No, he had to fight this. Had to fight it.
His head throbbing in time to his pulse, his heart swelling in his chest. Brett forced his feet to obey, to take a step back, then another.
A growl ripped through the air. “What are you doing?”
The air around him loosened its grip, and the invisible bands that seemed to have insinuated them around his frame fell away.
Something had changed.
“You cannot fight me human.”
But the voice didn’t sound so sure anymore. Good, that meant he had a chance, a chance to flip this dream, to get the fuck out. Picture it. Picture a beach: golden sand, blue skies, the sun on his face.
Picture it!
He squeezed his eyes shut and conjured the heck out of that image.
“No!” The voice reached out, its breath a whisper on his face.
Brett opened his eyes to the vast expanse of the ocean, the creature’s voice still echoing in his head. He was dreaming, and he was back in control, but sleep didn’t seem so inviting any longer.
Time to wake up.
_____
“Brett, Brett, thank goodness.” Lauren’s cool hands were on his shoulders.
Brett looked into Lauren’s beautiful hazel eyes, blinking away the residue of the dream.
“You were thrashing about,” Lauren said.
“I had a dream.”
“A nightmare.” Lauren sat on the edge of the bed. “Would you like to talk about it?”
They were in the guest room, bathed in moonlight streaming in from the window, with the drapes he hadn’t bothered to close before crashing.
“Brett?”
“I’m fine. What are you still doing here? I thought you’d be headed back to Twilight to meet up with the black mages.”
Lauren shrugged. “They don’t need me at the moment, but I thought that maybe … maybe you could do with some company.”
If a hot guy had said that to him a week ago, he’d have flashed him his dimple and taken him up on the offer with maybe a little extra on the side. But now he was more than aware of the air on his bare skin, the parts that he could feel anyway, the rest was dead, deformed … ugly.
Lauren cleared his throat. “I’m sorry if I made an incorrect assumption.”
Brett realised that he was staring at him, probably with the permanent, unnerving, blank expression his face seemed to have now.
Lauren made to stand.
“No, wait.”
Lauren sat back down.
Brett dropped his gaze to the bedspread. “Company sounds good.”
Truth be told, the thought of going back to sleep made his stomach churn.
“I could make us a warm drink?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
Lauren stood and made his way to the door where he paused to ask, “Would you like me to bring them up, or will you be coming down?”
Brett glanced around the neat unremarkable room. If he stayed here he might fall asleep again.
“I’ll come down.”
Lauren nodded then left the room, closing the door softly behind him.
Brett pushed back the covers and swung his legs of the bed. His feet stared back at him, huge spades flattening the carpet. They didn’t make shoes to fit those monstrosities. He stood and moved to stand before the full-length mirror. It was self-torture, but he couldn’t help himself. Maybe if he saw himself enough he’d become accustomed to the monster that stared back at him. He reached up to touch his face. His diamond fingers, scraping against smooth hard gemstone, felt nothing. Lifting his shirt, he touched his abdomen, still human, still flesh, and flinched at the cold harsh contact.
He was less than half a man and more than half a monster.
A soft rap on the door followed by Lauren’s velvet voice. “I made tea.”
Yeah, tea had caffeine, and caffeine was good about now, because no matter how much of a monster he thought he was, his visceral cognisance screamed that the creature that belonged to the voice in the cavern in his dreams was far, far worse.
46
I felt like a gladiator about to go into the arena. I was surrounded by a crowd of djinn; some faces I recognised, but the majority were unfamiliar to me. The sharmutas stood to my far right, gathered together as if in a show of solidarity. I looked their way and met Gia’s eyes. Her brow furrowed and she inclined her head. I noted the fresh bruising on her cheek and grit my teeth against the sudden flare of anger.
That was why I was doing this—to stop abuse and injustice.
This was so worth it.
I was standing in front of the pit, a hole in the ground covered with a heavy iron grating, beyond that lay the smouldering cinder lands composed of rises made of black ash and glowing ember. The air that grazed my cheeks was hot and suffocating, and my mortal body was coated in perspiration, while beside me Baal stood cool and untouched.
I studied him from beneath my lashes, his tense jaw and furrowed brow screamed anxiety. I took his hand and threaded my fingers through his.
“I’m going to be alright.”
He exhaled. “You better be.”
We’d discussed this further on our journey here, cocooned by his tempest, the same arguments and the same solutions. There was no other way but this.
Kai’s regard was a warm pressure at the base of my skull. I resisted the urge to turn and look at his sullen face, instead I focused on the two djinn guards dressed in Kai’s colours as they unlocked the grate, and with a show of great effort raised it up.
Baal looked down at me. “Be safe Kenna.”
With a curt nod I turned toward the pit and made my way under the raised grate and down the stone steps into the darkness below.
_____
I waited for my eyes to adjust to the gloom. It should have been pitch black down in the depths of the earth, but the walls of the tunnel emitted an anaemic green glow where patches of luminous green stuff clung to the walls.
I had no idea how anything green could survive down here without sunlight, and I wasn’t eager to find out, the stuff looked gross, all furry and, when I looked a little closer, I was pretty sure it was pulsing.
Shuddering I continued down the tunnel.
Okay demons, where the fuck are you?
It would have been nice to chat about the judgement experience with a survivor, maybe over a cup of honey tea, but since there were none I was running this gauntlet blind. How had Ibris known what happened down here? How could he have been so sure that the djinn he sentenced to this fate came face to face with anything but green pulsing flora?
The tunnel was widening, and a warm breath of air brushed strands of hair off my face. Air meant ventilation which meant an exit.
Or it could be someone—something—breathing.
Shut it.
The tunnel spilled out into a large chamber. Thick stalagmites jutted up from the ground, some merging with stalactites to form columns, others simply stretching up like lonely fingers. The largest was at least a metre wide … wide enough to hide a body. I paused at the entrance to the chamber and drew Frieda. Awareness skittered over my skin.
I wasn’t alone.
I scanned the gloom searching for a shape or shadow that seemed out of place, but there were too many places to hide, too many lurking spots. Without moving further into the room, I had no chance of finding anything.
Fine. Into the room it was.
One step, two steps and a rumble shook the cavern, pitching me forward into the nearest stalagmite. It lasted no more than two seconds but when I looked back toward the tunnel entrance it was gone.
Fuck!
A high-pitched giggle pierced the air and my skin broke out in gooseflesh.
“Who’s there?”
“Who’s there?” the voice mocked. High pitched and rusty.
I took an involuntary step back and flicked my wrist ,activating Frieda. My eyes were fixed straight ahead, boring into the column directly before me. My gut warned me the speaker was be
hind it.
“Come out where I can see you.”
I fell into battle stance.
“Aw, the tribute wishes to see me, does it?”
The shadows to my left shifted as something flew toward me. I leapt out of the way just in time to avoid being blindsided. My shoulder scraped rock, and I spun to face my attacker.
Slender, small, wiry and female—if the deflated looking saggy tits were anything to go by. Its sex was hidden by a thatch of dark hair and its skin was as a deep crimson, as were its eyes.
“The tribute wishes to converse before it is consumed, does it?”
She leapt at me again but this time I was ready, bringing Frieda up to block and slice.
She squealed and jumped back. “Pain … we know pain.”
We? I really wanted to take a look around the chamber, but taking my eyes off her wasn’t an option right now.
She was looking at her arm, at the wound I’d just inflicted, It knit together and closed. Crap, maybe this creature wasn’t affected by luma like the denizens. So what to do? A mortal wound? Off with her head?
Or we could just chat. “Why are you attacking me?”
She pinned me with her glowing red orbs. “To kill and feed.” He lips curled in a sly smile. “Unless the tribute is willing to be eaten without a fight?”
Eaten? What the fuck?
The priestess had said I would be facing my demons. I’d honestly convinced myself that it would have been my alters that would be attacking me, but this … What the fuck?
The creature began to advance, slow and predatory, her eyes gleaming with the promise of a chase.
Think, Kenna, think. “Wait, you called me tribute, what do you mean?”
She paused and cocked her head. “Tribute to our sacrifice. Tribute for our aid. One rises to feed the many.”
“I don’t understand. Who rose?”
“Our kin, our flesh-and-blood. From the pit we raised him. Up to the surface we propelled him and gave our vow to remain below. We are the creator’s rejected, his first creations that he could not bear to destroy. So we hide. We wait to feed on the tribute he, the chosen, does send. But tribute has not come for many years and the hunger claims us. Our vow binds us, but not for long, for another whispers below the earth and makes a new vow to those left behind, and we shall rise.”
She lunged suddenly, her talons aimed at my throat, her mouth wide to showcase razor sharp teeth.
I slashed and dodged, stumbling on the uneven ground, and grabbed the nearest post for balance. She was on me again in the blink of an eye. I managed to get Frieda up between us, slicing at her forearms and eliciting a hiss of pain, but she didn’t back off this time, and there wasn’t enough leverage for me to push her off.
I was trapped and she was fucking strong, too strong for someone who hadn’t fed in a while. It was clear what had been happening. Ibris had made a deal with her and others like her. There were more of them. I wasn’t sure what they were—djinn, demons, no clue. But the judgement pit was a ruse—a way for Ibris to fulfil his bargain with the creatures that had elevated him out of the pit.
Thanks a lot Dad!
Those lethal teeth moved closer, and my chest was gripped in a vice of fear. This wasn’t how it was meant to be. I’d come to face my demons, not be eaten by one. I pushed back with everything I had. Dammit, it wouldn’t be enough. Sod, this. If I went down, I’d do it fighting.
Her eyes rolled in her head. “You smell divine.” Drool dribbled over her lips.
My muscles quivered and the alters stirred and surged toward the surface, battering at the steel door in my mind.
No, you cannot fail. You must not fail. Let us out. I recognised Anna’s insistent voice.
I gave him up for this, I gave up everything, Kenna let us out. Brialla cried.
Together we are strong. Dale, the child I had once been.
They clamoured at the door, desperate to be free of their prison. It was clear now. I needed them to survive. They were right. I couldn’t fight this ancient creature alone.
Alone I was fractured and weak.
But if I could be whole?
I dropped the barrier in my mind, allowing them to surge to the surface and fill my mind with confidence and determination. Their presence lent my limbs strength.
The creature froze, its eyes widening. “What … what is this? What is this I sense?”
Using her momentary lapse I shoved, propelling her away and falling into a defensive stance.
We were ready.
My alters inside me, beside me. Parts of myself, ready to fight with me … for me.
The creature roared and attacked, but it was as if she was moving in slow motion. I sidestepped, swinging Frieda up to slice off her head.
It fell to the ground with a thunk.
The body twitched and thrashed for a few moments before going still.
We did it.
Shit, the tunnel entrance was still blocked off.
Anna’s voice filled my head.
More will come.
How do you know?
Stop. Use your sixth sense.
It was worth a try. Breathing evenly, I cast my sense out like a net to sea. At first nothing happened, and then something tugged at the net, tugged at my mind.
They’re coming.
You kept us locked away, Dale said sulkily.
I’m sorry. I thought you’d take over and I’d be gone.
I sensed Anna’s smile. We were merely the steps that led to your birth Kenna. Your consciousness was never in any danger.
Brialla’s soft voice filled the void. You were afraid, and by not trusting us, you refused to trust yourself.
Do you trust yourself now? Dale asked.
I’d be dead without them. They were me. It was a mind fuck, but in short. “Together we are whole.”
“Together we are whole,” they echoed, their voices merging. Heat bloomed in my chest and fire skimmed across my mind.
“Together we are whole,” we said in unison.
They settled into my mind like lost pieces of a puzzle coming home. Memories that had been merely echoes flared to life and were filed away, and even though I was alone in that chamber, the fear was gone.
The whole process couldn’t have taken more than a second, because in the next moment my sixth sense was blaring alarm bells as monsters erupted into the chamber through the walls.
There was no time to dwell on how the fuck they’d done that. My body was already in motion, stabbing, slicing, ducking, and swinging. I went for the head and the heart. Taking out three in a row, but as one fell another took its place. Hunger made them reckless, because even the fall of their comrades didn’t to put them off taking a run at me
Time blurred. I shut down my brain and fought on instinct alone. The ground was a sea of bodies, making it difficult to navigate, making my moves clumsy. Crap. They were closing in on me.
I was flagging, sorely outnumbered, there was no way I could do this alone.
Kenna? Kenna!
Erebus’s voice reverberated in my head. I stumbled, almost losing my balance completely.
How are you doing this?
Kenna, summon me.
What?
Summon me dammit, just call me to you. Do it now!
What the heck did he mean? Backed up against a wall, with a hoard of hungry demons eager for my divine flesh, there was no time to question.
Call to him, he’d said. Fine. “Erebus, come to me. I need you. Come now!”
Nothing happened. Great, now I just felt like a complete idiot.
Dammit, Kenna, feel it.
I swiped at the nearest demon. That had been too close. Oh, god, please. Erebus, please, I need you. I need you now!
The demon I’d just pissed off leapt at me, its talons poised to shred, but a dark wall of muscle appeared between us, and a thick everlight sword cut a swathe in the gloom.
Erebus!
I stepped up to his side.
�
�I hope you recall your training, Kenna.”
“How the heck do you think I’ve survived down here this long?”
His lips twitched. “Evernight has been silent of late. My sword itches for the taste of blood.”
“Creepy much?”
“Sarcastic much?” he replied.
My brows shot up. When had he developed a sense of humour?
“Let’s kill,” he said.
And then we were on the offensive, working together, watching each other’s back, we moved like a well-oiled machine, as if we’d been doing this forever. As the demons fell beneath out swords one by one, a crazy cackle launched itself up my throat, exploding into the air and reverberating around the chamber. Erebus froze, a demon head grasped in his huge hand. And then a sharp bark of a laugh exploded from his lips.
We hacked until there was nothing left, until the ground was a bloody mess of flesh and entrails.
The earth rumbled, and I pitched into Erebus who grabbed me about the waist, holding me to him until the tremor passed. His scent, zesty and fresh and so different from Baal, filled my senses, reminding me of who he was and what he’d done to me.
I pushed him away and strode toward the now open tunnel.
“Kenna, wait.”
I stopped and turned to face him.
“What were they?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Creatures who helped raise Ibris from the pit. Apparently he had some deal with them to send them tributes. Basically a fancy word for food.”
We stepped into the tunnel together. “Which would explain why no one ever returned alive,” Erebus said.
“Looks like daddy dearest had some secrets, eh?”
Erebus was silent.
“How did you do that?”
“What?”
“Come to me?”
The corner of his lip curled. “Like it or not Kenna, we have a bond. I sensed your distress when the barrier you’d put up disintegrated. I knew that for it to fall you must have been expending a huge amount of energy elsewhere. I was able to call to you.”
“So you can do that whenever I call. Just appear?”
He shrugged. “From what Ibris told me, that was a dark djinn skill. It’s what makes them formidable warriors.”
Into Evernight: an Urban Fantasy Novel (Fearless Destiny Book 2) Page 19
