by Brindi Quinn
Zillow Stone in Paradise:
The Ongoing Pursuit of Zillow Stone – Act 2
By Brindi Quinn
~
Copyright 2015 B.E.L.
Cover Art by Ene Karels
Smashwords Edition
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Also By Brindi Quinn:
Heart of Farellah: Book 1
Heart of Farellah: Book 2
Heart of Farellah: Book 3
Seconds: The Shared Soul Chronicles
Sil in a Dark World: A Paranormal Love-Hate Story
The World Remains
The Atto’s Tale Miniseries
EverDare (Book 1 of the Eternity Duet)
NeverSleep (Book 2 of the Eternity Duet)
The Death and Romancing of Marley Craw
Zillow Stone and the Unholy One
Chapter 1: Crashing
I stood at the back of the plant, katar at my side, entered in a stare-down that was nearly impossible to withstand. Somehow, the gaze of the icy-eyed unholy one was more intense than I remembered. Mine, by comparison, was weak. Still, I held it, determined not to fall first, even as he started to approach in easy strides.
I said nothing but dug my toes into the ground as I leaned forward, prepped and ready to attack.
In contrast, my Marker had no weapon at the ready, at least not one I could see. He merely drilled into me with his stare and continued to approach with his mouth in a curl. That was good. I was confident I could take on any unarmed person, no matter who they were.
Theo was still elsewhere, taking his ‘piss,’ and I waited in anticipation for the moment he’d round the corner. His entrance would provide a distraction for my enemy. I’d be ready for it. I wouldn’t flinch.
I’d use the moment to attack.
“Put your weapon down, Zillow Stone,” my Marker commanded, voice light and calculating.
I didn’t obey; rather, I held my weapon tighter.
“Down,” he said again, pressing his stare into mine.
I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Trust me,” he said, lip curling even further into a snarl, “you don’t want me to use this.” At that moment, he turned over his bronze hand and revealed a small, opaque disc between his fingers – a gambit.
At the sight of it, my pulse kicked. I’d come to understand that there was power in the tiny trinkets. And he’d already earned enough SPs to purchase one? But how, when we were only a few days in, and when he’d focused his energy on staying close to me?
I responded nothing, though I felt my jaw tense up in a way I hoped wasn’t noticeable. Letting him sense weakness would only be detrimental.
The boy’s gaze trailed lazily over my face, down my neck, and to my chest. There it stayed while I fought the impulse to turn away. “Did you get it?” he said, jaw tilted haughtily. He nodded to the building looming over my back. “Did you get the thing you were looking for?”
Not that it sounded like he actually cared.
I intended to remain silent, to keep him from reading me until Theo returned. For whatever reason, though, my mouth became reckless: “How did you catch up to me?” it blurted, lacking poise.
There it was.
I’d been pushing everything back, suppressing my frustration over being found by my hunter, but with my mouth on the loose, my body soon followed. My legs crouched, prepared to lunge – though I wasn’t forced to act quite yet.
Just then, Theo rounded the corner.
It wasn’t the sort of entrance I’d been expecting. He didn’t flounce into view, unaware of the danger in our midst; instead, he stepped darkly onto the scene, a pair of long hunting knives clutched in his hands. So he hadn’t been relieving himself an unnaturally long time. He’d heard my Marker’s voice and he’d been preparing for battle.
His face was stern, his fists tight, and his gaze steady. It wasn’t a look I’d seen on my haphazard partner before, but no matter how unnatural, I was grateful for his sudden air of confidence.
As he rounded the corner, he called to the unholy one in a casual voice, “Whatcha got there?” and the unholy one responded by flicking the gambit into the air and catching it in a swiping motion. In his opposite hand, he held the pen-like applicator he’d pierced into my hand at the beginning of our game. For now, the pen’s indent was lit green, in sync with the mark it had given me.
Threatening, my Marker brought the tip of the pen nearly to the center of the gambit, turned his eyes deadly, and bade Theo,
“Back off.”
Theo eyed the pen and gambit stonily before clicking his tongue. “What’s your plan here, pal? Let’s be honest. Even if you initiate that gambit on Zillumptous, there’s nothing you can do to slow me down. You know what I think? I think you should shove off and try again later when I’m not around.”
My Marker’s sneer deepened. Overhead, the day was muted to dusk. From within, an anger clutched me, but it wasn’t at its fullest. There was also something unnerving about my Marker’s confidence. He was outnumbered, seemingly weaponless, and yet he was clutching the gambit as though it were his saving grace, and he wasn’t backing down.
What ability was stored in that minute, slender disc? Something powerful enough to give him a sense of security.
Whatever it was, it didn’t matter.
Let him activate it, I thought. It won’t matter either way.
Once activated, I’d be given a warning period, during which my mark would blink a series of notifying lights. That was when I’d act. I’d take him before the gambit’s effect set in.
I heard Theo let out a shout as, with a concentrated exhale, I made a start for the sneering hunter.
Yes, I’d take him down. I’d be the first prag ever to win the game within the first week. I’d–
I was caught around the waist from behind by a strong arm, as – “STOP, ZILL!” – Theo’s panicked voice broke me out of my rage. Meanwhile, the unholy one was standing ever still, watching us with eyes difficult to read.
I fought to shrug Theo from myself, but he was stronger than he looked. Either that, or his determination was fueling him beyond his natural level of strength.
“ZILL!” he shouted again. “THAT GAMBIT–”
“That’s right,” my Marker chimed, in a way that made my rage return just as quickly as it had gone.
“What?” I seethed, throwing a vehement look at Theo.
Theo didn’t bother explaining. He swallowed loudly enough that I could hear it. “How do you have one of those already?” he said to my Marker. “Even Chloe . . .”
“Let me go, Theo,” I said through my teeth.
“No, Zill.” Theo’s grip weakened. “Just stop. He’s got you.”
I whirled around violently and demanded, “What do you mean he’s got me?” From where I stood, I had a pretty good shot. No matter what the gambit’s power, I was confident I could take him before it hit me.
“That’s a Poi-7,” Theo said.
“And?”
Theo was silent.
“AND?” I demanded.
“It’s one of the most dangerous gambits there is. One of the most expensive, to boot.” Theo locked eyes darkly onto my Marker. “How a newb like him got one is . . .”
My Marker did nothing but grin deeper.
/> “And just what does a Poi-7 do?” I pressed, annoyed by both the unholy one’s countenance, as well as my own lack of knowledge.
Theo was silent. The icy-eyed boy nodded at him. “I’ll let you tell her.”
“Ugh.” Theo let out a groan. When he spoke again, he did so sounding defeated. “If he activates the Poi-7, it’s over, Zillow. A small amount of poison will be released into your bloodstream, through the implant on your hand – a little every day for four days. If you don’t find an antidote by the fourth day . . .”
Theo didn’t need to finish. I understood the situation perfectly well. If activated, the gambit would kill me in four days.
“And the antidote could LITERALLY be anywhere out here,” Theo continued. “Finding it would be . . . well, to say ‘a pain in the ass,’ would be putting it lightly. It would be pretty much impossible, even for you.”
I stared down my Marker and mulled over everything Theo had told me. “He’s bluffing,” I concluded. “It’s a fake. If he’s got a gambit like that, why not use it before now? Why not activate it and then track me down when I’m already weak?”
“I wish you were right.” Theo shook his head. “But that’s the real deal. It’s a close-range gambit, meaning he’s gotta be in close proximity for it to activate.”
“How close?”
“A deca-tetramark.”
About ten paces.
Then I knew what I had to do. Without verbal warning, I tore away. From my Marker, from my partner, from the sunken plant, I fled. If all I had to do was maintain a distance of ten paces, the situation was manageable.
And so I ran, not giving thought to which direction I was headed. Theo and I needed to get to a waystation by the following night, in order to cash in the retrect, but for now, that didn’t matter.
All I needed was to run.
Chapter 2: A Beast among Beasts
“Z-Zill!” Theo let out a protest of surprise from behind my back, though I soon heard him at my heels, struggling to keep up.
Good. At least he wasn’t still gawking at the unholy one. At least he’d been competent enough to take off after me.
“Just run, Theo!” I ordered as I tore up the incline of the ravine, never looking back, pressing the muscles in my legs tighter with each stride. A small amount of excitement and a great amount of adrenaline moved through my body as I ran. Maybe it was because this was what I’d trained for. Ultimately, this ‘game’ was a game of chase, and I was faster than fast. For the first time, I was using the full extent of my speed.
By the time I reached the top of the slope, my calves burned and my lungs heaved, but still I trotted on. Though I knew my partner was struggling far more than I, I didn’t care. It was his own fault that he hadn’t trained properly.
“Theo! Is he behind you!?” I called over my shoulder.
“Fuck if I know!” Theo panted between words. “Where are you running to?! Do you even have a plan?!”
No, I didn’t have a plan. Not at first, anyway, but soon my body began to shift in direction, moving northerly. There was only one place I knew of where I’d be completely safe from my Marker’s reach.
“The waystation!” I shouted to Theo.
“No way!” Theo chugged. “You’re not planning on sprinting all the way there, are you?! That’s downright cray-cray, Zill!”
I slowed my pace only slightly so that he could run up beside me, and shot him a glare. “And do you have a better plan?”
Red-faced, Theo frowned. “Well . . . no.”
“Then shut up and keep up.”
We ran on as day dawned.
After some time I realized that the only footsteps I heard resounding upon the dusty earth were Theo’s delayed ones echoing my own. I slowed to a jog and concentrated on listening.
Theo noticed. “L. . . lost . . . him?” he heaved, hopeful.
“Shh.”
After a stretch of listening for distant foot clamor, I still heard nothing in the way of pursuit. Maybe we were fine after all. Maybe my Marker wasn’t as fast as we were. Maybe we were safe.
. . .
In truth, we were far from safe.
. . .
No sooner had I let myself ease up, than I heard an unnaturally loud rumble in the air that made me stop in my tracks. “Thunder?” I wondered, though the day wasn’t marked by storm. I just didn’t know what else it could be. It wasn’t a sound I believed my Marker capable of making.
I turned to my winded partner, who looked on the verge of death. “Did you hear that, Theo?” I asked. “Was it thunder?”
Doubled-over, he shook his head, but was breathing too heavily to respond.
“Then what?” I said.
BOOM! The world grumbled again.
Theo’s body heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. Again he shook his head and attempted to speak, but the words weren’t discernable through his labored breathing.
He continued on like that, only mustering enough energy to make a swinging motion with his hand. Dimly, he caught the bottom of my shirt and gave it a tug. I was growing impatient, and the thunder was growing louder. I looked to the sky, in search of accompanying lightning, but found none.
“What is it, Theo?” I demanded.
“M–”
“M?” I repeated.
The world gave another giant boom.
“Theo?”
“M-MOVE!” he managed. “Keep moving!” And then he forced himself to start up again.
This time when we ran, it was he who was leading me. With frenzied, struggling steps, he drew me across the wasteland, fighting his own body to keep moving forward.
He was no good to me like this.
“Wait!” I swatted his hand away from the bottom of my shirt. “Stop. Catch your breath. My Marker isn’t near.” I tore into my backpack, removed a canteen, and shoved it into his chest. “Drink.”
He poured the water sloppily into his mouth, and it dribbled down the corners of his face. Afterwards, he sputtered and choked, and wiped his mouth on his shoulder. He caught his breath, and when he was again capable of speaking, he swore, “Damn! It was fine when we were running, but once we stopped, it all sort of hit me.”
“Adrenaline,” I explained.
The desert boomed louder. Theo looked shiftily over his shoulder. His doe eyes were wide, showing flashes of true fear. I looked in the direction he looked. The rocky distance showed no signs of change.
“What, Theo?”
The fazed boy shook his head. “Not anything good, Zillan. Not anything good. You remember those beasts you were talking about before?”
“Before . . .?” I gritted my teeth. “The ones that hardly roam in this far?”
“Yeah, well hardly doesn’t mean never, and that’s why we’ve got to–”
“RUN!” I finished, for just then I saw a great galloping thing come over the horizon. It was a mammoth or an elephant or any one of the tusked beasts that had long been extinct, those I’d seen only in film and picture. It was an enormous, gray thing, callumping along on four thick legs. Two large tusks rose from its head, or maybe its back, spearing towards the sky. With each thundering clap upon the ground, the mammoth’s body jostled, like an unstable grouping of mass. From where we stood, I couldn’t tell what matter its body was made of, flesh or metal, but from its sides, flashes of mechanical light broke through the dust.
That was all I saw of the creature before turning head and sprinting faster than I ever had before.
Keep a calm head, Zillow Stone, I commanded myself. “Theo!” I shouted over my shoulder. “Can we fight it?”
He lagged behind in a panic. “Hell no, we can’t fucking FIGHT it!”
And outrunning it was impossible. By the sound of its thunderous steps, it was steadily gaining on us. Our only hope was to get out of its reach.
“Is there high ground anywhere near here?!” I called to Theo. “A structure? A mountain? Anything?!”
“I don’t know!” Theo’s earlier confide
nce was gone. He hightailed from the threat with wild barreling movements.
“THINK,” I pressed.
“Uh– um– eh–” Theo fumbled for an answer. “Th-that way!” He pointed at a mound on the horizon. “There’s a fallen outpost!”
I veered my direction, over the rumbling ground. I didn’t know whether or not the creature was aware of our presence. I only knew that if it detected us, or if it continued on in the direction we were running, eventually it would take us, and that ‘eventually’ would happen sooner than later.
As we raced toward the mound, I didn’t look back to see whether or not the beast followed our path, but the sound of its footsteps trailed us at a distance that was ever shrinking. A cloud of amber dust began to reach at us from behind. The momentum and weight of the creature’s stomping created a great flurrying of sand that arose across the plain. Soon, we were encompassed in dust. I coughed and swatted at the cloud but didn’t allow myself to slow. I needed to keep this speed. I needed to–
“This way, Zillow!”
Theo latched onto my elbow and gave me a tug. The thundering boom was close, shaking the ground where we ran. I chanced a look over my shoulder but could see nothing through the din. And then I saw them – the blinking lights cutting through the sandstorm.
The mammoth was close.
Theo was tugging me at something I couldn’t see. By my calculation, we hadn’t yet reached the mound on the horizon, so where–?
“WATCH YOUR STEP!” Theo’s cry sliced through the sand flurry.
The ground dropped suddenly.
I wasn’t prepared for it.
My foot caught on something and I, along with my partner who was still attached to my elbow, went careening down the side of a pit – as over our heads, a great blinking mass of animal and machine leapt. The lighted beast flew through the air before landing onto something solid.
Theo and I had fallen into a narrow gorge, while the creature jumped across. We were safe.
No, that was a lie.
As the dust began to settle, I realized just what unfortunate danger I was in.
