Greta and the Goblin King

by Chloe Jacobs

  “Agramon needs the blood of thirteen humans,” Isaac confirmed. “But the final piece is special. Once it’s in place the rest will be released from their dormant state to complete the spell and set the demon free.”

  Her heart pounded as her gaze went to that empty space in the center of the chamber. She somehow knew it had been reserved for her. Could it be because she was female, while all the others were male? Was it her specifically he needed, or just one more body—any body—who carried her bloodline, like Isaac had said?

  Isaac’s shuttered expression warned her that if she did this, chances were she wasn’t going to be getting up and walking away from it.

  Taking the first step over the boundary of the circle, she could feel the power drumming in her head increase into an earsplitting staccato beat.

  A hand on her arm. Like being grounded, the beehive hum was forced to slow, to wait. “Don’t do this.”

  She would not be swayed by anything she saw in his face—even her own fear and longing reflected back at her. “I have to.”

  “You’re going to die.”

  His chest heaved, his eyes glowed. God, he was so fierce. “I can’t do it anymore,” she said. “I can’t live in this world or any other if it means being responsible for the loss of those innocent lives.”

  She stole some of the goblin’s ferocity for herself and smiled. “But that doesn’t mean I’m giving in. I can feel the power of the circle calling to me. I think I can control it and direct it.” A pause to breathe through the urgency that had her heart tripping along double-time. “I have to at least try. Hopefully if I do this now, before Agramon shows up, we can all get out of here.”

  The hard line of his mouth and the creases in his forehead were a dead giveaway of how fiercely he continued to fight the wildness inside. The eclipse was still in his blood, even though its urgency had started to wane.

  “I know what it means if I destroy Agramon’s only chance for escape and he takes it out on this world. And I do care, Isaac. I cared about Lucius, and I care about Siona, Maidra, and all the rest. I care about Mylena.” She squeezed his hand. “Even more importantly, I care about you. More than I thought I could care about anything.”

  She steeled her heart to continue. “But these are children, and it shouldn’t matter if they’re only human. One of them is my brother, my family. My responsibility. Maybe it makes me as much a monster as Agramon, but I’ll sacrifice myself, this world…everything to save him.”

  Bracing herself for his argument, his physical retaliation, she was surprised when he attempted neither.

  “I know.” A murmur. An admission that stripped them both in an instant, made them both vulnerable.

  She gasped in response to the burn spreading through her. Oh God, it hurt. The damned goblin had never managed to hurt her as much as right now, in this moment when the bleak shadows in his eyes told her how much he loved her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

  “Isaac, I—” What to say, when her own emotions were still so divided and uncertain.

  “Later. We’ll do this later.” A final touch, tracing the hard line of her temple where her pulse beat in an erratic rhythm. He was going to stand with her. Protect her.

  For the first time, she had no doubts about his intentions. Isaac was here for her. He’d always been here for her. He would give up the only chance his people had to be free. He’d sacrifice himself and his beliefs…all for her. And as selfish as she was, Greta would let him.

  “Hurry up, sweet Greta. Time—as always—is not on your side.”

  Again, she stepped into the circle and was instantly flooded with energy. Each step forward was more and more difficult as she fought an invisible wall like the push of a magnetic field. It left her breathless and weak—until she made the final step into the center. And then it was as if the magnet was reversed and she became the attracting end instead of the opposing end, drawing the same energy in thick currents.

  Magic washed over her like the waves of the ocean crashing upon smooth, weathered rocks. Greta didn’t buckle and break under the pressure. In fact, it fed her, making her stronger, helping her to see.

  “Holy hell,” she managed on a shuddering moan. Her eyelids fluttered. The sizzle rushing through her body fired all her nerve endings, sensitizing every inch of skin until her entire body throbbed.

  Fighting to pull herself together and focus, she clenched her fists tight, forcing her gaze on the statue of Drew straight ahead of her. Her presence in the circle had definitely started something. With her mind, she reached out for the elusive energy rippling all around her, but it seemed to slither away just beyond her grasp.

  And then she realized that the boys were the source of the circle’s power, that Greta was the medium that would focus it, like sunshine being narrowed through a magnifying glass. It wasn’t a matter of chasing the energy, but letting down her guard enough so it could flow the way it wanted to naturally—right through her. Once she did that, the magick was hers to control, and she could feel it bending to do her will.

  One by one, each of the twelve stone figures started to shake off the Lamia’s enchantment. She wondered which one of them was Jason, the boy Wyatt had tried to save from the Lamia’s fire. Greta held her own breath as the first tiny chest expanded to draw air, and then she kept her gaze on Drew, waiting for his cheeks to turn pink, his eyes to lose the lifeless slate gray color and return to a beautiful blue.

  Finally, he blinked up at her, his child’s face reflecting confusion and fear. She wanted to call out and reassure him, but it took all her concentration to keep the magick sharply focused.

  As each of the boys awakened in turn, she sensed the power passing through her increasing exponentially with their consciousness. When the twelfth and final little boy drew his first breath, she tried to shut it all down and step out of the circle’s center—and couldn’t move.

  She’d popped the cork off this genie’s bottle, and it would no longer fit back in the small mouth from which the magick was a free-flowing cascade. The power kept growing, filling every nook and cranny of her body, mixing with her blood and twining around her soul until she and it were the same.

  Ahead of her, a ripple was forming in the air, and she saw Drew as if through a sheet of running water. The aperture grew slowly but steadily, and Greta realized that she was somehow opening a portal.

  Hope warred with fear as the slice in space spread, about two feet tall already.

  All the boys in the circle had awakened, looking from one to the other with matching expressions of terror.

  From the corner of her eye, Greta saw Ray rush into the chamber. She wanted to call out to him to stay back, but the words disintegrated from her lips. Maintaining control over the magick took every bit of her concentration.

  “Holy Mother of God,” he muttered, grinding to a halt as he took in the circus show.

  Isaac stepped in front of him, blocking him from getting to her. She worried that human and goblin were about to face off against each other, and managed to lift her hand as if to stop them, but only a fraction of an inch, and they didn’t even notice.

  At that moment, their party had one last joiner and Greta didn’t need an introduction to know who it was.

  Agramon was everything she’d feared and nothing she could have imagined. Years hunting down Mylena’s biggest and baddest had taught her to expect horns and claws, dangerous oozing fluids, and ripping teeth in her adversaries, but the demon looked nothing like any Mylean creature…although that actually made sense considering, like her, he wasn’t from Mylena at all.

  In fact, besides his huge size—which rivaled even Isaac—and the glowing whorls that traced every inch of his naked torso, the dreaded Agramon looked…human. He had black hair and his cheeks were razor sharp slashes that highlighted his crazy wide grin. But the difference was in his red eyes. One look in those eyes and it was more than obvious that he was not only evil and powerful, he was wicked insane.

  �
��You started without me.” He didn’t sound overly worried or disappointed. In fact, he sounded excited.

  He stared at her over Isaac’s shoulder, those intense, bloody eyes boring into her with cold purpose. Greta’s blood would have run to ice if it wasn’t infused with all the fire of the circle’s power. Trapped in its steel-gripped riptide, she could do nothing but watch in horror as Isaac held his ground, honoring his promise to protect her.

  Agramon waved a hand for him to move out of his way. “I wondered whether the new goblin king would fulfill his obligations and follow in the footsteps of his successors. I’m impressed. You’ve brought me the last—most important—component of my spell.”

  Isaac growled, hands clenched into tight fists. “You can’t have her.”

  Agramon’s brow lifted in surprise. “You can’t save her. Why would you even want to? She is the key to my freedom…and yours.”

  Isaac didn’t move aside. “I won’t let you sacrifice her. Mylena will find some other way to get rid of you and break its curse.”

  His selfless devotion broke her heart. She tried to blink away the tears that blurred her vision, but it was impossible to control even that much of her body, and she felt the wetness slide down her cheeks.

  Agramon only laughed. “It’s too late, anyway. The human has conveniently set everything into motion and now nothing will keep me from her.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at Greta with a smile so filled with evil and a dark possessiveness, she felt it like a snake slithering over her skin. Isaac must have taken exception to that look, because he lunged forward with a roar. Agramon met him eagerly, anticipation apparent in his stance as they crashed together.

  As the goblin and the demon traded violent blows that would have destroyed lesser beings, Ray inched to the outer edges of the circle, his battered face filled with determination.

  “Ray.” She gritted her teeth, slowly lifting her hand and pointing to the rift. “Portal. Go.”

  Hands fell on his shoulders, and Ray was thrown with such strength he went flying into the wall. Greta heard the crack of his head smashing against the rock. No!

  Agramon stepped toward her. What had he done to Isaac? She fought against the magick still flowing from the children into her, knowing she had to cut it off and get everyone through that portal before—

  The grinding pain of a hand clamping hard on her wrist, squeezing until it felt as if her bones would shatter, crashed through her. A strangled scream was ripped from her throat. He had her. He was in the circle.

  Immediately, she felt the shift as the demon’s touch connected him to the magick, re-directing it through her—and into him.

  His shout of triumph surrounded her as he pulled more and more power. She could feel its essence darkening as his will tainted it, turned it into a thick sludge in her veins, before it was dragged from her, leaving her weaker and weaker.

  She finally understood.

  Like fuel in an engine, the boys provided the power, while she was the key to getting it all started…and Agramon was the bastard siphoning gas for his own car. Nothing but a dirty thief.

  Beside her, the demon roared. “Yes!”

  In front of them both, the portal widened. There was something on the other side. Through a blurry film like rippling water, she was sure she could see the dirt floor of a cave and even beyond, it opened up to the familiar sight of blue sky.

  She could move more freely, probably because she was now only the conduit for the spell’s magick, not its focal point. She fought to turn her head, grateful to see Ray moving, getting to his feet. She couldn’t see Isaac.

  Agramon’s grip on her wrist tightened until she thought he might break her bones and dragged her closer. It was impossible to pull out of his cement-like grip. She was his link to the spell and he wouldn’t be giving her up before he was damn good and ready.

  One of the boys locked in the circle screamed. She twisted to look behind her just as he crumpled to the ground, blood trickling from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

  “What are you doing?” she yelled, frantic. Her voice came out as a struggling whisper. “You’ve got what you wanted, the portal is open. Now let them go!”

  The red light in Agramon’s eyes glowed brightly as he glanced down at her. His mouth clenched in a firm line, as if the power he was stealing was almost too much for even him to hold onto. “Sorry. Not going to happen, little girl.”

  The next boy cried out and went down, his small hand flung toward her.

  “Stop it!” she pulled as hard as she could, trying to sever the connection, desperately counting the number of bodies between that poor child and her brother. Five.

  “Be still!” Agramon shifted and shoved her to her knees, holding her arm high as he reveled in the rush of power feeding him. “It isn’t getting the portal open that’s the trick.” He grinned down at her. “I have waited an eternity for this moment, and all of you will give your lives—and your blood—to keep the thing open so I can pass through. So I can pass into any world I choose.”

  Agramon’s voice was drowned out by the choked cry of the next child. The power he now wielded was immense, and continued to grow. She could feel it like a massive river of lava that burned everything it touched. She swiveled to see the mouth of the portal, but there was only a dense, endless darkness on the other side now.

  Drew looked so scared, so young. Four years wasn’t very long, but she’d changed so much in that time. He probably didn’t even recognize her.

  Yanking up her pant leg with one arm, she slipped her only remaining weapon from the sheath at her ankle. She struggled back to her feet, determined that the next body to fall would not be his.

  Drawing the dagger back, she twisted and aimed for Agramon’s heart. He saw it coming, but Greta’s desperation made her faster, and the blade penetrated his thick skin.

  With her hilt protruding from his chest, the demon roared and turned on her, but still refused to let go—until a fist landed on the hand clasped around her wrist and pried it off.

  Her gaze whipped up. Isaac’s face was a brutal mask of rage, having again fallen prey to his raw form. It was also apparent that crossing the circle had been no easy matter. His shoulders were tight and his jaw clenched from the effort he expended to withstand the maelstrom.

  She stumbled and fell to her knees as the goblin tore Agramon off the altar. He spared her a quick glance before he turned away with an animal roar, after his adversary. Agramon took hit after hit. Isaac pounded on him like he got a sick pleasure from it, but Greta knew it wouldn’t be enough. The demon wasn’t going to stay down for long.

  “Ray!” Her voice croaked. She could already feel the spell returning to her control, but without all of the boys fueling it, the magick was starting to fade. Glancing up, the view through the portal showed her that beautiful slice of blue sky once more and she let out a relieved breath. “Hurry and get the rest of them through.”

  Ray nodded. He disappeared out of the chamber. When he returned, he was ushering in a group of children, directing them to the circle. Ten, then twenty, then thirty boys quickly passed through the portal before the only ones left were the children from the circle. Ray ran, pulling each of them from their pedestal and hoarding them together at the mouth of the rift.

  Each time a spot was vacated, Greta felt the ebb of her power, and struggled to hold onto as much of it as possible.

  She had to keep that door open just a little while longer. But she knew she wouldn’t be the one walking through it. Even though she would be sending Drew back…Greta had to stay.

  When Ray pushed her brother through, she bit her tongue hard, fighting the tears, fighting against the need to call him back for one last look and to at least say goodbye—but the portal was already starting to close, no matter how hard she tried to keep it stable.

  Ray paused, looking back at her.

  “Go!” she cried. “Ray, you have to go through that door right now!”

  He shook hi
s head. “What about you? Wyatt? The others?”

  “Take care of my brother like he was your own, Ray.” She needed his promise. “I’ll find another way for the rest of them. You don’t have to worry.”

  Still he hesitated, looking back into the depths of the rapidly disappearing rift. “It should be me,” she heard him whisper.

  “There isn’t any more time! Get out of here!”

  Mouth parted, he glanced back up to tell her something, but the words died and his eyes widened. With the last tendrils of the spell slipping from her grasp, Greta turned, her chest aching with fear of what she might see. But it wasn’t a triumphant Agramon charging her. It was Isaac.

  Bloody.

  Bruised.

  Broken.

  A black-skinned, barrel-chested, fully turned goblin with smoke coming from his nostrils and fury rolling off shoulders wide as a house. He was coming for her.

  And Greta wasn’t afraid.

  She glanced back at Ray, opening her mouth to urge him to hurry through the portal. But he shouted her name, rushing toward her instead.

  “Ray, don’t. Don’t touch me,” she warned.

  When he grabbed her, his whole body stiffened and he gasped. She tried, but couldn’t keep the magick from funneling into him. When it did, she felt the forces shift again. Ray gritted his teeth tightly and looked into her eyes. “I should. Be. The one. To stay,” he bit out.

  “No Ray, don’t!”

  He pushed her into the portal.

  As soon as she fell through, she knew something had happened—both here and out there. She was alone. There was no cave, no blue sky. Instead, she found herself surrounded by nothingness, and spun around to look back out. Out there, Agramon was up again. She screamed to warn Isaac and Ray, but no sound came from her mouth. He wasn’t going for them anyway; his gaze was glued to the doorway, glued to her.

  She watched as Isaac tried to stop him, but he was right in front of her, coming through the portal…and then he disappeared.