and kill demons.

  Maybe if he hadn’t dated Jim and been introduced to the underground…. But he was erasing half his life, and even then he wasn’t sure if he wouldn’t have ended up in the same situation. Magic was in his blood, and he couldn’t stay away from it.

  Terrance got up.

  The teens beckoned him over, no doubt hoping to make the foreigner look like a fool. If Terrance suspected that was their aim, he didn’t let on. He smiled as they showed him how to strike the ball with his elbows, and they laughed as he made a mess of it.

  He was going to die. He’d lose the game and be sacrificed.

  Angus’s eyes grew hot, and his throat thickened until the air was choking him.

  Terrance continued to practice until the teens tired of teaching him and arranged into two-man teams.

  It wasn’t the match, but it was still awful to watch. Terrance and his teammate lost. They knelt at the end and bowed like they were ready to have their heads cut off, which the other two teens did with a little too much glee, reaffirming their hero status.

  But no one died. It was just a game. There was a round of farewells, and Terrance jogged back to Angus’s side. His shirt clung to his skin, and his dark hair was glued to his forehead.

  He used his sleeve to wipe his face and gave Angus a grim smile. “Let’s hope I get better.”

  Chapter 4

  TERRANCE WAS fucked. Pitz wasn’t like any game he’d ever played before, and he’d never played for his actual life. But there was no way he was going to back down to the jerk priest and put Angus’s life on the line. He would play as best he could. It was still a better chance than the underground had given him and more than he’d thought he’d get in the desert. If not for Saka, he might not have made it. Angus’s talents lay with magic and not balls. Terrance couldn’t live with the idea of throwing him onto the court. And he’d done plenty of shitty things to survive over the years.

  The ride up to Angus’s apartment was silent. The soldiers took up too much space in the small elevator and left no room for conversation. He bit back a sigh and leaned against the wall, his elbows and knees smarting and bruised from the game.

  It was the feeling of the ground beneath his knees and the mock execution after his loss that had done the most damage. His heart gave an extra squeeze of panic. But he couldn’t let it take hold. He had to focus and learn everything he could.

  It was just a game, and he understood games. Given enough time he could play and win. He was sure of it. But he doubted he’d be given the time he needed.

  In fleeing with Angus, he’d swapped one dangerous life for another.

  If he’d stayed in Vinland, the college or the underground would’ve found a reason take his life sooner rather than later. His back still bore the faint marks from a whipping, even though Angus had healed them. They’d used him to keep Angus in line, and it made his stomach turn. That hadn’t changed. His role hadn’t changed. It wasn’t fucking fair.

  They were still not safe. He was beginning to think they never would be. This was it. And if this was all they were going to get, playing a game in front of thousands was a reasonable way to die. He didn’t care about the magical rebalancing the way Angus did, but he cared that the world was icing over and the people in power didn’t seem to give a damn.

  Magic had always been a means to an end for him. It wasn’t his life, but it was Angus’s.

  Angus’s eyes lit
up and he got excited when he talked about magic—and not just because he was screwing Saka. Terrance glanced over at the warlock who’d stolen his heart. Angus’s skin was fair and freckled, his hair a tangle of red that should probably be trimmed, but Terrance liked it messy. Angus stared straight ahead. His lips were pressed into a thin line, but his fingers worked, picking and tearing at the edge of his nail. Terrance wanted to reach out and pull him close, but he didn’t. The soldiers were watching.

  He didn’t deserve Angus and never had, but Cadmael was right. He was selfish, and he wouldn’t give Angus up without a fight.

  If he somehow won the game, he would work out what the anchor thing was and do it just to spite Cadmael. It wasn’t the best reason, but his reasons had never been good. Magic had never been good to his family.

  It certainly hadn’t been good to him.

  The elevator doors opened, and the soldiers stepped out and escorted them down the hallway to Angus’s apartment. Would they come in or stand guard outside? How closely would they shadow them? Into the bathroom? Into bed?

  Angus opened the door with a fingerprint, and Terrance followed him. He glanced over his shoulder, but the soldiers remained on the other side of the door when Angus closed it.

  “Are you always so popular?” He tried to make his words light, but Angus didn’t smile.

  “I can’t do anything right. This was supposed to be better.” Angus tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. The sun had bleached some of the red strands golden, and it hadn’t been cut in months. But it was no longer stiff with sand and sweat, and Terrance wanted to run his fingers through it. It might be the only chance he got.

  He’d been living with that thought for too long. In Vinland he thought every training session was his last, or that every visit might be the last time he would get to see Angus. Escaping to Demonside had seemed like a damn good idea, the only one any of them had for getting out. “The weather is better.”

  Vinland was caught in permanent winter. At least it was warm in the Mayan Empire.