The Tenth House

by Ashley R Scott

  The silver clouds hang heavy in the sky, threatening to dump more snow. I focus on them as I concentrate on slowing down my breathing.

  “Are you alright?” Jocelyn drops onto the ground by my head, helping me to a half-sitting position. My vision swims in front of me as I fight the urge to either pass out or vomit.

  Aidan tosses the shotgun aside and rips the scarf off his neck, tying it tightly just under my right knee.

  I sit up the rest of the way and groan at the sight of my leg. Torn flesh, meaty and raw, is visible under the holes in my jeans. There’s so much blood already that it looks like I’m sitting in a cherry snow cone.

  “I don’t think the pellets did any damage to the bone. Can you stand?” Aidan reaches for my hand, but I can’t grab hold. “We have to get you out of here. You need a doctor.”

  “No, you can’t! Taurus will find me in a hospital. Take me back to the building.” I lean back against Jocelyn, suddenly feeling very tired.

  “Leo wants me to go into the backyard.” My panting makes it hard to talk.

  “We’ll come back. We need to take care of you first,” Aidan says, his lips set in a thin line.

  “Wait here for a second.” Jocelyn dashes into Delia's house, returning a few minutes later with an armful of medical supplies. She stuffs her pockets, handing some of it to Aidan. “Hopefully this will help.”

  Aidan moves around behind me, hooking his arms under mine, and pulls me carefully to my feet. One arm wrapped firmly around each of their shoulders, I take a test step forward, gasping with the pain. I barely put any weight down, but the wounds send tiny earthquakes of pain through my leg, making me dizzy.

  The crowd had doubled in size with the sound of gunfire. A quiet murmur races through the group as the man steps forward again.

  His shaking is replaced with glazed eyes and stiff movement. He raises his arm, pointing in my direction. “He knows where you are. He’s coming for you.”

  Aidan gently guides me toward the fence, and I grit my teeth as we push through the gate, leaving a trail of blood behind me.

  I scan the yard, hoping to see anything unusual, whatever it was that Leo wanted me to know. Everything looks in order except the back door, which had been smashed open. My stomach turns to think that someone had broken in both the front and back of her house. They had ambushed her home, or they had been here more than once.

  “Maybe we should stop and see what Leo wanted.”

  Aidan shakes his head. “Keep moving. We will come back.”

  We carefully make our way down to the edge of the river as Jocelyn and Aidan drag me with them, leaving the three of us gasping from covering the short distance.

  “I have to rest for a minute.” I pull my arms from their shoulders and slump into the snow, letting out a low growl as fresh pain shoots through my leg.

  Jocelyn drops beside me, checking the makeshift tourniquet. It’s soaked in blood and stuck to my leg.

  “It seems to be slowing the bleeding, but the walking isn’t helping.” She grabs the scarf and gives it a strong pull.

  “Hey! Ow!” I yank my leg away, immediately wishing I hadn’t done that.

  “Sorry. Just making sure it stays.” She ducks her head at my glare.

  “We have to keep going. We should take care of your leg. I also think we need to find another way to go. It’s dangerous this close to the river and too easy for us to slip and fall in the water.” Aidan stands near the edge, watching the rushing river sharpen the jagged ice that lines the bank.

  “We have to go this way. We can’t draw any more attention to ourselves. Too many people saw us outside Delia’s house, and that guy said he was coming for me.” I’m not sure which he the man was talking about, but I know I don’t want to stick around and find out. I hoist myself up, trying not to move my leg too much, and immediately fall back to the ground.

  “I don’t like this at all.” Aidan reaches a hand down to help me stand. I get to my feet, and he pulls me into his arms to steady me until I catch my balance. We stand face to face. I take a deep breath, losing myself in the ocean of his eyes, leaning in close as everything else fades away. “Are you good?”

  “What?” I shake my head to loosen the cobwebs and clear my throat.

  “Yeah, I’m okay. We can go now.” I wrap my arm around his shoulder, and Jocelyn takes my other arm, snorting. Pushing all thoughts of Aidan aside, I concentrate on walking.

  Delia’s house isn’t far from our abandoned building, but it might as well have been miles away. We’re halfway back to our building when it’s time to rest again.

  My thoughts are bleak, and I start to feel sorry for myself. The wound in my leg burns and all I want to do is rest where I’m not freezing. They set me down to lean against a tree, and I stare absently across the river.

  “You don’t look so good.” Jocelyn crouches down in front of me, studying my face.

  “Thanks. I don’t feel so good.” It’s hard to talk around my chattering teeth. The cold has moved in completely, taking over my entire body so that I start to think I’ll never be warm again.

  “You’re very pale.” She glances over her shoulder at Aidan. “What do you think?”

  If he heard her, he didn’t answer. Aidan concentrates on something behind us. “Aidan?”

  “Quiet.” He doesn’t look away from whatever holds his attention.

  “What is it?” I struggle to my feet, reaching for Jocelyn to help me stand.

  “Quiet!” he hisses.

  We move carefully to his side with Jocelyn as my crutch, and I strain to see, my nerves on high alert. As we watch, the man following us slips out from behind a thick tree.

  He moves closer, the corner of his mouth tilted up in a half smile, completely void of any mirth. His eyes burn like molten lava. It’s the man in the brown leather duster that I saw in the casino and the diner.

  “Give me the girl.” His voice rips through the roar of the raging river.

  “Aries.” Aidan takes a deliberate step to the side, positioning himself between Aries and me. “I should’ve known you’d take Taurus’s side. Especially after you failed to do the same.”

  Aries growls, low and menacing. Fire flashes in his eyes, and I know that Aidan plays a dangerous game.

  “Do not toy with me. You will not win.” Aries closes his eyes, and the rising wind stings my face. The snow at his feet melts instantly.

  Aidan pushes us back, looking between our path and the icy water below.

  The wind whips around us, pulling the snow up for a wild dance that tugs at our clothes. I shield my eyes, squinting through the mini blizzard rising at our feet, and hear a faint whisper riding the wind, but I can’t make out the words.

  “We gotta go.” Aidan tries to pick me up as Jocelyn slaps his hands away.

  “What are you doing?” One look at her face and I know we’re in trouble. Her eyes are glazed over, a fiery red mixing with the hazel in her eyes. “Oh, shit.”

  Jocelyn locks her hand around my wrist.

  “She’s an Aries?” Aidan pulls at her hands, unable to pry them away.

  Nodding, I yank my arm hard, getting a skin burn instead of breaking free.

  Aries cackles, raising his arms, the wind threatening to knock us all over.

  Jocelyn yanks hard on my arm as Aidan grabs hold of my waist, and I feel like a rope in a horrible game of tug of war.

  I kick at Jocelyn, trying to break free of her grasp. She suddenly lets go of my arm, catching us off guard, and the force of Aidan’s pull sends us stumbling back toward the edge of the river.

  Jocelyn surges forward, swinging wildly at Aidan and sending us tumbling toward the raging water. I kick my legs, flailing to keep us on dry land, tripping Jocelyn as we fall, sending her crashing in after us.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The shock of the freezing water sucks the breath right out of my lungs. I fight hard with heavy limbs and burst through the surface, gasping for air. I struggle against the raging cu
rrent as I turn circles, searching for Aidan and Jocelyn.

  Aries glides to the edge of the river, growing smaller as the water rapidly sweeps us away. With a sneer on his face, Aries blinks out of view.

  Aidan pops his head out of the water, immediately getting dragged back into the darkness, his arms flailing wildly.

  I’m desperate to help, but the current proves too strong to swim against.

  Aidan surfaces again, struggling with Jocelyn, fighting to keep her above the water as she works to drag him back under. Hanging on to Jocelyn, Aidan frowns with concentration, and the water slows around them.

  “Aidan!” My voice barely rises over the rushing water. The river slams me into a large rock, and I grab it before I’m swept away.

  A small piece of brush lays just beyond my fingertips, and I hang on to the stone, stretching as far as I can, but I’m unable to grab the plant. The fingers of my other hand are dangerously close to losing their hold on the rock.

  As I reach, the brush lengthens, meeting my fingertips. I wrap my hand around the plant and pull myself from the water, dragging my leg behind me. My teeth chatter so hard, I think they might break.

  Flat on my stomach, I hang my arm back over the water as Aidan and Jocelyn float toward me, moving unnaturally slow in the strength of the river.

  “Aidan! Grab my hand!” He whips around, searching for my voice, still holding on to Jocelyn, who’s limp in his arms. Aidan turns them around and grabs the rock, shoving Jocelyn in front of him.

  Ignoring the pain in my leg, I grit my teeth and use all my strength to pull her out. I reach back down, and Aidan grabs my arm, using it to pull himself up. I silently thank the brush for helping and roll over onto my back. “How did you do that with the water?”

  “Scorpio rules over the water. That’s the magic I wield, but no magic can ever outmatch Mother Nature if she doesn’t let it.” Aidan pants, his skin a light shade of blue, and his hair already freezes to his face. “We have to get back to the building and make a fire before we all die. Can you walk?”

  Frozen to the core, I shiver and nod, climbing carefully to my feet.

  Aidan picks up Jocelyn’s still body, her arms swinging limply by her side. We head for the building as fast as we can, and I try not to think about whether she’s alive.

  Thankfully, the abandoned building we’re using is just off the bank of the Truckee River and less than a mile from where we pulled ourselves out of the water.

  We burst through the door of the hollowed-out space we’re using for a room, and Aidan dumps Jocelyn unceremoniously onto the pile of blankets. He collapses beside her, his breath coming in labored gasps.

  I drop down to the floor, no longer able to put any weight on my leg, and pull blankets over the two of them. Jocelyn is still breathing, so I drag myself across the room to our pile of supplies, filling an old discarded metal trash can with anything that looks flammable.

  A small green plastic lighter lies beside a bag, and I grab it, flicking the starter, but it only sparks in my shaking hands. I blow on my hands and try again, but my frozen fingers can’t hang on, and it skips across the floor.

  Aidan gets up and grabs the lighter as I fight back the tears. He stumbles over, dropping to his knees beside me, clicking the lighter. A tiny flame jumps to life, and Aidan holds it into the trash can, the fire flaring to life. He slips a blanket around my shoulders and holds out his arm, and I gratefully snuggle against him, the warmth in his body surprising me.

  “How’d you get so warm already?” The warmth spreads through my hands as I hold my fingers closer to the fire.

  “One of the perks of being an Aid, I guess. Once we undergo the ritual to become an Aid, it changes our chemistry and things like temperature don’t affect us the same way. Extremes like being in the water, yes, but I’m able to recover faster.” He rubs my arms, bringing some of the feelings back. “You may recover faster than you think, thanks to Donnelly’s blood.”

  Jocelyn moans, rolling over and pulling the blanket tighter around her.

  “What’s going on? Why am I so cold? And wet?” She opens her eyes enough to look around, and they widen as she takes in the building. She sits up, her face pale and lips tinted blue, moving closer to the fire. “How did we get here?”

  “You don’t remember anything?” I ask, pulling the blanket tighter around me.

  Jocelyn shakes her head, groaning with the movement. “I remember resting on the bank and then Aries showing up. Wait. What happened with Aries? How did we get away?”

  “He controlled you. Your eyes glazed over, and you attacked us. You tried to take me to him. When you jumped us, we all fell into the river and Aries just disappeared.” I shift my position, crying out as the pain shoots through my leg.

  “He was controlling me?” Her voice is shrill and tight. “Are you guys okay?”

  “Everyone is born under a particular sign. The Zodiac ruling that sign can control their thoughts and behavior, even though they’re not supposed to do that. No one can resist it.”

  At my worried look, Aidan shakes his head. “Guardians can’t be controlled if they go through the ritual properly. Taurus is controlling people, and Aries is helping him. You can bet, though, he didn’t just disappear. He had some other agenda.”

  Aidan looks at my leg, careful not to touch it. “Jocelyn, do you feel well enough to help me? We have to get her leg cleaned up.”

  “Of course!” She scrambles up, fishing through her pockets for the medical supplies she took from Delia’s house, the packaging wet from the river. She spreads them all out on the blanket, creating a makeshift doctor’s table. She picks up a pair of tweezers, wiping them down with an alcohol wipe, and leans over my leg.

  “Do you want me to do that?” Aidan holds out his hand for the tweezers, but she pulls them away.

  “I can do this. I took a nursing class in high school. You just be quiet and hold Ciara down.” She winks at me and then sobers quickly.

  “I’m sorry.” With that, she leans over and gets to work on cleaning my wound.

  I hang on to Aidan’s hands, squeezing so hard, my whole fingers turn white. I don’t want to be a baby, but the effort of Jocelyn dressing my wound makes me queasy. Small whimpers escape my lips as I try my best to focus on my breathing. My vision swims, and I drop in and out of consciousness, beads of sweat rolling down my face.

  Jocelyn leans back with a satisfied grin on her face. “All done! Just need to put bandages on it.”

  She wraps it tightly with fresh gauze that had somehow managed to stay dry in its package and covers me with a blanket.

  Exhausted, I lie still, counting my breaths.

  “Get some rest.” Aidan tucks the blanket under my chin, pulling the fire can a little closer.

  “I can’t. We have to warn everybody. No one else needs to die.” I prop up on my elbows, but the building tilts, and I carefully lie back down.

  “Let us take care of that. We’ll figure out who to warn next. Do you have the list?” Aidan tucks the blanket back under my chin.

  I reach into my pocket, groaning as I pull out the ruined piece of paper. It’s pulp in my fingers, the ink smeared and illegible. I let the list fall to the floor, and it lands with a soft plop.

  “That’s alright.” Aidan tosses the mush into the fire. “Just rest for a little while, or you won’t be any good at all.”

  I open my mouth to protest, but the words die on my lips as I drift off to an uneasy sleep.

  I want to run, but my legs are lead. The forest burns around me, the fire so hot the trees melt. I throw myself to the ground, pulling at anything I can find to help me move forward.

  Someone chases me, but I can’t see their face. Ghostly shapes howl from within the flames. I yank with all my strength, but my body doesn’t move at all.

  The Earth opens gaping jaws, filled with rows of sharp rocks like teeth in a shark’s mouth. I scream as I pitch forward, falling into nothingness.

  My eyes fly open as I in
voluntarily sit forward. The scream dies on my lips, my throat raw.

  Jocelyn sits on my legs as Aidan struggles to lay me back on the ground. I gasp for breath, trying to gather my wits. Sweat covers my body, holding my clothes hostage against me. I cough, wincing as my throat sticks. Aidan picks up a bottle of water, giving me a tiny sip that almost makes me choke.

  “Are you alright?” Jocelyn slides off my legs, careful not to bump against my wound.

  “I need another blanket.” I shiver as Jocelyn drapes another one across my chest.

  Jocelyn places the back of her hand on my forehead, looking up at Aidan. “She has a fever. We need to get her some help.”

  “I’m fine. I just need to be still for a few minutes.” I have a death grip on the blanket as I pull it tightly beneath my chin and clench my jaw to stop the chattering of my teeth.

  “You need help.” She looks up at Aidan, concern mirrored on both their faces. “What do we do? I don’t think we should move her. I’m not even sure we can.”

  “We can’t risk bringing a doctor here.” Aidan sits back on his heels, frowning.

  “I said I’m good.” I glare at Jocelyn.

  “Can you do your little magic poof thing? Get her out of here?” Jocelyn adds another blanket to my pile.

  “I don’t have any magic poof thing. I’m not a Zodiac, and even they can’t do that on Earth without consequence.” Aidan places another log into the trash can, careful not to throw any sparks.

  “You guys can hear me, right?” I look back and forth between the two, my mood growing darker by the second. They continue to ignore me.

  “Do you have any ideas?” Jocelyn picks at her nails.

  Aidan stares into the fire, watching the tiny flames lick the side of the can.

  “Maybe.” He jumps to his feet, all but running for the door. “Keep her comfortable. I’ll be right back.”

  “Wait. Where are you going?” He disappears through the door without stopping to answer.