A visit to the back cabin showed him Kalaes, Alendra and Sacmis fast asleep. Elei’s lids drooped despite his earlier nap, and his stomach twisted with hunger. No more blue bread, no more water.
A race against time.
Kalaes shuddered in his sleep. The white web of palantin climbed one side of his neck and curled into starbursts, fading where it met the black dots of Rex. There was no outward sign of the battle taking place within, and Elei had to hope palantin hadn’t scarred Kalaes’ organs too badly.
Elei returned to the cockpit and glared at the acceleration lever as if that could make them go faster. Hera was rubbing off on him. Damn.
The light faded. Maybe night had fallen on the world above. Time had lost all meaning. The control panel shimmered, dissolved into scintillating spores, and he was falling through the blue again, water sliding cool against his skin. Alendra took his hand and smiled. “I want to see you,” she said, “see the scars,” and he flinched because if she saw them, she’d run away.
“Elei.” A hand shook him. “Wake up. Should I ask Alendra to replace you?”
“No.” He blinked furiously, rubbed his bleary eyes. “Sorry.”
Hera said nothing, maneuvering the watercar over a sandy underwater plain, overgrown in places with patches of undulating grasses. He re-checked the coordinates, corrected their course, made sure everything was okay.
“You’re probably dehydrated,” she said, startling him. “Gultur can go for four days without water. Mortals two at best.”
“But Rex— ”
“Rex is an unknown factor. It can do so much, and yet it may be draining you to keep itself alive.”
But he couldn’t muster any anger against the parasite. Hells, if it saved Kalaes, he might build an altar to Rex and worship it, like the Gultur worshiped Regina.
“As for food,” Hera went on, “the body can go longer without, but we’ve been burning a lot of energy. You,” she slanted a quick look at him, “probably need twice as much food as any of us. Rex keeps flooding your system with adrenaline, especially now that telmion is suppressed.”
Gods, why did she have to speak of food? The hollow ache in his belly flared and dizziness washed over him. “Can we change the subject?”
Hera snickered. “Your stomach sounds like a molosse dog in heat.”
“Thanks, Hera, just what I needed to know.”
The silence stretched like the sea, the hum of the engines only deepening it. He kept nodding off. His mouth was so dry he couldn’t wet his chapped lips and his throat hurt like knives when he tried to swallow.
Hera nudged him. “Dakru,” she said, her voice breathy. “We’re cruising along the northern coast.”
Stark cliffs rose to their right, cragged, dark and solemn, and as they sank deeper, Hera adjusting the controls, the cliffs melted into a uniform wall of gray.
“Just like Ert,” he whispered. It was true, it was all true. The islands are man-made.
Schools of small fish, flashing orange bands and golden circles in the headlights, engulfed the watercar, then moved on. A bleep on the radar caught his attention, but the small dot moved away, not to return. Then more fish, shapes against the otherwise smooth wall, sharks, jellyfish, curious squid.
Endless. An endless journey.
His head pounded and his leg throbbed. His chin dipped time and again, and he jerked back to wakefulness to find Hera driving with a scowl pinching her features.
This time she was checking the map. She’d pinned her long dark hair at her nape with gods knew what, so her profile glowed clear and white against the dark glass.
“I really should have asked Alendra to replace you,” she said when he shook his head to clear it. “Changing depth,” she announced, and the watercar lurched and sank.
“Why’re we going down?” His voice slurred.
“To find the gate.”
The gate. He tried to collect his wandering thoughts and glanced outside.
They slid downward, facing the wall, and the water darkened to the color of a bruise, blue-purple and disturbingly beautiful. Symbols on the wall blinked in and out of existence, brushed by the headlights. There they were again — the panels, the marks of human craftsmanship.
“Here, stop the watercar, gods damn it. Where in Nunet’s name are the brakes?” Hera’s hands moved over the switches frantically. “Where—”
Elei found the brakes and the vehicle screeched and shook. He adjusted what he hoped were the thrusters and ballast, and was glad when the screeching stopped.
“Can you see a gate?” Because all he could see was the smooth wall.
Her white teeth flashed in a smile. She reached around the side of the console and pressed something.
The wall before them slid aside like a curtain. Oh right, was all he could muster as a ripple went through the water, and the opening sucked the sea and the watercar with it into the black bowels of Dakru.
***
Elei stood at the open door of the watercar, his Rasmus drawn, a finger caressing the trigger. The hangar was dark, quiet, and enormous. Faint green lights blinked on the machines crowding the far wall.
Cautiously he went down the steps, teeth gritting against the renewed pain in his leg, gun trained on every shadow, every corner. He limped around the watercar were seawater dripped in pools on the rough floor. Then he stalked between the other watercars, parked in orderly rows in the dimness.
“Clear?” Hera came to join him, longgun pointed up.
Although he couldn’t see a camera, that didn’t mean there wasn’t one. Giving one last look around, he started back toward their watercar. His foot dragged across the floor, and his Rasmus weighed a ton. He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to clear the haze. No food, no water, no sleep...
I can do this. He holstered the Rasmus and stumbled to the watercar ladder, his leg wobbling. Rex was weakening. Hopefully telmion wouldn’t flare yet. So close now, almost at the end.
A loud voice from the watercar, raised and high-pitched; angry. A clatter. A shout. What in the hells?
He ran, a stumbling lope, before he registered that he’d heard Kalaes’ voice. Kalaes was awake.
Elei climbed the ladder and burst into the cabin. The scene in front of him didn’t make sense. He braced himself against the wall.
Kalaes stood at the other end, head bowed, eyes glittering under his tangled black hair, pointing a longgun at Alendra. Sacmis had an arm across Alendra’s chest in a protective gesture.
Protective. Kalaes was going to shoot Alendra. He was going to... What in the five hells, had he lost his mind?
Elei took a step forward, only to find Kalaes’ gun trained on him. “What are you doing?” His pulse roared in his ears. “Put the gun down.”
“Stay back, Elei,” Sacmis said, her voice tight. “Maybe he does not recognize—”
“I can’t see,” Kalaes pushed the words through clenched teeth. “I just can’t... Elei, is that you, fe?”
“Yes.” Elei raised a hand. “Calm down—”
“There’re colors everywhere.” The gun wavered in Kalaes’ hand. “What in the hells is happening to me?”
Rex.
The gun came up again, and Kalaes drew a sharp breath, eyes narrowing. Elei’s hand twitched at the holster of his Rasmus, then he realized the longgun wasn’t even trained on him but somewhere to his left. He turned around, slowly.
Hera. She had her longgun aimed at Kalaes, her lips peeled back, her hair coming out of the twist at her nape.
“A demon of the deep,” Kalaes whispered, his voice thin and horrified. “She has claws, fe. Get out of the damn way!”
Rex, meet Regina. He forced himself to move between them, when Hera lifted her gun. Oh, shit.
“Hera, don’t you dare shoot.” Elei wondered if he should drop his gun and raise his hands.
“Then control him,” Hera said through gritted teeth.
“Kal,” Elei turned to him, “calm down. It’s Rex. That’s why you see what y
ou see.”
“What in the hells are you talking about?” Kalaes muttered.
“Elei infected you with Rex,” Sacmis said, stepping in front of Elei, ignoring his attempts to shove her away. “You were sick.”
Kalaes turned the gun on her. “Step aside.”
“No. I will not let you shoot Hera.” Sacmis planted her fists on her hips, sweetness wafting from her body, invading Elei’s jumbled senses.
Elei tried to push her, but she seemed rooted there. Snakes slithered on her arms and legs, insects darted between her blond locks, skittered down her back. His hand closed around the handle of his gun.
“Get away from her, Kalaes,” Hera growled, sidestepping them both and inserting herself between Kalaes and Sacmis. “You will not touch a hair on her head, do you hear? Or you deal with me.”
Sacmis stumbled aside. “Hera?”
“That’s Hera?” Kalaes swallowed. “You’re pissing kidding me, aren’t you? Screwing with me.” His gun was in Hera’s face, his finger trembling on the trigger. He kept squinting his right eye. “Why can’t I see properly?”
“Kal, put down the gun,” Elei said. “What you’re seeing isn’t real. I told you, it’s Rex’s doing. I’ll explain, just don’t shoot anyone.”
Alendra tugged Elei’s sleeve. “Come away. What if his gun goes off?”
“Rex needs some getting used to,” Elei muttered, disengaging her fingers from his hoodie. “Kalaes won’t shoot us. I’m sure he won’t.”
“How can you be sure?” Hera snapped. “You can hardly control it half of the time, and even I have trouble with Regina.”
“Hey.” Kalaes edged back but didn’t lower his gun. “I’m right here, okay? I may be half-blind, but I’m not deaf, so you may as well talk to me and pissing explain what Rex has to do with this.” He waved the gun, and all of them ducked. “Elei, come here.”
“No,” Alendra whispered. “Don’t.”
Elei moved around Hera to face Kalaes. Up close, he saw the infected eye, a startling blue. “I’m here.”
Kalaes reached out and gripped his forearm. “That you, fe? You’re just a blob of red and yellow, dammit.”
“Kal, listen to me,” Elei said. “You were sick with palantin. You were dying. Do you remember?”
The gun descended until it pointed to the floor, but Kalaes didn’t release him. “Yeah. Is this...” He licked his chapped lips. “I don’t know, the underworld or something? Am I dead?”
Well, technically, it was the underworld. But... “No, you’re not. You’re...” Tainted. Possessed. “You’re fine. What I—”
“He infected you with Rex to save your life,” Hera snapped.
Above his pounding heartbeat, Elei could just about hear Kalaes’ panting breaths, the watercar engine wheezing behind him. He smelled Rex on Kalaes — peppery and dry.
The gun slid out of Kalaes’ hand and thunked to the floor.
Elei twitched, expecting a wild shot, but nothing happened. “Kal, I’m sorry, I could see no other way. You were burning with fever and we couldn’t bring it down, and—”
“He’s right.” Alendra stood next to Elei. “Rex is the reason you’re alive.”
Kalaes lifted his hands as if to shut them up. “Is this... infrared vision, is that it?”
“Yeah,” Elei said, so low he barely heard it himself. Regret curdled in his stomach.
“Hells.” Kalaes retreated until his back pressed against the wall. He slid down and let his head fall back. “Oh, shit.” He didn’t look angry, only... shocked, his lips moving soundlessly, pale like paper, the three black lines of his tattoo startling against his cheek.
Elei crouched by his side and planted a hand on his shoulder. “Take deep breaths. The colors will fade and Hera will look normal again.”
Kalaes blinked slowly, then slid his gaze sideways to Elei. “All right then, I’ll...” His voice sounded strangled. Sweat beaded on his forehead. “I’ll calm down, just give me a minute. What... where are we?”
“Dakru. Deep underground. We’ll need to go as soon as possible. Do you think you can walk?”
He nodded, then bent his head and groaned. “Gods. You live like this, with these pissing colors jumping at you all the time? How do you do it and not go batshit?”
Elei shrugged. “Who says I’m not?”
“Very funny.” Kalaes fisted a hand in his hair. “No wonder you don’t talk much. Feels like there’s a damn sledgehammer pounding at the back of my eye.”
Elei ducked his head. “You get used to it. Sorry for—”
“Don’t you dare apologize for saving my life, fe.” Kalaes reached up and squeezed Elei’s arm. “If you can live with the damn parasite, then so can I. I’ll learn how to control the son of a bitch.” He looked up, his jaw working, and nodded at Hera. “Stop pointing that gun at me. I won’t shoot you, or your girlfriend, so relax.”
Hera pressed her lips together, lowered her longgun and holstered it. “Good to know.”
“What about me?” Alendra said, lips tilted in a smile.
“Ale...” Kalaes slumped back. “Shit, sorry for all this. Come here.” He smiled at her, then tugged on Elei’s arm. “Help me up, will you, fe?”
It took both him and Alendra to lift him to his feet and keep him upright. Still, he was standing and walking, and that was already more than Elei had hoped for.
Hera retrieved the longgun and passed it to Sacmis. “Time to get going.”
Neither of the Gultur offered to help with Kalaes, giving him space. They led their small group out of the vehicle to the other end of the hangar, where Hera proceeded to open the sliding doors.
Cat meowed and sprang through them, vanishing into the gloom.
They stood at the beginning of a dark tunnel, a cold breath of air ruffling Elei’s hair and slicing through his clothes. Kalaes’ shirt was soaked with sweat, and he shuddered as another gust of wind soared through the passage.
“Which way?” He adjusted Kalaes’ arm over his shoulders, and glanced at Alendra to make sure she could handle the weight. She offered a quick smile. Her lips were cracked, her small face drawn with exhaustion, and even like this he wanted to kiss her.
The faint outline of the corridor swam in his eyes.
“This way,” Hera said, and a spark of hope flared.
Hera would find a way out.
She usually did.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sacmis walked ahead, her longgun held in both hands, boots thumping lightly on the ground.
“Wait up,” Hera said, hurrying to catch up, but Sacmis did not slow. “Is everything all right?”
“All right?” Sacmis snorted. “You have nerve, asking that question, hatha, after you treated me like a traitor so many times. How could anything be all right?”
Sobek. “But I thought—”
Sacmis spun around. “You thought what? That you can treat me like crap and I’ll just stick around because I love you so much?” She shook her head and turned away, started walking again. “I do not need this.”
Hera’s pulse rose in her throat. “Sacmis, wait. You have to understand. Things were complicated.”
“Do not think that stepping in to take a bullet for me makes it all right,” Sacmis said, striding so fast Hera had to jog to keep up. “It is not enough.”
“I suppose not,” Hera said. She had stepped in front of the gun for a reason, and she would do it again. She could only hope it was not too late. “Sacmis, we need to talk.”
“We are talking.”
Hera halted. “You were right.”
Sacmis finally stopped. She gave Hera a long look over her shoulder. “And?”
“And...” Hera swallowed. “Part of it was Regina. But part of it was me and I have no valid excuses. I’m sorry. It will not happen again. I trust you.”
Sacmis’ lips pressed together, then parted and tilted in a smile. It was breathtaking. “You do?”
“With all my heart.”
***
Kalaes’ arm hung heavy over his shoulders, dragging him down. Alendra had stumbled some minutes back and he’d had to brace all three of them. His left knee felt wrenched.
Who cared? The main thing was they were all still standing. Although the way Kalaes listed, his face gray, standing wouldn’t be an option for much longer. There was only so much Rex could do without rest and food.
Cat trotted alongside. If Cat was there, Elei thought, they were going the right way. Crap logic, but his fuzzy mind liked it nonetheless. Anything to keep him going.
Hera crossed his path and he almost crashed into her. She gestured with her longgun toward Sacmis, who stood half-swallowed by darkness, flicking glances back and forth. Guarding them.
“What is it?” His throat felt raw like an open wound. His tongue was thick in his mouth, twisting the words.
“We’re there. It’s around the corner. Keep your eyes open, all right?”
He gave a small nod, tried to secure Kalaes’ limp arm over his numb shoulders. Was this what eternity felt like? Was that why the gods didn’t give a damn about anyone else anymore — too exhausted to pay attention?
And they were moving once more, Hera taking point, striding confidently and not the least wobbly, damn her, along the curve of the tunnel, then vanishing around the bend.
One step, one foot in front of the other, eyes glued to the smooth floor, not even caring if someone jumped them from the shadows, not able to care. Harsh breaths — his own, Kalaes’, Alendra’s, mingling in a cacophony that brought back memories of pain and fear, and he gritted his teeth, trying to blot it out, but it was inside his head, echoing in his skull. The corridor spiraled into darkness, heaved and pitched, and he wasn’t sure anymore if he supported Kalaes or if Kalaes supported him.
Elei's Chronicles (Books 1-3) Page 72
