Not that it mattered; it wasn't as if any of us would stand even a chance against Alaria without Dani and Thomas, assuming we even would then. How many more people had she sacrificed since the air elemental? I doubted the alter in the park and the one on Mystic Cay were the only ones she had.
“You should get some sleep,” Rak said softly, nudging my knee with his head.
“Probably,” I muttered.
I frowned down at my stack of papers, unsure of how long I had been staring at them without really seeing. The names and information on them were so familiar now I could practically recite it back. Sometimes we swapped piles just for fresh eyes, but now I felt like I had read over every file a thousand times.
Even so, it was easy to lose track of time. I looked around and saw that Ember and Charlie were both asleep. Mariana was looking tired too and Shannon smiled grimly at me, right before yawning.
“We should all get some sleep,” said TS. I doubted he’d get much. He looked as tired and sick as he had when one of his soul-packmates was in a coma.
“You can stay here tonight,” Charlie said, yawning as he sat up. He shook Ember gently and clicked to her in Sadehic. She stretched and blinked sleepily.
The offer was, I thought, his attempt at normalcy, a way of acting like we’d go home and go about our lives. TS and I hadn’t gone home to sleep in weeks. That house felt even emptier than this one; too full of memories. I couldn’t fall asleep in the bed I shared with Thomas when I didn’t even know where he was. I was pretty sure I had slept here in the new house for more nights than Dani had – a depressing thought.
Shannon, aside from a few coffees and lunches with her new friend, Charlotte, had stayed here too. Since she didn’t work for MES and was just visiting, she was almost constantly in the house. She refused to go back home to Florida until Thomas and Dani were back safely. The added stress of hiding her from Jon was just too much, so we told him she was a friend from Maryland, which he seemed to accept. If he thought her extended stay was extreme or unusual, he didn’t voice it.
Honestly, I hated that the start of my best friend’s visit had been because TS was in danger and that things had only gotten worse, but I was grateful she was here to share it with me. Shannon had been an empathetic ear for as long as I could remember, ever since we were little – back before my father met her aunt and made us cousins – we had been there for each other.
She was also proving invaluable at keeping my stepmother, Rachel, from getting suspicious. It was hard to hide from Rachel that I was struggling, especially since she hadn’t wanted me to move up here in the first place. With Shannon by my side, it was easier to convince Rachel that everything was wonderful and that moving had been a great idea. Shannon was also good at changing the subject when Rachel asked about my holiday plans. I originally promised to be home for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but if our previous CVLR data held true, then December would be when Victor returned to Cavaliers. I couldn’t stand the idea of waiting that long to find Thomas and Dani in the first place, let alone having to try and celebrate the holidays with my family while they were still missing.
With a few half-hearted goodnights and stretches, we all split up. Charlie went to his room and Ember joined him on an inflatable mattress; not just for comfort but because both of them had already set a few things on fire during bad dreams and it was safer to have another fire elemental as close as possible.
Mariana shifted into mermaid form and curled up in the large tub in the family room, claiming it was more comfortable than it looked. Both couches folded out, so TS took one and Shannon would sleep on the other, leaving me in the guest room.
I didn’t want to count how many nights I had spent in this bed, staring up at the ceiling, although I knew how easy it would be to count. Rak curled up in a ball by my side.
It was chilly tonight; probably my coldest night in New York yet. I used a couple of air spells to open the chest at the foot of the bed and float an extra blanket out, then spread it over me. Just getting up and doing it myself would have been faster and easier, but I hoped the series of spell casting would tire me out faster.
“They’ll be okay,” Rak said softly, long after I had gotten the spare blanket.
“I know,” I whispered, snuggling deeper under the covers. I thought of the last couple of weeks with Thomas; nights so hot I had thrown his arm off of me and wiggled as far away to the other side of the bed as I could get. Oh, how I regretted that now. If only I had known…
The faint sound of the TV echoed up from downstairs and I knew TS or Shannon had turned it on. Soon, Mariana would go in to join them and I’d find all three of them there in the morning, all sleeping in uncomfortable positions on couches that had never been unfolded, with the TV still on.
Ember would be up at the crack of dawn, hammering away in the blacksmith shed. Charlie, having trouble falling asleep at night now, would be sprawled on Dani’s side of the bed, face buried in the pillow until someone went in to break the news it was time to get ready for work.
Another morning like the one before it, and the one before that, and the one before that, then another day at work, and another day with no answers. How many more until something different happened? Until we got a lead or they escaped or…
Rak pressed close against me as he sensed my despair.
“I miss him,” I said into my pillow, not sure if I wanted Rak to hear me or not. “And Dani too.”
“So do I.” He crawled up until his head was just under my chin, warm fur pressed against me. “We’ll find them.”
Chapter Five
Thomas
The castle really was, in the words of Danio, like a vampire frat house – it seemed so long ago now that we had been on Reave’s farm – although it was actually more like an entire campus. For most of the week people mingled around, hanging out together and partaking of the seemingly limitless activities. There were games: board games, video games, and actual ball games. People watched movies, did arts and crafts, and read books; there were even clubs that you could join. You could eat whenever you wanted and there was really no schedule to speak of. I was pretty sure there were some people who stayed awake for two, if not three days, at a time.
The days between fights blended together; Danio and I participated in some of the activities to make sure we seemed like we were fitting in, but we spent the rest of our time exploring the castle, trying to find a way out, or at least a way to contact someone. So far our efforts were fruitless, we hadn't found any means of communication to speak of.
The grounds around the castle proved to be quite spacious, but the entire island was surrounded by a high wall, which we discovered, rather painfully, was warded to prevent climbing. After a few trips outside we decided the wards were responsible for numerous things, including the interference with my bond with Tethys. We also suspected the weather itself was being altered somehow; there were times Danio was sure it was raining right on the other side of the wall, while not a drop fell inside. He also said he couldn’t sense any ice whatsoever in the water, despite the freezing temperatures inside.
Neither of us wanted to admit it, but escape seemed impossible. Instead of wasting our time circling the grounds, we turned our attention back to the inside of the castle, convinced that there had to be some form of communication with the outside world somewhere.
The castle itself was huge and sometimes I caught myself in a section I already explored and couldn't say how many hours I had wasted checking it out again.
Once a week the strange, almost collegiate-like, atmosphere changed dramatically as people – who just minutes earlier were playing and eating and laughing together – cheered wildly as some of their so-called friends violently fought each other.
The following mornings were usually somewhat calm, as people reflected on the fights and talked quietly, but by the afternoons the fights were largely forgotten and life went back to the way it was. Once I even saw a couple of fighters, who had nearly killed eac
h other the previous night, sitting down together while one taught the other how to play the guitar. There were rumors that some of the fights in the arena were carried over into the private bedrooms for a very different activity.
Then it all started all over again. The fights themselves were no less alarming than they had been the first night. Danio and I had each gotten stuck in the arena again and, fortunately, both managed to come out relatively unscathed, although I couldn't say the same for Olivia's last opponent. For a while I held out hope that people did not actually die during the fights and that Victor was just trying to scare us, but in our time here there had already been two deaths in the arena, one of them courtesy of Olivia. It was rare, people claimed, for the newbies to cause any casualties, so Olivia was the talk of the castle for a week and suddenly quite popular. After that, every fight night held an added level of anxiety, knowing that some fights really did end with the death of one of the contestants.
It seemed that Reave and Victor took very different approaches to things. While I had the impression that Reave was the leader of this whole operation, we saw quite a bit less of him. He made an appearance from time to time, usually walking around, mingling with people, and trying to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves, like some strange welcoming host. Adaira was always meekly by his side, offering either a shy smile if you smiled first or a quiet, but firm, rebuke if she thought you were being rude to Lord Reave.
Victor, on the other hand, seemed like he was always skulking around nearby and if not him, then Anthony or Singe were in his place. Unlike Reave, who I had yet to see at a single fight, Victor oversaw all of them, usually with his two lackeys by his side. Even though Victor always asked how people were doing, he gave the clear impression that he didn't actually care, unlike Reave who seemed genuinely concerned that we were all having a good time.
I honestly wasn't sure what to make of Reave – he didn't seem at all like the sort of person I would have expected to be in charge of a place like this. Although it was quite easy to imagine Victor coming up with the idea of the grandiose castle, that amounted to a prison, and periodic fights to the death.
We still hadn't uncovered any evidence that this Reave was the same one behind the mysterious farm we visited, so many months ago, but it certainly felt like a much larger scale version of the barn at times. Not that I thought knowing whether or not it was the same Reave would help us at all, but I was still curious. Of course, if he was the same Reave, there was always the faint hope that Jen, and Tethys, and the others would be able to find more information about him somehow and use it as a way to find us. It was a faint hope, but it was pretty much all we had.
Danio and I were both confident that the others were doing everything they could to find us, but of course, even if they did find us, being able to actually rescue us was another matter entirely. I had a sinking feeling we were on our own, but with every week that passed and the relentless onslaught of the fights, escape felt more and more impossible.
I sighed and looked at the people all around us in the arena. It was time for another fight. Even as I lost track of the days, I tried to count fights for some semblance of time, but I honestly wasn’t sure anymore how many fights we had even seen. Was this the twelfth or just the eleventh? Could it already be the thirteenth?
Danio settled into the seat next to me with a nod and a grim smile. After our first fight the newcomers were allowed to sit wherever we wanted in the arena. Danio and I preferred to sit somewhat off by ourselves; we were concerned about drawing unwanted attention at first, but it seemed like everyone had broken off into smaller groups or paired off, a few even chose to sit alone, several rows away from anyone else.
Based on the laughter and conversation all around us, one would never think that several violent battles were about to take place.
Aside from the first fight, when every new member participated, the rest of the fights appeared to be picked at random. The only aspect that seemed controlled was that they preferred to pit elementals against other elementals, and shifters against shifters, and vampires against vampires.
A hush fell over the crowd as Victor strode out to his usual vantage point, followed by Anthony and Singe. My pulse quickened at the sight of him and I clenched my fists, unable to forget or forgive what he had done to Danio the night after our first fight. I still remembered pacing my room, for what seemed like hours, waiting for Danio to come back after his fight; only to have him burst in with a bruise blossoming across the bridge of his nose, so large it covered both eyes and part of his forehead, and a ridiculous amount of blood still dripping from his nose. I assumed it was from his fight and asked what the hell happened, confused as to why he hadn't been able to take time in the recovery room like I had. He told me it wasn’t the fight as he shouldered past me, heading toward the bathroom. I asked what had happened then and he snarled a single word, before slamming the door and audibly locking it. Victor. The flimsy door wouldn't have stopped me, of course, but the message had been clear enough.
I glanced over at Danio and could see him glaring daggers at Victor, ripples of black curling through his eyes. But I knew him too well to be completely fooled, not with the way his shoulders were stiff and his jaw was clenched. I gently nudged his knee with mine and he jumped a mile; then sighed and shot me an embarrassed glance.
“Olivia!” Victor announced, before either of us could say anything.
A cheer went up for the newest favorite, as Olivia ran down the aisle, high-fiving people and reveling in the attention that her brutality had earned her. She jumped lightly into the arena and strode to her favorite side with a cocky wave at everyone.
“And…” Victor let out his sadistic laugh and then announced loudly, “Cleaver!”
A deafening cheer, louder than one I had ever heard here, went up around the room and the crowd began to chant, “Cleaver, Cleaver, Cleaver, Cleaver!” People rose to their feet and began stomping along with the chant, even Olivia looked somewhat unsettled.
Danio and I exchanged a nervous look and scanned the crowd for whoever had them so worked up.
There! Someone was casually walking down the steps. He jumped down into the arena, seemingly unconcerned by his opponent. He took his time heading to his side of the battleground, then stood calmly with his hands in his pockets.
I assumed he was a vampire, but unless he had some serious tricks up his sleeve, I couldn't imagine why he seemed so nonchalant against Olivia. From what I had seen, I was lucky in my fight with her; either she had gone easy on me or was nervous during her first fight. I was dreading another encounter, should we have one, and had a sinking feeling it would have to end with one of us dead.
“Begin,” Victor purred.
Olivia sprinted to the weapons rack and selected her favorite pair of wicked knives. Regrettably, she had taken a page out of my strategy book and had chosen a knife, along with a stake, for her next fight. She ended up killing him – quite a bit more brutally than necessary – with the knife and chose a pair for her next fight.
She stalked toward the center of the arena with a smile, long, vicious knives by her sides. Cleaver mirrored her, but hadn’t chosen any weapons. I frowned in confusion, was he planning on fighting Olivia unarmed?!
“Guy’s got a death wish,” Danio said.
I nodded in agreement.
Olivia started toward Cleaver, then stopped and actually took a step backward. I leaned forward a bit, frowning down at them; something was happening.
Cleaver looked strange, I couldn’t place it until I realized that his arms and legs looked like they were slowly growing. He was shifting! For a moment I was surprised that they had decided to pit a shifter against Olivia, but it quickly became obvious that Cleaver was not a normal shifter.
“What the hell?” said Danio, leaning forward with me.
Fur should have appeared by now, but Clever looked exactly the same, except his arms and legs were freakishly long. He was easily seven, if not eight, feet ta
ll now, but his torso hadn’t changed, making it look like he was standing on stilts. His hands dangled down by his knees, like an ape. I actually jumped in surprise as claws the size of knives exploded out from the tips of his fingers. He flexed them as if shaking out the claws; even from here I could see the wickedly sharp tips.
“What is he?!” I heard Kiana demand from a few rows away.
Olivia took an uncertain step to the side, then hissed at him.
Cleaver opened his mouth like he was going to hiss back and I gasped; instead of two fangs he had four, a pair on top and a pair on the bottom, all easily twice as large as vampire fangs. Then instead of hissing he roared. The room echoed with the sound and several people clamped their hands over their ears. I swear, his roar rivaled the minotaur’s.
Then I knew.
I had never seen one, but I had heard descriptions.
“Oh my god,” I said. “It’s a berserker!”
“Holy shit,” breathed Danio.
Olivia clearly decided she wasn’t going to wait to see what Cleaver could do; she shot forward impressively fast and plunged one of her knives right into his stomach!
I realized before she did that Cleaver had let her strike the blow. He grabbed her by the wrist before she could pull out her blade and he swung his vicious claws toward her. Olivia managed to break free of his grasp and dodge, but failed to take into account the absurd length of his arms. He easily slashed her across the chest even though she looked more than far enough away.
The attack flung her to the ground and she staggered to her feet and sprinted away, stopping by the weapons rack to get another knife. She cast a nervous look back, but Cleaver was standing right back where she left him. If the knife-wound bothered him at all, he didn’t show it.
Vampires were both stronger and faster than berserkers but clearly they were close enough to us to be a challenge. Combined with their incredible stamina and the fight was dead even at best.
Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6 Page 46