Tease

by Mary E. Twomey

  I chewed on his words. “Well, how are you feeling?”

  “Strong. Clear-headed. Sexy. Missing you.”

  “Well, I’m right here.”

  “Yes, and so’s my brother.” He looked into my eyes in that earnest way that let me know he was busy cherishing me in his mind. “I adore you. I hope you know that.”

  “I do, but only when you tell me, Mr. Brady. So never stop.”

  Von opened his mouth, as if he wanted to confess something, but then closed it again with a gentle smile. “I adore you,” he repeated, with a brush of his lips to mine before he pulled back. “That was decent of you, helping Danny learn to dance.”

  “Decent of you to teach him. Von?”

  “Yes, love?”

  “Promise me you’ll be careful with this whole blood thing. I mean, I think it’s great you’re experimenting with this. I just want you to be safe.”

  “Ah, but that’s not the man you love.” He tucked me closer into his side to end the conversation.

  The movie was a great distraction.

  After half an hour, Von wasn’t really watching the movie anymore, but studied the label on his beer with too much concentration. My eyes drifted shut as I leaned against him, the movie drawing to a close without me witnessing the unmasking of the villain. Bruce Campbell wasn’t the star of this particular slasher, so I didn’t much care who won. Bruce always wins, because he’s the man.

  I felt Von lean me back against the couch so he could stand. I kept my eyes closed and my breathing steady, but peeked when I heard him shoving on his boots. He checked a text on his phone and then picked up a pen and paper, scribbling a note that he left on the coffee table before sneaking out the front door.

  The silence roared in my ears, and I wished beyond anything that I could chase Von down and make him stay in one place. I’d overlooked a lot, but sneaking out on me now in the middle of the night felt like a new low. When he exited out the front door, I fingered the hastily written note that said, “Be back in a day or so. Not to worry.”

  Fury flooded my veins as I crumpled the note in my fist. I stood and stormed to the front door, flinging it open and shouting into the night, “Von Vandershot, get back here right now!”

  Von’s fist was on the handle of my car door, and he froze like the guilty son-of-a he was. “I thought you were sleeping.”

  “That’s all you’ve got to say to me? You thought I was sleeping, so you snuck off in the middle of the night? In the middle of the night! After everything we’ve been through, this is what you’re still pulling?”

  “It’s not what you think.” His shoulders slumped as he turned to face me. “I’ve got an errand to run. I’ll be back tomorrow night. Danny’s with you. You’ll be safe.”

  “You’ll be single if you keep this up!”

  Von’s eyes widened. “Calm down, love. I didn’t tell you where I was going because I knew you’d want to come along, and this is dangerous stuff.”

  I glared at him, arms akimbo. “I’m tired of you and Ezra and everyone treating me like I can’t handle a little danger. You all throw me headfirst into the pile of broken glass, but then act like I’ll fall to pieces if I break a nail. You haven’t earned the amount of trust it would take for you to sneak out of the house in the dead of night.”

  Von scratched his scalp and sighed. “Fine. I’m going to Sombi to bring Mason home. He’s the Boy Scout, so if Ezra’s been calling him home and he’s not come back yet, something’s off. You can understand why I don’t want to take you to a land where something is for certain wrong, especially if the whole country’s filled with zombies.”

  I blinked at him, not having expected a non-toolish response. “Oh. Well, then let’s go. If you think something’s wrong, then I’m coming with you.”

  “See? That’s exactly what I didn’t want to happen. Sombi’s actually dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing there. It matters to the kingdom if you live or not.”

  “Hello, an Omen’s nothing without her Reapers. You really think I’m going to just sit back and lose both of you to Terraway? Fat chance. And I know more about killing zombies than you think. I’ve killed a few dozen. How many zombie bodies exactly do you have under your belt?”

  Von frowned in confusion, and then threw his head back. “I forgot about the time you snuck off with Finn, no less, and fought in a war you had no business being in.”

  “Oy! Get in here and wait until I pack a bag,” Danny called from the front porch. “If you’re going to find Mason, I’m coming with you.”

  Von threw out his hands in frustration. “I could’ve been gone already by now.”

  Both of us grumbled on our way back into the house, saving the arguing for when Danny was finished leaving a cryptic message for Mariang. He slapped his palms together, looking excited for the fight. “Okay, how are we doing this? Who’s taking us down to Terraway?”

  “Prince Langgam was going to meet me and port only me down. The two of us were going to find Mason and bring him back.”

  I gaped at Von. “Seriously? How could you have this whole plan without me? I know Mason. I can find him.”

  Von shot me a dubious glance. “Truly? How do you expect you can help us find him in a place you’ve never been before?”

  “Well, smartass, I know how Mason disguises and lays his traps, so I can help you avoid those. I’ve killed zombies before, so I’m not exactly dead weight. And I know of a few spots he might be, the ones he likes to escape to when he’s lying low.”

  “How do you know where he might be?”

  “You know all those nights you spent at Katrina’s, sneaking around while I was knocked up? Well, Mason and I spent them talking. Mason confides in me. He pretty much told September everything about his world when he’d talk to her every night before we went to sleep.”

  Von was livid. “Are you never going to stop throwing that in my face?”

  I shrugged, unperturbed that I’d swung low just to smack some sense into him.

  Danny pulled his backpack over his shoulder and grabbed a few bottles of water from the fridge, while Von shook his head with a definitive air. “You’re not going. Danny, I can’t shake October without her thinking I’m stepping out on us, but you’ve got responsibilities here.”

  “Responsibilities Graham and Alton can keep tabs on. Mariang can’t reap anymore until the baby comes anyway. I left her a message, and if we hurry, we’ll be back tomorrow night, just like you said. Does Ollie have a winter jacket I can borrow?”

  “In the hall closet. You need one, too, Von.”

  “Langgam’s bringing one for me.” Von glowered at Danny while I shoved on my winter boots and fished out a pair of Ollie’s for Danny. “I don’t like the idea of putting my kid brother and my fiancée in danger.”

  I moved past him to the bedroom and packed my backpack with a change of clothes, my balisong blade from Finn, and a little food and water for the journey. I jangled my keys to let the guys know that we were leaving, and I was driving.

  Thirty-Seven.

  Father and Mother

  Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised to see Ruiz and Klark with Lang, but when I saw them, I forgot my game face and ran to the trio, throwing my arms around each of them and kissing them on their dirty cheeks. I’d come a long way from the OCD queen who couldn’t shake hands without running for the bathroom to wash the germs off. Blame it on the healing waters, and a steady dose of pulling. “I missed you!” We were in the middle of a parking lot Von had arranged to meet up with them previously. There were two flickering lights shining down in the vast lot, and only the chirping of crickets to distract us. We were surrounded by abandoned concrete buildings and dying shrubs, making us feel like the only people in the world. “Lang, I can’t believe the porch swing. Did you make it yourself?”

  He cast me a bashful half-smile. “Of course I did. I told you I would. It just took longer than I’d hoped. You like it?”

  “I love it.” I glanced arou
nd at their fur-lined jackets and weatherproof boots. They were usually dressed for the steamy atmosphere of Sakuna. I hoped the winter jacket and thermal layers I wore were enough to weather Sombi’s frozen landscape.

  Lang shot Von a baleful look at my unexpected presence in the mix as he held onto me. “I didn’t realize you were coming. Does Ezra know about this?”

  “Of course he doesn’t. So let’s do this quick before he can throw a fit.”

  “Have you even been to Sombi before?”

  “No, but I thought with one of my Reapers missing, it was high time for me to make the trip. You guys ready?”

  Lang sighed. “Well, if Sombi doesn’t kill us, it’s nice to know Ezra will finish us off for stealing his daughter.” He handed me his backpack. “We were going to deliver the last stone ourselves while we’re down there.”

  “But you can’t touch it!”

  “I know, but you shouldn’t touch it. It warps your mind. We were going to be careful.”

  My eyebrows furrowed as I removed the backpack with the baseball-sized remaining bit of the stone from Lang. I wadded the pack up, and shoved it inside my backpack of supplies. Then I hefted the whole thing over my shoulders. “Careful? Careful you don’t turn to stone? Give me a break, Lang. This is my responsibility. I can’t believe you were going to try and deliver something so dangerous without Ollie or me. How’d you even know where it was? Ezra hid it.”

  The corner of Lang’s mouth twitched upward. “He hid it in Sakuna with me. A decision I’m sure he’ll regret soon enough.”

  I watched Ruiz reach out and hold Danny’s hand while Klark gripped Von’s. Lang brought me in for another tight hug. Without a word, the parking lot dematerialized, and we were sucked down into the freezing midnight of Terraway.

  The smell of Sombi was awful – like rotting eggs and rancid chicken. The stark difference the two parking lot lights made in my world was never clearer than Terraway in the dead of night. The moon was dim, like it was only lit halfway. The stars were also turned down a notch, and I wasn't sure how we were going to find our way to Mason if we couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of us.

  Lang clapped his hands twice and whispered to the group, “First things first: find some baga root so Lady October can breathe.” He pointed to his right where there was a smattering of snow-covered trees that were taller than your average redwood. We jogged to the woods, dropping to our knees and digging in the dirt beneath the foot of snow, scavenging around complicated brush and branch systems to find the janky root I needed to survive in Terraway.

  Lang’s fingers lit up, casting just enough illumination so I could tell that what I was putting into my mouth wasn’t something useless, but something that would help me breathe. I choked it down, grimacing through the used gum feeling, while I pocketed a second root, just in case. “Okay, I’m good now. Let’s find Mason. Be on the lookout for trees in groups of three with Y formations to their trunks. He likes to lay traps covered with snow and leaves between them.”

  Von’s head swiveled toward me, surprised I had actual useful information. “What kind of traps?”

  “Not the break your leg off kind, but usually a net that’ll slow us down. The break your leg kind’s around where his house is, which is in the northeast end of Sombi.” I looked around, unsure where I was, and how far we were from the northeast end. I was grateful I hadn’t zoned out when Mason had been explaining the ins and outs of Sombi to September.

  Danny held up his hand. “I know where his house is. Shortest path is through the woods.” He pointed straight ahead. “I’ve only ever gone there with Mason, so I didn’t have to deal with his traps. What other kinds does he have down here?”

  “Mostly nonlethal this far out. The closer you get to his house, the traps get more dangerous. He doesn’t like to hurt anyone who’s just coming to Sombi to find their dead so they can bury them.” I stood beside Danny and nodded. “You lead the way.”

  Danny postured, his knife drawn as he stomped through the night with Lang’s fingers barely lighting the snow, bramble and crispy leaf-covered ground. I tried not to let my mind dwell on how cold it was as I crunched through snow that was easily a foot deep.

  “So what’d I miss? How’s Sakuna?” I asked Lang, my breath leaving a fog of chill when I spoke. My tone was light and conversational, but my eyes never left the area before us.

  Lang answered for the trio. “The rebuilding’s slow, but we’re moving forward. We lost father’s army to Sama. They’ve been using his rations the longest, so when Sama sent a puppet to our land a few months ago, he snapped his fingers, and our army went marching to his command. Didn’t even pack bags. Just left the palace in droves and marched out of Sakuna. The western territory wasn’t too far behind them.”

  Ruiz made me jump when he stabbed into the ground after veering off the course a little. He came back with a lifeless black cat in his hands. “Dinner for the Duwendes and Omen,” he clarified.

  I blanched inwardly, hoping we’d find Mason soon so I didn’t have to eat a kitty cat. I cleared my throat and turned my attention back to Lang. “Man, that sucks. You lost so many people to the famine. You’d think that once that was on its way to being fixed, you’d stop losing people. I’m sorry, Lang.”

  Lang gave me a “what can you do” shrug. “Aranya doesn’t know what to do with himself without an army. I gave him a few projects to oversee, but he doesn’t have much interest in helping the people. He wants to rule, but he’s got no one to enforce his commands.”

  “How’s everyone doing with the army being in Sama’s pocket now?”

  “We’re focusing on building a wall between the deep forest that separates Sombi from us. It won’t do much, but it gives us all a common goal. They need purpose, to feel like they can overcome Sama somehow.”

  Danny’s whisper came out irritable, which was no great shock to anyone. “Can we catch up some other time? We’re mobile chum, here, with all our organs walking about. The zombies will hear us coming if they don’t already smell us, and I don’t fancy being torn apart for my vitals.”

  “Oh, Danny. Always the practical one.” Von slashed at a low-hanging needly branch that proved problematic. “I say we make as much noise as we can. Sama’s been gathering more zombies into his army to replace the ones he lost in Silo. I want him to catch word that his lovely prize isn’t afraid to traipse around Terraway as she pleases. And I want Sama to hear of me in my right mind, storming through Terraway, slaughtering his potential recruits with his heart’s desire by my side.” Then Von lifted his voice to a shout. “You should’ve killed me, you cowardly witch! Possession’s so classless. It’s like you can’t get a life of your own, so you glom onto mine, trying to make it yours. Pitiful!”

  Danny groaned, and I looked up to see his head was buried in his hands. “Let’s not taunt the most formidable, yeah? I say we let him never hear of us coming into Terraway. We don’t know what’s been detaining Mason. It might take us more than a blink to get him back Topside.”

  “I guess that’s a fair point.”

  Ruiz trotted off our path and stabbed another cat. Seeing the lifeless eyes reflect off the light from Lang’s fingers made my stomach roil. “I’m getting a pretty decent meal together. Hope you’re hungry, your majesty.”

  “You’re the sweetest,” I cooed, hoping I wouldn’t be hungry throughout the entire trip. “Thanks, Ruiz.” In the dark, I wanted to pinched myself, to punish the skin on my arm because I couldn’t punish Sama as I wanted to. The gloves made this problematic. “Don’t call me Sama’s heart’s desire, Von. It’s nothing as romantic or grand as you’re making it sound.” I pushed at a branch that swung low toward my face after Klark moved it out of his way. “I’m his idiot. He doesn’t want a great love; he wants a dummy who doesn’t know any better, otherwise he would’ve told me who he was in the first place.”

  “You’re no one’s idiot,” Von offered as we trudged in a single-file formation through one of the thickets of t
rees that only seemed to increase in number. Our feet couldn’t be as quiet as we wanted as they crunched atop the dried leaves and crisp snow that was packed deeper and firmer as we trudged onward. There were no birds, only the deafening silence of boots on snow.

  “He made a joke out of me, invaded my head and tried to... If we come across him, he’ll rue the day he thought I could be his little toy. That I’d sit back and be afraid every night to fall asleep. That I’d let him have power in any way.”

  Von reached behind him and grabbed for my hand that didn’t have Finn’s long balisong blade in it. “You don’t have to be afraid to sleep; I’m here. So long as we don’t lose each other or throw each other away, he can’t get inside.”

  I squeezed Von’s hand to assure us both that we were stronger than Terraway, than Sama and all he could cook up for us.

  I heard Klark’s feet in the lead with Danny stop suddenly before I heard the reason why. In the distance, there was a faint cry. At first it sounded like a wounded bird, but as the cry continued, I realized it was a baby wailing. I gasped and turned off our line through the woods. I moved quickly toward the sound that stirred maternal instincts I didn’t realize I had on tap. Apparently, part of me was still a mama, with or without my baby to make it all true.

  “October, no!” Danny called after me, but it was no use. Someone had lost a baby in the icy woods, and I wasn’t about to turn my back on that.

  Von’s gloved hand never left mine, his fingers twining through and clasping as his chest puffed. In the dark of the forest, he was a father, and I was a mother. No matter the urgency we felt to find Mason and restore our duo to a trio, knowing there was a baby out in the frozen woods who was scared and without comfort triggered us both to abandon everything else.

  We ignored Danny, Lang, Ruiz and Klark, who called after us, warning us to come back to them. Our footsteps picked up as the baby’s cry amplified, ringing in my ears. There was no mother’s calm shushing to comfort the child. There was no other sound at all but the crying. I didn’t realize I had an unending supply tears, but suddenly they were running down my cheeks, chilling my face. I was a mama without a baby; I couldn’t imagine the agony the baby in the woods must feel to be a soul without a mama. “Hurry, Von! It sounds like the baby’s hurting!”