Before Limbo (After Life Book 1)

by Isabelle Crusoe

  “How’d you do it?” I raised my eyes to Lux’s face. A pang in my gut brutally reminded me of how much I liked watching him.

  “Aris returned from the trial to find the room empty. He got Beid to track you. It’s my fault it ran long. I’m so sorry.” Lux reached for my hand, but I pulled away, not ready to handle the way his touch made me feel. I needed distance. I closed my eyes at the hurt expression on his face.

  “So, Cas didn’t hear me?”

  Shock rocked the room. Three heads turned and stared at Cas. His face paled. “No. I haven’t heard you for a while. I thought you’d learned how to shut me out after...”

  I shook my head. “I haven’t, but thank you for getting me out. What happens now?”

  I struggled to my feet, picked up a towel with numb fingers, and gestured for Aris to sit.

  “Are you leaving?” I wiped away the grime, heart clenched at the burns on his back. “I heard you talking.”

  “We have to get back, and find the key.”

  Without lifting my eyes from Aris back, I nodded. “I’ll help.”

  “No.”

  I raised my chin, and defiantly met Cas. “And how do you plan to get the key, when none of you can touch it?” I rinsed out the towel. My eyes travelled to Lux. “We know a human stole it.” Even covered in dirt, and bruises, he took my breath away. “And I’m already a part of this world. I’ll help, so we don’t have to involve anyone else. No more innocent people need to be mixed up in this.” I glanced at Cas and held my breath, waiting for him to accept.

  “Okay. We need to prepare, and you need to go back to Effulgent.” He hitched his chin to Aris. “Get her back.”

  A hand on my wrist, and my world turned upside down, and inside out. The panicked grip on his towel when he dropped me off had me giggling to myself after he disappeared. It lightened my doomsday mood, and blurred the edge of the nausea that lingered.

  I pulled the oversized t-shirt over my head, and took the opportunity to admire Rigel’s handy work in the bathroom mirror. Barely any scars, he’d managed to wipe away the physical memories of the beating. The cool water was like liquid heaven to my face. I slipped into my clothes, and sat down to wait for the guys in the bedroom.

  Chapter 42

  “Better?” Aris asked from the chair. Lux leaned against the wall, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Wow. I’d never seen him in jeans before. Or had I? It suited him, the relaxed look.

  “Much better. Thanks.”

  Beid entered after a curt knock. I froze in surprise when he pulled me from the bed and folded me into his arms. “I’m so sorry it took me so long to find you.”

  My hands awkwardly patted his back, before I let go of the tension and squeezed him tightly. “It’s fine. I’m just glad you found me.”

  Ain and Cas cleared the door, a light hitch of their brows at the scene in front of them.

  “We all know what needs to happen now. The key needs to be brought back to Mira. It falls into what we decided yesterday. So, we’ll proceed as planned. Lux, you’re leaving tonight, and we’ll join you after we’ve worked through the school.”

  “What? You’re leaving tonight?”

  Lux shook his head in warning, and I bit my tongue.

  Cas lowered his chin. “With or without the key missing, Lux would’ve left tonight.”

  “Hell?” I was met by several nods.

  “So? What do I need to do to prepare?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Oh? So, I can just drop down like this?”

  “No.”

  “Yer not going, Bonnie.”

  Blood drained from my body, anger burned deep inside the frosty whips that wrapped around my chest. “What?”

  “We discussed it with Altair and Lyra. After what’s happened to you, we decided it’s better—"

  “Seriously? What about the key? How do you plan to get it back? You still can’t touch it.”

  “We’ve found a better way.” The look he shot Lux squeezed the air from my lungs.

  “How?”

  Cas crossed his arms over his chest. “It doesn’t concern you anymore.”

  Narrow eyes swept the stone-faced group. “What better way?”

  No one answered, and the destructive realization of the damaged I'd caused by not holding on to the key hit me.

  “I screwed up, so someone else has to die?” Tear-filled eyes caught a blurred Lux. “It’s you, isn’t it?”

  The floor rumbled under my feet.

  Chapter 43

  The door flew open, and Kaito stumbled into the room, eyes wide, his face screaming white. "They're dying! Those things... they’re killing them."

  The room exploded into action. People shoved through the door, rushing the stairs. Tell jumped the railing, and landed in a crouch on the floor below. I followed, heart in my chest, but instead of jumping, I slammed against the railing, almost toppling over it. Pain shot through my side. Screaming students filled the corridors, and... What was that?

  Bitterness bit into the back of my tongue. Creatures. Spiders, the size of humans and, spiders, the size of humans, covered in scales, with scorpion stingers primed over their backs. I dashed down the stairs and shoved and pushed my way through as students ran to get into cover. Where was Salma? Rigel pulled injured students out of the way of the ever-growing numbers of creatures crawling through the wide-open doors. Tell jumped between monsters, pulled on their legs, distracting them.

  A girl ran toward me, shrieking, blood covering her hands and face. Then she abruptly stopped and her mouth gasped open, eyes wide in surprise. A stinger stuck out of her chest. My hand flew to my mouth and I quickly wrapped my arms around my trembling body. My teeth clattered, but I gasped when the walls shook in warning. Lux looked up; nostrils flared, knuckles white against the hilt of his swords. He took a step forward, and the walls shook again. The ground bucked. My legs folded under me. I hung on to the railing while the stairs bucked like a wild horse protesting a rider.

  “Mira. Get off the stairs,” Tell roared, fighting to reach me. I let go of the railing and tumbled down the steps. Something flashed past my face. I threw my chin up. Cas charged for me, crossbow in hand. Then arms grabbed me and spun me around, and Aris was leaning over me, pressing me to the floor, protecting me with his body. Icy screams filled the hall, and the air reeked. I gagged. Salma!? I fought against Aris' grip.

  "Salma!" I screamed over the alarm.

  "Aris! Get her out of here," Lux roared from somewhere in the fight.

  No. I needed to find her. I ripped myself free, kicking away down the left hall. I ducked to avoid a stinger, suppressed a shudder, and hunted through the rooms.

  "Salma?!" I screamed, heart pounded in a tight chest. Then my eyes slid over the blank, staring faces of dead students around me. I bit my fist. This wasn't real. This couldn't be...

  Bodies. Twisted. Shredded.

  "Mira!" Tell called, jumping between the walls to catch up with me. "Get out of here."

  Doors rattled open. Screams, shouts, and howls blended with the cracking of pipes, the falling of rocks. The house dropped, and my stomach shot to my head. The beautiful painting of Lyra rattled off the library wall, bouncing on the edge of its frame before shattering glass in its wake. Lights flickered like a strobe, turning everyone into weirdly moving marionettes. I stared down the corridor. Moans and howling climbed from the outside. I covered my ears and squinted against the flickering light. Sucked off her feet, Elize’s blue dress flowed around her. She bounced to the floor, hands rasped the carpet as she slid toward the door.

  I shook myself out of the paralyzing fear, dug my feet in and went for her, only to be caught by the side sweep of a stinger, and my body hurled into the wall. Air was forced from my lungs, and lightning pain shot through my head. Tell threw himself forward, catching me before I fell to the floor. With a tug, he folded me into his arms.

  “I got her.”

  “I have to find Salma!” I struggled in Tell’s arm
s.

  Lux soared through the air. Swords drawn, he came down on the back of one of the spiders. His eyes burned with determination, but hitched in fear as he met mine. There was a flash of movement. I thrust free from Tell. A massive stinger missed us by inches, and sliced through the wooden wall. Short breaths scraped my throat. I rolled to my feet, dashed toward the stairs, and pushed the fear to my gut, before tossing every brick imaginable at the wall inside me. Cold and focused. Come on.

  I barreled through Salma’s door, almost ripping it off the hinges in my desperation. A figure crouched in the corner.

  "Salma. Thank god you're safe." I rushed over and threw my arms around her. Her tear-filled eyes stared back at me in horror. Her jaw trembled, her hair a mess, and her hijab was gripped tightly between white fingers. I took it from her, as my heart sank, but the glittering pool at her feet gave me a second of awestruck admiration for my friend.

  "I'll help you, okay? So we can get out of here." I kept my voice calm, drowning out the urgency that rattled through my muscles. I leaned over her, and gathered her hair in a knot at the back of her neck, tying it tightly. I softened my eyes when I looked at her again. She’d held on so tightly to the one thing she knew and understood. I helped pull the hijab in place, and secured it.

  "Good?"

  "Yes. Thank you." She hugged me tight, before getting to her feet.

  "We need to go. Now!"

  Chapter 44

  I dragged her to the door, peering around the corner. Imps slithered along the walls, spitting vile acid at students scrambling to escape. Screams cut through the walls, as we made our way to the stairs. Where to go? I motioned for her to stay low. We crouched by the railing and assessed the scene below us.

  Cas stood in the middle of the hall, face a tight mask of fury, the crossbow primed on his shoulder and finger on the trigger. His t-shirt was ripped, covered in blood and black slime. Lux stood behind him, his swords singing through the air, slicing through a stinger aimed at Cas's back. Ain twisted in circles low to the floor, daggers gleaming in her hands, a chain between them. She threw one, and it dug into the head of a spider. And twisted. With the chain laced around her waist, she jerked the dagger back. Tell twirled along the floor, lifting his hands and forcing the spider to lift its leg. The spider toppled to the side, staggered to regain balance, but Tell was already at the next leg pulling it in the air. Aris shimmered in and out between it all, moving people out of the way. Odell was limping toward the stairs, hand pressed to his left shoulder, the other arm hanging limp.

  "Wait here," I commanded, flying down the stairs in such speed I missed half of the steps. A tremble through the house, and the school shook another warning. I reached Odell and shoved him up the stairs. He cleared the top, and ducked next to Salma. Ice wrapped around my ankles, and my feet were pulled back.

  My chest bounced against the steps, each breath strangled by pain. I grasped for the railing as I was dragged down the stairs.

  "Mira!" Aris shouted in desperation.

  I rolled to my back, kicking at whatever had a hold of my leg. Daniel's face came into view, his hands clasped around my ankle. No. Cas killed him.

  That's it.

  I bit down in determination. Rage scorched through my gut.

  "What do you want?" I screamed, legs kicking to free myself from his grip. “You have the key. Leave us alone.”

  I gasped when Cas flew past me and slammed into the wall. I looked around. Aris was pinned under one of the spiders, Ain's lifeless body on the floor. Lux was backed into a corner, a pale Jonathan crouched behind him. They were gonna die. I threw a glance up at Salma and Odell.

  We couldn't win.

  I glared back at Daniel, his slithering smile and possessed eyes like gasoline on my rage.

  "You figured it out, did you?" He stepped to the side, leaving the way to the front door open. “This is our kingdom now, pet.”

  I slid one last glance at Lux. I had no choice. I nodded to Daniel.

  "You sure about that?" I growled, and staggered to my feet. “Cause I’m betting you forgot one very, important detail.” I edged down the stairs. His fishy eyes followed in confusion. I could see the monster inside him rack its brain.

  “Like what?” it snarled, but lacked conviction.

  “Me!” Light exploded from me. He stumbled back and slipped on the steps. I grabbed the railing and hurled myself over. I stumbled a few steps before regaining balance, and bolted for the door. Flames flickered along my skin.

  If I got to the well, I could get the key back, and lock the gates.

  I sprinted along the path, heart pounding in my chest.

  No chance to get out of this one, Mira.

  I swerved to avoid the creatures. The old man from my last jog in the woods stretched his arms out, almost like he'd been waiting for a hug. I picked up the pace, spun out of his reach. The sour sting of his breath made me gag, but I kept going. I didn't slow down when I saw the well between the trees. Instead, I jumped. Hands connected with stone, I hauled my legs over and dropped into the darkness.

  Chapter 45

  My stomach pressed to the sides, like water in a spinning bucket. It whirled into my head, and quenched my ability to scream. I landed, hard. Pain shot up my leg, the air forced from my lungs as I rolled along hard ground like a tumbleweed. A dip, and I fell, arms reaching for something to grab on to. A scream ripped through my throat. My gut reached for my tongue, there was nothing but air around me. I hit unyielding support that ripped at my back, clawing skin from flesh until I came to a halt.

  I pressed my eyes shut, and waited. Ragged breaths echoed in my ears. I slowly turned my head back and forth, the crunching from under it reverberating inside my skull, but no pain. I sighed in relief. Sounds grew around me, replacing the buzzing in my ears with sloshing water.

  Peculiar.

  Sulfur spiked the air, and I bit down on the bile clawing at the back of my tongue, blinking against the heavy reddish clouds whisking across an orange sky. There were buildings, roads, and cars like I'd walked into the greatest city in the world. Well, the greatest blown up, burned out, and abandoned city in the world.

  The dark grey buildings cast twisted shadows over the wrecked cars, and cracked roads. Skyscrapers reached for the heavens, like boney fingers reaching for salvation.

  Air vibrated from heat. My chest objected when I stumbled to my feet. With careful fingers, I lifted my t-shirt to examine the damage. Red and purple splotches decorated my skin, and I swallowed a groan. Arm banded around my ribs, I limped a few steps forward. The sound of rushing water grew louder, and I stopped at the end of a broken piece of road. My mind swirled at the roaring river below me. Rotting faces pressed against the surface, struggling to reach the edges.

  "Okay." I sighed to myself. “Time to get that key back.” Where to start? I huffed out air through my mouth. My right leg burned in pain after the rough landing.

  Nails on chalkboard cut into my ears. The hairs on my neck rose, I turned, and my chin climbed toward the sky. I sucked in air, jerking back. A headless creature perched on the roof of the building, claws dug into the concrete wall. I stepped forward, the gaping remains of a door promising safety against… whatever that was. A mouth lined with sharp teeth revealed itself along its middle, when it stretched. Huge triangular wings flitted behind its back. My breath stuttered, muscles tensed. Its gaze swept the surroundings. A shriek broke the vibrating silence. Why did I do this? Why did I drop down that stupid well?

  The heat and smell burned my lungs. Another excited shriek reached for the sky. A shadow grew bigger on the ground in front of me. I threw my head back. The creature dove toward me then spread its wings, breaking the speed of its attack. Despite the pain ratting along my leg, I dove for the opening and threw my arms over my head.

  “Corvus!” a golden voice snapped. “That’s no way to treat our guest.”

  Feet slid to a halt, and I peered at the woman standing next to the bird. Arms dropped to my sides. My brea
th hitched in my throat. Her delicate hand stroked the ragged brown feathers. Hot winds swept the silky fabric of her lilac dress around her slender legs.

  “Welcome, Mira, the wonderful.” Her full lips curved into a smile, and ice shot through my spine. “I apologize for my friend. He tends to be overly protective.”

  Mind twisted with confusion. “Who are you?”

  She clasped a hand to her chest with a gasp. “That was unnecessarily hurtful.” With a pat on the bird's chest she sent it away. “I am Vega.” She paused, as if she waited for a reaction.

  “Sorry. No clue, lady.”

  There was a flash of disappointment, but her smile stayed pinned. “That’s fine. I believe there are many things you don’t recall from your past lives.”

  I hitched a brow. “Come again?”

  “Walk with me.” Not waiting for me to accept her invitation, she twirled around and set off down the street. I kept a watchful eye on the thing circling above me while I limped after the woman.

  “We don’t have much time. The others will be here soon.”

  “Who?”

  She sauntered up a set of stairs leading up to one of the many buildings, the wooden door still intact on rusted hinges. She flicked her finger, and the door fell open. “Welcome to Cimmerian.”

  I stared at the ruined replica of Effulgent. Sand covered floor, the gaping hole that used to be a ceiling, and the crumbled stones that reminded me of a staircase, at the far back of the building. “Uhm… I like what you’ve done with the place.”

  “Ah. I’ve missed your sense of humor. It hasn’t been the same since you disappeared.”

  “I haven’t disappeared from anywhere.”

  “Please. When the mighty and wonderful Mira falls from the heavens, even her father notices.” She studied her nails. “Even if he was tied up at that particular moment.” She snickered, a meaning glance sent my way.

  “You’re not making any sense, lady.”