Bound

by Alan Baxter

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You just had a major success. Uthentia wants you dead, it wants your demise to be as spectacular as possible. We should have been caught by those mutants, strung up and fucking eaten or something. I was caught by them, but the stone saved you. You beat them. The book is pissed about it, so you’re feeling pissed.’

  The aggravated emotions ran through every part of him, convoluted and confused, she was right about that. And the book was angry. ‘Maybe,’ he conceded.

  ‘Own your feelings, Alex. Don’t feel what it feels. Differentiate yourself. You’ve just gained enormous power. The more power you have, the more chance you have of beating it. Rejoice in that. Defy the evil bastard!’

  A fire rose in his mind and groin. ‘I want to fuck you so hard.’

  ‘Just as well we’ve still got a room.’

  They reached the hotel in minutes and almost ran up the stairs. Alex pulled at her jacket as they climbed, laughing as she batted at his hands. She was right. He should feel good about what he’d survived, and nothing celebrated success and survival like sex.

  An image rose in his mind, the night before, blood in the alleyway, Silhouette’s snout buried deep in the wino’s body, her conversation with Joseph. Uthentia’s laughter bubbled through his mind. Fuck you, stop trying to turn me against her! But perhaps he should consider that. Could he trust her? The fire in him, his rage and frustration, swelled. He growled his anger at the book, I’ll make those decisions, not you. He pictured Silhouette naked, pictured her riding him, sweating and moaning, and his passion smothered his anger again.

  ‘You okay?’ she asked.

  ‘Oh yeah, get inside!’

  They fumbled at the door, finally getting the key straight, and fell into the room. They threw their jackets to the floor and stiffened instantly, lust freezing solid in their veins.

  ‘Hello there,’ said a small, wiry man. He reclined in the old armchair, his dark trenchcoat lay around him like a cape. He had one foot resting on the opposite knee.

  Silhouette dropped into a crouch, growling. Alex let the power of the stone flood through him, hardening his bones. Fucking or fighting, either or both were fine with him.

  ‘Now, now,’ the small man said. ‘Let’s not get all crazy.’

  ‘Who are you?’ Alex asked, deliberately keeping his voice calm, level. ‘How do you keep finding us?’ The shades around the strange, thin man were colours and shifts he didn’t recognise, shades that seemed truly alien. But he read the man’s calm confidence and iron resolve clearly. Whatever he was, he seemed to think his job was done and the rest would be easy.

  ‘You smell unique,’ the man said. ‘You’re not easy to track, but I’m something of an expert.’

  ‘Who are you?’

  ‘People call me the Subcontractor.’

  Silhouette sidled around, putting a gap between herself and Alex. ‘And what exactly do you want?’ she asked.

  ‘Well, I’ve been given a task.’ He wriggled one hand at Alex. ‘You’ve got a couple of things there. Very interesting things.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘More powerful than they were before, even.’

  ‘That’s no concern of yours.’

  ‘Ah, but it is. I am to take those things from you for my client. Technically, my job is also to kill you both, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I know my client well. Give me what he requires and he won’t care about you any more, so I can let you live if you comply.’

  Alex barked laughter. ‘You serious? You tiny little freak, I’m not giving you anything.’

  ‘Be careful, Alex,’ Silhouette said, not taking her eyes from the Subcontractor.

  ‘Careful?’

  ‘Whatever this is, it’s very dangerous.’

  The Subcontractor grinned broadly, his mouth crammed with teeth. ‘You see, Alex, she shows respect. You, on the other hand, are very rude. I cannot abide rudeness.’

  He moved so fast that Alex hit the wall on the far side of the room before he realised the fight was on. A wave of panic froze his limbs for a moment, adrenaline surging through his veins. He hadn’t seen a thing. He had been watching the man’s shades and they were alert, but there had been no indication of any movement. Silhouette slammed into the Subcontractor a millisecond before the thin creature’s teeth snapped shut on Alex’s throat.

  Alex sucked air back into his lungs, aware of the book’s joy. It wanted him to fight and lose. ‘Fuck you!’ Alex yelled, to the book, the Subcontractor, the universe and everything in it.

  He gathered the power of the Darak. The more he used the magic, the more expertly he could manipulate it. The Subcontractor rolled with Silhouette’s attack and the two of them fell. As Silhouette rolled underneath, Alex closed the distance and collected the Subcontractor’s head against one iron shin. The small man flipped up and over, crashing a tall lamp against the wall as he flew.

  Silhouette gained her feet in an instant and they bore down on the Subcontractor. Magesign pulsed off the man and his human appearance dropped away like a discarded coat. Shining black chitinous armour covered him. Vaguely man-shaped, four limbed, but backward jointed, he crouched low. His face shone dark and featureless in the low light of the room, his mouth wide, row upon row of sharp, silica-like teeth. A long, forked tongue flickered out, tasting the air. His hands flexed, long, sharpened fingers writhing hungrily.

  ‘What the fuck are you?’ Alex breathed, moving cautiously.

  Silhouette mirrored his movement, trying to take the other side. The Subcontractor shivered its head, several tiny eyes glistening under a ridge of chitin. Alex tried to read its shades, but they were all textures and colours he couldn’t understand. The creature sprang towards Silhouette. As Alex moved to go with it, it changed direction, kicking out at Sil and slamming into Alex with bone-crunching speed.

  Silhouette cried out, flying over the bed to land in a heap on the floor. She writhed in pain as Alex tried to keep his breath, hammering blows across the creature’s slick, hard skull as its hands swiped, tearing the flesh of his arms and chest. Wherever it struck it drew blood and left stinging agony.

  Alex’s vision crossed, his lungs burned, his knuckles bled along with everywhere the thing struck. An unfamiliar terror rose in his mind. It was stronger than him, and faster. It had shades he couldn’t decipher. He kicked out in desperation, forcing a space between them, and staggered away, trying to buy time. Everyone has a weakness, Alex. Defend until you find it.

  It was on him again, moving in unnatural patterns, exercising techniques he couldn’t predict. He blocked and dodged, diving across the room. He’d be damned if he’d die here and give the book any pleasure. The creature stayed with him, snatching and snapping. If it got a grip with those teeth, he’d be done for. He dropped low, spinning on one hand and one foot, sending a kick around into the side of its head. He was rewarded with a dull thwack and the thing stumbled sideways. Alex sprang in the opposite direction, watching it closely as it moved.

  It turned on hard, spindly legs, the reversed knee compressing as it bunched up to spring again. Alex drew all the considerable power of the stone and used it for speed, diving away as the Subcontractor came at him. As it moved again, he saw his opportunity.

  He rolled aside, fiery agony from a long claw arcing across the back of his shoulder as he moved. As the Subcontractor turned to spring, Alex reversed his own movement and leapt back underneath. The creature flew above him and Alex grabbed one thin leg and rolled. He twisted, using his body weight to slam the thing into the floor and locked one forearm against the knee joint. He cranked with all his might. The thing clashed its teeth as its knee disintegrated with a wet snap. It hissed a high scream of pain, its hands a blur of sharpened torture as Alex rolled clear.

  It became harder to concentrate through the pain. Alex knew he was losing blood. This had to end. The Subcontractor staggered to its feet, balancing on one leg, the broken limb swinging useless beneath it. When you gain any advantage, press the attack.

&n
bsp; Alex gathered everything he had left and dived straight for it. The body was armoured, its weapons deadly, but its joints were thin. Alex drove one elbow up under its head, wrapped his legs around it and grabbed an arm. As the other arm raked fire down his back, he locked and wrenched the arm he held, separating the elbow. The creature howled. Alex kept his weight going forward as it fell, rolling with it, slamming another elbow into the side of its head.

  Pain whined through his arm from the impact with the hard chitin of the Subcontractor’s skull. A stuttering hiss of laughter came from between those rows of sharp teeth as it twisted and turned over once more, rising to sit across Alex’s hips. It was surprisingly heavy, pinning Alex to the threadbare carpet. Its legs and arms clamped across his own, even its broken limbs effective in holding him down, tiny barbs hooking into the carpet, locking it in. Panic swelled through Alex’s mind, I’m going to lose! I’m going to die.

  He saw Silhouette facedown on the carpet, blood leaking from her mouth. We’ve both lost. He bucked his hips, trying to escape the thing mounted above him. He drew power from the stone and used it to give him strength, harden his body, anything to get out from beneath certain death, but his panic blurred his thoughts. The Subcontractor seemed glued to the ground, trapping Alex like a barbed-wire blanket. Waves of exultation pulsed from its shades as it raised one hand high, long fingers like hard black knives pointing at Alex’s eyes. ‘Hood will be pleased,’ it said, close to Alex’s ear, its voice harsh and muffled by its unnatural mouth. ‘Black Diamond gets the goods again!’

  Alex rained blows upwards, crying out in desperation, pinned, trapped. Beaten. The Subcontractor hissed laughter again and drew its elbow higher. Alex stared at the shining sharp tips of its fingers, refusing to look away from death. He sucked in a last breath and screamed, ‘Fuck you!’ and the Subcontractor’s head exploded.

  Alex’s ears rang with the sound of thunder as shudders went through him. The hard, plastic-like body of the creature collapsed limp over him, the remains of its head dripping bile-coloured viscosity and yellow, liquid brains over his face and chest. He scrambled from under it, pain and exhaustion threatening his consciousness. The hotel clerk stood in the doorway, her huge stomach and bosom wobbling with her shocked trembling, a shotgun hanging loose in her hands. ‘What in the high holy fuck is that?’ she said in a strained voice. Her eyes were wide and terrified, her face white as snow.

  Alex tried to think through his pain and the desolation in his mind. He had lost a fight. He’d been saved by this fat woman and her gun. He didn’t know how to feel. ‘I have no idea,’ he said, gasping, trying to regain some composure.

  Silhouette lay across the smashed room, moaning softly. Thank fuck she’s still alive. He dragged himself across the floor to her, fumbling in her pockets for the healing powder.

  ‘I’m calling the cops,’ the hotel clerk said.

  ‘No, please, no police.’

  ‘What? Are you kidding?’

  She was right. What excuse could he have not to call the police? He couldn’t tell her the truth. His eyes beseeched her. ‘Please, no police.’

  She backed out the door. ‘Fuck you and fuck that!’ She turned and barrelled down the hallway.

  Alex cursed and pulled Sil’s pouch from her waistband.

  Outside the hotel window the planesbird hovered, leathery wings beating the air. It watched the mayhem in the small room. As the fight ended with a flash and a boom, it swooped away, slipping through a fold in reality with a coppery flash of realmshift.

  18

  Alex mixed the bittersweet medicine and sipped it, hoping he hadn’t made it too strong. Or not strong enough. Trying to ignore the burning lacerations all over his body, he lifted Silhouette’s head and tipped the glass against her lips. She drank, eyelids fluttering.

  ‘I hurt inside, Alex.’ Her voice was weak.

  ‘Drink this. It’ll fix you, right?’

  Her eyes flickered open. ‘I hope so.’

  They passed the glass back and forth till it was empty.

  ‘I have never been beaten up so often,’ Alex muttered. ‘And I fight for a living. That thing fucking beat me.’ His clothes hung ragged and bloodstained.

  Silhouette said nothing.

  ‘If that woman hadn’t had a gun,’ Alex said, his face haunted. He could already feel the potion infiltrating his wounds, reknitting his flesh.

  ‘She did,’ Sil said. ‘There’s a million what ifs in the world. This time you got lucky.’

  ‘I don’t use luck,’ Alex said angrily. ‘I don’t lose fights!’

  ‘You lost this one. Get used to it. So did I. Move on.’

  Alex grimaced.

  She dropped the empty glass to the carpet beside her. ‘My powder’s nearly finished. I can make more, but not easily. I need rare ingredients.’

  ‘How rare?’

  ‘Not from this realm. Things that grow in The Other Lands.’

  Alex frowned, trying to comprehend the statement. ‘You’ve been there?’

  ‘Fuck no. I buy from dealers, but it’s hard to find and damned expensive.’

  ‘Can you go there?’

  ‘I guess so. I have Fey blood. If they can get here on thin days, I don’t see why I couldn’t go there. Screw that, though.’

  Alex stared at the human–insect hybrid on the floor, yellow ichor thickening on the carpet all around what used to be its head. ‘What the hell is that thing?’

  ‘I have no idea. I’ve never seen anything like it. Of course, there’s more in these realms than I could possibly know about.’

  ‘It said Hood will be pleased and Black Diamond gets the goods again. What does that mean?’

  ‘Best guess is Black Diamond’s some kind of organisation and this Hood character is in charge. I suppose Hood sent that thing after us.’

  The stone pulsed against Alex’s chest, keeping time with his calming heart as the medicine worked. ‘This Hood seems to want my book and stone. I wish I could give them to him.’

  ‘Alex, you have to dissociate the two. The book needs to go. The Darak is your greatest ally. Don’t let the book poison your mind against your greatest weapon.’

  ‘The power it gave me against that thing was intoxicating, even if it wasn’t enough.’

  Silhouette struggled into a crouch. ‘Exactly. Uthentia wants you dead, but the stone is your friend. Let it in.’

  ‘I keep remembering that thing on the island. I don’t want to be like that.’

  ‘You won’t. That thing must have been utterly self-obsessed when it first found the shard. You’re not like it.’

  Alex stood, every muscle protesting. ‘We have to go. That woman is calling the police. How are you feeling?’

  ‘Fucked. But I can walk.’

  She went to the window, snatching up her jacket on the way. Alex grabbed his own from the floor, their backpack from the bed and followed. They clambered out onto the fire escape, darkness creeping in, bringing more wet and cold with it. They gained the roof, ran across to the edge. A gap of about twenty feet, dropping down into a dark, wet alley, greeted them.

  ‘Look.’ Sil pointed at a police car pulling up to the kerb out front. ‘We have to go.’

  The next building was fifteen feet down and twenty feet away, with nothing in between. ‘I can’t make a jump like that!’ Alex protested.

  ‘Yes. You can.’

  ‘No way.’

  ‘Alex, you’re about the fittest, most capable human I’ve ever known. And you have a talisman that makes Joseph’s gem look like something from a Christmas cracker. Use it, ignore the book. I bet you could have beat that thing back there if you’d really opened yourself to the Darak.’

  That gave him pause. There was some truth in it, which only made the loss harder to bear. He remembered the power surging through him as he fought the Subcontractor. The thing would have torn any number of normal humans apart, but the Darak had made him hard, fast, strong. Not strong and fast enough, but maybe that was his faul
t. Whatever the Subcontractor had been it was an enemy he hoped never to meet again. With only a single shard he’d fought against two gargoyles and won. He’d fought Ataro and won. Maybe it was time he listened to Silhouette and took true ownership of it. He wouldn’t end up like that abomination on the island. His was a better destiny. The book whined in his mind, frustration and anger. He smiled. Good. Am I annoying you?

  He took several long strides backwards, gathering energy from the Darak as Silhouette’s powder healed him. He let its magic soak through him, pictured himself leaping easily over the wide gap. Letting out a deep breath, he sprinted for the building’s edge and sprang forward, his legs like pistons, driving him up. He cleared the alleyway and another dozen feet beyond, crashing and rolling onto the opposite roof in a spray of gravel.

  Silhouette landed lithely behind him and strolled over. ‘You’re lacking a certain finesse, but that’s kinda the idea.’

  He laughed, buzzing with power. ‘That felt wicked!’

  ‘Good. Let’s do it again. Try to keep up.’

  She ran, sidestepped an air-conditioning unit, and bounded over the next gap. Alex whooped, his body feeling more alive than it ever had. He chased her, leaping easily over another alley, springing up to grab the edge of the next roof, twenty feet above. Silhouette was already airborne as he dragged himself up, on her way to the next building. He doubled his speed, the cold evening air whipping past his face. He ran, leapt, rolled and laughed, catching up to Silhouette in seconds. Together they cleared several more rooftops before heading down a fire escape, hand over hand, and flipping to the back street below. They slowed to a jog and strolled out into the main road, panting.

  Alex couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. ‘I feel like Batman!’

  ‘Welcome to my world. You kept up well.’

  ‘I love this!’

  ‘No shit.’ Her smile faded as she looked him up and down. ‘You look like you’ve been wrestling a tiger. Change clothes.’

  They slipped into the darkness of the back street and Alex shrugged off the backpack, changed quickly in the gloom. He stuffed his torn, bloody clothes into a dumpster behind a burger bar and they headed back out into the main street.