by Jen Ponce
Panic welled in me. My tongue numbed, my mouth dry as I shouted my children's names and ran through the house searching. Searching. Nothing. Nowhere. Someone had taken them.
"No, no, no," I chanted, my hands shaking so badly I couldn't dial the phone. I flung it against the wall and it shattered. "Tom. Tom, damn you, wake up!" I shook him roughly until he moaned, then I slapped him on the face. "Where are the kids? Where are they? Who took them? Answer me."
His words slurred but he managed to talk. "Four people. A woman. Three guys. Busted in. Smashed me in the face. I hit one." He held up his hand where purple and black bruises already spread across his knuckles. "I tried to stop them. There were too many. God. Liam. Bethany." He began to sob, big belly sobs that made me feel guilty for slapping him.
"I have to call the police. Hang on." I patted him then dashed for my purse by the door. I flipped open my cell and dialed. Tremors ran through me as I spoke with the emergency operator because while I relayed the information that my husband had been beaten and my kids taken I knew that the police wouldn't be able to help find them.
Someone beyond our world had taken them while I'd been occupied with the stupid asshole in the car. I sunk to the ground where I was, unable to breathe. The operator told me to be calm, that help was arriving soon, but I couldn't function anymore. I broke down right there on the floor.
TWENTY-THREE
The sirens propelled me to my feet, my cell phone dropping to the floor. I had to get out of there before they came or I'd be stuck answering questions. I wasn't sure how to find Lucy, so I closed my eyes and opened the heart. The energy blasted into me and I used it, calling her name, focusing on her sorrowful essence.
She arrived in moments, still looking dark and deadly. "Why did you call me?"
I grabbed her hand and dumped my memories into her. I should've asked, but I didn't. I was desperate for her to understand. She gasped, in pain, in shock, I didn't know, but her features melted once more into mine.
"Thank you," I said. "I will owe you so much for this. So much."
"You don't owe me anything." A ghost of a smile haunted her/my lips. "But next time ..."
I squeezed her hand in appreciation then turned my thoughts to Zech. I'd be pulling Skriven magic getting to him but I didn't care. I'd pull the whole damn Slip through if it would help me get my kids back. Power thrummed through me. It felt like the woman—hot black wax—but it worked. I slammed into the wall in Zech's room, busting my nose hard enough to make my eyes water. I don't know why that happened when I jumped from spot to spot on Earth. It didn't happen from here to Midia.
Zech jumped up from his couch. A door snicked shut. I saw Danni in the hallway. Her mouth made an O. I looked between them both, feeling Arsinua's pain as a mere paper cut compared to the torment screaming inside me. "They took my kids."
He paled. Danni disappeared down the hall. I didn't care, my attention focused on Zech. "The Theleoni."
Danni ran back out with a thin white washrag. She held it to me. For a moment I didn't know why and then felt the blood slide over my lips. I thanked her, pressing the cloth to my nose. "Can you help me?"
He nodded.
No! If he goes back, the death warrant will kill him. You can't ask him. I can help you.
“You can't get me in to talk to the Coven. He can.”
Then take his ring. Use it again.
I hesitated. Zech's eyes narrowed. “You're talking to Arsinua.”
“Yeah. She wants you to give me your ring again. She doesn't want you to get hurt.” I didn't give a shit at this point. Whatever would get us moving faster is the direction I chose.
Standing, he jabbed his finger my way. “I will not sit here in safety when her children's lives are threatened. Not even at the chance I might lose mine. The Arsinua I knew would have felt the same way.”
Her pain filled me. Her shame. The love she felt intensifying the emotions until they threatened to overwhelm me. “Stop, Arsinua. It's his choice.”
She cried.
I ignored her and Neutria laughed. I ignored her too. "I'll try to protect you,” I said. “If a death warrant is Skriven magic, then Tytan can help."
"I won't accept help from a Skriven. Either I die or not."
I didn't care. My kids mattered. Arsinua was sobbing and raging at me. She didn't want to risk Zech.
I can help. I'll guide you.
'Shut up.' My fingers found Zech's ring and an idea formed in my mind. Concentrating on the shadow-haired woman, on the feel of her on my skin, I deliberately pulled from her, yanked magic into the ring, a death spell of my own to repel all others. I didn't know if it would work, but it was the best idea I had. Evil karma. I tossed him his ring, grabbed his arm and said, "Tell me where to go first." He started to speak and I barked, "In your head!"
Danni's eyes couldn't get any wider and if I survived to see her again, I would have a lot of explaining to do. I tossed the blood soaked rag away. "Thanks." I formed the hook and Zech and I stepped through it.
The Coven's meeting hall. There weren't any people there this time. "What are we doing here? Wasting time?" I was yelling, couldn't help it.
He stood, unmoving.
"What are you doing?" There was a hiss like a warning from a striking snake. Blisters bloomed on his skin. Flames erupted around him but a pocket of air shielded him from the worst of it. "Zech!" Oh lord, I had killed him. I brought him and killed him as surely as I'd stabbed him in the heart. Sickened, I watched him burn.
Then the hissing pitched higher to a shrieking whistle and sparks sizzled and popped around him.
Zech staggered but didn't fall. His lips were blackened and he looked like he'd been rolling around in ashes but he was alive. Breathing.
I reached out but stopped myself before touching him. "Zech?"
"I'm alive."
"Yes." Sort of. Charred, burnt. "Healing spells, magic water, what?" I didn't have time, felt impatience creeping into my concern for him.
"Give. Me a minute." He still didn't move but now he was shivering violently.
I clenched my jaw, unable to watch him in agony. 'Arsinua. Spell? Now!'
You pulled Skriven magic to save him.
'No shit. Tell me how to heal him. Any way? Besides a visit to the fleshcrawler queen?' I couldn't believe I'd managed even the lamest of jokes when my kids were in danger.
He's burnt but he's alive. Healing spells are tricky. I was never good at them.
'Give me one. I'll use the heart to enhance it. Come on. I have to find my kids and I need him.'
Better.
'Better what?'
Hunter. Harder. You.
I shook my head. Didn't want to think about that now. I would do anything to save my kids. That included killing if I had to. The fuckers touched the wrong button when they took my kids. Arsinua chanted as I reached for the heart and opened it up again. This time I felt the drain on my life force but didn't know how to prevent that. I didn't know if I could redirect it but decided I didn't care.
A burst of energy filled Arsinua's spell. It washed over Zech like a thick blue wave, washing away the black. The blisters remained, but most of them popped when the wave touched them. His blackened lips peeled to a raw pink. A breath of relief escaped from between them. His hair had burned away, eyebrows and eyelashes too. His skin was an angry pink. Between cracked lips he forced one word. "Thanks."
"Later. Why are we here?"
I followed him when he didn't answer, clenching my hands at my sides to keep myself from prodding him. I had to get far enough away so that I couldn't reach him. I was frightened of my need for violence and worse how I reveled in it. I wanted to kill the people who'd taken my kids. I wished I were a black belt or boxer. I wished I knew how to kick ass like the heroines in the action movies.
I had to remember to stay smart, use my brain. I couldn't let my dismay and hatred cloud my mind. If I did that, I was beaten before I'd even started.
The woman from last night
appeared at the top of the stairs. "Zech! What happened?" She raced to him, stopping before she actually touched him, as I had. "You're alive. The death warrant must not have been placed."
"Oh there was a warrant. She saved me."
The woman's face pruned up as she looked at me. "How? Why does her aura look like a Skriven?"
"How would you know what a Skriven looks like?" I stepped toward her, getting in her face. "Who the fuck cares how I saved him? Who the fuck cares what my aura looks like? That bastard Yarnell and his kooks took my kids. I want them back. You can either help or get the hell out of our way."
Zech touched my shoulder and I knocked his hand away.
“Devany.”
I stepped away from the woman, tempted to punch her. I suppose that's what he was worried I would do.
He glanced at me, uncertain I was under control—I wasn't. Then he said, "Two kids. A boy and a girl."
The woman's eyes darted from me to Zech. "How long?"
I glared up at the ceiling, trying not to lunge at her. "An hour. A little more, a little less."
"They are human?” She glanced at me and didn't wait for an answer. “They should still be alive. The engorgement takes time."
My heart seized. Oh, lord. My kids. I never thought I'd have to consider whether they were alive or dead. Never thought someone would steal them from me. That happened to other people's kids, not mine. "Where would they take them?" I could only get out the words if I screamed. The woman jumped.
"Yarnell and the Theleoni have buildings on the south side of town. I've heard rumors they also have a place near the swamps of the fleshcrawlers. I'm not certain that's true."
'Neutria? Is that true?'
Lots of wild. Must use heavy magic to keep the wild back.
"Maybe they're keeping them in a hook," Zech said. "If they're luring you, they'll want to keep them alive." His voice held hope.
It sounded bleak to me, but I would trade myself for them. I rubbed at my face, wincing when I touched my nose. "There's a hook near the swamp."
Zech nodded. "If Yarnell has been practicing his dark magic, he'd want somewhere far from town and the Council. Can you send people to check each hook we know about in case the swamp doesn't pan out?" This he asked of the woman, who nodded.
"Of course. We don't wish to have any human harmed."
Was it me or did she emphasize the word human? "Thank you."
She didn't look at me. Before she left, Zech asked, "What did you do with the man Devany brought to you?"
"We took him to the Council."
A pause. I gestured impatiently.
Zech asked, "Did they get enough from him to prove that Yarnell is working with Skriven? That he's breaking our laws?"
"They set him free." Her shoes cracked against the marble as she hurried from the room. Zech and I both followed.
"They freed him? He tried to kill Zech. And me!"
"There wasn't enough evidence and the man wouldn't speak against them."
I growled. "The evidence is the scars on Zech's back. Look at him now. Burnt to a crisp from a death warrant. That's not proof?"
I'd finally gotten to her, because she raised her voice and shouted back at me. "He wasn't there when they questioned him. They can't know what they don't see."
"Released him. So he could run back to his group and tell them about me. So they could steal my kids. You god damned dirty—"
"Come on." Zech pulled me through the door, looking back at the woman. "Hurry. Send me a message if you find anything. Remember, they're working with a Skriven. The Council should know. They'll be dangerous."
"Where do you go?"
"The swamp," I said, answering for Zech.
"It's four hours by bus."
"I'm not going by bus," I said grimly. Even if it cost me another visit from Ravana, I wasn't wasting any more time. And it had been a waste. If the Coven of the Lotus could do anything against the Theleoni, I'd eat a shoe.
"Porting costs a fortune," she called behind us, but I was no longer listening.
Zech took my hand. "It might not come to anything. And I'll help you how I can but I won't use dark magic."
I squeezed his hand, already forming the hook in my mind. "Don't worry about that. I'll use enough for the both of us." I pictured the hook, the pale vegetation near it, and the anemic trees. It had a different feel, more permanent than the hooks I made between worlds. When I'd fixed it, I pulled again on the Skriven magic. It filled me, seeping into the cracks of my mind. I didn't care, I told myself again. I didn't care. Nothing mattered but my kids. Nothing at all.
TWENTY-FOUR
I didn't jump to the permanent hook in case they were there. We needed to have surprise on our side, considering our large handicap. Rot assailed my nose, as if corpses littered the floor of the bloated forest. Hell, maybe they did. Maybe the fleshcrawlers left their food lying around until it ripened. Maybe it tasted better.
Zech threw up. I felt sorry for him; I'd been there. At some point in the future, if I had a future, if I got my kids back, I'd obsess over why such smells no longer bothered me.
"I should have touched her. Got what she knew of the place."
Wiping his mouth, Zech straightened. He still looked green. "Just rumors. She wouldn't have been able to give you anything she didn't say aloud." He pulled up his shirt to cover his nose. "For the record, taking knowledge from someone’s head without asking is against the law."
"Yeah, well, ask Tytan. I break every law. Comes from people not telling me anything." Unsure what to do, I closed my eyes and opened up my awareness. Shimmering in the distance, I could see the hook and feel it tug on the heart. I cracked my eyes open. The shimmer disappeared but the pull remained. “This way.”
Zech followed, pausing at intervals to empty his stomach.
'Lovely place, your home,' I said to Neutria.
Let me out. Let me hunt. I will kill them.
I shook my head. 'Not yet. Soon you'll get the chance to kill. I promise.'
If spiders could smile, then Neutria did. She would slake her desire to kill and feed today.
It's not too late to change your course. Ask the Council to help get your children. Please don't use any more Skriven magic. Please.
'It didn't stop you. You used it.'
And I've regretted it ever since. I lost my life because of it.
'If I save my children, then it's worth it.'
She didn't answer. Perhaps she didn't have to. She'd made her point. It was stupid, in a way, not to care if I lived or died. Liam and Bethany would both be devastated if I died. I would hurt them by saving them if I did it that way. But images of Zech's flayed body kept creeping into my head. The body of the little girl Tytan had taken blood from. Yvonne and Jeremy, pale and sweating, left to die so that some asshole could be more powerful.
They could be killing my kids right now. Torturing them.
"Fuck."
"What's wrong?" His voice sounded thick, hoarse.
"If they die," I couldn't finish.
"We'll find them."
One sob escaped and then I clamped down hard on the dread that threatened to overflow the dam. I couldn't afford to lose it now. My calves were burning; we were hiking uphill. I scanned the horizon, squinting in the gloom. "Why is this place always so dark?"
"Under the canopy, the trees block the light. Out here," he swept his arm away from his body. "The star's light doesn't reach this far."
"Star light? Oh, your sun. Right. Shouldn't it be freezing then?"
He shook his head. "It's not the same here as on Earth. We don't have north or south poles. No equator. The star's light illuminates, not heats."
"Then why isn't this a snowball planet?" I kept my attention on a spot far ahead. My heart began to thump. It might've been a building, but I couldn't be sure, didn't want to get my hopes up.
"Magic. It affects our weather, the way the plants grow, how they grow, what we can and can't do. Your planet has gravity, ou
rs has magic. It's not the same, but close."
I touched his arm and pointed. "There. Is it what I think it is?" I held my breath, sure, he would tell me I was imagining things.
He took forever, staring and staring until the urge to scream welled up again. "Yes. Do you see the emanations?"
"What?"
He sighed then tapped me, hard on the forehead.
"Ow." I started to rub it but he grabbed my hand and pushed my face toward the far off building.
"Now look."
My forehead buzzed, it felt heavy as I did. Then I saw a sizzle of light rising from the horizon. "Oh. Their signature."
"I don't know why they aren't cloaking, unless they don't think anyone would come out here after them." His lips twisted. "Maybe their arrogance will work to our advantage."
"How should we do this?" I was nervous now. I had pinned my hopes on my kids being there and breathing. What would happen if they weren't there, or heaven forbid, weren't alive?
"Can you feel the hook?"
"Yes. It's been pulling me this way."
He studied the area. Since we'd been walking, the ugly, bulbous trees had been thinning. The building sat among what on Earth I would have called scrub. Not sure what they considered it here. Instead of trees there were bushes and the further we traveled from the swamp the more color the plants had.
"I didn't see any building when I came here for Tytan." I had been in spider form. Still, I'd returned in my body and I didn't remember seeing any structures.
"Maybe the cloaking is activated when anyone uses the hook. It would be hard to maintain and a waste of energy to use it continuously in such a barren area."
I shook my head, creeped out that I had been that close to those bastards without knowing it. 'Did you sense anything, Neutria?'
No. Focused on hunt. On kill. Not on stupid witches.
"What will they have for security? Anything?" If they only worried about things coming through the hook at them, maybe we had a chance to sneak up on them and find Liam and Bethy.
"Maybe wards. Yarnell is so sure of his power, he might not do even that. They might feel secure out here."