“I’m not letting you at me when you’re like this. Tell me what’s happening!”
A loud metal clank sounded and I realized there must be another gate beyond the stairs. I couldn't see much through the metal-slat gate down here. Nikolos released another one of those rage-filled cries and came toward me again.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, reaching up to grab the ankhs in my palm and squeeze.
The last thing I saw as liquid fire poured through me was a claw-tipped hand opening the gate that led into his cell.
I sat up in the motel bed to find Blythe and Phro hovering over me, Blythe’s face streaked with tears.
“You were gone,” she wailed. “Fenris said you hadn’t left the room, and Phro said that you were dream traveling.” She wrung her hands. “We only did the spell that once so it shouldn’t have happened again.”
The transition from the horror of that cell to here had me blinking at them both before the emotional pain slammed into my chest. I brought up my legs, buried my face in my knees and tried to remember how to breathe. Hot tears burned my eyes.
“Beri.” Phro spoke softly. “Beri, you have blood on your shirt and in your hair. Is it your blood?”
I couldn’t find my words. Not yet. All I could do was rock and try to shove the image of his terror out of my mind. It wouldn’t leave and I choked back a sob.
“I think some of that blood is hers, Blythe. Go get warm water and a washcloth.”
I heard Blythe’s slippers rustling over the carpet as she moved to do what Phro asked.
“You went back to that dimension again, didn’t you?”
I finally looked up at my spirit guide. “I didn’t go on purpose.”
“You bled there.”
“Nikolos—”
Both black eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Nikolos made you bleed?”
“Yes. Something happened down there. He was unconscious and covered in dirt and blood. His lips were cracked. I made him drink water and washed his body and when he woke up and found out I’d done that, he went crazy. His eyes turned red and I think he was trying to either kill me or assault me.”
Blythe stood behind Phro with the bowl I’d seen her crush herbs in and a washcloth. “Nikolos tried to assault you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. It was like he was full of rage, but before that he said the water was there to taunt him and he wouldn’t forget.”
Phro’s clothes changed from the red slinky dress to her white toga, and she went translucent.
“Do you know what was wrong then?” I asked.
“If he was very dirty and thirsty, then he was afraid of the water.”
“Phro, that part was very clear to me. Why would he be afraid of the water?”
“It was probably water from the River Lethe. The spirits drink of it to forget their earthly lives.”
“But that’s good, right? It will make his stay there tolerable.”
She shook her head, her mouth turned down.
“Is it permanent?” I whispered.
“If he drinks enough of it, yes. It takes time and lots of exposure.”
“And I bathed him in it.” The guilt that hit me then filled all the space, took all my air.
Blythe came forward. “Let me look at the back of your head. I saw the blood when you bent just now.”
I turned and stared at the wall, not even flinching when Blythe probed around the wound then started washing the blood out of my hair. “I didn’t know.” I spoke slowly, the horror of what I’d done hitting me over and over. “I didn’t know. I only saw that he was parched and dirty, and I wanted to make him comfortable.”
Phro sighed, became more solid as she moved into my peripheral vision. “There are many things about the Realm of the Discarded that will change a person. It’s best not to eat or drink anything there.”
“But he has to eat and drink. He’d be dead by now if he hasn’t been.”
“There are safe things to eat and there’s even safe water. But some of the rivers aren’t for humans. Some generate hate, some infinite sadness. But the River Lethe is the most powerful one. Whoever has him probably didn’t want him to forget yet and hasn’t been giving him that water. It sounds like this was another form of torture.”
“He was covered in red lines like he’d been whipped.”
Phro nodded. “Standard for some jailers. Whip the prisoner, then leave water not fit to use. They would leave him down there until hunger and thirst would force his hand.”
“Or his girlfriend dream travels there and gives him a sponge bath.” I covered my face with my hands, but I couldn’t hide from my fear. I’d done this to him. Unknowingly, yes, but I had experience in otherworld politics—I knew not to take everything at face value. Not even a fucking bucket of water.
Blythe laid her hand on my shoulder. “I bet you did make him feel more comfortable, Beri. And what you did was out of love. You can’t beat yourself up over this when you had no idea what you were doing.”
I twisted and looked at Phro. “When I do go down there to get him, will you come?”
She faded until she was nothing more than a shimmer.
“Aphrodite, you will know more about what’s dangerous there. You can help me. I promise I won’t leave you there.”
She nodded. I knew only from the shimmering movement of her hair before she disappeared altogether.
“You said Fenris told you I didn’t leave?”
Blythe nodded.
“Where is he?”
“He is out doing whatever sprite vampires do at night.”
“I figured he was long gone by now. I lost track of him when the ghoul was here.”
“He didn’t leave. When I saw you were gone, I went outside and he was just flying around the Jeep. He handed me the leash and said he would help us, that he doesn’t have to be tied up.”
I raised my knees and rested my forehead on them. “I can’t stand knowing Nikolos is in that horrid place. Can’t stand it.”
“I know,” Blythe said, voice low. She crawled up the middle of my bed to sit beside me. Her arm was warm against my cold body when she put it around me.
For once, I appreciated the touch, the offer of comfort. My insides, most especially my heart, felt like shredded meat.
“I’m sorry we had to come here looking for Sophie.”
The real regret threading her whispered words made me lift my head to look at her. Yellow light from the cheap lamp between our beds fell onto her pale face. “I’m not sorry, Blythe. We need your magic back, and not just for the spell with the elemental. You can’t live your life putting out fires.” I worked hard to pull up a teasing grin but failed. My emotions were still too raw from that ordeal in the dungeon.
I couldn’t stop worrying.
What had I done to him by giving him that water? Would he even know me when I reached him again…and would I have reason to regret having unprotected sex with him?
Frazzled thoughts, all spinning around in my head like mini-tornadoes.
“Besides, you don’t make enough money to be able to afford replacing everything all the time.”
Her return smile was hesitant. “I don’t make any money right now. You’re paying for everything.”
“Don’t worry about that. If I have to, I’ll access some of what Nikolos left us.”
“Left you.”
“He knew I’d be taking care of my family.”
Those words just soaked into her face, causing this blinding sort of joy to illuminate her like she made her own light. “You said I’m family again.”
I quirked my lips. “Yeah, Blythe. I told you, you’re family.”
She squealed and hugged me so hard I squeaked. “Watch the rib!”
“Sorry,” she gasped before scrambling toward the end of the bed. She got tangled in the covers and fell off with a loud
thump
.
This would have made me laugh, but all I could manage was a snort as I fell back against the headboard.
“It’s not funny,” she muttered from the floor.
I got up and walked around the bed, stepping over her to reach the door, wanting to see if Fenris really hadn’t left. When I swung it open, I found Rory—still in his brown leather jacket—cheeks red with cold, standing there with his mouth open as he stared in horror at the vampire sprite.
Fenris had a bee clutched between his tiny hands and dots of garish, red blood that stood out on the green skin of his face. His turquoise hair, no longer slicked back, lay in a tousled disarray about his head.
Rory glanced at me. “It’s a…it’s a…” He made a strangled noise. Fear, stark and harsh, paled his face.
“Kid, there is no explaining what he is. But he won’t try to feed off you, so don’t worry about that. Teeth are too small.”
“No they aren’t.” Fenris dropped the unfortunate bee and pulled out the smallest handkerchief ever. He dabbed his face, stared back at Rory just as hard.
“Rory,” I said, trying to get his attention. He only swallowed and watched the fluttering vamp. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “You do realize it’s the middle of the night, right?”
“Oh,” he mumbled. “Sorry.” He cleared his throat, eyes going even wider when he saw Blythe on the floor.
“She fell right before I opened the door.” I opened it wider. “You want to come in? You look really cold and I’m freezing in this T-shirt and sweats.”
He aimed a sidelong glance at the sprite and scurried into the room.
I eyed Fenris, shook my head at his nasty little grin. “You could have hidden from him.”
“I could have,” he admitted. “But this was more fun.”
“You and my goddess should be BFFs.”
He flew to either side of me, as if looking for her. “She’s Astraea, isn’t she? Goddess of purity?”
I choked. “Um, not. Definitely not.” I started to shut the door and hesitated. “If you’re cold, you’re welcome to come inside. And, uh, thanks for not taking off. I’m well aware you didn’t have to stay.”
“You amuse me and I have nowhere to go just yet.”
I was trying to be nice to a vampire.
I
am
an idiot. I shut the door. “Let him find his own warmth,” I muttered. “Blythe, I can see your ass in that stupid nightgown, which means this boy can too.”
“I’m not complaining,” Rory hurried to say.
His enthusiasm surprised a chuckle out of me as I rubbed warmth into my arms and walked to the sink for a glass of water. Staring at the empty glass, I thought of Nikolos and the damned water. My heart started to pound. Worried I was about to have some kind of panic attack, I quickly filled the glass and turned back to Rory. “So, what brings you to our motel room at”—I glanced at the alarm clock on the little table between our beds—“three in the morning?”
“I found the location of the next concert. It’s actually closer than the last one, which makes no sense. So far, Staglina has spaced the concerts far apart.” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. “Another kid has gone missing too. I really think this band has something to do with it.”
I unfolded the paper to find a map. “Is it inside another forest?”
He nodded while watching Blythe put on her robe. His expression of utter disappointment had me struggling to hold back a real smile. I’d never been more thankful for male teenage hormones…
“Rory?”
He looked at me, turned bright red, and cleared his throat loudly. “Someone in the military owns the land, but I didn’t take the time to research him yet.”
“This is enough. Thank you.” I eyed him. “How come you aren’t at home?”
“Things are…tough there right now.” He shrugged. “The Net works faster at night anyway.”
I sat down to tug on my boots, then stood and snagged my leather jacket off the back of a chair. I eyed the tiny chewed holes on the inside lining with an annoyed frown before shrugging the coat on. “I’ll take you home.”
“It’s not far. Just past the trees. I can walk.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Then I’ll walk with you. Sorry, but there’s too much going on around here and to be honest, I don’t trust that little vampire sprite completely.”
Blythe and I left early the next afternoon to scout out the site of the concert. She gave me concerned glances the entire thirty-minute drive. I was dragging. Of course I was. I wasn’t sleeping much and when I did, I dream traveled. Also, I was pretty sure the two trips to the underworld had made my demon wounds worse. They throbbed at all times now.
“I’m fine,” I said, trying to reassure her.
“You don’t look fine and you have dark circles under your eyes. You’re pale. We should have just waited until tonight so you could rest.”
“I can’t rest. That’s why I look like death.”
“You smell funny too.”
I nearly drove the Jeep into a ditch glaring at her. “
Goddess
, Blythe, don’t worry about my feelings or anything. I know. Honeysuckle and dirt, you told me. And hell dimension according to the sprite.”
She looked down, twisted her fingers together then smoothed them down her jeans. She’d had to roll the bottoms into thick cuffs to keep from tripping. “It’s more now, especially after last night. It’s kind of like the dweller demons.”