Alterni

by Sunshine Somerville

  Once finished with the main use of a bathroom, she found it had only taken her about two minutes. That wasn’t too much time for a woman to spend powdering her nose, but Esme worried it would look like she was hiding if she stayed any longer.

  I can’t just stand here staring at myself in the mirror all day. What if someone I know walks in? Hard to explain why I’m standing here blushing. Gods forbid Lexi finds me, with her “I told you so” smirk.

  With a final fluff of her wavy hair, Esme sighed at her reflection and walked to the door. She nearly collided with two women entering, and Esme laughed good-naturedly as they too looked startled by the opening door.

  When she turned to walk back toward the rooftop doors, Esme ran into someone. With a face full of a man’s shirt, she grabbed the man’s arm to keep from falling.

  “Sorry,” they said at the same time.

  Esme knew the male voice and winced. She peeked up and saw surprise on Owen’s face. In a rush, Esme got her feet underneath her and took a step back from him. Owen just stood there, staring at her with a smirk. A few more women walked between them to enter the ladies’ room.

  “Cat balls, Owen! I leave my bodyguard for one night, and you can’t even let me go to the bathroom by myself? I’m fine. You didn’t need to-”

  Owen snorted a laugh and pointed to the nearby stairs. “I was headed to my place.”

  Esme looked at the stairs, then back at him. “Oh.”

  Owen grinned. “Come with me?” He reached for the railing and skipped down a few steps, turned on the bend in the staircase, and smirked up at her until he disappeared below.

  She let out a frustrated sigh at her stupidity and followed. Her clicking heels echoed in the narrow stairwell, but Esme looked up and saw that no one seemed to notice her departure.

  The staircase ended at a landing with a glass door, which led right into an enormous, open penthouse. There was no sign of Owen, but Esme allowed herself a moment of distraction. Three walls of the main section were solid windows, allowing for a spectacular view over the city. This wide living room was clean, and Owen’s decorations were impressive. Nearer where she stood, a gourmet kitchen sprawled along the back wall. Beyond this, a dark hall ran to other rooms in the back of the penthouse.

  “Owen?” she called.

  “Come on back. I’m in the office. My phone died. I know my charger is here somewhere.”

  Esme tossed her clutch on his countertop, entered the dark hall, then paused with a smile. She looked at her castorca and spun her fingers just so. A small bubble of glowing magic swelled over her palm, and Esme walked down the hall with this light.

  “Owen?”

  She heard rummaging and saw faint sunlight spilling out of what must’ve been his office. Esme extinguished the light, took a deep breath, and walked into a modern, clean office. Owen stood behind the desk, opening and closing drawers as he rifled in search. Finally, he shoved aside a paper on the desk and uncovered his phone charger.

  “Ah-ha!” Owen lifted it in triumph.

  Esme stopped inside the door. “Oh.”

  Owen looked up, now noticing she’d entered. “What?”

  Esme chuckled at herself. “You really were looking for your charger. I thought you… When you called me back here…”

  Owen studied her a moment. Then he tossed his found charger in a pile, stepped around the desk, and walked to her with quick strides.

  “What-”

  Owen pulled her close and kissed her in one motion. Esme felt one arm around her waist. His other hand held the back of her head under her hair. The closeness of him overpowered all thought, and with her arms pinned between them she held his shirt. Owen’s lips were soft but insistent. He tasted like Peppermingles. Or maybe that was her.

  Esme smiled.

  Oh. I get the ads now.

  Owen pulled his lips from hers but kept hold of her. His shadowed face looked down into hers. “If you don’t want this, I understand. But-”

  “I’m not objecting.” Esme looked up at him and kept her body against his. “I know it sounds corny, but let’s not overthink this. I can’t fight it any-”

  Owen kissed her again, more eagerly. Esme put her arms over his shoulders, which lifted her to her toes. Owen didn’t ask before lifting her the rest of the way off her feet, and she wrapped her legs around his torso. Still kissing, Owen turned with her somewhere she couldn’t see. When her back met the wall, he pressed against Esme to pin her to the wall and ran his hands along her thighs. Esme opened her mouth as they kissed more deeply, and she felt Owen’s hands sliding upward.

  I bet his hands know magic they don’t teach at the Order.

  She laughed aloud at this thought. Completely killing the mood, she tried to stifle a shaking giggle.

  Owen stopped and looked at her in confusion. “What?”

  “Nothing. Sorry.” Esme unwrapped her legs from him and leaned against the wall, smiling up at Owen.

  He made a face at her but grinned.

  Gods, I love that grin. His smile, eyes, arms, body… But I’ve known pretty men. It’s Owen’s goodness I’m attracted to, under all his clumsy swagger. He’s my favorite person in this world too…

  Holding his shirt, Esme pulled Owen close and kissed him again. She felt hot head to toe as his hands trailed over her sides, and she felt a very specific ache of need.

  Owen paused, his forehead resting on hers. “Was this dress expensive? I really wanna rip it off you.”

  Esme grinned. “Better not, or the goblins will take it out of my allowance.”

  Owen sighed. “Dream killer.”

  She reached up to his face, and Owen kissed her with renewed energy. Esme began to unbutton his shirt.

  Just then, the feeling of detaching from gravity swept over Esme. She widened her eyes and looked past Owen at the evening-lit office. Everything blurred. Esme was caught in a rift’s gravity for sure, but this time everything else moved with her too. Everywhere she looked, it was like matter was being pulled with the tide. Caught in the current, Esme would’ve fallen if Owen hadn’t been holding her.

  “Do you feel that?”

  Owen smiled, his face inches away but also distorted. “Every time I look at you.”

  “No, Owen…”

  In a blink, Owen’s face looked normal again. The office looked normal again. So did the city outside the window.

  Owen’s expression changed to concern. “Are you okay? Did I do something-”

  “It wasn’t you. Believe me, it’s not you.” Esme chuckled and patted his chest. “I sensed a rift. This was stronger than usual, though. I think it’s a big one.”

  He understood and backed away. “We’d better go. Which way was the rift pulling you?”

  They’d arrived with five cavali teams at the biggest rift Esme had ever seen. They were somewhere in Missouri, surrounded by rolling fields on every side. The evening sky had turned starry. There was a disturbing lack of wind or sound.

  There was also a lack of malevolenci. Cavali had swept the field but found nothing, not even a spindlox. Once the cavali reached defensive positions, Owen and Esme stood positioned in front of the rift. The opening held so much smoke they couldn’t see into the other world. Smoke wafted out and flaked onto the grass, lightning bursts flickered the rift’s edge, but no malevolenci emerged.

  Esme glanced at Owen. “Something isn’t right.”

  “You think?” He blew out his lips, which he always did when at a loss and overwhelmed.

  Esme turned back to the rift. She had a bad feeling – like a hair standing up on the back of her neck kind of feeling. And she couldn’t shake the suspicion that this was a trap.

  We don’t understand their tactics lately! What are they going to do?

  Owen was on high alert, his helmet tilting as he looked around the field. “Just termino this thing and let’s get out of here.”

  She remembered her earlier battle and shook her head. “As soon as I close this one, others will open. Tha
t’ll be the real attack.”

  He checked his gun and glared at the rift. “Yeah… So let’s get on with it.” He called to the cavali. “Make a circle, everybody covering a different direction. Be ready for anything.”

  The large force divided into smaller groups, and Esme exchanged nods with those from her usual team. Max and Dax moved off to join Tank across the field. Benja and Davis stayed close to Esme’s position. The rest of the cavali spread as the king had ordered. Soon they were as ready as they could be.

  With a nod at Esme, Owen raised his gun and aimed at the rift. “Earn your allowance, alterni.”

  She took a few steps back so the entire rift was in her field of vision. With her castorca raised, she began drawing the termino. Sparking light hung in swirls and strike marks over the rift, and when it was complete she held her palm out and wiped circles over and over. The giant rift’s edges cracked and flaked first, and the symbol sucked in the smoke. Then the whole rift shattered apart, and a second later the termino finished its work and disappeared.

  Esme felt no relief, and she glanced at Owen, who kept his gun raised.

  All was still. Esme braced herself, and a moment later the gravitational disorientation washed over her. This time, she wasn’t pulled in multiple directions at once. The opening rift’s tidal pull came from behind her. Only behind her.

  Esme took a shaky step and turned just in time to see an even bigger rift open in the sky above them. Smoke spread to block the stars. From her position directly below, Esme looked up into a foreign sky with flashes of lightning in pitch-black clouds. And still there was nothing of malevolenci.

  Davis held his gun aimed skyward, and he looked back at the king. “What do we do now, my lord?”

  “Keep your-”

  Through the smoke, a long, snaky tail ending in a spike whipped down. Before anyone could recover from the shock of this, the tail’s spike turned and thrust straight into Davis’s chest. The elf’s gun fired as he died, and everyone dove to the ground to avoid the spraying bullets. The gigantic tail poking through the Davis’s chest flicked the elf sharply, and the body flew through the air all the way to where they’d parked. Davis’s limp body slammed into the nearest truck, finally coming to rest on the gravel road.

  Esme only had a second to mourn the loss of her teammate. An instant later, an ear-splitting roar thundered from the rift.

  Oh, my gods. It’s a bentaforx.

  Eyes wide, she looked through the weeds at Owen where he lay beside her. From the look on his face, she knew he’d realized the same.

  “Fire!” shouted Owen.

  Every cavali jumped back to their feet and aimed weapons at the smoke-obscured rift. Esme used hand spells to shoot streams of ice up into the rift, but she wasn’t sure if she was hitting anything through the smoke. She looked to Owen for instruction, but his focus was on the rift, and he stopped firing only long enough to reload. The remaining cavali spread out to cover the rift from better angles.

  The bentaforx’s tail flicked back and forth, striking another cavali with such a blow the man’s entire ribcage must’ve cracked. He crumpled to the ground, dead. The cavali on either side of the man fired, and spurts of black, dripping blood splattered from the tail.

  “Termino!” Owen shouted at her. “Close the rift!”

  Esme tried to focus and held up her castorca. She gathered her fingers, pulling in magic, and began to draw the termino symbol.

  A horrible, moaning growl rumbled the sky. A great gust of wind beat down from the rift, and Esme took a step to steady herself. She made sure to keep drawing, but she winced from the shots of Owen’s gun right beside her.

  Then they all heard a throaty, clicking voice speak in the horrible language of the bentaforx.

  “Ticka-ticka-ticka. Vatic-vatic-vatic. Kich!”

  Esme tried to ignore the awful sounds and draw. But it was no use. The bentaforx’s tail still flicked through the air, slapping its blood across the field as if shaking off water. Every time she used magic to draw a sparking line or curve, the tail flicked through the symbol and broke it.

  Esme abandoned the broken termino. She returned to shooting ice, fire, and lightning up into the rift. “Owen, I can’t complete the symbol with that thing halfway through! We either have to force it back in or…” She didn’t like the second option. “Or let it all the way out so I can close the rift behind it!”

  Owen clearly didn’t like this either, and he glanced at her before continuing to fire at the bentaforx, which cleverly was hiding in the smoke.

  It might know what we’re trying to do. These demons are the most intelligent. If it can hide up there and outlast our ammo…

  “Fall back!” Owen waved for the cavali’s attention. “We have to draw it out!”

  The team held their fire and backed toward the gravel road. Esme spelled barrio symbols into the dirt in a long line to hopefully block the bentaforx, but she knew barrio spells weren’t as effective against these demons.

  They’re at the top of the food chain. How the hell am I supposed to defeat a bentaforx?

  She was sweating all over, but she wiped sticking hair from her face and tried to prepare.

  This will take both hands. Searing pain or no, I’ll have to use both hands.

  With the team no longer below the rift, the bentaforx grew impatient and came in search of its prey. Another horrible roar blew from above as the monstrous demon emerged. First its snake-like, skeletal head lowered through the smoke. The demon’s horns were at least as long as Esme was tall, and red-hot eyes narrowed when it spotted them at the edge of the field. A serpentine tongue flicked out as if testing the air. The demon stretched its long, scaly neck toward the team. A few cavali resumed firing, but the demon was unfazed.

  Esme held her castorca ready but wasn’t sure what to do.

  Bullets do nothing. Not against those scales. I’ve read enough to know most hand spells don’t get through either! How are we-

  The bentaforx’s muscular torso flexed as it reached with taloned legs to pull itself through the rift. As the demon’s body emerged, its webbed wings appeared, and with a final flap the bentaforx was free. Whipping its tail and roaring into the night, the demon beat its wings and hovered over the field below the rift. Then its massive bulk settled to the ground on two hind legs. The bentaforx towered over them, wings still outstretched, and roared again before glaring down at the team.

  “Ticka-ticka-ticka. Kich! Derererererer-Dererererer. Kee-Kee-Kee!”

  Esme shivered in horror.

  What is it saying?

  Without needing orders, the cavali fired. The teams swung to form a wider perimeter and space themselves out. Their bullets found soft spots in the bentaforx’s wings, and spurts of black blood rained on the grass. The bentaforx roared with anger and folded its wings for protection. The cavali then aimed at the demon’s main body, but nothing penetrated the scales over its vital organs.

  “Esme, with me!” Owen pointed to their left.

  She looked at the rift in the sky behind the demon. “Can we get around it? I need a better position if I’m going to termino the rift!”

  Owen already had this in mind, and he led her in a wide curve around the beast while its anger was focused on the cavali. Unfortunately for the team, Esme’s barrio spells had no effect as the monster lunged across the symbols. When the bentaforx stomped a huge back leg into a symbol, a hissing crackle was all there was to show for it.

  “To the right!” yelled Tank’s deep voice. “Men down! We’ve got a gap on the right!”

  The bentaforx was surprisingly agile and swift. Its tail lashed out and took out three repositioning men at once, throwing them across the gravel road. The demon twisted its neck and opened its jaw, snatching a female cavali and crushing her with razor-sharp teeth. With the woman still in its mouth, the bentaforx twisted its head back around and skewered another cavali with one of its horns. Then the demon shook its head, tossing off the corpses. More cavali fired up at the m
onster, and it twirled and bit and slashed and stabbed, pausing only long enough to emit ground-shaking roars.

  Behind the demon now, Owen stopped. “Esme! Termino! Now!” He covered her in case the bentaforx turned its attention in their direction.

  Esme looked up at the smoking rift and saw it was clear. She wouldn’t be surprised if a flock of chiroptorx dove straight for her any second, so she concentrated and held up her castorca again. It was impossible to ignore the giant demon-dragon nearby, almost harder to ignore the screams of the dying cavali.

  Focus. Their lives depend on it.

  Esme pushed everything to the back of her mind. With a calming breath, she gathered magic to her castorca and drew the termino symbol again.

  Curve there. Line there. Swirl there. No, not there. Right there.

  She drew faster and faster, fearing that any second something new would come through the rift and force her to start all over. When it was finished at last, she spun her castorca to activate the termino, and soon the whole symbol sparked and flashed. The spell sucked the enormous rift into itself, and in another second the laceration in this world was healed.

  Esme breathed hard as she lowered her castorca, and she received a single nod from Owen before they refocused on the bentaforx.

  The monster now was cut off from aid and escape, and it knew it. Its roar carried a new tone of anger, and the beast opened its mouth wide, shooting a spray of gas into the air. Esme had naturally expected a dragon-like demon to spew flames, despite having read about bentaforx. Somehow this foggy, settling gas was even more horrific. Esme froze where she stood, and she watched as the gaseous fog lowered over the cavali. Only wafts of the gas spread toward Esme and Owen’s position, but she still didn’t like the look of it.

  “Down!” Owen dropped to his stomach and pulled Esme to the grass with him. “Cover your face!”

  She did as ordered but watched helplessly, too far to cast an effective spell, as the majority of the gas settled over the cavali. Those who hadn’t dropped to cover their faces now coughed and gagged. A choking troll was too distressed to fire when the bentaforx swiped a talon claw, and an instant later the troll was slashed into thirds. A cavali beside this carnage rolled away with a scream.