by Rhys Ford
I wasn’t going to let Valin lead me back into that darkness, lit only by the watery white glow leaking in through the cracks in the door.
“Don’t you speak fluent Singlish, little brother?” Valin cocked his head, inspecting my face. “I can’t imagine you’d be comfortable speaking our tongue. Or did your master only teach you simple words? Although I am touched you remembered my name.”
“I remembered your smell.” I sneered. “People always remember the smell of dog shit they step into.”
“Ah, it talks. Praise the Goddess. I’d begun to think we’d somehow damaged that tiny brain of yours,” my brother said, sliding his hands into his pants pockets. The dogs shifted. Losing sight of their master’s hands made them anxious, and their wings rubbed together, keening a soft dirge. “Those are nice guns—very monkey of you. But they don’t work when they’re wet, do they?”
“Let the human go with the children, and I’ll stay,” I offered.
“Are you stupid, boy?” Dempsey spat behind me. “We dump the kids and take off. How much can he pay me to make up for this shit?”
“A lot—a hell of a lot,” I mumbled at him before turning my attention back to my brother. “Just let them go, Valin. What good are they to you?”
“Why would I want to do that, Chimera? That’s what you are in Singlish, aren’t you?” Valin asked, ignoring Dempsey. “I can have both you and the children.”
“I’m worth more to you than they are. You said it yourself: Tanic wants me back.” I stepped between Dempsey and the dogs. “They don’t mean anything to you.”
“Ah, my little brother, they do mean something to me,” he replied softly. “They are my daughters, and I have plans for them.”
“Daughters?” I frowned. Dempsey always accused me of being slow, but I’d always put that down to him being a grumpy asshole. He was being grumpy right now, edging back behind me and mumbling. “They’re sidhe. Their mother is Ryder’s sister, Ciarla.”
“Oh, deartháir, Ciarla maneuvered Ryder into this. She just had to arrange matters so Ryder is held responsible for their conception. He is Ciarla’s only competition to be heir.” Valin stroked my cheek with the back of his hand, and I trembled, forcing myself not to pull away. “Who would be better as the Sebac than the contrite sister of a renegade?”
“You expect me to believe she let you be the father of her children?” I replied. “You’re fucking nuts. No sidhe woman would let you touch her.”
“I didn’t need to be there. They were created in a small dish of cold plastic—enough of a violation of the natural order to make most elfin vomit in their shoes. Using a monkey to carry them? That was sheer brilliance.” Valin removed his hand from his pocket and stretched out his fingers. The female shimmered, shuddering into a streak of black in the air as she surged forward to crouch beneath his hand. Her crimson eyes boiled with a low hatred, her stare following every tiny shift of my body. “It was enough to make me wish Ciarla was Dusk Court.”
“Is this where you spend the next five minutes telling me about your evil plan?” I mocked, straining to keep my voice even. “Don’t you keep up with the evil overlord newsletter? Ranting monologues are cliché now.”
“I’ll enjoy beating that attitude out of you,” he said with a chill in his voice. “You were boring after a while, mewling and crying as Father worked on you, but now you’ll be much more interesting.”
“The only one crying was you when I bit you in the balls and choked on the foul taste. I can’t eat turkey gizzards without being reminded of you.”
I swallowed my fear, forcing myself to remain still as Valin circled me, his shoulder brushing the scarification under my shirt. Gritting my teeth, I narrowed my eyes, meeting his steady gaze. If I was going to walk away with anything, it would be my dignity. I’d fought hard to gain it. I wasn’t going to let Valin pry it from me with a few sharp words.
“Maybe I’ll teach one of the girls like Father taught me. And hang the other one up next to you. Wouldn’t that be lovely? Tell me, Chimera, which one should I choose? Maybe I’ll raise them side by side until one disappoints me, and that’ll be the one who will keep you company.”
“You can’t do that if you’re dead,” I growled. Catching Dempsey’s gaze, I flicked my eyes toward the forest line, silently telling him to make a run for it if he got the chance. The babies would slow him down, but not as much as his bum knee. I’d have to give Valin enough trouble to keep his mind off Dempsey until he got clear. “You cut me easily enough when I was hanging there. How about you try it now that I’ve got my hands free?”
“How I’ve missed your taste,” Valin purred in my ear, and his tongue lapped at my cheek. I held my breath, reminding myself that I had to wait it out. Dempsey moved silently, edging away with his arms around my baby-filled jacket. My lip curled, and Valin’s low chuckle pushed warm air over my wet face. “Even rolled in shit, you always tasted sweet.”
The ainmhí dubh female snuffled at my legs, running her flaring nostrils up my shin and over my thigh. She snorted, as if remembering my scent or perhaps even the taste of my meat. Tanic raised dozens of the things, and they’d all had a turn at me. The others shifted back and forth, their talons flexing over the stone. They were getting anxious, drooling as their blood ran hot with the need to hunt. Valin didn’t seem to notice. It looked like keeping the female at his side controlled the males, and she was focused on his every word and gesture.
“I’m guessing there was no first intruder. Shannon was trying to kill them when Alexa came in,” I said. My breath raised a pink flush on his jaw, hot in the cool night air. He turned toward the warmth, seeking me out.
“That ape should have done what your mother did,” Valin purred over the female’s croon, his fingers scratching at her neck. “One slice of a knife to her belly before the shells hardened and this would have been done, but I suppose cowardice is the human way. Your mother at least had the guts to try to kill the thing she carried. I will give her that.”
“At least I know I had an elfin mother,” I replied. “Too bad Tanic has a hard time telling his bitches apart, or you’d know which one he bred to get you.”
I saw stars when he hit me, the signet ring on his index finger catching the edge of my mouth. Tasting blood, I took a step back, grateful for the pain and the space now between us. I spit at the dog’s feet, clearing my mouth, then smiled at my brother, pulling my lips back until my canines glistened.
“Maybe I’ll tell Father you ran.” Valin sucked at his knuckle. He’d caught my teeth, tearing open his skin. “That way, I can let the dogs have you. I imagine you miss them.”
“Are you so used to Daddy’s sloppy seconds, Valin—” Snarling, I nearly closed the gap between us, but I stopped, shifting my weight. “—that you’d rather go after his dogs than be first?”
He cursed, a string of hot unsidhe meant to unnerve me, but it only served to agitate the ainmhí dubh. Tightening his fist, Valin moved in to strike me again when the bushes rustled, bringing the black dogs’ ears up.
Dempsey was gone, and he’d taken the children with him. I’d gambled on his avarice to carry the babies out, and I knew I’d hit pay dirt with his greed sooner or later.
“Wait here for me, little brother.” Valin’s hand settled on my chest, stroking at the spot above my heart. I felt his cold flesh, even through my T-shirt, probably imagined, but I wasn’t going to argue with my body. “It won’t take my boys long to hunt down a crippled monkey. I’m going to get my daughters, and then all of us can go home.”
“Do you think I’m just going to stand here like a sheep waiting to be slaughtered?” I said through my teeth.
“Yes, because you’ve bleated like a sheep under me so many times before,” Valin whispered into my ear. “I’m leaving Misneach with you, in case you decide to run.”
The bitch let loose a slithering growl as Valin told her to wait, slicing his hand down his side and pointing at me. If I took a too big of a step, the female wou
ld be on me, using her weight to hold me down until her Master came back. I had no doubt his pet lizard-dog would keep me rooted to one spot even if she had to kill me to do it.
A mewling cry came from the woods, and the dogs jerked to attention. Their mouths hung open, saliva dripping from hunger. The female’s eyes burned as she watched me, held back by a vocal leash. I didn’t know the commands and certainly didn’t hold the bitch’s respect.
“Time to go on a hunt, my babies,” Valin murmured. “Wait if you don’t want Misneach to have a nibble, little brother. I’ll be back to deal with you after I retrieve my daughters.”
I shifted and hit something with my foot, hearing the scrape of metal against rock. Glancing down, I spotted Dempsey’s shotgun and a scatter of shells lying on the ground against my foot. He’d taken the crossbow with him, but that was fine by me. I preferred the blast of gunpowder to a bolt any day of the week.
“Thanks, old man.” I grinned, hooked my foot under the stock’s curve, and kicked up, tossing the sawed-off shotgun into the air. Moving my hand slightly, I caught the weapon and fired, praying to any deity bored enough to listen.
The deafening booms from Dempsey’s sawed-off echoed, catching Valin in midstride before he disappeared into the darkened woods. Aiming as well as I could, the shots were a near perfect hit, the slugs slamming into the lead male’s skull and ripping through his bony forehead.
The slugs’ momentum was strong enough to tear out the back of the dog’s head, sharp bone cutting from the inside out. The creature’s scaly black skin flew out behind it in long uneven ribbons, and pink sponge grew out the exit hole where the dog’s brain wrapped around pieces of shot and followed along for the ride.
The male was graceful as he died, surprising considering they were built for speed and endurance rather than looks, but still, his death throes were a ballet.
His wings hung in the air, spreading out as if to catch the wind one final time before the earth commanded his body to rest. The red light in his eyes flared, angry and helpless as his systems began to shut down, his brain kicking in along his trained nerves to attack and frustrated that his legs weren’t responding. His chest hit the ground, driven down by the weight of his body. For its loose reptilian look, a black dog was still a densely packed bag of muscle and bone, and when it fell, it fell hard.
Valin howled and broke into a run, but I wasn’t waiting for him to get to me.
Dempsey had come prepared for my kind, leaving me slugs packed with a hard iron core. They were more for taking down older dogs or unsidhe than fighting off a full Hunt, but it would do in a pinch. These weren’t simply older black dogs breeding out in the wild. Valin’s Hunt were seasoned and centuries old.
But when it was all said and done, they were still animals.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I DIDN’T have enough time to slide in new shells, so I pulled the stock around, flipping the shotgun against my forearm, and cracked it open as if to reload. Slamming the wood piece down on the female’s forehead, I cut open her skin. The splash of her hot blood was all I needed. Its sour-rich scent carried in the death-bitter air, and she shook her head, splattering the ground around her.
Growling, the ainmhí dubh leaped at me with her mouth open wide enough to swallow my head. Her teeth scraped open my arm, twisting my elbow around before I could move. Desperate, I jammed the broken-open shotgun into her mouth, forcing it in to wedge between her open jaws.
The impact of her slamming into me rattled my shoulders and spine. I was pushed back a few feet, dangerously close to the edge of the ravine, but I shoved back as hard as I could until the short end of the shotgun’s V touched the back of her throat.
Angry and frustrated, the female bit down, clamping the shotgun’s wedge tight against the roof of her mouth. Her shark-rowed teeth hooked on the muzzle and stock, catching on the tiny metal and wood trims on the gun’s edges. Spit dripped on me, and I turned my face, not wanting to risk being blinded if the acidic saliva hit my eyes. My arm burned where she’d bitten it, the tips of her canines slicing into my skin, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t shake off. I could absorb the poison, even though it burned. Now I was more concerned about getting away than the bubbling on my skin.
Valin started yelling, and things slowed down, the world ticking off each movement with a molasses drop. The female’s blood wasn’t the scent of her breeding, but it would hopefully be enough to anger the males into thinking she was hurt badly. I didn’t need the other black dogs to frenzy. I just needed them to be distracted long enough for Dempsey to get as far away as possible.
Violence erupted on the stone cliff, a loud battle of snarls and screams as the Hunt tore into the alpha male’s fallen body. With their main competition dead or dying, the others drove into one another, slamming their broad chests against anything they could reach in the hopes of knocking their target down. I heard one of the ainmhí dubh howl, a high-pitched shriek, and the skirmish became an all-out war.
Then Valin shouted something at me, and ice crackled in my blood. I hit the ground hard, scraping open my palms as I tried to catch myself. Landing on my hands and knees, I choked and my breath hitched, unable to breathe around the magic-infused words binding me in place.
My father’s training bred obedience into me, and the unsidhe command froze me stiff. My body rebelled against the magic holding me taut, and I puked, an inglorious emptying of the nothing in my stomach, but thankfully the dogs’ screaming hiked up, drowning my brother out. Slivers of words hit me, leaving dizziness along my brain, but it wasn’t enough to paralyze. I rolled over onto my side and kicked out, hitting the female square in the chest, and got to my feet.
I knew the spell he was casting at me. It was the soundtrack to my night terrors. Valin intended to bind me where I stood.
My brother came at me, spitting out hot words, and I staggered, trying to remain on my feet. Time hiccupped for me, then sped up. Frenzied, the Hunt continued to tear into each other, bleeding rivers, and the stink of smoking fur and skin overwhelmed their oily scent. Trying to hold back the battle raging among his Hunt while keeping me still, Valin screamed commands at me and the dogs. Sweat beaded on his upper lip with the effort, and his hands shook as he grabbed an ainmhí dubh, pulling the massive creature off the fallen male.
“Go to hell, Valin,” I spat, tasting my sick on my tongue when my brother reached my side. “Stronger than that now. You can’t hold me. I won’t let you.”
“How much of Father’s conditioning do you think you shook off, arracht?” Valin asked, keeping his shoulders down as he skulked closer. “Or do you even know? Let’s find out, shall we? I’m guessing the old bindings will still hold.”
He tested my responses, feinting to one side to see if I would fall for his movements, but I held steady, watching him carefully. The dogs would remain on hold unless he ordered them to strike, and I’d only have enough time to see him flick his fingers before they attacked. I kept my shoulders angled so I could keep half of my attention on the female. For all Valin’s boasting and the ainmhí dubh responsiveness, I was beginning to think he didn’t have as much command over them as he thought. He’d needed the female to bring the males back in line.
Keep talking, I rambled to myself. Keep your mind off the fear in your belly. It would have been harder to cheer myself on if I didn’t know what waited for me in Tanic’s cellars, and my brain seemed to have it in for me, tossing up memories from the darkest corners of my mind, as if I needed incentive.
“Didn’t you have six dogs when you started? One went over the cliffs with Shannon, and the other was skewered by Dempsey,” I prodded, swallowing to moisten my mouth. “I’ve got you down to three who don’t look good.”
“I don’t need the ainmhí dubh to help me take you down, deartháir.”
“You sure?” I squared off my hips, giving him a smaller target to hit in case he could throw the daggers he had hanging at his sides. I didn’t know how good he was with his knives when
I wasn’t trussed up like a roasting chicken.
“I have all I need, little brother,” he said, inhaling sharply, drawing one of his long weapons. “All I need. I’m going to enjoy spilling your blood to close the final seal on your body. I just have to choose where to start cutting. So many choices.”
The words Valin spoke in a hissing breath meant nothing to my ears, but to my body, they were iron bands wrapped around my joints and muscles. Forcing myself to remain standing, I fought the wave of sick crawling through my innards. Valin continued his hissing, taking a step closer to me with his dagger tilted up. The point touched my throat, and I fought to push my head back, willing my body to respond to anything as he began to weave another layer of binding around me.
“Iallach a chur ar dhuine rud a dhéanamh….” Tanic’s original bindings echoed with bits and pieces of Old Earth’s languages, stinking of clover and green. I didn’t understand most of it, but the words I did were ominous. I’d been worked over by the spell before, so many times before that I could practically recite it in my sleep. Valin let the working settle over me, cockily winking at me as he moved closer, lifting my shirt with his fingers and rubbing the back of his hand against my stomach.
“Can you feel your blood stirring, my little monster?” Valin slithered around me, catching my hips with his palms. His breath was hot on my face, tinged with mint and something sour. His fingers roamed, catching the hem of my T-shirt. With a quick, flicking upward slice, the dagger in his hand made short work of my shirt, parting it away from my chest. Working the tip of his weapon through one of my nipple rings, he tugged on the gold circle. “Shall I continue, deartháir?”
