by Nichols, TJ
Saka glanced at Lizzie’s mage, Tapo, who gave a slight nod.
It was Saka’s tent, and they were all there because he had welcomed them. It was his job to keep his guests happy. “Then you are free to leave, Usi. Perhaps if you do not wish to be insulted, you shouldn’t throw the first insult.”
Usi swept out of Saka’s tent. He was sure there would be repercussions, but he’d worry about them later. He refocused on Angus. “Pull up your sleeve.”
“Why?” Angus said as he pulled up one and then the other. The arm he’d been rubbing looked red and was possibly a little swollen.
“What happened to your arm?”
“Nothing. It started to itch when I came back.”
Saka sniffed Angus’s skin. The faint scent of urine clung to the red area. “Have any of you ever seen the bite of a pela?” He used magic to heat his hand as though he were about to start a fire and then held it close to the redness on Angus’s arm. Something beneath the skin moved, confirming Saka’s suspicions that it was indeed a pela larva.
“Did you see that?” He glanced up at Angus, and from the paleness of his face and the width of his eyes, it was clear he had and that he was not thrilled.
“What is it?” Angus’s voice betrayed his fear. “There’s something alive in my arm, isn’t there?”
“Is that where the beetle bit you last time we were here?” Lizzie peered at Angus’s arm.
“Maybe? I don’t know. Can you get it out?”
The other two demons moved closer. There was definitely a larva in there. Saka didn’t want to warm it up and make it too active. He needed to get rid of it. There was only one way to do that.
“I’ve never cut one out,” Tapo said.
“I saw a big one a few years ago.” Wek looked at Angus. “They eventually eat their way out and drop into the sand, where they make a burrow and wait for the next rain.”
“Where they then come out as those brown beetles, ready to bite the next person. That’s cool.” Norah grinned.
Angus did not. “Not helpful. I don’t care about their life cycle. I want it out.”
“It won’t kill you. But it will become a rather unpleasant and painful lump. We usually cut them out and drop them into the sand so they still have a chance.”
Angus gave Saka a pained grimace. “I’m so glad you care about the bug.”
“Wek, will you help?” He could’ve called Usi back, as she had done it before, but he didn’t want to work with her, even though she was the second mage to the tribe.
Wek nodded. It would be an honor for her to assist.
“I’ll hold your hand… the other hand,” Lizzie said. It was clear to Saka that Lizzie and Norah had been put in a group with Angus because they grasped ideas quickly and were not afraid to give things a try. They also helped around the town without complaint—or at least they didn’t gripe within earshot of their mages.
“We’re doing this now? Don’t I get to prepare?” Angus brought his arm close to his body.
“How would you prepare?” Saka tilted his head.
“I don’t know. Buy new pajamas and have a nice dinner before I let you pull the thing out of my arm?”
Norah laughed, and Lizzie bit back a smile.
Angus shook his head. “You two haven’t experienced the pain of magical healing. It’s not pleasant.”
“This is a simple cut.” It was only a risk if the pela burrowed deeper into Angus’s muscle. Then there would be muscle damage. While Saka was sure Wek knew that, neither of them said it. There was no point giving Angus more to worry about. Besides, if there was damage, it could be healed, but it wouldn’t be painless.
“Like I haven’t heard that before.” Angus lay down. “Just get on with it, then.”
Saka pressed his lips together in a narrow smile as Angus surrendered to the inevitable. They could let the pela grow in his arm until it was done, but that had its own risk. “Relax. We will remove the larva.”
Saka glanced at Tapo, who placed his hands on Angus’s shoulders.
Angus closed his eyes, and the tension left his face. Tapo had put Angus to sleep without being asked, and Saka nodded in approval. It was always better to give relief before a procedure. And if the patient moved at the wrong time, the larva could burrow into the muscle to escape.
Saka gathered his knives and brought up a circle. True to her word, Lizzie took Angus’s other hand. Saka pinned down the arm with the pela inside. Wek moved closer, ready to assist.
“You will be ready to draw it out?” Saka asked Wek. There could be no delay, or the pela would go deeper, and things would get decidedly messier.
“I’ve never actually drawn one out before,” Wek said softly.
Maybe he should’ve called Usi back. “Then you will learn.”
First Saka cooled the area to make the pela less active. “When I cut, you will need to separate and grab. Use magic to draw it out. I don’t want to have to cut deeper and risk cutting the pela.”
That could get really dangerous. The pela larvae had a toxin that paralyzed muscle.
Wek nodded, and doubts tumbled in Saka’s belly. He drew in a breath, located the pela, and made the cut deep but not too close. He pushed more cool magic into the area to still the larva, and blood poured from the wound.
Wek didn’t flinch. She spread the edges. The pela realized something was wrong and tried to wake up enough to flee. Its fat body twitched, yellow and glistening compared to the tissue and blood. Could it taste the air on its skin?
“Now, Wek, before it moves.”
“I see it.” She used her long delicate claws and a touch of magic to grasp the end of the larva. The head remained buried, latched on to the muscle. As long as a handspan, its pale yellow body glimmered. Wek’s white fingers were stained red with the blood that had slowed due to the magic Saka used.
“That’s disgusting.” Lizzie made a gagging sound.
“Breathe. If you cannot stomach this, you will never be able to heal.” There was no kindness in Saka’s voice. “Wek, keep it cold.” It wouldn’t take much for the pela to wake, slip free, and dive deeper into Angus.
“I am.” Wek’s put her fingers back into Angus’s arm and freed the head.
Wek dropped the larva into a bowl. It thrashed around as though it suddenly realized its meal and ride had been taken away.
Saka started the healing process and gave Angus’s tissues a boost to speed up the process. Then he healed the cut and left shiny new skin. There would be a scar. Another one. But they were lessons that Angus needed to remember. One day Angus would be able to heal the scars himself, when he was ready to move on from what had caused them.
But the scar on Saka’s chest was hidden under his shirt. He wasn’t ready to move on from Guda’s death.
Chapter Eighteen
There had been no rain at all. The trees around the blue pool were dying, and Angus was sure the water level got lower with every passing day. He’d have to go back soon. Would there be any water in the pool when he came back?
Would the tribe still be there or would they have moved on?
It all depended on the whim of Miniti. Angus was sure there was more to it than that, but he wasn’t about to ask her. While she treated him with a level of respect, it was clear it was only because he was an apprentice mage. If he’d been any other human, she’d have been happy to eat his soul and be done with the whole thing.
The tribe was planting seeds to grow much-needed crops. Surely they’d be there for a while so they could harvest them? Like everyone else, he’d been given an area to plant. Sticking seeds into a hole was backbreaking work. The ground was dry beneath his fingers. He didn’t like the seeds’ chance of survival, but he kept his mouth closed. The demons had done it many times before, so they knew what they were doing. He also kept an eye out for beetles that might bite him, but there were none in the sand.
Saka had forced him to put the revolting yellow larva in the ground away from the tents after Norah had
finished examining it. The scar was bright pink and ran up the outside of his forearm. He was glad he’d been asleep for the removal. Lizzie had told him every gruesome detail, and he wished she hadn’t.
That night Saka had held him close, but nothing had happened. The need was killing Angus. It wasn’t just lust crawling through his veins. It was as though the magic he carried from Humanside wanted to escape. He realized how much he drew from himself, even though he tried not to. He had to be careful.
A horned shadow fell across his work area. “Are you almost done?”
“Yeah.” He couldn’t look up at Saka. Saka had confessed to liking him but also to being jealous of Terrance, and they hadn’t touched at all during this visit. He didn’t understand Saka’s reluctance—unless Saka was trying to be a proper mage and erase what he felt. The thought stung.
Angus wanted it to go back to the way it had been when they used to rebalance or even when Angus had summoned Saka and they met in Humanside. They could have sex there without any side effects. But under the watchful gaze of the underground there would be no summoning.
He could keep the magic locked inside of him while he was in Demonside, but he wanted to at least be able to test his limits. He could wait a little longer. He wasn’t ready or desperate enough to ask… yet.
Angus opened his palm. There were six seeds left. He planted them in a hurry and went to stand, but his back protested. Saka offered a hand and Angus took it to steady himself. It was an innocent gesture, but it was the closest contact they’d had. He missed Saka’s touch, his rougher, warmer skin. He even missed the demands of rebalancing.
For a moment they stood toe-to-toe. Angus was tempted to lean in and kiss him, and why shouldn’t he? What was stopping him? Demons showed affection freely. No one there would judge him the way they did at home. Skitun. He hesitated for heartbeat longer.
It was one thing to know that he was looked down upon, but it was another to be outed—outed because a warlock had dug into his mind. And it would happen again. Before he went back, he would make sure that his memories were protected, that they could look, but would see only what he allowed. He could stop them from erasing his memories, and there had to be a way for him to hide them.
Saka held his gaze as though he sensed the private battle.
Angus wouldn’t let the underground take Saka away from him the way they’d taken Terrance. And he’d get Terrance back too. He just didn’t know how.
He slid his free hand around Saka’s neck and kissed him. He’d intended it to be just a brush of his lips to remind Saka of what he was missing, but the spark woke his hunger, and he couldn’t stop. The magic within him wanted to bubble free. Angus tasted Saka’s lips and needed more. He stepped closer, and with every inhale, their bodies almost touched.
Saka’s lips parted, and his tongue brushed Angus’s. The familiar tingle of magic gathered around them like static in the air. It felt as though Angus had hardly done any magic since his return.
Playing with rocks, while time-consuming, had so far achieved nothing. But he knew it could be everything, so every chance he got, he did everything but pour himself into the rock that would become his telestone. Saka wasn’t happy with the progress of any of the humans, yet he wouldn’t let Angus draw on the magic within himself to make it better, to make it work. Angus was sure that was all it would take.
Heat thrummed through his body, and lust tightened his belly and sank into his balls. He had woken up hard every morning but done nothing, and he was tired of waiting. He didn’t care if all they had was sex and magic. It was enough. His dick hardened, and he was tempted to press against Saka to see if he was as affected.
Angus raked his teeth over Saka’s lip, and Saka pressed his clawed fingertips into Angus’s hip. For a moment Angus thought Saka would be the one to pull him close, but he didn’t. Instead Saka stepped back. It was a punch to the gut.
Saka rested his forehead on Angus’s. “We should wait until tonight.”
“What happens tonight?” He didn’t bother to hide his frustration. His body was anticipating, ready. Lust tightened its grip and twisted.
“Magic must be raised to feed the seeds. How did you think they were going to grow without rain?” A faint smile curved Saka’s lips.
Angus had wondered. “We’re going to make it rain?” It had stopped raining while he was across the void, and everything was drying up. Leaves were falling from the trees, and the rivers had started to sink.
“No. Too much rebalancing is needed for rain. However, raising magic to make the crops grow it doable. It is how we grow food.”
“I thought you planted for the next tribe.”
“If it is a major point and we know another tribe will be there soon, and with water near the surface, we do. We will replant and leave a marker when we leave here. For the moment, though, we need the ynns.”
Ynns were the staple diet of demons, along with whatever they caught. While the leaves could be eaten, it was the root that was prized.
“So how do we make the crop grow?” If it didn’t involve sex, he was going to blow off the afternoon’s lessons for some much-needed alone time.
“Carefully.” Saka brushed his fingers across Angus’s cheek. “I don’t want to see the blue fade from your eyes again.”
“I’ll be careful. I have been careful. We have been careful.” The raw hunger gave an edge to his voice. “You loved to rebalance with me when I first came to Demonside.”
“Yes. And I still do. I am not holding back because my feelings have changed. I am holding back because of what I feel.” Saka kissed him with a tenderness that he rarely revealed. It did nothing to dampen the need that kept Angus rigid.
That was probably as close to an “I love you” as Saka was ever going to get. Angus didn’t need to hear it—and if he told himself often enough, he might believe that.
“You need to be able to work magic without drawing on yourself.”
Angus pulled away from Saka’s grip. “And I have been, but it’s here.” He tapped his heart. “Trying to escape. I need to let some out.”
“And you will tonight.” Saka glanced away.
Angus let his gaze follow Saka’s to where Usi stood watching them. She was paying a lot of interest to the trainees, given that she didn’t trust or like humans. “She’s watching and reporting everything, isn’t she?”
“Yes. But I cannot focus on her. There are other things to do.” Saka squeezed his hand. “Why don’t you go and work on your telestone? I will get you at sunset.”
Angus bit back a groan. He knew he had to get it to work, but it was tedious. “How will I know that it’s done?”
Saka tapped his head. “You will feel it in here.”
Angus cheated. He wasn’t supposed to draw on himself, but if the telestone was meant to be personal, it needed to be part of him. As he sat and stared at it so he knew every gold flake on its blue surface, he let the magic out. It spilled forth in a glorious rush that made his skin tingle. There was a click, as something in his mind finally unlocked. Was that it?
He pulled back on the magic. It was slippery, and for a few panicked heartbeats, he didn’t think he’d get it locked away. But he did. The ease with which it wanted to spill was troubling, as was the difficulty in halting the flow. He needed to practice.
When he looked at the stone, he felt a connection or a hum. Angus didn’t just see the stone—he knew it. He grinned and turned it over in his hands, finally able to claim success.
Next he needed to do something with it. Saka used telestones to communicate with other mages in different tribes. But Angus didn’t know how to make a call. And who would he call?
Angus knew some of Saka’s friends—mages he trusted, like Becha and Lox. They also had human trainees, so they wouldn’t mind getting a call from him. He held the rock and thought about Becha. When nothing happened, he let a bit more magic from within him slip free and into the connection. The door in his mind opened.
He
could almost feel something brush the edges of his consciousness, and he reached to grab it. Something wet touched his lip, and then red splashed onto the rock in his hand. His focus wavered, and the door slammed shut.
Another drop fell and trickled down the side.
Blood.
He touched his nose, and his fingers came away red. The rock tumbled out of his hand, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. Trying not to drip everywhere, he searched for one of the cloths Saka kept for blood magic and used it to wipe his face. His nose was still bleeding.
There was no way he was leaving the tent to find Saka.
Saka would know immediately that he’d drawn on the magic within himself. Angus needed a mirror—had his eyes lost color? He bit his lip and willed his nose to stop bleeding. He wasn’t brave enough to try self-healing—he might make it worse or give himself a growth on his face.
Saka swept aside the tent flap and stopped as soon as he set foot inside.
There was no hiding that Angus had used magic. Saka would be able to feel it and taste it. Magic was a tangible presence, not something mysterious like it was across the void.
“Umm.” Angus’s voice sounded off because of the blood coming from his nose.
Saka shook his head. “Got it working and tried to make contact with someone?”
He crossed the floor, knelt in front of Angus, and took away the cloth. He put his fingers on Angus’s nose, and the flow of blood stopped immediately. But it wasn’t Angus’s nose that Saka studied. It was his eyes.
Angus hoped they hadn’t changed. Should he say something? Better to be honest. “The stone works, but only because I drew from myself.”
The magic had rushed forward. It had been glorious to feel it spill.
“So you got it working, but that wasn’t the test for you. I knew you would get it as soon as you took the easy way.” Saka shrugged. “What have you learned?”
Angus was silent for a moment. He thought Saka would be glad he got the stone working. Instead he was disappointed. The joy of his success broke apart, and he wished he hadn’t been so intent on making the stupid stone work. “Nothing.” That was the wrong answer. He could tell from the way Saka’s eyes narrowed a little. “That contacting people is hard?”
