It wasn’t hard to lift a cloak from one of the houses near the dead-end street. It was dark, quiet, and Hank had taken five minutes tops between the time he drifted into the shadows until he returned with something to cover Bryn. Once that was done, we started toward the mouth of Telmath’s cavern.
The smoky, shadowed streets of the city reminded me of the congested atmosphere on Solomon Street back home in Atlanta, only on a grander, darker, otherworldly scale that stretched for miles.
I could easily imagine that I was walking through the crowded streets of some ancient civilization—the sunlight replaced with the dim violet glow of typanum running through the “sky,” the sunbaked houses replaced with gray stone and timbers, and the humans replaced with hulking jinn warriors strutting around, cloaked ghouls peering beneath their hoods, darkling fae weaving effortlessly through the narrow streets …
As we moved through narrow alleys and busy marketplaces, over bridges that spanned rivers and gaping black chasms in the ground, our passage was either ignored or met with curious frowns that passed over us quickly and then were forgotten. I saw humans—more than I’d expected to see—shopping, touring, engaged in dark pursuits. Black crafting was allowed here. So were gambling and prostitution …
In one of the busiest corners we passed, Rex ducked into a storefront that sold what looked to be antiques and artifacts and came back out with a nod. “The temple is still there. In ruins. But there.”
I had no idea what was happening far up on the plateau or if guards had begun searching. But if they were, they were slowed by the vastness of the city, the crowds, and the darkness. Still, I turned and glanced up even though the plateau was too high to see anything.
“Charlie,” Hank said, making me jump.
He stepped aside. I gripped Bryn’s arm tighter and nudged her forward, following Rex and Brim through the dense streets of Telmath as Hank fell in behind us. All the sights, sounds, and scents filled in around us, but we moved as though we were in a bubble of silence. Isolated.
The closer we came to the gaping twenty-story-high mouth of the cavern, the scents slowly changed from tar and earth to dry wood and sand. The humidity disappeared, the air turning arid and hot. Several lonely-looking paths, carrying one or two dusty travelers, led into and out of the city.
All the action was behind us, and in front of us, framed by the massive cavern mouth, was wide-open Charbydon sky. Inky blue and lit with stars. As beautiful as it was, a shiver crept down my spine. Despite the danger back in Telmath, the cavern had provided a sense of insulation and protection. Out here, in the wild … God only knew what awaited us.
As we passed into open air, our strides lengthened and our pace increased, all of us wanting to get as far away from Telmath as possible. Several minutes passed before my fears of getting caught finallyased and I was able to really notice the environment.
A dim, moonlight-like glow bathed the landscape. Everyone called the giant orb hanging in the sky a moon, but it was really a white dwarf star, one that was slowly dying out. Once this “moon” set below the horizon it was blacker than black, and when it rose again it was dim and not nearly—so I’d heard—as bright as in older days. Ahead of us stretched a barren land of shrubs, rocky outcroppings, clumps of stubborn trees, and patches of small flowers in blues and whites.
The road was so soft that fine grains puffed up like smoke as we walked, and the edges were littered with petrified woods and loose rocks.
“We might be able to make it most of the way before the moon sets,” Rex said. “Once it does, this place turns pitch-black, and we’re screwed. And don’t use those lights on your belts. The light draws the predators.”
Great.
The only one who seemed happy to be out here in the wild was Brim. He trotted around us in large serpentine patterns, his nose trailing the ground, investigating, processing the scents, and then coming back in toward us to cross over to the other side. He never disappeared from view.
My feet burned inside of my socks and shoes, and my face felt sticky and grimy. We hiked at a fast clip for at least three miles before I slowed, turning around to check our progress. The mountain that rose up behind us was a jagged behemoth. My jaw dropped. It made the opening of the cavern look like the mouth of a sea bass. Behind the dark, jagged shape were more mountains, an entire range that shot up into the inky sky.
I turned back around and continued on, amazed at what I was seeing—at what I’d seen so far. Bryn muttered something through the gag and jerked her arm. I stopped her and removed the hood and then set to work untying the gag. We were far enough away that her screams wouldn’t be heard. But I shoved the gag into my pocket in case the need arose. She bent over and spit. “God, it’s hot,” she gasped.
“Make any trouble,” I said, “and it’ll be back on.” She didn’t respond. I couldn’t help but wonder if Solomon was still pulling the strings, but right then I didn’t want confirmation. I was tired, too tired to deal with the emotional onslaught that would come if my sister “appeared.”
The image of my baby sister straddling the Abaddon Father, blood sprayed over her front, and that dagger making its way toward her belly, was enough to make me sob. But, right then, all that mattered was making it across the flats, through the portal, and back home.
Hank trailed behind us, the cloak off and thrown over his shoulder. “I don’t suspect the nobles would think we’d be desperate enough to cross the sand flats.” He glanced over his shoulder to the mountain range. His profile was grim and since we were out of the city he let down some of the blocks on his aura. I couldn’t see much, but I could feel the vibe coming off him and it was … distracted.
I frowned at that revelation.
“Well,” I said, “hopefully they think we’re off chasing after Solomon like Carreg told them.” I wanted to say more, but then thought better of it. Asking him now about the sirens in the terminal probably wasn’t the time or the place. But I hadn’t forgotten. It was pretty clear they recognized Hank, and just as clear that he wanted nothing to do with them. I bit the inside of my cheek to temper my curiosity and took Bryn’s arm. “Let’s keep moving.”
A strange rattlesnake sound echoed around us. The hairs on the back of my neck lifted and made me shudder. I glanced around at the unfamiliar landscape, my other hand going back to rest on the hilt of my Nitrogun. But Rex, I noticed, kept walking and Brim didn’t seem alarmed. My anxiety remained, however, the place too foreign and strange for me to relax.
Eventually the rocky ground, trees, and bushes disappeared, giving way to a vast sea of the finest gray sand, which slowly made its way into my clothes and stuck to my exposed skin. In random patches, large outcroppings of rocks and jagged monoliths jutted up from the sand.
Despite the “moonlight,” there were huge black shadows made by the dunes. Every time we crossed through one, the idea of stepping on something or being ambushed heightened my uneasiness.
After what felt like hours, Rex suddenly stopped. He went very still, face turning from side to side, staring out into the shadowy distance. Even though he was in the body of a human, one very familiar to me, Rex seemed more jinn than ever. The way he carried himself, the confidence, the sense of self … It was all very … strange.
“They’re already following us,” he said, and started walking again.
“Who’s following us?” I struggled through the sand as I tried to catch up. The faster I stepped, the deeper my boots sank.
“We’re being tracked by a pack of nithyn. And probably one or two sand lizards.”
Was it too much to hope that a sand lizard was tiny and harmless? As it was, I was already aware that nithyn were dragon-like creatures that grew to the size of large goats. Moon snakes ate their eggs, but once grown, the nithyn turned the tables and ate snakes, lizards, and—if they were hungry enough—off-worlders too weak to defend themselves … or humans stupid enough to trek through the sand flats at night.
“What the hell is a sand lizard?” Bryn asked in a scratchy voice.
“A chameleon,” said Rex. “Blends into the dunes and rocks to catch its prey. Travels beneath the sand. Its scales are like armor, impervious to nitro, bullets … You have to get in close to kill them, find their soft spots.”
A far-off screech echoed through the air. “Was that a nithyn?” I asked as Rex slid his axe off his back.
“Probably ringing the dinner bell.”
“Brilliant,” Hank muttered.
“See those boulders?” Rex pointed with his weapon to a large outcropping of rocks along the ridge of the sand dunes. “We’ll head for the rocks. Don’t run, though.”
“What about the sand lizards?” Bryn said.
“They can only move on and in the sand. They’re rather … large. But once we hit the rocks, we should be fine. And if something should happ to me, the ruins lie east; the portal is beneath the altar stone in the temple. Feed it your power. Where you end up is subject to your ability to concentrate on your destination.”
I stored his information, eyeing the rocks about a quarter of a mile away. A quarter of a mile of thinking every step would land me in the mouth of a damn reptile. And what did large mean anyway?
We never made it to the rocks.
One second I was walking on soft sand and the next, the ground was falling out from under me.
I fell with Bryn as the sand was sucked downward. A plume of fine, gritty dust rose up to envelop us. “BRYN!” With her hands bound, she fell face-first and rolled toward the deepening depression in the ground—a deepening depression that revealed the giant sand lizard rising up to greet us.
My heels dug into the sand. “You said it was a lizard!” I yelled.
Rex was sliding on his back down toward the creature. “It is! Just a really big one!”
Big as an elephant with a scaled body as thick as a California redwood, the sand lizard emerged. It resembled a gigantic salamander with a forked tongue that snaked out and tested the air.
Bryn smacked into its belly. Its tail whipped out of the sand and thankfully the ground stopped moving. I rolled down the sides of the depression, using my momentum to pop to my feet and run for her, directly beneath the sand lizard’s gaze. I grabbed her arm as she stumbled to her feet, covered in sand.
“RUN!” I shouted, yanking her.
Running in sand was an exercise in futility. My heart pounded so loud through my ears that it muted the sound that came out of the creature’s mouth—a shrieking hiss that crawled up my spine like lightning with a thousand feet.
The hunt was on.
“Get to the rocks!” Rex’s voice was close. I searched, finding him scrambling up the beast’s tail like some fucked-up version of Legolas, as Brim leapt onto the scaly thigh and clamped down with his massive jaws.
Hank withdrew both of the ceremonial swords he’d taken from the palace and stabbed both blades between the sand lizard’s toes.
It swung around, the tail hitting me and Bryn square in the back, sending us flying. I gulped a mouthful of sand. It flew into my nostrils and eyes. I couldn’t scream her name or see where she ended up.
I landed on my belly with a soft thud.
“Get these bands off me!” Bryn shouted to my right.
I wiped at my eyes, crawling to her. But I couldn’t risk setting her free, even if she could work magic to help us. Solomon had a death wish and I wasn’t about to let my sister going running into the jaws of a sand lizard.
I could hardly see, could barely run in the sand. Couldn’t do much of anything without my weapons. But I did have power. Power inside of me and all around me.
Sandy tears ran down my cheeks as my body tried to shed the hard grains from my eyes. I dove inside of myself, to the very core of my darkest power, to the energy I always tried to ignore and suppress.
Fuck. It hurt. It burned. It took over, swamping me. This power was in its element. Its home. And it was harsher and more vivid than anything I’d experienced so far.
A scream tore from my scratchy throat as it broke free of its chain like a savage dog, bursting through my chest and flying down both arms and into my hands. I cast my scorching hands toward the sounds of the creature.
I fell back onto Bryn. Drained and trembling.
Something landed with an oomph beside us.
“Jesus Christ, Charlie! Try hitting your target next time!” It was Rex.
“I can’t see, you moron!”
“Here.” He grabbed my hand and turned me in the right direction. “You might want to hurry because your partner is about to be lizard snack.”
“I used it all,” I cried, my vision clearing somewhat. “I’m tapped out.”
“No you’re not, Charlie,” Bryn’s voice came from behind me. Her arms came down over my head and shoulders to hug me, her wrists still shackled. “Use me, draw from me and Solomon.” Her voice shook. Her body was trembling all over.
“But …”
“He’s weak, Charlie. After opening the portal and getting me to … kill.” She shook her head and her voice went sharper. “Just do it!”
“Hurry!” Rex yelled, running away from us and toward the battle.
I closed my eyes and gathered again, from my core like I was used to, but also from the energy wrapping around me, linking me to another. I gathered, pulled like a thin, starving creature, sucking it all, taking it all. I had no idea how I was doing it. Instinct? Necessity? Desperation?
Bryn screamed, her shudders filtering into me, and I no longer knew where her screams ended and mine began. When I couldn’t hold any more, my eyes opened, I threw out my palms, and gave it all to the mass in front of me.
A high-pitched screech. Sand falling like rain. Panting.
“You got it!” Rex called.
Bryn and I fell back. I had no idea what got it meant, but as long as the thing was down I didn’t care.
“Where’s Brim? Is he okay?” I shimmied from Bryn’s hold and pushed my palms deep into the sand to rise.
Before Rex could answer, a loud screech filled the air above us. The nithyn. My vision cleared enough for me to see the dark shadows circling above us. My legs wobbled as I stood. I pulled my Nitro-gun as the ground began to rise up beneath me.
Another sand lizard emerged from the ground, lifting me off my feet and onto its back, coming between me and my sister. I lost my balance and rolled off the creature, landing on my side with a jarring thud. I struggled to rise; my only thought was my sister. “BRYN!”
“No, Rex! Get Bryn to the portal!”
He slid to a stop, glanced behind me, and hesitated. “Go east!” he shouted. “Follow the ridge! We’ll aim for the cell block at the station!” Then he turned and ran after Bryn.
A shadow fell. Oh shit. I turned slowly to see the lizard’s large head poised over me.
And then I was tackled by Hank as the creature dove for me. We rolled, his hand grabbed mine, and we were up and running. Away from Bryn, toward another ridge of rocks.
Brim shot past us, running hard. The sand vibrated, and I knew the lizard had gone under again.
A nithyn dove for us. We dropped to our stomachs. It missed, angled its body, and flew back up to circle again. Another was hot on Brim’s heels, flying low to the ground behind him, gaining. I fired my gun as Hank turned and fired into the sky. My shot missed the body but hit the wing. The nithyn screamed, turned, and slammed into the sand. As soon as it did, the others descended upon it, attacking. Christ. They were cannibals. As soon as one of theirs was injured, it was anything goes. From pack to prey in an instant.
We made it to the rocks in a simultaneous leap. My calves and thighs burned. My lungs were on fire. The sand lizard rose up and hissed. We sailed over the smaller rocks, leapt up a bigger one, and then hit unexpected air.
Oh God. My arms pinwheeled. Blackness enveloped us as we fell screaming into a black hole.
Seconds of dark, weightless panic passed.
I slammed into rock. The force caused my legs to buckle. My knee slammed into my face. Every bone hit and bruised and broke on rock as I tumbled. Wave after wave of blinding pain stole my breath. Amid it all, I heard grunts, bone breaking, thuds, and gasps. Brim’s claws scraping … a cry.
My skull cracked on a rock. The force of the blow sent my body swinging around, airborne, and then I hit one last time on my side and slid into a hard barrier in a heap of broken bones.
A sob broke past my busted lips.
The only thing that reached me through the haze of excruciating pain was the sound of my gasping breaths, loud and echoing, in the darkness, and Hank’s muttered “Fucking hell” before I sank into oblivion.
The dripping of water was the first thing my waking mind processed. Slowly my other senses kicked in. The air was cooler and damper here.
My head ached. My torso was on fire from what had to be several broken ribs. The left side of my body had taken the brunt—left arm and leg possibly fractured. Three fingers on my right hand were bent at an odd angle.
Hot tears leaked from my swollen eyes. My exposed skin was raw and scratched, clothing ripped in places. I had no idea how long I’d been out, but I did recognize the healing process had aeady begun.
A series of coughs gripped my sore throat, every push of muscle causing extraordinary pain.
After several minutes, I pushed up enough to lean my back against the wall I’d slammed into. I grabbed my fingers with my left hand and prepared to reset the dislocated ones.
I set them right one after the other, crying out each time I did. Nausea gripped me hard by the time I got to the last one, and I had to force down the urge to puke before shoving that final knuckle back into place.
I must’ve fallen back into a state of healing because the next thing I knew, Hank was kneeling beside me, speaking Elysian in a near whisper. His flashlight lay beside me, creating a soft glow in the pitch darkness. I ached. Everything was stiff, but the intense pain of earlier had receded.
Heat engulfed me. My nose was stuffy from crying.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, kiddo, I’ll live. Looks like we fell into some kind of cave or ravine. There’s water nearby. Can you walk?”
“I don’t know. Where’s Brim?”
“He’s by the water.”
“Is he … dead?”
“No. He’s not dead, Charlie.”
My eyelids fell in relief. Thank you, God. I grabbed for his arm. “We have to get to that portal.”
With Hank’s help, I pushed to my feet inch by punishing inch. My vision wavered as angry pain screamed through my hip. The scent of blood reached my nose. My wounds were a nasty concoction of congealing blood and sand.
Hank’s arm slid under mine. “This way.” His touch set off my mark, and his deep voice bouncing around the cavern walls gave a little extra jolt to my system; though I felt it on the inside, it did little to help the scratch of sand through my wounds as I walked. It filled my boots, my clothes. It was everywhere.
I smelled the water before the flashlight beamed over the surface of the shallow pool. Beyond the pool the water trailed into a ravine, and moonlight filtered in at gaps in the rocks above. It looked as though, once upon a time, an underground river had cut out the caves beneath the ridge above, leaving deep grooves in the rocks.
Brim lay by the edge of the pool, panting. He lifted his head when we approached, saw us, and then returned to his position.
The water was a godsend. My mouth watered for a taste as Hank led me to the edge of the pool and I noticed that his feet were bare and his hair was wet.
“The water is drinkable over there where it’s coming in from the rock,” he said. “I’ve already washed up in the pool and got most of the sand from my clothes. I healed you some while you were unconscious, but I’m wiped out and need to regenerate before I can do more. You need help?”
“No. I’m fine.” I went to bend down, but pain shot through my torso so fast I swayed. Shit. My eyes burned and my dry throat grew thick. I wanted so badly to get to the water, but it hurtoo much.
I blinked rapidly, not realizing until he spoke that Hank was kneeling in front of me. “Put your hand on my shoulder so you don’t fall.”
I frowned, but did as he asked. And then it became clear as he gently placed one hand on my calf while the other pulled off my boot. Sand rained onto the ground. It took all my willpower to stay on my feet as each movement threatened to buckle my legs.
After my feet were bare, he stood. “We’re going to need to move soon, but you’ve got sand everywhere and you’ll heal faster without it rubbing your wounds raw. You can’t get in there with your clothes on. They’ll never dry and will be hell to get back on.”
“Take them off, I don’t care,” I said. Modesty didn’t factor at that point. Neither did romance. We were battered and bruised, sweaty and ripe. And Hank had seen most of me before anyway, just recently after my visit with Nivian and then Emain. “This is becoming a habit,” I mumbled as he removed my pants and I tensed in pain.
He chuckled softly. “No doubt. And a bad one at that. God forbid I ever get to do this when you’re not wounded or half dead …”
I smiled.
Hank removed my belt, my sidearm, and then my pants, which I stepped out of very carefully while holding on to both of his shoulders.
He straightened, eyeing me with concern. “Can you manage lifting your arms?”
I winced, knowing it would hurt like hell. “Not really. But my jacket and shirt are full of sand. It’s even in my armpits. Let’s get it over with so we can catch up to Rex and Bryn.”
He smiled.
“Brave girl.”
“If you say so.”
Carefully Hank peeled off my jacket, my weapons harness, and then waited as I sucked in a readying breath, gritted my teeth, and lifted my arms. He made quick work of my shirt. Sweat was rolling off me, tears streamed down my face, and I was shaking. My arms fell limp at my sides, the action causing even more pain.
Hank leaned down and rolled his pants legs up and then held out his hand.
And I froze.
The way he stood there … hair wet, a busted lip, his cheek scraped raw, a bruise shadowing beneath his eyes, yet strength and power still radiated from him … And holding his hand out to me. The image seemed suspended as though my brain decided to pause and take a snapshot.
Then it was over almost as soon as it began. My chest ached and I wasn’t all that sure it was because of my wounds. Feeling exhausted and foggy, I slid my hand into his. His fingers closed around mine, warm and strong, feeding me some of his healing power, though I knew he had very little left.
Once my foot hit the cool water, I sighed. The cold wrapped around my skin, easing the burn of scrapes and hurts. Hank walked me to a ledge where I could hold on while going deeper into the pool, then he left me alone so I could soak in the water and rub the grit, sweat, blood, and sand from my body. Bra and underwear were completely soakedthrough, but I didn’t care.
Feeling better, I headed for the water coming in from the rock crevice, cupped my hands, and brought water to my lips. It was heaven.
After I drank my fill I turned. Brim had finally gotten to his feet and Hank was shaking out my clothing and had our weapons set out in a line on one of the rocks. No doubt having cleaned them of sand the best he could.
I guessed if I was going to be stranded in a hot desert world, he wasn’t a bad guy to have on my side.
Brim walked into the water as I walked out. I patted his head and approached my clothes. Hank kept his eyes averted and worked on brushing sand from his thigh harness and then strapped it back on. He had his socks and shoes back on, too.
I dressed as quickly as I could and had more of an issue with the smell of my clothes and the blood than I did with the pain of getting back into them.
“If we keep walking beneath this ridge, we should be going parallel with our original track. Rex said to head east.”
I grabbed my belt. “Thanks.”
He glanced up, his hands still around his thigh.
“For the …” I threw a hand toward the water.
A smile that he tried to suppress drew across his lips and he shook his head. “Anytime, Madigan.”
“So how good are you at directions?” I asked, easing into my shoulder harness.
“Compass.” He held up a dagger that I hadn’t seen him take from the station. It had a nice little sheath along with the firearm at his thigh. The end of it contained a dome.
“We’re not exactly home,” I pointed out.
“All three worlds have poles, different ones, sure, but this has a compass for each of them. See?” He turned a small lever and the dome rolled to reveal another one.
“Okay, survivor man, I’m impressed. You ready to go?”
He shoved the dagger into the sheath and grabbed his jacket. “We’ll just make sure we’re on an easterly track. The ruins hopefully won’t be hard to miss.”
Despite the dim light, I didn’t miss his look. It was iffy at best. We were out in the sand flats without our guide, neither one of us having been here before. Separated from my little sister … Another snapshot rose up in front of me.
Bryn as a kid, sitting on the living room floor in her nightgown watching Saturday morning cartoons, her stuffed turtle in her lap—Turdy.
What started out as “Turty” had quickly become “Turdy” … Connor and I always had a good laugh about that. My heart constricted with the memory of my brother.
And Bryn.
Seeing her as a cold-blooded murderer, blood on her hands. It was a sight I’d never forget.
“You know it wasn’t Bryn,” Hank said.
height="0em" width="1em">“She doesn’t deserve this, Hank. On top of everything else … it’s too much.”
“You’d be surprised at what people can handle, Charlie. Look at you. All that’s happened … and yet you continue on. You’re one of the strongest people I have ever met here or in Elysia. And Bryn is cut from the same cloth. She’ll get through this, too.”
I nodded and wiped at the corner of one eye, watching Brim walk from the pool and then shake his big body. Water and slobber went flying in all directions. “You gonna tell me what those sirens were doing at the gate?”
For a second, I didn’t think he’d answer.
“Well, I’d guess they were there to take me home.”
“Back to Elysia? Why?”
He shrugged and picked up another pebble from the ledge, turning it over in his hands. He threw it into the water. “Because I am a traitor.”