by Лори Девоти
Not waiting for the impact, Risk somersaulted across the floor, knocking two hounds down on his way.
Lusse’s line of energy crashed into the portal, screeching against the protected doorway like metal on metal. Bits of stray power sprayed across the room, striking patrons as they fled. The sounds of cursing, tables crashing and feet pounding toward the exit filled the space.
Risk stayed in a crouch, the fingers of one hand splayed over the dirty wood floor. The energy in the bar shifted, signaling the arrival of more hounds. At least six, Risk guessed, but his gaze stayed locked on Lusse.
Crazy power-hungry witch. What was she doing? She was going to lose any shot he had at saving Kara.
His fingers curled into a fist, rage washing over him. Kara. She was risking Kara. He would not lose her now. Not just so Lusse could play whatever game she had chosen.
His eyes blazing, he stood up and stalked toward the portal. Without pausing to consider the consequences, he reached out and grabbed Lusse by the shoulders.
Eyes narrowing, she turned her head toward him and murmured, “Stupid hound.”
With no other warning, Risk sailed backward, crashing into the wall behind him before he had any thought to shimmer. The chain around his neck constricted, cutting into his throat. He grasped at it, struggling for air. The chain only pulled tighter, matching its resistance to his own.
“Who is ruled by the bloodlust now, alpha?” Two black boots stepped into the gray ring that outlined his diminishing circle of vision.
Still struggling with the chain, Risk rolled to his side and glared up at Sigurd.
“You can’t beat it. Haven’t we all tried enough?” The other male stared down at him, his eyes dispassionate. “It matches its force to yours. The harder you pull, the more tightly it constricts. Won’t kill you, but you’ll be laying here for centuries — long after your little witch is dead.”
Risk’s fingers hesitated, some tiny rational part of his brain telling him Sigurd was right. There was no fighting Lusse. To try now would only put off finding Kara more. His fingers trembled, instinct warring with logic.
Sigurd nudged him with his boot. “Your choice.” Then shifted his gaze to where Lusse stood, both hands now extended, parallel lines of energy crackling from her hands toward the doorway. Her body shook with the effort, her cape swaying as she moved.
The garm stepped forward, the silver bar held like a bat in his hands.
“Capture him,” Lusse screamed, her voice cracking.
The garm swung, the bar striking the closest line of power. His muscles trembling, he held the bar into the stream. Energy bounced against it, bending like light on a mirror. The stray force shot upward, burning through the dingy ceiling tiles and out through the roof.
Bitter night air poured into the bar.
The garm couldn’t hold her off, not without destroying the bar, and what would happen to the portal then? Shut down? Risk’s only hope of saving Kara gone?
But Risk couldn’t fight Lusse; he’d proven that to himself yet again. But maybe…He stared at the sweating garm, the bartender’s brows lowered in concentration, his muscles bulging with exertion. Risk couldn’t fight Lusse, but maybe he didn’t need to. Maybe he could use her own ego against her.
Relaxing his fingers, Risk willed his body to accept the bondage of the chain.
Six hellhounds swarmed onto the garm, knocking him to his knees. The bar dropped with a clank on the floor, releasing Lusse’s stream of power back toward the portal.
The garm raised the bar again, striking a dark-haired attacker in the head. The male faltered, but another surged into his place. Two males grabbed at the bartender’s wrists using their weight to pull his arms down.
If they subdued the garm, Risk’s plan would be lost.
He unfolded his fingers and concentrated on thoughts of Kara relaxed in his arms, blue eyes gazing up at him, her fingers stroking his arm. A smile curved his lips, a sense of peace settling over him.
With a clink, the chain loosened.
Risk pulled cold air into his lungs and swung his eyes back to the battle.
The garm was covered by Lusse’s males, all but Sigurd answering her call. From beneath the squirming mass, a howl rent the air.
The garm. He was changing. Leaving Risk with only one option. With a roar, he released the hold on his beast and began to transform, as well.
The great room curved and narrowed into a narrow tube, exactly like the hallway Kara had entered through. Glancing at the glowing fish as they swam by, she wondered if Jormun’s entire home was like this — one long curving tube that bloated out occasionally. A vision of a giant snake digesting its rat dinner filled her mind.
A hiss escaped her lips at the thought. The lead snake-man turned to her, surprise on his face. Giving him a bland smile, she concentrated on what lay ahead — and not just in this tunnel.
She and Kelly had to escape. Her hands were still bound. Were Kelly’s? Could they somehow convince Jormun to release their powers? Even if he did, and they managed to escape to the portal, could they pass back through?
Panic clawed within her, crying to get out, past the calm she’d enforced on herself since leaving the bar with Narr. If only Risk were here. Even if he didn’t love her, he would help her free Kelly, right? Surely the witch he planned to turn them over to couldn’t be as bad as…
They entered a new section of tubing, this one lined on the right with shimmering doors. The side of the tube with the doors was more opaque, smoky. Without pressing her face to the glass there was no way Kara could see what lay beyond the doorway.
They passed the first door and the second, but as they approached the third, the snake-man slowed.
Her heart pounding, Kara waited as her escort pulled out his stick and banged on the door. The barrier thinned, and he grabbed Kara by the arm and shoved her through the opening.
A brief image of a brightly lit room constructed of the same curved translucent material was all she got before something struck her from the side. Her feet flew from the ground. Then after a second of panic, she landed with a thump onto the hard floor.
She lay there, her breath knocked out of her, the hip she’d landed on aching.
“Oh, my God. Kara, is that you?” Her sister, naked, swung from a black rope above her.
Mentally cursing, Kara stared up at her. “You’re nude.”
Kelly yanked the rope free from the pipe it was draped over and dropped to her feet. Panic written across her face, she padded toward Kara, the rope still clutched in her hand.
“Are you all right?” Kelly balled the rope, which Kara noticed was really a black jumpsuit like the snake-men’s. Not waiting for a response, Kelly placed the makeshift pillow under Kara’s head.
“How did you get here? It was the bartender, wasn’t it? Did he search you out? Lure you to that bar with a promise of helping me?” Kelly mumbled a few curse words and fidgeted with the placement of her pillow.
Not sure how to answer her sister’s tirade and still shaken from her fall, Kara could do little more than blink at Kelly.
“He acted all ‘no involvement,’ but he has to be the heart of the problem. He’s always there. No one would get through without him — he made that perfectly clear.” Kelly’s eyes thinned to tiny slits. “I destroy that bar, and I destroy the market.” She slammed a closed fist into her palm.
As Kelly ranted, Kara levered herself to a sitting position and looked around. They were sitting in yet another transparent tube, or maybe capsule was a better descriptor. A capsule that clung to the side of the larger tube she’d walked through with the snake-men. On one side was the main tube, although obscured by the smoky coloring, on the other dark ocean. The ceiling and floor both revealed nothing but miles of water.
She stood up, walked to the end of the space and cupped her hands to the glass. Pressing her eyes in the opening she’d made, she peered out into the water. Separated from them by a few feet of water appeared to be a second cap
sule, but unlike their own it was dark inside.
“What are you doing?” Kelly leaped to her feet. “You hit your head pretty hard.”
Kara squinted, hoping to catch a flash of movement in the neighboring tube. “Is there someone else here?” she asked.
Kelly stared over Kara’s shoulder, her gaze growing distant. “There was. On both sides, but they disappeared, and never came back.” Turning on her heel, she picked up the twisted jumpsuit and jerked it on.
Looking back at Kara, she said, “We have to get you out of here.”
Kara blinked. Get her out of here? “You mean us.” She stared at her sister, realizing they hadn’t even exchanged a hug.
Kelly waved her hand. “Yeah, us. Listen, we need to talk. I don’t know how you got down here, but I’m sure you’re pretty scared and confused right now.
“I know it doesn’t look like it, but I’ve been working on a plan, and I think I can get us out of here.” She put her arm around Kara’s shoulder. “You just have to try and not panic, okay? Things here are pretty…odd, but just try not to lose it. Can you do that?”
Kara glanced into her sister’s caring blue eyes. Felt the warm pat on her shoulder.
God, she really had been a mess before, hadn’t she?
“I think I can manage,” she replied dryly, pushing past her sister to study the room more.
Kelly frowned, but before she could continue, the doorway began to vibrate.
“They’re back. Damn.” Kelly tugged on the material of her jumpsuit. “There’s no time to get back in position.”
Kara stared at her. This was her plan? Knock a snake-man down then run naked into Jormun’s hall? What then?
Heaving out a sigh, Kara moved to stand in front of the door. Whatever was coming through, she might as well greet it head-on.
The door finished its waving, revealing the green-tinged snake-man carrying some kind of tool, like a screwdriver. A jumpsuit was folded over his arm.
He stepped inside, his eyes pinpointing Kara then Kelly before he did so. Then with a wave of his stubby arms, he gestured for Kara to step forward.
Shrugging, she complied. They hadn’t done anything horrible to her yet.
He gestured again, telling her to hold out her hands. She complied and he slid the tool under her straps. A quiet zip and her hands were free.
The snake-man nodded, and Kara bent down to scoop up the plastic strips. With a smile, she handed them to him. He dropped the jumpsuit at her feet and backed out of the room.
Once the door was set back to solid, Kelly stomped forward. “What was that? This isn’t a game. I know I said not to panic, but you have to realize this is serious, too.”
Kara huffed out a breath and bent to pick up the jump-suit. “I guess they want me to put this on.” She held it out in front of her. “Should I?”
Kelly folded her arms over her chest. “Yeah. It seems to have some kind of body-temp regulator. Without it, I sweat like a prostitute at bible study.”
Not bothering to reply, Kara peeled off her pants and shirt.
“Kara,” Kelly began. “I’m really worried you aren’t taking this seriously.”
One leg in the jumpsuit, Kara paused. Kelly’s attitude was getting annoying. “Because I’m not freaking out? First you tell me not to panic, then you lecture me because I’m not.” She shoved her other leg into the suit. The material formed to her body with a snap.
Kelly blanched. “I…You don’t understand.” Her face took on the I’ll-take-care-of-everything expression Kara used to depend on.
“I understand plenty. Maybe more than you. You’re a witch. I’m a witch. There are things roaming the world I don’t understand — men who make you love them and then turn into bone-crushing beasts, men who shove a knife in your throat and try to drag you through a portal to another world, snake-men who seem to be the most polite of any of them.”
Kara glared at her sister. “Yeah, I understand plenty.”
It was Kelly’s turn to blink. “You know we’re witches?” Kelly’s eyes rounded with disbelief.
“Yep, and the news didn’t send me crashing to my knees.” Kara ran her hands down her backside, smoothing out ripples in the material. The jumpsuit was surprisingly comfortable. She was instantly at least ten degrees cooler, and as tight fitting as the suit was, she didn’t feel confined at all.
“Kara?” Kelly stepped forward. Her hands on Kara’s arms, she turned her until she could stare in her eyes. “What’s my favorite food?”
“What?” Kara asked, her voice rising in disbelief.
“The scar on my pinkie, how’d I get it?”
Kara shook her head. “Have you lost your mind?”
Kelly took a step back, her eyes narrowed. “Answer me.”
Kara sighed. “Anything with ketchup. It’s disgusting. And Tommy Sullivan bit you in the first grade. You ripped the head off his Transformer and flushed it down the toilet — or maybe that’s why he bit you. I get confused.”
Kelly bit her lip, her brow furrowed. “It is you.”
Kara glanced around her new home again. No chairs. This conversation on top of her trip through the portal was exhausting her. She needed to sit.
Seeing no alternative, she plopped on the floor and leaned against the curved wall.
Kelly was still watching Kara as if she expected her to morph into a crazy at any moment.
Considering everything that had happened to them, her sister was being smart.
Patting the floor beside her, Kara said, “Sit. I’m okay. I’ve just learned a lot in the past two weeks.
Kelly slid down the wall to sit beside her. “I guess. You hardly seem like the same person. You’re so confident.”
“Really?” Kara tilted her head. That was nice. Her sister, a woman who would scare Rambo, thought she was confident. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
They sat there for a few seconds, staring out into the dark water of the Midgard Sea.
“Where should we start?” Kelly finally asked.
Kara tapped her nails against the floor. “I don’t know. There’s a lot to tell you.” She thought of Risk and how she’d made him leave. She’d love to tell Kelly, get her reassurance that Kara had done the right thing — or even better, that it would all work out, but that was a conversation for a normal world, and…another glowing fish, this one orange, swam by…this was anything but normal.
She clunked her head against the wall behind them. Suddenly she was very, very tired and not just physically. “You start. What do you know about this place?”
For the next hour, Kelly told her everything. How she’d been practicing magic since puberty. She’d first discovered her powers when she’d fought the dog off Kara and Jessie, but it had taken years to really understand what that meant and search out others like herself.
“There are lots of us. I’ve met just a few in person, but there’s a whole community on the Net.”
“I…” Kara paused. She needed to tell Kelly about the woman in the morgue, but how?
“Then witches started disappearing. It was only a couple at first, but it started being more, and all of them were seen in certain areas. One area in our town.”
“The bar,” Kara commented.
Kelly nodded. “Yeah, the bar. A friend and I discovered the connection just a few weeks ago. We were watching the place, and then she disappeared.”
A school of fish brushed past the wall. Kara curled her nails into her palms.
“Kelly…” she began.
“So, I knew it had to do with that bar. I went down there and tried to talk to the bartender. He was an ass. Wouldn’t help me at all. Then some woman dressed in velvet and high tops of all things dropped a net on me — a net!
“And it was weird, too. I couldn’t do anything but lay there. It was like I just didn’t care. I could see what was going on around me, but…Anyway, the bartender twisted those plastic straps on my wrists, Miss Hightops dragged me through that do
orway, and bam, here I am in weirdo world.
“I’ve tried to watch for Linda, but I haven’t seen her.” She exhaled, her shoulders slumping.
“Kelly,” Kara tried again. “I think I know—” Power pulsed through the tube, vibrating through Kara’s body and robbing her of her breath. “What was that?” she panted, pressing her hand to her chest.
Kelly cast her a sidelong look. “Weirdo world, remember?”
The next second the lights shut off, leaving them in complete darkness. Kara slid her hand toward her sister.
“Just watch,” Kelly whispered. “They do it every night, or at least I think it’s night. I’ve kind of lost track of time.”
A strange hissing started, then light returned except from behind them instead of overhead. Kara twisted her body, looking over her shoulder.
The smoky wall had turned clear. Lining the tube behind them was snake-man after snake-man, their eyes glowing yellow and pointed out toward the sea.
“What are they doing?” Kara asked, her voice low and shaking.
Kelly’s hand clasped hers, warm and reassuring. “I’m not sure, but I think they’re worshipping.”
“Worshipping what?” Kara asked, heart thumping loudly in her chest.
“That.” Kelly squeezed her hand. “Look at the water.”
Kara turned. Pressed against the side of their capsule was a gigantic wall of green scales.
“What is it?” Kara’s voice quavered.
“I’m not sure, but I think it might be their mother or something,” Kelly replied, her voice low.
“It’s alive?” Kara’s eyes rounded, her hand closing more tightly around Kelly’s.
“Oh, yeah. You can see it move. I even saw its head one night.”
As Kara watched, the green wall moved up and down, swaying slightly against the water.
“So, it’s a snake?” she murmured.
“Granddaddy of them all.”
They sat in silence for a few moments, the sound of the snake-men’s hissing almost hypnotizing.
“You know,” Kelly murmured, her thigh pressed against Kara’s. “I didn’t used to think I was afraid of anything.”
