Dweller on the Threshold

by Rinda Elliott

  “It’s O’Dell.”

  He merely smiled. The argument was dumb anyway, but I was desperately trying to give the slow necromancer enough time. Something in the forest still stirred. I could see a swirling mass of black behind and below the Dweller. There was a faint mist hovering over the ground; it mixed with a spiral of dirt that shifted much like the snakes had.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nikolos crawling toward the others. Dooby muttered, “Fuck the circle,” and jumped from it to help drag the big man to the mirrors. Blythe apologized as she gathered blood from his chest into a small cup.

  The blood of an ancient.

  The Dweller laughed again. “Victor raped your mother. She gave up her existence for my current hosts. Now, we are three—as it should have been before. It takes three for my complete materialization in the physical plane.”

  “Hosts?” Plural? Was he talking about me? I was the host, too?

  And like that, the ground around the snakes rumbled. Blythe screamed as the earth shook and cracked open—about ten feet behind the place my sister stood. The sound was like a thunderous gunshot. Red flames swept from the opening and spread along the surface as a fire elemental rose powerful from the earth. It had a humanoid body shaped from what looked like cracked, sizzling coal. Fire spilled to lick the surrounding trees, chasing away the snakes. It burned open the dimensions—creating a pit in the earth that yawned wide and black.

  Blythe collapsed on the ground yet held her arms out. Thin streams of light connected her fingertips to the elemental like horizontal puppet strings. Her face twisted with effort and I knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it for long.

  I also knew I didn’t want that fucking thing loose.

  The Dweller was distracted long enough for Dooby to shove my brother between the mirrors.

  I took advantage of the chaos and slammed into the Dweller with a force that sent me spinning and reeling like I’d hit the inside of a giant bell. His words spun in my head. Two hosts. Two fucking hosts. He’d made it sound like we were more than twins. Born of a goddess, sharing the responsibility…

  I screamed and wrestled control of my metaphysical body before sweeping around to fly at the Dweller again. I stumbled through the air, flipping when he suddenly disappeared.

  On the ground, my sister’s body fell.

  A howl rose from that black, yawning abyss as a curl of red smoke soared up to slam into an invisible barrier. It was trapped between the two facing mirrors Dooby and the others had placed at the edge of that opening in the ground.

  I dove back into my body, then groaned and turned onto my back. I spit out bark and blood. The side of my face felt like it was on fire where I’d slammed it into the tree. I crawled onto all fours and stood, my legs shaking so badly my teeth rattled. I lurched toward those mirrors, stopping to swipe my knives from the ground on the way. Black swirled around the edges of my vision. I didn’t know if they’d gotten him out in time to save my sister. I just knew they’d gotten him out.

  Bees gathered around my head as if urging me on. The snakes slithered in the open near my feet. I could feel power returning to my body.

  The Dweller started to solidify. Its eyes came first. Those same flat black things. I knew if I lived through this I’d remember them to my dying breath. Those eyes met mine as the thing started to resemble one of the Dweller Demons in color, but was so much more human in appearance. It hissed, shimmering violently. “Come to me Bergdis. Castor.” It grew bigger. “My children. We’re an unholy trinity.” It laughed at its own stupid joke.

  “I must have inherited my sense of humor from my mother,” I muttered, hoping it had the same weak spots as its Dweller minions. I was taking a step closer when Nikolos stepped in front of me, blocking my way.

  He looked worse than I felt. And that was saying a lot. He slid his hands into my hair to cradle my entire head, rubbing his thumbs over my bottom lip. I held my breath. He let go and lifted the necklace with the ankh over his head before draping it over mine. “I will be with you through this.”

  The forest was quiet. I could still see the Dweller growing in size and feel it getting stronger behind Nikolos. I shook my head at Nikolos’s words.

  The corner of his mouth lifted, then fell. “I heard him talk of your mother—my goddess. She gave the ankhs to me and my wife at our wedding.” He kissed me. My eyes widened in understanding as a tingling force poured into my mouth from his. He was gifting me with everything he had left. His life.

  I began to struggle but he held my head harder, nearly hurting me in his intent. My eyes snapped open wide as the Dweller with his black, mottled demon skin rose high into the air over Nikolos’s head. Its mouth stretched wide, black eyes narrowed on me.

  “Bergdissssss. Ever trap smoke in a jar?” It took a deep breath then blew it out. I heard the moan of trees bending behind me. “It writhes, twists and turns, seeking the smallest opening for escape. It finds it. Always.”

  I tried to pull away from Nikolos but he held my face still as he instead moved back. He opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was—I couldn’t hear it.

  Because the souls around him had started to scream. I looked down to find them being pulled in one huge mass toward the Dweller. I dug my fingers into Nikolos’s arm. “He’s taking the souls!”

  Nikolos’s eyes softened as he placed another soft kiss on my mouth. He let go, stepped back once, then again. I wrapped the fingers of my good hand around our entwined ankhs, horror darkening the edges of my vision as he bid me a silent goodbye. He turned and ran at the thing. The Dweller’s expression went slack with shock just before Nikolos slammed into his physical body—taking them both into that pit.

  I screamed and ran toward the edge only to be knocked back by the swarm of souls that rose, like the birds had earlier, in one black mass.

  That mass splintered.

  I turned to see Blythe collapse. The magic she’d been using to hold the fire elemental vanished and the ground closed up with a roar that made me cover my ears.

  Gulping in deep harsh breaths, I clenched my fists. Stupid, fucking Minoan had planned this all along. I knew it. Tears burned my eyes before spilling over to drip on the earth.

  I watched as Dooby checked Blythe’s pulse, saw him nod an okay at Castor. I remembered that last expression on Nikolos’s face. He’d never had any intention of killing the host. He’d come along to protect him, knowing he would die in this battle.

  I wiped the tears from my cheeks with dirt-covered fingers.

  My sister moaned. I slowly climbed to my feet and lurched toward her. I would have gone sprawling if Castor hadn’t moved like lightning to catch me. So many emotions swam over his features, concern… remorse. I had no smiles for him. Nothing. I just kept seeing Nikolos jumping into that hole with the Dweller.

  “Beri?” Elsa’s voice was low, shaky.

  I dropped to my knees next to her. “Hey, you.” I’d really thought the Dweller was going to rip through her body—and to see her here, whole, with her beautiful blue eyes shining at me made me forget the pain for a moment. The one in my side. The ache over Nikolos was too fresh. I knew that it would never heal.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “Do you remember it? I’d hoped you wouldn’t.” I smoothed her hair back and wiped a bit of blood from her chin.

  “Cop’s memory.” She grinned but it was a weak one. “I saw something that looked like me come through the mirror. I stunned it with the perfume bottle and got all the way into my car and down the street before it caught me. Since then, everything has been kind of blurry, but I was still aware. I’m sorry about Nikolos.”

  I lifted my eyebrow. “You were in a coma.”

  “Yes, but I don’t think it was a real one. Part of my mind was still there, still aware. The other part of me was split off. With him.”

  “You could feel being trapped in that mess? Around Nikolos?”

  Sorrow pulled her features taut as tears slipped from t
he corners of her eyes. “It was awful. But I wasn’t alone. He kept us alive—the pureness of his spirit.”

  “He’s dead, Elsa.” My voice broke on her name and I closed my eyes as it hit me. Really, really hit me.

  I felt a presence next to me and looked up in surprise at Phro. She had pulled enough energy resources to be visible—to actually make a sound with her steps as a twig broke under her sandal. She knelt beside me and smiled. I’d never seen that expression on her face before. It was almost serene. “He’s not dead. Not yet anyway. What lives in that underworld he entered is greedy. Creatures—many, many creatures—will be happy feeding off his spirit for a long time. You might be able to bargain with them.”

  I held my breath as a spark of hope flooded in to lighten the heavy grief. “I can go in there?”

  “Not like this. You’re too weak.” She touched my hand. “You have to give yourself time to recover. Gather strength. Getting in there again won’t be easy. Not even with my help.”

  She sighed and smoothed her hands down the already-perfect material of that silly white dress. “I know now why I’m with you. Why only you could see me for so long.” She wrapped her hands together. “I pissed off your grandmother.”

  Now I had a grandmother? I glanced at Castor, who just shrugged.

  Phro twisted the white material in a fist. “Nikolos told us about his people going mad on Aegenia—that they’d slaughtered each other in that madness. We, the gods, didn’t know what was happening. For the first time even we were at a loss. These were Ariadne’s people, so when she left the ruins of Aegenia she wasn’t prepared for what happened then. She caught the eye of Dyonisis. He’s the one who made her a goddess.”

  My body throbbed with exhaustion. I wanted to take my sister to a doctor. I wanted out of here so I could heal and start finding my way into wherever Nikolos had gone. I wanted to know if the Dweller was really gone since neither Castor nor I had officially vanquished it. I sighed. “Phro, how does this have anything to do with you?”

  “Ariadne’s mother was Pasiphae. Pasiphae was already pissed at me because of that whole thing with the stupid bull. Did you ever read the myth about her having sex with a bull?”

  I nodded.

  “I misunderstood a religious ceremony, spread rumors in my ignorance and her reputation was destroyed. I gave her daughter the gift of beauty to try and make up for it but it backfired. I have no defense. It was selfish and a piss-poor way to try and make amends. Pasiphae went crazy over what happened on Aegenia. She must have cursed me to live invisible in this earthly dimension knowing it would be the one thing that drove me crazy. I was always the center of attention back then.”

  I waited.

  “Don’t you see? You are her granddaughter. You were supposed to see me.”

  “No, I don’t see. I don’t see how this conversation is important here and now, Phro. I only know that we’re all hurting and exhausted and a wonderful, incredible man just possibly gave up his life to save us. Why do we need to hear this right this moment?”

  She grinned and it looked like her normal, snotty one. “We rarely did things that made sense. Too bored most of the time to think straight, we’d try anything once, just for amusement. Look at all my father’s escapades.”

  I was so going to try and punch her the next time I astral projected. Everything hurt. My outsides. My insides. “Phro please. Tell me if this has anything to do with Nikolos in that place.”

  “I’m getting there. Your mother didn’t believe in her own powers of attraction. She was a lot like you—though she’s the spitting image of that brother of yours. The fact that she actually bought her way onto this earth to seduce that nasty slab of humanity shocks me. She was pretty fastidious then. Always into rituals or playing with her snakes.”

  “Aphrodite, you are pissing me off.”

  She stomped her foot. “Dammit, you stupid woman, don’t you realize these things have to be told as story? Think about the snakes. The bees! Think about the feminine figure you saw over and over in Nikolos’s home in those damn statues and pieces of pottery. He was Ariadne’s most loyal warrior. She introduced him to the finest woman on their island, gave them the ankhs at the wedding. When that woman died, she put you here for him.” She paused. “And she made sure you inherited a gift from her. One that would save him.”

  I waited. Held my breath.

  “Did you ever read the story about the Minotaur in the Labyrinth?”

  “The half-bull, half-human child? Ariadne’s brother. But if Pasiphae didn’t…”

  She hung her head. “That’s another story we twisted. Ariadne’s brother was born with some sort of disfigurement, but no one forced him to live in the labyrinth. He did, however, get lost in there and Ariadne’s true love went in to find him and got lost himself. Ariadne led him from the labyrinth with string.”

  When she stopped speaking, I sat stunned for a couple of seconds. The miles of extra cord—the very thing that had driven me nuts when it got caught in trees. The very thing that had come in so handy with the demons.

  I would be able to lead Nikolos from the underworld with it.

  I took Elsa’s hand in mine, squeezing lightly when she winked. She could see and hear Phro because of the solidity the goddess had taken on. She’d gathered energy—probably so everyone could see her and the grand story could be told in style.

  “Is Blythe okay?” I aimed my question at Frida, who stood silent and protective over her. I hadn’t even seen him during this entire battle. He nodded and offered me a smile. A real one.

  Dooby still had his hand on Blythe’s head. “She passed out. She was using so much magic.” He bit his lip and I noticed that he had dirt streaks covering his body from head to toe. “I didn’t know she had that kind of power. She never said.”

  “I don’t think she knew,” I answered.

  He stroked her hair. “Well, if you plan to go after Nikolos, we’ll need to summon another fire elemental. We’ll also need the blood of an ancient.”

  “I’ll find one.” The pain had started to make me dizzy. “I’ll find one if I have to drag the devil himself into a circle to give blood. Nikolos shouldn’t pay. He’s been paying all these years and it was never his fault to begin with. He sacrificed himself to set all those souls free.”

  I stood, letting Castor help me. I leaned against him. The Dweller had called us hosts. I suppose he meant we were two parts of a whole. Not that that made sense or anything, but right then nothing much did. Not with me losing blood so quickly. I decided then to let Dooby and Blythe translate that book. Maybe there was something in there about Castor and me.

  Castor helped me to the second swamp buggy. “I’ll send people back for the other vehicle,” he said, gently tucking me into the back seat. He offered me the sweetest smile before his expression smoothed, turning serious. “It’s not over.”

  “I know.” I kept my voice low so we wouldn’t scare the others. They’d have to be told—just not right now. “Did you see them?”

  “You mean the things that were escaping that hole? The elemental and the Dweller were working together, I think.”

  I nodded. “He was stalling me on purpose. That damned elemental didn’t mess with us for a reason. It was letting things out.” I’d seen the shadows, creatures skulking into the woods to hide. I didn’t know what kinds of creatures.

  “We’ll have to get them back.” Castor looked toward the trees where most had disappeared. “Who knows what power they’ll have here.”

  “I know. I’ll get them back.”

  “We will,” he said before turning to go back for my sister. I could hear her protesting as he picked her up.

  “Okay, we will,” I murmured, letting my body relax for now. Raw determination pumped through my aching heart and I closed my eyes. “After I get Nikolos back.”

  About the Author

  Rinda loves unusual stories and credits growing up in a family of curious life-lovers who moved all over the country. Books
and movies full of fantasy, science fiction and romance kept her amused, especially in some of the stranger places. For years, she tried to separate her darker side with her humorous and romantic ones. She published short fiction, but things really started happening when she gave in and mixed it up. When not lost in fiction, Rinda loves making wine, collecting music, gaming and spending time with her husband and two children.

  She’s represented by Miriam Kriss of the Irene Goodman Agency.

  You can find Rinda at relliott4.wordpress.com and www.deadlinedames.com.

  Look for these titles by Rinda Elliott

  Coming Soon:

  Blood of an Ancient

  All it takes is one freak to turn everything into a demonic ritual

  On Pins and Needles

  © 2013 Yolanda Sfetsos

  Sierra Fox, Book 3

  Sierra Fox can’t catch a break. Her relationship with werewolf, Jason Papan, is going great but someone’s still trying to kill her. After a death prediction, she becomes even more paranoid. But there are too many things going on in her life for her to dwell on just the one.

  With her biological grandfather’s help, Sierra is about to find out exactly why the demonic-obsessed freaks wants her. Meeting the half-sister she didn’t know she had throws her into a new lot of trouble. The teenager suffers a supernatural problem that makes her a target, and when teenagers start turning up dead, Sierra realizes the case leads to her sister.

  As Sierra finds herself in the thick of the murder investigation, and the target on her becomes harder to avoid, she has no choice but to face her darkest fears and accept that to overcome the looming threat, she’ll have to embrace the darkest of her powers. Or that death prediction might just come true…