Pickup Styx (15 page)

“Not really practical for the mountain, but damn you’re hot,” Simon said.

I frowned, not appreciating his comments, not feeling the flush of satisfaction I normally did when someone told me I was pretty. Thinking of my marred skin made my shoulders pull back and my chin tilt up. I was more than my looks. I was about to say as much when a swish of fabric moved against my thighs. I looked down and sighed.

I really needed to start wearing more jeans. I had on a short, shimmering gold dress with a deep, plunging neckline and strappy heels. I recognized the outfit. I’d worn it on my first date with Cheney. My skin once again looked perfect, though getting my brain to believe I wasn’t still injured was a different story. I still wanted to hold my arm to chest and expected sharp pains with every step. The cold wind bit into my exposed skin. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeble protection against the cold.

Simon was dressed just as he had been, and Corbin was now wearing a pair of black pants and a black shirt and jacket, making his platinum hair gleam in the light. In front of us was a beautiful view. A wide river of ice glistened in the sunlight, a picturesque mountain range jutting up behind it. The temperature had dropped at least forty degrees, making my limbs stiff and sluggish.

For the first time since we started Perdition, I saw other people. A few slipped and skidded on the ice, trying to cross the river. Cracking sounds split the unnatural silence, and one by one, all of them dropped into the water.

I glanced at Corbin. “I guess it’s a cold day in Hell.”

Corbin’s mouth twitched a little. “Apparently a snowball does have a chance in Hell.”

“Who knew?”

Simon pursed his lips. “How are we supposed to get across?”

Someone else tried moving across the ice from the other side on his butt, but it wasn’t long before he too took a cold plunge.

I knelt by the river’s edge and pressed my hand against the ice. It had way too much give. Too thin. Beneath the transparent surface, I could see the desperate people who had fallen in, faces a sickly blue, flailing and clawing to break free. I didn’t see a way across without falling in. “Vampires can’t fly, can they? Or leap? How are they at jumping?”

Corbin rolled his eyes. “Movies have turned us into jokes.”

“Any ideas?”

A sinister smile creased his face. “One.” He grabbed my wrists. “Fast.” He pulled me so close that his nose grazed my cheek. “Just relax. It will hurt less.”

Before I could protest, his fingers curled around my forearms and he spun in a circle so fast my feet lifted from the ground. Moments later, my stomach rose to my throat as he flung me across the river. I landed on the rocky, dry soil on the other side with a thud and a bounce. I struggled for a breath, my eyes filling with frightened tears.

Finally air gushed into my lungs. I sucked it in greedily, making me cough. “Son of a bitch.” I pushed myself up slowly, checking for injuries. I was scraped up and rocks were imbedded in my legs and arms, but all in all, I was unhurt.

“Get out of the way,” Corbin yelled, about to perform the same feat with Simon. I inched away and watched Simon sail across the river. He landed harder than I had, smacking his head on the ground. The terrified expression melted off his face, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

I looked at Corbin, wondering how he’d make it over, but he was already there beside me. “But—how?” I pointed. “You were . . .”

“I ran,” he said as if it were nothing. “Hold still.” He plucked a pebble from the back of my thigh, copping a feel while he was there.

I swatted his hand away and removed the pebbles myself. “Simon’s hurt.”

Corbin hefted Simon up and over his shoulder. “He’ll be fine. Let’s go. No time to waste.”

We started the trail that led up the mountain. I removed my shoes, deciding once again barefoot was easier for climbing than heels. My teeth chattered harder the farther we climbed. Blood dripped from Simon’s hair, and he groaned intermittently. When he began to move, Corbin plopped him down.

“If you can wiggle, you can walk.”

Simon held his hand to his head and moaned. I squatted beside him, still rubbing my arms, trying to warm them. “Are you okay?” My breath puffed out in white clouds as I spoke.

“I think so.”

I helped him up, my burning, deep red feet catching my attention. A scream made me forget my worries about frostbite. Corbin crouched low, listening to the echo. I had trouble moving. Something about the sound stuck me to the ground. It was unearthly, desperate, and terrifying.

“Wendigo,” Simon whispered.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“An urban legend,” he said.

“Reason enough to keep moving.” Corbin removed his jacket and handed it to me.

“Keep it,” I said, waving him off. There was no need for both of us to freeze to death.

“Vampires don’t feel cold. Take it so we can go. You’ll only slow us down like this.”

I slipped my arms into the sleeves and jammed my hands into the pockets, relishing the extra warmth for just a moment. Corbin popped the collar and pulled it a little tighter around me, his eyes carefully blank, then nodded us forward.

Corbin resumed the lead and Simon pulled up the rear. Another wail, closer this time, blanketed the mountain. Goose bumps exploded on my skin.

“What’s a wendigo?” I asked.

“Cannibals. People who have lost all humanity and are never full. They’ll tear us apart and eat us without a second thought,” Simon said.

“I think we’re hearing people who failed to pass the test for this region,” Corbin said. “I don’t know what they’re called, but wendigo is probably just as accurate as anything.”

A tree to our left swayed—then one to our right. Corbin grabbed my arm and took off running. Simon fell behind. Corbin kept dragging me forward, not letting me go back to help. A lanky humanoid creature with gray, waxy skin tackled Corbin, almost taking me down with them. They tumbled down the incline until I couldn’t see them. A tree behind me shook violently. I didn’t pause to think about what I should do—I ran full out down the trail, too scared to feel anything. Corbin was faster and stronger than me. He’d catch up. I yelped as a thin claw-like hand encased my ankle and jerked me into the trees.

Kicking and punching at my attacker as we fell down the mountain, I managed to get away briefly. However, when I came to a stop, it pounced on top of me. The creature had a hollow face with sunken cheeks and eyes blank of anything but hunger. Its lips were chewed off and bleeding, displaying a mouth full of tiny, sharpened, nub-like teeth. As it thrashed and fought to bite me, I braced my forearm under its throat to hold it back. Slobber and blood dripped down its chin. I clawed with my unused hand at its eyes, but the wendigo didn’t even flinch.

I was in trouble.

I jabbed the soft hollow of its throat with all the strength I had. The wendigo pulled back slightly, and I used my legs to flip it off. I scrambled to my feet, but so did the wendigo. Its breath huffed out of its snarling mouth as it sized me up. We circled each other. Hand to hand, the creature would probably win. But I had been trained to fight. I could beat it if I kept calm and didn’t panic. I needed a weapon, something to even the playing field. Stooping, without taking my eyes off the beast, I picked up a large rock. The wendigo charged, and I swung as hard as I could, smashing the rock into the side of its head. It fell to the ground, and I hit it again and again until it quit moving.

The bloody rock dropped to ground from my shaking hand. I’d killed the wendigo. But when I looked at the body, it didn’t look like the gray monster it had been before. It looked like another person. I’ murdered a person.

No. It was a monster.
It would’ve killed you,
my inner voice reminded me. But it didn’t look like a monster. What if it was just another soul trying to make it through, and in my fear, I’d made it into an enemy? Could I really trust my eyes? I didn’t mind defending my life, but the problem that stuck with me was I’d killed it without hesitation. I probably could’ve gotten away after the first hit, but I’d stayed and finished the job. How was I any less of a monster than it was? The horror of my actions twisted inside of me as I stared at the blood on my hands, hit by memories of Jaron.

“Selene?” Corbin’s voice came from behind me. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head and turned away from the bleeding corpse, holding my hands out in front of me.

Corbin stepped toward me, assessing me for injury. Gently he patted down my arms and slipped his hands inside the too big jacket, grazing them down my sides. “Are you hurt?”

I swallowed against the lump in my throat as a drop of blood from my hands splattered to the ground. “I killed him.”

He glanced at the body. “You needed to.”

“I finally understand what I was supposed to learn during the last challenge.”

He pressed his lips together and watched me with something very close to sympathy in his eyes. “What is that?”

My chest tightened and my throat burned from holding back tears. “I’m ugly on the inside. No matter how I dress up the outside, I can’t hide what’s underneath.” I wanted to give up. I belonged here.

“I’m sorry you had to come here.” Corbin’s voice was soft and rough, and he closed the distance between us. Cupping his hand beneath my chin, he tilted my head up so I was forced to look at him. “You are not ugly in any way, Selene.”

“I am. I killed that man. I saw a wendigo, but. . .” I shook my head. “I have lied, cheated, twisted the truth to get what I want with no regard for anyone else. How am I any different than the people here? Why do I deserve a chance to go back when they’re all being punished for crimes probably less severe than mine?”

“He would have killed you,” he said. “You are brave, full of life, and”—he paused before he lowered his voice—“absolutely stunning. You take my breath away.”

His face lowered toward mine. Those soft, full lips pulled me closer like a magnet. Corbin was so strong, and he was sacrificing so much to keep me alive. I didn’t deserve a friend like him either. All he had ever been to me was a tool to get what I wanted. That was all anyone was to me.

Part of me knew I needed to stop these thoughts. I needed to clear my head or I’d never move on. When I was than an inch from his lips, my salvation was so close. I could lose myself in Corbin’s strength and not think about how I was failing everyone I had ever known and loved.

“Why did you agree to come with me?” The words barely made it past my lips. My knees shook. If I wasn’t going to make it back anyway, what was the harm in finding comfort with Corbin?

His eyes darkened, and his fingers gripped me a little tighter. “You. I lost someone here a long time ago. I hadn’t felt anything until you inserted yourself into my life, little witch.” He nudged his face closer to mine. “I can’t lose you too—not the same way. You are my redemption.”

“Corbin—” The words to make him stop lodged in my chest. Part of me didn’t want him to stop.

The side of his thumb ran up and down the side of my neck. “When she died, I came to find her and bring her back. She wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t strong enough.” My eyes drifted shut, my mind oblivious to all but the sound of Corbin’s voice. “You make me strong.”

I slowly opened my eyes. The back of his hand ran down my cheek. His gaze was searing. His lips were no more than a breath away from mine. But his weren’t the eyes I wanted to see, and his wasn’t the touch I needed to feel. My heart knew that. Slowly the fog began to recede from my mind. It would have been easy to let him give me the comfort I craved, but my heart—my heart was always with Cheney.

“I love Cheney.” I flattened a palm against his chest and pushed myself away from him.

Corbin evaporated.

I blinked several times and turned in a circle, searching for him.

“Selene?” Corbin’s slightly panicked voice called out from above.

“Corbin?” I picked up a long stick and climbed, my bare, frozen feet digging into the scraping soil.

He reached down to offer me a hand. His cold fingers gripped my wrist and I knew. Corbin had never been down there with me. His touch wasn’t cold before. I passed my second test.

“Have you seen Simon?”

“No.” Corbin kept his distance from me.

What was his trial? His eyes couldn’t quite meet mine.

“Should we keep moving forward?”

“Yeah.”

As we came out of the wooded area, I cringed at the terrain before us. It looked impossible to manage without rope or any equipment to help.

“Anything you can do magically to get us down there?” Corbin asked.

“No, and you wouldn’t want me to. Every spell I cast backfires. I’d probably kill us.”

“Well, good luck getting down the mountain in that dress. “

I looked over the edge again, wondering if I could slide on my butt.

He sighed noisily. “I’ll carry you.” The wind whistled around us, whipping my hair against my face.

“It will make it harder for you to get down,” I said.

He shook his head. “Vampires are very agile.” He winked, a hint of his flirtatiousness returning. “Care to find out how agile, pet?”