AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Shut up, Rycon.” I snapped, and to both of our surprise, he did. Maybe this binding thing would turn out useful if I could order him around like that. Conrad had been observing the interaction and his eyes widened as he to, noticed our connection to each other.
“Rayven…what have yuh done?” He asked softly, and I sighed.
“I was hoping you could tell me. It’s been a long night. What took you so long?”
Guilt spread across Conrad’s features like wildfire. “Mi sorry.” He said. “Mi did a tracking spell as soon as mi found out yuh were missing. Yuh parents worried sick. Jeremy thinks mi murder yuh, it all mi could do to keep him from arresting me long enough to track yuh down.” Rycon sniggered in the corner at this. Oh right. My parents. I groaned, putting my face in my hands. How was I going to explain this to them?
“Yuh bleeding!” Conrad gasped as he noticed the huge gash in my arm that Amon had cut, just to make a point. I snorted and pointed to the daemon in question.
“You can thank him for that.”
Conrad whirled on Amon.
“The Board will have yuh head for this,” Conrad warned him.
Amon just shrugged. “I really doubt it, considering she owes me a life debt. Her and her new pet.”
Conrad physically staggered with the blow of the news. He looked at me, devastated, as if his worst nightmares had just been realized.
“What?” His mouth was hanging open. He pulled me into him and hugged me. ‘Dis is all my fault,’ he whispered into my mind. ‘Mi should have been here sooner.’ Out loud he asked, “How di hell do yuh owe him a life debt?”
I sighed again and pulled away. I explained what had happened. By the time I was finished, Conrad’s eyes were so wide I thought he might faint. Rycon was the first to pipe up.
“Well, I don’t know about all of you, but I would like to go and wash some of this … tar off of me.” He said, gesturing to the black sludge that was now starting to harden in scabby patches. He glared at me, resentment saturating from each and every pore of his body. “I guess I need to ask your godsdamned permission for that now?” He snapped.
Did he? I shrugged, “Sure, go ahead.”
He mimicked me, mocking my tone, like a child. “Sure, go ahead… Try not to get us both killed while I’m gone.” He grumbled and left without a backward glance. I could have sworn I heard him mumbling something about ‘now having to follow around a whiny child for the rest of his life.’ I bit back a smile. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be attached to him either, and maybe we could find a way to reverse it. But for now, revenge was sweet.
I felt more than saw Amon’s eyes trace over me. His hands were in his pockets and that cocky little smile still perched on his lips. Every time I felt his eyes on me, I felt like I was naked. I shuddered uncomfortably. “Go home Raven. Pack some things. Spend some time with your loved ones. I will come for you in seven days’ time.”
“Come for me? And take me where?” I demanded. He just gave me a dark look, one that promised nefarious things. Then he wrapped the shadows around him like a cloak, and he was gone.
26
The walk from the trashed motel room to Conrad’s Hornet was tense. I couldn't shake the feeling of the widowmaker’s sticky black web. Gooseflesh erupted on my arms, and I searched the shadows relentlessly for spindly fingers and black, soulless eyes. The full moon hung like a pearled orb in the sky and cast wisps of nighttime across the cracked parking lot. I jumped every time a twig snapped beneath our feet and my aura expanded around me.
“Yuh alright?” Conrad asked quietly. I felt like he was trying to keep his voice low and steady so as not to startle me.
No. I absolutely was not alright. That monster had been seconds away from killing me; and now I was now stuck with some sort of shape-shifting mercenary who also tried to kill me. On top of all that, now I owed Amon a life debt, which he seemed bent on me paying with my freedom. I had never been so not okay in my entire life. I didn’t bother to answer. Instead, I ripped open the passenger side door and checked the back seat for monsters before slipping in and buckling up. Conrad got into the driver’s seat and switched the car into gear.
“We’ll find a way to get yuh out of this.” I could hear the empty promise in his voice. I could tell from his tone that there was no getting out of this. I stared out the window into the darkness and my reflection stared back; a ring of bruises coiling around my neck like a string of black pearls.
What was I going to tell Jeremy and Clair? I glanced at the clock; it was almost midnight. I had never come home this late in my life. My clothes were covered in black goop, and my hair smelled like smoke from when Amon burned away the web. I looked like the mess that my life was. Conrad seemed to notice and mumbled a spell under his breath. Suddenly, I looked like I had that morning. Fresh and clean.
“How did you-?” I asked, startled. He shrugged.
“It’s called a glamour. Yuh still need a shower when yuh get home and yuh should probably throw away that outfit. At least you’ll look alright coming in the door.”
“Thanks.” I sighed, burying my face into the heels of my hands. I was so tired. I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do.
“Mi already sent word to Meredith and Mr. Abbey about yuh life debt, Raven. They’ve alerted the rest of the board. Wi will find a way to get yuh out of this.” I looked up at him and frowned.
“Maybe this is a good thing. You said yourself that at some point I would need to learn from my own kind. I almost killed Meredith earlier today. It would probably be safer for everyone if I just went with him.” Even as I said the words, I knew I didn’t mean them. I didn’t want to be Amon’s slave. I didn’t want to leave my parents, my home.
“Raven, yuh have no idea what yuh saying. Amon is one of di most ruthless beings tuh exist on dis plane. He has tortured and killed innocent people tuh get what he wants. He did nuh save yuh out of di goodness of his heart. He saved yuh so that he could control yuh. So dat he can use yuh to overthrow Ash Nevra. He wants to rule over the seven courts and yuh are his ticket to doing that.”
My arm throbbed where he had sliced it open in response to Conrad’s claim. I tried not to let my imagination run wild. Where would Amon take me? To the other side of The Veil most likely. Where the daemons and creatures like the widowmaker cajoled each other and fought for power on a burning field, scorched with their greed. I imagined a dark cell that smelled of sulfur, and chains that cut into my wrists and ankles. What kind of humiliating stunts would he have me perform?
