Trap

by Mary E. Twomey

  Finn stumbled forward, now that someone on the inside had granted him entry. “How did you do that? I’ve been calling you for ages, trying to find a way in.” He was sweating from head to toe, visibly exhausted.

  “I took a chance. You alright?”

  “No! I’m not alright. I’ve been panicked that I marched you to your death! What’s happened? Did you do it?”

  Finn was the only person I’d confessed my master plan to. I shook my head, lowering my voice to a whisper. “I kissed him, so the curse is broken. He can die now. But he found my dad, Finn! My dad’s his long lost best friend. My dad is Levi, the apprentice who got kicked out of the last Kapre’s service with him. He’s in there now, yelling at Philip for everything he did to Allie and me. I don’t know how to kill him without getting Levi involved.”

  Finn straightened, looking down his nose at me. “First off, his name is Sama, not Philip. Second, no one knows what came of Levi. I’ve seen a portrait of him though. I can assure you, you’re not his daughter. He lived over a century ago. Maybe Sama found a way to cheat death, but I think we’d all know it if Levi had done it too.”

  “If you know what he looks like, then come to the hut and take a look. Either way, make sure you don’t hurt him.” I squeezed his hand. “I have a dad, Finn!”

  Finn’s expression was dubious, and not excited, as I’d hoped he’d be. “We’ll see about that. But sure, I’ll let the council have him instead of gutting him myself.”

  “That’s the spirit. This way.” I grabbed his wrist and pulled him in the direction of the hut, but he didn’t budge. “Let’s go.”

  “Not yet. I’m still getting over the shock of you being gone and then being here. Give me a second. You’re really okay? He didn’t...”

  “Nothing happened. I kissed him, and then my dad turned from a dog into himself. It’s been a little surreal. Not quite the Brady Bunch I’d pictured, but you know, what else is new?”

  Finn pulled me in, tilting my chin up with the butt of his knife. “Don’t ever vanish like that again. I can’t take you disappearing.”

  “What if I was a magician’s assistant, and it was all part of our scammy act?”

  “Not even then.”

  “You’re no fun.” I scratched a spot on my elbow. “Let’s kill Philip and be done with it.”

  “Sama,” Finn corrected me. “Don’t go getting confused. It’s a monster we’re dealing with, not a man in love.”

  “I know, I know.”

  “I’m the man in love.” The corner of his mouth tugged upward as he looked down at me, taking in the scope of my hopeful expression. “That was some kiss. Did you really see it? Our life together?”

  I nodded, swallowing my guilt. “I saw it.”

  “I love you, you know.” Then he palmed my chin and brought my face close to his, planting a kiss to my lips that made my heart race. When he released me, I had to blink away the traces of silver and green that impeded my vision. “I told you I’d find a place where we could be together.”

  “Philip first, then we can talk about all that.” I didn’t exactly know how that conversation was going to go, but I knew that everything short of a Brady Bunch reunion could wait until after Philip was dealt with. I started forward, but Finn stayed in place. I turned to face his expression that wreaked of displeasure. “What’s wrong?”

  “Sama. You keep calling him Philip. You’re scaring me. Now I’m wondering if you don’t really understand how bad he is, that you think he’s redeemable, or that he can be reasoned with. Tell me you understand that he’s got nothing for you but the worst of intentions.”

  I nodded, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. “I know he’s bad. The death penalty’s around for a reason. And you can hold your breath about Santa Claus, because I know the truth about him, too.”

  “Who? Focus, October. Sama, not Santa. When we get in there, I need to know you won’t hesitate on me.”

  I took my backpack from him and pulled out the overlarge balisong blade he’d given me for protection so long ago, opening it to ready for the fight. Examining my face in the reflective surface of the blade, I noted the differences in my optimism that were plain on my face. Maybe at one point I might’ve thought Philip redeemable. I’d gambled on many a prisoner’s rehabilitation into society, and lost more times than I’d won. I knew there were some crimes you could be absolved from, and that others went too deep to scrub away.

  I could see in the steadfast coldness of my eyes that my sins couldn’t be escaped – that eventually I’d have to pay for all of it. But today was Sama’s day of reckoning. “Don’t worry, Finn. I won’t hesitate.”

  Thirty-Two.

  Take me Home

  We heard shouting before we saw the hut. It was the incoherent rantings of a man enraged, and the excuses of a defendant with no solid defense. “How could you do that? You knew they were my daughters, and you seduced them anyway?”

  “Your magic runs deep, Levi! I knew if I was ever going to be able to have a child, it would have to be from a lineage with more cunning and more magic than the usual selection. I knew you would’ve blessed your own children. I tried other women – you have no idea how hard I tried – but it was only your daughters. Allie couldn’t carry the baby to term, no matter how many times I tried.” The sounds of fists hitting flesh reached us, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

  Finn held his finger to his lips as we moved through the bare trees, pausing before the sand beneath us grew polluted with dirt and bramble. He was right; it would give us away if we continued forward. The crunching underfoot would be too loud.

  I could only make out a few angry words from Levi that were peppered between the punches. When Philip finally begged for mercy, the punching stopped. “You deserved that, you know. You took my Allie away from me. You warped her mind to take her away from her brother and sister so you could get her pregnant? You wouldn’t have been able to keep the baby even if she had carried it to term. You’re stuck here! What was the plan? Let me tell you the nightmare it is to have a child you can’t get to.”

  “I have spies. I have allies all over Terraway. I’ve been able to help Ekeks and Manas get Topside when the famine was too brutal. I would’ve had them snatch the baby and bring him to me. I had a plan! I would’ve cared for your grandson and trained him to be as great and powerful as we were. I would’ve been better than our old master, who was always limiting us.”

  Levi’s shout rose to a roar. “You would’ve cared for my grandson? What of my daughters? Did you care for them? My Allie’s in a hospital!”

  Something about the possessive way Levi claimed her as “my Allie” rallied hope in my breast and stirred up faith in my soul I hadn’t known was there. To hear him put his stamp of ownership on the sister I loved jerked emotion to my tear ducts. Would that Allie could witness our father’s devotion.

  I could hear the danger of Philip reclaiming his bearings, yelling with fury instead of apology. “You don’t get to judge me! See what you wouldn’t consider, stuck in here for an eternity!”

  “I would never ruin your family! Give me a thousand years in this prison, and I wouldn’t take what was precious to you just to use it up and throw it away. My Allie deserved better than this!”

  Philip scoffed. “Allie was weak. I chose her because I assumed she’d have your purity of strength, but she was barely able to fight through the first trimester.”

  I lunged forward, animalistic in my rage that he’d insult the girl who’d shown unswerving strength of spirit when it came to raising me. Finn caught me around the middle, cupping his hand over my mouth and holding me back. “Wait, October.”

  Levi’s voice dropped to a deadly quiet that sent a chill up my spine. “Say it again. Tell me how you used my daughter, almost killed her and then have the nerve to call her weak. Tell me how she survived you, but she still measures out weak.”

  I closed my eyes, picturing with perfect clarity Philip’s calm and cocky countenan
ce as he uttered the unforgiveable. “Allie was fit for one thing, and she couldn’t even be of use for that. She made for amusing sport before I tired of her.” His over-enunciation of the last bit made me see red in my murderous haze. “Your daughter is weak.”

  I probably should’ve expected the body flying out the open doorway to be Philip’s, but I yelped all the same when he landed in a pile of limbs not five yards from where Finn and I stood. Levi stormed out of the hut with purpose in his eyes and murder in his fists.

  He was fast, but I was closer, so Philip got a shoeful of my wrath first when I broke loose from Finn’s grip. Errant cussing flew out of my mouth as I let loose on the man who’d haunted me – my own personal, tangible ghost. I punched him across the face, but my anger still wasn’t satisfied. Allie wasn’t with me, so until she was, Sama would pay. I slashed a line with my knife across Sama’s thigh when he kicked out to get me off him.

  “October, stop!” Levi yanked me off of Sama and tossed me backward with Mason-like strength. My body bounced three times before a tree stopped me, bringing me banging to a halt when my shoulder smacked into the hard bark. It was then I remembered that being Matruculan with uncut hair made you as strong as The Hulk, duh, and Levi had long dreads that swung out wildly as he turned his fury on Sama.

  My dad was a friggin’ superhero.

  Levi pointed his finger to me in warning. “It’s my duty to end him. You stay put.”

  My eyes found Philip’s that shone with malice as he pierced me with his snarl. “I loved our daughter enough to try and bring her back! I took her bones and gave them flesh! Without me, she has no chance of coming back to us!”

  It was the punch in the gut I wasn’t expecting. Without thinking it through, my mouth opened just before Levi reached Philip, and I yelled, “Dad, stop!”

  I think the only thing that could’ve stopped him was me calling him by his proper paternal title. Levi skidded to a halt and whirled on me, his face filled with wonder. “So long I’ve waited to hear you call me that.” He shook his head at me, his hand over his heart. “But it doesn’t matter what he says now. It’s his final hour.”

  “But if he can give me back my daughter, let him live just long enough for that!” I hated the begging in my voice, but I realized that when it came to September, I would lower myself to any depths, even begging the man I hated to give me hope. I moved to stand on unsteady feet, my balance off after the rough landing. “Please, Philip! Where is she?”

  Philip’s snarl softened as he sat up, clutching the gash I’d given his thigh. “I can take you to her body. I’ve almost got her reanimated. I just need a few more things, and we can have her back.”

  Finn moved closer to Philip, his knife drawn and too much purpose in his eyes. “Finn, stop! Where’s September? Where’s my daughter? Give her back to me!” The horrible cracking in my shout scared me with my loss of control. I needed my daughter, and if there was a small chance she might be saved, I would fight to the death for that sliver of hope.

  Levi’s voice was steady, making mine seem all the more unbalanced. “I know the magic he’s speaking of. It’s one of the original modifications the first Kapre made to civilians of Terraway to ensure we were all buried properly. It wouldn’t bring her back, October. It doesn’t bring any of them back. It gives us their shell. Trust me that you don’t want your daughter’s shell without her soul.”

  “I can give you more than a shell!” Philip’s promise made my heart soar with confusion and anticipation I didn’t know how to keep in check.

  I turned my head to the left and the right one time, making up my mind on the spot. “I need to see her. I need to make sure it’s not possible.”

  Levi’s shoulders lowered, and an immovable look came into his eyes. “Trust me to know the rules of this world. Trust me that I wouldn’t kill my granddaughter, that I would save her if there was a chance.”

  I was too caught up in my own dilemma. I was too focused on Levi and the loyalty he swore that would ask me to leave my daughter to the dust. I was too lasered into the hazel that was identical to mine, and all that it stirred up in me to have my father not just be near me, but also want to be near me.

  I was lost in the swirling moment, so I didn’t pay attention when Finn’s knife swung out from behind Philip, piercing through the villain’s back. Once, twice, three times he ran Philip through, all at different points along his back. I screamed as Philip made a sound like he’d merely been shoved from behind. His head bobbed back and flung forward as Finn retracted his knife and stumbled away from the bloody mess. Then Finn fell to the ground, as if caught up in a random fainting spell.

  “No!” Levi shouted, surprising me by running to Finn, leaving his oldest friend to flop on the dirt as he struggled for life and breath. Levi knelt at Finn’s side, gripping his upper half with frustration I didn’t understand. Finn hadn’t been stabbed. Finn had been the one stabbing Philip. “It was my responsibility! October’s my daughter! I was meant to die for this, not you! I don’t even know you! You don’t belong in this fight!”

  “Die? What? Finn, what’s wrong?” I expected him to maybe have tripped over a stick or something, and for that to be the source of his fall. When Levi dragged Finn away from Philip so he was a safer distance apart, I saw with horror Levi’s hand that supported Finn’s back was coated in blood.

  “Finn!” I ran to him, dropping to my knees on his other side. My hands flitted over his face as I checked his weakening pulse. “You’re okay! You’re fine!” I was frantic as I leaned him forward, gasping that there were identical stab wounds on his back that matched the ones he’d given Philip. I screamed like a lunatic, losing the parts of my mind that normally went into nurse mode.

  Levi lowered Finn to the dirt, clutching his hand as Finn fought for breath, his eyes wide. “Sama and I put a protection on ourselves before we took the elixir of Matalo. If someone tried to kill us, they themselves would be killed in the same manner. It’s why I threw you back. I didn’t want you to kill him. I was supposed to kill him. This was to be my sacrifice!” He focused on Finn. “Soldier, tell me your name. Tell me what message you’d like passed on to your kin, and I’ll deliver it myself. I’m so sorry. This battle wasn’t meant for you.”

  Finn’s eyes were wide as he choked on blood that spat out onto his lips. He looked scared, frantic to undo the wrong that had been done to him. He touched his chest over and over, but no relief came. I could tell he’d punctured both his lungs. He mouthed something when his shocked eyes were finally able to focus on my face.

  I sobbed over his body, trying to think of something – anything that could make it all not be real. “What, Finn? Tell me anything. I’m here. I won’t leave you.”

  “Take me,” he choked out when I leaned closer. Our noses were almost touching, bathing me in what couldn’t possibly be Finn’s final breaths. A tear dripped from my cheek onto his.

  “Anywhere. I’ll go with you anywhere,” I promised. “I’m sorry. This is my fault. I love you, Finn. Tell me how to undo it!”

  He gasped again, each movement making his mouth open wider, as if he hoped to be able to fill his lungs that had never seen much in the way of limitations before. His Kataw enhancements allowed him to hold on much longer than Philip’s now lifeless body had. A tear spilled from the corner of his eye. “Take me home, sinta.”

  I didn’t need any other words to know that he wanted our home. Our cottage on the beach. I nodded, gulping through a sob that this was how this great man in my life would come to an end. I gathered him to me, coating my hands in his blood as my lips brushed to his. I tasted his blood, inviting his insides into mine so I could carry him with me. As the kiss deepened, I tasted the ocean and coconuts. I tasted salty air and heard trumpets. I saw violent streaks and lightning bolts of green and silver as my lips trembled in time with his.

  Then I saw our cottage. I grabbed Finn’s hand as my feet touched the pure white sand and ran for the safety of our home. “Hurry!” I yelled,
panicked that we wouldn’t make it. The sky was gray, a storm rolling in to darken the sunshine I’d taken for granted.

  Finn ran beside me, strong and young, filled with all the things I’d always loved about him. I tripped on the sand and he righted me, holding my hand tight so we didn’t lose each other. Green, glittery lightning struck mere feet from us, driving our panic higher still. “We’re almost there! Don’t lose me, October!”

  “Never! I’m right here, and I won’t let go.” I charged forward, running with everything in me to the safety of our special place. The sand was the worst kind of obstacle, slowing me down so it felt like my limbs were moving through thick molasses. The cottage seemed like it was an eternity away, but I was determined not to let his hand drop. I glanced down and saw that my palm was slick with his blood, making my grip slippery. “Hold on! I’ve got you!” I heard the horrible desperation in my voice that cracked with too many tears and too much stacked against us.

  I don’t know how we reached the porch, but when I flung the door open and stumbled inside, my foot caught the floorboard at just the right angle. I pitched forward into the cabin, crashing down and knocking over the end table in the process. The perfect picture of our future shattered as it hit the floor, but I didn’t care about broken glass. I clutched the bent frame to my chest as I sat back on my heels, heaving with a gust of relief that we’d done it. “We made it! I can’t believe we did it. Finn, are you...” I turned to get a glimpse of him in our home, but where he should’ve been, there he wasn’t. “Finn?”

  The ocean went silent, and the green and silver that lined my periphery began to fade with every blink. “Finn?” I stood, noticing for the first time that the trumpets were gone. My legs moved of their own accord to the doorway, finding Finn’s footprints in the sand leading up to the cabin, and then vanishing. I clutched the frame in one hand and braced myself on the doorjamb with the other. A guttural, anguished cry erupted from my innards, spilling out onto the ocean that felt unbearably empty. “Finn!”