The Sanguine Door

by Genevieve Grey

  “Did Judas give you that?” His voice was even as he grabbed my wrist, the golden bracelet hanging loosely from my bones. I snatched my hand back.

  “Yes.”

  “You’ve clearly caught his attention.”

  “I wasn’t doing it on purpose,” I snapped.

  The Hunter gave me an indulgent smile. “I’m sure you could get valuable information from him.”

  “What are you suggesting?” I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes.

  “I’m suggesting you exploit his clear infatuation with you,” he said the words like I was an idiot. “You’re weak, you need saving.”

  “I don’t and I’m not weak.”

  “I know that but Judas does not. Let him feel like a hero.”

  I turned away from him unwilling to hear anything else he had to say.

  Chapter Ten

  Luka

  Dinner with Micah and Salone had given Luka much to think about. He had been taught from a young age that the werewolves were an uncivilised group, filled with hatred and desperate for war. The majority of their history was bathed in the blood. The pair had shaken that belief. They had explained that the devastating wars and the yearning the packs felt for peace. He could see now the manipulation. The Elect would throw their support behind an Alpha that they could control. Once that ceased to be the case, a new challenger rose to the top job. A stable hierarchy was never allowed to remain for long, and the packs were plagued with infighting.

  As he sat brooding over this new revelation, Arina entered the room and cleared her throat. Her face was carefully blank, but he could tell from the slight tension in her shoulders that she was uncomfortable around him, even after so many weeks.

  “I’ll take the floor tonight,” her low voice offered.

  They had come to an informal agreement that they would take the mattress on alternating nights. She had slept on the bed for the last two. He guessed she was feeling guilty.

  “No, it’s fine. I don’t sleep much anyway.” He rose, unwilling to startle her. She had been extra jumpy the last week, her nails bitten down to stubs once again. He doubted she even noticed. She seemed almost in and out of consciousness. Judas had constantly shot her worried glances when he thought she was not looking. If he was being honest with himself, she looked close to death. The jokes she had made about it were frighteningly close to the truth.

  Her bony shoulders shrugged. She ignored him and sat down on the floor anyway. Luka was scared the lumpy pillow bed might leave her bruised. She needed to stop exercising. He couldn’t spar with her anymore. It was too dangerous.

  “It’s fair.”

  It was hard to remind himself that she was his prisoner, at least until they dismantled the rebellion. It wasn’t wise to live in such close quarters to an enemy for so long. It was only natural to develop some empathy towards them. Luka was particularly at risk of it, his superiors had always criticised his softness. He turned the light off and lay on top of the covers. They needed more information. They had been excluded from any tactical meetings and he guessed that it was her doing. She was sabotaging them, even as it killed her.

  Tomorrow he would enlist them on the next mission. They still had no idea how the rebels were being funded, or what their next move was. If they found the source of the money it would be easy enough to disband them. Destroy the source of their income and then cut off the snake’s head.

  The young woman that first showed them to the group, Valerie, had been a wealth of information. Luke knew he was abusing her teenage infatuation. It was almost too easy. She lapped up the attention and spilled secrets. She had told him how each cell worked in dizzying detail. She liked to listen. It was clear that Joshua was the orchestrator of the whole thing, even if he tried to advertise to the world that each cell was decentralised. No doubt he had a carefully laid-out plan. Without him the movement was just a group of disgruntled citizens.

  They wouldn’t all even need to die.

  He shifted his gaze to the girl. As frail as she was, Arina had impressed him with her training. He had sparred with her full-tilt and she had never complained, only yelled when she thought he was holding back. Even without her Magic she would be a terror to fight. She was like a vicious terrier.

  When they lay in companionable silence, it was easy to forget how close she had come to killing him. Her Magic had been overwhelming. Luka had never felt such uncontrolled power before. He had been enraptured by it, until she had used it to nearly kill him. Luka had underestimated her and nearly lost his life because of it. It would never happen again.

  She was always a threat.

  The question of why she hadn’t just killed him often plagued his thoughts, especially late at night. Her problems would have been sorted, no bounty hunter would dare come after her if she had defeated the infamous Hunter. She could have lived her life somewhere in a shady town without the Elect’s interference. They would have claimed her captured, but would have left her alone for fear of further embarrassment.

  Arina started up her nightly routine of tossing and turning. Her mumbling pulled him from his thoughts. He sat and watched her intently. What was going through her head? She had agreed to dismantle the rebellion in exchange for her freedom. It was no easy feat. Surely she had recognised the risks. He almost admired her guts. Still, she had not deluded herself into thinking the Elect would spare any of her new friends. He often questioned if she felt any guilt, then wondered the same about himself.

  It was more likely she was plotting against him. Her motives were obscure since she did not seem to care for money or status. She had only asked for her freedom, he did not understand her. After hours of the thoughts rolling around in his brain, he pulled his boots back on and decided to go hunting for information. Luka needed to know if she planned to betray their bargain.

  It was almost a nightly routine at this point. There had been nothing to find as yet. He moved through the compound silently. When he was halfway to the healer’s office he felt something he shouldn’t have—Arina’s power. The light floral scent overwhelmed his senses. It was as strong as when it had drilled into his chest.

  A frantic scream cut through the silence. Luka started running. Their room was out of the way, hopefully no one else would have heard the noise. When he flicked on the light she was sitting up, viciously pawing at the collar. Her neck was marred with deep scratches and blood stained her grey sweatshirt. She hadn’t noticed him come in. Luka bent down to her level and tried to pry her hands from around her neck. She was unexpectedly strong.

  It took all his strength to yank them from around her own neck. Her hands were freezing and clammy.

  “Arina,” he said softly, trying not to spook her further.

  He called her name again and again but still she stared blankly ahead, a horrified look on her face. Her eyes had been alight with fire when they had first met. Now it was as they had been doused with icy water. It made the green look paler, almost grey. Silent tears begun to fall down her lightly-freckled cheeks. Her power had fallen silent again and he wondered what horrors engulfed her mind. Her mouth moved, muttering frantically. Luka leant toward her, trying to hear what she was saying. It sounded like half-mangled incantations. Violent shudders begun to rack her body and he frantically pulled a blanket around her shoulders. Luka pressed her arms to her side to try and stop her from clawing at her skin. Arina screamed again, a horrible gurgling sound. He covered her mouth with a palm.

  “Shhh. It’s okay. You’re okay, Arina. You’re safe.” He awkwardly drew her small frame onto his lap, avoiding looking into her lifeless eyes.

  As gently as he could manage, he lifted her from his lap and used the sheets to tie her hands by her side. Luka sprinted from the room, desperately searching for help. When he finally found Loral’s bedroom, he didn’t bother knocking. He burst in out of breath. Loral sat up in his bed, startled.

  “Arina.”

  That was all her friend needed to hear. He flew up and ran towa
rd their room. When they arrived she was sitting as Luka had left her. At least the screaming had stopped. Still, her face was wet with tears and she had started to treble violently. In the light it was clear how skeletal her face had become. Arina’s shoulders stuck out in sharp angles, even in the thick sweater Judas had bought her. It had only been eight weeks since the collar had been put around her neck, but she looked like she had been subject to the torture for much longer.

  Luka had watched as she pushed the food around on her plate, and he hadn’t done anything about it. Loral dropped to his knees and moved toward her. Surely he saw it as well. She was dying.

  “Arina?” He shook her gently, still she chanted. “Snap out of it!”

  He turned to Luka, the rage on his face clear. Did he know it was Luka’s fault?

  “Do you know what she is saying?” Luka stayed in the threshold.

  “I don’t speak the old tongue.” He begun stroking her curly hair too fast to be comforting. “She doesn’t deserve this.”

  Loral’s eyes shone with an intensity that sung to the amount he cared for her. There was nothing more to add. It felt wrong to watch as she was stuck in the horror of her own mind. Luka was finding it hard to convince himself he was still in the right.

  “We have to get it off,” Loral moaned. Silent sobs racked her body to hammer his point.

  The week before, Luka had cornered the healer and demanded he tell him more about the collar. Davis had explained in horrifying detail what would happen to her. When you collared a Mage, you suffocated a part of their soul. They were less of a person because of it.

  The idea that the fire that run through his veins could be snuffed out horrified him. It seemed an unjust punishment for her crimes. Any other Mage would have been hailed as a hero for saving a helpless woman. Even as she had turned her terrifying Magic toward him, he did not think she deserved a death such as this.

  Luka begun pacing the small room.

  “Arina, come back to me,” Loral cooed.

  The despair was suffocating. The emotion wasn’t familiar. Luka turned from the room and found his way back to the healer’s office. His desk was filled with workings for the incantation needed to free her. It took complex math to remove a collar. He had to decipher the runes and discover the unique formula to reverse them. He was so close. Luka hesitated before picking up his pen and scribbled some corrections in the doctors handwriting. It was not enough to complete the incantation, but it was enough to help.

  She couldn’t help the Elect if she was dead. The Elect must remain in power. That was the only thing that mattered and the rebellion threaten that. Without Arina, he couldn’t fulfil the mission.

  The rebellion must fall. Luka was confident that she wouldn’t risk death by betraying him.

  He needed to clear his mind. Luka ran toward the gym and spent an ungodly amount of time smashing into the heavy bag until his knuckles bled. Every time he slowed, treasonous thoughts invaded his brain. Arina was a super weapon and he would set her free. The image of her haunted face bombarded him in response. He had done that to her. Her wrath would have been preferable.

  Thwack, thwack, thwack. The heavy bag took the punches without complaint.

  When he was done, Luka went back to the bedroom. Arina and Loral were gone. He spent more time than usual cleaning their small space. He picked up one of her discarded shirts and couldn’t stand it any longer. He left the room to hover around the outskirts of the compound. Eventually Sylvie sought him out to say that they had moved Arina to the healer’s office. Apparently she was the same. When he finally surfaced in the kitchen, everyone looked towards him with pity. It made him feel ill and he fled to the gym once again. Luka was in half a mind to remove the collar himself, but he couldn’t commit the last act of treason against the Elect.

  “Luka?” a gentle voice rasped from the entryway.

  The Hunter whirled around and saw Arina leaning against the door frame. It was the first time she had said his name. It sounded strange coming from her lips. Arina looked restless, like her bones itched. She stood scratching at her arms and tugging the hem of her sweater. The urge to pull her into his arms and smooth the crease between her brows was shocking.

  “You’re back.” His voice was steady, despite how he felt.

  “Yes.”

  They stood at either end of the room. The icy silence stretched out between them.

  “Food is ready. I just came to get you.”

  Luka nodded and her sharp eyes tracked him as he crossed the room. Her fiery hair stuck out in crazy angles, curling wildly. It was surprising that Loral hadn’t fussed over her. Perhaps he was too tired. Luka couldn’t help but stare as she led him down the corridor. She reeked of coffee, the lack of sleep dawned on him. The exhaustion seemed to catch him as soon as he saw her well.

  They arrived to eat, only Judas and Sylvia were sitting around the table. When they had first arrived at the compound, Sylvia had been cold to them both. Now she doted on Arina. It was easy to see the way people gravitated toward her, despite her aversion to most company. Judas’s eyes lit up like a child’s when she entered the room. These people were in the palm of her hand, but she didn’t seem aware of the devotion she inspired.

  Sylvia placed a cup of hot coffee in front of Arina. Luka had to get his own.

  Judas stood and begun cooking for her.

  “I think it’s just us today,” he called over from the small kitchen. “How do eggs sound?” He laughed at his own joke.

  His overly-sunny disposition set Luka’s teeth on edge. He ate in silence to avoid saying something he would regret. His mood was rotten from lack of sleep. The trio chatted easily, but Luka had little interest in small talk. He didn’t have the will to pretend today. The dark circles under Arina’s eyes were the only thing he could look at. Her layered jumpers had been a feeble attempt to disguise the bones jutting out from her body.

  What would give out first, her body or her mind?

  As if hearing his thoughts, she stared at him with her haunted green eyes. Luka stood up, his knees pushing back the seat. All eyes turned to him. He stumbled into their bedroom and retched uselessly into the toilet. The only things that came up were bile and dark coffee. When he finally composed himself he returned to the healer’s office. Davis was working furiously, scribbling away at his notes. Luka sat down opposite him. There was only one thing he could do.

  “How close are you?” There was desperation in his voice, “She’s dying.”

  He needed her alive to fulfil the oath.

  The healer finally looked up; a smile crinkling his eyes. “Close. So close.”

  “Let me help.” He looked skeptical. “I’m good at puzzles.”

  He passed the paper he was working on. Luka read the incantation out loud, pausing where the errors were.

  “This doesn’t sound right,” he added.

  The doctor’s eyes lit up and he snatched the paper from Luka’s hands.

  “That’s it! That’s it.” He scribbled the correct change and sprinted from his chair. Luka rushed after him as he ran toward the kitchen.

  “Lilith! I’ve got it!” he yelled as he ran down the hall. Arina, Judas and Sylvia fell silent.

  The Healer keeled over to catch his breath. “I’ve got it. I know how to unlock it!”

  Arina’s eyes met his and filled with fear. Did she believe that the oath would kill her? Luka had thought it through well enough. They could get around the oath if a force outside their own removed the collar. Helping the process hadn’t killed him yet.

  “Come to the infirmary. We’ll take it off right away.”

  “That’s fantastic news!” Judas beamed, grabbing her hands.

  “Yes, great news.” Her smile was weak, “Just let me go get Loral. I’ll meet you guys there.”

  Luka followed Arina out. No one seemed to notice how pale she had become. They rushed after the healer toward the infirmary. Arina hurried down the corridor, ignoring Luka following her. She wasn’t
going toward Loral’s room. She was going toward her own.

  “Arina, what are you doing?” Luka’s voice was hushed.

  “Don’t call me that. People are awake,” she hissed.

  She tore into their room like a hurricane, picking up her belongings.

  “Stop. What are you doing?” Luka grabbed her shoulder. She flinched. He dropped his hand immediately.

  “Leaving. You know we can’t let them take the collar off. Take me to the Elect. We can infiltrate another cell.” Her eyes were pleading.

  “No.”

  “The deal was that I stayed collared.”

  “You’re getting the collar off.”

  Her jaw clenched. “You know that’s not possible! I’m dangerous, take me back!” She got in his face, shoving at his chest. “We made an oath! It’s about to be broken. You have to take me to the Elect”

  “The oath was that you were to be taken to the Elect at my discretion. I’m not taking you back there.”

  She opened her mouth to argue back and he grabbed her by the shoulders. “You’ll die if it isn’t taken off today. You can’t complete the oath if you’re dead.”

  She didn’t say anything for a long time. He was scared she had slipped back into one of her episodes before she finally nodded. Arina let Luka lead her from the room and back toward the infirmary. A small crowd had gathered to see the feat of Magic. Loral was already waiting as she came in, someone else had brought him.

  Arina toyed with the ruby stone around her neck as she sat on the gurney, silent. Not even Loral or Judas were gifted a smile. Luka hovered behind her. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and brought his ear to her lips.

  “Promise me you won’t let me lose control.”

  He stared into her eyes for half a second before nodding. He could grant her that.

  “Are you ready, Lilith?” Davis looked giddy, paper in his hand. The room was tense as he begun the incantation. He spoke it flawlessly, the words flowing from his lips. Her eyes locked straight ahead as he spoke the last word. The collar fell away into ash.