by Domino Finn
The prize in this particular cereal box was a multi-faceted ruby heart. It was weighty, the size of a small fist, etched with writing I didn't have time to make out. I knew an artifact when I held one.
So the genie had a lamp.
Except this lamp enslaved other people. Not with a compulsion, but by stirring their souls. By making them believe they were doing the right thing. This artifact, whatever it was, hooked heart strings to helpless victims, each wearing a locket as an anchor.
I rubbed the scratch on my neck and imagined the scar on my heart. The heart locket. That was what Simon had tried to use on me. Why I'd been so dazed back there. It was also how Simon had kidnapped satyr royalty so effortlessly. The jinn couldn't directly attack us himself so he'd used trusted animists to do it. Simon for me. Kita for Emily.
I knew Emily had been the privileged one. Henry Hoover's only child from his wife. The one who traveled the world instead of being left behind. Just as Kita had always hated her father, she'd condemned her own sister too.
Each passing second drew a different tragedy to my mind. All the ills caused by a single gemstone. My knuckles went white as my grip on the artifact tightened.
"Get the heartstone!" yelled the jinn.
Kita immediately flanked me and brandished her fan. The elemental inhaled a long gulp of air, and I knew what was coming next. I'd seen his lava magic before—had a similar problem with Simon's lightning. Both Intrinsics created light, disrupted my shadow, and stung like a bitch.
The room was still bright. Unless my eyes hadn't fully recovered, the orange flames had somehow swallowed much of the available shadow. It weakened me, no doubt, but there was enough darkness to play with. As long as I was careful.
"This is where we're different," I taunted Connor. "I can take things with me."
A river of lava spewed from Tyson's mouth. I used the shadow, not to become ethereal, but for speed, darting out of the way of the molten liquid. It steamed and melted the glass behind me.
I slipped behind Kita with the same dash. I readied a shadow punch but she was faster, kicking a leg behind her and catching me in the gut. I doubled over and dropped the heartstone to the floor.
I reached for it but Kita's extended fan blade came down. I dove to the side and swept my boot into her legs, sending her tumbling.
"Don't do this," I urged. "Don't betray your sister."
We both scrambled to the heart but I was faster. I slithered forward in the darkness and scooped it up.
"More light!" bellowed Connor. "I want more light!"
A hand wave from the jinn sent all the candles in the room into overdrive, burning three times brighter than should've been possible. But he wasn't the real source of light. Another animist stepped forward and I just now noticed her raised hand, fingers clawed around an orb of pure incandescence.
I choked up. "Em?"
My ex-girlfriend avoided my gaze and held her hand high. The light was coming from her. The shadows cowered from the brilliance, drying up my playground with blinding white radiance.
Blind indeed. That's what I'd been.
Emily Cross was an animist.
Kita pulled a backwards somersault and vaulted to her feet. In the small opening, the volcanic elemental came for me, igneous rock shaking the floor as he stomped. But the paper mage held up an open palm.
"He's mine!" she snarled, licking her lips. "Keep the light on him."
Still on the floor, I gripped the ruby heart in both hands, drew it above my head, and slammed it down hard. It nearly bounced out of my grasp, still intact.
Kita came at me with a feint and a swipe. Her fan moved so fast it left tracers of yellow in the air. There was too much light. I kicked a sconce at her. The fan sliced it in half with ease. The candles dropped to the floor right next to me, flaring brighter.
"Smooth," I said to myself.
The paper mage spun on her heels, flipping her attack to the opposite side. I gritted my teeth for the pain I knew was coming and threw up my forearm. Right before the fan struck, she flicked the back half of it open.
The impact was blinding. Golden sparks met the protective turquoise of my armor. Power hopped between us. The force was explosive. Literally.
But Kita held her own, using the open portion of the fan as a shield. Instead of being forced back, she kept the edge of her weapon firmly planted on my armor tattoo, pressing down, both hands backed by her full weight.
The Intrinsics went crazy, fighting to complete their purpose, dazzling and cracking and popping and burning. I averted my eyes and pressed against the fan with everything I had, but she had leverage. She had light. She had a razor-sharp fan.
And it was cutting into my skin.
Chapter 36
I groaned under Kita's strength. Blood ran down my arm like water from an open faucet. I wiped my palm through the blood and clamped down on her wrist. The contact sizzled her flesh. Her eyes went wild, but she only pressed harder.
Her fan blade bit deeper into my arm. Right through my armor. Right through my zombie skin. Cutting to the bone. The pain was unbearable. Kita had to have been feeling something similar from my blood, but she was too close now. If this kept up, she'd slice clean through me.
"Do something," I grunted, turning to Em.
"Stay out of this, Emily," warned her sister.
Tears ran down Em's face now, but she didn't move. More conflicting behavior. Behind her, Ceela was barely aware of what was happening, fighting her own battle inside her head. The two men in the room, if you could call them that, stood eager. Tyson watched as one might the final seconds of a football game. And Connor Hatch was filled with awful glee.
A twanging pain raced up my left shoulder as I lost the feeling in my hand. My nerves were shot now. The shadow was gone. Still holding my forearm above my head, I released Kita's wrist and let the blood magic fall away. Then my free fist came up hard and fast into her belly.
Immediately, the force bearing down on me lessened. Kita's fierce demeanor was ever stubborn, but her eyes grew lazy. She furrowed her brow and stumbled backward.
I shoved away and hugged my wounded arm, securing the heartstone once more.
Kita Mariko coughed. The fan in her hands shrank down to normal size, and then it clattered to the floor, just bamboo and paper. Its golden aura winked out. The paper mage's hands clutched the ceremonial bronze knife protruding from her gut. Then she buckled to the floor.
Emily screamed and the bright light snuffed out. Tyson roared. My alligator boot kicked the candle on the floor away from me. Then I cupped both hands around the ruby heart and surrounded it with shadow.
"No!" screamed Connor. Emily kneeled by her sister. The elemental lumbered toward me.
Compressing shadow into something hard, something physical, is unnatural. To do it with the density I needed felt like fighting the pull of a black hole. But I was strong. I'd been around the block once or twice. I was at home in the shadow. And I needed this.
The orb of pure darkness attempted to escape my fingers. I squeezed harder. Once again gripping the heartstone, I let myself think of every single gross act that had been done in its name. Emily. Martine. My parents. My sister. I brought them all to bear on my conscience in an unrelenting weight.
And I shattered the hell out of that pansy artifact.
The ruby exploded, much of it impacting my chest and arms. The pain was nothing compared to what I already carried.
Connor's face was clear for one last, brief moment. He watched his entire house of cards topple. His empire, he called it. Service.
I didn't see nobility. I saw subjugation. Contempt. Panic. It was all etched into his sharp features.
And then he was gone.
Every candle in the mansion simultaneously winked out. The darkness encompassed us like a crypt.
Me? This was my element. It was more like a blanket.
I saw every detail as my eyes sucked in the black. Numerous heart strings flailed in the air. Without a pow
er source, they withered and dissolved in seconds. In their absence, the Covey stood aimless. Confused. Ceela crumpled to the floor, exhausted.
I wasn't sure what would happen next. Destroying artifacts is a tricky business. The effort could easily have unintended results. But for their part, no one went into a rage and attacked me. With Connor gone, and his hold on them, they were purposeless.
I waited as their eyes adjusted to the faint light of the lava coursing through the volcanic elemental, and I wondered why he wasn't attacking me as well.
"Where am I?" choked out Kita. "Emily?"
I rose to my feet. "Oh no."
I hurried to the fallen paper mage. Blood spurted from her mouth and sprayed her older sister's face. Kita Mariko shuddered as she took painful breaths. I ran my hand under the collar of her jacket and felt the same neck I'd once held a knife to. It was bare, as I'd known.
"She's one of them," I swore.
"Emily?" asked Kita again, her eyes going distant, affixed to a far-off place. Em squeezed her sister's hand and leaned close.
"It's over, Kita," she said. "It's over."
Kita's body tightened and a final, racking breath fled her lips, and then she was gone.
I didn't know what to say as the sun crested over the horizon and filled the room with new light. The silence stretched into minutes.
"You killed her," whispered Emily.
She gripped her half sister's hand tightly, as if it were up to her whether she could let go or not. I almost spoke but a glint of light caught my eye. Around Kita's wrist was a thin bracelet with a heart-locket charm.
"You killed her," whispered Emily, once again.
"I didn't know," I offered weakly, clutching my bleeding arm. I backed away as Em refused to look at me. I'm not great with women, but I know when nothing I say could possibly help.
Ceela's human guise convulsed on the floor. I ran to the girl and ripped the locket from her neck. Then I carefully unwrapped the duct tape binding her wrists.
"How do you feel?"
"Like a used toothbrush," she said, shivering.
"Throok and I came for you."
"Throok?" Confidence spread through her like a drug.
I nodded. "He couldn't get past the Nether gate. I..."
She read the gloom on my face. "We need to help him."
Damn it. She was right. We had to get out of here, anyway. I wrapped the length of duct tape around my forearm, grimacing as I pulled the wound tight to stem the bleeding. After I was done, the cut was completely covered and sealed. I was a bloody mess, but what hadn't already leaked should now stay inside.
I returned to Kita's body, picking up the knife that lay beside her. She was dead, no two ways about it. I softly placed my hands on Emily's shoulders. "We have to go."
She shook at my touch. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Wizard," urged Ceela, leaning on the doorway. "We need to hurry."
I ignored her. "We can't stay here, Em. Who knows when he'll be back? He might bring help."
"I'm not leaving my sister."
I hissed. I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and drag her out, kicking and screaming.
Two heavy feet stopped beside me. It was Tyson Roderick, returned to his human form, the man in the white suit. "I'll take them," he said, dropping a broken heart locket on the floor.
His voice wavered as he spoke. Even an elemental like himself had to deal with the after effects of being a thrall. I wasn't sure if I could trust him, if he cared for anything in the Earthly Steppe, but something told me he'd be true to his word.
They knew each other well, after all. They were the Covey. What was alive of them, anyway. Free, but broken. There had to be kinship there.
Emily's safety was my main concern, of course. Tyson or not, I didn't want to leave her. I leaned over to her once more, words ready on my lips to convince her to come with me.
She lashed out viciously. "I can't deal with you right now!"
I drew back.
"Wizard," reminded the satyr.
My eyes met the elemental's. I thought of Throok and cursed. I told Emily I'd be back, but I wasn't sure if it came out louder than a whisper. Then I hurried out of the hexagonal room.
Ceela was still disoriented from the heartstone's pull. Whatever its effects had been, she'd fought it, never fully tamed. I wondered how long the effects would take to completely wear off, if the Covey could ever truly recover.
I thought of Emily's inconsistent behavior. It was very likely Connor had to deal with times of greater and lesser control, when Emily could've almost escaped his clutches until he resparked her passion and returned her to the fold without question. Maybe, with the leash gone, they would all be free for good. Or maybe the pull on her heart would still be forever present. Control was a bitch like that.
Ceela had only been exposed for a short time. Her withdrawals were mostly physical; she was dizzy and weak. I helped her down the patio steps, but she was determined to walk on her own after that.
"There it is," I said, pointing to the crab hole. "Will you be able to get through?"
"It depends if he bothered to ward the gate going both ways."
I jumped in first, actually managing to land in the Nether on my knees this time. The effort pulled open the cut on my arm, though.
The welcome face of the minotaur greeted me. Throok watched as Ceela's hooves daintily hit solid ground beside me. Surrounding us was a horde of dead spriggans. Their bodies were crushed, trampled, beaten, and gored six ways from Sunday. For Throok's part, he looked pretty beat up himself, even if most of the blood on him wasn't his own.
"Throok!" shouted Ceela in glee. She ran and threw her arms around him.
Already, I thought, she looked stronger. Whether it was the Nether or her natural form, I knew the principesse would be fine in a day or two. Plenty of bed rest and whatever passed for chicken soup down here, she'd be good as new.
Throok was different, though. He remained in the same blunt pose as before, not returning the girl's embrace. She noticed it too. The satyr pulled away and eyed him strangely. And then I heard chitinous laughter.
Grettle sauntered out of a side passage, dragging her extra pair of dead legs underneath. She was still missing a hand, but twisted Throok's kukri in another. A third guided a length of shining string. No—a line of web. It pulled taut against the minotaur, binding his arms to his side.
The spider witch grinned, but it wasn't her that spoke.
"Like flies in a web," remarked Orpheus, emerging into the tunnel.
Chapter 37
Ceela recoiled from the minotaur. Throok's muscles rippled but his arms were bound to his sides. He attempted to step between the faun and the princess, but his legs were tied too. Without the satyr supporting his weight, he would've tripped.
"Orpheus," I grumbled, tightening the duct tape around my arm. "I've had a bad day."
"They'll get worse as the mark does," he rejoined. He tapped his boomerang against his curved horn. "But that's what you get for manhandling me, human."
"My hands are covered in blood. I could do it again."
Orpheus handed his weapon to Grettle. She took it with her last free hand and stood in my way, a bouncer preventing access to an exclusive silvan party. A bouncer with a sword, a boomerang-hatchet, a web, and a stump. Just to make the point that it wasn't a nice party, she pointed the kukri at me.
I assessed the situation. Throok was tied up. Ceela still disoriented. Me? I'd live. My supply was cashed, but I still had blood and shadow. There was always plenty of that in the world. For now, I bided my time, waiting for an opening.
"Wizard," chided Orpheus. "This is Nether business. I am a baron of Bone, she a principesse of Juniper. Leave the politicking to us."
The faun stroked his scraggly beard as he rounded Throok. He ignored the larger silvan completely, turning all his attention on the object of his desire. A toothy grin overtook his goat face, and his pointed ears relaxed.
"The
re you are, my dear." His voice was soft now. Gentle. "Do not worry. I will not mistreat you." He took her hand in his. Grettle hissed lightly.
"Don't hurt him!" cried Ceela, her eyes watering.
The faun's brow furrowed. "Him? You are concerned for him?" Orpheus considered the minotaur and nodded. "Fine, my love. Whatever you ask. He shall be released when we depart."
Grettle spun to him, producing her stump hand. "He maimed me, my lord."
Orpheus sighed. "Yes. We will see what we can do about that."
"We can eat him," she insisted. "You told me I could have them both."
"No!" said Ceela, her thin chest heaving.
Orpheus tightened his lip and held out his hand. "My hatchet, dear."
Grettle smiled and placed the bone weapon in his hand. The faun hefted the familiar weight and deftly snapped the web connecting the spider witch to her prey. Throok was still bound but no longer leashed. With the sudden absence of resistance, he lost his balance and fell on his shoulder.
"But Orpheus!" screeched the witch.
"I will not hear it!" he snapped. The witch shied away from his tone. "The principesse is my betrothed and I will respect her wishes." He turned to address Throok. "The bindings will dissolve in a short time. When they do, see that you do not follow us. The Circle of Bone would not welcome your presence."
Ceela watched Throok with shimmering doe eyes as the faun pulled her away. Grettle scoffed heartlessly as she towered over him. She looked me over, too, bulbous eyes filled with depravity and wickedness, mandibles salivating from her desire to eat my flesh.
"Come, my love," whispered Orpheus to Ceela, kneeling before her and kissing her hand.
Grettle turned, and all the hate festering in her eyes before was nothing compared to what surfaced now. A high-pitched cry seeped from her throat and filled the cavern. Then the spider witch lunged.
It was quick and dirty. A moment of unbridled passion and fury. Grettle lifted the kukri high and brought it down towards Ceela's turned head. Throok jerked in his bindings. I dove into shadow and dashed forward—but even I was too slow. I rematerialized behind the spider witch at the end of her blow.
