by Jen Ponce
“I love it when you’re bloodthirsty,” he said, sounding more like himself again. “If he threatens us, then we’ll toss him down there, see what happens. Let’s try to stay off his kill-dar for now, shall we?”
I grunted, eying Hipster Grandpa with what I hoped was a malevolent glare. I saw the wisdom in not poking the bear until it was unavoidable, but I really wanted to have the element of surprise. He wouldn’t expect an attack now, would he? And if we waited, wouldn’t that give him more time to prepare a counter-attack? I sort of wished I’d paid better attention in history class when Mrs. Hardy droned on about this battle or that battle. Too late now. Damn it.
“Maybe I could go down and talk with the fleshcrawlers, see if they’ll let us leave.” I tapped on my gills, dropping the glamour that kept them hidden most days.
“Do you really want to face a pack of those monsters on your own, surrounded by that oily muck? Did your last visit with the fleshcrawlers go that well that you’d like to try again?”
“You don’t have to poop on my parade, you know.” I reached up and ran a finger along the groove of one of Hipster Grandpa’s runes, the ones designed to trap and lustify Ty and me. Lustify—great new word. Too bad I was stuck in the Slip equivalent of Hell and there was no one around with a cell phone to tweet about my cleverness. “What if we smooth these out?”
“That’s not how rune magic works,” Ty said. “It imbues whatever it’s carved upon with power. The rune can fade but the power would remain, perhaps stronger than before.”
“Then, change the meaning.” He ignored me, which meant it wasn’t a good idea, either. Phooey on him. At least I was trying to figure out something instead of standing around all romance-hero broody. Okay, not hero. Anti-hero? Bad guy? Yeah, probably bad guy would suit Ty the best. He wasn’t exactly the romance hero type, unless he could be written into one of those awful dark romances, where abuse was synonymous with love. Gag.
“If an author put my chest on her cover, she would sell a million copies,” Ty said, making me realize I’d dropped my protections again.
How was it that I could maintain the glamour that hid my gills but couldn’t keep the wall between me and Ty up?
“It’s the room. It’s helping the cause. Don’t forget that—that itch between your shoulder blades, the pressure behind your eyes—that’s the magic at work. You forget it and we’ll give him what he wants in short order.”
My mind went there, because of course it did, then I straightened hastily and left him behind to study a painting on the wall. It was a testament to my embarrassment that I didn’t even notice the two naked people going at it for a good five minutes. When I did notice, it took me another couple seconds to figure out who the two people were. “That’s gross. You’re gross,” I said to Hipster Grandpa, yanking the canvas off the wall and tossing it into the water.
“You didn’t like my interpretation of the Rape of Leda?”
“Are you sure I can’t stab him or something?” I asked Ty, trying very hard not to let loose the blast of magic I held at the ready.
“I’m sure.” Ty looked down at the painting laying face-down in the middle of the black pool. “What was it?”
“You don’t want to know.” I didn’t want to know, and I’d seen it. Dirty bastard with his shit-eating grin. He needed a knee to the groin. “What’s wrong with you? Do you seriously take pleasure in other people’s misery?”
“Yes.”
I was about to reply—I don’t know what—when I heard Jack call to me from above. I had all of ten seconds to realize what he’d said before he was falling into the black water with the painting and then going under.
CHAPTER SIX
Ty and I both lunged for Jack, Ty getting there seconds before me. He snagged Jack from below the surface and I helped him drag the unblooded fleshcrawler to dry land.
“Seriously? Is the whole Slip going to jump in after you?” HG didn’t sound pleased, which made me very happy indeed.
“What are you doing here, Jack?” I asked as soon as the poor guy caught his breath.
Chin quivering, he said, “Kali told me you had fallen. I wanted to protect you, but she wouldn’t let me come down. I waited until she was distracted and jumped.” Wet, he looked more fleshcrawler-y, and I could see the resemblance to Nex, though Jack looked way more human than my floating head buddy.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but you didn’t have to do that.”
He shrugged. “Reach told me I might be able to help.”
“Reach?” This from Gaius.
Without answering, I put a protective bubble around the three of us, thickening it so that it was soundproof. “What else did Reach say?”
“Just that I could help. I didn’t wait for more. I just came down here and jumped. Do you think I should’ve asked how?”
Yes, I thought, but kept the frustrated answer to myself.
“Yes, you idiot,” Ty said for me and Jack cringed.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said at the same time I said, “Ty, come on.”
Ty gestured to the ceiling. “Did you ever think that too many barrier-crossings could free Gaius?”
“What’s so scary about him anyway, that no one wants to let him out?”
Ty and Jack exchanged a look I could not decipher. After a few minute’s worth of silence, Ty said, “He knows the location of Ravana’s souls, your souls. He has a knack for feeling them out. It wasn’t just Ravana who wanted him locked in this pit forever. Baow and the other Originators have benefited from him being taken out of the game.”
“Wait. Baow? The crazy tree that sent me here? That Baow? Why would he send me here if there was a possibility I’d let Gaius free? I mean, it could have happened. I could have blundered down here and loosed him before I knew better.”
“I don’t know.”
“Unless he was working with Gaius. I mean, maybe Baow was part of Gaius’ plan to get us down here together. Maybe there are more Originators interested in what happens down here than just Gaius.” It was an ugly thought, and I rooted through my memories, trying to figure out if there was anything to my paranoia. Could it all have been orchestrated? From the moment I tasted Zech’s sugar to the second I fell into this pit? Surely not. I remembered Ty’s warning about elevating Gaius to evil mastermind but couldn’t help but wonder if this had been planned out all along. “What would other Originator’s gain from opening a Soul Hook?” At Ty’s look, I said, “I know, but if a thing smells like a skunk and looks like a skunk …”
“I don’t know what they’d gain. Godhood, all. I can’t imagine they would get anything done. They would be at an impasse, just as they are now. None of them are more or less powerful than the other. Balance is always carefully maintained.”
“Maybe they are watching and waiting. Maybe Baow sent us down here knowing what Gaius and Ravana had planned and he’s hoping to skate in at the last second and enter the Soul Hook before Gaius. Maybe there’s some sort of arms race involving this imaginary baby, and everyone is just waiting for it to happen before they pounce.”
Ty snorted. “You give them all too much credit. They aren’t that smart for all they are long lived. No, I won’t believe this has all been a set up.”
“Ravana wasn’t exactly quiet about her experiments and I’m sure she blabbed about them to anyone who would listen. She was proud of them and she was crazy. She wanted her fellow Originators to know.” I pondered that for a moment. “Think about it. Gaius lets himself get caught so he can fade from memory. He sits down here and plots to get us trapped, betting that none of his fellow Originators will remember Ravana’s ravings.”
“Then your theory about Baow negates that.”
I sat back, stumped, the possibilities, the what-ifs, running furiously through my mind. “I don’t know.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “Maybe Baow has a grudge against Gaius. Baow knows I can kill Originators and so he sent me over here to take care of his problem.”
Ty shrugged. “P
erhaps.”
“Why can’t we just let him out then? If he’s not any more or less powerful than I am? We can gang up on him.” He looked away from me, wouldn’t meet my eyes and I knew he was keeping something from me. Something big. “Ty.”
In my head, Ty said, ‘You can’t tell anyone this. Ever.’
‘Okay.’
‘Ever, Devany. Or we’ll have all the Originators after us and there will be no place we can hide.’
There was a sinking feeling in my stomach. ‘What is it, Ty?’
He glanced at Gaius then put his own bubble around us, just us. I added my power to his until I was pretty sure even a nuclear bomb wouldn’t get through. ‘He’s the one who created the Rend. If he knew I knew, he’d kill me.’
The Rend was an awful place and it didn’t surprise me that Gaius had created it since he was so awful too. ‘So? I mean, it’s a sucky place but—’
‘He knows how to tear the Slip apart, Devany. Rip it apart and destroy everything. It wouldn’t just be the destruction of our world, Devany, but of all worlds.’
I snorted. ‘What would be the point of that? He’d be screwed too.’
‘All of us will survive, Devany. But your children, your friends and family. Your lover. They will perish. All will perish.’
Well shit. ‘Fine. He stays and we figure out another way to get the hell out of here. Okay?’
He dropped the barrier in answer, and I dropped mine—not the outer one, but the inner one so Jack could be included again. He looked agitated and I laid a hand on his arm. “It’ll be okay, Jack. We’ll get you out of here.”
“I don’t want to leave. I can protect you, I swear it.”
The passion in his words made it sound like he was vowing to sacrifice himself to save me, which was just crazy. I didn’t need anyone giving up their lives for me. I started to tell him that I could take care of myself, that he would be safer somewhere else, then I realized his presence would curtail Gaius’ plans and changed my mind. “Fine, you can stay. But,” I added, when I saw his eyes light up, “you have to stay away from Gaius. No baiting him, no confronting him, nothing. Got it?”
Jack nodded furiously. Behind him, Ty made a face. “Why?”
“Because he can be our chaperone. And it will piss off Hipster Grandpa, I can tell.”
Laughter danced in Ty’s eyes, but he said nothing more, just paced away. I couldn’t tell if he was glad for Jack’s presence or not and decided it didn’t matter anyway. Jack was here and we’d make the best of it. And hell, maybe he really was the key to our escape from our prison, who knew?
Gaius was pissed about Jack’s presence. He kept his shit-eating grin in place, but his eyes were filled with malevolence whenever they fell on Jack. It pleased me but made me nervous for Jack’s life.
“You just need to stay on your side of the prison cell, HG, and I won’t have to kick you in your dangly bits.” I wished I had chalk to demarcate a line but figured that might look too middle-school childish.
“Do you think it matters that he’s here? He is nothing. Less than nothing and he certainly won’t stop the magic from working on you both.”
“Methinks he doth protest too much,” I said in a not-whisper and turned my back on him. I hoped that insulted him. “How are we going to keep him safe from the freak?” This time I did whisper, pulling Ty and Jack back toward the far wall. How had Gaius stayed down here as long as he had without going insane? Right. He was insane. But why wasn’t he even more than insane? The room was a rough circle, like a donut with the gaping black hole in the middle. There wasn’t any furniture, just solid grey walls and floor. I hated it already and I’d only been in here … what? A day? Two?
“Draw some magic ourselves. We don’t want him to know what we’re doing, though, until it’s done. Think you can distract him?”
I sighed. “Do I have to? That means I have to look at him and talk to him and shit.”
“Yes. Jack can help.”
Jack didn’t look like he wanted to help. He’d been darting looks at Gaius like a kid might look at a lion whose cage he’d just fallen into. Yeah, he’d come down here to protect me, but thinking about something and doing it were two different things. Gaius didn’t look scary, but he felt scary, he oozed scary, and Jack was trembling all over with it.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” I said to Jack in a low voice. “Listen. He will know we’re distracting him if we go over and talk to him. We’ve got to sell it, or he will notice what Ty’s doing. So, I think we ought to have a very loud argument. Okay? Will it freak you out too badly if I scream at you?”
Jack swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “No. I’ll be okay. Okay.”
He didn’t look okay, not remotely, but I edged us away from Ty, trying to get between him and Gaius so that HG couldn’t see him. To Jack, I said, “I can’t believe you said that.”
His eyes shifted over my shoulder and I wanted to smack him. “Uh. Well. I did.”
He couldn’t have sounded more wooden if he’d tried. “Seriously? I told you not to come down here and I told you I didn’t need your help.”
HG was looking at us with that smarmy little smile of his. “I could get rid of him for you.”
“Shut up,” I said to Gaius. To Jack, I said, “Don’t listen to him. He’s an asshole. You’re just crazy for being here but I won’t let him hurt you, even if I’m annoyed with you for coming down here.” I paused, annoyed with myself when I realized I was already pardoning the guy instead of shouting at him. Then an idea dawned on me and I laid a hand on Jack’s arm. “Do you feel that?”
“Your hand on my arm? Yeah.”
“No, that … feeling. It feels … hot.” I wondered if I was blushing because the words coming out of my mouth were ridiculous. “Are you sure you don’t feel it? You look so good.” I moved my hand to his chest and wondered if I was being distracting enough.
Jack certainly looked distracted. And startled. And not hot at all, which wasn’t very flattering. I wanted to wink at him, but Gaius was staring at me and I didn’t want to risk it.
“I have this weird desire to … rip off your clothes. Don’t you feel it too?” I heard Ty snort in my head, but I didn’t tell him to screw off. I couldn’t talk to him and manage to keep an eye on Gaius and flirt with Jack all at the same time. I wasn’t that talented. “I didn’t feel this way until you got here. Do you think the magic is wrong?” This I said to HG, my lips parted in what I hoped was a lustful manner. “Is it supposed to make me want Ty or want anyone around, because I want Jack.”
Jack’s mouth fell open and I was afraid he was taking this all seriously. Maybe he wasn’t the brightest tool in the shed, but he seemed loyal.
“Do you want me too?” I stepped up close to him, close enough that our lips were almost touching. Without moving my lips, I whispered, “Play along.” It sounded more like, “Lay along,” but then he winked at me and I reevaluated his intelligence.
“I-I do.”
“Oh come on,” Gaius said. “Do you think I’m stupid? What are you playing at?”
I didn’t answer him. Instead, closed the gap between Jack’s lips and mine.
I wouldn’t say he tasted fishy, but … he tasted fishy. He also wasn’t a good kisser, or maybe I wasn’t good at kissing unblooded fleshcrawlers. Still, we tried our best to make it look good and maybe we sold it because seconds later, Jack was ripped from my arms. He screamed, his hands reaching for me.
Gaius held him, kicking and flailing, over the black waters. “You will not mess with me or him. It will get you nowhere. Understand? Nothing will stand between me and what I want.”
“No!”
Too late. He dropped Jack in the water. When I lunged for him, Gaius shoved me sideways into the wall. Not too hard—I guess he didn’t want to damage my womb or something. Pissed, I turned to fling power at him, but Ty was already there, shoulder in Gaius’ stomach. Four quick hits into Gaius’ stomach and then Ty was staggering back, breat
hing heavily.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Good!” And I took three running steps toward the water and dove in.
The water was just as gross as the last time I was in it, and I hated the thought of opening my eyes underneath. I compromised by picturing goggles over my eyes, goggles made of power, like a bubble only modified. It was great.
It was awful
Fleshcrawlers came swarming out of the shadows, their skin not pale green or white like the fleshcrawlers on Midia. No, these suckers had mottled grey skin, streaked with glowing white stripes. They looked even more monstrous than the Midian fleshcrawlers and my stomach dropped into my toes at the sight of them.
I spotted Jack, still falling, falling through the water and swam toward him only to be blocked by two of the weird monsters. I pointed at Jack.
“No,” one hissed in my head. “You are a prisoner. He is our prey.”
“He’s not prey,” I said, annoyed and unnerved and fricking terrified all at once. “He’s my brother.”
The fleshcrawler clacked its teeth at me. “Get out of the water or get eaten.”
“Please, I just came to save my friend. I’ll leave, I will. I just want him to come with me.”
The fleshcrawler that had clacked its teeth at me swam away, showing me its back—an insult if I ever saw one. The other prodded me with a long, clawed finger. “How is it that you have gills?” It sniffed, its oddly shaped nostrils flaring. “You have been given the Gift.”
Except for the part where the fleshcrawler queen had saved my life, her intervention hadn’t seemed much like a gift. I’d been warned by Nex that if I died, I could change into a fleshcrawler, especially after Nephele had ‘saved’ me by giving me a fleshcrawler blood transfusion … I guessed that was what it was. She’d saved my life too, but at what cost? “I was given the Gift by Queen Anyang of the Midian fleshcrawlers.” I didn’t add that it hadn’t been my idea, not really. I’d accepted out of duress, nothing more.