Twelve.
A Place to Torment Me
“This is going to hurt” is something I told inmates when I was resetting a broken bone. I wasn’t lying, and neither was Finn when he warned me. He stared down at me with determination, kneeling over my torso with his knees on the outside of my legs, pinning my thighs together. “Try to be still,” Finn said, looking at my face with something akin to affection mixed with resolve.
“Why can’t I stand up for this?” I started to get impatient and a little scared. I didn’t much like the idea of men pinning me down, even if it was Mason and Finn. “Get off me, Finn. Let me up, Mason.”
Mason ignored me. “Go ahead, Finn. Once Ezra hears her screaming, he’ll try to intervene.”
“What? Guys, what are you doing? I don’t like this!”
Finn leaned down and kissed my cheek, drawing a territorial hiss from Mason. “I’m sorry, kendi.”
“She’s not your kendi!” Mason barked.
Finn smirked at Mason. “She’s not yours, either.”
“Pee on me later, guys. My arm hurts like it’s on fire, and like most sane women, I don’t do well being pinned to the ground with a man atop me! Let me up!”
Finn stroked the curve of my cheek tenderly, his thumb tracing the crest of my lip. “Trust me to get the job done. We’re the same person in that respect. You’ll do whatever it takes, and so will I, even if it hurts someone I…” Finn cleared his throat, swallowing as he pried his eyes from my lips.
“I swear to you, I’ll stab you straight in your stupid gills if you don’t keep it together, Finn. Go back to your king’s harem and look for legs in there with Banak’s conch shell. October doesn’t belong to you.”
“Finn?” I whimpered, begging him with my eyes for the fire in my arm to go away. A panic not from me welled up in my guts, turning my pleas frantic. “Kabayo’s hurt! You have to save him!”
“Hold still. I’ll take care of everything, sinta.”
Mason growled, “You’ll especially not call her that. Not ever. She’ll never be your sinta.”
Finn paid Mason no mind as he closed his eyes and started murmuring an incantation in a language I didn’t know. I fruitlessly struggled beneath both men, trying not to lose myself to Kabayo’s alarm.
“Now, Finn!” Mason commanded, scaring me with the ominous sound of his voice.
Finn exhaled through pursed lips over my face, confusing me and making the muscles in my cheeks ache out of nowhere. Then lightning suddenly shot through my arm and into my chest, pushing a scream from my lungs that was so terrifying, I didn’t know my mouth was capable of such an awful sound. Light and heat filled my body as I convulsed beneath Finn, who pressed me down with his significant weight into the carpet. My arm was on fire, I was sure of it. My toes rang with horror and agony as I thrashed without purpose or hope of victory. The only thing I could think to ask for was the only thing that always came through for me when life seemed to go up in flames. “Ollie!” I yelled, my back arching as Finn continued murmuring in his guttural language.
Mason’s hand clamped over my mouth after stretching both my arms over my head to pin them down with one of his larger mitts. “Shh. It’ll be over soon.”
But it wasn’t. I don’t know if Mason was just lying, or if time had ceased all meaning for me. The fire burned my body without destroying, so it would always have a place to torment me.
Finally, finally I heard a fist banging on the door. Then a few fists. “October? Open this door! Ezra, help me!” Ollie called, frantic. He slammed his body against the solid wood, but it didn’t budge.
Finn pulled his face back from mine. The only thing that distracted me from the white hot pain were his eyes. They were black now, instead of a clear green. The same glowing dark blue X that emanated from my forearm was mirrored in his eyes, like an eyeball tattoo or something. The blue X-shaped glow trailed off from the edges of his irises, making him look like a space monster or something equally freakish. I screamed in fear as well as agony this time, and finally, Ollie and Ezra broke the sturdy double doors open, stumbling into the room.
“I got it!” Finn cried out as Ollie jumped him from behind.
That was the last thing I saw before the pain flowed out of me, leaving me a limp noodle on the floor as the room faded from my vision.
Thirteen.
Not so Different
I was still on the floor when I came to in fragments and pieces. I stared up at the ceiling and listened to Ollie yell at Mason while Mason tried to answer for himself calmly. Mariang was on the floor near my head with one of the twins, who was dabbing at my forehead with a cold, wet rag. I hoped it wasn’t Boston.
“It’s still smoking,” the twin informed Mariang, who had tears in her eyes as she stroked my cheek. “And what are these marks? This is from Kabayo’s token, but these claw marks on her arms? How does the Omen with two Reapers get into an animal fight like this?”
Mariang swept Bishop’s hand from my arm, shushing him. “It’s not worth mentioning. Von and Mason do a fine job. Some things can’t be helped.”
“What happened?” I rasped, feeling about a hundred years old when Ollie forsook his fight with Mason to kneel next to me. He encircled his arms around my upper half so he could slowly lift me off the ground.
“Get something to wrap her arm with!” he barked to Mason. “Why is her arm smoking?”
“It’s what I’ve been trying to explain to you. Finn used her link to locate Kabayo. The mark lit itself on fire, but we put it out. It’s okay, Ollie.”
“You lit my sister on fire!” Ollie roared.
“To find your mother!” Mason countered.
“Screw Bev! I won’t throw October under a bus to save your stupid world! I won’t let you hurt her to save a woman who never lifted a finger for us!”
Ollie kicked the door all the way open and carried me to the kitchen, sitting me on the counter and running my arm under cold water in the deep sink. The cool stream hit me like a snake bite, reminding me of the fire afresh. “Ow! Oh, it’s burning!”
“I know, hun. I know.”
Mason and one of the twins followed us into the kitchen. Mason came right up to me and held my good hand so he could pull some of the anxiety from me. It wasn’t a huge help. He was the thing that gave me a ton of stress, so as fast as he was pulling, more kept building up. “I’m sorry, hani. But you letting Finn do that might’ve saved their lives.”
I nodded, biting my lip through the burn that felt never ending, even under the cold water. Ezra pushed his way to me, taking me from Ollie’s embrace and holding me tight so my head could rest on his chest. The pretty purple shirt that made me actually look and feel like a true grown woman was singed on the sleeve now. That felt like a double punch to the gut. It was like the outfit knew I had no business wearing it, so it decided to light itself on fire just to get away from me.
Ezra smoothed my loose wisps of hair away from my forehead, tucking my head beneath his chin. I was holding it together until he started slowly rocking me, forcing embarrassing tears to form in the corners of my eyes. “Mason,” Ezra barked, snapping his fingers and pointing to the spot next to him. “Let her squeeze your hand when the pain gets unbearable. You’ll get far worse from me later, but we’ll start here.”
One of the twins rubbed some ointment on my hand, and I sucked the scream into my mouth, gripping Mason’s hand beyond what he could fend off his wince through. Ollie was fumbling with the bandage, so Ezra turned my head away from the blackened linking mark and the scorching my arm had undergone. Ezra dabbed at my cheeks with his handkerchief while the other twin hugged the sobbing Mariang in the middle of the kitchen.
“You’re finished. You’re done,” Ollie spouted, livid. “If this is the way my sister’s protected, she’s going to need protection from her guard detail. Ezra, I want him gone. He lit my sister on fire.”
“It’s not as simple as firing him, Ollie, though I’m certain he deserves exactly that. She’
s bound to him and to Von. There’s no undoing it.”
“Then this is on you, Ezra. This burn? If you keep letting this guy around her, he’s going to get her killed. He doesn’t give a crap about her. I’m telling you right now, I wouldn’t trust him to watch a log.”
“Thank you for your advice,” Ezra said, listening but not. He rocked me as his stomach growled. “Excuse me.”
I gritted my teeth through a scream I tried to mute when the bandage moved along my burn too quickly, tearing at what I could feel was crispy skin beneath the ointment.
“Careful, Bishop!” Mason barked.
“Really, mate? You’re the one telling me to be careful?” Bishop gripped my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “It’s all wrapped, love. Apologies for the pain.” I felt him pull a little of my stress away and was grateful for the help before I reached a full-blown public breakdown.
The back of Ezra’s hand started glowing, and I could feel his frustration. “This had better be good news,” he grumbled as his stomach rumbled again. “Pardon me.”
Ezra left me to Ollie’s embrace, which was laced with anger I knew wouldn’t abate with a simple conversation. “Listen up and listen good, guys. Just because my sister doesn’t value her own life doesn’t mean you all get to put her through the ringer. Without her, your world dies, so be better at protecting her than this one,” he said, jerking his chin toward Mason.
Mason took the admonition with grace and didn’t argue, which was probably best. Ollie was in no mood. “If we made the wrong call, I’ll take responsibility. I don’t want to hurt October, Ollie. I couldn’t think of another way to help your mother.”
“You don’t want to hurt her? Every time I turn around, either you or Von is making a mess of things. I’ll make it simple for you: if it’s not good for her, don’t do it. Even if it’ll save your whole kingdom by setting her on fire, still no. You have one job, and it’s to protect her. Not all of Terraway, just her. Let Ezra and the council worry about the rest.” He glowered at Mason. “And holding a woman down while she’s screaming for you to let her go? Again? No man should ever have to hear his sister go through that.”
Mason paled at the insinuation. “Ollie, this was different. No one kissed her.”
“And yet? Not so different.” Ollie glared at Mason as he pointed out the tears on my cheeks. “Come on, kid. Let’s do some recoup upstairs so your protector doesn’t help you off a cliff.”
Bishop and Boston looked to Mason and then to me, trying to catch up with everything their two brothers clearly hadn’t filled them in on.
Before they could connect all the psychic, shapeshifter and vampire dots, Ezra ran back into the kitchen with new light in his eyes. “Prince Langgam’s spies found Von! We’ve got an address! Move, boys!”
Fourteen.
Ollie’s Secret
Mason’s stomach growled as he sat with Mariang in the living room while I paced the floor. He was in process of consuming a bowl of lamb and apricot stew, so I didn’t bother to ask if I could get him something. I actually hadn’t spoken in an hour, knowing that the slightest peep might set Ollie off. In truth, my arm was screaming at me, begging me to ask for more ointment that seemed to have a lifespan of twenty stinking minutes. I knew if I let myself need more of the cooling sensation I craved, Ollie would start a fight with Mason again, and as much of a Superman my brother was to me, Mason was just plain bigger. His muscles were earned the old-fashioned way – fighting zombies, just like Bruce Campbell.
Mariang stared at her phone, too tense for words. Ezra was in the conference room by himself, making calls and fielding who knows what. Lynna alternated between crying in the kitchen and bringing more food to Mason, who couldn’t eat enough. Ezra’s appetite was almost as strong, which struck me as strange, but not strange enough to warrant a conversation when everything was so tense.
Ollie stared at the movie that played on the screen, seeing but not absorbing. Being in the room with us, but not really. I knew that face; he was planning something, and I knew I wouldn’t like it. The curtains were closed all over the house, ensuring no one could peek in and see me, informing the jackhole kidnapping Ekeks that I wasn’t in Lumipad after all. It made for a pretty dreary day. I couldn’t scrape at my arms anymore, so I settled for pinching my thigh, which helped a little and kept everyone off my back about the whole self-mutilation thing. Sheesh.
“I feel like Alton and Graham should’ve been back by now,” Mariang fretted, tucking a lock of black hair that had strayed from her tight bun back behind her ear. “They were supposed to help and come back when things were settled. Where are they?”
Mason patted her back as they sat together on the couch, looking like a giant next to her dainty form. I knew he was doing his best to pull for both of us, and was probably grateful Ollie wouldn’t let him near me so he only had to stay on top of Mariang. Girlfriend looked like she was about to fall to pieces. “They might not come back right after,” Mason reasoned, stirring a chunk of hard bread into his stew and ladling the thick broth over the crust. “They’ll most likely stay on to help your mom get to the main well. Then they’ll be back, no problem. Come on, Mariang. It's Danny. Since when has he ever let you down?”
“It’s not just that. It’s Bev, too. I finally get a mother, and after everything, she gets herself back, and then this? I lose her without a say in things?” She leaned into Mason’s one-armed embrace, which meant he had to pause from wolfing down his bowl of stew. He eyed it longingly as he held Mariang, so she had a solid refuge to rest her weary head on. Mason was good at that; he’d been my safe place for a brief period, too.
I moved into the kitchen to grab myself a bowl of stew, the scent having taunted me for ten minutes already. I ate in silence, unaccompanied in a clean kitchen, and for the first time even that wasn’t enough to calm my heart. I’d been stuck with two guys and unexpected houseguests for months. Now that I actually had a bit of breathing room, I couldn’t enjoy it. That breathing room came at a heavy price.
I realized that my relationship radar might be permanently busted after the whole Mason debacle. You think a guy’s available, and then you come to find he’s using you to see his dead wife. I mean, if this happens again with another guy, I’m really going to start getting a complex. I made a mental note to ask Von point blank if he’d been married before. Things you don’t think you have to ask a guy when you’re only twenty-two.
Of course, all that might be moot if Bishop and Boston didn’t bust Von out in time.
I ate my stew and then a second bowl, filling up on the comfort food and hoping it did its job of giving me that warm and fuzzy feeling I always got when I ate delicious soup.
“Is the stew as good as it smells?” Ollie asked as he strolled into the kitchen, sniffing the pot Lynna had left out on the stove.
“Better, if you can imagine it. Have some. Then come sit and be fun with me. I need a little fun, and so do you. You’re starting to get old man lines on the sides of your eyes. Gabby’s not going to like that.”
Ollie ladled a princely portion for himself, and grabbed a few inches of the long, crusty baguette. He sat on the stool next to me at the kitchen’s island, resting his bowl on the marble. “I don’t think Gabby’s going to care what I look like in ten years.”
“Ten years? That’s a generous assessment. If you don’t start sleeping better and stop throwing fits about things you can’t control, you’ll get wrinkles in a few weeks.”
He rolled his eyes at me and dipped his bread into the thick broth. “Ha, ha. I meant about Gabby being around in ten years. This Terraway world is a little all-consuming. I can’t imagine having a relationship with her that actually goes anywhere. Not if I have to keep her in the dark about our childhood and this.”
“No one’s making you keep our childhood secret from her,” I reminded Ollie quietly. “You’re imposing that rule on yourself, isolating when you don’t have to.”
His elbow jutted into my ribs. “Hey. St
op being wiser than me. I need something to do with all this book learning I’ve got up in here. Don’t tell me you’ve mastered relationships before I have.”
“Not mastered, just found that it wasn’t so horrible telling the guys bits and pieces about growing up. It was like running my fingers down a cheese grater the first few times, but now it’s not as bad. Gabby loves you, Ollie. Maybe you should let her decide if you’re too much a mess to stay with, instead of making that call without her knowing it.” I jabbed my spoon in his direction. “Controlling.”
“Stop therapisting me. It’s therapissing me off.”
“You’re going to therapiss yourself when you try your stew. Reminds me of the kind Allie used to make whenever it rained. Remember that?”
Ollie chuckled, but it didn’t touch his eyes. He stirred the stew, staring into the bowl as if he wanted to crawl inside of it. “I have to tell you something.”
“Crap,” I said in a gusty exhale, dropping the spoon into my bowl. “Whenever you say that, it’s something terrible.” I rubbed my hands down my thighs over and over while Ollie worked his way up to spitting it out. “Hit me with it.”
He swallowed and cleared his throat about seven times before words started to form. “I think… I can’t be certain, but I think Allie might be dead.”
I’m pretty sure things happened around me, words were said and the world somehow turned on its axis, but the bomb that crashed over my head and punched me in the face was the only thing in my universe. I gawked at Ollie, emotion rising in my voice when I finally spoke. “How could you say something so horrible to me? What would make you think that? Do you know something I don’t?”
“Don’t hate me,” he warned, addressing his stew. “I have a phone number. A break glass in case of emergency kind of thing that she gave me if something terrible ever happened to you. I wasn’t supposed to use it except for that. She was very clear when she left us. I couldn’t give you the number, or you might call her when it wasn’t dire and spook her. It was the only tether I had to her.” He leaned his elbows on the counter and spoke into his hands. “I called her! I called her when I found out about Terraway and everything. I wanted her to come home. I thought maybe the three of us could figure this new world out together.” Now it was Ollie’s turn to get choked up. “But she didn’t answer. I called again when Bev went to Lumipad, and still nothing. We had a deal! She’d leave us, and I’d get to keep a lifeline. She promised she wouldn’t leave without a tether. She wouldn’t… So I know something horrible happened. The only reason she wouldn’t answer that number is if she couldn’t. It’s been too long to rationalize it away.”
Treat (Terraway Book 5) Page 7
