by Sarah Tobias
Manhattan skyscrapers rose behind me, piercing the sky as the setting sun reflected against their shining surfaces. I could hear the drone of speeding cars below, the congestion getting heavier as rush hour ticked forward.
I stood behind the concrete barricade, casting my eyes over the East River with the Williamsburg Bridge on my left, its cables dipping down from each steel tower as it crested across the horizon. The Manhattan Bridge spanned wide on my right, its pointed towers also holding cables and curving down in the classic shape suspension bridges were known for, its two stone portals rising high to let the growing traffic pass through.
Framed by steel and stone, with my city lit behind me, I raised my eyes to the sky, golden light coating my vision as I let my body disappear into the bleeding colors of the sunset.
As I flew, I skimmed the river with the tips of my shoes, creating curving white froth with my feet as I flew into Williamsburg, landing lightly on the boat docks. The sun already set against the wide container ships that floated silently on the river. Waves from passing ferries knocked against the docks, and that was the only sound I heard as I dodged steel containers and hopped over scattered pieces of heavy equipment.
I was alone, but I wasn’t afraid. Even cast against deserted loading docks and empty warehouses, I knew I was safe. I had the dark flame, and when she was unleashed, no weapon could harm me. No man could survive me.
My confidence was fast forgotten when a scream pierced through the silence.
Chapter 23
The agonizing wail came from behind a cylindrical warehouse to the left.
My dark flame burst to life.
Conflicted, I forced it back down. I refused to bring her forward before assessing the situation. For all I knew, the cries could be from a worker taking a tumble, or someone who was lost, a tourist who needed help out of the loading docks. Not everything had to be ominous and involve a secret fae species. Though, with my luck…
I ran like a human toward the screams. Once near enough to see, I took cover at the side of the warehouse, peeking out. I crouched down, shoving pieces of damp, rotting beams of wood out of the way.
My nails dug into the wood when I located the source of the scream.
Gwyn.
She cowered on her side, her hands above her face and her legs tangled underneath her. Spotlights from the docks illuminated her body, and she arched up, crying out in pain.
At first, I thought she was caught in a tangle of equipment, cables stretching over her skin and causing her cries, but I wasn’t even close.
Tentacles the color of mud, slimy and wet, slithered around her. Little suction cups were scattered across the slick masses, each one making slurpy, popping sounds before clamping onto her limbs. The tentacles palpitated as they latched, and each time they did, she let out another cry.
I braced myself, my eyes shooting in all directions.
Where was her brother?
I lay my hands against the metal of the warehouse as I pushed forward, afraid of what I might be forced to do. I couldn’t expose myself, not this way, not when it posed so much danger.
Gywn screamed harder.
No one came.
Gwyn cried out again. Gutteral. Begging.
Then she started sobbing for Asher.
“Ah, crap,” I said, and stepped out of my shelter.
Her expression wrenched into such agony, trying to pry the tentacles off even as her hands kept skidding against the slime.
Move!
My mind was alert, but my body seemed slow to respond as I stood frozen in the empty lot, vulnerable, wide-eyed. This was my first time facing a fae on a full stomach. There was no starvation, no frenzy to propel me forward. Just fear.
I forced myself to step closer. Before me sat a globular mass of pustules, its greasy brown skin reflecting off the spotlights overhead. I tried to locate its eyes among the boils that burst open with yellowed slime every time it moved. I thought I found them at the center, two glassy black marbles so out of place on this slick, glopping mass before me.
When Gwyn cried out again, it wasn’t from pain. “Emily! What are you doing?”
I met Gwyn’s fury, but she was still intimidating even when tentacles wrapped around her face. “Get out of here!”
The tentacles shuddered, and Gwyn let out a wail, fear and pain etching across the parts of her that were exposed, until her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She went slack underneath the slimy hold, looking less like a human and more like a broken china doll that was being devoured by a giant slug.
I had to save her.
But I was frozen as a statue, stiff with fear but shaking with uncertainty as this fae-sludge assaulted Gwyn. I was no match for this thing. If I wanted to save Gwyn, if I hoped to redeem myself from what happened with Rob, the girl, the cop…
Okay, I told the dark flame. I felt her titter with excitement as I spoke. Come forth. Kill.
My body jolted, my arms shooting out behind me and my chest arching to the sky as the burn fired through my system with such potency that my vocal cords burned to ash. I wanted to fall to my knees, but in an instant, they were no longer my own. The dark flame cannoned forth, taking my hands, filling my legs, controlling my mouth.
It was like a hand had clamped over my face and shoved me underwater, my vision blurring as my dark flame took my place. But like a slingshot, my eyesight returned. But only that. I couldn’t even blink. She was in control, and I'd become a spectator in my own body.
Oh man, this was a really, really bad idea.
There was no time to dwell. The fae had sucked the life out of Gwyn, its black beady eyes rolling up to the top of its globular head as a white, sparkling mist coated her body.
Her soul. It had to be.
“You imbecile,” my voice said to it.
I got its attention. It stopped its popping, suckling noises, and its tiny, empty eyes focused on me.
“You think you can feast on one of them?” I heard myself ask.
It growled, the sound clogged with gunk. Before, I didn’t think it had a mouth. Now, I knew better. With a wet, smacking sound, a maw formed at the center of the dirty glob, yawning wide, its fangs white and gleaming despite the dripping mess that surrounded them.
It let out a deafening roar, and I wished I could cover my ears. But my darker self remained poised and unperturbed by the angry, spitting mass in front of her.
To my relief, its tentacles slipped off Gwyn. I half-expected the tentacles to swing in my direction, aiming straight for my face. Instead, the thing used its tentacles as chair legs, rising in stature to tower over us. It roared once more, its fangs tipping to the sky.
In that instant, if I had control over my body, I would’ve been dead.
It dove for me, but my dark flame nimbly ducked and danced out of the way, my leg lifting and connecting with the side of the glob as my body landed with balanced practice.
I was so strong from my last feast that this sopping fae went sprawling with a kick, its four tentacles flailing in the air as it crashed to its side. My body avoided another swipe, narrowly missing a tentacle.
I hummed with annoyance, tired of these games the dark flame so loved, as if this weren’t life and death but just a mere deck of cards to amuse her for a while.
Don’t toy with my body, I said.
She laughed. Don’t assume that your body can’t take it.
There was a moment of calm stillness, where she stood, unmoving except for the slow smile that crept over her mouth. She let me see her next move, a brief picture in her mind that flicked across my vision like an old movie reel. I wanted to recoil from the sight, but I couldn’t. I threw myself against my confines instead, like a trapped bird in a cage, but it was no use.
Don’t you dare, I said to her.
She moved straight to the underside of the mass where the tentacles began, and I watched in horror as she let the tentacles close around us.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I screamed, though my voi
ce made no sound. Do you want to kill us?
She remained calm as I fought. I’d chew my way forward if it meant I could prevent this. Stop her. I pressed against my confines, but felt a hard wall slam up in front me, throwing me back. The pounding in my head was almost unbearable and my vision wavered, the tunnel becoming longer as I drifted, descending into the dark. No.
I was trapped. Trapped inside my own body.
What have I done?
The tentacles tightened, suffocating, the suction cups covering my arms and legs, twining upwards as they moved toward my face. They seeped through my clothing, sucking my blood to the surface of my skin. I panicked, flailed against the restraints, but my body stayed poised, my face serene.
She entertained my struggle for a few seconds, saying only: You need to learn to trust me.
She lashed out, pushing against the tentacles. The gluttonous mass roared. Her jaw opened, cracked and expanded to house sharp, deadly teeth.
She smiled again, macabre and garish before she turned my head and sank those teeth straight into the center mass of the glob.
This time, it wasn’t scarlet blood that gushed forth. It was opaque and tasted of black licorice as it poured down my throat. It fell on my body like a river, but my teeth remained buried deep in the fae’s skin. I wanted to gag with the slimy, bulbous feel of its flesh against my tongue.
My head whipped back, my jaw releasing at the same time my dark flame began to recede. It was as if I’d just broken above water, and I gasped for air as I found myself with a body again.
Trust me… she whispered before she folded back into that place inside me. The section she’d made her home.
Breathing heavily, I crawled up so I could stand on top of the fae, locating the mouth. I cringed at the thought of having to put my face close to it, but I knew it was necessary. I bent down, my disgust forgotten as I expected what came next. Finally, the dark flame and I were on the same page. We both wanted the fae’s soul. We both needed it.
I sucked in a deep breath, and a bright blue mist traveled out of the fae’s mouth. I welcomed the ecstasy as the sparkling blue pulsed through me, sinking into my veins and pumping into my heart, my chest expanding with the fill of it.
At the same time, a golden, glittering cloud formed and enveloped the fae. As it evaporated from underneath me, I floated to the ground and landed with silent grace.
But … it wasn’t over. I knew it was coming, but it didn’t mean I was ready for the quaking pain that rushed into my head and pushed me to the ground.
For that angry, rasping voice.
SOON.
As quickly as the roaring voice came, it retreated, and the mind-torture faded with it.
For once, that hateful venom would not stick around for more threats, more spiking pain. But with that one single word, it—or he—made his plans known. Whatever it was. Wherever it lived, it would find me. I shivered under the pressure.
I allowed myself to open my eyes. Searching the area, I found no trace of the fae’s body. Broken pieces of metal, and wet, shining curves of slime covered the asphalt. The fae made a mess, and unfortunately, it wasn’t just on the ground.
I had my own clean-up: black, sopping goo covered me head to toe and I smelled sickeningly of licorice.
A soft moan came from beside me. “What…?”
I turned to Gwyn. She was on her back but staring at me. Her eyes, though tired and weak, shrank into daggers as she regained consciousness.
“Um…” I couldn’t think of one thing to say.
“You saw it?” she asked, sitting up.
“Y-Yes.”
I couldn’t exactly answer any other way when I was covered in its gook.
Gwyn glanced around in panic. “Where is it? Where is it hiding?”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry, I—”
NO.
The dark flame flared, hissing. Remember. Nobody knows you can kill fae. The rule is, only the Hunter has the power.
But what if I’m the Hunter? I asked. And Gwyn is part of this Tryne? She would know. She’d understand.
It was a brave question, and while this dark flame scared the bejaysus out of me, she knew things. Said things. She must have the answer to this.
If that were true, do you really want this girl to be the first to know? The dark flame’s voice was sharp.
I felt her, her movements reminding me so much like the brown glob we’d just killed as she slithered with warning. She could take me over whenever she wanted, turn her fire into tentacles and slide underneath my skin, suck me out. Become me.
Trust me… she purred.
I shuddered.
“Emily,” Gwyn demanded.
Her voice left no room for weakness, almost as if she were accusing me for being here. How dare you save my life, Emily, her voice seemed to say. It was enough to distract from my own victim-like thoughts.
“I wounded it,” I said to her, gesturing to the black tar-like substance covering my clothes. “Then it ran away.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “You … fought it?”
“Well…” I tried to buy time to form a plausible story. Then I spotted an idea. “I panicked. I saw you were in trouble. So without thinking, I grabbed the sharpest piece of metal I could find and stabbed it from behind.”
Gwyn pondered this. I prayed I didn’t make any lethal mistake. I didn’t know if a metal beam could penetrate that thing’s slimy exterior. I had used razor-sharp teeth, after all, but I couldn’t tell Gwyn that.
“Okay,” she said, seeming to accept my story. To her, there was probably no other option, not when it came to me. Innocent, hard-working, quiet Ems who stumbled upon a monster and just happened to throw some metal at it.
Then she seemed to remember something. “Are you okay? I mean, I know this is hard to explain…”
Right. I was traumatized. Bowled over with shock. Never encountering an actual, real-life monster before and everything.
“I … I think so,” I said, but not wanting to overdo it. “What was that?”
Gwyn sighed, lifting to her feet and brushing off her jeans, more of an automatic gesture than actually trying to brush anything off. The lights above us were reflecting a clear, greasy goo on her I doubt even dry cleaning could rectify.
“You need to talk to Asher,” she said. “You want answers that I can’t give.” Pause. “I really wish you hadn’t seen that.”
I was oddly happy to see Asher again, despite Gwyn’s rude, enigmatic behavior. If I weren’t here, she would’ve died. Didn’t she see that? She was acting so uncaring, so cavalier, doing nothing to reassure me about what I saw, not even bothering to explain this secret species away.
If I were the new Hunter and Gwyn my fellow Tryne member, we needed a serious sit-down—
“Come on,” she said.
Gwyn started walking towards downtown Williamsburg. I supposed she expected me to follow.
“Oh, and thank you.” Gwyn gave me a quick glance over her shoulder.
“No problem,” I muttered and fell into step behind her.
It wasn’t until we had made our way to the parking lot, with me consciously trying to look more human with my movements than not, that a thought finally occurred to me. During my fight with the giant octopus-glob, I was too distracted by its grossness to consider something so vitally important and I wanted to slap myself for being so, so ignorant.
I’d been so absorbed in Gwyn and her strange reactions, I hadn’t realized the one piece of information staring me in the face. Gwyn’s behavior immediately became ominous as I absorbed the consequences of my sudden, frightening realization.
I had fought that fae in its pure, true form.
There was no human shell.
Chapter 24
On the way out of the warehouse, I kept giving the back of Gwyn’s head the squinty-eye.
How the hell was she grappling with a fae in its true form, without a human host?
Gwyn directed me to the curb where a black
SUV blinked its headlights as she unlocked it.
I stood to the side, pursing my lips.
“Well?” Gwyn said, motioning to the car. “Get in.”
“I’m not sure I should go anywhere with you,” I said.
Gwyn cast her eyes to the sky. She asked dryly, “Why not, Emily?”
“Um, that big bad glob over there, for one. You’ve explained nothing about it. Like why it’s here, how it exists, or hey—reassurance that I’m not hallucinating would be nice.”
“I told you,” Gwyn said, her voice flat. “Asher has the answers you need. Once you get in the car and I take you to him, you can ask all the annoying questions you want.”
I guffawed. “Leave it to you to think me a nuisance after I saved your life from a f—a whatever that was.”
Gwyn sighed, placing a hand on her hip, then removing it when her palm went slick with goo. “I didn’t say you were annoying then. I’m saying you’re annoying now. Get in the car.” She added as an afterthought, “please.”
“Fine,” I said. “But only because I want answers.”
Gwyn rounded to the driver’s side of the vehicle, saying, “I won’t pull over on the side of the bridge and dump you into the river, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I slid into the passenger seat as best I could while being covered in black gook. When she was strapping her seatbelt, I replied, “You can’t pull over on the bridge, anyway. There’s no room and too much netting to successfully toss me overboard.”
Gwyn muttered something unflattering that my ultra-hearing didn’t catch as she started the engine.
Gwyn drove us over the Williamsburg Bridge. We didn’t bother with chitchat as we headed into the city. No music played as we sat dripping in our seats, our hair sticking to our faces, hers with clear goo, mine with black. The smell of licorice was nauseating, and Gwyn cracked our windows open to clear out the overly sweetened confines.
She parked a few streets away from her and her brother’s apartment, seemingly undeterred by the fact that we’d have to walk a block or two, in public, during peak bar-hopping time, covered in slime. Gwyn probably wanted a fae to eat me.
