Two Halves Series (30 page)

My fangs sprung. I struggled, but the four clawed hands heated. Any attempt at escape would burn. As the third seeker arrived, I slumped in defeat. One, I could probably vanquish—but not three.

My head tipped up to look at William, who crouched on the branch above, regarding us with terror-filled eyes.

He jumped down, growling and flexing his knees. “Let her go!”

Flinging my hand out, I wiggled out of their grip and stepped toward William, but the leader stepped forward and drew a line in front of my foot with a wooden cane that flew out of his sleeve. I slammed into a mystical force radiating from the line. The energy travelled like an electric current through my veins, burning away all the serum, evaporating all residue of the cream from my skin. Throbbing pain made me crumple to the ground. When I stood, the seeker’s hot paws returned to my shoulders, immobilizing me.

William rushed toward me but was hurtled backward by the same force that had decimated me.

“The shield won’t let you through,” the shortest seeker squeaked then snorted. He cackled. “Not now!”

The tallest one looked at him disapprovingly, then shrieked and squawked something in a high-pitched tone.

My gaze focused on William, who didn’t hide his confusion. Our plan to follow the demons to the underworld had failed.

What’s to become of us now?

“Sarah! Fight!” William pleaded.

“I’m trying.” I twisted to free myself from their iron grip angered the seekers, but they increased the temperature of their palms, pressing their hands on my shoulders. My flesh sizzled with a sound like french fries immersed in hot oil, and I writhed in pain and gagged at the stench of burning flesh. As I flung my head back in agony, I half expected to glimpse my scorched skin smoking under their grip, but all I saw were the seekers’ red palms hovering an inch above my shoulders.

William stood motionless, his eyes half closed, concentrating. I assumed he was trying to identify the seeker’s fears and wondered what could scare such beings—water, flood, tsunamis? Expecting catastrophes to manifest, I gazed beyond the force field, but nothing appeared.

Energy left William’s body; it flew toward the demons, then bounced back from the shield. It wouldn’t let William
or
his powers through.

They’re going to tear us apart! Did we underestimate their intelligence that much?

William sprang at the shield and was ejected backward. He flew at it again and again, trembling with exhaustion and agony of the torture he repeatedly subjected himself to.

As the thought of being away from William sank in, I realized there was no way out. My body began shaking. Uncontrollable tremors tormented my muscles. I could already see my future without having to close my eyes—seekers led me through a dark tunnel toward a dungeon. Huddled in my dank cell, I heard the moaning of other creatures and high-pitched demon discussions in a room close by. It ended with me seeing William beyond a green fog; he couldn’t see me.

“I’ll be in the third cell!” I yelled, no longer fighting against the hot palms.

Castall’s words now made perfect sense:
You’ll have to let Sarah go to find her.

I’m so stupid.

Penny-sized raindrops suppressed the blaze consuming the cabin. Its logs simmered in the deluge, water evaporating and smoke billowing in a thick gray cloud up into the canopy. The acrid stench of smouldering wood filled the jungle.
Just like in my dream.

I clenched my teeth at the pain throbbing in my chest. The life I wanted was disappearing. Knowing William would find me didn’t help. It was difficult to imagine being away from him at all.
When
would he find me?

William’s face turned into a vampire’s, fangs stretched and brows raised. He threw himself at the shield and then collapsed to the ground. I looked at him, pleading with my eyes for him to stop, but William struggled up, bracing his right hand on his knee while he caught his breath. His left hand slipped into his pocket, and when my three kidnappers weren’t looking, he winked, then focused on his left hand—reminding me of our gifts from Castall.

I acknowledged with the slightest nod, feeling the small wooden stick that pressed into my hip through the pocket in my jeans. William mouthed
“I love you,”
and I whispered the same back as the tallest seeker extended the boundary of the field around me and the three demons. The ache of William’s heart in my chest throbbed; it hurt more than the hot palms gripping my arms and hovering over my shoulders. It stung like a butcher’s knife.

The seekers pulled me backward with the pressure of their claws. Their hands had grown gaunt, almost colourless and translucent against even my pale complexion, their bones standing out under their skin. The redness had faded from their palms, along with the sizzling sound and the smell of burnt flesh.

I relaxed the tension in my body. The only way I knew to beat the seekers was to extinguish them with the rain that hit the impermeable dome of the force shield. From the way they squirmed, it was clear they wanted to get away quickly. Their power was waning.

The leader drew a smaller circle, and the seekers pulled me into its shape. The edge of the oval sparked, then flames spread toward the center. I imagined standing in a fire, but it didn’t burn. A doorway opened beneath us, keeping us afloat on a plate of cool flames. Panic overwhelmed me, and I longed to free myself, but their claws were locked on my body. We began to sink in the quicksand-like ground, and the glowing circle lowered as if it were an elevator.

William yelled, “Sarah!” His hands splayed against the shield despite the bolts of electricity zapping his body.

I’ll see you soon!
I promised with my eyes, but something inside me whispered that it would be a long time before I saw William again. It was a gut feeling strangely centered in the future.

William fell to his knees and disappeared from view, and with him, my hope.

Chapter 15

The underworld was dark, the air cold and moist. Tree roots crisscrossed along the ceiling of the corridor. Some stems dangled freely, robbed of the soil they’d originally formed in: others simmered at their ends, releasing a smell of rotten eggs and dirty socks.

Every twelve feet, the tallest seeker drew a new circle in the wall with his cane and another fiery door materialized. Heat emanated from the opening, but it did not burn. After passing through each new entry, the seeker played his cane over the tunnel in front of him, leaving a glowing orange mist on the walls that illuminated the way.

The other two forced me to follow him. They concentrated more on shrieking at each other than on me; as the corridor narrowed, there was no longer a need to pay attention to me because each passage sealed behind us. Every so often, they tugged and pulled me. From the tone of the yelps, I guessed they were arguing over who’d get to turn me in to whomever they were taking me to and I assumed I would meet Aseret very soon. The tallest seeker always won the argument.

The slippery floor made it difficult to keep my balance. I wondered how uncomfortable it was for the seekers to walk through the narrow burrowed tunnels, bent over in half.

Above my head, I looked for little critters lurking in the underground snarl of roots and earth. I saw none and finally decided they had enough sense to stay away.

How long could I survive this torment without William?

My heart skipped a beat and I felt his do the same.
William
. . . The rhythm of his pulse revealed worry, pain, and urgency. William was still trying to get through the force field. I knew he would succeed somehow; after all, I’d already seen him arrive.

Every second that ticked by without him was like a small needle poking at my arteries. Unsure how long I could tolerate those little pricks, I tensed my jaw. I sensed him, just the way he told me I would. With William far away, my thoughts blurred and crumbled, as if they had to pass through a heavy fog to reach my consciousness.

William, please find me.

Again my heart skipped a beat, as if in response to my plea, and I knew William was thinking about me. The beat quickened slightly, pulsing hope.

We stepped into a high-ceilinged octagonal hall. The leading seeker used his cane to draw a new circle on the floor and pushed me into it, then pointed to the glowing ring. “The shield will not let you pass through. Bow your head when Master Aseret enters.”

I felt as if I’d entered an underground stadium with no bleachers. Five doorways covered with red velvet drapes propped in front of me. The glowing tunnel we’d emerged from sealed behind us. The middle one was oddly shaped, its entrance higher on the face of the wall. A wide staircase descended from the opening, narrowing as it approached the floor. More than twenty demons stood in the hall around me, peering surreptitiously my way.

Hundreds of candles illuminating the hall from a chandelier suspended in the center of the natural granite ceiling. Four grand support pillars rose from floor to the top, like ranked monoliths. Below the light fixture, flames roared in an oversized fire pit. Fifteen massive candelabras, each holding more than fifty candles, were arranged around a room so expansive the multitude of candles did not overwhelm the space. The demons certainly liked their fire. I inhaled. The acidic odour burnt the sides of my mouth, but I took an even deeper breath, trying to taste the air.

Could William’s parents be here? Could my father be here?
New energy of excitement shifted across my body as the idea grew. Jitters of anticipation hidden beneath my skin. I scanned the room again.
Perhaps this is the way to get to them. Maybe all this isn’t in vain.
The thought generated a smirk, but I kept it off my face.

A figure of impressive stature entered. He glided across the floor. The long robe that was customary for demons covered his feet, but there was a small gap between its hem and the floor, with nothing between them but air. He was levitating.

Aseret, the vicious warlock.

Unlike the others, Aseret stood straight. His dark brown eyes did not glow. His face elongated, and the flesh sagged from ages of experience, knowledge, treachery, and pain, yet was still expressionless. Each arm folded into the cuff of the other, hiding what I assumed were twig-like hands.

Aseret floated to stand three feet in front of me, but I did not bow.

The tallest one shrieked apologetically toward his master.

“That is all right. This one’s new.”

I didn’t like that Aseret referred to me as an object, and I raised my chin.

“Sso you are the one Xela told me to fearrr.” His speech was slow, each word delivered at the pace of a snail. Aseret did not speak directly to me. His stare, though piercing, seemed focused somewhere over my shoulder. I was glad; the intensity of his eyes suggested a direct look might cut into my brain.

The contours of his face changed from soft to hard as he scanned my body as if looking for strengths or weaknesses.

Who’s Xela?
I wondered, remembering Castall’s warning. It couldn’t be someone I’d like.

“Where is the other one?” he asked my captors.

They shrieked as the second in command one took a big swing at the shortest one, who ducked and returned the gesture successfully. The tallest one raised his palms, glowing as brightly as hot lava, and smashed both demons on their head, almost knocking them to the ground. They stopped fighting and stood still, as if nothing had happened.

“Hmm.” Aseret sighed. He visibly tried to compose and hide his emotions, but I could read the anger and disappointment on his face as his cheeks twitched. I knew the seekers would be punished for their failed mission. “She’s of no use to me by herself. I have no need for her without the other one. Find him!” He focused on two demons standing at the door. They were taller than the tallest of my captors, and their eyes glowed brighter, which I would not have imagined possible. They left as soon as he looked at them.

William, be careful.
I allowed my heart’s pace to change by a fraction to warn him about the dangerous creatures.

Aseret turned back to face me. “You do not look ssstrong. You’re weak and confusssed.” He paused. “You’re herrre, but not all of you is
herrre.
Part of you is ssstill on Earth. Do you have ssspecial powersss?” The way he spoke reminded me of an ESL teacher addressing new students—slowly and calmly, using well thought-out words chosen deliberately to ensure they were understood.

“What do you want from me?” I spat. My saliva hit the protective circle, sizzled, and evaporated into nothing.

Aseret did not move, but his nose twitched. “I’m told you yelled that you’ll be in the thirrrd cell. Hmm. How did you know?” His lips pulled back, then tightened, unveiling sharp, uneven teeth.

“I went to see a fortune teller two months ago. She told me to say it if anyone kidnapped me.” I paused, hoping he would believe my fib. “I didn’t know what to make of it then, but I remembered when your demons took hold of me.”

“Hmm, a fortune teller, how old-fashioned.” He sneered. “I don’t believe you. No one will find you here. But let’s play your game.” He sneered. Though he spoke slowly, his decisions were quick and confident.

Would Aseret imprison me in the third cell to prove his strength or as bait? I had a feeling it’d be the latter.

I wondered what his actual weakness was. He had to have one. He was cautious when he looked at me and kept his distance.

“And the siblings, where are they?” he asked me.

He knows Mira and Xander?

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” I said quickly.

“Hmm . . . Is it customary to lie in the human world?” he shouted. A few rocks clattered down the high walls to the floor.

I jerked back, surprised at the sudden change in his tone. He’d lost control, overpowered by anger.
Could this be his weaknesses?