Into the Abyss

by Brenda K. Davies

  “Let me take Amalia from here!” my father pleaded.

  “She stays,” Olgon stated.

  “No!” my mother cried. “You don’t understand! You don’t know the bond! This will destroy her!”

  “So be it.”

  “I’m taking you from here,” my father said to me.

  “Stop them if they try to leave,” Olgon said to the jinn closest to him.

  “Kill them if they try to leave,” Pride commanded.

  “Olgon—”

  “Kill them if necessary,” Olgon said to the jinn.

  Nalki’s hand tightened on my arm, not to keep me held back but because shock gripped him at this command. The same emotion radiated from some of the other jinn. My father stepped toward Olgon and the horsemen, but before he could speak, I did.

  “It’s not worth it, Paupi,” I whispered. “Even if I don’t see what happens, I’ll know it did.”

  The lost look on his face blurred when tears spilled down my cheeks. My mother fell to her knees beside me. Wrapping her arms around me, she held me close.

  “Don’t watch, baby,” she whispered.

  I couldn’t look away as Magnus attempted to lunge at Lust. His fangs snapped, and inhuman sounds issued from him while he struggled against the jinn. None of them looked thrilled about what they were doing, but their terror emanated from them and left a metallic taste on my tongue. They would not go against Olgon or the horsemen.

  “Stay away from me!” Magnus spat at Lust.

  Avoiding his fangs, Lust rested her hand on his forehead. The swell of her power rocked me backward. The jinn closest to her leaned away, and one of them fondled his crotch before shaking his head to clear it of the effects of Lust’s powers; effects targeted at Magnus.

  Any hope I held Magnus might be able to resist Lust’s power vanished when he went completely still.

  Panting for breath, I tried to keep myself under control as it felt like my heart fractured in my chest and the shards of it slipped into my bloodstream. Those shards shredded everything they came into contact with.

  Nalki looked from me to Magnus and back again; his face reflected his dismay, but he didn’t release me.

  “Olgon—” Nalki started.

  “Let him go,” Lust commanded the jinn restraining Magnus. They didn’t hesitate before they released him and scrambled away. “Rise, demon.” Lust placed the tip of her finger under Magnus’s chin and lifted his face toward her.

  Magnus blinked, looking confused, but he rose. Lust stepped back, surveying his body while she circled him. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Magnus as he stared straight ahead with a glazed look in his eyes. Blood coated his chiseled face, hands, and clothes.

  I wasn’t much of fighter, but I’d kill everyone here for this, especially Lust. Red blurred my vision when she stopped before Magnus and grabbed his crotch.

  “Oh,” she breathed. “Perfect.”

  Magnus’s brow furrowed when she touched him; a muscle in his cheek jumped before he started to recoil from her. Hope surged within me, but it was doused when Lust ran her finger over his lips, and he stilled again.

  “Shh,” Lust soothed.

  “I’m going to kill her,” I whispered.

  My mother released me to lean back on her knees. She cupped my face and turned it toward her. I don’t know what she saw there, but it caused her hands to tremble.

  “Amalia?” she inquired.

  But my attention returned to Magnus as his mounting confusion and distress beat against me. No matter what kind of thrall she had him under, he did not want this, but he couldn’t break free of the hideous bitch.

  My eyes ran over the jinn and horsemen blocking the way between him and me. I was outnumbered and probably the worst fighter here, but I would not allow this to happen without attempting to stop it. I didn’t care if they killed me in the process. Watching this happen, having Magnus used in such a way while I did nothing, wasn’t an option.

  Not only would it destroy a part of me, but it would also destroy him. It didn’t matter if this was his fault or not, what Lust planned to do to him would eat at him for the rest of his days. We hadn’t known each other long, but even if Magnus wasn’t in love with me, he cared for me deeply. I felt those emotions from him less than an hour ago.

  We’d both be better off dead than have this happen, but I had to wait for the right moment, or I’d succeed in nothing more than the horsemen seeking to punish us further.

  When Lust ran her hand across Magnus’s chest, she smeared the blood over him before wiping it over her breasts. She left bloody streaks across her flesh as she caressed herself. “I am so going to enjoy this,” Lust murmured.

  My mother rose to stand beside my father. “Can we stop this?” she whispered to him.

  “How?” he asked. “Olgon won’t listen, and the horsemen and jinn are with him….”

  Lust brought one blood-coated finger to her red lips before sucking it into her mouth. Everyone in the pit focused on her as the scent of her arousal grew stronger on the air. It was now or never.

  Lurching forward, I broke free of Nalki and my father, though they’d both barely held me anymore. With natural grace, I leapt to my feet, sprinted around my mother, and raced forward. I may not be the fighter the rest of the jinn were, but I was faster than them, especially now that I was immortal and had a Chosen in danger. I dashed in and out of the jinn who sought to cut me off while others didn’t bother to intervene.

  Magnus! Get to Magnus!

  Only twenty-five feet away.

  Twenty.

  Fifteen.

  Magnus’s eyes flicked to me, but I saw no acknowledgment in them. I can’t have lost him already, I just found him. Please don’t take him from me!

  Ten feet.

  From the corner of my eye, I spotted Lust’s horse cantering toward me. Fuck you! And the bitch who rode you in here!

  Bits of rock and sparks flew up as the horse skidded to a halt in front of me, cutting me off from Magnus with only five feet left to go.

  Teeth snapped inches from my face, fetid breath washed over me, but I darted back to avoid the horse’s jaws. The horse pivoted on its two hind hooves, planted its front, and lashed out with its back legs.

  The hooves came at me in a blur that, even with all my speed, I wasn’t fast enough to avoid. When they slammed into my chest, my breath exploded out of me. Some of my ribs gave way with an audible crack as I was lifted off the ground and flung backward. Air whipped around me; the world was nothing but a blur before I hit the ground on my back. I skidded across the rocks and came to a halt only feet from where I initially knelt.

  Nalki and my parents had rushed after me when I first charged at Lust and were now twenty feet away from me. Their heads turned toward me; their wide eyes revealed their shock and worry. They ran back to me as I strained to draw air into lungs I was sure were deflated.

  “Easy,” Nalki said as he knelt next to me. “The more you fight, the worse it will feel. Relax.”

  Turning me on my side, he patted my back while I coughed up the blood threatening to suffocate me. Finally able to draw air into my brutalized chest, my vision cleared enough to see Magnus.

  “Oh, that looks like it hurt,” Lust taunted as her laughter echoed around the pit.

  My mother knelt at my other side and brushed the hair away from my face while my father stood protectively in front of me.

  Then, a thunderous wrath hit me so forcefully that my vision blurred again. Unable to understand the depth of the rage, it took me a few seconds to realize it was coming from Magnus and not me. Struggling to clear my mind, I blinked until I could focus again.

  Magnus’s eyes were nearly black when they met mine, and blood trickled from where his fangs pierced his bottom lip. He leapt at Lust, who had her back to him while she continued to laugh at me.

  “You whore!” he bellowed as he dragged her down beneath him. His fists moved so fast his arms blurred while he pummeled her.

  “
Magnus!” I croaked in warning when Lust’s horse spun toward him.

  Magnus didn’t show any sign of hearing me as Lust’s beautiful face became a bloody, broken mass beneath him. For the first time, Sloth sat upright in his seat and kicked his horse’s sides.

  “Magnus!” This time my voice came out stronger, but he still didn’t react to it as he remained focused on destroying Lust.

  When Sloth rode up beside him, a wave of his power emanated across the pit. Magnus was drawing his arm back to hit Lust again when he froze and his arm fell limply to his side. Then, Sloth leaned over and rested his hand on Magnus’s head.

  My mouth went dry when Magnus collapsed on top of Lust. Ignoring the discomfort in my brutalized body, I staggered to my feet, but my father held me back.

  “No,” he murmured. “Now is not the time. They’re not going to kill him.”

  “You don’t know that,” I whispered.

  “Yes, I do. He’s one of the king’s men, and they want him alive. They would have already killed him otherwise.”

  Any further protest I might have made died when Pride rode up beside Magnus and Sloth. He gazed at Magnus’s back before he lifted his head and those neon purple eyes met mine. “It seems,” he said, “the Chosen bond is stronger than we realized. Interesting.”

  No one spoke, no one even breathed as he kept those eerie eyes focused on me.

  “Take the demon and lock him away with the other one until we decide what to do with him,” Pride commanded.

  “And her?” Olgon asked with a backward wave at me.

  “She remains here,” Pride said. “The two of them will be kept apart, indefinitely.”

  Anguish filled me over not being able to see him, but I kept my mouth shut. At least Magnus would live, for now, and neither of us would have to endure Lust abusing him anytime soon. As long as we remained alive, there was a chance we could get out of this. I had no idea how, but I refused to give up hope.

  “Take him away,” Pride said and stared pointedly at some of the jinn. They rushed forward to lift Magnus off Lust’s unmoving body. When one of the jinn reached for her, Pride held out a hand to stop him. “Leave her. Let her lie there and live with her failure.”

  My skin crawled at his callous words, but my gaze remained focused on the jinn carrying Magnus’s body toward the pathway closest to what remained of the stairs. The jinn disappeared down the path before reemerging a few minutes later near the ruins.

  CHAPTER 36

  Magnus

  “Magnus. Magnus, wake up.”

  The persistent voice gradually penetrated the thick fog of sleep clinging to me. My head felt like a leporcháin demon battered it for hours with their caultin and a dull ringing resonated in my ears.

  “Magnus! Wake up!”

  The incessant voice was female I realized, and desperate.

  “Amalia?” I murmured.

  “Come on, Magnus, open your eyes.”

  I did as the woman commanded, only because I had to see Amalia again. Light burned my retinas, and I closed them against the searing pain it created. A groan issued from me before I silenced it.

  “Stay with me, Magnus,” the woman pleaded.

  Not Amalia. The voice was familiar, but it wasn’t Amalia’s. Who then? What happened? Where is Amalia?

  Memories surged back into my mind. The stairs, the jinn, Lust!

  My newfound fangs lengthened at the memory of being frozen before that hideous thing and the sickening feeling of her hands on me; all while Amalia was forced to look on helplessly. I bolted upright as I worried the woman speaking to me might be that bitch!

  I’d kill her this time. I wouldn’t let my temper get the best of me and only beat her. No, this time, I’d tear Lust’s head from her shoulders and force her blood down the throats of Pride and Sloth. I would make them choke while they feasted on her.

  My teeth clenched when I recalled watching Amalia fly through the air after the horse kicked her. The sight of it finally pierced through Lust’s hold over me, and I would never allow that bitch to get her hooks into me again.

  Slowly, I took in my surroundings as I tried to get my bearings. I sat with my back propped against a wall, and when I glanced at it, I saw it was made of solid sandstone, as was the ground beneath me. They’d taken me to the runes after Sloth knocked me out. There were bars in front of me, bars to the right, to my left were more bars, and… Wren!

  She stood, staring down at me from her cell. A sad, crooked smile curved her lips when her blue eyes, flecked with green, met mine. Her pale blonde hair, pulled into a disheveled knot, hung against her nape. Always slender and athletic in build, she’d lost weight while here as her cheekbones were sharper.

  “Hello, sleeping beauty, or bruised beauty might be the better description,” she greeted.

  “Wren?” I asked.

  “That’s my name.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m guessing the same thing as you. Where’s Corson?”

  Her imprisonment had worn her down, but it hadn’t dimmed her willful nature. I couldn’t stop myself from scowling at her. “You’re probably not doing the same thing here as me, as I’m physically here while you’re only mentally present. And Corson isn’t in this place; he was never trapped.”

  “He’s free,” she breathed, and tears shimmered in her eyes. “Oh, thank you.” Then she lunged at the bars and encircled her hands around them. “Is he okay?”

  “He’s holding up,” I assured her.

  “Good. Good.” She inhaled a jerky breath as she took a minute to compose herself. “Mentally here,” she murmured. “That makes sense.”

  “Why does that make sense?”

  “I’ve tried everything to get out of this place without success. However, I’m assuming it would be more difficult to break out of a mental prison than a physical one. You can physically flee your surroundings, but you can never escape your mind.”

  “True,” I agreed.

  I sat and waited for her to vanish now that she’d learned the truth, but she remained where she was.

  “What?” she asked and rubbed her face. “Do I have a booger or something on me?”

  “When the others fully realized they didn’t belong here, or it was all in their minds, they disappeared.”

  “Where did they go?”

  “The jinn’s spell on them broke, and they returned to their bodies. Those who returned are fine.”

  “The jinn,” she spat the word like she’d tasted something sour. “I should have realized those assholes had a hand in this.”

  “And so do some of the horsemen.”

  “Of course they do.”

  “Did they bring a woman in here with me? Have you seen someone named Amalia?”

  “No, some guys brought you in, dumped you in the cell, and left. There are some more cells down the hall, but there’s no one in them. Who is Amalia?” Her gaze fell to the marks on my neck. “Is she your Chosen?”

  “Yes, and I have to find her.”

  “Good luck getting out of here. I’ve tried everything.”

  “Then we’ll try everything again, plus some.”

  She stared at me for a minute before grinning. “Yes, we will.” Then her smile slid away. “Wait… you said those who returned are fine. What about those who didn’t return, and how many were affected by this, and where are we?”

  I explained to her everything that happened while she was in here. By the time I finished, she’d settled on the floor with her shoulder against the bars and her head leaning on them.

  “So many lives,” she murmured. “But why am I still here? I knew this place wasn’t right before the bars appeared.”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “And what do you mean before the bars appeared?”

  “When I first got here, there were no bars, and I was a part of the show. However, though I was a part of it, it didn’t feel right, and I don’t think I ever left the vicinity of this cell.”

  “What s
how?”

  Placing her hands on the floor, she pushed herself up. “Come here.”

  She walked to the front bars and turned expectantly back to me. Every muscle in my body felt like they’d been run over by a truck, but I gritted my teeth and rose. Shuffling forward, I drew on the strength of the Chosen bond as I willed myself to heal faster with every pain-filled step.

  Amalia was still alive, I would know if she were dead, but where was she and what were they doing to her? While I remained a walking bruise, I would never be able to get out of here and to her.

  Stopping at the bars, I slid my arms through them and craned my head to look for the other cells Wren mentioned. The movement made me wince, but I spotted the cells diagonally across from Wren’s. Their doors were open, and no one was inside as Wren had said.

  A solid wall was ten feet across the hallway from me, and judging by the near perfect condition of everything, I suspected we were in the third-story section of the ruins.

  “It’s starting again,” Wren murmured.

  I turned my attention forward as the sandstone walls of the hallway faded to white ones. The sudden beep of a machine sounded in the distance and chairs materialized against the wall as blue swinging doors replaced the bars of the other cells.

  It took me a minute to realize the hallway had been replaced with one of the humans’ hospitals. People in white lab coats, carrying charts or pushing wheelchairs, rushed back and forth. They scurried around as they barked orders at each other while shouting for medical supplies.

  Other people walked around as if in a daze, their hands to their heads or with bandages swathed around their arms. The details were vivid enough that the fluorescent lights above gleamed off the white floor and sneakers squeaked on the tile.

  The set of blue swinging doors burst open, and a gurney wheeled into the hall. A man pushed the gurney while a woman straddled the patient lying on it. She used her hands to pump his chest up and down; when they got closer, I realized the woman was Wren. Sweat dripped from her forehead, and her pretty face was scrunched with determination as she worked on the man.