Ruined by Shadows

by Lola StVil

  I have to tell the rest of the team. I turn to the side and Perry is there. He reaches out towards me, and before I know what’s happening, he grabs the snake from my arm and wrenches it free. He throws it to the ground and fires at it, and it explodes in a shower of blood.

  So that answers part of my question: Perry for one didn’t hear me. He thought the snake was attacking me.

  “Perry, no. We could have used that to get the venom,” I shout, but he’s not listening.

  He’s frozen, looking ahead of him. I follow his gaze and see my worst nightmare coming true. Carla is down, an Erinyes on top of her. The Erinyes has worked out what Carla is doing, and her eyes are closed, but that’s not slowing her down. She has her hand pressed on Carla’s face, her vice-like grip turning her knuckles white. Carla’s face is melting in, and I know it’s only a matter of seconds before the heat reaches her brain and she’s beyond saving.

  Next to Carla is Langston. An Erinyes holds her from behind, and I can only imagine the pain she feels as the Erinyes’ hands touch her arms and the whole of her body presses against Langston’s back. Her eyes are dazed, glassy, but she’s still present. She fights weakly to get free. Another Erinyes faces her, and her snake is mid-strike.

  Perry is a step in front of me, meaning I’m too far away to get to either of them before it’s too late. Perry will only have time to save one of them. I can only imagine how Regal will feel when this is over, and Carla isn’t with us anymore.

  My jaw drops as Perry drags his gaze away from Langston and runs towards Carla.

  Perry doesn’t use his powers. Instead, he leaps into the air, landing a hard, well-timed kick in the Erinyes’ temple. She flies to the side, and her hand comes away from Carla’s face. I can’t bear to look at Carla, so instead, I focus on Langston. The snake is almost on her.

  I run over and grab the snake, wrapping this one around my arm before freeing Langston. I knew that if I grabbed it, it would no longer attack, making my job of killing the Erinyes easier. Now that I have the damn snake, it’s time to end this. The Erinyes that Perry knocked over now has him pinned. Carla lays unconscious. Regal battles with two. The snakes have wrapped themselves around his wrist and pulled his arms apart like a vice.

  I just act. If my laser hits Langston rather than the snake, she’s dead. I’m already running toward Langston, but Saudia comes from the other side and beats me to it. She reaches out and grabs the snake from the back of the Erinyes who is still clinging to Langston. Saudia twists her hands in opposite directions, killing the snake and with it the Erinyes.

  Langston drops to the ground in a heap, and Saudia leaps back into the fight with the remaining Erinyes. I frantically search the room for Regal again. He managed to free himself and is on his knees beside Carla, trying to fix her ruined face. Langston groans.

  “Go, Atlas. Finish this or we’re all dead anyway,” she mutters.

  I don’t want to leave her here alone, but she’s right. It’s all for nothing if we lose the fight because I want to hold Langston’s hand instead of ending this thing.

  Perry and Saudia are still fighting, and I rush to join them. Erinyes litter the ground, but some are stirring and starting to get back up again. I estimate there’s five left alive. But they’re weakened. There are only three of us left fighting. I think we can take them now that we know about the snakes, but it’s still in my mind that we need at least one snake alive.

  The lead Erinyes moves into my path, and I feel myself grinning as I hold my palm out, aimed at her snake. She doesn’t waste any time trying to fight me. Instead, she gives off that unearthly shriek again. I force myself to bear the pain, thinking of my mental pain again.

  The shriek stops and the Erinyes holds her hands aloft.

  “Everyone, stop,” she shouts. “This ends now.”

  The Erinyes all stop on her command. Saudia looks over at me, and I give a half nod. It won’t hurt to hear the Erinyes out, and if she’s offering anything less than our freedom and one of the snakes, then we’ll finish them off and take one and leave our own way.

  “Langston is in bad shape, Atlas. I can’t do much more for her. We have a few minutes before we lose her,” Regal hisses in my ear.

  I’m going to have to make this fast. Cutting a deal might just be the only way to save Langston, because if we have to finish the fight, although I’m still confident we’ll win, it won’t be quick enough to get Langston back to the loft and have Sadie work her magic on her.

  “You have learned our one vulnerability it seems, Seeker. Perhaps I underestimated you. What is your price to let the rest of my people live?”

  Killing the rest of the Erinyes isn’t going to get me what I want, but hopefully, this will.

  “I want us to all be allowed to leave here without you trying to stop us. And I want this snake. Alive,” I say.

  “You get your lives in exchange for ours. Fair is fair. But I think you know the second part of your request is not possible. Without our snakes, we die.”

  I shrug.

  “I have this one. She’s already dead,” I say.

  “Though it seems her heart isn’t beating, if the snake is returned to a body that isn’t too damaged, she will regenerate. It may take time, but it could save one of my own. Show a little compassion; this is my family,” she pleads.

  “Mercy? You’re asking for mercy after leading us here to kill us?”

  “Surely the great Seeker is capable of that.” Regal clears his throat.

  “AND I DON’T HAVE TIME TO ARGUE.” I raise my voice.

  “You want me to sacrifice one of my sisters? I think not,” she says. “I offered a truce, not a death.”

  “But your sisters have already left it too late for one of my people. Why should I show your people mercy?” I ask.

  The head Erinyes looks as I stand aside and let her see Langston. Regal is still furiously trying to heal her, but I can see he’s spent and the burn that covers her entire back isn’t shrinking. The only good thing is she’s unconscious now, so she isn’t feeling it.

  “Our snakes have the power of regeneration. If I use that on your friend, then can we talk about a more reasonable settlement?” she says, her eyebrows raised as she waits for my answer.

  Without a snake, there is no settlement, but she doesn’t have to know that yet, and this will buy us some time.

  I nod. The Erinyes walks to Langston. Perry, Saudia, and a now-healed Carla have the other four Erinyes controlled, so I focus on the leader. I raise my palms, keeping them trained on her snake. One false move and I will kill her, and she knows it. She knows that even if the others can’t resist the screeching, I can, and she will be dead before she can so much as curse.

  Regal moves back from Langston, also keeping the Erinyes leader firmly in his sights. She gets to her knees beside Langston, and her snake begins to move. It slithers over Langston’s body, its tail remaining in place on the Erinyes. Within seconds, the burns are healed, but Langston remains unconscious.

  The Erinyes gets back to her feet.

  “She’s still unconscious,” I point out.

  “Yes,” the Erinyes agrees. “But physically she’s fine, and she will regain consciousness soon enough. I can’t give you a snake, as I said, but I am assuming that what you really want is the snake’s venom.”

  “And why would you think that?” I ask.

  I want to know how much she knows, but I can already feel my hopes rising. Maybe we will get out of this without having to continue the battle. For every moment we stay here fighting, Kane is missing for another moment, and there is a higher risk of the group talking and the authorities piling in here.

  “Because it is very powerful and used in many potions. Everyone who takes us on is looking for the same prize, Seeker.”

  I nod.

  “You’re right. I want a couple of drops of venom. And I want your word that my team and I get to leave here unharmed, and that you don’t go on a killing spree with all of the people her
e.”

  “You ask a lot,” the Erinyes says.

  I shrug. Langston groans behind me and I know she’s waking up, but I don’t break eye contact with the Erinyes. To do so now would be to look weak, and I have to keep this demented creature convinced that I am in control and ready to take her out at a second’s notice.

  “Maybe I do, but do you think your life and the lives of your sisters are worthless?”

  She shakes her head.

  “No, I do not. We must serve our purpose no matter what the price. I will grant your wishes, in return for our lives, but know this, Seeker. The promise lasts until you leave this island. If we see you again, then you’re fair game.”

  “As are you,” I reply.

  She reaches underneath the raggedy folds of her dress and produces a syringe. She lines it up with her snake’s fangs and pulls the plunger back, filling it with clear venom. She holds it out to me, and I take it.

  “Now the snake,” she says, holding her hand out.

  I look it in the eye, giving it the go-ahead to slither off. It wraps itself around her arm.

  “Now you have what you want, but know this, Seeker. It’s totally worthless to you. The venom is powerful, but it won’t defeat the power of Arken.”

  She gives me a smug smile. I hold her gaze as I open up a portal and the team makes their way through it. I know I shouldn’t antagonize the Erinyes, but I can’t help it. I smile back at her.

  “I don’t want the venom to use on Arken; I have another plan for it. And I hate to burst your bubble, but I’ve never needed venom to beat Arken before, and I don’t this time either.”

  I step through the portal to the sound of her angry cries, a grin spreading over my face.

  The lounge is deserted, the loft quiet, until we step in and then it is filled with noise as Langston rounds on Perry.

  “I knew it. I fucking knew you still had a thing for her,” Langston snaps.

  “What? Why would you say that?” Perry asks. “I don’t have any feelings for Carla.”

  “And yet you went straight there, didn’t you? If you don’t have any feelings for her, then how did you know who I was talking about?”

  “Well, let’s see. You only started acting like a jealous bitch since she came along, so it wasn’t hard to figure out.”

  “Looks like I had good reason to be suspicious though, doesn’t it?”

  “What are you talking about, Langston? I barely even spoke to her.”

  I cringe inside. He must know what she’s talking about.

  “You might not have spoken to her, but when it looked like one of us would end up dead, you showed your true colors, didn’t you? You left me to be attacked, and you saved her, Perry.”

  Her voice breaks on the last words.

  “It wasn’t like that, Langston. I assessed the situation, and Carla was closer to being killed. That’s it. There was two of them on her. There’s nothing more to it.”

  “BULLSHIT! You didn’t have time to assess anything. You chose her over me.”

  “It was just a gut reaction. I didn’t have time to think; I just acted.”

  “So you lied about assessing the situation because you thought I’d buy it?”

  “No, I lied about assessing the situation because I thought it would make you feel better.”

  “Well, it didn’t. You know what would have made me feel better? My boyfriend choosing my life over his ex-girlfriend’s life.”

  “I’m sorry, really I am. I just acted without thinking, and I get why you’re upset, but I love you, Langston. No one else. And the thought of losing you kills me. Isn’t that enough?”

  “It might be if you meant it, but how am I supposed to believe you mean it when your actions today clearly prove the opposite?”

  I can see Langston is far from ready to give this argument up and we’re just wasting time. They can argue once Kane is home.

  “Guys, that’s enough. Everyone made it home in one piece, and that’s all that matters. We have more important things to worry about right now than who saved who, okay?”

  Langston whirls on me, the anger still flashing in her eyes.

  “Oh, that’s easy for you to say. Your boyfriend didn’t just leave you to die and save someone else. Would you be so quick to let it go if Kane saved someone else over you?”

  I bite my tongue to stop myself from blurting out that it wouldn’t happen because Kane would never do that. I get why Langston is angry, and I’m wondering myself why Perry chose Carla over her, but now isn’t the time. I’m saved from answering when Perry jumps back in.

  “You know what? Atlas would just be happy everyone is okay because she isn’t a needy, self-centered, spoiled little brat like you,” he shouts.

  Langston turns back to Perry, her question to me forgotten.

  “What did you just say to me?”

  “You heard me. It’s almost as if you wish Carla had been left to die,” he says.

  “No, I wouldn’t wish her dead. I just wish someone else had to save her rather than you choosing her over me. That’s all.”

  “Would we be having this argument if I’d saved Saudia? Or Atlas?”

  She looks taken aback by his words, knowing that she can’t answer because if she does she will be in the wrong.

  I can see this argument is far from done, and trying to stop it now would be a waste of time. I move away from them and let the argument rage, heading to Quinn’s old lab, where I know I’ll find Sadie.

  “Did you get it?” Sadie asks without looking up from the mixture she’s working on.

  “Yeah,” I say, crossing the lab and going to her side.

  She adds a final drop of something to the vial she’s holding and then she straightens up and finally turns to me. I hand her the syringe.

  “Is everyone alright?” she asks.

  I nod.

  “Physically, yes. Regal will fix any minor injuries when he’s had a minute to get his energy back. But something weird happened. Carla and Langston both looked like they were about to be killed. Perry was closest to them, but everything was happening fast, and it was obvious he would only have time to save one of them. He chose Carla. Langston is not happy about that as you can imagine.”

  Sadie is adding the venom to a yellow liquid. Her focus is back on the vial, and as she speaks, she doesn’t look up from what she’s doing.

  “It doesn’t sound like you’re too happy about it either,” she says.

  “I guess I’m just surprised. I really thought Perry was into Langston. He was obsessed with her before they got together, and now it’s like… well, it’s like she’s become dispensable to him.”

  “Sometimes people do things for reasons you can’t understand, Atlas. It doesn’t make their intentions any less admirable.”

  “I dunno,” I say, plopping my head into my hand.

  “Maybe he felt like he had more to make up to Carla than Langston.”

  “Maybe,” I say.

  I realize that she’s explaining her behavior rather than Perry’s, and I’m annoyed that for a moment there, I slipped into my old ways and talked to her about something that was bothering me on a personal level rather than a problem with the mission.

  “Are the glamours ready?” I ask, changing the subject abruptly.

  Sadie must notice, but she lets the subject be changed.

  “Yes, almost. I just need a drop of blood from each of you to complete them. And now this is ready too.”

  She stoppers the vial holding the yellow potion and hands it to me. I put it into my pocket as she reaches up to a shelf above her head and lifts down a tray containing ten vials of iridescent purple liquid.

  “There’s a fair bit of venom left over. Do you mind if I keep it? It’s useful for so many potions.”

  “Sure, go ahead,” I say.

  “How did you get so much?” she asks. “I’ve never known anyone to take on an Erinyes and get more than a drop or two.”

  I explain to Sadie how we
found the Erinyes’ weak spot and their leader was forced into making a deal with me. I explain that she thought the venom she was giving me was useless because she thought I wanted to use it on Arken and how I almost brought her a whole snake.

  Sadie laughs as I tell her how I let the leader think whatever she wanted to believe until it was too late.

  “Is the glamour on a time limit?” I ask.

  She frowns.

  “No, why?”

  “Just because there’s so much of it. I thought there was two each.”

  “It wasn’t until you left that I realized I didn’t know if it would just be the team going or if the Valkyries and Pest and I would be joining you. The measurements have to be exact, and it’s easier to make an even number, so there’s ten rather than nine,” she explains.

  I know that’s her way of asking to come with us on the mission to rescue Kane, but I don’t think that will be happening. I haven’t decided for sure yet, but I have no plans for Sadie and Pest to join us. Perhaps Carla and Rachel if they want to because Carla has proved her worth time and again, and if Rachel is half as good as Carla, she’ll be an asset.

  Sadie and I enter the lounge. Pest and Rachel are back, and for the moment, Perry and Langston seem to have put their argument on hold, although they sit as far apart as they can from each other and Langston keeps throwing him looks that could kill.

  “Right, I just need blood from everyone who is going to the Land of Lost Souls,” Sadie says. “I’ll add it to the glamor, which will activate it. Once it’s activated, you can take it at any time within the next twenty-four hours, and it will mask your soul.”

  It’s time to make my decision. I go to Sadie and offer up my arm. She sticks me with a needle and draws a vial of blood from me.

  “Is anyone on the team having second thoughts? Because now is the time to say it,” I say.

  “Perry will only come if Carla is,” Langston says.

  “Oh fuck off, Langston,” Perry says.

  He marches up to Sadie and rolls his shirtsleeve up. Pest whispers something to Sadie, and she nods. None of the team speaks up.

  “All of the team will be coming,” I tell Sadie. “Carla, you too if you’re up for it.”