“They haven’t killed her yet, so they probably don’t want her dead.” Matt had stopped pounding long enough to answer Rhys, then went back to hitting the door and yelling for help.
The sound of it echoed through the room, and I couldn’t take it anymore. My head throbbed too much already. I was about to tell Matt to knock it off when the door opened.
This was the perfect time for Matt and Rhys to launch a counterattack, but it didn’t occur to either of them. They both just moved away.
The Vittra from the house walked into the room, the one who had rendered me unconscious, and I dimly remembered Kyra calling him Loki. His shaggy hair was surprisingly light for a Vittra, almost blond.
Walking next to him was a troll, like an actual troll. All short and gobliny. His features were humanoid, but his skin was slimy and brown. He wore a hat, and tufts of grayish hair stuck out around the edge. He barely came up to Loki’s hip, but the fact that he was an actual troll made him more intimidating somehow.
Rhys and Matt both gaped at the hobgoblin, and I probably would’ve too, if I’d been capable of gaping. I could barely keep my head up.
“You say the girl is in need of a doctor?” Loki asked, his eyes resting on me. He regarded me with the same mild curiosity he had before.
“Kyra did that?” the hobgoblin asked, his voice unexpectedly deep for such a small creature. He looked to Loki for confirmation, shaking his head at the damage she’d inflicted on me. “She needs to be put on a leash.”
“I don’t think Wendy can breathe,” Matt said, his features hardening with self-restraint.
I was sure my condition was the only thing keeping him from attacking Loki. If he hurt them, they wouldn’t be able to help me.
“Well, let me have a look.” Loki walked over to me, his strides long and purposeful.
The hobgoblin stayed by the door, guarding it from Matt and Rhys, but they were too focused on me to consider escape.
Loki crouched down in front of me, looking me over with something that resembled concern. I was in too much pain to feel real fear, but I’m not sure I would have been afraid of him. Physically he was much stronger than me, and he had some kind of ability that could knock me out, maybe even more than that. But somehow, I knew he’d help me.
“What hurts?” Loki asked.
“She can barely breathe, let alone talk!” Matt snapped. “She needs immediate medical attention.”
Loki held up his hand to silence him, and Matt sighed heavily.
“Can you talk?” Loki kept staring at me.
When I opened my mouth, instead of speaking, an excruciating cough rose up in me. Closing my eyes, I tried to fight it. I coughed so hard, tears streamed down my cheeks, and I felt something wet. I opened my eyes to see bright red splattered all over my legs and Loki’s feet. I was coughing up blood, and I couldn’t stop.
“Ludlow!” Loki shouted at the hobgoblin. “Get Sara! Now!”
FOUR
vitriol
Loki crouched in front of me, keeping Matt back. He probably knew Matt’s inclination would be to hold me, and Loki didn’t want me moved, afraid that it might rupture something. Matt shouted frantically, but Loki kept insisting that everything would be all right.
Within moments a woman appeared in the room. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she knelt down in front of me, pushing Loki to the side. Her eyes were almost as dark as Finn’s, and I found something comforting in that.
“My name is Sara, and I’m going to help you.” She pressed her hand hard against my abdomen, and I winced.
It hurt so bad I wanted to scream, but then the pain began to fade. A weird numbing tingle ran through me. It took me a second to figure out where I had felt the sensation before.
“You’re a healer,” I mumbled, slightly dismayed that she was helping me. The pain in my chest and stomach had disappeared, and she put her hand on my face, fixing my black eye.
“Does it hurt anywhere else?” Sara asked, ignoring my statement. She looked worn out, a temporary side effect from healing, but otherwise she was incredibly beautiful.
“I don’t think so.” I sat up, still a little unsteady, but that was lessening by the moment.
“Kyra went way overboard,” Sara said, more to herself than me. “Are you okay now?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“Excellent.” Sara stood up and turned to Loki. “You need to control your trackers better.”
“They’re not mine.” Loki crossed his arms over his chest. “If you have a problem with how they do their job, take it up with your husband.”
“I’m certain my husband wouldn’t like how this situation was handled.” Sara looked at him severely, but he didn’t back down.
“I was doing you a favor,” Loki replied evenly. “If I hadn’t been there, it would’ve been worse.”
“I’m not having this discussion now.” She glanced in my direction, then walked out of the room.
“Is that everything, then?” Loki asked us once she’d gone.
“Not even close.” Matt had been sitting next to me but he got to his feet. “What do you want with us? You can’t just keep us here!”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Loki smiled emptily at me and turned to leave the room.
Matt tried to rush him, but Loki was already out the door before he got to him. He slammed the door and Matt flew into it. There was a loud clicking as bolts locked, and Matt sagged against the door.
“What is going on here?” Matt shouted and turned to look at me. “How come you’re not dying anymore?”
“Would you rather I be dying?” I pulled the sleeve of my sweater down and wiped the blood away from my face. “I could get Kyra in here to finish the job.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Matt rubbed his forehead. “I want to know what’s happening. I feel like I’m in a bad dream.”
“It gets easier,” I said and turned to Rhys. “What the hell was that hobgoblin thing that came in? Was that an actual troll?”
“I don’t know.” Rhys shook his head, looking just as bewildered as I felt. “I’ve never seen one before, but everyone goes out of their way to make sure mänks don’t know anything.”
“I didn’t think there were real trolls.” I furrowed my brow, trying to remember what Finn had told me about trolls before. “I thought they were just myths.”
“Really?” Matt asked. “After everything that’s happened? So you pick and choose what mythology you believe in?”
“I’m not picking and choosing anything.” I got to my feet. I still felt sore all over, but it was light-years better than I’d felt when I woke up. “I believe what I can see. I hadn’t seen this before. That’s all.”
“Are you okay?” Matt watched me as I hobbled around the room. “Maybe you should take it easy.”
“No, I’m fine.” I brushed him off. I wanted to get my bearings in the space, maybe see if there was a way that we could get out. “How did we get here anyway?”
“They broke into the house and attacked us.” Matt gestured to the door, referring to Loki and the Vittra. “That guy knocked us out somehow, and we woke up here. We hadn’t been awake very long before you woke up.”
“Lovely.” I pressed my palms against the door, pushing on it as if I thought it would open. It didn’t, but I had to try.
“Hey, where’s Finn?” Rhys asked, echoing thoughts I was starting to have. “Why didn’t he stop this?”
“What does Finn have to do with this?” Matt asked with an edge to his voice.
“Nothing. He used to be my tracker. It’s sorta like a bodyguard.” I took a step back, staring at the door and willing it to open. “He tried to protect me from all of this.”
“That’s why you ran away with him?” Matt asked. “He was protecting you?”
I sighed. “Something like that.”
“Where is he?” Rhys repeated. “I thought he was with you when the Vittra came.”
Matt started yelling abou
t Finn being in my room, but I ignored him. I didn’t have the energy to fight with Matt about propriety or his feelings for Finn.
“Finn left before they broke in,” I said, once Matt had finished his tirade. “I don’t know where he’s at.”
I wouldn’t admit it, but I was surprised that Finn hadn’t protected me. Maybe he had really left. I thought it had all been a bluff, but if it was, Finn would’ve been there when we were attacked.
Unless something bad had happened to him. The Vittra could have gotten to him before they came after me. He cared too much for duty, even if he didn’t care enough for me. The only way he wouldn’t keep me safe was if he couldn’t.
“Wendy?” Rhys asked.
I think he’d been talking before that, but I hadn’t heard anything he’d said. I’d been too busy thinking of Finn and staring at the door.
“We have to get out of here,” I said and turned to Rhys and Matt.
Matt sighed. “Obviously.”
“I have an idea.” I bit my lip. “But it’s not a great one. When they come back, I can use my persuasion. I can convince them to let us go.”
“Do you really think it’s strong enough?” Rhys voiced the concern I’d had myself.
So far, I’d only used persuasion on unsuspecting humans, like Matt and Rhys, and Finn had told me that without training, my abilities weren’t as strong as they could be. I hadn’t begun my training yet in Förening, so I had no clue how powerful or weak I might be.
“I really don’t know,” I admitted.
“Persuasion?” Matt raised an eyebrow and looked at Rhys. “Is that the thing you were telling me about? That mind thing she can supposedly do?” Rhys nodded, and Matt rolled his eyes.
“It’s not supposedly.” I bristled at his skepticism. “I can do it. I’ve done it to you before.”
“When?” Matt asked dubiously.
“How do you think I got you to take me to see Kim?” I asked, referring to when he’d taken me to see his mother, my “host” mother, in the institution.
He hated her and didn’t want me to have anything to do with her. I’d used persuasion on him, even though I’d felt guilty about it, but it was the only way I could talk to her.
“You did that?” The shock and hurt in his eyes was instantly replaced by anger. He looked like he’d been slapped in the face. I lowered my eyes and turned away. “You tricked me? How could you do that, Wendy? You always say you never lie to me, then you go and do something like that!”
“It wasn’t a lie,” I said sheepishly.
“No, it’s worse!” Matt shook his head and stepped away from me, as if he couldn’t stand to be near me. “I can’t believe you did that. How often did you do that?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “For a long time, I didn’t know I was doing it. But once I figured it out, I tried not to do it at all. I don’t like doing it, especially to you. It’s not fair, and I know it.”
“Damn right it’s not fair!” Matt snapped. “It’s cruel and manipulative!”
“I’m really sorry.” I met his eyes, and the hurt in them stung painfully. “I promise I won’t ever do it again, not to you.”
“I hate to break up this moment, but we need to figure a way out of here,” Rhys interrupted. “So what is the plan?”
“We call someone,” I said, happy for the reprieve from thinking about how much Matt must hate me.
“What do you mean, ‘call someone’? Do you have your cell phone?” Rhys asked excitedly.
“No, I mean, summon someone. The way Matt did before.” I pointed to the door behind me. “Knock on the door, say we’re hungry or cold or dead or whatever. When they come, I can use my persuasion on them to get them to let us out.”
“You think that will really work?” Matt asked, but the disbelief had dropped from his voice. He was only asking my opinion now.
“Maybe.” I looked at Rhys. “But I have a favor to ask. Can I practice on you?”
“Sure.” Rhys shrugged, trusting me immediately.
“What do you mean, ‘practice’?” Matt asked with a concerned edge.
He moved a bit closer to Rhys, and I realized with some surprise that he finally believed Rhys was his brother. He wanted to protect Rhys from me. I felt some relief and happiness knowing that he’d started accepting him, but it hurt a little—okay, a lot—to know that Matt thought of me as a threat.
“I haven’t done it very much.” I didn’t like the way Matt scrutinized me with his gaze, so I paced the room, as if that could deflect his attention somehow. “And it’s been a while since I’ve done it at all.”
That last part wasn’t entirely true, since I’d just used it on Rhys the day before, but I didn’t want him reacting the way Matt had. This whole process would go a lot easier the less people hated me.
“So what do you want to do?” Matt asked.
“I don’t know yet.” I shrugged. “But I just need to practice. It’s the only way I can get stronger.”
Despite Matt’s obvious reservations, Rhys went along with it. It felt very odd to have someone witnessing persuasion, especially someone clearly against it, but I had no choice. It wasn’t like I could send Matt into the next room or something.
I could see Matt watching me intently out of the corner of my eye. It was distracting, but that was probably better practice for me. I doubted I could get any of the Vittra to step aside to a quiet place while I tried to use a bit of mind control on the guard.
I decided to start simple. Rhys and I were standing, facing each other, so I started repeating in my head, Sit down. I want you to sit down.
His blue eyes met mine evenly at first, then a fog passed over them. His face seemed to slacken, and his expression went completely blank. Without a word, he sat down on the floor.
“Is he okay?” Matt asked nervously.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Rhys sounded like he’d just woken up. He looked up at me, his eyes dazed. “So, are you gonna do it or what?”
“I already did it.” I had never talked to anybody about it after using persuasion on them, and it felt strange to be open about it.
“What are you talking about?” Rhys’s brow furrowed, and he looked back and forth between Matt and me, trying to understand.
“You got all spaced out, then you sat on the floor,” Matt said.
“Why did you sit down?” I asked.
“I . . .” His face scrunched up in concentration. “I don’t know. I just . . . I sat down.” He shook his head and looked up at me. “You did that?”
“Yeah. You didn’t feel anything or sense anything?” I asked.
I had never known if what I did hurt people. They never complained of pain or anything, but maybe they couldn’t because they didn’t understand what was happening.
“No. I didn’t even . . .” He shook his head again, unable to articulate what he meant. “I expected there to be a blackout or something. But . . . I knew that I was sitting. It was more like a re ex. Like, I breathe all the time, but I don’t think about it. This was the same.”
“Hmm.” I looked at him thoughtfully. “Stand up.”
“What?” Rhys asked.
“Stand up,” I repeated. He stared up at me for a second, then looked around. His eyes hardened and his eyebrows pinched up.
“What’s going on?” Matt asked, moving closer to us.
“I . . . I can’t stand up.”
“Do you need me to help you up?” Matt offered.
“No. It’s not like that.” Rhys shook his head. “I mean, you could pull me up. You’re stronger than me, and I’m not physically pinned to the floor. I just . . . forgot how?”
“Weird.” I watched him with fascination.
Once before, I had made Matt get out of my room, and it’d been a while before he’d been able to go in there again. Which meant my persuasion had lingering effects, but it did eventually wear off.
“ ‘Weird’?” Matt scoffed. “Wendy, fix him!”
“He’s not b
roken,” I said defensively, but Matt glared at me in a way that made me want to crawl under a rock. I crouched down in front of Rhys. “Rhys, look at me.”
“Okay?” He met my eyes uncertainly.
I wasn’t even sure if I could reverse the process. I had never tried to undo persuasion before, but I didn’t think it’d be that hard. And if I couldn’t, then he’d just have to sit down for a week or two. Maybe.
Instead of worrying about the possible repercussions, I focused all my energy on him. I just said, Stand up, in my head over and over again. It took longer than it did last time, but eventually his face started to fog over. He blinked at me a few times and got to his feet.
“I am so glad that worked.” I let out a sigh of relief.
“Are you sure it worked?” Matt asked me, but his eyes were on Rhys. Rhys stared blankly at the oor, looking more out of it than he had last time. “Rhys? Are you okay?”
“What?” Rhys lifted his head. He blinked at us, as if he’d just noticed we were there. “What? Did something happen?”
“You’re standing up.” I pointed to his legs, and he looked down.
“Oh.” He lifted one of his legs, making sure it still worked, and didn’t say anything for a minute. Then he looked up at me. “I’m sorry. Were we talking about something?”
“You couldn’t stand up. Remember?” I asked, but my stomach twisted. I might really have broken Rhys.
“Oh. Yeah.” He shook his head. “Yeah, I remember. But I can stand now. Did you do that?”
“Wendy, I don’t like you playing with him like this,” Matt said quietly.
Matt faced Rhys, but he gave me a sidelong glance. He tried to keep his face hard, but his eyes betrayed his fear.
I had scared Matt, and not in the same way as when I’d run away. Then he’d been scared for me, but now he seemed scared of me, and it created a painful knot in my chest.
“I’m done now.” I stepped away from Rhys.
My dark hair hung around my face. I had a tie around my wrist, so I pulled my hair up into a loose bun.
“What?” Rhys asked, sounding alert.
He had fully come out of the trance I’d had him under, but I didn’t want to look at him. Matt made me feel ashamed about using persuasion, even if Rhys was aware of what I had done.
Trylle Page 27
