He gripped me tighter, harder, his fingers digging in deep enough to bruise. Pain lanced up my back, and the spell was completely broken. Hurt. It hurt. I flailed, knocking against the shelf holding all the bottles and bath stuff. The clatter echoed against the tiles, and the edges of my vision bled to crimson.
Something surged up inside me, molten and dangerous and fucking furious. The splinter and crack of wood was like a gunshot, and then Valance was torn off me. Azren’s roar was a primal thing as he shoved the prince out of the bathroom.
Oh, fuck. Valance had tried to eat me, and not in a nice way. Oh, God. He’d actually... Azren, shit. I had to stop him from beating the shit out of his liege’s son. Legs like jelly, I climbed from the tub, grabbed a towel, and staggered into the hallway.
Azren had Valance pinned to the wall, fist drawn back to lay a punch.
Oh, shit. “Stop!”
Azren paused mid-punch, bicep trembling.
“Azren, you can’t. Elora will probably kill you if you hurt him.” I gripped his shoulder gently. “Please.”
Valance’s gaze was dazed, totally out of it. He looked intoxicated. His attention drifted from Azren to me. He blinked slowly several times and then his slack expression morphed into something intense and shell-shocked.
“Oh, fuck. Oh, fucking hell.” He vanished into thin air.
The ruby ring sat in the center of the kitchen table. I nursed the mug of hot chocolate and stared at the innocuous-looking item of jewelry. Who’d have thought it could cause so much trouble? The world was still fuzzy around the edges.
“It doesn’t fit anymore.” I picked it up and turned it over. “It adapted to fit me when Valance gave it to me, but now it’s too small. Have I put on weight?”
“I think she’s in shock?” Trevor said.
“My pinky was blue. I had to take it off, and we laughed, and then he ... he kissed me, and I wanted him to.”
“That’s his power,” Azren said. “When the prince feeds, the victims die in ecstasy. You were lucky.”
Lucky? “You saved me.” I looked up at him. “You were totally gonna kick his ass.”
Azren’s jaw ticked. “Yes. I forgot my place and you reminded me.” He ground out the words through clenched teeth.
“I think you’re my hero.” My grin hurt my cheeks.
“No. I take it back,” Trevor said. “She’s not in shock, she’s high.”
“Endorphins,” Azren said. “The prince’s saliva is filled with them. It will wear off soon. Just a few more minutes.”
“Drink your hot chocolate, Wila,” Gilbert urged.
I sipped and blinked and sipped, and slowly the world came back into focus, bringing a godawful headache with it.
“Oh, fuck.” Setting the mug down, I pressed my hands to my temples.
“It will pass,” Azren said tightly. He wouldn’t look at me. Why wouldn’t he look at me?
Sure enough the headache receded. “How many times have you seen this?”
“Enough,” Azren said.
“I don’t get it. The first time we met he said I smelled off, inedible. I don’t ...”
“It wasn’t your flesh he was feeding off,” Azren said. “It was your soul. I’m assuming that tasted fine to him.” His tone was laced with bitterness.
My hands went to my chest. “I felt it. I felt him taking it.”
“Luckily, neph souls aren’t so easily drained,” Azren explained. “He would have needed to feed for several hours to kill you.”
“But why attack me now? He’s been around me several times, and I know he doesn’t want to hurt me.”
“You do?” Trevor’s voice rose incredulously.
Now that my equilibrium was returning, now that it was possible to view the situation in a clear light, I was certain he’d never meant to hurt me. He’d somehow lost control.
“He saved my life under the mausoleum, and there’s no way he’s gonna piss off his mother by ending me. No. This was a slip up. I saw the shock on his face.” He’d looked devastated.
“As much as I am loath to admit it, I agree,” Azren said.
“Wait,” Trevor said. “Weren’t you the one who wanted to punch his face in?”
Azren exhaled through his nostrils. “I still do. But upon reflection, he was not himself. Valance is usually in complete control when feeding, and yet he looked dazed. Almost as if he was intoxicated.”
That was all very well, he’d messed up. We’d all been there. Okay, I’d never accidentally snacked on one of my colleagues before, but each to their own, however … “What’s stopping him from losing his head again? I mean, like it or not, he’s kinda part of the team, even if that part is affiliated to she-who-shall-not-be-named.” I leaned in conspiratorially. “I actually get the impression there’s no love lost between those two, but that may not stop him from snacking on me again.” I pressed my lips together to halt the ramble. Maybe I was still a little high off the endorphins.
“You don’t get to be alone with him,” Azren said simply.
“He’s right,” Gilbert said. “Someone will be with you; if not one of the others, then me. I’m surprised The Collective aren’t knocking on our door right now.” He sounded perplexed.
“Oh, shit. The Treaty.”
“Yes,” Gilbert said. “Valance feeding on you was a breach, and the Arcana magic in the Treaty would have detected it.”
“Unless the wards Noir installed are somehow interfering,” Trevor pointed out.
Azren was looking from me to Trevor, his brow creased in confusion. “Do you really believe the Arcana magic in the Treaty is used to detect every single breach?”
I met his gaze. “Um. Yeah.”
He shook his head, lowering his gaze to the table. “I suppose it makes sense that the Arcana would perpetuate that misinformation. But ask yourself this, if the Treaty could detect every breach, then why didn’t it detect the rogue Shedim?”
My mouth formed an ‘o.’ “Crap. Wait. Then what the heck does the Treaty do?”
“It’s an agreement that we won’t cross the border without an official invite or authority. And yes, your Arcana Institute probably has methods in place to check that we keep to that rule, however those methods wouldn’t extend to Arcane detection of every breach of contract. That power is being hoarded for a time when there is evidence of a Draconi plot to attack. In that case, the Arcana would release a burst of magic that would wipe out the Westside completely.”
We had that much power? “I don’t understand ... if the institute has that much power, then why didn’t they just use it at the beginning, when the breach first opened and your people spilled into our world.”
Azren’s eyes darkened. “Consequences.” His lips curved in a sardonic smile. “The expulsion of that much power would probably have negative consequences for the Arcana. Maybe they’d lose their power for some time. Maybe they’d damage whatever connection they have to the arcane.” He shrugged. “Whatever the reason, they’re holding it over us as a last resort.”
It was why Elora hadn’t gone to The Collective about the rogues. She couldn’t risk them finding out that a bunch of Shedim had breached the treaty just in case The Collective saw it as an act of war. Instead, she’d sent Azren to clean up the mess and contracted him to be my employee.
Well, that explained why The Collective weren’t knocking down the door. But another question was bugging me now, one that had cropped up a week ago and never been answered. “Why is Valance helping us? Covering for us about the loss of the dagger, warning us about the contract, that kind of thing.”
Azren was silent for a long beat. “You were correct in your earlier assumption. There is no love lost between the prince and his mother. She is far from maternal.” He blinked as if surprised by the words he’d uttered. “Valance would happily act to undermine her.”
“Okay, I feel there’s more to this revelation.”
His lips twisted, and he closed his eyes, breathing evenly in and out of his n
ose. “There is no more that I can tell you. Just that if there is a way for him to derail her plans, then I am certain he would employ it.”
“But this was his idea. You had me by the scruff of my neck, shaking me like a bag of bones, and then Valance whispered in his mummy’s ear, and then bam she comes out with the whole contract deal.”
Azren frowned. “Maybe he merely wished to spare your life?”
“Well, there’s only one way to know for sure and that’s to get him to answer the damn question without employing any evasion tactics. He owes me.” I glanced at the clock above the cooker. “Shit, look at the time. I need to get dressed for the party.”
Azren gave me an astounded look. “You’re not seriously still considering going, are you?”
“Drop it, Az,” Trevor said. “This is the woman who got swallowed whole by a Karnworm and cut her way out from the inside. Covered in green gloop and entrails, she was. A near-death experience, it was, and what did she do? Shower, put on her glad rags, and head out for a pint. This soul sipping, it ain’t got nothing on the Bastion files.”
Oh, damn, I’d almost forgotten about the Karnworm. The ugly fucker had been snacking on the Southside canine and feline population, and it’d almost had me for supper.
Azren still didn’t look too keen. “You’re insane, you know that?”
I scooted back my chair and moved around the table. “Thanks for the memo. Look, you don’t have to come. I know it may not be your scene ... you know, all that F-U-N.”
He gave me a deadpan look. “The fun on my side of the border would probably kill you. I’m sure I can handle your definition.”
Gilbert let out a choked laugh.
“Oh, is that a challenge?” I braced my palm on the table beside him and leaned in.
He lifted his chin, meeting my glare head-on, but there was no playfulness in his expression, only a probing intensity. “It’s all right to take a moment to fall apart.”
His words poked at my vulnerable center, the part that was usually hidden under a coat of armor but that the incident with Valance had yanked to the surface. “Yeah? And how often do you allow yourself to fall apart?” Anger flared in my chest. “Just because I don’t have a dick doesn’t mean I need to melt down every time a fucking monster gets his claws into me.”
The part of me that knew he meant well was drowned out by years of instinct. When things got bad, we put on our big-girl boots and grabbed another case, and then another, until the bad feelings just went away. There was no point in dwelling on how vulnerable I’d been in response to Valance’s attack. It wouldn’t change anything. It was over. I was okay. Time to move on. I swept from the room and ran smack bang into a frail-looking woman hovering in the foyer.
“Oh, my. Oh, dear, I fear you’re closing up for the night.” She flapped her hands in agitation.
Perfect. “Hey, it’s okay. I have a few minutes. What can I help you with?”
She raised her red-rimmed eyes to mine. “Oh, my dear, I do believe I have a monster in my attic.”
4
The old lady lived alone on the edge of Southside in the ramshackle homes that were more deathtrap than sanctuary. Shingles from the roof littered the ground outside the building, and the windows were covered in grime, but despite its sorry state of disrepair, this building would have been beautiful in its heyday.
Instructing the old woman to remain outside, Azren and I headed up the worn stairs, past dust-covered frames of family portraits containing happy people and past peeling floral wall paper. We hovered under the hatch that led to the attic. I shifted from foot to foot, trying to ease the pinch in my toes. First my hands and now my feet? What was this? A late growth spurt?
“Why are we here?” Azren asked roughly. “You don’t really believe there’s a monster up there.”
“It’s unlikely. But she’s scared, so there must be something—maybe a bird or bats. If we can help, then we should." Plus, it gave me something to focus on aside from being soul sucked by Valance in the shower.
Azren studied me for a long beat. “I doubt she has any money to pay you.”
“Do I look like I go around extorting grannies?”
His eyes narrowed. “I thought you were running a business.”
Ooo. He was throwing the words back at me that I’d hit him with when we’d first met. “Yeah, I am. My business. So I get to do whatever the fuck I want. I can think of worse things to do than helping put an old lady’s mind to rest.”
“There are no old ladies on my side of the border.” He said the words softly, almost as if he was speaking to himself.
“What?”
He averted his gaze for a second as if suddenly uncomfortable. “The elderly and feeble serve no purpose and so they are culled.”
Wait, had he just said ... “Culled? You mean you kill them?” Okay, so my voice had risen several octaves, but this was ridiculous. “How could you do that?”
He shrugged. “They have a duty to remove themselves from society, and when the time comes, they enter the Sleeping.”
“Where you kill them.”
“They are put to rest, yes.”
“Killed. They are killed. Come on, say it. You kill old people.” I threw up my hands. “Not using the word doesn’t change the facts.”
His jaw clenched. “We do not have the resources and connections to the rest of this world that Arcana City has. Our resources are limited, and those unable to contribute to the functioning of society are a burden. It’s simply a fact.”
“Nope, uh-uh. There is no justifying murdering old people.”
The lines of his face tightened and sharpened as his glamour weakened in the face of his anger. Yeah, he was pissed, but so was I.
“I don’t make the rules, I follow them,” he snapped.
“Yeah? Then maybe it’s time you stopped being a fucking puppet and thought for yourself.”
His eyes flared bright green, and his face rippled as the glamour fell away, giving me a glimpse of the monster beneath. It lasted less than a second, but the flash was a cruel reminder of who I was dealing with. He was a demon. Elora’s right-hand man, and no matter how close we grew, he’d always be loyal to his liege and her inhumane methods.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Forget it. Forget I said anything.”
His glare softened. “It’s not as easy as a click of your fingers.”
I reached for the string attached to the concertina folded ladder pressed to the hatch. “It could be.” Why was I still trying to influence him? He was what he was, but my mouth refused to quit, because, heck, he couldn’t be the bad guy. He wasn’t. “Things could change if enough people stood up to Elora.”
His ire was back in an instant. “How can you be so naive? Challenging the order would bring nothing but war. Why do you think Elora bound you to the contract? Why do you think we’ve been charged to find the rebels?” He stepped closer, and I held my ground. “The rebels challenge the order. If left unchecked, they could bring us to war once more.”
I lifted my chin to meet his fiery green gaze. “So, it’s better to live in oppression than fight for freedom, is that it?”
His eyes flashed and then he snorted in disgust and stepped back. “It’s easy for those who have not seen war to judge those who have trudged through it. Elora ended the carnage, and things may not be perfect, but there is peace. We must stop the rebels.” He sighed and the fire bled out of his stance. “Besides, aren’t your people as much slaves to the Arcana as we are to the Draconi? Why don’t you fight back?”
He had a point, and it was an uncomfortable thought. Our society was a faux democracy. On the surface, we had a say, but in reality, the final decision would always be made by those in power.
Something thudded above us.
“Excuse me? Have you caught it yet?” the old lady called up from the hallway.
“It’s all right, Ms. Finch, just go back outside. We’re on it.” I gave Azren a look of finality; this conversation w
as over.
For now.
Azren slid the dagger I’d loaned him from its sheath and nodded. With K gripped firmly in one hand, I pulled the string. The ladder descended soundlessly. The old biddy had kept it in good nick, which was weird, because how often did she go up there?
Another thud, but softer this time.
Azren and I locked gazes in silent communication. Okay, there was definitely something up there. He gestured that he should go first.
Sweet, but this was my gig. I shook my head and then began to climb. The hatch wouldn’t budge at first, but a hearty shove had it cracking open. Dust billowed out, catching me on an inhale. My cough was a rough rasp. It had been a while since anyone had opened that door. Which begged the question, if something was hiding up here, then how had it got in? Via the roof, maybe? Was there a breach somewhere? Had there been an attic window? I should have checked for this shit before entering the building.
With another heave, the hatch door fell back, exposing nothing but darkness. A white string fell in my face. The light switch, no doubt. A tug, but no joy. Okay, we were going in blind. At least the space was boarded. Or so the old lady had said.
Darkness closed around me and the musty air tickled the back of my throat. My night vision kicked in and shapes and lumps became visible—boxes, trunks, old furniture, and knickknacks. The space was large and there was definitely moonlight coming in from somewhere—possibly a hole in the roof, maybe even the breach that the intruder had used to gain access?
Azren popped up behind me, his dagger catching the meager light and glinting dully. My scalp prickled. There was definitely something up here. Climbing up into the room, I moved slowly and silently across the dusty boards. The space wasn’t as cluttered as it could be, but there were plenty of places for the intruder to hide. The most obvious suspects would be one of the little people—a boggle or a hobgoblin. They were vagrant creatures who moved from place to place, never settling anywhere too long. Myth said that their ancestors had lived alongside humans at one time and acted as invisible aides around the home, but those creatures were gone, back to their world, leaving behind confused neph descendants struggling to deal with this strange attraction to homes that didn’t belong to them.
City of the Lost (Chronicles of Arcana Book 2) Page 4
