Tainted (Netherworld Book II)

by Christie Rich

  Trepidations fills her voice. “I don’t ever want to see him again, Seth. He said I was his new queen.”

  Seth’s body stiffens when I tell him what Volos said. Mine does, too. Who would want to be queen of the damned?

  Even if I did feel sorry for the guy, I wasn’t willing to think about something so putrid as letting Volos touch me. Having him looking at me was bad enough, and it wasn’t even real.

  When Seth finally speaks, his voice is level. “He has no way to reach you, Amelia. The Erobos are preying on your fear. You must not give them an advantage.”

  Everything inside me agrees. “Tell me what to do.”

  A small but audible sigh escapes Seth. “We need to finish what we started. Your world is corrupted, yet you are not. It is your fear we must expunge.”

  I rush forward with my reply until I think about what he said. “I’d be happy to—what did you just say?”

  He laughs, mimicking my normally smug tone. “We need to kick those suckers out of your world.”

  A smile tugs my mouth. “Suckers, eh?”

  He cocks his head to the side. “Do you have a better noun to describe them?”

  I consider this a moment then shrug. “Suckers works in more ways than one. What did you have in mind?”

  His chest lifts on a sharp breath. “Perhaps it’s time to teach you to fly.”

  I can’t help myself. I check my back for wings before I give him a pointed stare. His chuckle lifts my dark mood, but I still don’t trust him right now. For all I know he’s going to throw me off the balcony to see what happens, just like my — damn, I don’t want to think about him. Seth tips my chin back until I look at him. “There’s more than one way to fly. You merely have never been taught.”

  His smile says he’s joking, but his words stir darkness inside me. My memory races backward until I’m dangling out the window of our second story apartment.

  My dad’s green eyes hone in on mine. In this moment, he’s not the cracked out person who attempted to raise me. There’s an unnatural light to his eyes, and his concentration is so sharp it bewilders me. “There is more than one way to fly, Amelia.”

  The terror from long ago lodges in my throat. I blink to dissolve the vision, but it remains in my mind. His fingers, so strong loosen on my legs.

  “Dad!” I scream, lifting my small body toward him. I’m too late.

  He waves at me as I sail through the air. A look of pride overtakes him, but it is soon replaced by disappointment. For a brief moment, I wonder if I can fly.

  Then I smack into the ground.

  I press my nails into my palms to prove I’m not that little girl anymore. The disbelief of the moment still lingers with me. My dad had to have been high, but he’d seemed so intent.

  Warm fingers brush my upper arm. Seth’s blue eyes come into focus. “What is it?”

  Determination wells inside me until my chest hums with it. “I’m ready.”

  He nods, giving me a serious look that somehow manages to infuse me with courage. “Come with me.”

  I follow him through the sitting area where the quaint rock fireplace boasts a crackling fire. Every time I see the plush arm chairs, I have the desire to grab a book and veg. One of these days, I’m so gonna do it. I just hope when I get the chance Seth has something decent to read.

  It’s really no surprise when he stops at the banister to gaze out over the circular space below. The mezzanine shows a small piece of the expansive dome that fills most of the library. My heart thumps against my chest, making my pulse thrum in my ears.

  Seth waits until I stand next to him to speak. He doesn’t even glance at me when he says, “What is fear?”

  Who does he think I am, Confucius? Where’s a fortune cookie when a girl needs one? I think a moment, giving him the best answer I can muster. “A feeling?”

  He shrugs. “In its simplest form, I suppose you’re right.” He twists until he’s looking at me with those deep blue eyes of his. I really do try to listen to what he’s saying, but he’s making it hard on me. It would be so easy to distract him right now, so easy to forget about the people who are counting on us. “In the Dreamscape, fear is power. One way or another, you need to realize you are in control, Amelia. You’ve already shown your ability to transform realms, including mine. The only thing keeping you from reaching your ultimate potential is fear.”

  His insights twirl through my mind, trying to settle. I want to believe him. I want to jump in feet first and see what happens, but doubt still flickers inside me. “How can I get rid of it?”

  Dipping low, his voice softens. “What have you done since you came here?”

  His question makes me stutter. “I-I don’t know. Lots of things. It’s not like I’ve been keeping track.”

  In a subtle movement, his fingers glide along the silver railing, and I’m caught in the motion of his hands. “You’ve already affected my realm. You have more control than most of my team without much effort at all.”

  Where is he going with this? “Yeah, so?”

  “Why are you afraid when you can change anything with a thought?”

  The answer is immediate. “What if I can’t when I really need to?”

  In a flash, his finger brushes my temple. “There is your problem. What happened to the confident girl who could do anything?”

  Why do words burn so much? “I’m still here, but my swagger doesn’t always come when I need it to.”

  He straightens. “Count to twenty.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  He groans. “Just do it.”

  The huff I spit out twirls his hair about his face. “One, two, three—”

  “No. Slower.” His hands reach for mine until they cover my fingers. His index finger lifts above my wrist then presses in a pulse similar to my heartbeat. “One—beat, two—beat, three—beat.” When he gets to ten, I’m staring at him, bewildered. By the time he gets to twenty I want to punch him for wasting my time.

  I yank my fingers away and glare. “What the hell was that about?”

  A smile takes over his mouth, and there’s a decided glint of amusement in his eyes. “Impatient?”

  I grit my teeth. “You think?”

  He points below us. “It would take twenty seconds for you to hit the carpet.”

  The shiver slicing through me wants to race back up my spine. “No way,” I say. “I’m not gonna just throw myself off this cliff cause you think it’d be great to see me splat down there.”

  His immediate frown raises my hackles until the indignant tone of his voice makes me smile. “I was not suggesting you throw yourself off anything. We have training to do. One day, soon, you will master the ability to levitate, but we shall start slow.”

  Got that right. “What about getting my world back in order?”

  He takes a deep breath which brings a yawn out of me. “First, we’ve got to deal with your mind.”

  Amelia has it all wrong. Darkness isn’t something which retreats quickly. It stands until the last moment, until it can no longer occupy the space of light.

  If she’s allowed darkness into her dream world, it will take more than just a simple rearranging to dispel it. It will require work. It will demand patience and, most of all, faith.

  I have not spent this much effort on one recruit in a very long time. My team will not like my plan, but I have no other ideas. I need to get her to open up to me, but, more importantly, I need to get her to understand the mechanics of her new realm.

  She faces me, sitting cross-legged on the mat. It’s not hard for me to think about her; concentrating on our task is my problem.

  A shy smile glints over her mouth before she straightens and clears her throat. Her subtle hint doesn’t escape me. She’s right. It’s time to begin. Still, hesitation halts my words. I wish I could keep her innocent. I wish I could shelter her from the demons she will face.

  My fingers indent the rubber b
elow them as I try to find the right way to tell her. “When you were a child, your parents taught you the rules of the human world. You learned to trust, to walk, to talk, to do all the necessary things to become an adult. Unfortunately, none of your training will help you here.”

  The corners of her eyes narrow, and soon her lips press together. “I kinda figured that out when you turned your jacket into a parachute. I thought you were going to give me some real answers.”

  I take a breath, grimacing. “I mean no insult, Amelia. I’m merely offering you a foundation for the rules of the Dreamscape.”

  She scoffs. “There are no rules in the Dreamscape.”

  I catch her gaze and keep it. “Unfortunately, you’re wrong. Rules are dictated by each dreamer. For example, most worlds have gravity because the dreamer makes it so.”

  Her expression shifts with a sparkle and a smile. “Gravity exists because the sun sucks.”

  I laugh, shaking my head. “We are no longer in the physical world. This is why I’ve warned you not to expect things to be the same as the mortal realm. Even air is not a given.” When she shifts her weight to the opposite arm, her scent drifts around me, bidding me closer. I dig my palms firmly into the mat and go on. “You must be ready to adapt the instant you cross a portal. Even when you’re inside a world, the rules can change abruptly. There are others the Erobos use to manipulate worlds.”

  “Orphics?”

  The word brings a lingering hatred with it. “Mostly.”

  “But not always?”

  How can I explain millennia of events in a few sentences? “As we’ve lost our hold on Earth, the Erobos have gained traction. They have been able to foster corruption into the most innocent of people.”

  Amelia’s voice is barely a whisper, yet holds so much tension it permeates the room. “So the Erobos have an army of humans, too?”

  I find it hard to answer her, but I must. “We are a dying race, and as such, we haven’t been able to keep our charges grounded. Some have fallen, even though we’ve tried to reacquire them repeatedly, but those people are now heavily guarded.”

  She pulls her knees to her chest and leans forward. “Who are they?”

  I, too, try to make myself more comfortable. “Most are wielders. Some are decoys. Others are both.”

  Amelia lies down. “Is that what you think Brock is?”

  Since I am rather certain this will be a long conversation, I do the same. The pungent fumes from the mat make me question our location, but we are here to train, after all. Since this is my world, I remove the odor and replace it with the scent of rain. “I haven’t yet determined what Brock is, as I haven’t been able to spend much time with him.”

  Her face twists into a smirk. “Maybe you should have thought of that before you slugged him when he was dancing with me.”

  The moment rushes back to my mind, only intensifying my anger. “I did what had to be done.”

  She scoffs, throwing an arm into the air. “You were jealous. Admit it.”

  I match her defiant posture, leaning closer. “With pleasure. He was touching you; he had to be dealt with.”

  She chuckles, and the resultant smile buoys my mood, but only for a moment. “You’re such a caveman.”

  Better to be a caveman than a pussyfoot. “I’ve never claimed to be anything else. Would you have rather had me leave you there with him? Those were the only two options.”

  A cold stare slides into place on her face. “Really?”

  “Amelia, this might come as a complete shock to you, but men do not share. We will fight for what is ours until it no longer is. Then, we will let it go.”

  A red tinge infuses her face, and her voice shifts to a low rumble. “So now I’m an ‘it’?”

  I take a deep breath to steady my temper. This girl hasn’t experienced enough of life to know the workings of the male mind. “You know, you’re quite beautiful when you’re angry.”

  She moves closer, eying me the entire time. “And you’re a charmer who’s about to get sucker punched.”

  I laugh, rolling toward the wall, just in case. When I settle, I smile at her. “It’s not a good idea to warn your intended victim ahead of time. Besides, you’d have to reach me first.”

  Her head cocks to the side, and her muscles clench. “I’m getting faster every day.”

  “Too true.” I sit up, attempting to focus. “Are you ready to proceed, or would you rather us chatter all day? I can think of a much better location if you’d like to pursue the latter course.”

  An incredulous frown sweeps down her face. “I don’t chatter.”

  I shrug. “Call it what you will. We’ve lost sight of our purpose.”

  She bolts upright, then settles back onto the mat. With a grand flourish, her arm sweeps sideways. “By all means, your majesty, forgive me for questioning you.”

  I’d love to wrestle her to the ground and have some fun. Unfortunately, duty presses on my mind, wiping away my desires. “Now you have the foundation, let’s get started.”

  Seth’s lost his mind. He’s so caught up in me he can’t see the real problem. We don’t trust each other enough to go all in.

  I wish I could tumble my walls to the ground, but who’s to say he won’t end up hurting me? For that matter, who’s to say I won’t end up hurting him?

  Somehow I wonder if anyone ever truly lets go of barriers when choosing to love. If anything could overcome my paranoia, it would be my love for him. From what I’ve experienced, love comes in levels, and unconditional love is a myth born from hopeless romantics and preachers. Real people have prejudices. Real people hurt and cry and bleed from more than their body. It’s the soul injuries that really sting. And the only way to get such an injury is to let someone else into your soul.

  Seth sits across from me again. Even though he’s tried to explain what we’re doing here, I still have no clue what to expect. Given our track record with training, I’m not really sure he’s the best one for the job, but I can’t set foot into the Dreamscape again until I’m sure I can handle what’s there. No one else can come here, so there we are. Stuck together. I have so many questions about this man. When I knew him as Jason, I didn’t have to worry about motivation or right and wrong. Jason was a dream.

  His voice pulls me out of my thoughts. “What we really need to discuss is darkness.”

  “Okay,” I tell him, keeping it short so we won’t end up in one of those arguing binges we seem so prone to.

  “Even on Earth, darkness isn’t merely the absence of light. It has substance which lingers in shadow long after the sun has arisen.” He pauses as if for effect. “So it is with the human mind.”

  I frown, taking a moment to process. “What you’re saying is I have to watch out, even if I think I’m good?”

  He lifts his arm in a casual flick. “More or less.”

  I scrunch up my nose, still unsure if I understand what he’s saying. “What’s the more part of your answer?”

  He shifts back, leaning on his hands. “Your dream world is always with you, Amelia. Everything you do and think shapes the reality. If you dwell on the negative, it will be reflected in your world.”

  Interesting. His explanation could justify the flies, if anything could rationalize those disgusting things. “I think I’m getting what you’re saying, but tell me if I’m wrong. My dream world has changed because my thoughts have. Because I’ve focused on my fear, my world has become tainted?”

  He nods but doesn’t say anything, which makes me think he wants me to continue my hypothesis.

  “If I choose to focus on something else here, when I return to my dream world, it will be different again.”

  His smile sets his eyes shining like crystals against a clear blue sky. “Very astute.”

  My brows shoot up. “Did you doubt me?”

  A mock expression of outrage flits onto his face. “Never.”

  I cock a grin at him. “Good thing, too.” He grins back. This could go on for hours, and
I’d be okay with it. “So if I go in there, having changed my mindset and something shady happens, it just means I’m uncovering shadows.”

  He folds his arms across his chest as a satisfied grin takes hold. “Very good.”

  Sounds so simple. I just hope it is. “Anything else?”

  “I think you’ve covered most of it. If you can change your mindset, your world will follow.”

  Doubt creeps in. It always creeps in. “And if I can’t?”

  Taking a deep breath, he holds my gaze. “There are ways of dispelling the darkness, but those would call attention to your world. I would much rather this be a silent purge. As of yet, the enemy has not discovered our paradise; I’d like to keep our advantage.”

  An image of Daegan’s chilly eyes comes into my mind. “Me, too.”

  I stand, and Seth joins me only to ask, “What are you doing?”

  I offer him a smirk. “I’m starved, and I think I’d like a picnic.” The confusion on his face makes me laugh. “Look, if I’m supposed to bring happy thoughts into the dream world, I need some inspiration.”

  He cocks his head to the side, dubious, and motions me forward. “Lead the way.”

  The walk to my room is more like a jog. I’m eager to re-enter the Dreamscape, but more than that, I’m stoked to take my world back. Mind over matter is really what Seth implied.

  Since I now know Volos wants me for real, I’m even more determined to crumble his domain right out from under him. We need stealth and ability to move those conquered dreamers who haven’t budged. I have some ideas, but I’m not sure they’ll work yet.

  The questions keep reverberating in my head until I have to let one out. “Why did you decide to recruit Richard?”

  Seth’s expression withers. “Are you about to berate me for the decision again?”