Branded

by Ana J. Phoenix

  “You?” It was all he said, but it was enough to convey his shock and disbelief at the discovery. What hurt the most however, was the underlying feeling of ‘I knew it’ that was written on his face. Ketsu had not honestly trusted him in a long time.

  Ruigi closed his eyes for one moment, and, knowing that there was nothing he could say at this point, he voiced the first thing on his mind: “Don’t take it personally.”

  The weak smile that accompanied the words was wiped off his face as his friend growled, jumped and nailed him to the floor. Amber eyes bore into him with all the ferocity of a true beast as his back connected with the shaking ground.

  “Not take it personally?!” Ketsu pushed down on his shoulders. “You stab me in the back. You ruin my life’s work. And that is all you have to say to me?” A hand grabbed a hold of his hair and slammed his head back against the ground with a force that made his vision blur for a moment. “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?”

  “Everything I did,” Ruigi said, “I did for you.”

  “How can you— how is any of this—” Ketsu twisted his hand in his hair, seeming to search for words to properly express his dismay. Giving up asking, he pressed his hand to Ruigi’s forehead. Ruigi had expected the intrusion, but when it happened, the brutality of it still left him breathless. Ketsu was like a slaughterer hacking into his head with a chef’s knife. The world around him faded as his own memories consumed his mind.

  ***

  “What’s happening?” José whispered, his question directed at Asher. Ruigi and Ketsu had both fallen quiet and he didn’t like not being able to tell what was going on.

  “Think Fox-Face is mind-raping the bloodsucker.”

  “Think he’s gonna kill him?”

  “Sure hope so.”

  ***

  Ketsu took in a sharp breath at the images that flooded from Ruigi’s mind into his. Starting from their childhood, spent strolling through the woods and searching for adventure, to adolescent days of learning what the world was all about. Ketsu saw himself as the shining light in a world that had been painted black by the death of Ruigi’s parents, the discrimination he suffered afterward and the certain knowledge that his existence was an unforgivable mistake.

  Ketsu had been a friend in rough times. Someone to rely on, who didn’t care that Ruigi’s parents hadn’t kept to the rules. Ketsu growled. Ancient history.

  Nothing connected him to the person in Ruigi’s memories. Yet somehow, Ruigi seemed to believe they were the same. Ridiculous. He wasn’t that weakling anymore. That kid who hadn’t been able to do anything more than watch as his brothers ruthlessly killed the love of his life. He was so much stronger now. He’d held powers his brother’s had never even dreamed of. He’d come so close to stopping all the discrimination. All those people who had hurt Ruigi, who had killed Laika and their unborn child. So close…! He let his rage control his actions once more, digging deeper into Ruigi’s conscience, searching frantically for the reason behind his betrayal.

  Carelessly he tore through memories of a friendship long past, shredded images of shared joy and sorrow until he had Ruigi gasping under his hand. Fucking liar. Still, Ruigi had not made a single attempt to block him out. And he couldn’t find one malicious thought directed at himself. He knew now that Ruigi had plotted all this for a long time, carefully scheming behind his back, but still—

  “Why?” he said out loud, impatient in his frustration. He probed Ruigi’s mind again from a different angle, but it only supplied him with the same dissatisfying answer he’d been getting all the time. He let up slightly when he sensed that Ruigi wanted to say something. Generously he allowed him two seconds to catch his breath. “Speak.”

  “To protect you.”

  “Nonsense.” Yet, he could find nothing but truth in the statement.

  “This project would have killed you.”

  “So what? I could have changed—”

  “Fuck the world.” Ruigi’s tone turned spiteful, every world filled with contempt. “You really don’t get it. I…” He stopped himself and shook his head, closed his eyes. His feelings streamed freely from his conscience into Ketsu’s. And Ketsu began to understand.

  ***

  “Aw man,” Asher said. “He’s jumped off him.”

  José stood in front of him, so Asher couldn’t see his expression, but he seemed to tense. Understandable. They were next in line, after all.

  The fox brushed himself off and made a few small steps away from the bloodsucker, an unreadable expression on his face, though his aura still betrayed his anger. He murmured something that sounded a lot like: “I could have done without the pornography.”

  But maybe that was Asher hearing what he wanted to hear. Why would the Fox be talking about pornography at a time like this?

  “Did you just hear that, too?” Asher directed the question at José, who didn’t bother replying. Oh well. He looked back at the fox and felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as the gaze was returned. Fox-Face hadn’t forgotten about them.

  Asher swallowed. Then the earth swallowed, too. Rising up beneath him and falling back down in one swift but enormous tremor that shook the building and its inhabitants. Asher held his hands over his ears against the noise and looked skyward, through the transparent ceiling at something that wasn’t shaking.

  Heaven came down.

  With a deafening sound, the glass ceiling shattered, raining splinters everywhere. What came crashing down wasn’t heaven at all. The blue radiating light belonged to the tower Asher had seen earlier. Part of which had cracked with the recent tremor. The ruins now plummeted to the ground a few feet in front of him, covering it in heavy shards of glass, stones and rubble. Dust rose up and blocked Asher’s sight. He could just vaguely make out José’s shape in front of him.

  “Ketsu?” he heard Fangs call out.

  Asher held his breath. No sound. Ten, nine, eight-

  “Ketsu!” Five, four, three- “Oh, c’mon!”

  Zero. Asher allowed himself to exhale. The fox had been buried.

  Chapter 28 - Last Order

  As the tower came crashing down on him, Ketsu did the smartest thing he could do to preserve himself, which was to shrink in body size. He transformed into his fox-form, something he hadn’t done in years. Just in time, too, as a rock hit him over the head and the lights went out.

  When he opened his eyes again, he wasn’t sure whether he had blacked out. He checked himself over. Pounding head, searing pain from his right hind leg. Something was lying on it. No space to move anywhere, even if he could have freed his leg. He couldn’t see anything, but a warm liquid was dripping into his eye. Blood, maybe. A plausible explanation for the headache.

  He closed his eyes again, gritting his teeth. He would kill every last person responsible for bringing those stones down on him. The elf, the dragon, and that traitorous excuse of a vampire-shapeshifter mix-up that dared call himself his friend. That dared confess his undying love to him. And mean it. That fool.

  Even if Ketsu had been so inclined, there was no time for petty romances in his life. He had a world to change. Except now, he didn’t. He was buried in the ruins of his plan. And whose fault was that?

  He wrinkled his nose as the smell of blood invaded his nostrils. His own blood. Starting to feel light-headed, he pawed at the stones in front of him, but it was no use.

  A small growl escaped him as he heard Rui’s voice calling out for him.

  Dig me out of here and I’ll show you all how grateful I am.

  ***

  “Ketsu!” Ruigi tried again, after his vision had cleared and he’d rushed toward the ruins of the tower. Ketsu must be buried. Just buried. Not dead. He couldn’t be. Not after everything.

  Ruigi’s hands were shaking as he grabbed a couple of stones and threw them aside. He had to free Ketsu, before—

  He stopped himself from finishing that thought. Just dig, he told himself. After all, this was his fault. That the stupid building was collapsin
g. That Ketsu had stopped here in the first place. It shouldn’t have happened like this. It shouldn’t—

  Something stung his hands. Instinctively, he drew back. What the—

  The stones had caught on fire. Why would they do that? How...

  Ruigi whirled around and narrowed his eyes on the fire elf. He opened his mouth, but found no words strong enough to express his rage. Instead, he raised his hand and used his magic to slam the meddling bastard against the wall. His gaze darted back to the stones behind him. The flames hadn’t stopped.

  Ruigi focused back on the fool, the insect, that was stopping him from getting to his friend. It was scrambling to its feet now, a look of contained pain on its face. Along with a look of determination that did nothing to lower Ruigi’s adrenaline level. His mind on Ketsu, Ruigi attacked again, putting more force into it. Die, die die!

  The elf took a second longer to get up this time, but there was no change in his resolve. This one wouldn’t go down easy. For a while, the elf would ignore all pain Ruigi could inflict on him. Ruigi didn’t have time for this.

  “The antidote,” the elf said.

  What was he talking about? Ruigi didn’t need an antidote; he needed to free Ketsu.

  “Give me the antidote and I’ll stop, and you can dig up your boss.”

  The realization struck like lightning. That antidote. The one he’d wanted to pass on outside. Digging through his pockets, Ruigi glanced at the dragon he’d poisoned. Stupid kid. Ruigi didn’t care whether he lived or died, but if helping him would help Ketsu... Ruigi’s fingers closed around a small bottle of pills.

  “You’ll stop?” He looked back at the elf. “You stop or I’ll kill you both.”

  “I’ll stop.”

  Ruigi threw the bottle at the elf and, without watching it land, turned around to the pile of rubble. The flames vanished. Ruigi dug back in.

  ***

  The bottle clunked to the floor a few feet in front of José’s feet without breaking. It rolled toward him and he picked it up, closing his fist around the cool glass as if it was a small treasure trove. He’d gotten the antidote! But it was still too early to rejoice. They had to get out. He walked over to where Asher was sitting and knelt down beside him.

  “Take it.” He held the bottle out to him. It was grabbed out of his hand.

  “You really did it…”

  A smile tugged on José’s lips in spite of the circumstances. “Told you I would get you out of here. I don’t break my promises. Now, we have to run. Can you get up?” He grabbed Asher’s arm to support him without waiting for a reply. With the constant death threat hanging over their heads, he was getting just a tiny bit impatient.

  “Just a second.”

  “I’m afraid we don’t have that.” José listened to the bloodsucker sending stones flying. He might find the fox alive or not; José didn’t want to take his chances. He stood, pulling Asher up with him.

  Once Asher stood on his feet without falling over, José made a step forward. Not a second too soon.

  “Ketsu!” he heard the bloodsucker’s voice call out over the noise.

  José swallowed, waiting for any sort of reply. The growl he heard was so low he wouldn’t have picked it up if it hadn’t been for his heightened hearing, but it still made his blood run cold. The fox might not be in top condition, but he wasn’t dead. He was alive and pissed off.

  ***

  Even as José dragged him along, Asher couldn't take his eyes off the scene behind them, which made walking yet a little more difficult. The antidote was working, though. It made his skin crawl, but he didn't feel as unbalanced as before. The adrenaline probably helped. As he watched, Ruigi dug up not Fox-Face, but an actual fox. The animal began to stir on the ground, swishing dust with one of his tails. It might have looked cute if it hadn’t been flashing its teeth.

  “We have to go faster.” José tugged on his arm. Asher ripped his eyes away from the fox and looked ahead. The shaking of the ground wasn’t quieting down. At this rate they were either going to end up as fox food or stone mash.

  “You just can't give up, can you?” Asher lowered his gaze to the floor, focusing on the movement of his feet as José upped the pace. Damn the blind man for being steadier than him.

  “I’m a stubborn bastard. Get used to it.”

  A terrifying growl cut through their conversation, making the hair on the back of Asher’s neck rise. He went faster. Given the choice, he’d pick getting smashed to death by the ceiling over having another one on one with Fox-Face any day.

  “Any chance you can run?” José’s tone indicated the only valid reply was yes. Without waiting for Asher to respond, José broke into a sprint. Asher felt his own body fall forward, almost meeting up with the ground before he caught himself and followed José.

  “Tell me if there's anything in the way,” José said.

  Asher swept their surroundings in one glance. They were heading into another hallway. A staircase went up at the very end, still a ways off. Behind them, footsteps closed up. Asher risked one glance over his shoulder. The fox was dragging one of his legs, but it didn’t seem to slow him down.

  “Ketsu!” the bloodsucker shouted over the rumble of more falling stones. The fox didn't break his stride. Someone else who didn't know how to take it easy.

  Asher turned his gaze back to the hallway ahead just as a wall of green flames sprang up a few feet in front of them.

  “Stop!” he pulled on José's arm as he skidded to a halt, almost making the other man fall flat on his face.

  “What?”

  “There's flames! You didn't feel that?”

  “Flames?”

  “Green flames. They’re not the pretty kind but—”

  “There's no getting through that,” the fox's voice cut in. He stood a short distance away, transformed back into his human form, glaring at them. A small trail of blood trickled down from his forehead over his brow. He looked like he’d walked right out of a Halloween party. After killing every other party guest.

  There was a slight sway in his stance as he took a step toward them. The snarl on his face however said that he'd sooner keel over and die than dispel the barrier. Behind him, the bloodsucker was closing up.

  “Just let them go,” Fangs said “We have to get out, too.”

  “Never.” The icy tone of the fox’s voice made even the vampire fall silent.

  Asher's eyes flickered back and forth between the wall of shimmering green flames and the disturbing pair in front of him. If Fox-Face wouldn't let go of his barrier, they would have to take him out, and quickly. But as damaged as the fox looked, he wouldn’t be a pushover. And there was Fangs to consider too. Asher had a feeling he would never even let them get to Foxy. Fucking kiss-ass.

  We’re all gonna bite it.

  Asher looked to José, who was still holding on to his arm, even though Asher could stand without his support now. The ground hadn’t stopped vibrating, but the world had stopped spinning. José had a frown etched deeply into his face. Like so often, Asher had no idea what was going on in his head.

  “You won't let us go?” José directed his question at Foxy.

  “Never.” Foxy’s tone remained unchanged.

  José nodded in grim determination.

  He has a plan. But what?

  The grip on Asher’s arm tightened, and he felt himself pulled closer. José whispered words into his ears, spoken so fast he had trouble following. Or maybe that was because he couldn't believe what he was hearing. His whole body cramped up listening, fighting the order he was being given. “You wait right here,” José said. “And once the green flames are gone, you run. Don't stop until you're out of this fortress. Whatever happens, don't turn around, don't stop and don't come back.”

  “You can’t,” Asher said. “Don’t do that.” José couldn’t sacrifice himself. He couldn’t. But it was exactly the sort of thing the stubborn bastard would do. Asher gaped at him, and José put one very short kiss on his lips. A contact
far too short to be satisfying.

  “Sorry.” José let go without giving Asher a chance to try and hold him back.

  Asher raised one hand to his lips. His fingers were trembling with the effort to refuse the order, but in the end, his body would win over his mind. As always. “At least do it right!” The words spilled from his lips. “If you have to kiss me at least fucking do it right!”

  “Next time.” José never broke his stride toward the enemies, who had assumed a fighting stance.

  “Get back here!” Asher shouted. “Are you out of your fucking mind?!” José could never take them on. Asher tried to move his feet, take a step toward José, run to him, drag him away somewhere, he didn’t know where. It didn’t matter because he couldn’t move.

  Taking a deep breath, Asher tried to draw on his magic, but there was nothing left. He’d given it all to José. And now he was fucking useless.

  He wasn’t supposed to be the one who got out alone. José couldn’t just turn that around; he couldn’t.

  “Don’t you dare fucking die on me.”

  José pretended like he didn’t even hear him.

  ***

  “You really think you can take me on?” Ketsu asked.

  José didn’t reply. He was too busy blocking out Asher in the background and figuring out how he was going to get through this. The plan didn’t include beating Ketsu. One moment of distraction. That was all he needed. Those flames had to go. The magic flowing through his veins was Asher’s, and he was going to use it to get him out.

  He let small flames appear all over his body, just enough to burn everything he touched. One deep breath, and he charged at the fox.

  He tackled Ketsu to the floor.

  “Get off!” Ketsu snarled, pushing against him with unexpected strength. The air smelled like burned skin, but the fox’s efforts didn’t lessen. He had limped, though. He had a weak point.