“That’s a classy move, right there.”
“I thought so too. Anyway, I thought I was done with him, at least, but then he shows up at my place a few days later, beat up and bloody. I don’t know how he’d tracked me down. Fate warned me not to let him in, begged me to kick his ass to the curb, but I couldn’t. I let him use my shower, gave him my one towel… come the morning I found out he’d left and stolen my phone. Lucky for me he didn’t know phones could be tracked, so I tracked him down, took back my phone—which he was looking to pawn off—and I beat him up a little bit. I didn’t see him again for four years, but when he did turn up he offered me a truce and a job, which I took.”
“You took the job? I’m starting to think you deserve the things that happened to you.”
“He said he’d changed, told me he could tell me things about myself. He told me things about the world on the other side of the rifts, most of what I know is thanks to him.”
“What was the job?”
“He asked me to steal something for him. An item he said had travelled with him through the rift, but that he’d lost. He offered me ten thousand dollars; half of which he paid up front. For my roommate and I, that was more money than we’d ever seen. It let us finally get up to date on our bills, buy real beds, and generally stop living like rats.”
Felice scoffed at that. “We all lived like rats. Tell me another story.”
“Mine’s not done.”
“What do you mean?”
I glanced over at Abvat and caught him staring—glaring. Was he listening? I wasn’t sure if he could hear my every word, but the Naga were known for having sharp senses and silver tongues. “I never found it,” I said, “Abvat thought I had it and wasn’t giving it up, thought I wanted to keep it for myself, but I didn’t. He’s been dogging me about it for a while.”
“He must really want… whatever it is.”
“If he finds it, he’s welcome to keep it.”
“Why didn’t he just go and get someone else to find it, if you told him you didn’t have it?”
“Because I’m guessing his finances aren’t bottomless, he doesn’t have any friends that’ll help him for free, and he believes I’ve got what he wants, so he figures if he asks enough, I’ll finally cave in and give him the item, or the money.”
“Does his idea have merit?”
“If I had what he’d asked me to get, maybe, but I don’t. Anyway, we’re stuck in here now, so the point is moot. Now he’s pissed at me because he got caught last night and he says it’s my fault.”
“That was your doing?”
“Technically it was his. He’d hunted me down in the street, chased me into a building, and opened up a world of magic trying to incapacitate me. The Order must’ve detected that and scooped him up from the pile I’d left him in. They came for me not long after. What about you? How’d you wind up here.”
Felice shrugged. “Tale as old as time. Girl meets boy from the other side. Girl falls for boy from the other side. Boy is an agent of the Order. Boy turns girl in because she wouldn’t give him head in a dive bar bathroom.”
“In a… gross. Really?”
“It was a kink he had. We were with his friends, human friends if you can believe it. He wanted to feel powerful.”
“Where is he now?”
“He’s an on-the-field agent. I’m hoping I never have to see him again.”
“Aren’t you worried he’ll just show up here one day?”
She arched an eyebrow. “If I see him again, I’m gonna give him the beat-down of his life. So, I guess I’m hoping I don’t see him for his own sake.”
I cast my eyes around the dining hall during the lull in the conversation that followed, and I realized now there weren’t nearly as many people as I’d originally thought in here. There were only about thirty or so people in the room, and that included the four, armed guards posted at each of the room’s entrances. They wore black coats, bulletproof vests, and were rocking a Glock each as well as a longsword sheathed at their waists.
I scanned around for Fate but I couldn’t find her, which already seemed a little weird. My anxiety lurched into my throat when I caught sight of the guy who’d come to pick her up from our room this morning, Lias, having lunch with other prospects. I was about to get up and go over to him when Aaryn stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled loud enough to snatch my attention and that of every other prospect in the room.
“My group,” she said, “Let’s move out, back to the gymnasium.”
The room remained silent while Aaryn’s ten prospects shuffled out of the dining hall. I tried to walk closer to Lias, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to ask him about Fate; there wouldn’t be any time. Wherever she was I hoped she was alright. My only consolation was that I’d see her again tonight.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I couldn’t remember the last time my bones ached. Muscles, sure, muscles ached all the time and for different reasons. But these pains had gone past the muscle and started attacking my bones, making the walk to my room after the day’s training more of a groaning shamble than a walk. I tried to hide the tiredness and the pain, y’know, to keep up appearances in front of the other prospects, but as soon as I was alone in my room, I let it all out, falling to the bed and trying hard not to complain too loudly, just in case someone could hear me.
Slowly, I flipped onto my back and touched my abdomen with my fingertips. That was where the knife had gone in. It was a hell of a way to end a first day, getting stabbed in the gut. I was lucky one of the medics was already on the scene, scraping another prospect off the floor, otherwise I’m not sure I would’ve made it.
And yet here I was, in one piece; sore, but alive. Despite the pain, I couldn’t say today hadn’t been… fun. Abvat’s presence had been a curveball I hadn’t expected, but watching him fight, seeing just how bad he really was, made me feel good. Felice had also been good to hang out with. She was tough, she didn’t take shit from anyone, and she was one heck of a sword player. It was too early to say for sure, but I was starting to like this whole situation. Was this Stockholm Syndrome kicking in? Was I falling for my captors? Or was this an opportunity for me to live a better life than the one I’d been living?
“Hello,” a soft, sweet, female voice said.
The sound sent me scrambling against a wall. I brought one of my feet up, ready to kick whoever had followed me into my room, but the woman who’d just spoken… wasn’t really there. It was a ghost, or a hologram, or… something. It had a face, a body, it wore clothes, but it looked altogether ethereal, a figure completely made up of green light, tendrils of it coiling and unravelling to give the apparition the visage of a woman. At times she looked almost solid, at other times I could see right through her to the door behind her.
“Do not be alarmed,” she said, “I am not here to hurt you.”
“What… what are you?”
“I am Siren, aide to the prospects. You may convey your wishes to me, and it is my duty to carry those wishes to the right people who could grant your requests, as they see fit.”
“And are you… real?”
She smiled. “I am a magical construct, but I am very real. If at any point you need assistance, you need only say my name, and I shall appear.”
Okay, that was pretty cool. I let my defenses slacken. “Alright…” I said, “So, why are you here now?”
“I am here to tell you about a number of things. First, I would like to let you know that your clothes have been washed.” She pointed at the dresser and the top drawer opened. My leather jacket, my t-shirt, and my jeans then all floated up one after the other. They were clean, which was great seeing as the t-shirt and jacket had been left in a sorry state after I’d gotten the Caretaker’s blood all over it.
“Wow… thank you.”
“You are welcome, Seline. Second, is this.” Sitting on top of the dresser was a small jar with some kind of green paste inside it that I hadn’t noticed when I came in.
&n
bsp; “What’s that?”
“This is a healing salve. Take it when you shower, apply it to your body, it will help with the pain.”
“Yeah… about that… where’s the shower? I don’t exactly see an En-suite.”
“Five doors down the hall, to the left. You cannot miss it. A change of uniform as well as clothes to sleep in have been provided for you, you will find them in the dresser.”
“That sounds great. Thanks.”
“You are welcome. I would also like to inform you of a change of occupancy in your room.”
“Change of… what?”
There was a knock at the door, but it opened before I could even speak. Felice unapologetically stepped through holding a bunch of clothes. Frowning, she shut the door and tossed her clothes on the other bed—Fate’s bed—before walking through Siren’s ghostly form. It shifted and shimmered as Felice moved through it, dispersing like mist only to find its form again a moment later.
“Wait a second,” I said, standing up. “I already have a roommate, and that’s Fate.”
“Incorrect,” Siren said, “Fate has been reassigned.”
“That’s bullshit!” I was starting to raise my voice.
“Gee, thanks.” Felice said.
“Siren, I want to see Fate. Right now.”
“I’m afraid I cannot do that for you. I have been given strict instructions to inform you of the change to your living arrangements and to deny your request to visit Fate.”
“How can you do that?”
“I am only a messenger, and now that my messages have been delivered, I must leave.”
“Siren, you said you’d come when I call you. That’s what you said. I’m calling you now—don’t leave.”
“I am sorry, Seline, but there are others who require my assistance. Goodnight.”
Siren burst into a cloud of green mist. I tried to reach for her, fingers grasping at the light until it was gone. I must’ve looked ridiculous.
“So…” Felice said, “That was kinda rude.”
I shook my head. I wasn’t even looking at her. “You don’t get it,” I said under my breath, “You don’t get it, and they don’t get to do this to us.”
“Hey, I’m fine with rooming with you. I kinda think you’re a bit of an asshole now, but that’s okay, I’ve roomed with assholes before.”
“My friend is sick,” I said, turning around sharply. “She needs my help. As long as we were rooming together, I could give her my help, but now I don’t know where she is.”
Felice fluffed her pillow, laid down on the bed, and kicked her feet up. “Well, that sucks. It does. But once you realize you give up a bit of agency for the chance to live here and join the Order, things get much easier. My advice for you would be to go and have a shower, then get to sleep. Tomorrow will be like today, maybe worse.”
I stared at Felice, chewing the inside of my lip, then turned around and headed for the door. “No,” I said, “I have to find her. She could be in trouble right now for all I know.”
“And the medics will deal with her. Seriously, you need to chill.”
I pulled the bedroom door open and barged into the hallway, which was dimly lit and already mostly quiet. I had no idea where Fate was, and given how many rooms there were in this fortress, it could take hours for me to find her. Instead of finding her, I decided to attract the one other person I thought would be easy enough to find even in here; Draven.
I sprinted down the hall, making my way toward the courtyard and the fountain. From here I could see the towers rising into the sky and the windows to rooms on the next couple of floors up. Above me, the night was deep, and dark, and filled with stars. There wasn’t a visible cloud up there, nothing to get in the way of the moon’s silvery light as it delicately touched the trickle of water spitting out of the fountain in the center of the courtyard.
First, I took a deep breath, then I readied myself to scream, but someone’s hand was around my mouth before I could produce any sound. Whoever grabbed me spun me around and pressed me tightly to their chest with one hand, holding the point of a knife to my jugular with the other. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say Draven had not only been watching, he’d been waiting for me to do something like this—waiting for me to give him an excuse.
“Stupid,” Draven whispered into my ear, his hot breath making the skin on the nape of my neck start to rise. “Very stupid.”
I grumbled into his hand. If I’d been able to speak, the words wouldn’t have been pleasant on his ears.
“If I let your mouth go, you will not scream,” he said, “You will not speak until spoken to. You will explain yourself calmly, or else I will exercise my right as High Marshal and execute you myself without a trial.”
I swallowed. My heart was charging like a wild animal, pounding against my ribcage, pushing the adrenaline around my body at a mile a minute, but I had to nod. If I wanted to see Fate, I had to comply. Draven, true to his word, let his warm hand slip from my mouth, his fingers catching on my lips, but he didn’t push me away.
“Now,” he said, his voice stern and authoritative. “Speak.”
“You took Fate away,” I said. “Why?”
“And that’s a problem for you?”
“Damn fucking straight it’s a problem. Who do you think you are?”
“Who do you think you are?” he growled.
I tried to angle my head to the side, but his strong, warm hand moved to my cheek and held my head in place, my eyes fixed directly ahead. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you want to know where you came from? Who you are? You will never accomplish that here if you are constantly worrying about the wellbeing of those who are clearly beneath you.”
“That’s my friend you’re talking about.”
“And what are you going to do about it?”
“Let me go and I’ll show you.”
Draven shoved me away from him so hard I lurched forward, but I didn’t topple over. I turned around and scowled at him, but he didn’t seem fazed. Instead, he slipped his dagger into a sheath around his boot and then turned his deep, dark eyes up at me. “For someone who has no power, you do have a very big mouth.”
“And big fucking teeth to go with it. Now, where is Fate, and why can’t I see her?”
He took a deep breath and straightened up. “What were the terms I offered when you arrived at our doors?”
“You mean when you brought me here… against my will… blindfolded?”
“Answer the question.”
“Be more specific, and maybe I will.”
A pause. “Your friend was going to face the Caretaker ahead of you, you told us about her condition and suggested she couldn’t face the trial, so I allowed you to take it in her stead.”
“That rings a bell.”
“I also told you your fates were bound.”
“I’m not seeing your point.”
“Your friend is not a prospect. You are. If you succeed, she will join the Order with you. If you fail all your trials, she will die with you. Your futures are tied together.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you had to move her out of our room.”
“Prospects are to live with their pairs, such are our rules.”
“Your rules are bullshit, but I’m starting to sound like a broken record.”
Draven turned his face to the side and shut his eyes. Then he was gone, he had melted into the night leaving only a faint, dark mist where he’d been standing. An instant later, both of my hands were being pinned behind my back, and Draven had me again. I couldn’t stand him being behind me, something primal inside of me was waking up, urging me to fight him off, get him away from my back. I’d never liked anyone touching my back, but him least of all.
Kicking and squirming, I tried to wriggle free, but his grip was iron.
“I have overseen the training and recruitment of seven-hundred and fifty-eight people into the Obsidian Order,” he growled against my ear, “An
d none of them have been as much of a pain in the ass as you are.”
“I get that a lot,” I said, gritting my teeth, “It’s part of my charm.”
“Understand one thing. You and your friend live only because I allow it. You should’ve been thrown back to the Caretaker last night, but I’m still not sure how you did what you did, what you are, or even what your friend is, and that means I need to keep you alive a little longer, but make no mistake; pull something like this again, break any of our rules, and you and your friend will die. You want to see your friend again? Train, pass the trials, prove to me that you can rise above the life you’ve consigned yourself to, and then we’ll talk.”
“I don’t have to prove shit to you.”
“Then prove it to yourself.”
Draven let me go, there was that giant whumph again followed by a gust of wind that kicked the leaves around, and then he was gone. I spun around, trying to look for him, but there was no trace—only his musky scent, which I’d now gotten a little intimate with. Strangely, his smell made me think of a fire crackling in a fireplace. It was night time in this little pocket of imagination, it was cold outside, but I was warm, and comfortable… safe.
Ironic, considering he would literally have no problems ending my life if I so much as stepped a single toe out of line.
I let the air out of my lungs and started heading toward the hallway again when a sound caught my attention, a sound I’d heard before, moments before the Caretaker came barreling toward me. “It’s you,” I said to the cat emerging from the other side of the fountain.
“Yes, we keep meeting,” it said, sounding maybe a little indifferent.
“Wait a second, your mouth really moves?”
“It doesn’t, not really, but I’m making you think it does. It makes me more… relatable.”
“Relatable…” I shook my head. “Were you watching all that?”
The cat sat on the edge of the fountain and proceeded to chew its paw. “I watch everything. It’s my job.”
“Your job? What the hell are you?”
“What the hell I am is a cat, and what the hell I’m called is Rey.”
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