by McGill, Brie
Frantic screams and cries continued for The Pit!
“I want you to savor every knock and scrape on your way down!” The guard pointed his knife at Aleister.
The other guard lowered his stance and lunged forward, body checking Aleister with his shoulder.
Aleister slipped and fell, skidding and tumbling down the slick, rocky descent, quickly disappearing into blackness.
Orion heard the thudding of his body as he rolled, muffled curses, and then nothing.
“I want every bruise on your body to create a blistering awareness—”
Seizing Orion, two more guards walked him to the cliff.
“Of precisely how far you have fallen from grace!” The guard sliced the blade along Ninkasi’s cheek, drawing a gash of red. “The grace of our people! The grace of our elders!” Keeping the blade poised against her throat, he leaned forward and licked the blood from Ninkasi’s cheek. “The grace of those who have sustained us, like Echidna! You shame us all!”
Ninkasi grimaced.
Cackling, the guard fanned himself with one hand. “We’ll throw the girl down after we’ve had our way with her. Push him!”
The vaulted door swung open, and a messenger in silver robes appeared, speaking the ancient tongue. “The Supreme Intercessor requests you join his audience immediately after your duties are fulfilled.” He bowed.
The guard’s upper lip curled. “Yes, at once.” He bowed in return, yanking Ninkasi by the hair along with him.
“We shall speak soon.” He turned and left.
The guard whirled around. “What are you waiting for?! Drop him!” Pulling her by the hair, the guard dragged Ninkasi to the edge. Unhooking the chains on her wrists, he hurled her over the edge.
Orion raised a hand in protest.
Before he could speak, two sets of strong hands hit him in the back, pushing him over the ledge.
Ninkasi opened her eyes—or, at least, she thought she had opened them, but she couldn’t see a thing. There was only blackness.
Or, the lingering poison finally had made her blind.
Lying naked on the ground, she dug her fingers into cool sand and forced herself up with one hand. Her entire body ached, especially her left elbow—how far had she fallen? Welts, bumps, and bruises throbbed, a testament to the rocky tumble. “Hello?” Her voice was a terrified croak.
Where was Orion? Had Aleister survived the fall? They pushed him much harder than she was pushed. Ninkasi gingerly touched a hand to the stinging wound on her face.
She sincerely hoped she wasn’t blind. “Orion?” She climbed to her feet, limping through the sand.
A strong hand locked around her wrist.
Glancing over her shoulder, Ninkasi froze. “Orion?”
He groaned. “You can walk?”
She fell to her knees and groped in the darkness, following his arm and touching his face. “Oh, god, I’m so glad you’re here.”
Orion lay sprawled on the sand, a cold chunk of slimy rock supporting his back.
Straddling him, Ninkasi mashed her head into his chest and locked her arms around him, squeezing him as tight as she could.
He grabbed a fistful of her hair and draped an arm around her back, resting his face on the top of her head. “I couldn’t stop them.”
“You stalled them.” She sucked in a deep breath, smelling him. . . missing him. “More than I could do.”
Pushing her away, Orion grunted and hoisted himself into a seated position. He removed his shirt, and, feeling for Ninkasi, blindly tugged the shirt over her head. “You still don’t have any clothes.”
She snorted. “They’re out of vogue here.” Fumbling with the fabric, she groped for the arm holes. “Where’s Aleister?”
Orion sighed. “I only heard you now.”
She bit her lip. “They pushed him really hard.”
Wincing, he climbed to his feet. “He’s a tough guy.”
“Aleister!” Ninkasi lifted her hands to her mouth and shouted into the blackness, hearing the echo of her voice disappear into the endless caverns. “Aleister!”
Orion grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m scraped up.” She rubbed her leg. “Some bruises. I’ll live.”
“YO!” The nasal entreaty split through the caverns like thunder.
Ninkasi loped through the caverns in response to the voice.
Orion pulled at her shirt. “Wait a second.” He unhooked an anzein rifle from his waist, clicking switches and dials. “Pft, broken piece of shit.” Lifting the gun over his head, he heaved it against the rocks.
Hearing the gun smash, Ninkasi winced. “Aleister, over here!” She stood up on her toes and waved.
Not that he could see her.
Crouching on his knees, Orion patted through the sand with his hands, crawling in search of his other weapon.
“YO-HO-HO!” The increasing volume of Aleister’s cries indicated his approach.
“Here you are.” Orion reclaimed the other rifle, twisting squeaky dials and crunching stiff switches until a light mounted on top of the gun activated, piercing through the blackness of the cavern.
Nodding to Ninkasi, Orion broke into a jog, meeting Aleister.
She scrambled after them.
The light on the gun flickered.
Orion frowned, tapping his nail against the bulb. “Light scope, don’t fail me now—”
Waving jubilantly, Aleister supported himself with his other hand pressed into the small of his back. “You two made it?”
“Rough ride down.” Ninkasi rubbed her elbows. “But I’m in one piece.”
Wrinkling his nose, Orion beamed the sight scope at Aleister’s crotch. Whipping the gun away, he tossed a fistful of fabrics at Aleister’s head. “Your clothes, Sir.”
Aleister caught the clothes above his head. Keeping his arms raised, he bucked his hips in circles, twirling his limp dick like a propeller.
Ninkasi clamped hands over her eyes.
“I’ll shoot you—” Orion aimed the gun at his chest.
“The power cell is about to fail.” Turning around, he bent forward. With one leg in his pants, he shook his ass at Orion.
Ninkasi clawed fingers through her hair. “Are you guys finished?!”
“I would deactivate the light scope right now.” Aleister zipped his pants.
Orion jerked his head away and lowered the gun.
He slipped into his shirt. “We’re lucky if we have one shot left. We need to save power.”
“Is that the reason you kept me locked in the chateau?!” Ninkasi planted a hand on her hip. “So I wouldn't see you two doing the helicopter when you’re alone together?”
Orion tilted his head, smirking. "Only in the graveyard, Ninkasi."
Aleister wandered closer to them. “What about the other rifle?”
“Old friend.” Orion slammed a palm into Aleister’s back. “I smashed it.”
“You what?!” he screeched.
Ninkasi squinted.
Orion waved a hand. “It didn’t survive the fall.”
“So we have one shot left!” Aleister shook him.
“Like you said” —Orion shrugged— “maybe.”
Growling, Aleister stormed away. “And how the fuck are we supposed to get out of here if we can’t see a thing?!”
Ninkasi’s stomach sank.
“There could be another cliff anywhere!” Aleister’s voice cracked, while he paced through the cave, screaming his frustrations. “We could walk like lemmings to our death!”
“These tunnels connect to an ancient banquet hall.” Wolfram’s steady voice interrupted them.
Ninkasi leapt into the air, grabbing Orion’s arm, feeling her heart flip into her mouth. “Wolfram?!”
“Yes.” He maintain a composed air, audibly patting the boy’s head. “And Renwick. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Ninkasi spun around. “How long have you been down here?!”
&nbs
p; Wolfram sighed. “Since we chose to forego participation in the trial, we were taken to The Pit immediately.”
“You sneaky bastard!” Aleister marched toward them.
“I refuse to let Renwick set foot in that courtroom.” He snorted. “Beyond humiliating him, they would have likely employed him in a public ritual sacrifice.”
Ninkasi grimaced.
Orion stepped forward. “Can we reach the banquet hall?”
“Presumably.” Wolfram stroked his chin. “All the caverns are interconnected, and it’s been common practice for centuries to barbecue those condemned to death.”
Ninkasi swallowed. “Barbecue?”
Wolfram tilted his head. “Sometimes, it was preferred to unleash a violent, starved chimera into the caves to hunt the doomed.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but no words came out.
“But that was an uncommon circumstance. We should hope for the best.”
Aleister growled. “We can’t use any more juice from the fuel cell to power the light scope. It’s too valuable.”
“If I were to” —Wolfram swallowed— “take the—the boy’s blood—” He paused. “It would sharpen my senses enough to navigate the cave.”
“What are we waiting for?” Aleister turned around, swiping through the dark, blindly trying to find the boy.
Wolfram took Renwick in his arms. “Under no circumstances will I do such a thing.”
“Come here, Renwick!” Aleister swooped through empty space, groping for the boy. “Uncle Aleister has some candy!”
Orion turned away. “Candy you stole from Wolfram’s house?”
“You shut up!” Aleister hopped through the sand, swinging his arms.
Wolfram cradled the boy close to his body. “It made me extremely unpopular and I have suffered for it, but I refuse to use the surface dwellers as a resource—for food, energy, labor, or otherwise.”
“But the practical issue remains.” Ninkasi tapped her foot. “We need to get out of this cave.”
“My body would derive nourishment from it.” Wolfram hung his head. “It’s made me weaker than the others.”
Aleister paused in his search. “So you’re like. . . a vegetarian?”
Wolfram cleared his throat.
Ninkasi moved to stand before Orion. Grabbing his shoulder with one hand, she offered him an upturned wrist.
He held her hand.
She nudged him with her wrist.
“I don’t understand.” He tilted his head.
“Get us out of here.” She sighed. “Take it.”
He clasped her hand. “Take what?”
She turned her head. “My blood!”
Orion froze.
“Just. . . be quick.” She nudged him again. “Don’t make it hurt too much.”
He pushed her hand away. “I don’t take people’s blood—”
“You have to!” Ninkasi pushed her wrist into his face. “Take it!”
“What do you want me to do?!” He stepped backward, throwing his arms in the air. “Bite you?! Use a straw?!”
“Use this.” Aleister unsheathed the sacred athame attached to his belt, passing it to Orion. “I didn’t want to believe her, but Ninkasi’s right. She’s smart.”
“Oh, so I should stab her!” Orion batted Aleister’s arm out of the way. “Are you crazy?!”
“I didn’t say stab her.” He pushed his way between them. “Sweetheart, give me your wrist.”
“Ugh.” She weakly presented Aleister her arm.
“I’ll do my best not to hurt you.” He kissed her wrist. “It will be quick.”
Orion grabbed him by the hair. “If you hurt her—”
“Relax.” He swung his head out of the way. “I do this all the time.”
The cavern settled into an awkward silence.
Fingers tracing Ninkasi’s wrist, he made a delicate cut.
Whimpering, she thrust her wrist at Orion. “Here!”
He held her trembling wrist at his face, and paused. “You make me feel. . . like a monster.”
Drawing in a deep breath, Ninkasi squinted her eyes, trying hard not to faint. She hated needles—even worse, she hated blades. She was glad she couldn’t see. “Hurry up and get us out of here!”
She felt the tip of his tongue pause at the cut in her wrist.
“You’re getting us out of here alive.” She focused on her breathing, trying not faint. “I fail to see. . . how that makes you a monster.”
“It makes me part of this.”
His breath against her wrist made her stomach flutter.
Orion locked an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Securing her body against him, he took one long lick along her arm, tasting the blood in the wound.
Ninkasi shivered, resting her head on his chest. “I wouldn’t let you do this. . . if I thought you were a monster.”
He lifted a finger to her lips.
Box-Shaped Heart
XXV.
The faintest flicker of blue light illuminating the silvery bowels of caverns in the distance caused Orion to breathe an immense sigh of relief. The group had stopped twice, waiting for him to recharge his sight—
With Ninkasi’s blood. He couldn’t bear to look at her, couldn’t believe he had let himself do it to her, feast on her blood like some damnable fiend from another world.
But he was.
And he wasn’t.
He hastened his step, edging ahead of the group. Orion liked to think that a man was defined by his deeds.
And that he was a man, not a fiend.
Maybe it was easier to accept that than the truth.
Scampering after him, Ninkasi yelped and locked fingers around his wrist. “We’re there!”
Beating his chest, Aleister cleared his throat. “We’re. . . where, exactly?”
The pale light illuminated Wolfram’s grim expression. “The chimera stables.”
Ninkasi froze. “You didn’t mention—”
“The what?” Aleister grabbed Wolfram by the shirt.
Orion stormed ahead, shaking his head.
“It was a joke!” Wolfram threw his arms into the air, voice a tiny, terrified wheeze. “A joke, a joke.”
Ninkasi skittered after Orion.
“If we get out of here alive” —Aleister jabbed a finger under Wolfram’s chin— “I’ll have you doing stand-up at the chateau until you die.” He whirled around in a huff. “No food, no sleep, you will stand and bleat stupid jokes until your lungs collapse.”
Wolfram covered Renwick’s ears with his hands. “I thought you would have guessed that they house the chimeras in tanks, anyway.”
Pausing, Orion stopped at the edge of a vast grotto, scanning the passages shimmering with rainbow veins of mineral.
They were close. He sensed it.
Aleister took a big whiff of air and patted his belly. “Smells like steak!”
Orion raised an eyebrow. Aleister. What an idiot.
“Indeed.” Wolfram stared at the ground, tapping his foot. He placed a hand on Renwick’s head, urging him closer. “You mustn’t wander, do you understand?”
Aleister clapped his hands. “I wouldn’t mind a bite to eat!”
Ninkasi rested a hand on Orion’s shoulder. “Smells like the canapés at the chapel. . .”
Lifting a finger to silence them, Orion leaned forward, tilting his head.
Echidna was indeed nearby—which meant there was a strong possibility an undetectable Andrealphus also lurked nearby. He activated the charger on the gun and bounded ahead, entering the grotto.
“Hey, shouldn’t you wait a minute?!” Aleister thundered after him. “That thing takes a long time to charge—”
Slowing his gait, Orion paused in the center of the hall, surveying his surroundings. A marble banquet table split the hall in half, spanning into the horizon, dotted sparsely with towering granite chairs large enough for men twice his size.
Large enough for giants, large enough for failed genetic exper
iments with monstrous appetites.
He wrinkled his nose, glancing to the left: a deep trench ran the length of the dining table, filled with burning coals, with the occasional human corpse impaled on a spit, roasting over moderate flame.
Wolfram crouched before Renwick at the edge of the grotto, keeping the boy close and talking in a hushed voice.
Orion wondered how much Wolfram could actually spare the boy; he appreciated the noble gesture.
“I’m going to vomit.” Ninkasi clamped a hand over her mouth and lurched forward, grabbing Aleister’s arm.
“Sweetheart.” He patted her on the back. “Do it over there. Don’t do it on me.”
Orion narrowed his eyes. “Still want that steak, Aleister?”
Ninkasi hurled at her feet.
“Barfing makes me barf!” Throwing his hands in the air, Aleister stomped in a frantic tantrum.
Jerking his head away, Orion glanced to the right: a shallow stairway emptied into a deeper cavern chamber with a sparkling pool of crystalline water.
Creeping to the edge of the stair, Orion stood with his back against the wall, peering at the pool.
He heard a man’s laughter; after a moment, Echidna surfaced from the water, wearing a tight white gown, her long blonde hair matted to her shoulders, soaking wet.
Andrealphus slithered into view, wearing a crimson robe. He sat at the edge of the pool, dipping his feet into water and grabbing Echidna’s chest with his freakishly massive hand.
Orion’s hand clamped around the rifle on his waist, trembling. He wanted to shoot now. It took everything out of him not to split into a blazing run and fire, fire, fire.
The single shot limited his options: he had to make it count. He had to do it right. . . for himself.
For Lilith.
Aleister hovered beside him. “Do you have a plan?”
Orion swatted him away. There was no plan, only instinct. Every ounce of him knew what to do. Clenching his teeth, he dragged his fingernails along the cavern wall.
Clutching her stomach, Ninkasi staggered toward them, lingering a safe distance away.
Echidna pushed herself up from the water, sitting at the edge of the pool. Cackling, she leaned sideways, resting her head on Andrealphus’s chest.