by May Dawson
"Lie down and trust me," Nim ordered Dani and me.
"Wow, that's not how I want to hear those words." I could already imagine their tiny barbed feet brushing over my skin. Their fangs sinking into my flesh.
Ryker sat up with a gasp. He shook his head, as if he were clearing away cobwebs. "Okay. I'm okay."
Nim nodded at me impatiently.
I huffed and forced myself down onto the floor. The wood was hard and cold against my spine and head, and I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to make myself stay still.
"Sleep," Jacob said.
Think of anything but feathery legs whispering over your skin. Of fangs so close to breaking the surface of your skin.
Think of the heat of a Virginia summer day.
Condensation beading on the outside of your mason jar of sweet tea.
Lights strung up over the deck.
I gritted my teeth against the pain.
"Go to sleep, Ellis!" Jacob commanded.
I shook my head. Sleep wasn't coming. I wanted it desperately, as I felt the softest brush over my skin like a feather. I closed my hands into fists, forcing myself to stay still with every bit of will I had in my body.
The first bite stung. Despite myself, my leg jerked, and I raised my head to look down. But I couldn't see the spider that had crawled into my jeans, even though I knew it was there, its long legs wrapped around my ankle, its fangs in my skin.
I bit down hard on my lip and made myself put my head down. A spider crawled through my hair and across my face. From the corner of my eye, I could see its red translucent front legs wave. My hands balled into fists. Stay still. Mind over matter.
I felt legs soft on my right arm, and then on my left, as the spiders crawled over me. Despite my best intentions to be totally still, I heard myself make a soft, desperate noise in my throat, even though my lips didn't move.
"Don't you ever fucking listen to me?" Jacob asked, kneeling next to me. He batted away the spider on my cheek, then rested his hand in my hair. "Go to sleep, Princess."
I felt sleep yawn open in front, like a chasm I could fall into—away from the spiders—and then I felt the sting of a bite on my arm. My eyes snapped open wide. No. Go to sleep. I squeezed me eyes shut again, blocking out Jacob's handsome, worried face.
Once the second spider bit me, they began to swarm me. Long fragile legs almost felt like a tickle, and then they bit, and savage pain tore through my skin. There were so many of them that my whole body was on fire. My stomach squeezed with nausea as my muscles contracted in agony. I couldn't hold still anymore; I rolled onto my side, my legs pulling up into my stomach.
"It's working," Nim told me, although his voice seemed so distant. "They're moving on. Even though you didn't sleep. Guess I can even charm spiders!"
"I'm so happy for you," Ryker said dryly.
The bites I felt next were cold. A chill swept through my body.
Then I felt Ryker gathering me up, lifting me easily off the floor. He kissed my forehead. "You all right, Firestarter?"
I swallowed back the thick spit in my mouth from being so nauseous. The pain was fading fast now, replaced with an itchy sense all over.
"Getting better." I cocked my head at him. "Why do you like to hold me so much?"
His lips quirked up. "Why do you like to get yourself in trouble so much?"
The spiders still swarmed around the room, but they seemed to ignore us, now that we had been stung into unconsciousness.
"Let's hope we do have some time before they try to start the cycle again," Dani said. "I don't know how well we really remember a dinner conversation three years ago."
"Almost there," Jacob said.
"I'm surprised we didn't have any of these in the case," Nimshi mused. "I could have really used just half a dozen of these."
I stared at him.
"Sorry," he said. "Professional curiosity."
"I don't know what you're going to do with yourself if we all survive this," I said. "Ready to move," Jacob said warningly.
The four of us moved close to him, ready to go through the door.
"Look out!" Jacob yelled, even though Levi probably couldn't hear us from the other side of the door. He got up, bracing his hands on either side of the door, and kicked it in.
The door slammed into the chamber we'd entered. The elevator doors were open on the other side.
Between us and the doors, though, stood Mr. Joseph, Stephen and Cindy.
Cindy had a gun to Levi's head.
"Sleep," Jacob said, stretching his hand out to them.
Mr. Joseph turned his head, patting his ear, showing us something.
Ear plugs.
Nim stepped in front of us. "Let them go."
Stephen sighed. "You have been such a disappointment, son. Even without a soul, you are just so... sentimental."
41
"What are you doing here?" Cindy demanded. Her eyes fell on her daughter. "I can't believe you betrayed us."
"I can't believe you betrayed my brother," Dani said. "Just because Nim wanted to know where he came from? You let Hell rip his soul away."
"We didn't let Hell do anything," she corrected. "It was my idea."
"Your brother's always been so weak," Stephen said. "We thought maybe without his soul, he'd find his courage."
"The courage to kill? To be like you?" Nimshi demanded. He balled his hands into fists as he took one step toward Stephen and stopped. He clearly wanted to run at his father, but his eyes flickered to the gun pressed to Levi's temple. "I never wanted to be anything like you. Hedron was a better father, and he was a demon."
"Oh, Hedron." Stephen said. "Hedron never loved you. But he knew he had to make you love him. To act like the father you wanted."
"You're a goddamn liar," Nim said.
"And you're so goddamn human," Stephen said. "You embarrass me."
Minions. They were minions.
But not Nimshi's minions.
"I, for one, am so delighted that you're here," Mr. Joseph said. "What a stroke of good luck. We had just traced back some hacking activity and pinpointed the location. I was about to send my men there. I assumed you were up to something. But you've saved someone a good deal of trouble."
I forced myself to keep my eyes on his face and my expression neutral. Ash. Mom. Olivia. They were safe for now.
And we would fight our way out. We had before.
That was what I was trying to tell myself, anyway.
My eyes locked on Levi's. His eyes were wide, his nostrils flaring with the tension of the gun pressed to his temple. He looked back at me. Those deep blue eyes stared into mine. I saw him try to steel himself. His lips turned up in the faintest smile, and he winked at me. The tension was still there in how he held himself and in the fear in his eyes, but he was always brave. And I would be, too.
"Well, we seem to be at an impasse," Mr. Joseph said.
Stephen gestured to Dani. "Dani. Come here, honey."
"Dad, please let them go," she said.
"Just come here," he said. "No one's going to get hurt today. I promise you, sweetie."
Dani crossed to him, uncertainly. Nim reached after her, but he was too late; Cindy jammed the pistol even harder against Levi's head, locking eyes with Nim, and he stopped.
Stephen beckoned Dani to him. It looked as if he were reaching out an arm to wrap around her shoulders, to hug her into his side and comfort her.
Instead, Stephen grabbed her, planting her in front of his body. Suddenly there was a gun in his hand, and it was pointed at Dani’s head.
"I know you're not as fond of her as of you boys are of each other," Stephen said. "She's really never anyone's favorite. But we would like to keep the five of you alive, so I hope you'll take her as a gesture of our sincerity."
"Don't hurt her," Nim said.
"Ah, there we go," Stephen smiled. "That's my pussy of a son, living down to my expectations. All right. Anyone else?"
"What do you want?" Ryker dem
anded gruffly.
"We want you to go into the Far. There's five of you now."
"Great," Nimshi's tone was wary. "I need my soul to go into the Far."
"Yes, your soul. Give it to me." Mr. Joseph held out his hand.
Nimshi froze. His hand seemed to linger over his jacket, where the box was concealed in an inner pocket.
"You're going to do what we want," Mr. Joseph promised, his voice low. "Because you want to save your sister and the rest of these fools. But first, I'm going to put your soul back in your body. You get what you want. I get what I want."
"And what is it that you want?" I demanded.
"You're not asking questions here, Ellie," Stephen said. "Do it, Nimshi. I'll kill her."
"She's your bargaining chip." Nimshi drew the box from his pocket. "I don't think you're going to kill her that easily. This will be nothing but a bloodbath in seconds, and you know it."
Levi held a hand out. "Let's all settle down. You want something from the Far? Maybe we can get you what you want."
"Turn around. Back into my office," Stephen said. "You wanted to break in. Get your fill of the room."
I took a slow step back, feeling my way over the broken-down door which rocked under my feet, and then stepped back onto the solid teak floor. I felt my heel crunch over one of those hell-spiders.
Funny how now the hell-spiders didn't seem like the worst part of my day anymore.
"Turn around and keep going." Stephen dragged Dani along. She walked awkwardly, like her knees were frozen. I tried to nod at her encouragingly, but she stared back at me with wide, panicked eyes.
I turned around and we all walked back through the office, past the vault door that stood open.
"Open sesame," Stephen said.
The wall at the back of the room slid open.
Inside, there were slick gray walls.
I tasted acid in the back of my throat.
A demon's case.
42
"What do you want from us?" I demanded. I could feel the cold seeping up through the floor, even though I was wearing shoes this time.
"Go into the Far," Mr. Joseph said. "Show us that you can do it. Find my wife. Ask her to come back with you."
"Great," I said. "Can we have Nim's soul, please?"
"You don't need it to go into the Far." Mr. Joseph tossed the box in the air and caught it again in his palm. "I was kidding. If you're good boys and girls, you can have it back."
"What about Dani?" Nim demanded, moving forward as the doors began to close.
Stephen shrugged. "I think she's definitely grounded."
Cindy started to say something. While she was distracted, Dani dropped to the floor.
Dani swept her mother's legs out from underneath her. As Cindy fell, the gun went off. Dani was already up on her feet, scrambling for the elevator. I lost sight of her as the doors began to close between us.
A gunshot rang out. The doors slammed close. We were suddenly plunged into deep silence.
Nimshi hammered on the wall in exasperation. "Goddamn it!"
"They didn't," Jacob assured him. "It would make no sense to kill her. They're just trying to get in your head."
Nimshi turned, resting with his head on the slick gray wall. His chest heaved with emotion. "Right. Right. What's the plan again? How are we going to kill them?"
"For now, it might be easier to humor them," Ryker said. "We can call in..." He trailed off and then swore.
"Reinforcements? But we don't have any of those, because Hunters are assholes," Levi said.
"I never thought we'd agree," Nimshi said.
"How do you feel being on the wrong side of one of these?" Jacob asked, his voice low and harsh. There was sweat beaded faintly along his hairline, but other than that, he seemed to be holding it together.
"I think the decor could use some work." Nimshi shivered despite himself. "You really think she's okay?"
"I really do," Jacob said. "They're evil, not stupid. We'll get a chance to help her."
Nim nodded. The relief he felt was palpable. I sure hoped Jacob was right.
"How are they going to know?" Ryker paced around the room, looking up. "How are they going to tell if we go into the Far or not? They must be watching us somehow."
"There." Levi reached out and smacked Ryker's shoulder, then gestured up to a camera, as thin as a snake's head, in one corner of the room.
I flipped the camera the bird.
Jacob raised his eyebrows.
"I know, I'm immature, we've covered this before," I said. "I'm eighteen, cut me some slack."
"I was surprised it was just one." Jacob flipped two middle fingers at the camera. "There. Do you feel better now?"
"Not really."
"Let's get down to work," he said. "We can talk freely in the Far. They can't follow us."
"I've got an idea," Nimshi said. "About getting into the Far."
A few minutes later, we all shivered on the cold tile floor. I laid in the center, with the boys forming a square around me. I spread my arms out so we could all touch, our bodies a geometric shape on the floor.
The only other time I'd seen anyone lie like this, it was Roxie in the video. The only other Lilith I'd known of. Right before I saw her chest slashed open by some thing in the Far.
Okay, Ellis, not what you need to focus on right now. Think of happier things. Like punching a sword through Mr. Joseph's chest.
Nimshi's hand lifted away from mine as he made his big, flashy gesture toward the ceiling of the room.
We all stared up at one unified vision of the Far. Although it was Nimshi's strange vision.
"Are those monkeys in those trees?" I asked, squinting. "Are they having sex?"
"I was trying to keep it light," Nimshi said. "Let's walk forward together."
"Under these disturbing shaking trees," Jacob said. "God. We're going to talk this over first next time, Nim."
The five of us walked into the woods for real. Above us, branches shook, and leaves drifted down around us. A faint breeze stirred around us, rustling my hair back from my face.
Ryker's hand brushed against mine. "You okay?"
"I don't know how to answer that like a badass. This is not my best day."
"You don't have to be a badass," he reminded me. "Plain old Ellis Landon has never let us down before."
I quirked an eyebrow at him. "If you feel that way, why do you need to rescue me from spiders?"
"Why do you need me to not?" He bumped his shoulder against mine. "You know who you are. You know you're the leader of our little crew, no matter how much we fight over who's in charge and who's the best and—"
"It's always me," Jacob said. "No need to fight."
"We never fight about that," Levi said. "And it's never you."
"He's right about one thing though," Jacob said. "We have faith in you. And you should know by now to trust us."
"I'd feel better about this if we had weapons." Levi pushed through the woods ahead of us, moving quickly and lightly on his feet.
"Details," I said. "We've got our wits, and we've got each other."
The five of us emerged through the woods into a long green field. The field stretched away into the distance, but it was broken by a winding road.
"Right or left," Levi said. "Which way do you think we'll find a ghost?"
"Right," a warm voice said behind us.
I spun on my heels.
The ghost in front of us added, "Behind you."
In the shade of the woods, we could barely see her. And then she stepped forward, a woman with long blond hair, her hand resting on her flat belly.
"I'm the one you're looking for," she said. "Elaine Joseph."
"Well, this feels too easy," Ryker muttered.
"You're working for my husband."
Jacob snorted.
"Yes," I said, taking a step forward in front of the boys, before they could scare her away. "Would you go back with us? He's been looking for you."
&n
bsp; "Tell him it's time to let go," she said.
"People don't seem to be very good at that," Jacob muttered, and I wasn't sure I appreciated his implications.
"He has a second life now," she said. "And so do I."
"How are you staying here in the Far?" I asked. "Don't you want to go to Heaven?"
"Heaven is overrated." She rubbed her hand across her belly, even though her dress clung to her narrow waist.
Jacob asked, brusquely, "Weren't you pregnant?"
"Jesus." Ryker grabbed his shoulder and tugged him back, but Jacob was intent on her.
"Sorry," Jacob said, without a hint of apology. "But something here is off."
She smiled faintly. "Surely my husband gave you some way of forcing me back."
"No," I said. "We aren't here to hurt you. I know some people get in the Far and they want to stay here, for some reason—"
The sky was suddenly full of clouds. I looked up, wondering how I'd missed the gathering storm; the air smelled of sulphur.
The woman in front of me was skeletal, gray and angry.
"Now," she said fervently. She grabbed my wrist with her hand.
I screamed as her bony fingers latched around mine. I shoved her away hard, throwing her away from me. The sky folded down to meet the ground, carrying us away with it.
"What's going on?" I screamed.
Nimshi grabbed me, holding me tight. "They're pulling us back."
It hurt, like we were being squeezed and then pulled, wrung out. The entire area seemed to fold in around us like the universe was made of origami paper.
Levi ground out from behind gritted teeth. "He's pulling the ghost, too."
And then it felt as if we slammed back against the gray tile floor, even though we'd never really left. I scrambled to my feet, yanking my aching ankle out from underneath a fallen tree. Brown branches sprawled across the demon's case. We'd dragged part of the Far back with us.
"Now!" Mr. Joseph yelled. I turned to see the ghost-web, lit up with bright white lights.
The ghost flickered in and out of existence. She snarled at him. "Let me go."
"You're the one who haunted me," he said.
"You murdered me," she said. "You murdered our child. I'll never leave you, darling."
