“And preferably on a ledge that won’t fall apart so we all plummet to our death. Not all of us have wings, you know.”
Ashra leaped into the air, falling through the sky before she snapped her wings open. Scout gasped as the wind stole her breath, waiting until they weren’t about to die to yell at her unicorn. “You did that on purpose!”
“Yes. Yes I did.”
They flew silently through the sky, disappearing in the weird blue mist, only to appear moments later as the low-hanging blue sun caught them. Scout could tell when they came too close to the castle because the smell would hit her. Soul stealers smelled dead. Not just dead, but rotting-in-the-sun-for-days-in-a-closed-container kind of dead. The smell of a thousand of them was enough to nearly knock Scout off her unicorn. She prayed that, as a soul without a body, Lil Bit did not have to smell them.
“And what of your parents? Aren’t you concerned that they might be overcome by the toxic odor?” Ashra asked quietly.
“You’re eavesdropping on my thoughts again, horse.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Scout sighed. “Yes. Of course I’m worried about my parents as well. But if they’re with Lil Bit, they’re happy. Things would only be unbearable for them if I were there and she wasn’t.” Scout’s free hand clapped over her mouth. She hadn’t meant to say that.
“So the animosity has not faded.”
“The animosity has only had a few days to fade. Animosity is sticky. It takes longer than that.” Scout looked toward the castle they were slowly circling. Her parents were in there somewhere. Waiting for her to save Lil Bit. They wouldn’t care about themselves. They would worry about her, of course, but it would be Lil Bit’s safety that would haunt them. Just like it did her.
Ashra didn’t answer, apparently seeing fit to leave Scout to work out her own emotional problems.
Trey, however, wouldn’t let her forget it. “Scout, your parents love you. You know that, right?”
She glanced over at him as he faded in and out with the mist. Ashra and Torz seemed to like flying just close enough that their wings brushed, which meant Trey was only about fifteen feet away. He looked like he belonged there, with the scepter held easily in his hand, the light breeze messing his already messy hair. He is so gorgeous.
She blinked, tearing her eyes from this boy she loved and wouldn’t let herself be with. Not yet. “I know they do.”
Trey wasn’t buying it. “Scout.”
She glanced at him quickly and then away, lest he catch her drooling. “No, I mean it. I know they do.” She shrugged. “They don’t love me as much as Lil Bit, but who would? She’s the golden child. She’s the sweetest kid in the history of the world! I don’t love me as much as I love Lil Bit.”
Ashra and Torz were silent, but Scout could feel their attention. It made her nervous.
“They love you just as much as they love her, Scout.”
She shook her head, fingering the ornate winding, twisting designs on the scepter lying across her lap, ready to be used. “They can’t, Trey,” she whispered.
“Why? What is it you think is so wrong with you that no one can love you without all these conditions?” Trey exploded.
She hadn’t realized he was so frustrated that it bordered on anger until too late, and without meaning to, she fed on his emotion. “There’s nothing wrong with me! They can’t love me like they love her because they were there for her, and everyone abandons me, Trey, everyone but Lil Bit.”
Trey frowned, his head tilted barely to the side, like holding his head that way would make her logic easier to grasp and hold on to. “They didn’t abandon you.”
“Yes they did! When Lil Bit was going to all those doctors, my parents were there. Every. Single. Appointment. But when I was in the hospital, they went back to work after a week. They left me in the hospital alone. They abandoned me! Just like you!”
Trey looked like she’d ripped his heart out with her bare hands. His face went white, and Torz faltered in the sky. Trey’s lips compressed into a thin hard line, and he looked away, staring into the blue clouds. “This. Again.”
The anger died in her just as quickly as it had been born. “No, Trey. No. Not this again. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
He cut her off. “Does your back hurt, Scout?”
“No…” she answered slowly.
He shook his head and tapped his knee gently against Torz’s side. “It looks like there’s a ledge over there. We should check it out.”
Torz tipped his wing, and they flew sideways, disappearing in the mist.
“I think you might be part soul stealer.”
Scout hung her head. She wanted to argue, she really did. It was the worst kind of insult. But she couldn’t. “I think I might be, too.”
“Your parents did the best they could, Scout. You can’t love one child more than the other. It isn’t possible. You might not understand that now, but you will one day.”
Scout knew Ashra had had a foal. Only one though. And then a sickening thought occurred to her, and she sucked in a breath. “Ashra. You were pregnant, weren’t you?”
When Ariston had killed Ashra’s mate, and the entire Corste line had died off, Ashra’s foal had also died… and if she’d been pregnant, she would have lost that baby, too.
Ashra didn’t answer, but Scout could feel her pain. “I’m so sorry.”
They flew in silence then, both surrounded and bonded again by their overwhelming pain, until Torz rode up next to them. Trey refused to look at her.
“Behind the castle, I see a ledge very close. I believe we can land there undetected. And I believe we’ll have a decent view inside.”
Ashra nodded and followed him as they swooped low, staying in the mist.
It wasn’t until they were mere feet away that Scout could hear the screams — not the soul stealer’s shrieks, which had been audible for hours, but the screams of the souls. The sound nearly broke her already-cracked heart. “Trey, I didn’t mean—” She started as soon as he was within hearing distance.
But he shook his head without looking at her. “Don’t, Scout. No more lies.”
“I wasn’t lying, Trey. I didn’t mean to hurt you!”
He sighed, finally turning those dark, dark eyes on her. “I know, Scout. That’s what makes it so painful. You aren’t trying to hurt me. You aren’t trying to hold a grudge. But it’s still there, despite everything you’ve done to get past it. That, more than anything else, tells me…” He trailed off and his voice cracked. His entire body shook and her big, tough, never-wavering Trey fought tears. “That tells me you won’t ever get past it. There’s no future for us, Scout.”
Chapter Nine
Scout could only stare at Trey. Her already shattered heart, with those few short words, had completely folded in on itself. “But… but you said you would wait, Trey,” she whispered.
“I said I would wait when I thought there was hope. There’s no point—” Trey was cut off as Torz reared backward.
“Incoming!” the mighty unicorn shrieked, tucking his wing and sliding sideways through the air as the red, glowing eyes of a souled soul stealer appeared in the mist.
Scout grabbed her scepter, feeling Ashra’s power join hers as the orb lit up with bright flames. Unlike Torz, who immediately launched into defensive maneuvers, Ashra was an offensive kind of horse.
“Unicorn.”
She flew straight at the two monsters coming after them. Scout leveled her scepter, bracing herself as it lit up and exploded, shooting flames into the creature’s stomach. It shrieked, and Scout’s hands clapped over her ears as her brain threatened to shatter.
Ashra’s misty mane swept up, knocked Scout’s fingers out of the way, and wrapped itself tightly around Scout’s ears. They were better earmuffs than Scout’s hands could ever hope to be.
Scout swung her scepter back to her target, having faith in Torz and Trey that they could handle the other one.
“Rope?”
Ashra asked.
Scout nodded, digging hard for strength, as thin, rope-like flames snaked from her scepter. Ashra’s horn lit up, the flames winding around Scout’s, strengthening, tying them together. The soul stealer dodged to the side, moving with reptile-like quickness, but Ashra anticipated it this time and jerked her head at the last second. The rope fell neatly over the demon, and then they pulled, both of them. Ashra’s hooves danced backward through the sky, as if using the air itself for traction.
Scout’s arms began to shake, and sweat beaded at her temples, dampening her hair. “Aarrrrggh!” she screamed, throwing herself backward.
Too far backward.
Just as the Taraxippus snapped in two, Scout felt herself falling. The scepter slipped from her hands as she grasped the air for anything to stop her fall.
There was nothing.
She tumbled through the sky, hitting the ledge they’d landed on before. The ground was padded by the thick moss that grew everywhere in this place, but pain still shot through her entire body. And then the ledge broke. She had just enough time to realize she’d been right about its instability before she was rolling, cart-wheeling Sometimes falling through nothing but air, sometimes smashing into the steep mountainside.
She thought she might never stop falling.
“Ashra, where are you?”
And then she landed hard on flat ground. She was grateful for the cushion of grass, but even still, things were broken. She could tell. Groaning, she forced her eyes open.
“Scout, I can’t get away. It’s too strong.”
Ashra, Torz, and Trey were at least a gazillion feet above her, still fighting the remaining soul stealer. Without Scout, Ashra wasn’t powerful enough to do the kind of damage necessary, and this one seemed to be much trickier to kill. And angrier.
Scout rolled over and pushed herself up to her hands and knees, spitting blood. She forced herself to her feet and raised a hand to get Ashra’s attention and show her she was okay.
The screams distracted her.
Namely, a single scream, over and over — a horrified, helpless sound that Scout would recognize anywhere.
“Lil Bit!”
Without a chance for coherent, rational thought to take hold, Scout raced for the castle doors, less than a hundred feet away. Every muscle, bone, joint — everything hurt as she ran — but she didn’t care. Her sister was in there, in pain, scared. Something was very, very wrong.
“Scout! No!” Trey bellowed from above them, and Scout could hear Ashra in her head, screaming at her, then begging, but she couldn’t stop. Lil Bit, Lil Bit, Lil Bit.
I’m coming.
She slid through the doors, doors that she should have realized were wide open for the sole purpose of luring her in, before Ashra or Trey could get to her. And the doors-she-should-have-realized-were-wide-open-for-the-sole-purpose-of-luring-her-in slammed shut behind her.
Even then, she didn’t stop running. It wasn’t until Lil Bit’s voice nearly shattered her skull that she skidded to a stop, breathing hard. “Scout, stop!”
“Lil Bit?” she whispered. She hurt. She couldn’t tell if it was sweat running down her temple or blood, but she was almost positive it was blood trickling across her chin.
“He tricked you.” In all the time Lil Bit had been speaking to her this way, she’d never sounded so sad.
“Well, that was much easier than I expected. I thought for one so esteemed in my brother’s eyes, you would be much harder to catch.” Ariston dissolved out of the shadows, handsome face a mask of coldness, black eyes endless pits of horror and… pain.
Scout recognized him immediately from her nightmares. It took her hurt, battered mind several long seconds before she realized what Lil Bit had meant. He hadn’t been torturing her at all. Lil Bit was in no more danger than she had been before. Scout felt her eyes widen with realization, and with it came the pain. Crashing, horrible waves of pain that sent her to her knees and then to the ground, curling in on herself.
“You’re broken. She’s broken. How is she supposed to do anyone any good like that?” Ariston sounded utterly confused. Like it hadn’t been part of his master plan to kill her. But she heard it all from a distance, like he was at the other end of a very long, very dark tunnel.
“Bring me a soul,” he said, his voice grim. Before Scout could figure out what he meant, her body gave up, and she blacked out completely, falling into the same nightmare she’d had a thousand times since Lil Bit had been taken. Only it wasn’t a nightmare at all…
“Lil Bit! Lil Bit, where are you?” Scout’s breath hitched in her throat as she ran. It had been so mild that week, but now the night was unusually cold for October, and it felt like the air froze in her lungs as she screamed for her little sister, while the panic froze her heart.
“The unicorns! Scout, find the unicorns!” Scout heard Lil Bit’s voice, small and terrified, but she couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. She ran in circles, wasting time — precious, precious time.
“Lil Bit!” she screamed.
“Scout, the monsters are coming! Can you see them? Scout, find the unicorns! Please, Scout!”
Scout flew around a tree, frozen lungs forgotten, and nearly fell over Lil Bit where she lay curled on the forest floor.
But Lil Bit didn’t see Scout.
Lil Bit’s face was stiff in horror; her glassy eyes stared right through Scout’s soul. Her screams echoed through Scout’s head until they abruptly stopped, and Lil Bit’s eyes closed. Scout fell to her knees next to her little sister, cradling her small head in her lap. “No, no, no, no.” Time froze, everything froze, and her heart shattered in her chest — so cold.
“The unicorns are here. They’ll protect you,” Lil Bit whispered, although her mouth didn’t move.
Scout scanned the trees, frantic. “Help!” she screamed, over and over, cracking the air around them…
Minutes later, she forced her eyes open again. Whole. Unbroken. How was she not writhing in agony? She sat up slowly, testing her arms and legs. They were sore, but that was all.
“Well you took that very well, didn’t you?” Ariston murmured, standing over her. But Scout barely noticed. Soul stealers swarmed behind him, and she had nothing to fight with. Her scepter was who knew where. Ashra was outside, probably still swearing at Scout and fighting the souled Taraxippus.
“Oh, my pets. Right. I won’t let them have you. Not yet.” Ariston waved his hand absently, and the creatures shrieked and retreated like kicked puppies. Awful, horrifying puppies with no skin, and bloody rags hanging from their bones.
“Why not?” Scout asked. And promptly wanted to smack herself. Hadn’t she seen enough bad horror movies to know never to ask that question?
Ariston tipped his head, considering her. “I want to see what it is Iros is so fascinated with.”
“Tell him you’re a dancer.”
Scout blinked. Had Lil Bit lost her mind? She couldn’t be blamed, not after being trapped in these conditions for… Scout had lost track. A week? A month? An eternity? When had she seen her sister last?
“Dangerous habit,” Ariston said as a lazy smile broke the mask of indifference. “Daydreaming when faced with an adversary who can rip the soul from your body and tear it into a thousand pieces before your heart even stops beating.”
She wanted to tell him she wasn’t stupid enough to be daydreaming, but it probably wasn’t in her best interest to tell him she could talk to her sister. So she kept her mouth shut.
Ariston moved closer, and Scout backed up until her heels hit the wall behind her. Mere inches from her, he stopped, his black pits seeming to stare into her very soul. He really would have been beautiful, if he’d had eyes. His face didn’t have the cruel twist it had in her dreams. Instead, there was only sadness. “You are a disappointment to me, Scout.”
“Join the club.” Scout snarled. “I’m a disappointment to everyone.”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Well, that isn’t what I wa
s expecting.”
She shrugged. He turned on his heel and walked away, swinging a bright scepter like it was a toy. “You were far too easy to find in the first place.” His words held the same hint of a Greek accent that Iros’s had. “And much too easy to commandeer your dreams.” He turned again, walking backward. Tsking as he shook his head. “And then luring you in here… I really thought you would be more of a challenge, Scout.” He stopped, tipping his head to the side as he watched her. “What is it my brother is so fascinated by?”
“Tell him you’re a dancer!” Lil Bit begged.
“Take her soul. But tear it apart. Let her sister watch. Maybe that will bring her down where I can reach her.” Ariston spoke, dropping the glowing orb of the scepter until it touched the ground. The soul stealers swarmed from behind him, shrieking, screaming, bloody claws outstretched.
Let her sister watch.
Scout couldn’t put Lil Bit through that. She couldn’t let them kill her in front of her baby sister. “I’m a dancer!” she yelled.
The soul stealers didn’t care. She thought she caught just a gasp of Ashra’s voice in her head as the claws reached her, and she threw her hands over her face. “I’m sorry.”
“Stop!”
Ariston’s voice seemed to freeze them all. Several of them already had their claws on her soul, tearing through her skin, her muscle. But none made a move to rip her soul out.
“I’m a dancer,” she gasped through the pain. “I’m a dancer.”
“Leave her.”
The claws retracted, which was nearly as painful as them going in. Scout bit back a scream, nearly breaking her teeth in the effort not to make a sound.
Ariston came closer again. “Do you soothe when you dance? Or do you merely dance? Young people in your world have absolutely horrid definitions of dance.”
“I soothe,” Scout answered, praying it was the right thing to say.
“Very well. Dance for me.”
“What?” she asked dumbly, staring at him in complete bewilderment.
“You said you’re a dancer. Dance for me.” He stepped back several paces and spread his arms wide. “Is this not enough room for you?”
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