by Tenaya Jayne
X’s monster looked down at her, surprise in its demonic red eyes. “I don’t serve you,” it rasped. “I only serve X.”
“Yes, I know. But I’m X’s girl, and he wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to me, so I hoped you might be willing to come with me. There’s two wizards left in desperate need of killing. Will you help me?”
“Why did you not ask X to come with you?”
She blushed. “He must not see any more of me in Lachlan’s company. I fear he might not love me anymore if he sees what I have to do.”
“I don’t understand, but I will come with you. Are we going to the castle you were rescued from?”
“Yes.”
It growled, kind of like a purr of pleasure. “Good. I want to finish that one who ran from me like a little girl.”
“He’s all yours. The other one is my target.”
Her steps were sure as she swaggered to the darkest place she’d ever been. Diamond edge focus crystalized in her mind. In that moment, she embodied the best of both her parents, but she wore it with her own style.
She didn’t kick the door in, though she thought about it. Instead, she opened it quietly and moved into the same marble room where she’d first fought Lachlan. She walked to the hall that led to Lachlan’s bedroom, Fluffy following close behind.
The door was open. The room was torn up, and Lachlan was sprawled on the bed, seemingly asleep, the sphere he’d shown her on the pillow next to him.
“Go find the other one,” she whispered to Fluffy.
He smiled and charged off down the hall.
She approached the bed. He didn’t stir. She blew out a breath and climbed on the bed next to him. She smoothed his hair off his beautiful face.
“Lachlan…I’ve come back.” Her voice was quiet.
He opened his eyes and looked at her. “I’m dreaming.”
“Yes. And this is going to be the very best dream of your long life, after you take my voice back.”
He blinked and reached for her. She didn’t pull away.
“Everyone is dead. Peyton and I are the only wizards left.”
“So? What did they mean to you anyway? So long as you live forever, that’s all that matters. I’m here. I’ll give you everything you want, but you must take my voice back first.”
He shook his head, his eyes clearing. He smiled and rolled her under him. “I’m not dreaming. You came back. Why?”
“You understood me. I’m built for submission. I want it.”
“You’re lying.”
“Okay fine, I want the power you offered me. And I want you. No other man could measure up to you. You’re a god.”
His smiled broadened. “Why should I take your voice away when you say such sweet things?”
“I want to rely on my own power to speak. But I won’t know if I’ve pushed my limits unless you let me test them.”
He looked dubiously at her. “You’re playing a game.”
“I thought you liked those.”
Doubt continued to grow in his eyes. She grabbed his wrist and placed his hand on her breast. His eyes immediately smoldered.
“Don’t you want me?”
“Yes.”
“You promised me pleasure beyond anything I could imagine. I want you to fulfill that. Take my voice first. Then rock me until this mute girl screams.”
He laughed darkly. “Okay, my queen. I accept the challenge.”
He kissed her mouth, his tongue going down her throat. Burning vibrated down her neck as he swallowed her voice. Then he pulled back a little, his eyebrows raised.
She opened her mouth to speak. Nothing. Her voice was gone.
He moved his hands over her and kissed her mouth. She kissed him back. Her hands rested on his shoulders for a second before she wrapped them around his neck. He yelled as she lit him up, lightning covering his head, snaking into his mouth, ears, and eyes.
Roaring, he rose up and threw her across the room.
“The game just changed, but it will still end the same way!”
She shook her head and drew her swords. He laughed and took a step toward her, his hands erupting in flames.
The lightning in her hands connected to the lightning in her swords. The blades lifted off her hands, hovering inches over her skin. They flew at him like harpoons, dragging a rope of red electricity. He would have been able to dodge them, except at the last second, the lightning broke both swords into three sections, the glass reshaping into six spiraled drills.
The glass bore into his body, one in each knee, both arms, one through the chest and the last between the eyes. With the electricity, she pulled the drills back to her, her power healing the swords back into two blades as she caught them.
He fell back on the bed. She jumped up on his chest, slit his throat for good measure, and cut his heart out. Unsure how to collect his soul from the hard, metallic lump in her hand she put it in her back pocket. She picked up the sphere and threw it against the wall, shattering it.
She jumped down from the bed and left the room. She stopped at the door and looked back. His torn up body turned white and began to crumble. Tesla spit on the ground, shut the door behind her, and went to find Fluffy.
He was licking his blood-covered teeth, sitting next to Peyton’s body. He held up Peyton’s heart for her.
“There you go. That was most satisfying, I must say,” he said.
She smiled and put Peyton’s heart in her other back pocket.
“All finished? Shall we go now?”
She shook her head and touched her throat. When he looked confused, she opened her mouth in a silent scream and pointed, shaking her head again.
“You lost your voice?”
She nodded.
“Okay, um… Should we go?” he asked again.
She held one finger up and then gestured for him to follow her. There was just one last thing…Iva.
Tesla opened the carved white door; the smell of rain greeted her.
“Tesla…” Iva said as she came into the domed room and placed her hand on the soft fur. It moved and wrapped gently around the tips of her fingers.
I can’t speak, she thought.
“I can hear you,” Iva said. “So long as you are touching me.”
I’ve killed Lachlan. I came to say goodbye.
A ripple moved over the floor. “I’m glad you were able to escape his grasp…I would ask a boon of you before you go home.”
What?
“Kill me.”
Oh, Iva, no.
“Please. It would be mercy. I’ve been here so long. My world is dead. My race is dead. Please help me move on from this slavery?”
Tears filled her eyes. All right. If you’re sure.
“I’m sure.”
You brought me comfort, Iva. I’ll never forget you.
Another ripple crossed the floor, and the rain stopped falling through the ceiling. “Goodbye,” Iva whispered.
Closing her eyes, Tesla put both of her hands flat in the fur and sent out a powerful shock. She gave it everything she had, not wanting to draw it out painfully. Iva turned a charred black. Every hair shriveled down and smoke rose up.
Iva? Iva?
There was no reply. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, Tesla stood and left the once amazingly beautiful room, with its unique inhabitant. Fluffy followed her silently as she went back to the main room and opened the door to the Everpath.
X was still asleep in the chair as she landed in her room. She held the stone up and Fluffy flew back inside it. She set the stone, and the two souls on the floor next to his pile of stuff. He roused a little as she took off her swords and put them under her bed. She watched him from her bed as she unlaced her boots.
He yawned and opened his eyes.
“What are you doing?”
She came to him and reached for his hands. He frowned at her, lacing his fingers through hers.
“Tesla?”
She shook her head.
“Your voice is gone?”
&
nbsp; She nodded.
“How did that happen? Was it the battle?”
She exhaled, feeling her throat open up again in response to X.
“No. It wasn’t the battle… You’re going to be mad at me.”
“I doubt that.”
“Here, look.” She pointed to Lachlan’s and Peyton’s hearts. “I didn’t know how to put them into the stone so I just brought them back for you to take care of.”
He looked down and then back at her. “Where did those come from?”
“Mordian.”
His eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you—“
“I took Fluffy with me. It wasn’t over, X. I had to kill Lachlan… You’re angry.”
He exploded, jumping to his feet. “Why did you go alone? Why didn’t you wake me?”
She shrank back from him, trembling. Tears pooled in her eyes and began to run down her cheeks. Everything fell in on her at that moment, and she could no longer stand. Her muscles jerked with tremors as the adrenaline she’d been running on ran out. Physically and mentally she was fragile, and his anger broke the last vestige of strength she had.
“Get out!” she shouted before curling into herself on the bed sobbing.
Furious and now confused, too, he just stood there for a second. “I don’t believe you.” His voice was empty. He grabbed his stuff from the floor and left, slamming her door behind him.
With shaking hands she reached up and pinched the first layer of the atmosphere and pulled it around her bed like curtain. She was visible to others. They would be able to see and speak to her, but no one would be able to touch her. Her lungs struggled to fill when she breathed, her chest shaking too violently. Everything she suffered in Lachlan’s castle, everything she’d experienced during the battle, killing Lachlan, killing Iva. It all crashed over her like a black wave made of nightmares.
Sobs wracked her as post-traumatic stress set in.
Chapter Twenty-Three
X left the house and attempted to walk off his mad before tearing open the air and taking himself to the Heart. The burned forest made his heart heavy.
X. You’re back so quickly. Have you decided what favor you would like? The Heart asked.
“No,” he huffed. “I have two more souls for you to burn up.”
Just toss them in… Something vexes you.
“Tesla makes me crazy.”
The Heart laughed. Yes. Love will do that to you. Let it go, whatever it is she did. It’s not worth hanging on to.
“You love her, too. Don’t you?”
Oh, yes. Very much.
He sat down and picked at the ground, thinking. “I’m still just human.”
Not so. You’re much more than that.
“Even if she chooses me, compared to her, I will grow old and die very quickly.”
True. But why do you say if?
“She could change her mind. I had thought to ask you to make me her destined life mate as my gift, but now…I think… Can you give me a lifespan to match hers?”
Good choice. Yes I can. But since you’re somewhat emotional at the moment, I’ll not grant your wish right now. Get rid of your vexation and then decide.
X sighed and stood. “Okay. Thanks. Hey, whatever happened to those ghosts I pulled from the tree? I never saw them again.”
Glad you asked. Come back tomorrow and you will see. Make sure Forest comes, too.
“Until tomorrow then.”
When he got back to the house, Forest and Syrus were in Tesla’s room, and she was still crying. He hated the sound of her sorrow. Why had she shrunk back from him like that? So what if he was mad? So he yelled? Did she think he would hurt her?
He stood in the doorway and looked in. Both Forest and Syrus were begging her to let them in. He could see the shield she’d put around herself. Forest looked at him desperately.
“Can I talk to her alone?”
They left the room and closed the door. He knelt beside the bed. She faced the wall, her whole body shaking with tears
“Tesla?”
She quieted, her body going rigid.
“What’s going on? Why did you pull away from me? I wasn’t going to hurt you. You know that, don’t you?”
“You yelling at me was just the straw that broke me. I know you wouldn’t hurt me. You should leave, X. I don’t want you to see me like this. I’ve got to process some shit.”
“You don’t have to do it alone.”
“I do. Just like I had to kill Lachlan alone. It just had to be that way, and I can’t tell you why…or, I don’t want to rather. You said you didn’t need to know. You said you wouldn’t stop loving me.” Her tone turned accusatory.
“Okay. I meant what I said. I just…how would you feel if it was me?”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
He was silent for a minute. “Hey,” he said in a louder happier voice. “We won, you know. It’s actually over. Everything you’ve been working so hard to protect, Tesla. You did it.”
She rolled over and faced him, her eyes bloodshot and puffy. Then she smiled, reached through the barrier she made and touched his hand. “Yes. I haven’t had time to feel that yet. I will. Thank you for everything. I know it was terrible. I can never repay you.”
A devious smile pulled up the side of his mouth. “Sure you can. You can repay me today, tomorrow, and every day forever after that, just by being mine.”
“Oh, X.” She smiled, but the next second, she was crying again. “Please leave. I’m sorry. I will be myself again…I’m just not her right now. I love you. But the way I am right now, if you stay, I’ll hurt you. I won’t mean to. Please…”
He hung his head and nodded. “Okay. If that’s what you really need. I guess I’ll go home. I’ll wait for you… When you’re ready, you know where to find me.” He kissed her hand, still on top of his. His lips lingered over her hand, then he abruptly got to his feet and left.
She stared at the door he’d just walked out of, a new misery piling on top of the others. It hurt to send him away, but she had to. She curled in on herself again, missing him already, and feeling her ability to speak aloud begin to ebb away.
X set his stuff down and bid Forest and Syrus goodbye.
“Thank y—“
“No,” Syrus cut him off. “Don’t thank us. We thank you. You have our eternal gratitude. No matter what happens between you and Tesla, you’re always welcome and wanted here.”
Syrus shocked him by giving him a brief hug. Forest hugged him tightly and seemed reluctant to let go.
“I don’t have the words, X,” she said.
He smiled warmly at her. “I don’t need them. Oh, but I do have to tell you, the Heart wants you at the wood tomorrow. Requested you.”
“Oh.” She looked surprised. “All right…are you sure you won’t stay? There’s going to be some amazing parties.”
“No, thank you. I’m not keen to take any more knives in the back.”
They all chuckled.
X sobered as he picked up his axe, bow, and knapsack. “I know I will see you again. Hopefully sooner rather than later.”
He could have lingered. It was tempting. Instead, he nodded to them and tore the air open and left.
His eyes adjusted in the Everpath. He couldn’t go home just yet. He had a promise to fulfill. In his searching for Tesla, opening every door along the way, he’d found the perfect place to free the ghosts he still carried. X opened the door and stepped through.
The landscape was the exact opposite of the barren hell he’d originally found these souls in. It was quiet and empty, but beautiful. The air was soft and fragrant. He touched the stone on his right hand, summoning them out. None of them spoke or even looked back as they flew away. Some laughed. Some sang. Fluffy was last out.
He looked down at X and then at the world around them. “This pleases the others. But it’s not for me,” he said in his gravelly monstrous voice.
“What? You want to go back to the hole I found you in?”
X was touched, not that he’d say so. It was weird to have such a freakish friend, but that was what Fluffy had become. “All right, don’t get soft on me. It’s incongruent with your looks.”
He barked out a terrifying laugh and flew back into the palm stone. X opened the door and left.
It was hard for Forest to leave Tesla alone, but that was what she insisted she wanted. The sounds of celebration traveled faintly through the windows from far away. Forest leaned against the window frame and listened to it. It was more beautiful than a symphony.
Syrus brought her a glass of wine and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I can’t get my head around it.”
“I know. Me neither,” she said. “I feel exhausted and strung out and high all at once.”
“Well, drink too much, and you can add drunk to that list.”
She chuckled. “Not sure if that’s a good idea or not.”
He clinked his glass against hers. “The wizards are dead. If that’s not the best reason to get hammered, I don’t know what is.”
She took a sip and nodded thoughtfully. “Hmm…I think we should break out something stronger. Wanna bet who can last longer?”
“Oh, I can drink you under the table.”
She smiled. “Prove it.”
Two hours later, they barely managed to stumble into bed before passing out.
In the middle of the night, Forest woke suddenly. She got up, her head pulsing. She ignored the pain and went to Tesla’s room. She knew her child needed her.
She knocked and opened the door a little, poking her head in. Tesla was still on the bed in the fetal position. She looked over her shoulder at her mother and pulled the barrier she’d made aside, reaching for her. Forest held her tightly, absorbing the shocks through her body as Tesla cried.
“I love you so much, baby. Everything will be all right. You’re strong.”
She pulled away from her mother and began signing. I tricked Lachlan to taking my voice back. I wanted nothing of him to linger on me like that. I’d rather be mute the rest of my life than remember him every time I spoke. X got mad at me, because I snuck off and killed him on my own. I get it. I would have been mad, too.