by K M Martinez
“And what story is that?” Gabe said. It sounded nasal even to his ears.
“You chased after Anton, but he hit you and got away,” Siva said, smiling.
Gabe grimaced. “There’s no way anyone would believe that Anton got one over on me in his condition.”
“Well, I guess I didn’t think that far ahead,” Siva said, still smiling. “But I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”
Gabe wanted to tell her she was crazy, but he knew never to tell a woman she was crazy, no matter how crazy she acted.
As they approached the platform from behind, Gabe saw the crowd was still in a frenzy. In fact, Siva was right—it was closer to a riot. The horn blew again, loud over the rain, but it was no use. Killian had done his job a little too well.
Gabe spotted Killian yelling at someone in Clan Mayme. Another Ferus had his arm between them. Gabe couldn’t hear what Killian was saying, but he didn’t need to. “Honor,” Killian had seethed earlier in the Ferus tents. “Our people have forgotten what honor looks like. They’re quick to judge now, quick to be blinded by the opinions of others. When did we become so easily twisted? So easily turned to that which we tried so hard to avoid?”
Killian’s words had gotten Gabe thinking. When did things start to change? If he was honest with himself, he’d have to say that attitudes had shifted only within the last five years or so. Or… was it earlier than that? There had always been negative people, and people who saw themselves as better than others—the Antons of the world. But they were usually ignored, seen as full of bluster and not to be taken seriously. When did that change? When did they become less of a minority and more of an emerging attitude?
Sapienti O’Shea had apparently seen enough. He jumped off the platform, grabbed his son, and bellowed furiously at his clansmen. He then pushed him toward the Ferus tents. As Killian left, he took most of Clan Ferus with him; Sapienti O’Shea did his best to round up those who lingered behind.
Seeing this, Tío Luce and Tío Jorge did the same for the Kale descendants. In minutes, the other clan leaders did the same. The crowd soon thinned, the crisis averted. No rioting would be happening today.
Grandma Mari stepped off the platform with Sapienti Li. They started toward the house, but Sapienti Kelser stepped in front of them. Gabe saw from his grandmother’s countenance that she was more than tired of the man, and Gabe wished he could do something about it, but he’d already insulted Sapienti Kelser once that day, and he didn’t want to make things harder for his grandmother. So instead he grabbed Siva’s hand and walked her toward the front of the platform, where they both stopped to listen.
If the bitch says something really out of line, Gabe thought, I’ll throw him a tackle.
The other Sapientis, along with Sandeep Reddy, joined the conversation.
“Melanie Mendez is guilty,” Sapienti Kelser said angrily. “If she’s alive, I will make sure she is arrested and sentenced in accordance with The Ways.”
Death. Mel would be sentenced to death if she was found guilty. Gabe gritted his teeth and moved to intervene, but Siva held on tight to him. “This is your grandmother’s fight,” she whispered.
Grandma Mari glared at Sapienti Kelser, but said nothing.
“You’ll take the word of a liar?” said Sapienti O’Shea.
“So it comes out finally!” Sapienti Kelser roared. “You side with Kale!”
“I side with reason,” said Sapienti O’Shea. “Unlike you, I can see that Anton is not telling the truth.”
“Who are you to say he’s not telling the truth?” asked Sandeep Reddy.
“Sandeep,” Sapienti Wershall said, “you haven’t been privy to our meetings.”
“But I’ve known Anton since he was a boy,” Sandeep Reddy said. “I don’t want to believe he killed my brother, and nothing said today proved he did. Anton is my clansman; I will stand behind him. I will not give him up to any kind of judgment based on what we’ve seen and heard today.”
“I won’t give up Mel either,” Grandma Mari said. “Stand behind your clansman, Sandeep, but I fear in the end you will regret it.”
Gabe raised an eyebrow. To him, it didn’t sound like Sandeep Reddy was actually convinced Anton Morel was innocent—it was more like he was concerned with his new, precarious role as head of Clan Janso. If there was proof that Anton Morel was guilty, Gabe was pretty sure Sandeep Reddy would carry out the sentencing himself.
“Where’s Anton?” asked Sandeep Reddy sharply.
Everyone looked toward the platform and saw that Anton was gone. And then all eyes turned to Gabe and his bloody face.
“What did you do?” Sapienti Kelser shouted.
“What did I do? How am I supposed to know where Anton is?” said Gabe.
Sapienti Kelser closed the distance between them. Gabe didn’t even think to step back.
“How’d you get that bloody nose?”
“I fell down the stairs. I’m a clumsy guy.” Gabe knew he was making things worse, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Rudolph,” Sapienti O’Shea said, “we don’t even know Anton is missing. He could be in the house for all we know. You!” He pointed at an Ivor. “Check the house, see if Anton is in there.”
The Ivor left to do as he’d been bid.
“Yeah, Rudolph,” said Gabe. “Maybe Anton is inside eating a snow cone. Oh!” He acted as though something had just occurred to him. “That’s right, he doesn’t have any teeth. Some soft serve then? That’ll do nicely. He can gum that.” Gabe pulled his lips over his teeth and mimed a toothless Anton trying to eat.
“You motherfucker!” said Sapienti Kelser.
“Fuck you!” Gabe yelled back. “Coming over here, threatening to arrest my sister. Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“I’m Sapienti of Clan Moors!”
“Fuck you!” Gabe said again, and then to the small crowd that loitered around, he added, “And fuck Clan Moors!”
Those of Clan Moors stared angrily, but the members of the other clans were nonplussed.
“That’s enough,” Grandma Mari said.
“Now you intervene?” said Sapienti Kelser. “After he’s insulted me and my clan?”
Grandma Mari took a deep breath. “You forget yourself. I have two missing granddaughters. Two. I don’t know where they are, or if they’re alive. Yet all you can do is keep threatening that you’re going to arrest Mel. Well, if you think Clan Kale will continue taking this treatment quietly, you’re mistaken.”
“All right,” Sapienti Wershall said. “How about we get inside out of the rain and discuss this rationally?”
“No. I’m done talking,” Sapienti Kelser snapped. “You know where I stand. I won’t be moved.” He stalked away toward the Moors tents.
“Off on his merry way,” Gabe said. “Off to the yellow brick road.”
“He just needs a moment to cool off,” said Sapienti Wershall. “I will speak with him.” The bear of a man strode off after Sapienti Kelser.
“Why is Wershall licking his ass?” Gabe asked.
“Why indeed?” Grandma Mari said. “It’s not like reasoning with him helps.”
The Ivor clansman reappeared, winded. “He’s not inside.” He looked at Gabe with accusing eyes.
“He could’ve left of his own accord,” said Sapienti Li.
“We shall search for him,” said Sandeep Reddy.
Grandma Mari nodded. “I will have ten of Clan Kale assist. Gabe, gather the searchers. Include yourself.”
Gabe was afraid she was going to say that, but he turned toward the Kale tents to do as he’d been told.
“I will talk to you later,” Siva mouthed to him before going with her father.
Gabe proceeded toward the tents. It was still raining. Maybe he’d get a chance to change out of his wet clothes.
Chapter Twenty
Victor looked long and hard at the feeble figure across from him. Anton was a shadow of the man he used to be. Before all this, he’d been a finely
cut diamond, hard and strong. Even handsome, as much as Victor hated to admit it. Now… now he looked like the ruin after a flood. Broken down, drowned, dirty, hardly recognizable. Mel had released her rivers on him and washed him out. Missing fingernails, burst blood vessels, many missing teeth, muscle and sinew running loose or swollen.
“You look like a bloated corpse fished out of a lake, Anton.”
Anton didn’t stir. He’d maintained the same neutral expression ever since he’d woken up in the room six hours ago. Victor was trying to get Anton to talk without resorting to violence. He knew violence wouldn’t work, but the surroundings might get to him, break him down slowly.
They were in a cell—a wet, foul-smelling cell. Victor was sure that Anton intuited exactly what the room was, and what it was for.
This was not the cordial bedroom that Sapienti Kelser had insisted he rest in.
This was a full-on interrogation room.
This was where shit went down.
Drew shifted behind Victor, and Anton looked up fearfully. “My clan will be looking for me,” he said quietly.
Victor didn’t sense that Anton was talking about Clan Janso. “Do you mean the clan you were born into?”
Anton looked away, then toward the door behind Victor. It wasn’t the first time he had stared at the door, and Victor wondered if Anton knew how hard it would be for him to escape. It would be near impossible.
“Or do you mean the Eighth Clan?”
Anton brought hostile eyes back to Victor. “Don’t speak of—”
“Of the traitors?”
Anton seethed. Again he turned away.
Victor had put some thought into how to get Anton to open up, and had decided the best way was through his vanity. “That’s why Mel beat your ass, right? She beat you bloody and tied you to the tree. Then she put the Traitor’s Mark on you… because you’re a traitor.”
Anton didn’t move, didn’t look at Victor, but his breathing quickened.
“For all your talk, and all your strength, you let a little girl best you, beat you, tie your ass to a tree. You were helpless as a child. So helpless that when she put that mark on you, you were powerless to do—”
“I am not powerless! We are not powerless! We are everywhere! We will have our power!” Anton screamed.
Anton pulled something from his tunic and thrust his hand toward Victor. Victor felt himself pushed back by an unseen force, and stood quickly, his chair falling to the floor. Anton looked questioningly at his hand, but then Drew was there, pushing Anton’s head brutally onto the table and grabbing at his hand.
“What is it?” Victor said.
Drew held up a small blue-and-brown stone. “Is this Sapienti Reddy’s stone?”
“I think so,” Victor said. “I checked his body at the clearing. He didn’t have it.”
“Yeah, he did,” Drew said, looking at Anton with disgust. “It’s got shit on it.”
Victor almost laughed, but instead he grabbed the stone from Drew’s hand. If this shitty stone wasn’t enough evidence to clear Mel, he didn’t know what was.
“Just for that,” said Drew to Anton, “I’m putting you in fucking chains.” He proceeded to chain Anton to the chair, and to hooks that ran along the floor. Then he left, most likely to wash his hands.
“It should’ve worked,” Anton mumbled.
“What? Opened the gateway? Is that what you were planning to do?”
Anton looked at the floor.
“Do you realize how dumb it is to open a gateway to Inter Spatium Abyssus? What were you going to do once you got there, huh? You don’t have any food. You can barely walk.”
“There are others there,” Anton said. “They would’ve assisted me.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“What are they doing there?”
“Guarding Charlotte, I presume.”
“For what?”
But Anton clammed up. No matter what Victor asked, Anton refused to say another word. Victor was so frustrated he wanted to strangle him.
But he’d learned something important: Charlotte was still alive. He could take that to his grandmother. And he could take the stone. Maybe that would clear Mel’s name.
****
“Where’s Anton?” the man in black asked again.
Gabe sat bleeding up against a tree trunk. Is this the same tree Siva and I had sex against? he thought as another kick landed close to his solar plexus.
Tío Jorge’s voice rang in his head—Keep your guard up—and Gabe made the soft center of his body a harder target. He grabbed the man’s leg and sent a crushing elbow into his knee. But when that attacker went down, another took his place, delivering a punch to Gabe’s face. Gabe’s head rocked back with the force, and he spat blood and saliva as he looked up at his new attacker and smiled.
“Where’s Anton?” another man asked, pulling out a knife. “We won’t ask you again.”
“But I love the sound of your voices,” Gabe said. “The sound of treachery in traitorous voices.”
Another punch to his face, and Gabe had to shake his head to remain conscious. I guess the blade is just for show.
There were five traitors in all, all of them wearing black masks, and all men. How miserable he had been, moments earlier, being forced to go on this farce that was “searching for Anton.” In the rain. He’d been trudging along on his own, halfheartedly acting like he was actually searching, when all he really wanted was his tent and his cot. Then his flashlight beam had shone on one of the traitors in the darkness, and like silent sentinels, the rest of them had stepped out as well. Gabe put two down quickly—one with a crushing blow to the head with his flashlight, the other with an elbow to the throat—but the other three had overwhelmed him to submission. Even now, the two that he had bested stood back, far and away. Their distance made Gabe’s smile even bigger.
They must have waited for ages for Gabe to show. Hours, Gabe thought. Along with the other Kales, Gabe had been given the entire east end of the property to search, and it was spread far and wide.
He considered how he was going to get out of this situation. He couldn’t fight his way out—which meant he would need help.
He blew a shrill whistle, long and loud. One of the traitors kicked him in the face. Gabe coughed, trying to catch his breath.
“We have to go,” the traitor said. “Grab him, the master will question him.”
“Fuck no,” Gabe said, getting to his feet. He was prepared to fight to his last breath. He didn’t know who “the master” was, but it didn’t sound good. Or normal. And there’d already been enough bad and abnormal shit happening lately. His sister and her glowing eyeballs; Malum showing up steaming and dead; fucking gateways being opened to Inter Spatium Abyssus. Oh hell no. He’d die before he got taken to the master.
Gabe’s ribs already hurt like hell, and his head was heavy from the blows he’d taken, but he still managed to get in a few more good hits before the five men dragged him kicking and screaming further into the woods. The one thing the traitors couldn’t do was get him to stop screaming. He screamed like a baby being born, stopping only when he ran out of breath—and then he would breathe deeply and scream some more.
Then in the distance, he heard the sweet sound of footsteps. They were closing in from every direction. It spurred him on, and he screamed louder. Get to me!
And then they were there. Bodies dressed in gold. Even in the dark, he could see his clansmen pulling out their swords while running toward him.
Gabe was dropped unceremoniously, and the traitors ran. Seven Kales gave chase while two stayed behind with Gabe.
“Are you okay, Gabe?”
Gabe lay on his back, his arms up in victory toward the sky. “Not today, Satan! Not today!”
The two Kales exchanged a look, then helped him up. Gabe was weak, but once he was back on his feet, he was able to move under his own power. He ran with the other two Kales after the traitors. His ribs ached,
his face bled, and his brain hurt with each step, but still he ran.
****
Victor pushed his way through the Kale tents looking for Grandma Mari. For the second time that week, Victor’s clansmen were scattered anxiously about the Kale tents. Babies cried and children sat on laps of older siblings, mothers, or fathers. It seemed the fight had gone out of many of them.
Justine was with him. Drew had opted to stay behind in the Safe Room to “watch” Anton—though Victor was pretty sure Drew really just wanted a crack at getting Anton to talk some more.
Tío Luce spotted them and walked over. He looked horrible. The lines on his face were deeper, his eyes were distant, and the smile that had seemed ever-present on his face was now gone. Victor knew his uncle had been struggling not just with a missing daughter and niece, but also with a distraught and furious wife.
“Have you seen Grandma?”
“No, I was looking for her myself,” Tío Luce said. “I need to speak to her, it’s urgent.”
“What’s happened?” asked Victor. “Is Tía Alice okay?”
Victor had seen Tía Alice only once in the past few days, and that was when Tío Luce told her Charlotte and Mel were missing. Tía Alice raged and cried and set the blame entirely at Tío Luce’s feet. And when she was done verbally beating up Tío Luce, she turned her ire to the rest of the family, cursed Mel, entreated to a higher power to give her her daughter back, even at the expense of Mel, and then retreated to her room. As far as Victor knew, she hadn’t come out since.
“She’s okay, I just, I need…” Tío Luce trailed off.
Victor put his hand on his uncle’s shoulder. “Tío Luce, if you need help, we’ll help you. Me, Gabe, M—” He had been about to say “Mel.” The three of them had always been together. For all their differences, they had always been supportive of one another.
Tío Luce nodded. “I think Alice called the police.” He went on to explain how two detectives and Sheriff Cosby had paid a visit to the property, and seemed to know far too much about what had happened.
Victor took a frustrated breath. He tried not to feel angry at his aunt—she was just doing what she thought she had to do to get her daughter back. But he knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. It had only complicated things.