Misery Happens (6 page)

Lucen signaled for Gi, and the other satyr nudged the light down the hallway with his boot. It didn’t brighten the room much, but the strange shadows morphed into focus.

“Just more debris.” Lucen pointed the flashlight along the far wall. “We’ve reached the end of the floor.”

Under the ghostly light, it appeared as though someone had blackened the windows in the room. They hadn’t done a perfect job, and the glow of the streetlights peeked through cracks in the paint.

“Still sense him nearby?” Lucen asked.

I nodded but winced. It was as though Raj was everywhere, and yet there was no sign of his presence. “Time to go down, I guess.”

“You hear that?” Gi asked.

I’d heard nothing, but in a flash I was as alert as everyone else. I raised my gun in the direction of the stairwell, and the satyrs did the same with their weapons. For a couple seconds, I held my breath, straining for signs of a threat. An eerie stillness enveloped the area as we stood motionless. Then all at once, the hallway erupted with a boom.

The noise shook the fragile structure. I ducked low as the ceiling crumbled onto my head. Any second I expected the whole building would crash down with us in it, but that was obviously not Raj’s intent. The blast was only a distraction. Three furies burst through the stairwell door before we could climb to our feet, and the next thing I knew I was pelted with something wet.

I dropped my gun as my world was pulled out from beneath me. A disorientation curse. Dragon shit on toast. Of course, it would be. Raj wanted me alive.

“Jess, stay low!” Lucen yelled, as if I could do anything else. I was in absolutely no shape to join the fighting.

Somewhere, someone was shooting, but I didn’t dare turn and look. A few feet over my head, a bullet collided with the wood, and splinters rained on me. Lifting my eyes a couple inches, I could see the edge of the doorframe into the blacked-out room. Filthy floorboard by filthy floorboard, I wormed my way on my stomach toward the doorway. Behind me, I could hear shouting and bodies and steel slamming together. Clearly, not everyone had been hit by the curse.

Thrilled to finally see some cover ahead, I moved a little too quickly, and my stomach lurched. The floor seemed to roll away beneath me. Up became down, down became sideways. I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t vomit, but the sensation of falling was overwhelming.

“Behind you, little siren.” Lucen didn’t sound so good himself. Since he’d been right next to me, some of the curse must have hit him too.

I wiggled deeper into the room to allow him cover, my head too fuzzy to worry about the splinters and broken glass that were digging into my thin shirt and exposed stomach. The debris in the center was several feet away. If I could get behind it and use it as a shield… I was almost there, and I shut my eyes to fend off my nausea.

But as I reached out to push myself along, something unexpected happened. When I felt the floor drop out from beneath me, it wasn’t the curse. The floor simply wasn’t there. My arms met with nothing but air where floor should have been.

Another disguise charm, I thought, and that was all I had time to think. Too much of my weight hovered over the nothingness. Without any way of maintaining my balance, and already suffering from severe vertigo, I couldn’t figure out how to pull myself backward.

So I slipped forward instead, and screaming, disappeared down the hole.

Chapter Six

I was still screaming when I slammed into…more air? Groaning, I peered through the stray hairs that had fallen into my face, but my world was a blur of faintly glowing color that told me nothing. Confusion made me dizzier. I couldn’t focus, so I shut my eyes one more time. All I could tell was that the pain I’d been expecting never arrived. My limbs dangled over nothing, yet an invisible cushion supported me.

Then that vanished with a distinct popping noise. Even if my brain had been fully functioning, I had no time to ponder what was going on. The floor and I met at last, and I was pretty sure it had the upper hand. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was why it hadn’t attacked me sooner.

I rolled over, willing the vomit down my throat. High over my head, Lucen was yelling my name and I could hear more sounds of struggle, but I had no ability to respond. I feared if I opened my mouth, I’d puke. Plus all of my energy should be saved for getting to my feet and figuring out where I was. But my body was having none of that idea, however sensible, and I curled into the fetal position instead.

“Get her out of there.”

Vaguely, I recognized Raj’s voice. Figured. If only I’d interpreted that sensation that he was right above me or behind me as him actually being right
below
me, this mess might have been avoided.

Fear pumped my blood faster, but it did nothing to help me dispel the curse’s effects. All I could do was swear to myself. Rough hands grabbed me under the shoulders, and I was dragged from wherever I’d landed.

Now would be a nice time to hurl, I told my stomach, but it stubbornly refused. My damn freakish body had a mind of its own. The curse must be slowly subsiding, but not vomiting was just a start. Being able to fight off an attack was something else entirely, and I didn’t trust the curse’s effects would disappear fast enough for that.

Whoever had moved me let go, and my upper back smacked into the floor. I barely managed to protect my head. At last, I pried open my eyes a crack. Raj was telling someone to hurry, and heavy feet stomped behind me. As the room swam into focus, I watched a fury slam closed some kind of metal gate. A second later, an object crashed into the concrete behind it and swore. I blinked again, testing my ability to sit. Lucen. Shit. That object looked like Lucen.

Sure enough, he pushed himself upright. In the dim light, he appeared as groggy as I did, and blood trickled down his head. I opened my mouth to call out his name, but an unpleasantly familiar pair of motorcycle boots landed in my line of sight. Was it really only a few hours ago that I’d stared at Raj’s shoes? I so did not enjoy being in this position.

“We need to stop running into each other this way, soul swapper.” Raj’s voice told me he was grinning, but lifting my head high enough to confirm it was asking for trouble.

Rather than waste my limited brainpower thinking of a witty comeback, I simply raised a middle finger.

Chuckling, Raj pressed it back down, and his touch made my skin crawl. The anger I’d been nurturing this evening spiked, and the bond connecting us flared as though it was strengthened through the physical contact.

“The good news is that we don’t have to
keep
meeting like this,” Raj said. “You’re coming with me this time. You see? I made sure you didn’t even get hurt when you fell, so there’d be no excuse. Of course, I can’t say the same for your boyfriend.”

“Jess?” Lucen’s voice was weak.

I tried looking around Raj’s large legs, but the fury completely blocked my view. “I’m okay,” I told Lucen, though that was probably a lie.

Raj lifted my chin so I was forced to see his scarily tattooed face. “Oh, yes. She’s fine. We’ll take good care of her.”

His goons laughed, but Raj was on to something. Our bond was stronger than ever when he touched me. I could visualize it once more—a thick, darkly powerful rope. Only not a rope. A circuit.

I’d never figured out what exactly Raj had done to me in France when he’d used me to channel power and open the Pit. But whatever it was, he’d used the bond to feed me power too. That must mean I could use it to take from him.

Bracing myself mentally, I grasped our connection and yanked on Raj’s magic. It came at once, eagerly, flooding my senses with a hot, dazzling burst of sheer energy. The effects of the disorientation curse flew away, blasted right out of me. Alas, next came the disturbing rush I’d been waiting for. My every nerve lit up, and my head became too light. I shuddered from the impact and tried to force the energy hit down, grounding myself. As I did, the long-simmering rage in my blood began to heat up.

To my surprise, Raj laughed. “Yes, there does appear to be some residual connection between us. I’m no more certain of what it is than you are. I could detect your unease and confusion when you were attempting to locate me.”

Peachy. As I’d suspected. Sometimes being right wasn’t worth it.

Shakily, I climbed to my feet. I was sick of staring at Raj’s boots, and my muscles buzzed with power. One more pull on the bond and I’d be ready to take on the world, or feel like it anyway.

My head wasn’t entirely sure that was a good idea though. Raj had fed me so much power last time that it had hurt. My brain had felt like it was being split in two, and my body—far from being strengthened by the hit—had been hard to control. Right up until the moment I’d passed out. In some ways, it wasn’t as bad as what had happened when Claudius had addicted me, but it wasn’t a situation I wished to repeat. Under the circumstances, however, I didn’t see what other options I had.

“Can you break the connection?” I spoke casually, but it would be good to know if Raj could cut me off if I got too greedy with his power.

Although Raj was over a head taller than me, now that I was standing, I could see more of the space. We were on the ground floor, and the ruined area was part of the bank. Smashed and charred desks had been pushed aside, and the teller counter was covered in chunks of the ceiling. A moldy-smelling carpet runner had been rolled into a corner.

Then there was Lucen, locked behind a fancy iron-gated door. He’d pulled himself to his knees, and his hands were wrapped around the bars. With a determined expression, he shook his head at me. Was he telling me to stop drawing power from Raj, or warning me not to goad Raj into breaking the connection? Or was it something else entirely?

Raj noticed my furrowed brow and glanced in Lucen’s direction. “Anything that can be made can be unmade. Don’t fret. But until I have you safely tucked away, our connection is too useful to remove. What if you ran again? How could I draw you to me?”

He gestured behind me, and two ugly furies approached Lucen. One of them held a salamander fire-forged knife with a wicked, curved blade. Lucen saw it too. He inched away from the gate, but the second fury was unlocking it. He was trapped.

Fear froze my mind, but not for long. The ice in my veins warmed to anger, and that awoke my courage. Fed by the rage Raj induced, my resolve strengthened with every breath. As for my own magic, whether my power was fueled by the bond with Raj or whether it was simply adrenaline, I had no clue. But my senses felt like they were expanding. My entire being, body and soul, swelled. I yanked on the bond and sucked in every fiery drop of power I could pull from Raj. Although my head began to throb, the energy didn’t bowl me over. I absorbed it, my skin tingling from head to toes to fingers.

The effect reminded me of stretching a muscle. The deeper you forced yourself to stretch, over time the deeper you could stretch with ease. And the last time I’d done this, Raj had blown me apart. Over the ensuing days, my magical muscle had contracted, but apparently it had been ready and waiting to be stretched again under the right conditions.

There were no conditions more right than this. Losing my Dragon’sWing was a shame but not a tragedy. Losing Olef was a tragedy, but it couldn’t be undone. Losing Lucen? That was a giant fucking
hell, no
that could be prevented. In order to protect him, I would let forth a torrent of blind rage so strong it would make the rest of these so-called creatures of anger jealous.

On that thought, I pulled harder on the bond. Nerves shrieked, and my head pounded with a warning to stop, but the smirk on Raj’s face slipped ever so slightly. It was working, and that was all the encouragement I needed.

I strained with the effort of hoarding more power, and a red veil settled over my vision. At the same time, my eyesight sharpened. The magic powered every sense. I could hear the footsteps high above on the third floor. I could smell mildew lurking in the rubble, the dragon droppings decaying in the corners, and the hint of heated metal in the lamps that lined the room. And I was ready to taste blood.

Raj staggered back. His smirk vanished entirely, and his eyes filled with an emotion I’d never seen before on a fury. Fear was too strong a word for it, but it was definitely concern. I had to act quickly. If he could break the bond, he might decide it was worth it after all.

“Get. Away. From him.” Even my voice sounded deeper.

Raj cocked his head to the side, examining me. “That’s enough, Jessica.”

I jerked forward, feet sliding on the dust. Raj was reclaiming his power, reversing the pull of the bond. I could feel the energy draining from me. My world was becoming duller again, my vision clearing.

His minions had paused to gape at us, but now that the universe seemed in order once more, they returned to unlocking the gate. Lucen had crept farther into the room, and at his side, his fingers had curled into a loose fist. He met my eye and winked, moving one finger minutely to show me the curse grenade he held.

Thank dragons. I should have known he had something, and that reminded me of the ones I’d stuffed in my pockets and the knife at my hip. The furies hadn’t bothered to disarm me yet, probably because I was supposed to have been reeling from the disorientation curse. It was a mistake I intended to make them pay for. Just as Raj’s unwillingness to break our bond was too.

I grasped at the connection, but Raj was ready. Instead of an influx of power, all I managed to ensnare were dregs. Raj held tight. I attempted it again and stumbled, and Raj crossed his arms smugly. Shit. Even if I could take the power from him, he was still far stronger than most preds.

The iron gate swung open with a great creak, and the fury with the knife barged in. Lucen raised his hand, and in the second before the grenade exploded, I darted out of the way. The area filled with the green smoke of anti-magic. There was no way Lucen hadn’t been hit himself given the tight quarters.

I could tell Raj hadn’t been expecting it because the bond jerked as surprise caused him to loosen his grasp. I didn’t bother to pull on it though. Not yet. In the split second I had before Raj recovered, I retrieved the large grenade Gi had given me, spun around and hurled it at the two additional furies in the room.

I had no idea what was in the curse, but it blasted open the front wall, leaving a fabulous seven-pointed curse scar behind on the bits that remained. The two furies were thrown back and piled in a heap by the teller counter.

Raj’s eyes opened wide as he took in the carnage, and I seized my opening. Grabbing my knife, I charged. But Raj must have been able to read me via the bond better than I could read him. He was still a pred, after all. My negative emotions couldn’t be hidden from him, and anger was the force driving me.

He snatched my upraised arm with a painfully strong grip and wrestled me toward the floor. With my arm twisted behind my back, I had no choice but to release the knife. It clattered to the hardwood beams, taking my hopes with it.

At least two hundred pounds of solid, fury muscle pressed down on me as I screamed in frustration. Every attempt I made to break Raj’s hold was easily countered. He was far bigger and stronger, and while those things could normally be overcome by training, he was in my damn head, anticipating my moves.

He pressed my arms into my torso, wrapping one of his own arms around me. With the other, he picked up Misery. Then he hauled me to my feet. “I did tell you I’d enjoy this far more if you struggled, didn’t I? And you struggle so well. It makes it so much more fun than a normal human would.” His face pressed against the side of my head, and he inhaled audibly.

I started to swear at him then I remembered that amused him more.
He likes the struggle. Don’t struggle, you idiot. It only makes him stronger, and it turns him on.
I shuddered mentally at the memory.

It only took Raj one arm to drag me toward the blown-open section of wall. “Thanks for this, soul swapper. It’s a lot easier than climbing out the rock pile in the back.”

Fuck you, I thought and sucked in a long draw on the bond. Power radiated throughout me. Raj didn’t respond, but I didn’t get the sense it was because he hadn’t noticed. He was lifting me over the bodies of his fallen minions, and his grip around me slackened.

To get us both out of here, he’d have to carry me over the loose debris and through the wall. It would require concentration, and it was not a time he could engage in a literal power struggle with me.

So I tugged on the bond again as Raj put the first foot on the rubble pile. The chunks of plaster were strewn precariously, and the pile shifted beneath us. Raj tensed, collecting his balance, and he had to adjust his grip. I gained a little more wiggle room.

Up another step, and another. Raj was clearly aware of the battle of the bond, but he wasn’t taking it seriously. I was sure it was partially because he had to pay attention to his footing, but mostly because he didn’t take
me
seriously as a threat. That had been all too evident since our meeting in France.

It was his mistake. I didn’t need to be as powerful as he was to be a threat. From the corner of my eye, I could see Misery’s hilt. Raj had taken my sheath when he’d pinned me to the floor, and he held the whole contraption in a loose grip in his left hand.

Don’t think about Olef,
I told myself as dust dribbled onto my head.
Don’t think about the prison being open. Don’t worry about the Vessels. Just focus on Lucen and Steph and Devon. Concentrate on the things that make you happy. The reasons you’re fighting, those that aren’t about revenge.