Of the Abyss (12 page)

“You could ask the guard to help you,”
one of the weaker Abyssi who had shied away from Alizarin suggested with a syrupy tone of mock sympathy. When Alizarin turned to him, he took a step back and murmured,
“I'm just trying to help your . . . what is she to you?”

Alizarin growled. It was an elemental sound, and even the other Numenmancer seemed to hear it. She took a minute to create a bubble of protective power and tuck the unconscious Pearl inside to hold her and keep her safe, and then disappeared as she willed herself out of the temple.

“The one who calls himself Hansa. If you stay, you will see him,”
the other Abyssi said.
“
He is working up the nerve to step through the rift at the well.”

Xaz's first response was relief—­if the rift didn't destroy Hansa, the Others in the temple would. These Abyssi were held from harming mancers in this place, but would delight in the flesh of a poor Quin guard who stumbled into their sanctuary.

Unless . . .

She remembered the way Abyssal power had flowed around Hansa after he had arrested Baryte. He had been bloodied again when Xaz had summoned Alizarin, further tainted with infernal power. Could that have been enough for Baryte's Abyssi to make a connection to him once its previous mancer was dead?

Xaz didn't know for sure, but it seemed likely enough that Mars's newest hero had just become its newest mancer as well.

Either way, she didn't want to see him. She focused her thoughts and fled the temple.

She emerged from between two large boulders on the southern coast, a spot she knew well, though she hadn't used this rift in many years. Her parents' house was less than an hour's walk to the north, if one was desperate enough to cut through brackish marshland.

It was high tide, and salt spray stung her as it slapped against the rocky shore, soaking her skin and clothes. Further out to sea, she could see the islands occupied by the Osei; their wheeling winged shapes were visible in silhouette against the cobalt sky as they gyred in search of prey in the water. Their favorite prey this time of year was the blue sharks that schooled in the area, much to the ire of local fishermen.

Move!
she ordered herself. She had been hypnotized by the play of light and shadow off the water, and the giant predators that hunted it. Some said the Osei were part Abyssi, a legacy of the royal house's meddling with infernal magic before the revolution and rise of the current democracy. Their tendency to eat ­people was one reason this isolated rift was rarely used, which meant she should get under cover.

There was a fire pit nearby, but it clearly hadn't been used in a long time. She cleared it out with rapidly-­numbing fingers, then lethargically gathered driftwood and dried seaweed to burn. She wished she had an Abyssumancer's power to start a fire with her power, but had to settle for the flint and steel her younger self had hidden in a jelly jar under the rocks.

As she sat by the fire, she tested her power. Could she draw strength from the flame, like an Abyssumancer could? Could she cool it, the way she used to? She needed to know what she could still do so she could come up with a plan for what to do next.

 

CHAPTER 15

T
his is madness,
Hansa thought as he stared at the well in front of him. Located at the back of a mostly-­abandoned, rocky acre of scrub that had once been farmland, the well's wooden cover was rotten and half-­collapsed. There was plenty of room to allow a crazy person to jump inside.

That was exactly what he had been told to do.

His breath made a white fog in front of his face as he stared into the blackness below. His fingertips trembled, but not from the cold.

No, he didn't feel
cold
at all. His heart was pounding much too fast for him to be affected by temperature.

He had told Ruby as much truth as he dared, but even though she adored Pearl as much as anyone, she hadn't understood why one of the other guards couldn't go. He couldn't tell her the assignment had come from a half-­Abyssi creature instead of his captain. No matter how much Hansa wanted to cut all ties to Umber, he couldn't abandon Pearl. Not darling Pearl, who used to sit on the front steps of the Cobalt Hall for hours, and who sneaked out to deliver hot cider when he was serving that long, cold night's watch. He couldn't stand the thought of her being hurt.

He was still insane, and he knew it, to have agreed to Umber's plan.

He hadn't asked why Pearl meant so much to a half-­Abyssi because he hadn't trusted him not to lie. Once Hansa got the girl, he was taking her straight back to the Cobalt Hall. He wouldn't have agreed to this plan if Umber had even implied he expected Hansa to turn Pearl over to him.

Now he was at the well.

Hansa wondered which of the many unpleasant ways he would die, if Umber was wrong, or had lied to him. Depending on how deep the well was, and whether or not it still had water, he might just break a leg, and die of infection or starvation. Or he could drown. Or freeze to death. Those options might, however, all be better than the possible ways to die if Umber was
right,
and telling the truth.

Trying to resist the instinct to hold his breath, Hansa stepped up onto the side of the well. He could not refrain from squeezing his eyes shut, as he took another step forward, his hands clenched into fists at his sides as he tried to keep himself from flailing out to try to stop his fall.

Instead of rock bottom, or cold water, he felt like he hit a lake full of blood. Suddenly he was enveloped in warmth. His senses screamed
we'll drown!
as his eyes shot open.

Someone near him purred,
“Oh, look, fresh blood.”

“
New?”
someone else whistled.

“He isn't new,”
yet another voice replied. “
I've tasted that one before.”

Hansa struggled to keep from screaming. The voices that rippled around him had a physical quality, like hot breath on the back of his neck.

Or, suddenly, silky fur against his cheek.

“I know you,”
the one who had just brushed against him observed. “
You'
re the one Xaz stopped me from eating.”

Hansa struggled to remember all the things Umber had told him. Umber had not anticipated this
exact
situation, but he had explained to Hansa why it made perfect sense that a man who had just recently been a Quin guard would now be standing in a mancer's temple.

Then it's you who did this to me,
Hansa told the Abyssi who had challenged him. The Abyssi who had slaughtered nearly a dozen Quin guards.

The world around Hansa turned green, rolling, as he realized that.

Stop that,
the Abyssi snapped.

And, from somewhere else, a small whimper.

Umber had told him that technically, there was no “space” in the temple, no moving, but that everything was controlled by one's own mind. Even so, Hansa thought of himself as walking toward the small sound.

What he found, huddled at the back of the temple, was . . . almost a shadow. He couldn't quite see her, or feel her, or hear her. Umber had told him that would be the case, too.

“She isn't yours,”
a voice like icicles said. It was hard to hear, faint like a distant puff of wind.

“She shouldn't be here.”

“That isn'
t your concern,”
the creature said. “
She was brought here. You have no claim to her. You cannot take from the temple that which you have no claim to.”

Umber had given several suggestions for dealing with the challenges Hansa was likely to face in the temple, but one had been at the top of the list, and it was the one Hansa went with now:

Run.

“I'll take you home,” he said to the little girl, as he tried to wrap his thoughts around her. “Pearl?”

“Hansa?” Her voice sounded very far away, but at last, he felt her clinging back.

The hardest part is going to be getting
out
of the temple,
Umber had said.
There is no physical door to open or pass through; you have to will yourself through it.

With a demon quite possibly on his heels, one that had already nearly killed him once, Hansa found himself strangely motivated.

DOOR!

Abruptly, he was stumbling on a dew-­covered mat of fallen leaves and pine needles near the defunct well, his arms wrapped around a crying child.

A moment later, the Abyssi was in front of him, its fur glistening in the moonlight, and its tail lashing back and forth. “Quin, you and I should talk about your charade, before you go.”

Hansa put his back to a tree, holding Pearl protectively as he searched for the mancer.

“Xaz is elsewhere,” the Abyssi said. “As for the girl . . . I only want to talk to you. If she runs, I won't chase her.”

Hansa set Pearl on her feet.

“Pearl, see the lights, way up there?” he asked, pointing the girl toward the inn that stood sentinel at the start of the path to the well. “You run toward them. Hide in the stables. There's a sweet horse there, and a kitten.
Run!
As fast as you can.”

The girl took off, nearly flying, without needing another word. Umber would look for her in the stables if Hansa didn't make it out of this.

The Abyssi watched Pearl go for a moment, but then turned back to Hansa.

“So,” the demon purred. “Let's start with, I recognize your taste. I've had your blood. The only thing I would recognize more easily is my own power, which is
not
the magic infecting you
.
A mancer wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Your story would have worked around most Abyssi. But not me. So explain yourself, before I remember I'm hungry, and decide that Xaz would probably not object to my killing a Quin guard who infiltrated the temple and stole someone from it.”

Where was Umber? He had assured Hansa that he would deal with any “consequences” of his taking Pearl from the temple.
This was a pretty serious consequence!

“I'm not after the temple,” Hansa said. He tried to edge away, and the Abyssi leaned forward, trapping Hansa between itself and a large oak trunk. “I don't care about the temple. I'm not going to
report
the temple. I learned that lesson.”

The Abyssi smiled, baring twin rows of sharp teeth. “Oh, did you?” it asked. “That ‘lesson' ended up making you the hero of Mars. I was worried you might have become arrogant.”

“I want nothing more to do with mancers, demons, or half-­breeds,” Hansa avowed.

“Of course, the spawn,” the Abyssi said. “The power is his. That must have been exciting for you.”

Umber had lent Hansa enough power to make it through the rift and impersonate a mancer. The process had been uncomfortable to the extreme, and had involved knives and blood—­and why had Hansa been surprised?

Hansa flinched as the Abyssi leaned forward, its cheek brushing against his.

“It doesn't have to involve blood,” it whispered. “And, with all his magic pumping through you, he won't be able to take it back without your cooperation, so if you wish you can demand an alternative ritual.”

“Why do I not feel like you're trying to help me?” Hansa asked, the words a little choked because he was straining away from the demon. Even through his cloak, vest, and shirt, his back was probably going to have a perfect map of the bark of the tree behind him later.

“Do you think I want you to
keep
that power?” the Abyssi asked.

“Mind if I cut in?”

Hansa had never been so grateful to see Umber in his life. The crossbreed stepped forward with no hesitation at all and wedged himself between Hansa and the Abyssi, facing the demon straight on. They were nearly the same height, both a ­couple inches taller than Hansa, and Umber didn't flinch as he looked into the glowing blue eyes.

Instead, he said, “Oh, how lovely. Blue.” Leaning back against Hansa, who was frozen like a rabbit trying to evade notice by a predator, Umber reached up and caressed the demon's cheek, and then trailed his fingers through its hair. “And so soft. Dioxazine is a lucky, lucky girl.”

Was Hansa going mad—­a distinct possibility—­or had the Abyssi just started to
purr
?

The Abyssi gave ground as Umber stepped forward a bit, now running a hand up its chest. “If the mancer ever bores you—­and Numenmancers can be
so
dull—­and you're looking for some fun—­” He wrapped a hand around the back of the Abyssi's neck. “You are welcome to look me up.”

Umber had by that point backed the Abyssi up until it was now leaning against the edge of the well; another nudge from Umber, and it obligingly leaned backward, balanced over the door to the rift. At first Hansa thought Umber planned to push the Abyssi in, and he wondered what was going to stop it from coming back out, furious with them.

Instead, Umber kissed it.

Hansa backed away, but couldn't quite force his eyes from the two creatures, who strained toward each other, both apparently oblivious to Hansa.

Apparently oblivious . . . so
what in the name of the Abyss was he still doing there?

After too long watching the two creatures twine tongues, he turned, and dashed toward where he had told Pearl to hide.

“Pearl?” he called, a strained whisper, as he stepped into the stables.

“Hansa!” The little girl appeared from behind a stack of barrels, and threw herself at the guard. “I got lost,” she whimpered. “I got lost in there, and they wouldn't let me out . . .”

“Ssh. It's okay,” he whispered. “But you've got to be a big girl now, Pearl. We can't stay here. Can you be a big girl, and hop up onto this horse with me, and I'll take you back to the Cobalt Hall?”

She nodded.

He lifted Pearl onto the horse Umber had lent him, which he had left saddled, anticipating he might need to make a quick escape. As he did so, he noted that there was now a second one, a roan stallion, in the stable. The beasts were rare enough in Kavet that he suspected the horse had to belong to Umber as well. Well, hopefully it would be there a long time, as the Abyssi and the Abyssi-­spawn entertained each other.

Hansa's gorge tried to rise as that thought crossed his mind, and he failed to get a leg fully across the beast on the first try. At least his crazy, arm-­waving attempt to get his balance without smacking Pearl, made Pearl giggle.

“Hold on,” he warned her. “Off we go!”

As a member of the Quin guard, he was one of the few citizens of Mars who knew how to ride. Pearl on the other hand had obviously never been on a horse. She let out an exhilarated “Whee!” that made him laugh despite all else.

The second set of hoofbeats didn't register in Hansa's mind until Pearl let out a whimper, and Umber, on the roan stallion, drew up beside Hansa.

You can let the girl know I'm not going to hurt her.

Despite his better judgment, Hansa relayed the message. “It's okay, Pearl. This man helped me get you out of there.”

Pearl nodded that she heard, but she didn't look up, and didn't seem to be enjoying the ride any more.

That was one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen,
Hansa observed.

You've never seen some of the
other
creatures of the Abyss,
Umber replied.
Where exactly do you think spawn come from?

Another thought Hansa hadn't wanted to have.

The trick to kissing an Abyssi,
Umber continued, apparently enjoying Hansa's discomfort about the subject,
is to always let him lead. Stick your tongue past all those sharp little teeth, and you will almost inevitably lose it.
Hansa squirmed; Umber chuckled.
Really, what else was I supposed to do? Abyssi are pleasure-­centered. They don't have “logic,” just wants. They feed, they fuck, they play. The only good way to distract them from one is to offer another. Since I wasn'
t about to let it eat you, I had to offer better bait.

Dear Numen, would the visual images never
cease
? And Hansa had thought that seeing that creature rip through all his fellows had been the worst thing a man could ever see in his life. No, now he had
this
new, harrowing image in his mind.

And despite all that, he still felt obliged to say,
Thank you. For not letting it eat me.

It would have made things complicated.
Umber sighed.
Unfortunately, Dioxazine pulled her pet away before we could have too much fun. Very frustrating. Though, if you have a few hours, we could take care of your gratitude. . .

If I join the Napthol Order, will I be able to hide from you?
Hansa hadn't meant to send that thought as a question, but apparently it got across. Umber started laughing so hard, he actually had to slow his horse in order to avoid being unseated, allowing Hansa to pull ahead.