Footsteps echoed up a nearby alley, and my heart lurched into my throat as an old Mazikin burst into the open and came to an abrupt halt in front of me. It was the racist old man I’d met just before Amid nabbed me.
“Ah, I thought those Guards got you,” he cackled as he rose to his feet, wiping his dirt-covered hands on his pants. “You need a place to stay, my girl.” He reached for me, and I tensed to keep from slamming my fist into his toothless face by sheer reflex.
“I…I guess I do need a place.”
“You’re in luck. We’ve got shelter a block from here. Lots of friends for you. Lots of young ones.” He turned, but kept his grip on me. “I’ve got one!” he called.
Another Mazikin stepped from the alley. The sandy-haired young man approached us with a smile on his face. I swallowed back my nausea as their stale, rotten smell grew more intense.
“Good job, Clarence,” said the man as he reached out and touched my hair. “She’s got such color in her cheeks. Not pale like the others. She’s perfect. Let’s get her back. Sil’s doing a batch tonight—he’ll be starting soon.”
My heart raced. A batch. What if I was too late? What if Nadia had already been possessed by the time I arrived? Those thoughts steadied my steps as I allowed the Mazikin to escort me down the block. It took all I had not to look around to see if I could catch a glimpse of Malachi, my lifeline, my…yeah. He was so much more than a lifeline, and I might never get to tell him.
Within a few minutes, we arrived at a huge building that looked like an old warehouse. The windows on the upper floors were dark, but the casement windows, sunk below the surface of the sidewalk, glowed with cold, greenish-yellow light.
Clarence and Sandy-Hair led me down a short flight of steps and opened the door for me. Clarence kept his gnarled hand around my upper arm as we descended another flight of steps and rounded a corner.
It was a huge, open basement. Support columns jutted up every several feet. The high casement windows lined the far wall. In the center of the room sat what looked like a conference table, but there were no chairs around it. Instead, it was surrounded by squat ceramic bowls giving off thick clouds of smoke that hazed the ceiling. Now I knew where that sickening smell of incense came from. A section of rope was tied to each leg of the table, and the ends lay tangled across its surface.
I had a feeling I knew what it was and wanted to stay as far from it as possible.
The room was filled with Mazikin of all shapes and colors and sizes. They talked and laughed together, teeth flashing, hands running up and down each other’s arms, fingers twining through each other’s hair. Men and women, old and young, they seemed unable to converse without touching. Some of them tussled playfully, scrambling like animals across the floor, knocking their cheerful companions over in their scuffles. At least two loud and enthusiastic couples were up against the wall right next to me doing considerably more than scuffling.
Oh, that’s just…I turned my head away.
And saw Nadia.
Her eyes were glazed, and tears streaked down her face. Her features were puffy and gray, and her hair hung lank and greasy across her face. I had known she’d look different from the last time I saw her: still and perfect in her coffin. Even so, it didn’t stop my heart from breaking, just a bit. It made me all the more desperate to get to her.
She was sitting on the floor with a group of people who stared at the jolly chaos around them but didn’t seem to be noticing any of it. They weren’t talking to each other. They weren’t examining the room or the bizarre people in it with any sort of curiosity or fear. They weren’t trying to escape. They simply sat, gazing down at their laps or off into space, absorbed in their own misery.
Clarence guided me toward them. “You’ll just sit here with some of our newcomers. Don’t worry—you’ll be partying with the rest of us before you know it.” He gave me a wink and squeezed my arm painfully.
“Um, thanks.” I pulled away and dragged my feet to the edge of the group. “I’ll stay here.”
I nudged a few hapless souls out of my way in an effort to get to Nadia. She was so close. I could almost touch her. This was it. She would probably be upset and startled when she realized I was here in the city with her, knowing I was dead, too. She would be mad at me for putting myself in this situation, but when she understood that I had come for her, it would change everything. She’d lose that glazed look and come back to herself. I reached out to touch her arm.
“Where did you get that one?” Sil’s voice sliced through my concentration and froze me in place, reminding me that I shouldn’t have lost awareness of my surroundings. I turned my face to the wall but knew it would do no good. I knew Sil was, at this very moment, pointing right at me.
“Found her on the street not two blocks from here. She’s quite something, isn’t she?” explained Clarence, who shuffled over to stand next to Sil. “Girl with the hair. Come here,” he cooed, clearly proud of his prize. He gripped my arm and tugged me over a few bodies to stand in front of Sil.
I raised my head and met Sil’s inquisitive stare but was careful to keep my face blank. “Oh. Hi. Do I know you?”
Sil smiled and rolled his eyes. “Lela, yes? I will never forget the girl who helped me escape certain death, and I doubt you’ve forgotten me. The last time I saw you, you were trying to hit my darling Lacey with Malachi’s staff. He came to get you and brought his feisty friend. It looked like you were on their side.”
“No. I don’t know why he came to get me. But he…he was wounded in the fight with Juri, and I escaped from him when he tried to take me back to the Station.”
Sil giggled, a high-pitched noise that made me cringe. “You escaped from Malachi? I’m sorry, girl, that’s a little hard to believe.”
“Right, well, maybe under normal circumstances, but as far as I know, Malachi might be dead. When I left him, he was unconscious and couldn’t move—your friend Juri bit him pretty bad.”
Sil caught several locks of my hair with his fingers. He jerked me forward as he brought them to his nose. “Hmm. I think I can smell him on you.” His hand shot out and wrapped around the base of my neck. In a fraction of a second, his nose was pressed to the side of my face.
“Yesss,” he whispered as he inhaled. “His nasty smell is all over you. When was the last time you saw him?”
I took a deep breath, cursing inwardly. Of course Malachi’s scent was all over me—I’d been in his arms only an hour or so ago. I would have given anything to be back there at that moment. I gulped and stood very still, trying not to gag as Sil’s rancid breath huffed across my face.
“I saw him a few days ago, lying on a cot in an empty apartment south of downtown. I got away as quickly as I could.” I took another shallow breath through my mouth. “I hope the bastard’s dead. And you guys were so nice to me, I guess I thought maybe I could find you again.”
Sil rolled our faces together until we were nose-to-nose and his teeth were an inch from my chin. His fingers tightened around my neck as his giggly face turned vicious and hard.
“I don’t believe a word you’re saying. You obviously don’t belong in this city. You can pretend all you want, but I knew it from the moment I saw you. That’s why I went to the trouble of taking you with me instead of killing you that night at the Guard Station. You are so much stronger than the others. You will be an excellent host for one of our family. But now you are ruining a very special evening for us. For the first time in five hundred years, we are so close to getting out…. I’m tempted to tear your throat out right now.”
We are so close to getting out…? What if the Mazikin did find a way out into the Countryside? What would that mean?
I didn’t have more than a moment to think about it, though, because Sil pulled back and eyed me speculatively.
“I’m surprised he would use you as bait after the way he looked at you. But if this is a trap, I’d better take care of you now. We’ll see how he looks at you when you’re wearing our scent.??
? His high-pitched giggle returned and almost pierced my eardrums. “I wonder if he’ll hesitate when it comes time to kill you. Maybe it will be enough for one of us to sneak up and chop off his head! Clarence, watch this one. She’s second up, and it won’t be long. If she moves, bite her. I won’t be angry.”
Clarence’s face crumpled. “This one is perfect,” he whined. “You want me to damage her?”
“You won’t ruin her. She’s strong enough to survive until she receives one of our sisters and becomes immune to the venom. So if she causes trouble, dig in.”
Sil shoved me backward, where I landed in a sprawl atop the dazed suicides. With no change of expression, they leaned out of the way to accommodate. I settled between them, watching Sil carefully. He walked jerkily over to one of the pairs of lovers and slapped them away from each other. Although I couldn’t hear his words, the urgency of his body language told me all I needed to know. He was sending them outside to guard. Or to fetch the still-missing Ibram.
Either way, not good.
I was tempted to run for it, to try to get out and warn Malachi and Ana that the Mazikin were on to them. But then I turned back to look at Nadia. With a quick glance at Clarence, who was watching me with newfound wariness, I once again inched toward my friend.
“Hey—what do you think you’re doing? Didn’t you hear what Sil just said? Do you really want me to bite you?”
I couldn’t stop myself before I snapped, “Dude. Do you even have teeth?”
I instantly regretted being such a smart-ass when he dropped into a crouch and smiled wide, revealing that he had precisely four.
Four very sharp canine teeth. They had been filed.
“I have all I need to stop you in your tracks, girl, so stay where you are. I don’t want to damage you.”
I stared at Nadia, who was still too far away to reach. I looked back at Clarence, who glared at me with unwavering focus. Damn. I was stuck, and I had no idea when Malachi and Ana would strike, or if the Mazikin’s suspicion would delay them.
Sil skittered around the room with an agitated stride. He gathered several Mazikin around the conference table, where they conversed in low tones and repeatedly glanced in my direction.
A female Mazikin turned and pointed, and Sil nodded. They approached our group and stopped in front of a swarthy, well-built guy who looked like he was in his late twenties.
The female, an older Asian woman, squatted in front of the guy. “Come with me, brother. We’ll take care of you.” She took his hand and pulled him to his feet.
“Wait,” said Sil, placing his hand on the guy’s shoulder. “He’s got to be a certain type. Juri prefers eastern European.”
Juri? I closed my eyes, silently begging Malachi and Ana to accelerate their timetable. I opened them in time to see Sil lean close to the swarthy guy and speak a few words in a language I didn’t understand. Swarthy’s face was impassive. Sil tried again, this time in a more guttural language. Swarthy stood there, staring. Sil tried a third time, and I could have sworn it was the same language Juri had spoken to Malachi in the alley. Swarthy’s face twitched, his eyes sparking with dim recognition.
“Oh, excellent,” Sil crowed. “He’s Slavic. Absolutely perfect. Juri is going to love this body.” He took the man’s other hand and led him to the conference table.
I kept my eyes on them, and so did Clarence. I used that as an opportunity to scoot closer to Nadia. She was just a few bodies away now. Sil and his companion stripped Swarthy of his shirt and helped him up onto the table. He didn’t resist, just did as they instructed. The look of self-absorbed torment never left his face, nor did he show any awareness of his predicament. The other Mazikin swiftly tied each of the man’s limbs to the table. In unison, they stirred the incense in the bowls, causing a thick cloud of sickly sweet smoke to hover near the ceiling. The Mazikin encircled the table, hands joined, heads bowed.
I watched with a growing realization of just how bad this was. They were bringing Juri back. Right. Now. My heart stopped.
The Mazikin around the table chanted louder, catching the attention of even their most entangled friends. Soon, every Mazikin was entirely focused on the center of the room. I took advantage of their distraction and pushed my way toward Nadia, reaching her just as the chants reached a fever pitch.
I grabbed her shoulders. “Nadia!” She looked up at me blankly, but I saw the shadow of recognition in her eyes. Not what I’d hoped for, but it was a start. “Nadia? Can you hear me?”
Nadia’s brows rose in question. “Lela?” she choked out hoarsely.
Oh, man. I almost drowned in my relief. “Yes, I’m here. It’s going to be okay.” I wrenched her into a hug, the first time I’d ever hugged her, and realized she was kind of floppy. “I was so worried about you. I know what you’re going through, but you’re going to be fine now. You’ll be fine.”
I turned in time to see the incense cloud coalesce over the table, taking the shape of some sort of four-legged, barrel-chested creature. I gripped Nadia tighter.
“I just want it to end,” whimpered Nadia. “They told me they could make it end.”
I gritted my teeth. “They lied. But now you’re going to be all right. Just stick close to me. I have some friends who are going to help us get out.” If they get here in time.
“Juri!” shouted Sil, jerking my attention back to the table. He raised his arms toward the cloudy silhouette and spoke in a language that included a lot of hissing and grunting and coughing.
The smoky beast hovered for a few moments and then contorted in the air. I watched in horror as it dove into the man on the table. He screamed and arched violently. Everything but his shoulders and heels rose from the table, muscles seizing. He fell back, writhing and jerking. His agonized shrieks continued for long seconds before falling silent. The Mazikin around the table began to clap, and the rest of the room joined them, cheering and whooping loudly.
Swarthy craned his neck and waited patiently as his new family untied his feet and hands. His eyes glinted with cunning and cruelty. The resurrected Juri reached over and gave Sil a hug. Sil whispered something in his ear.
Juri’s eyes narrowed and he turned. He smiled when he saw me.
“Mine.”
TWENTY-FIVE
JUST ONE WORD, BUT I heard it easily, even over the violent cursing playing like a loop track in my head.
My eyes skimmed over the room, doing something I should have done several minutes ago—assessing available weapons. Malachi would be disappointed to know how badly I’d messed this up. I could only hope I’d have a chance to explain, but it seemed unlikely at this point.
A man next to me wore a belt with a heavy buckle. I wondered how long it would take me to remove it from his waist. There was a crumbled brick and a rusty tin can in the corner. I mentally calculated the distance. I turned my attention to the ropes on the table, eyeing the knots that held them in place. Even as I did, I knew it was too late. Juri and Sil were approaching fast. I let go of Nadia and scooted a few feet away from her, then rose to my feet to meet the threat.
“We are very lucky tonight, my friend,” chuckled Sil. “Not only is she the one you wanted—I’m almost sure she’s Malachi’s girl. She carries his scent.”
“She is not his!” the new Juri shouted as his eyes flashed bright with hatred.
Sil stopped chuckling.
Juri snaked an arm around my waist before I could shrink back. He clutched me to him and buried his face against my neck, drawing his nose from my shoulder to my jaw as I struggled to get away. He was incredibly strong.
“Ah, Sil, you are right,” he said in guttural English. “Malachi has been here. It will take hard work to erase the stink of him from her skin.” His breath shuddered from deep in his chest, like the idea excited him. “Let’s get her to the table.”
No freaking way. I took advantage as he loosened his grip and rammed my knee into his balls. He huffed and doubled over, releasing me. I shoved him aside and took two step
s toward Nadia before he caught hold of one of my legs. I hit the floor between two passive suicides. They didn’t even turn their heads to me.
“Sil! Clarence! Kenzi!” Juri growled. “Take her to the table!”
The three Mazikin ran forward and grabbed me, one of them on each side, one holding my arms twisted behind my back. They hustled me to the table, the toes of my boots scraping the ground. I twisted and fought, wishing desperately that Malachi would get on with his distraction, seeing as our worst nightmare was about to come true. What the hell was taking him so long?
Juri loomed in front of me again, pinning me back against the table. He groped for the neck of my shirt and began to tear it off me, but as his friends released my arms, I clapped my hands sharply over his ears. He howled and punched me in the stomach, sending me to the floor. In a haze of pain, I tried to scramble under the table. One of them grabbed my ankle and dragged me back—but not quickly enough to keep me from hooking my fingers over the edge of an incense bowl and bringing it along with me.
I took a breath as they lifted me off the floor and scooped my hand into the blazing bowl. Screaming with pain, I came up with a huge handful of smoldering embers and flung them into the faces of the four Mazikin trying to wrestle me onto the table. They let me go and stumbled back, yelling, fingers scraping at their eyes.
I ignored the agony of my ruined hand and threw myself over the table, trying to get back to Nadia. Someone caught my legs again and I fell face-first onto the table. I kicked out, bashing Sandy-Hair in the face. He brought his elbow down on the back of one of my thighs, sending a numbing throb through my leg. Juri and Sil appeared in front of me, faces gray with ash, teeth bared. Their hands closed over my wrists and flipped me over. Two other Mazikin pinned my feet.
A massive explosion shook the building and everything shattered. I closed my eyes and turned my head against the hail of debris and dust. This was my only chance. Malachi and Ana were right outside, putting their plan into action. I only had a few minutes if I wanted to get Nadia out. I wrenched my arms free from Sil and Juri, who were gaping at the sizable hole that now graced the far wall. The Mazikin at my feet released me when a second explosion collapsed one of the support columns near the exterior wall and sent smoke and fire shooting into the room. Everyone scattered, screaming and running in all directions. Only the suicides in the corner remained stationary.