by Ching, G. P.
“I’ll do my best.” Dane cradled his head in his hands.
“No,” Jacob insisted, yanking his arm so that his head jarred painfully. “Do better than your best. I’m not fooling around here, Dane. You’ve got to be willing to die for her.”
Dane turned his head to scowl at Jacob.
“I’m not kidding. It sounds harsh, and I’m sorry your life is on the line. I’d go in your place if I could, believe me. But she’s more important than you or our powers. Do what you have to do to get her out alive.”
What did he think, anyway? Dane wasn’t doing this for his health. He’d resolved that he would die on this mission. Of course he’d give his life for Malini if he needed to. He took a deep breath and nodded for Jacob’s benefit.
“Cool. Maybe you should go lie down or something. You don’t look so good.”
“I don’t feel so good.”
“Do you think … Is it Cheveyo?”
“I don’t think so. I haven’t heard anything from him in days, but he’s still alive in there, at the back of my head. He’s just too weak to communicate with me anymore.”
“What happens if he dies?”
“No one knows.”
Jacob swallowed. “Everything will work out,” he said, but he didn’t look like he believed his words. Not at all.
* * * * *
Dane wasn’t sleeping well. All the stuff he had going on in his head, the new powers and Cheveyo’s soul, fought for room against the synapses and neurons keeping his body running. Dark circles had formed under his eyes, and his training sessions had grown shorter and shorter. He’d tried his best, but there was only so much he could give before his body quit on him.
As Friday grew closer, he became competent with each of the skills provided him. Lillian, as head of field operations, had given up her gift last, and with some reluctance turned his training over to Master Lee. The man was older but spry. Though Dane would never admit the truth to Lillian, Lee was a more empathetic teacher.
“Your nose is bleeding,” Lee said, grabbing a towel from the stack near the door of the dojo and tossing it to him. They’d been training for only three hours, but Dane’s body was already breaking down.
“Yeah, my head is pounding too. I’ve got to sit down.”
Master Lee helped him to the floor.
“I’m not getting stronger, Lee. I’m falling apart. I’m not sure I can do this.”
Lee took a seat next to him on the wood floor. “Breathe with me, Dane, in and out, in and out. Life is breath.”
Dane did as he suggested, closing his eyes and opening his lungs.
“What you have to hold inside yourself is greater than your human body can handle. You have pieces of four souls and Cheveyo caught inside the web of your mind. The mind is a powerful thing, tightly connected to the heart and soul. If you survive this, it will be by the power of your spirit, not of your body. Your spirit is bigger than your body.”
“No offense, but I feel like even my spirit has a nosebleed these days,” Dane said, mopping his face.
Patiently, Lee sat in silence until the bleeding stopped.
“Should we practice some more?” Dane asked.
“Not fighting.” Lee shook his head. “Sit like this, cross-legged.”
Dane obeyed, mimicking the man.
“Relax your head, your arms, your neck, your shoulders, and try to clear your mind.”
“Clearing my mind isn’t easy these days. It’s pretty crowded in there.”
“Breathe,” Lee said again. “Relax. Clear. Close your eyes.”
Again, Dane tried, and this time pictured the web of his mind and the five souls caught in the crisscrossing fibers. The spider woman climbed into his thoughts and began to weave, expanding the network of threads. His body was weak, but this part of him, heart, soul, and mind, was limitless. Red and pulsating, the web expanded beyond the confines of his skin.
Inside this inner world behind his eyelids, he simply stopped thinking, stopped worrying about how he might die tomorrow, stopped beating himself up about not pursuing Ethan when he had the chance, and stopped dreading what might happen if he did live and had to deal with his family and the farm. He just stopped.
Spider Woman smiled.
When he opened his eyes, the room was dark, Lee was gone, and Malini was standing in the doorway.
“Lee told me you’d be here,” she said softly. “I hope I didn’t disturb you.”
He stretched his arms above his head and cracked his neck. “How long have I been sitting here?”
“About twelve hours, I think. It’s after midnight. I had a sense you were coming out of it. With all of those pieces of Soulkeeper inside of you, the Healer in me can smell you a mile away.” She smiled.
“Sunshine and honey, I hope.”
“Absolutely.”
He stood and walked to her, the wood boards creaking in the quiet room.
“We leave tomorrow,” she said. Are you ready?
Dane heard Malini’s thoughts in his head as clearly as if she’d said them out loud.
I’m not sure a person can be ready for this. But I’m not backing down.
Good. She led the way into the hall.
“So, what’s with the telepathy?” he asked.
“I can communicate with the thoughts of anyone who’s used the stone. I wanted to test my connection with you. I have a feeling we’ll need it.”
“Almost guaranteed,” Dane responded. He offered her his elbow, and she hooked her hand inside. “I’ll be honest, Malini, the thought of facing Auriel, after what she did to me, is horrifying. My time in Hell—”
“I know, Dane, you don’t have to say it.”
“But I’m glad I can do this. I’ve never been so proud to be a Soulkeeper.” He cleared his throat. “If we pull this off, Nod will be my revenge. I’m not looking forward to seeing Auriel, but I am looking forward to killing her.”
Malini smiled. “That’s the spirit! Now, let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very big day.”
Dane agreed, releasing her arm to move toward the east wing. Truth was he didn’t feel tired anymore. If he could describe what he felt at the moment in one word, it would be vengeful, and although it surprised him to no end, he was almost anxious to exercise that particular emotion.
Chapter 28
Into Shadow
Friday, high noon, Dane led Malini across his parents’ property with a knife in her back. It helped that his doppelganger, Bonnie, had confirmed she was with his family at the hospital. He was confident they were alone.
“I thought Archibald might not let go of your hand this morning,” Malini whispered in an obvious attempt to lift the mood.
“Yeah, about that…” Dane stopped talking when he saw her. Auriel waited by the clump of pine trees where he’d met her multiple times sophomore year. A vortex of fall wind billowed her platinum tresses as if the air around her was a different density than the rest of the atmosphere. What might have been natural if she’d been underwater, here gave away her inhumanity.
Auriel’s wicked grin preceded a laugh that made Dane’s skin want to climb off his body.
“You did it,” she seethed, inhaling deeply. “I can smell their blood on your hands.”
“You’ll never get away with this,” Malini sneered.
Even though Dane knew her venom was an act, her accusing stare made him squirm.
“Shut it, Healer. Be a good little monkey and put on your collar.” She held up a chain with a metal ring for her neck. “I’d prefer not to touch you.”
Malini didn’t move. Dane made a show of pressing the knife into her back.
“Cheveyo, sweetheart, would you do the honors?” She held out the chain.
With all his will, he demanded his hand’s compliance and took the leash from Auriel, fastening the collar around Malini’s neck. This is what they’d signed up for. They had to allow her to take them to Nod.
Auriel brought her lips to Malini’s ea
r. “See? Cheveyo knows how to follow a basic command. You’ll learn too, even if breaking you takes Lucifer a century. Frankly, I hope I get to watch him try.”
With a twist of her head, Malini slapped the side of her face into Auriel’s lips and cheek. The Watcher screamed when their skin touched, Her flesh burned and bubbled. She backed off.
“You bitch!” Auriel patted her blistered skin. She gave the chain a hard yank, causing Malini’s head to snap back. Dane winced. Luckily, Auriel wasn’t looking at him to see his reaction.
“Come, Cheveyo, let’s take this one where she belongs.” She eyed Dane with disgust. “Remember, no skin to skin. I don’t want your smell on me.” Grasping his elbow over his gray plaid shirt, she wrapped Malini’s chain around her wrist. Then, she reached for a nearby pine tree.
The pine bark shingled Auriel’s arm, up over her head, and extended its wooden grip toward Dane and Malini. Everything in him begged for an escape from the advancing threat.
Relax, Dane. Breathe. This is how it works.
Even Malini’s voice in his head wasn’t enough to calm his panic as the tree swallowed him. He descended into the earth, pulled down through the roots of the tree, through the soil where every creepy, crawly thing seemed to sift through his cells. Relief came in the form of a bed of filthy sand in the middle of a garden of thorns. He coughed and spit from the squirming nausea.
Auriel leaned over his prone body. Her wings were out, two pearly white numbers that arced over her shoulders and swept down to her ankles. Of course, her beauty was an illusion. She was made of evil, snakeskin, and black leather. With one hand, she lifted him to his feet by the back of his shirt. The motion pushed his stomach over the edge. He puked near her feet.
“Gross,” she deadpanned. As if he were contagious, she released him and backed away. “Come on, my pets. Lucifer is waiting.”
Amazingly unaffected by the trip through the tree, Malini passively allowed Auriel to lead her by the neck. On the other side of a central fountain in the shape of an angel, Dane followed as Auriel led the way down a narrow path. They walked single file, twisting thorn bushes reaching for him from the sides of the trail, as well as the occasional skull.
Discretely, Malini reached back to squeeze his hand. Just stay with me. The darkness will break when we reach Nod.
Darkness?
She squeezed his hand again. Dane, can you see here?
Clear as day.
How? It’s pitch black.
Archibald? He gave me something, a gift before we left. That’s why he held my hand for so long when we said goodbye.
If we ever get out of this mess, I’m going to give that little guy a medal. Do you know if he gave you anything else?
Not a clue.
They walked in silence through the desert of death. At times, Dane wished he couldn’t see. Dead plants, dried tangles of thorns, bones, skulls, decaying things. What would the inside of the city be like? Eventually, a fluorescent blue glow lit the horizon. Nod. The skyline was boxy and plain—steel and wood designed with all the artistry of a dog kennel. Malini’s eyes blinked to adjust to the burgeoning light.
With a flick of her hand, Auriel opened the gate, dragging Malini forward by the neck. A delta of sand led to a central street area. The pavement was potholed and filthy, with all manner of junk congesting the lane. He had to work to keep from stepping in filth or on something sharp. But the Watchers seemed to take this for granted, kicking aside what they couldn’t walk over. On foot, or by human-drawn rickshaw, they picked their way through the mess.
Tall buildings reached toward a skyless darkness, windows emitting the fluorescent blue that lit the city. The place smelled like a sewer, but then, with all the rotting refuse near his feet, that was no surprise. As Watchers moved between the buildings, they kicked up a dusty, dirty fog. Ironically, Nod was at odds with the appearance of its inhabitants. Watchers were illusionists and their collective beauty momentarily stunned Dane. Each one looked as if they’d just walked off the pages of a designer underwear catalog, tall and thin with perfect hair and fluffy angel wings.
For a moment, he wondered why creatures with wings didn’t fly where they needed to go. All of them walked or rode to their destination. But then he remembered the number one rule Abigail had taught him about Watchers; they were lazy. Slothful was the word she’d used. Watchers didn’t fly if they could walk and probably didn’t walk if they could sit. What a disgusting waste of wings.
Auriel kept Malini close but seemed indifferent to Dane’s presence, maybe because she believed Cheveyo was influenced and would follow along like a trained puppy. Whatever the reason, from behind he had a panoramic view of the moment the city of Watchers noticed them. When the crowd turned, one by one, to see Malini on the end of Auriel’s chain, the menace on their faces was far from beautiful. The bustling city of Nod stopped. The street became as quiet as a tomb.
“All hail, the great and powerful Healer!” Auriel bellowed sarcastically.
The crowd whooped and howled. They approached tentatively, circling Malini, taunting her, eyes wide and unbelieving. Dane stepped back, using Ghost’s unique ability to blend into the crowd while staying close enough to keep an eye on her. He wasn’t invisible, just easily forgettable, which made it difficult to be brave as they closed in around her.
A blond male picked up a piece of garbage from the street, a bone Dane preferred to imagine was an animal’s, and hurled it at Malini. The heavy object struck her in the chest. The impact must’ve hurt, but she didn’t call out or struggle. Malini gave no reaction at all.
Others joined in, fueled by each other. They pummeled her. Watchers couldn’t touch Malini without burning their skin, but that didn’t stop them. All manner of rotting trash, thorny sticks, and the bones of the dead became her affliction. Dane couldn’t take it anymore. Calling Ethan’s power, he deflected the worst of it from her face.
Not yet, Dane.
He had to look away to obey her.
Finally, Auriel put an end to the attack. “To the throne room! Lucifer will want to play with his prize.” The crowd cheered, moving as one to an exceptionally tall glass and steel monolith on their right. He thought the taunting would stop, but it didn’t. His heart sank as a thick lock of her hair drifted through the crowd and landed near his shoes. Had they ripped it out or cut it off?
Malini?
Find Cheveyo. Then, come back for me.
Even her thoughts sounded miserable and resigned. The horror in his chest turned to anger. He dropped back, allowing the Watchers to swarm around him, pushing and shoving toward the glass doors.
“So we meet again, Cheveyo,” a voice said from beside him. A redheaded Watcher with an evil grin looked at him through suspiciously long lashes. One of her wings was crippled, smaller, hanging limp at her back. He thought this odd considering the Watcher’s illusive abilities but tried not to seal his death sentence by staring.
Cheveyo! Cheveyo! Who is this? He mentally shook the wisp at the back of his skull.
No answer came to him. But then, Cheveyo hadn’t woken up in days. He was on his own.
“His Royal Darkness has asked me to give you your reward,” she said cynically, “while everyone else gets to celebrate. Come on.”
Obediently, he followed her through the city to a train, the likes of which he’d never seen before. Transparent, made of glass or some other such material, the passengers and their human slaves were clearly visible as the train came to a stop on the platform. Dane cringed at the sight. Evil. That was the only word to describe the behavior within. The doors opened. Watchers lashed at their human slaves to get them to move. Some did. Others, too bloody and broken to obey, were dragged, half-conscious, from the train. Their blood smeared the street.
Dane wanted to fight. He lowered his head and stuffed his anger down deep. Soon. Very soon, he’d show these demons exactly what he could do.
He allowed the redhead to lead him to an empty car. Dane supposed the other Watchers h
ad exited to join the celebration of Malini’s capture. He attempted to sit down on one of the empty seats, but she tugged him to standing by his hair.
“Humans don’t sit,” she hissed.
The rumble of movement had him reaching for the pole at the center of the car. Luckily, she didn’t say anything else as they advanced, or tell him where they were going. Dane took the opportunity to close his eyes and focus on his breath as Master Lee had taught him. He needed to hold it together if he was going to save Malini.
Talons dug into his shoulder. “Come. Now.”
Off the train and up a dirt path, she led him under an archway. With a little help from Jacob’s power, he read zoo in the symbols above him. He’d heard about this place, the human zoo. This was where Lillian had been held captive for a year before Dr. Silva, Jacob, and Malini had rescued her. But none of the stories could prepare him for the grizzly sight. Inside their filthy prisons, the humans were tragically beautiful. Every race, every color … Dane never appreciated before the art that was humanity. But here, in this ugly place of cages and rags, the souls shined like candles, even in their somewhat catatonic states.
“Here you are,” the redhead said, pointing into a cage labeled Native American. “Your body.”
The heap of brown flesh on the floor behind the bars stared with dead, unblinking eyes. The body looked nothing like the boy he’d seen in the In Between when he used the stone. But then, the thin, drawn shell was soulless. Dane reached for the body.
Powerful hands yanked him back. “Oh no.” She laughed. “You don’t get to touch it. You just get to watch it rot.” With a giggle, she dragged him across the central pathway and tossed him forcibly into an open cage.
He crashed into the concrete. “Ugh!”
She slammed the door and locked the cage. “Enjoy the view. Maybe in a few weeks you’ll be able to smell your own decay.”
Curled on his side, Dane clutched his throbbing shoulder as she skipped away from his cage and exited under the archway.
Chapter 29
Temptation
