Edge of Dreams

by Diana Pharaoh Francis

  “It’s time to come back to reality,” Percy said crisply. “Your talents are required.”

  Taylor said something that sounded like “mmphmmph.”

  Percy slapped her again, then turned to Luke. “Bring me a container of ice and some water. Big enough to dip her head into. There’s a kitchen in the lounge.”

  Luke looked like he wanted to say no, along with some other choice words, but marched off to do as told. Should I go after him? Take him down while he was alone? The lounge had a wall of windows facing the hangar, and only some of the curtains were closed. I risked being seen by Percy and his other goons. Not a great idea.

  That left my original plan: delay Percy until the cavalry arrived. How long would it be? A half hour? An hour? Probably closer to half, despite the snow. I could survive that. Hopefully. I took a breath to steady myself as Luke returned with a gray dish tub full of ice water, his assault rifle slung over his back.

  He set the tub on the floor. Percy grappled Taylor by the back of her collar and forced her down to her knees. He started to shove her face into the tub.

  I held myself still. It wouldn’t hurt for Taylor to come out of her drug haze. He wasn’t going to drown her. He needed her to fly for him.

  Percy held her down for the count of ten. Taylor started to thrash around the count of seven. He yanked her up, and she took a great gulp of air. Before she could speak, he repeated the process. Then again. And again.

  Each time, Taylor fought him harder, but her movements were still clumsy and uncoordinated. Percy was starting to hold her down longer. I couldn’t risk that she could take much more. Time to get in his way.

  “You seem to have a fetish for helpless women,” I called out, stepping into sight. “Some might think you’re compensating.” I waggled my little finger suggestively at him.

  Percy whirled, dropping Taylor. She sprawled on the floor in a puddle of ice water, coughing. Luke stared at me like I was a spider he’d like to squish. The other two goons swung around, aiming guns at me as they marched toward me.

  “You should stop there,” I said as I dropped into trace vision. They both wore bright spirit cloaks. Not for paralysis, or the others wouldn’t have been able to move. So what was their borrowed talent? I wasn’t about to find out.

  Neither of the two men stopped. I activated the two null necklaces, and at the same time drew my gun and leveled it at them. They stopped. Mexican standoff. Except—

  “Please remember your sister, Miss Hollis,” Percy said, having overcome his surprise. “That is, Riley. Forgive my informality. I shouldn’t want you to be confused about whom I’m addressing. If you should like to see the other Miss Hollis remain unharmed, lower your weapon.”

  I didn’t move. “Unharmed? You’ve been beating the crap out of her.”

  “I have not. Beating her would be something more akin to this.”

  I heard a heavy thump. Taylor made a squalling sound.

  “I suspect she might have a broken rib or two, though she should still be able to fly. Shall I continue? Or will you listen to reason?”

  I hated to give in, even though I’d planned to all along. I made myself lower my gun.

  “Very good. Now drop it and kick it away.”

  I did as I was told.

  “Search her, Barnes.”

  I held myself still as the darker haired goon on the right slung his rifle around to his back and strode toward me. He pulled off the flak jacket, then frisked me, though it was more of a groping. Bastard. He hooked fingers under my necklace nulls and pulled them over my head, then stripped off the useless shield spell bracelet. As he did, his mouth curved up in an expression of pure malice.

  “Clear,” he said.

  “Good. Bring her here.”

  Barnes gripped my arm and shoved me along in front of him until I stood in the center of the hangar with Percy, Taylor, and Luke, whose primary job seemed to be wrangling Taylor.

  Percy examined me, walking around me once like I was a cow he was thinking of buying. “You’ve proven quite resourceful. I thought you’d be rotting away deep in the mountain. Who is with you? Surely you did not arrive alone?”

  “Hell no,” I said. “I’ve got a boatload of goblins and orcs in the back office. My pet T. rex is in the bathroom. He’s had some intestinal trouble, but he should be out soon.”

  Percy was clearly not amused. He gave me a long look, his pale eyes as remote and unforgiving as a cobra’s. A vivid memory of him burning my arms made sweat spring up all over my body. The man was a psychopathic control freak. Challenging him might not be the smartest idea at this particular juncture. On the other hand, he’d lost interest in Taylor for the time being, which was a win for me, and every second that went by was a second closer to help arriving. Taylor’s breathing sounded liquid, with a high-pitched wheeze at the end of each inhalation. I hoped to hell she’d be okay until help arrived. It proved he could be pushed out of his cold control, though. He needed her to fly. Kicking her had only risked his escape.

  He raised his hand slowly and slapped me hard, half spinning me around. I responded before I had a chance to think. I grabbed two handfuls of his long hair and smashed his head down on my knee. Hands tore me off him and threw me back onto the floor. I bounced on the concrete. Black splotches swirled around my vision. I started to jump back up, but a foot landed on my neck and a gun barrel pressed into my left eye.

  “Move and die, bitch.”

  That was my good buddy, Barnes.

  “Stand down, Barnes,” Percy said.

  “He’d like to torture and kill me himself,” I said, rasped really, given that a boot was crushing my larynx. “Sad for you, I know. Maybe next time.” I was trying real hard not to pee my pants. My captor lifted the barrel of the rifle off my eye about an inch and set his foot flat on the floor. I rubbed my throat.

  “Barnes!” Percy barked, threat snapping in his voice.

  The other man’s lip curled, but he backed away a couple steps. I sat up. Percy was pressing a wet cloth to his nose. It was my sister’s shirt. He’d stripped it off her and collected up some ice in it. She remained curled up in a ball, her hands clutched around herself. Her face was swollen and bloody, and a bruise had started to blossom across her ribs. Percy didn’t look much better.

  “Ooh, that has to hurt. You probably want to get a heal-all on that stat.”

  “Get me a heal-all,” Percy said to no one in particular. He was busy oozing venom at me.

  Barnes’s goon partner responded, going to a stack of luggage piled up near Madison’s father and sister. Those two huddled together, watching the spectacle unfolding. She hadn’t stopped weeping since I’d first seen her on camera. Her father held her tightly, looping his manacled arms over her head and shoulders, hunching so that his back was between her and potential gunshots.

  After rifling in one of the packs for a moment, the goon returned and handed Percy a cuff bracelet. He bent and touched the chain on the floor that had been kicked askew while wrestling with Taylor. As power flared and died, I realized it was a null. I hadn’t paid any attention to it before, but now realized they’d used it to suppress any sudden magical talents Taylor might have developed when they gave her the SD.

  Percy tossed aside the ice-filled shirt and clasped the silver cuff over his left wrist. I couldn’t help grinning. I had smashed his nose, but good. It was pulpy and skewed to the right. The heal-all wouldn’t be able to straighten it out. Percy would have to do that himself or have a tinker break and heal it again later.

  He surprised me when he put his fingers on either side of his nose and pushed it back forward. He didn’t bat an eyelash at the pain he must have felt. I watched in disgust as the damage I caused vanished. Within a minute, he was essentially back to normal. I’d been hoping to run more time than that off the clock.

/>   “That was very rude of you, Riley,” he said, sniffing and dabbing blood away with his handkerchief. “Unfortunately, I don’t have time enough to teach you another lesson in manners at the moment. However, since you’ll be joining us on our journey, I’ll look forward to spending some quality time with you. Now, let’s see about your sister, shall we? Can’t have our pilot mewling about on the floor.”

  He slid the silver cuff off his wrist and put it on Taylor. I watched as the bruises and swelling faded. Soon her breathing calmed. When she appeared mostly back to normal, he took the cuff and pocketed it. Then he grabbed Taylor by the hair, wrapping it around his fist. He dragged her over to the ice-water tub. He pulled her up onto her knees and then shoved her head under water again. This time, she instantly started to struggle, thrashing and kicking. I could hear her muffled screams. She shoved her hands against the floor, trying to get purchase. Percy was impervious. Once again, I held myself still, reminding myself that a sharper Taylor could only help get us out of this mess.

  After a good half minute, he wrenched her up. She swore and shoved at his legs. “Let go! What the fuck is going on?”

  “Oh good. You’re back among us. Are you ready to fly?”

  “Who the hell are you? Get your goddamn hands off me!” That’s when she noticed me lying on the floor. “Riley? What are you doing here?”

  “Wanted to see if you’d started talking to me again,” I said. We’re in serious fucking trouble seemed a little obvious. “I guess you have.”

  She scowled, her expression tightening. “This is no time for jokes. What’s going on?”

  “Yes, Riley. Explain to your lovely sister just what’s happened to her and why,” Percy said. His smile at me was oily and made me want to wash in acid to be certain every bit of his filth was gone.

  “This asshole wants you to fly him and his friends out of Diamond City,” I said. “He was your last flight appointment of the day.”

  There was silence, until Percy figured out I wasn’t saying any more. He shook his head. “Riley, how very terse of you. My dear Taylor, I’ve just given you a dose of Sparkle Dust. If you want more, and you will, you’ll need to obey my orders to the letter. That starts with flying us out of here. Do not think to refuse me. I’m generous with my loyal employees, but you will not like what happens should you cross me. Try to recall how good it felt when the Dust flooded your system, and how your body went incandescent with heavenly bliss. I will make sure that you feel that way every day, if you cooperate. If not . . . the cravings for and withdrawal from Sparkle Dust are dreadful. I have seen addicts peel the skin from their own bodies.” He gave an exaggerated shudder. “I should hate to see such a beautiful woman suffer like that.”

  “Yeah, right,” I said. “You get off on other people’s pain. Don’t fall for it, Taylor. Don’t fly him anywhere. He’s just trying to scare you.”

  “Am I? Well then, let me demonstrate to you both how very sincere I am. Alan, go fetch me a pair of cutters from one of the mechanic bays. Something that will slice through a finger.”

  Barnes’s partner strode away without a word. Taylor flashed me a scared look.

  “Is this guy for real?”

  I nodded, my mouth dry. “He’s as evil as they come, and yes, I’m guessing he’s going to cut off my fingers to get you on board. He’s killed all your employees and a family you had waiting. You don’t want to mess with him.”

  Taylor’s mouth fell open, and a storm of grief and then fury spun across her countenance. She covered her eyes with both fists.

  My sister and I had our problems. She hadn’t talked to me in weeks, and we frequently butted heads over just about anything, from where to find the best pizza, to whether or not it’s raining outside, or even if grass is green. But I love her more than I love my own life, and I’d do anything for her—for my whole family. I had every intention of getting her out of Percy’s clutches alive. After that, I’d get Cass and Maya to work on the addiction. They’d helped Josh—Taylor’s former fiancé, and he’d been force-fed a steady diet of Sparkle Dust. Taylor had only one exposure. That had to be easier to fix. As far as I knew, Josh had managed to stay off it. Then again, I hadn’t seen him since Cass and Maya worked on him. For all I knew, he’d wraithed away in a gutter somewhere.

  Wasn’t going to happen to Taylor. I’d let him dice me into tiny bits before I let that happen. I had no way to tell her help was coming without clueing in Percy and giving up the advantage of surprise. On the other hand, I didn’t want her to give in. I had to find another delay.

  I wondered if Percy had a big enough ego that he’d fall for the evil villain mistake of every B movie and have to brag his plans out to his victims, wasting enough time for the hero to swoop in and save the day. It was worth encouraging him.

  “Must smart like a bitch to have to run away with your tail between your legs.”

  Percy’s mouth tightened, and he sat down on the chair, crossing his legs. “My departure from Diamond City is quite planned, and I am not running away.”

  “So that’s a yes.”

  He shrugged. “My business is no concern of yours.”

  So far the triumphant bragging wasn’t working out. “What happened to your Dr. Frankenstein?”

  His brows rose. “Doctor Inawa? Now how did you know about her?”

  “Did you kill her or did she escape?”

  “You are certainly full of questions.”

  “I’m surprised you aren’t. I thought you’d at least want to know how I could shake off the SD like a dog coming in from the rain.”

  “Actually, I am, though I’ve no doubt you will simply lie to me.” He smiled. “Never fear. I have the means to get to the truth. Barnes? If you will?”

  The surly pile of muscles stepped up behind me and planted his hand on the top of my head. Magic flared from his talent cloak, spiraling around me in sticky loops. My body turned heavy. I tried to lift my arm. I couldn’t move.

  “That’s better,” Percy declared. “Now, tell me how you managed to avoid the SD addiction?”

  I opened my mouth to say something like diet, exercise, and clean living. Instead, the truth popped out. “I nulled it.”

  Once again his brows rose. He leaned forward, his pale blue eyes glittering. “However did you manage to do that?”

  I wanted to tell him to fuck off and die. I wanted to keep my mouth shut. I wanted to do anything but sit there and spill my guts. “I have a null tattooed on my stomach. I activated it and it nulled out the drug.”

  “Ah. That is interesting. Why haven’t you used it to counter the spell holding you and making you talk?”

  “I couldn’t recharge it.”

  “Ah. That is good news.”

  I heard boots on the cement floor behind me. Percy’s other goon, Alan, was returning with whatever finger choppers he’d found among the mechanics’ tools.

  I was running out of time. I had no doubt in my mind that Percy was going to do as promised and demonstrate to Taylor that he would, in fact, cut off my fingers.

  He reached down and picked up my limp left hand. I struggled to pull it away, but I might as well have been Gumby. He turned it over, palm-side up.

  “Which finger to start with is always the fundamental question,” he mused. “A person can easily lose the pinky without losing any hand function at all. Truthfully, even losing the forefinger could be fairly easily compensated for with the other fingers. Losing the thumb, however, means that you no longer have an opposable thumb, arguably the only significant difference between animals and humans.

  “Generally, given the choice, offenders prefer to lose the pinky. I sympathize with that, but obviously, the impact is consequently much less, and therefore, the offender risks not learning his lesson. I find it much more practical and educational to begin right with the thumb.
We’ll start below the first joint. Then we’ll move down to between the middle and upper joint, and finish with a close cut at the base of the hand. I find that taking an appendage in pieces also carries far more impact. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  He looked at Taylor, who’d gone pale. She twisted and vomited on the floor, her body jerking with the violence of her reaction. My throat burned with the bile that rose on my tongue. I swallowed and forced myself not to show fear. I wasn’t going to give Percy the satisfaction.

  Alan handed Percy a small bucket full of various pliers and snips. He pulled each out and considered them. “I think this is the best choice, don’t you?” He held up a pair of metal shears with heavy jaws. “I should think they’d do quite nicely.”

  He stood, resting my hand on the arm of the chair and drawing the silver heal-all cuff out of his pocket. He put it on me. “You may not be aware, but there’s an artery in your thumb. You’re not likely to bleed to death, but certainly this will help. Alan, did you happen to see anything back there that might work to cauterize the final wound? Some rags might not go amiss. Move quickly, though. Taylor has recovered enough to fly and we should be on our way as soon as possible.”

  “I’ll do it,” Taylor rasped. “I’ll fly you anywhere you want to go. Don’t hurt Riley.”

  Percy patted Taylor on the head. “I wish I could, but it’s important for both you and Riley to fully understand what it means to disobey me. I can’t have you rebelling at the last minute. Unfortunately, your sister did not take her first lesson to heart. That was my failure. I underestimated her ability to learn. Some people are quite slow in that regard. I hope you are faster.”

  “Please,” she begged.

  I tried to tell her not to bother, but with Barnes’s hand still on my shoulder, I couldn’t speak, except, apparently, to answer questions. As I heard Alan’s returning footsteps echoing through the hangar, my simmering panic exploded into a full boil. My hand remained perched on top of the recliner’s arm like an offering.