“Take me, Eri.”
I hear that, even with the voices telling me how wrong I am. I roll onto my side and see Jaak. He’s kneeling, axe on the ground and hands held out in front of him in supplication.
“Take me,” he says again.
“No.” I reach for him.“No.”
She claps her hands and walks towards him. “Ohhh, is my favorite little toy ready to come home again? You know I came here just for you, Jaakobah. I would have gotten to you sooner, but I just couldn’t manage to break that hold the Fates had on you. Something about me being your maker, or whatever.”
I lift my head to see Eleanor. She’s moving closer to him, a smile on her face. She’s so achingly beautiful, but there’s something not right about her. The light, I realize. It’s moving the way it did with my parents. I look back to see they’re still there, still talking to me and reaching but never getting closer.
They’re not real. It’s an illusion, it has to be. I swipe at them and my hand goes right through them. Bingo. Nothing but smoke and mirrors. Is the same true for Eleanor?
I reach for Jaak but he’s too far away. Just out of reach in front of me.
“I thought I lost you,” she croons. She’s only a few steps away from us now. “But someone had to pay the piper. Who knew they would notice a few extra worlds consumed? It’s not even like they were using those stupid places but you were the best I could offer them on such short notice. The Fates don’t care who pays, so long as someone does. So I want to thank you for yoursacrifice, Jaakobah. You served my sentence and as a gesture of goodwill, I won’t rip your wife apart in front of you.”
She looks my way with a wink. “I’ll do it when it’s just us girls.” Eleanor makes a face when she sees me dragging myself across the floor. “Gods, mortals are pathetic. I do not know what you see in them, Jaakobah. We’re going to have aloooongtalk after this.”
Jaak flinches when she speaks. I hate seeing it. “Spare her. That’s the deal, Eri. You take me and you spare her, you spare this place and I will serve you again.”
She wags her finger at him. “Ah, ah, ah, you already made that deal, sailor. No dice. One soul, one world. You have no more chips to bargain with, Jaakobah. You’re mine. All fucking mine and-”
Eleanor’s voice is cut off suddenly with a thwack. At first I don’t understand why but then I see it. There’s an arrow in her, the broadhead of it sticks out of her chest. She looks down.
“Who the fuck?”
I know who. Charlie. I’m not alone in any of this. He’s out there fighting, and if he’s fighting Mort will be too. I can’t let them fight alone. I can only fight Eleanor if I connect with Jaak, if I give into the power of our bond. I shove myself forward the extra inch I need and grab Jaak. The connection is instant. The memories flood in like water spilling from a broken dam.
I see the man with the coin turn into Eri. The coin she catches vanishes with a wisp of smoke and she holds her hand out to Jaak, who takes it. He’s only a child.
“You’ll never see her again.”
I see him grow into a man. He looks exactly like my Jaak but he isn’t at the same time. He kills, he relishes it, he’s mindless in what he does. There’s no stopping him. Cities crumble, worlds die and go dark in his shadow.
Eri puts her hands on his head. “Time for a little upgrade, lover,” she whispers in his ear. The sword I saw before returns and in it I see what happened to Jaak. I witness his transformation from man to beast, his eyes though, remain the same. They’re not the silver of the Minotaur, it’s his dark eyes that stare back at me from the polished metal. When he turns towards his master he is the Minotaur, fully her creation. There’s no humanity in him. I can feel it. He’s empty, hollow, the only thing alive in him is what she’s poured into him. Everything else has been burned out by the demon she’s made him into. I can feel my husband slipping away, right through my fingers, turning into that version of himself with every second and my heart breaks.
“No. I don’t allow it.”
Broken heart or not, I can do this. My heart could shatter and stop beating and I would not surrender my husband to someone like Eleanor. I reach for the rage Jaak feels and I make it my own. I drink from the river of anger and hate, the destruction, the blood lust, it all becomes mine. I force it all into my body, into my heart. I swallow it down until I’m full. Only then do I release my husband and stand.
I’m going to kill Eleanor.
Chapter Forty
“Who the fuck shot me?” Eri screams, she turns and paws at her back for the arrow and pulls it out. “I liked this dress, you asshole! You,” she snaps her fingers at a robed figure, “find whoever did this and kill them. Bring me their head. I’m going to eat their eyes.”
“Yes, mistress.”
I almost laugh when I hear the voice. I know that fucking voice and suddenly it makes sense how there’s so many mages here. Dina was right. They were recruiting new members for their cult, or in this case, recycling them.
“What the fuck, Roy?” The figure freezes and I cross my arms. “Yeah, I know it's you, asshole. Who else is here with you? Lyle? My parents? Actually, don’t answer that, let me see for myself.” I bring my hands down and the hoods of every mage in the room vanishes. A few of them yelp and try to hide their faces from me but I don’t give a shit who they are.
“Oh, sonowyou’re ashamed? Why are you hiding your faces if you’re not? Is demon worship suddenly not cool?” I mockthem when they pull their robes up to duck behind. “Fucking losers,” I mutter and scan the faces until I see the ones I want.
My family.
“Hello mom. Hello dad. Fucking eat shit, Lyle,” I greet them, making sure I have the biggest frown anyone has ever seen on my face.
