Torture (Terraway Book 3) Page 13

  “Yeah. I just can’t move much before my spine stops me. Is that normal? It’s not permanent, is it? I’m kinda freaking out here.” I tried not to let images of me going through life completely limp plague me.

  “Not permanent, but it might be for the night. Your back’s going to be in a lot of pain, so rest up. I’ll call in a prescription for you for the morning. Any objections to Vicodin?”

  “I… I don’t know. I’ve never taken anything that strong before.”

  “Seriously? Your old job was pretty physical. I can’t believe you’ve never been injured before.”

  “I’ve treated too many inmates in the throes of withdrawal. I can deal with the pain. Pills scare me.”

  Ezra sunk down into the chair in the corner of the room, rubbing his temples as the stress of the day and the worries of his life overtook him for the briefest of moments. “I can keep them for you, if that would make you feel better about it.”

  “Thanks, it would. Then yeah, Vicodin’s fine.” The extreme nature of the chill I’d had for days finally leaving me sent a flood of intoxicating heat through my body. I closed my eyes, letting the guys hash out whatever needed talking about. I didn’t even protest a few minutes later when Mason slid into the bed at my side so he could warm me with his bare-chested body. Despite the horrible things we’d gone through, he was warm when I’d been so cold. I didn’t have the wherewithal to resist him anymore. “G’night,” I mumbled, not sure when the others had left.

  Mason dragged his fingers through my auburn tangles, taking the rubber band out of my hair so he could play in the tresses. “I’m sorry, hani. I know it’s unforgiveable, what I did to you, but I’m sorry all the same.”

  “If you let me go to sleep right now and don’t make me talk about it, I’ll forgive you anything.”

  He smiled as he pressed his lips to a sensitive spot behind my ear. “Will do.” He tugged at my hair with gentle pressure that made me groan like a filthy… well, we won’t go there.

  “You keep that up, and I’ll start drooling on your arm.”

  Mason chuckled and kept up the steady stream of pulling while relaxing my body that had been tensed for days. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I missed me, too.” If we were being honest, I would admit that I was too tense even before Terraway entered my world. That I’d needed a friend to pull the stress from me even before I took up the mantle of being a Death Omen. I wanted to trust Mason. I didn’t want to see him as someone so detached from reality that he could turn on me in a blink.

  Von changed into pajamas and then settled in to the chair at the desk in the corner of the room, playing on his phone.

  “Whatcha doing?” I asked sleepily. What I really wanted to say was “Turn that glowing thing off that’s keeping me awake, and come be sexy and warm next to me.” Somehow I didn’t think that would go over all that platonically.

  “I’m checking the weather for tomorrow, and flipping through the news highlights.”

  “Why would you do that to yourself right before bed? The news never has anything good to say.”

  Von sighed heavily. “I know. I fear I’m a masochist tonight. I don’t like all this terrorist attack talk that’s always in the newsfeed. I never bothered with it all that much before, but now that I’m responsible for keeping Terraway’s food supplier alive, I worry.” He turned off his phone and set it on the nightstand. “No terrorist attacks in Georgia this week. It’s official. I’ve officially become overbearing, fretting over bombers getting at you on a normal day.”

  “No bombers. Just monsters and kings and whatnot. Let’s shoot for a normal day tomorrow.”

  When Von slid into bed on my other side, he slipped his hand in mine and looped his leg over my thigh, as was our routine. Mason was more possessive as he drifted off tonight, holding me in his arms so Von and I could only half-snuggle.

  Von looked on me in Mason’s arms not with the joking affection he usually did, but with pity. There were many things I didn’t care for, but pity was up there in my top ten ways I hoped a great guy like Von would never feel for me. He settled into the mattress and closed his eyes without a joke, without a flirty kiss to my cheek, and without anything crass coming from his lips. When I asked him if he was alright, he simply kissed my lips once, but the pity was so thick, it was barely worth the effort of the gesture. Usually his kisses were adorable, precious and flirty. This was only one note, singing clearly a song of sadness.

  I really didn’t like it, so I closed my eyes and drifted off, hoping the morning would bring our rhythm back to us.

  21

  Pemberton Elementary

  My dream was in my face with a purpose. I was immediately transported to a large room with a table, two chairs and no frills where Philip sat, as if waiting for me. He flagged me down, looking relieved I was sitting with him. “I thought you’d never come see me again,” he said, his eyebrows creased in worry.

  “Oh, you know I always come back for the cute ones who keep me company when I’m in a dungeon.”

  “You’re well? I can’t always tell.”

  “Good as new. Maybe a little tired and sore, but it is what it is.”

  “Where are you?”

  I yawned, apparently so tired that I was even exhausted in my dream. “I’m at Ezra’s, sleeping with Mason and Von. We’re all actually getting along. Hold your breath so nothing breaks, right?” I spoke to him like he knew everything about my life, which since he was a figment of my imagination, I guess he probably did.

  “Where are you reaping tomorrow? I heard through the grapevine of your brain that you’re trying to get fifty hearts in three days. How’s that going?”

  “Twenty-six today, so more than halfway there.”

  Philip’s mouth dropped open. “I’m sorry. You said twenty-six?”

  “I did. And I think I’d like a little fanfare for it. Not in real life, but in my dream. Seems like a nice place for fanfare.”

  Philip closed his mouth into a smile and clapped his hands politely. “That’s incredible. Are you blissed out? Do your Pullers have you catatonic somewhere?”

  “Nope. They wouldn’t do that to me.”

  “Where are you going tomorrow?”

  “I dunno. It’s wherever my gut tells me to go. Usually a hospital or somewhere.”

  I could see Philip was thinking hard about something. “Where will there be a lot of people gathered tomorrow?”

  “Not sure. Von mentioned his daughter was going to a carnival. That might be promising.”

  “Where’s the carnival?”

  “I think he said Pemberton Elementary. Not too far from Ezra’s. Why?”

  Philip sat back in his chair. “Reap there tomorrow. I want to see how many you can do in a day if there was no shortage of souls.”

  “No shortage of souls? What are you talking about? They have to be a day or less away from biting it for me to be able to reap them. I don’t think you understand how reaping works.”

  “I understand completely. I’m in your mind. I understand things exactly how you do, remember? Pemberton Elementary. Try it tomorrow. Do it for me. Then I want you to tell me all about it tomorrow night.”

  I sighed, slumping down on the tabletop with a loud harrumph. “My dreams are so boring! I could be doing awesome things right now, but I’m so boring that I’m dreaming about work! Ugh! I need a vacation.”

  Philip smiled at me and clicked his fingers, changing our location from the mundane table and chairs to a tropical setting surrounded by mountains, low-hanging clouds and a real volcano within jogging distance. “Is this better?”

  “I don’t know,” I grinned up at him. “Take your shirt off, and I’ll let you know.”

  22

  Breakfast over Horse Heads

  The morning brought a horse head to the breakfast table, so you know, business as usual. I dipped my spoon into my second bowl of grits that were cooked with the right amount of too much butter and loads of pepper to make me sneeze,
which was just enough.

  “I’m telling you, there are enough souls stored up. My people are dying from the poison in what little water there is left in our land. They need the sagrado stone now!” Kabayo was irate, which was no real surprise. The bigger surprise would’ve been him not being bossy and in my face. An even bigger surprise would’ve been him showing up in a dress, doing a dance for us and waving his mane over his shoulder like it ain’t no thang. Would’ve made for a much better dining experience than a severed horse’s head dripping green fluid onto the sleek wood table while we tried to eat.

  Mariang was sitting across the dining room table from me, her bowl clutched to her chest to keep it from the foam-crusted maw of the horse head that stared blankly at her. Kabayo had decided it was a good idea to rest it on the long oak table, I’m guessing for dramatic effect. Her voice was quiet, but everyone stopped talking when she spoke. “If both of us are going to be in Silo, then we can’t risk running out of souls. What if October gets abducted again? Three days was the agreement.”

  “Hey, I got abducted last time. It’s your turn,” I joked.

  Mariang liked it when I kidded around with her. She had that only child thing that rang like loneliness and read like needing to escape the house of boys that had taken over her dollhouse. “I’ll make a note of it, should Kabayo’s men come after us.”

  “I’m telling you, there’s no danger! It’s a straight shot to my palace where the main river that feeds most of the wells is. No one wants to kidnap you. All we want is for our people to stop dying. Is that too much to ask?”

  Finn was sitting back in his chair at the foot of the table opposite Ezra, watching the whole exchange. Finn wore a lazy posture that served as a veil to hide his calculating eyes as they took in Kabayo’s desperation. Finn also studied my tight lips as I considered just how bad yesterday was, and how nowhere near ready was I for a long journey across an unknown land. My spine felt marginally better than yesterday, but I was still moving like a robot. Ezra had offered me the Vicodin, but I couldn’t bring myself to take it. The tradeoff was moving like an old lady, but whatever.

  Finn addressed Kabayo, who was still in a temper. “What do you intend to do about the uprising?”

  “That sounds ominous,” Von muttered, shoveling a bite of grits into his mouth with no flair. He usually oozed flare like a rocket. I reached over and massaged his forearm until his eyelids drooped, bringing him back to himself a little. “Thanks, Peach.”

  Kabayo postured, giving a derisive snort in Finn’s direction. Let me tell you, horses give the most contemptuous of all the derisive snorts, so Kabayo’s opinion was made clear before he even opened his long mouth. “It’s nothing but a threat. I can’t believe you’d bat an eye over a few angry Ekeks.”

  “I can’t believe you wouldn’t. You should take threats to your land more seriously. If it weren’t for this one killing off all the Goblins, your land might still be overrun with them.”

  I hung my head, not counting on a heaping portion of morning shame to go with my grits. “I didn’t mean to do it.”

  Finn smiled at me in that cool, detached way that told me he could wear the exact same pleasant expression while he choked the life out of someone. “Make no mistake, you did all of Terraway a great favor.”

  “Is that so?” I met his eyes with my independence evident, and made sure not to blink so he didn’t think we were on any sort of team. “I’ll put you both in my books as ‘in my debt’, then.”

  Finn tilted his chin to the side slightly, narrowing his eyes to decide whether or not he could pass off my words as a joke.

  Nope.

  Danny, Von and Mason barely paused their ravenous breakfasting, but exchanged wary glances while Mariang and I resigned ourselves to it not being the walk in the park as advertised. Ezra put his fork down and rested his elbows on the table – a thing he did only when he was upset. He was too proper to let his elbows graze the table otherwise. “How serious is this threat from the Ekeks? Is it something Sylvia can handle?”

  “If she can, she isn’t.” Kabayo waved off our growing concern as if we were all being dramatic. “The threat’s no more serious than it will be anywhere else in Terraway. The Ekeks and Manas of Lumipad don’t need the stone as badly as my people do, but they’re scavengers, so they think anything’s up for stealing.” He shrugged, and then explained for my benefit. “They want what they want when they want it. It’s a nuisance, but nothing more serious than that.”

  I put a dash more pepper in my grits. “Then Mariang shouldn’t come.” She stiffened, so I pressed on before I could be overruled. “Look, I have to go because I’m the only one who can touch the stupid stone. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t risk being where the… Who now?”

  “Ekeks and Manas,” Von explained between mouthfuls. “Sylvia’s people. She’s a Manas. That’s short for Manananggal.”

  I nodded. “I wouldn’t risk being around them if I didn’t have to. If they get us both? You know Terraway can’t risk that.”

  Mariang slumped over her bowl while Danny glared at me. “But the citizens of Lumipad are always going to be a problem. Isn’t it safer with all of us going? Could they really get past Dad, Captain Finn, Danny, Mason, King Kabayo, Prince Langgam, Ruiz and Klark?”

  “Hey!” Von was affronted, sitting up straight and scrunching his nose at her. His red t-shirt had a wrinkled washed out picture of a guitar on it, and his jeans had a rip in the thigh, but he demanded to be treated as a warrior like the others. “I notice you left me out of your little list. Next time someone snatches at you, I’ll just wave my hands around and flag down one of the real men.”

  Mariang put her dainty hand to her forehead, chagrinned. “Of course, you too, Von. You’re top of the list.”

  “And?” Von prodded, his nose in the air.

  “And… And you’re so very strong. The Ekeks and Manas wouldn’t try a thing with you around. They’d run away in fear.”

  “That’s more like it.” Von sat a little taller in his chair. He bumped his foot to mine and started fighting me for elbow space to start a flirty war, reclaiming a portion of his personality.

  “October’s right. It’s too dangerous this time around, dear,” Ezra said with a heavy sigh. “Danny and I will remain Topside with you. Perhaps we’ll even add a few guards so Captain Finn feels more at ease with the growing threat.”

  Mariang was downcast, her narrow shoulders drooping as Danny rubbed an “I hate October” circle into her back. “Alright. I so hoped to be able to go see Terraway again. I haven’t been to Silo in so long. King Kabayo, please send my apologies to your wife.”

  Kabayo nodded. “She won’t be happy, but I do think that’s best. If anyone from Lumipad does attack, they’ll be after October, not you. The farther you are from her, the safer you’ll be.”

  My eyebrows furrowed, and I tried to muscle through my sudden loss of appetite to choke down the last of my grits. I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat anything once we got started for the day. “How serious is this threat? Like, can I do my job today without constantly looking over my shoulder?”

  Ezra waved off my concern. “Of course, dear. Ekeks and Manas don’t come Topside. The only residents of Terraway who can travel Topside are those the rulers take with them, like when Mason brought up Tanga when this whole mess started. They’ll wait until you’re in Terraway if they decide to strike.”

  I jabbed my spoon in Kabayo’s direction. “I knew it was too good to be true when you promised me a stroll through your land, Kabayo. Not for nothing, but I like knowing when I’m walking into a trap, guys.”

  Kabayo gave a loud horse harrumph, but Finn answered me in his calm, unfazed way. “You have nothing to be afraid of, little Omen. I’ll be traveling with you, as will Prince Langgam. The Ekeks and Manas would be fools to attack you with us there, and I can deal with fools easily enough.” Finn sized up Mason’s arm draped around the back of my chair and Von’s breezy smile that beamed more easily when we were
joking around together. “And I’m guessing your Death Reapers would have a thing or two to say about someone snatching at their collective bride.”

  Mason stiffened, removing his arm from me, while Von glowered at Finn. I picked up a flaky biscuit from my plate and launched it at Finn. Not quite a weapon, but the intent was clear. Finn let the biscuit hit his chest and flop to the floor, eyebrows raised in surprise at being assaulted with the fluffy pastry. “Don’t make my life sound weird. We’re making the best of it, and we don’t need your sideways commentary, you jackfish. I’m not hooking up with either of them. For all you know, I could run into some hottie at the hospital and have a good old sexy time, with Von and Mason high-fiving me afterwards. You’re the one with the harem, not me.”

  Finn’s eyes were still wide that I was capable of throwing food like a ruffian born for things lower than civil chatter over a pristine breakfast. Boy didn’t know the half of it. He was lucky the biscuit was softer than the rock I wanted to pelt him with. “I’ll cancel the wedding gift, then.”

  Ezra cleared his throat to diffuse the situation like the politician he was. “Darling, perhaps nonviolent methods of communication at the table would be more effective.”

  “Yes, sir,” I mumbled. I downed a few swallows of orange juice before standing, my posture rigid. I wished I didn’t need to lean so heavily on the table. My spine was being such a wuss. “I’m ready to start the day if ya’ll are.”

  “I’m finished,” Von said, standing up from the table. “Let’s let them talk mastermind details. I’ve got violent movies that desperately need watching in the living room. Can’t fall behind on the important things. Come on, love.” He paused by Finn, looking down at him without the note of healthy fear everyone else did. “If you talk down about Mason, November or me again, you’ll have more to fear than a biscuit.”