The Mortal Falls

by Anna Durand

  He still owed me. He was bound to me, at my command.

  I'd asked how it worked, if the debt-holder simply thought about the debtor would the other person appear, like whoosh, to do their bidding. I remembered Nevan's laughter at my use of the word whoosh, his face full of affectionate humor.

  My throat tightened. What had Nevan said after that?

  The owed party must consciously invoke the debt and speak the words in the form of a command. Then and only then will the full magical power of the debt be invoked.

  Duh. I'd screamed his name, but not invoked the debt. Back in his cave home, I'd told him to take me with him, but I hadn't consciously invoked the debt then either.

  I threw my head back, shook my fists in the air, and shouted so loud my throat burned and my voice cracked.

  "Nevan, you get down here this instant! You owe me and I command you to poof your freaking ass in here immediately, don't care what you're doing, just get your goddamn self here!"

  Breathing hard, pulse pounding behind my eardrums, I dropped my arms to my sides and listened. Waited.

  After a couple agonizing seconds, I could take it no longer. "Nevan! I said get your — "

  "There's no need to shriek at me, love."

  I yelped and spun around.

  Nevan leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, head cocked and lips ticking up at the corners.

  I wagged a finger at him. "You scared me half to death."

  The little smile faltered. "Don't speak of death, even in jest."

  A knot inside me loosened at the sight of him, sagging my shoulders. "I finally figured out how to make you do what I want."

  With one thrust of his arm, he separated from the wall and spanned the distance between us. His hot gaze liquefied me but he held back, by a degree of inches. His hands floated up, as if to touch me, but flopped down to hang at his sides. "I've been waiting an eternity for you to call me."

  "I only figured out how to make it work a minute ago. Doesn't Skeiron have wards? How'd you get through them?"

  "I was still within the wards. Awaiting the king's next order."

  "Well, you're free of him now." I swung my gaze to the doorway, then back to Nevan. "I saw a bunch of soldiers go by. Is Skeiron preparing for war?"

  "A king is always preparing for war. Another sylph might rise up to usurp the throne, as Skeiron did to Notus. Then there are the other elementals and, of course, the troublesome fae."

  "No rest for the wicked, eh?"

  "Even the righteous must be ever vigilant." He watched me for a long moment, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. "I would have killed you, Skeiron commanded it." He gritted his teeth, unwilling to meet my eyes. "If I had taken your life, I would never have forgiven myself. Lindsey, I — "

  "Shut up. I'm not forgiving you because there's nothing to forgive. You were enslaved to his will."

  "Until you freed me." At last, he enfolded me in his arms, surrounding me with his strength and warmth and earthy scent. My eyelids closed and I nestled into him, cheek to chest. He threaded his fingers through my hair, stroking my scalp, feathering hair over my neck. "What will you have me do next?"

  "If I ordered you to raze this creepy compound, could you do it?"

  "Given my life debt, I would be forced to try. However, I am not an earth elemental. I lack the power of a gnome, the only type of creature that might succeed in destroying Skeiron's palace."

  "Palace? It's drafty and barren, not opulent."

  "You have seen but a portion of it." He kissed the top of my head, and I heard a sniff as he sampled the scent of my hair. "As always, you smell of everything sweet and wonderful."

  Propping my chin on his collarbone, I gazed up at him. "What should we do?"

  "I don't know. For days, I should've been formulating a strategy, but I could think of nothing outside of you."

  "Well… I have an addendum to my original plan."

  His mouth compressed. "I imagine I won't approve of this idea either."

  "Probably not."

  "No more of your schemes. Now that you have freed me from his control, I will confront Skeiron."

  "Screw that idea." I placed my hands on his shoulders. "You're a virtual slave to my will, right? So listen up. You will not fight Skeiron unless he attacks you first. That's an order."

  He bared his clenched teeth. "Lindsey."

  "I mean it. Keep away from Skeiron."

  Another voice chuckled from the doorway. "Sage advice from your mortal whore, guardian."

  I whirled on Skeiron, fueled by a sudden and irresistible rage. "I am not a whore, you whacked-out son of a bitch."

  Skeiron waved a hand, the invisible barrier glittered, and he strolled into the chamber. "You've brought the guardian to me. Excellent." He flashed me a sneer at me and focused on Nevan. "You will suffer for your disobedience, old friend. And you will watch as I strip the power from your mortal plaything."

  I seized Nevan's hand. "Get us the hell out of here."

  He pulled me into his arms.

  Skeiron raised a single finger. "I have your brother, Lindsey Astrid Porter."

  Clinging to Nevan, I glowered at Skeiron. "You're lying."

  "Ash — that is his name, is it not? — sits in my bedchamber, guarded by my most steadfast follower, Brennus."

  "I don't believe you."

  He motioned for me to exit the room. "Come. I will show you."

  Nevan clenched me tighter.

  Skeiron arched a brow. "You may always command your slave to remove you from this place at any time. He clearly owes you a debt of overarching magnitude." He made a disgusted little huff, throwing a sidelong look at Nevan. "What service did she perform to earn such gratitude?"

  Nevan squinted at his king, anger flaming in his eyes. I curled my fingers on his chest, scraping my nails to gain his attention. When his eyes flicked down to me, I said, "Let it go."

  He acknowledged the command in my voice with a curt nod.

  Skeiron strode out the doorway. Nevan gathered me under his arm and led me out into the corridor under the shield of his body.

  "You have my permission," I whispered to him, "to get me out of here whenever you feel it's appropriate — once we get my brother."

  He gave me a quick squeeze, the only indication he'd understood me. His gaze was nailed to the back of Skeiron's head as the king ushered us down corridor after corridor, and finally, up a sloping passageway. The cold, pale rock of the lower level segued into a rich, brown stone shot through with green veins. The walls were still smooth, but here polished so the oil lamps on the walls shimmered golden light across the surface. The further we traveled, the drier my mouth grew. I sensed… I don't know. Something very bad on the way.

  Ash was not here. He couldn't be. My parents took him outside the boundary.

  Skeiron shepherded us around a curving corner. We halted in front of a wooden door engraved with symbols I didn't recognize and Skeiron twisted the knob to swing the door inward.

  Unease crawled over my skin, pricking like a thousand tiny claws.

  There, perched on the edge of a large bed, sat my brother.

  Ash swung his head up, training his gaze on the doorway. His face lit up with relief and excitement, and he propelled himself off the bed toward me.

  Brennus the raven-man sprang out from beside the doorway, inside the room, to block Ash's path.

  My brother hopped up and down, trying to see around the massive shapeshifter. "Zee! Are you okay? Where are Mom and Dad?"

  "I'm okay." I tried to move toward him, but instead of letting me go, Nevan inched us both closer to the door. I forced a smile for Ash. "Everything'll be okay, I promise. I'll find Mom and Dad. I'm sure they're okay too."

  If I said "okay" one more time, it would stop sounding like a word.

  Skeir
on nodded to Brennus. The raven-man slammed the door shut in our faces.

  Ash shouted to me, his cry muted by the wood. "Lindsey!"

  I wanted to attack someone, anyone, or at least beat my fists on the door. It would do no good. Channeling my anguish and fury into something useful, that was a better option.

  Confronting Skeiron, I demanded, "What did you do to my parents?"

  "They remained on the other side of the boundary." His arrogant smile had me battling not to whip out my gun and shoot him between the eyes. "Your brother's room in the — what do you call such establishments? — in the motel was a few feet within the limit." He gave me look of mock pity. "You see, there is more water in your world than you recognize. The motel lies near a spring which is hidden from view in a remote section of the forest."

  Hidden springs? How the hell was I supposed to protect my family when I couldn't see the dangers?

  Skeiron's arm shifted. Metal glinted.

  He'd conjured a goddamn sword. The one he'd rammed through Nevan's chest.

  In a heartbeat, I understood his intention.

  Shoving Nevan away, I commanded him with every ounce of conscious effort I had. "Get out of here!"

  He vanished, the instant before Skeiron's sword slashed the air where he'd stood.

  Skeiron seized me by the throat, yanking me off my feet. "Clever wench. I will destroy him, but first I will drain you of every trace of Janusite magic."

  We teleported us away from the room where Ash was held, into a dank and gloomy chamber with rough walls. The air was redolent with the stench of blood and pain.

  He dropped me.

  I stumbled into a hole, regained my footing, and whirled on the sylph king.

  With a flourish of his hand, he summoned another man who emerged from the shadows behind him.

  "This," the king said, "is the mage who will extract the power from you. It will be painful, and it will not end until you are dead."

  The mage shuffled toward me, his grimy hands outstretched. His stained, red robes dragged across the floor. Scars etched across his face cinched his eyes and mouth into a perpetual grimace.

  I snaked a hand under my shirt's hem, going for my derringer.

  Skeiron flicked his wrist.

  An unseen force hurled me into the wall, suspending me there, my feet off the floor.

  The mage shambled to me. He grasped my head in hands that stank of filth. His fetid breath choked me. His purple eyes seared into mine, his irises shot through with a dark light dredged from the depths of the grave. My grave.

  He spewed a string of noises, some kind of incantation in a long-extinct language.

  A million tiny teeth tore at my brain.

  I refused to scream. No way would I give Skeiron the satisfaction. Agony shredded me, from my head down to the soles of my feet, in slicing waves that wrenched my body, but I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists until my nails punctured my flesh. Blackness pitted my vision, the room twirled around me, and I knew I would die here — buried inside the earth, with a skeletal mage sucking my soul dry — unless I mustered the brainpower to save myself.

  I longed to call for Nevan, but I could not risk Skeiron attacking him. The fates of two worlds depended on one of us surviving, and with his powers, he was far more useful than I was.

  Save the worlds, Nevan, for me.

  It was my last thought, as a final wave of magic towed me under to drown.

  The mage gasped. His hands flew away from my head and he staggered backward, eye bulging.

  My agony relented, permitting me one long inhalation, a breath so cleansing I nearly sobbed from the bliss of it. The ringing in my ears waned and the blackness receded.

  The mage lifted one long-nailed finger to me in accusation. On a wheezing breath, he said, "The power, she protects it. She hoards it. No magic of any realm may breach the mind of the Janusite."

  Skeiron punched his fist into the wall. Chunks of stone crumbled away to patter on the floor.

  My knees buckled as the mage's hold on me evaporated, and I flailed at the wall for support, my hand at last slapping flat on solid rock. Damned if I'd collapse in front of Skeiron.

  "You swore to me," the king said, seizing the mage's robes with both hands, "you could extract the power and feed it into me."

  The mage sputtered. "I tried, your majesty. But she is neither elemental nor human. A fragment of Janus's essence lives inside her." His pallid face turned sickly gray when Skeiron clamped a hand around his neck. "My liege, it took the combined power of the gods to scatter Janus's energy to the Four Winds. Perhaps they could… "

  Skeiron rattled the mage with a violent shake. Spittle sprayed from his lips as he said, "You suggest I appeal to the gods?"

  "N-no." The mage mewled. "I tell you what I learn from her, nothing more. Please release me from my bargain. I've done all you required of me."

  "Have you?" The king sneered, his tone caustic. "Our bargain was for you to mine the Janusite's power and transfer it to me." Skeiron cinched his fist tighter around the mage's neck, making the man gurgle. "You have voided the bargain. Your life is forfeit."

  With a sickening crunch, Skeiron crushed the mage's windpipe.

  I winced, shutting my eyes until I heard the mage's body thump to the floor.

  The sylph king rounded on me.

  Without a thought, without conscious decision, I tore the gun out of its holster and fired both .357 rounds into Skeiron's chest. I'd almost aimed for his head, but I wasn't sure I could hit the target with adrenaline ripping through my veins.

  The rounds slammed into his chest. Blood spurted.

  He jerked, stumbled away from me.

  I opened my mouth to shout, but got out only a squeak.

  Nevan appeared beside me. He collected me in his arms and spirited us away. High-voltage shocks racked my body, snapping and crackling around and within us both. This was not the rollercoaster through hell. It was a torment of fire and power that tore at the center of my being.

  We landed in the forest. I didn't know where and I didn't care.

  Shoving away from Nevan, I said, "Go get my brother. Hurry!"

  He shook his head, his mouth a grim line.

  "Nevan, I command you to retrieve Ash."

  He shut his eyes for heartbeat before zeoing in on me. "I can't."

  I beat my fists on his chest. "Save him, dammit. Save my brother."

  "Lindsey, I — " His shoulders caved in and the misery on his face stopped me. "Oh, love, I can't save anyone."

  I slapped him in the face. He did not move or react. I slugged him in the jaw. "Are you working for Skeiron? Is that it?"

  "No."

  "Then go get my brother."

  "I cannot." His tone was solemn and heartbreakingly certain. "I would retrieve your brother, you know I would, but I can do nothing anymore. I'm prevented from action."

  "But this fucking debt overrides all magic. You told me that. You swore it."

  "I was truthful but — You must have felt it during our transit. The energy firing through me must have affected you as well." His glowing amber irises had faded into a dirty brown. "We barely made it here. Skeiron stripped my powers."

  The seconds ticked by, counted out by the rapid beating of my heart. Re-holstering my gun, I stomped back and forth across the little clearing, faster and faster with each ten-foot circuit, perspiration oozing down my temples.

  I should never have let Nevan take me out of there. I should've commanded him to retrieve Ash first, then get me. What kind of a sister abandoned her baby brother in the lair of a psycho elemental being?

  Nevan had shown up before I called him and took me away before I had a chance to demand he get my brother first.

  "Why did you command me to leave you with Skeiron?" Nevan asked.

  "He had a sword. He
was about to skewer you again." I kicked a tree so hard the concussion lanced up my ankle into my shin. Dancing on one foot, I cursed myself blue. "You should've taken Ash, not me. He's just a kid."

  "I sensed your suffering. You had granted me permission to remove you from the palace if I deemed it necessary, if you were in danger, but I had no power to pierce the ward caging in your brother."

  "Did you even try?"

  Nevan took hold of my shoulders, rotating me toward him. Despite his haunted expression, a hint of the old confidence sparked there. "We will rescue your brother. I vow it."

  A metaphysical bond, more slender than the life debt but still palpable, snapped taut between us. He'd cemented his vow with magic, willingly.

  God, I loved him.

  And the revelation didn't even scare me. I was in love with a sylph from another world. Maybe it never could work out between us, but for this one day, I'd welcome the experience of loving him.

  Hands crossed over my chest, I leaned into Nevan, resting my cheek on his skin. "I am the Janusite. Skeiron brought in a mage to prove it. Turns out I've got a piece of Janus's essence inside me, though nobody seems to know what that means." Entranced by the thumping of his heart, I relished his warmth. "We're screwed, aren't we?"

  The sunlight percolating through the treetops speckled his skin with light and shadow. He fastened his arms around me. "Forgive me."

  "For what?"

  Nevan released the longest groaning sigh I'd ever heard. "I cannot whoosh you anywhere, or conjure anything, or protect you in any manner. I am impotent and utterly useless."

  "Bullshit."

  He scuffled away from me. "We are far from the portal to your world and the only way back is to walk. Skeiron will have his army searching for us. Leave this place. Quickly. You may make it to the portal before Skeiron catches up to you."