Indebted

by Amy A. Bartol

  “What does that even mean?” I frown in exasperation.

  “It means that you’re no longer involved in this mission. I’m not going to allow you to martyr yourself,” he replies firmly.

  “Martyr myself? You’re being unreasonable. I can help Brownie and Russell,” I say in a pleading tone.

  “At what expense, Evie? At the risk of your life?” he asks as his eyebrows draw together. “You’ve already agreed to go to the Ifrit, which is unacceptable,” he replies, finally losing some of his cool.

  “We’re not even sure what this Irfit wants from me,” I say in what I hope is a reasonable tone.

  “It is an Ifrit, Evie,” Reed says in a way that makes the hair on my arms rise. “He will not ask you what you are willing to give. He will take whatever he wants.”

  “But—” I begin.

  Reed interrupts me. “I’m not going to let you trade your life for theirs,” he says with finality.

  “I will survive this,” I say with conviction I don’t really feel, “I have to protect Russell. He’s my family.”

  “And you are my family,” Reed replies. “I will do everything I can to get him back for you. Trust me.”

  “I can help,” I say, wringing my hands.

  Reed groans. “Evie, you are not in this alone.”

  I’m just about to tell him all the ways I can help find Russell when I hear the sound of crying coming from somewhere outside. It isn’t just one cry; it is like weeping from a crowd of women. “What’s that?” I ask Reed.

  “I don’t know. Stay here. Don’t leave this room,” he orders, and then he moves supernaturally fast and is gone in a fraction of a second.

  I get up quickly from bed and put on a pair of jeans and a top from my closet. Going to the door of my room, I look out into the courtyard to see every angel that we have here amassing. They are flying around the high walls that run the perimeter of the compound. I hear wailing coming from outside the walls, like a mass of people all crying and shouting at once. Turning to see Sorin and Elan standing on the porch outside my door, I ask, “What is that?”

  Sorin looks grim when he says, “Humans.”

  “What?” I ask, searching his face for an answer.

  “It is thousands of humans. They are all throwing themselves at the gates, trying to get in.” Elan replies as we watch the gates rattle from being pressed from without.

  “Why?” I ask in shock.

  “They said they want their queen,” Sorin replies.

  I close my eyes and ask, “Who is their queen?”

  “You are their queen,” Elan answers me, watching me flinch even though I already knew the answer to my own question.

  CHAPTER 8

  The Stone Forest

  As I inch closer to Elan on the porch that overlooks the courtyard outside my room, I listen to the crowds of people outside our compound. They are clawing the gates and walls demanding to get in to see me. “The Gancanagh have been busy.” Elan observes. “They have managed to enthrall many of the locals here. They must have been here for several days because their victims look like they have had a substantial amount of toxin administered to them. Some look like they haven’t eaten or slept in a while. They have orders to come and fetch you.”

  “Show me,” I whisper, turning to Sorin because he seems to like me more than Elan does.

  “We have orders to keep you in your room,” Sorin replies apologetically.

  I frown, “Then fly me to the roof of my room. I have to see what’s going on outside,” I say with exasperation. Sorin considers this compromise for a second before taking me in his arms and flying me quickly to the pitched rooftop of the pagoda. Elan follows us up, unwilling to let us go alone. Hovering in the air, my view stretches for several miles outside of the compound. The roads and outlying areas, as far as I can see, are filled with people…or maybe a more accurate description for them would be enthralled junkies.

  I feel myself paling. “There are so many of them,” I say, my heart breaking for all of Brennus’ victims. Even in the darkness of the night sky, their numbers look frightening, like a legion of zombies, throwing themselves at the walls of our sanctuary in despair. Their clothing is shredded and in disarray. I can’t understand what any of them is saying because they’re speaking a Chinese dialect, but I feel like I have to try to do something to help them. “I have to talk to them. Maybe I can make them go away.”

  “No,” Sorin replies, “you can’t help them. Most of them will die. They will refuse to eat unless told to do so by the Gancanagh—they will perish. It is fortunate they have not been turned fully; they still retain their souls. None of the Gancanagh has shared their blood with them. They are collateral damage—weapons.”

  I see the worn-out faces of the victims. Their cries are torturing me. Brennus had said that if I made him come for me, I wouldn’t like his methods of getting me back. He is building his empire of violence that I can feel in the collective sorrow of the crowd. “Are the Gancanagh out there?” I ask Sorin with calm that I don’t feel. I feel like cowering and pleading for them to hide me from Brennus, while there is another part of me that is burning to see him again.

  “We haven’t seen them. This is their first wave—perhaps a distraction from what they are really planning. That is why you are not to leave your room. The humans are a great distraction for us. We are unwilling to harm them, even though we know there is little hope for them until they die,” Sorin says. “The Gancanagh have limited our options. His humans are drawing attention to our position, so we’ll need to leave our sanctuary or eliminate the humans.”

  “Could you take them somewhere else?” I ask.

  “Brennus will only make more,” Elan says.

  “We must take you somewhere else, Evie,” Sorin adds. “Then we can go on the offensive. We have already called for more Powers. We have to take out their army.”

  “Unless I surrender,” I say to myself. “Brennus is knocking at the door. Soon, he will be kicking it in.”

  Elan and Sorin both growl at me before Sorin flies me to my room, setting me down gently. “You will stay here,” Sorin says in tone of authority, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Elan looks equally determined to make me stay in my room. In seconds, Reed and Zephyr materialize beside Elan and Sorin, startling me. They’re dressed in black body armor that covers all of their skin. Hoods are attached to their collars so that they can be pulled over their faces, protecting them from the touch of the Gancanagh. Their wings are exposed in the back, but since their feathers aren’t susceptible to the toxic skin of the Gancanagh, it will not affect them if they’re touched.

  “Reed, I have to talk to Brennus. Maybe I can reason with him. Why does he have to come now? I have to find Russell and Brownie. Can we slip out and leave for the Ukraine now? Has Phaedrus called?” I ask in a stream of words.

  Reed frowns. “One thing at a time, Evie. Brennus has pushed himself to the top of the list,” Reed says with a grim twist of his lips. “You’re not speaking to Brennus. You’re staying here.”

  “Where is Buns, we can’t leave her alone,” I say, panicking because I don’t know where my friend is at the moment.

  “She has already left,” Zephyr says in a soft tone. “She went with half the Undines and Preben to meet the other Dominion Powers.”

  My eyes widen, “Meet them? Meet them where?” I ask, feeling completely locked out of what they have been planning.

  “The Ukraine—Pirogovo, it is south of Kiev, Evie. They are meeting Phaedrus—collecting more intel on the Ifrit,” Reed replies with military precision.

  “Were you going to tell me?” I ask them, and seeing their blank faces, I know that the answer to my question is “no.” “Do you know where Brownie and Russell are?” I ask when no one speaks.

  Reed frowns at me. “Stay in the room, love. Don’t leave it for any reason. I’m going to go with Zee—we will be back for you. We will move you soon, then we will answer all of your questions,
” Reed says, pulling me into his arms. Realizing that he is going out there without me, I cling to him tight, all of my anger at being shut out of their intel forgotten.

  “Let me go with you, Reed,” I plead, not wanting him out of my sight with Brennus so near.

  “I won’t be gone long. We are looking for the best way to get you out of here undetected. Once we have worked that out, we will be back,” he says, hugging me tight and then letting me go. Nodding to Zephyr, they leave in a fraction of a second.

  Taking up positions outside my room, Elan and Sorin don the same kind of body armor that Reed and Zephyr had on. Soon after, the crying outside the walls of the compound dies down and is replaced by an eerie silence. Goose bumps rise on my arms as I look at the alert faces of the angels guarding me.

  The tense silence stretches on until it is replaced by a strange, hissing sound from somewhere off in the distance, beyond the protective stone walls. Deep growls sound from my bodyguards. Elan sniffs the air and scowls. “What is it?” I ask, my heartbeat drumming painfully in my chest when screams of agony float to us on the air.

  “Flame-throwers,” Elan answers.

  “What?” I choke.

  “They are burning them,” he says.

  “What?” I ask in a weak tone.

  “The Gancanagh are burning the humans, attempting to draw us out,” Sorin says stiffly. “It is impossible for us to watch them torture humans. We will engage them.”

  More hissing of flame-throwers sounds as billows of smoke drift over the walls of our fortress.

  A driving wind starts stirring the leaves and the red hanging lanterns in the trees around us, pushing my hair away from my face. Thick, dark clouds collect above us like an ominous omen of impending doom. As I gaze up at the darkening sky, rain falls in hard, pelting drops.

  “The Undines are bringing the rain, trying to help,” Elan explains, while we watch the storm clouds.

  Shivering from the soaking rain and the horror around me, I jump when Reed speaks to me, “The rain will also be good cover when we fly you out of here.” I gasp, feeling his arms go around me, gathering me to him. Then he whispers something to me—something in Angel.

  “What did you say?” I whisper back, relieved that he’s here.

  “I said, ‘I love you, my aspire,’” he replies, squeezing me to him. “Are you ready to go?” he asks and I nod immediately, wanting to leave as quickly as possible. Zephyr moves to one side of us as Elan and Sorin take similar positions around us.

  We are just about to make our leap into the air, when the flickering of several sets of helicopter blades sound from somewhere within the black clouds above us. Dark, shooting images begin to rain out of the night, plummeting towards us at a frightening velocity. Hitting the ground, the first Gancanagh soldier pauses on one knee momentarily before he stands up, completely unharmed from having hurled out of the sky. He bares his sharp fangs as his hands move quickly to his back holster, drawing from it a wicked automatic rifle and indiscriminately spraying bullets all around the compound.

  Pulling me behind him, Reed shouts a warning to the angels nearest the gunman. The army of angels immediately engages the Gancanagh as they continue to fall from the sky. Some of the angels have taken flight, plucking their enemies out of their freefall and grappling with them, tearing them apart and dropping them to the ground in pieces.

  Hundreds of Gancanagh continue to fall from the sky like locusts, but they are only one wave of this assault. The stream that winds throughout the compound soon begins coughing up more Gancanagh who rush out of it, dispersing like rats from a flooded sewer.

  “Evie, stay behind me,” Reed says in an intense tone as he grasps me by my upper arms, staring into my wide eyes. I manage to nod to him. He drops his hands from me and pulls a long sword from a sheath strapped to his back. Everything takes on a surreal tone after that. I try hard to stay with Reed, who is moving like a graceful assassin, slicing through evil, undead corpses as they approach us, trying to get at me. The Gancanagh have the sheer numbers on our encampment, but the angels are ferocious, tearing the limbs off of their enemies. Their strategy seems to be to maim the Gancanagh and then move on, leaving the wounded undead to stagger around until they can be completely destroyed.

  Reed is a machine when it comes to killing Gancanagh; it’s almost like the Gancanagh are moving in slow motion next to him. He is so much faster than any of them. Even when they rush at him en masse, he easily finds the weakness in their attack and cuts them all down. I don’t even think he really needs his body armor because not one of them gets close enough to touch him. It would be impressive if it weren’t so utterly terrifying.

  Looking around me, I see that Zephyr is creating his own mayhem, slashing and carving up our enemies as they approach us. Zee is also shielding some of the Undines who are spraying the Gancanagh nearest us with jets of water that far surpass the power of a fire hose. Safira is near us now, too. She is concentrating on driving the water up from the stream and sweeping hordes of Gancanagh back into it, freezing the water so they can’t get back out.

  As I watch Safira work, I look beyond her, to the stream and the Gancanagh who are near it. A petite figure just emerges from the water where it is not yet frozen. I can’t see very well through the rain, but this Gancanagh doesn’t resemble the other massively strong looking soldiers. This figure is feminine and well…girlish. She slips in the mud, staggering forward towards our position. She falls down and crawls away from the others, looking around her in desperation. “Evie! Where are you? Help me!” Molly’s voice calls to me in anguish.

  “Molly,” I whisper, the shock of seeing her here is overwhelming me. A tall Gancanagh moves up just behind Molly then, pulling her roughly to her feet by her upper arm. Molly struggles to get away from the soldier holding her, but she stops when he backhands her across the face, letting her fall back down to the ground.

  Reacting out of instinct, I dart away from the protected area behind Reed and run as fast as I can towards Molly. Hearing Reed calling my name, I can’t stop. I have to try to help the person that has been like a sister to me for most of my life. Intending to kill whoever it is that just hit Molly, I pluck an automatic weapon out of the hands of a Gancanagh soldier as I speed by him. Drawing the weapon up to my shoulder, I begin spraying bullets at the Gancanagh who hit Molly.

  The bullets from my rifle aren’t reacting like they should. Instead of hitting my target, the bullets careen around my target, refusing to kill him. Nearing them, I see Molly cowering on the ground, her face turned away from me. Through the haze of the rain, recognition and dread hits me at once. Brennus stands only a few feet from me, hovering over Molly.

  “Ahh, mo chroí,” Brennus breathes, like he is immensely relieved to see me here. “Ye look grand.”

  I don’t answer him, but instead I lift the rifle in my hands, shooting the gun until the trigger clicks, indicating that I have emptied the magazine. At nearly point blank range, I should’ve hit him easily, but the bullets swerve around him, like they are intentionally avoiding him.

  “Dat gun is enchanted, Genevieve,” Brennus says in an easy tone, like he’s amused by my reaction to him still standing. “Ye don’t tink I would come in here and be banjaxed by me own arsenal. Dat is na me style atall.” Turning to Molly on the ground, he offers his hand to her, saying, “Tanks me wee lass.”

  Molly takes the hand that he offers her, popping up off the ground with a soft giggle as she turns her face to me, smiling. “Eaves, you’re so gullible,” Molly says teasingly, her beautiful smile marred now by her sharp, snake-like fangs. “I swear, you should’ve seen the look on your face when I called for help. You looked so sad! Cheer up! We’re going to have such an awesome time from now on.”

  My heart squeezes tight, looking at the beautiful monster in front of me that used to be my friend. Her hair is much longer than I remember her wearing it, but it’s the same chestnut brown. Her skin, always pale like mine, is now nearly milk white and fla
wless.

  She had played me to get me away from Reed. I begin edging away from them, but I have to stop as my back comes up against a solid wall of ice that blocks my way back to Reed. I turn, pressing my hands to the thick wall, trying to push through it. The rain has suddenly stopped falling as I use all of my strength to try to crush the frigid fortress surrounding me.

  “Safira is an old…acquaintance of moin,” Brennus says, indicating the barrier cutting me off from all of the angels. “I told her ta take yer advice when da time came—freeze da aingeals in a block of ice ‘til we have gone. She wants ta save dem from ye. She tinks ye’re evil,” he says conspiratorially and then he shrugs. “I might have helped wi’ dat a wee bit. I told her dat ye’re really me spy. ’Twas all very simple after dat.”

  Turning back to face him and adopting a defensive posture, I say, “You’re going to have to kill me here because I’m not going with you.”

  “I did miss ye so, mo chroí. Ye’re such a challenge. I canna leave ye here for da Ifrit ta claim. Dey are such nasty craiturs. So we will be going home now…” he says, opening his hand to me. Bringing his hand up, he blows some dust that is in his palm and it floats around me like sparkling glitter, coving my wet skin and sticking to me. Trying to wipe it off, I begin to sway on my feet as black spots swirl in my vision.

  “Don’t do this, Brennus, please…” I plead weakly, losing all of my strength so that I can’t fight back.

  “Alfred was right about one ting. Ye are very beautiful when ye beg, Genevieve,” Brennus says, catching me in his cold embrace before I fall to the ground. “Soon, ye will never need ta beg me for anyting. I’ll give ye everyting.”

  As I look into his light green eyes, I mutter, “Don’t want you…”

  My eyes flutter open, focusing on an enormous, carved Buddha head. It’s lying next to the crumbling body of the statue, having toppled to the ground beside it. Everything is hazy as I float in the half conscious realm between sleep and wakefulness. The statue head looks as if it’s asleep on a pillow of vines and it occurs to me that I must still be in China, or maybe Tibet.