by Narro, B. T.
She paused, wondering why this was so difficult. Just last night she’d been ready to kill anyone to get to Basen. There was no thinking during the fight—she took her opportunity to slice Alex’s throat as soon as it came. Why had she acted so quickly then and was stopping herself now?
She recalled her actions before arriving at the Group One training area. She’d donned her black robes and cloak and had run to where she’d felt the portal opening. Nothing had gone through her mind except that she needed to stop whoever was casting it. Psyche had told her there were three of them, but they’d detected her attempts to figure out who they were when she’d examined their energy too closely. If they’d screamed and run away, she might’ve gotten caught, so she attacked. She’d made a mistake, the second one she’d made after killing Nick.
Was she about to make a third one?
No, killing Basen will end the portals and no longer put her mother in danger.
Bastial hell, why was she crying? Was this guilt that she felt roiling her stomach? She thought years of suffering through her father’s experiments had carved this emotion out of her, but she was almost certain now that it was indeed guilt poisoning her mind and body. It made her feel weak, as if she were ill.
In case Reela was reading the BE in Basen’s room, Sanya altered the energy coming from her body to make it seem as if she was calm. She could go further and actually alter her energy, but she didn’t want to be calm. As painful as this feeling was that made her want to double over, it seemed wrong to ignore.
Perhaps she’d given up trying to be human too early, for there was still some semblance of decency somewhere deep within her and now it was lashing out.
She still needed the portals to cease until she could bring back her mother, and she still cared more about enacting her plan than about Basen’s life, but now she’d seen the devastation that death could cause. For years she’d trained herself to be comfortable with the thought of killing. But she’d never learned how to be comfortable with the aftermath.
She wiped her tears and cursed under her breath.
CHAPTER SIX
It took the better part of an hour for Sanya to confirm she was ready. Using Basen’s sheets to tie his ankles together and bind his hands behind his back was the quick part. She took the rest of the time to figure out what to do next. She stuffed one of his socks in his mouth, then tied one of his shirts around the gag while psyche kept him asleep.
She could feel that Cleve and Reela were still outside the house, but if they were speaking to each other, Sanya couldn’t hear. Basen most certainly would try to call out to them when he woke, but hopefully the gag would keep his voice from reaching their ears. What the gag couldn’t stop, however, was Basen’s panic. Sanya would need to keep his BE under control so Reela thought all was well.
Fatigue had begun to set in, making all of this even more difficult than it needed to be. Part of her wondered if she should just slit his throat like she’d first planned.
It felt as if two different versions of herself were at war: the Sanya who cared only about getting rewarded for all of her hard work; and the one who’d rather see her hard work pay off without causing unnecessary suffering in the process. The latter was the new Sanya, and she wasn’t sure she liked this version of herself yet, but she was willing to give it a chance.
She carefully manipulated Basen’s energy to gently rouse him from sleep. His eyes came open and widened in surprise.
“Everything’s fine, Basen,” she assured him, keeping him as calm as possible with psyche. “I just need to say something to you, and then I’m leaving.”
He tried without success to move his arms from behind his back. Then he attempted to speak, but his voice came out garbled. He grew even more agitated and began to struggle furiously.
“Shhhh. I won’t hurt you if you relax,” she whispered in as soothing a voice as she could muster.
But Basen thrashed and tumbled off the bed. This wasn’t working. She knelt on top of him and pressed the dagger against his chest.
“Stop it now or I’ll kill you.”
He froze, his dark eyes wide as he stared at his own blade.
Keeping his energy under control tired her immensely. He might as well have been screaming, his BE silently telling any psychic nearby that he was desperate for help. But Sanya corrected it as it came off his body to make him seem calm.
He made another unintelligible sound, probably a curse. He’d clearly figured out she was the murderer, his fear changing to anger.
“I could’ve killed you while you slept,” she whispered. “But I’ve seen how death affects those left behind. I’m tired of spreading such grief, and you deserve to live.”
His eyes burned with rage, though he remained still. Squatting over him, she put the dagger back in his sheath. She’d strapped his belt around her waist. It barely fit at the tightest eyelet, but it would stay up. She wore her coat over her nightgown, warming herself as much as possible in case things went awry and she needed to flee. She’d promptly shed the weight if that happened.
“Every time you open a portal, you threaten to rip my mother’s spirit apart.”
He calmed slightly as his brow furrowed in obvious confusion.
“This might sound crazy to you, but it’s the truth. There’s another world connected to ours. I don’t know what to call it, so I just think of it as the spiritual world because it’s where the dead go. When you open a portal you’re actually opening four holes, two in the physical world and two in the spiritual world. The two worlds overlap, Basen. The bastial energy of the spiritual world acts like invisible walls, supporting this world.”
She gestured with his dagger at his enormous eyes. “What you’re doing when you create a portal is building an unstable gateway and forcing it to stay open when it naturally wants to close. The invisible walls I spoke of earlier are everywhere, but we humans have slowly been forming our own dents by squeezing bastial energy together in the same areas for years. This hasn’t been damaging the spiritual world yet, but you have been.”
He said something in anger, then groaned and sounded annoyed.
She ignored it and continued. “You need to understand so you stop casting portals. Think of our world as one long wall curved in an enormous circle. You’re putting so much pressure on a single point in the wall that a hole is formed. This hole must lead somewhere because we can’t fall out of the world, so you’re actually opening a hole in two places, creating an entrance and an exit. You’re doing this by not only condensing BE on top of itself in the physical world, but also by grabbing hold of the BE in the spiritual world and using it to support the opening holes. It’s this act that sucks up so much of the energy of the spiritual world, including any spirits nearby. It’s even powerful enough to drain the life force of spirits up to a mile away.”
At first, she’d begun to regret explaining this to him, thinking it was hopeless. But now that she found understanding in his expression, she started to feel relief. Maybe this would work after all and she wouldn’t be forced to kill him.
“Although I’ve lied to you about some things, I’ve been honest about most else. My mother and sister were both killed, but I have a chance to give life back to my mother and right so many wrongs at once. I just need more time, Basen. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
He nodded.
“I’ll kill you if you force me to, but I’d rather not.”
He glared back at her, his energy still carrying anger.
“I’m leaving the Academy now to carry out everything I’ve been planning. It should take a week, so don’t make any portals before then…or I’ll come back for you.”
An inner voice was already calling her stupid for this decision, telling her she would regret this.
I might, but not as much as I would regret killing him.
“Tell Annah I’m sorry I made it seem like she was lying about her loyalty. I needed her out of the house so I didn’t have to constantly manipula
te my own energy to keep her from reading my emotions.”
He raised one eyebrow and grunted. It seemed like an agreement.
Someone tapped on the window. “Basen?” It was Reela. “I can tell you’re awake. Is everything alright?”
Shit.
He began to shout through the gag.
“Basen?” Reela questioned again.
Sanya came at Basen’s chest with her dagger but changed her mind at the last moment, stabbing down into the meat of his leg instead.
“Shut up!” she whispered.
But stabbing him without killing him turned out to be a mistake, as he now hollered in pain through the gag. His bastial energy became too much to handle.
“Cleve, something’s wrong!” Reela screamed.
Her heart racing, Sanya took a breath to figure out exactly where everyone was by reading their energy. Cleve had joined Reela by the window, while Annah had awoken and was rushing toward Basen’s room.
Sanya moved behind the door and cloaked her presence with psyche. Basen squirmed toward her, but there was nothing he could do before Annah entered in a manic state. Sanya pounced on her and cupped her hand over the smaller woman’s mouth.
“Make a sound and you die. Stay quiet, and everyone lives.” Sanya held the dagger in front of Annah’s eyes. “I’m just trying to leave the Academy. Don’t make me kill anyone by trying to stop me.”
Annah froze in place.
This was all such a mistake. She should’ve just killed Basen quietly when she had the chance.
No, this is right.
“Everything’s fine, Reela,” Sanya called out. She used psyche to ease Basen’s pain as she quickly cut away the shirt gagging him. “Tell her.” Sanya threatened Basen with the dagger, her knees still on top of Annah, who was cooperating nicely.
“It’s fine,” Basen yelled while Sanya twisted his energy to make it seem as if he was telling the truth. “We’re naked, so don’t come in.”
“Oh,” Reela exclaimed, then paused for a moment. “You really should be resting.”
“Let them be,” Cleve murmured.
“Annah, shut the door!” Sanya cried out loud enough for Reela and Cleve to hear. Then she gritted her teeth and told Annah quietly, “Say you’re sorry loud enough for them to hear.”
“Sorry!”
“Now don’t move,” Sanya whispered as she stretched her arm behind her and pushed the door shut. If Reela was using psyche to detect where everyone was, she would think Annah was lingering in the hall, as it was impossible for Reela to know exactly where the door was.
“Don’t speak or do anything,” Basen whispered to Annah, both of them lying on their backs on the wooden floor. “She chose to spare my life. Just let her go and she’ll let us live.”
Annah seemed too frightened to reply, her breaths sharp and fast. Finally, she managed to ask, “Why, Sanya? Why do all this?”
“Basen will tell you after I—god’s mercy!” She’d just noticed how much blood he’d lost; she’d stabbed his leg deeper than she’d intended.
He sat up to glance at it and turned pale. “Look what you did, Sanya!”
“You mean what you made me do!” She grabbed his cheeks with both hands, digging in her nails until she saw blood.
“There’s the old Sanya I know!” he spat out angrily.
God’s mercy, I’m losing control. She didn’t have time for more plotting. They needed to get Basen to the medical building if he was going to live. She grabbed the last of his bedding, stood Annah up, and hurried to tie her hands behind her back.
“You try to resist at all and I’ll cut your throat as I probably should’ve done already,” Sanya warned.
Annah stayed completely still.
Sanya ran to Basen’s dresser, withdrew a sock and two shirts, then gagged Annah with the sock and tied one shirt around it. Then she gagged Basen in the same way.
It was finally time to flee, but there was nothing she could use to keep Annah from running out and alerting Cleve and Reela, and Sanya still needed time to retrieve her akorell stone from her campus house. Damn, Alabell is probably there watching.
“I have to do this so you don’t chase me,” Sanya warned Annah, then stabbed her in the leg while using psyche to take away her pain.
Annah flinched as she looked down, then her knees buckled.
By the time Annah hit the floor with a loud thud, Sanya was already to the front door. Sensing someone right outside, she went into the other bedroom, remembering all too vividly that this was where she’d killed Nick, and opened the same window she’d climbed through before.
She could only hope that Reela wasn’t sensing where everyone was as Sanya squatted on the windowsill and quickly maneuvered to turn her body around. She rose and grabbed the roof, then pulled herself up. Cleve and Reela were standing together a few yards away from the front door, unaware of Sanya’s escape.
She hit the dirt and hurried toward her house while opening her mind to Alabell’s location. The healer was still watching through the window in Sanya’s bedroom. Stupid curious woman, you’d better get out of there.
Alabell opened the window as she saw Sanya approach. “What’s wrong?”
“Basen’s hurt. He needs your help.”
Alabell turned and instantly disappeared into the darkness of the house, likely running for the front door. Sanya climbed in through her window and went straight for her wardrobe. She fell to her knees to reach beneath it, then ripped off the loose panel of wood.
“Basen needs help!” Alabell yelled from outside. “Sanya told me so!”
“What? How?” Reela asked.
Sanya could hear no more as she ran through the hall and into Alabell’s room. Throwing open the window, Sanya hoisted herself up and through and began to sprint between campus houses. It was only a matter of time before Cleve and Reela would find out Sanya was the murderer. She needed as much distance from them as possible, for she didn’t know if that was a battle she could win.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Basen’s cut was deep. Now that Sanya had left, her psychic spell was quickly fading. Pain began to settle in. Panicked and confused, Basen twisted and turned on the ground and managed to maneuver his hands from his back to his front, where they would be of more use. He pressed the sheet binding his hands against the stab wound in his thigh to at least slow the thick stream of blood.
“Meewaaa. Cweeee.” He tried to scream for Reela and Cleve but barely made a sound through the double gag.
Annah screamed as well but with no better luck. Blood had pooled around both of them, seeping together and filling the cracks in the floorboards.
“Basen needs help!” Alabell yelled. “Sanya told me so!”
“What? How?”
“She’s right behind—” Alabell stopped herself. “Oh my stars. She’s the murderer! Come on!”
The door rattled against its lock.
“Basen?” Alabell hollered.
They were never going to hear him in time. Basen picked at the knot in his shirt at the back of his head, but his bound hands made his progress slow.
“Which way did she go?” Cleve asked, his low voice sounding more determined than angry.
“That way!” Alabell replied.
“Cleve, don’t go after her!” Reela yelled. It sounded like she was running around to the side of the house. “Follow me. Cleve! No, Cleve!”
Basen could hear heavy footsteps going the other way. They became faint as Reela screamed his name one last time.
The window finally came open and Alabell tumbled in clumsily.
“Swooor. Swooor.” He gestured with his head at his sword against his wardrobe. Sanya had taken his dagger.
Alabell grabbed the weapon with both hands, but its weight seemed to surprise her as it fell against the floor with a crack. She dragged it over to him as he held up his hands. Reela tumbled in next, neither of the women half as agile as Sanya. Reela cursed and grabbed her knee that had banged against the hard flo
or, then hobbled over as Alabell began to saw at the sheet holding Basen’s hands together.
Reela untied the shirt around Basen’s head. He spat out the sock.
“Get Annah to the medical building,” he ordered.
Annah tried to speak against her gag. Reela hurried over and freed her from it. By then, Alabell had cut away enough of the sheet for Basen to remove the rest on his own.
He could faintly hear Cleve screaming that Sanya was the murderer. Hopefully the wall guards would be alerted before she got there, not that Basen had any idea which wall she would choose.
He was beginning to feel dizzy from loss of blood.
“Can you stop the bleeding?” Reela asked Alabell, who had lit the lamp on Basen’s desk and brought it with her as she plopped down and leaned over his leg for a look.
“I can try.”
“What about Annah?” Basen asked.
“Hers doesn’t look as deep,” Alabell replied after hardly a glance. “Reela, tie something around her wound, and make sure it’s tight. We need to transport them to the medical building.”
“How?” Reela asked with a dreadful fear in her voice that sent a chill down Basen’s spine, for only then did he realize that neither Reela nor Alabell could carry him that far.
“We’ll find a way,” Alabell said. “Just get Annah’s bleeding under control.”
“Damn Cleve,” Reela muttered as she worked. “I told him not to run off.”
“I heard,” Basen said. “I’m going to haunt that bastard if I die.”
Alabell finished with amazing speed, then took over for Reela on Annah’s leg. There was great pain and pressure in his leg, but his other was fine. He fought against the dizziness as he tried to get to his feet. Reela offered both hands to help.
He fell. Reela tried to catch him, but he was too heavy for her and they both came crashing down.
Alabell seemed to be finished wrapping Annah’s leg by then. She pulled the small psychic up.
“Can you hop?”
“Not all the way there,” Annah admitted with considerable panic.
