Page 40 of Corvus and the Broken God

“Consider your next move carefully.”

“Or what? Are you going to end me?” He cocked the gun and pointed it at my Monster.

My heart pounded out the next few milliseconds. The gun fired, blood spurted in a bright red explosion, and my Monster lunged toward the man who tried to kill him. Time stopped for a few heartbeats and then stretched slowly. Then it slipped into warp speed. Camazotz grabbed Darryl by the neck and pinned him to the nearest wall, which was a good twenty feet from where they had been standing. He moved them so swiftly that, to my human eyes, they seemed to teleport across the room.

My heart must have stopped because it restarted with a vengeance. I ran toward them, afraid I’d be too late. Camazotz had kept his human shape, but he’d grown in size, and his skin had darkened. He held Darryl by his throat, pinned against the wall, like he weighed no more than a scared cat. The man had lost all his bravado. Camazotz held him with the same hand that had been shot, the wound already mended by the time I reached them.

“Don’t kill him,” I practically shouted.

“He tried to kill us after threatening to kick us out of our house. I should crush his skull with my fingers.”

Darryl gurgled, blood leaking from his mouth. I grabbed my Monster’s thick arm.

“If he never comes down from the mountain, then they will come after you.” Trust me, I can make sure he never comes back. I pleaded, hoping he’d believe me.

He looked at me, finally. How can you be certain?

Just give me a chance?

His hand loosened its grip, and Darryl collapsed on the floor. I leaned over but couldn’t see his chest rise. Was he dead? I kneeled next to him, feeling for his pulse. It was faint but there.

“He’s going to die. You have to save him,” I said, twisting my head to look up at Camazotz. He hovered above me.

“Here is your chance, Corvus. But I won’t save him.”

“Do you realize what I’m saying? People know he’s here. They’re expecting him to return. They’re going to come looking for him.”

“And I will tell them to feel free to search for his body.” His eyes narrowed. He dug his heels in, and I wasn’t going to win this discussion. He’d probably fly Darryl’s body out over a deep ravine and drop it in there. No one would ever find him.

I turned back to Darryl and knelt next to him. He coughed up more blood and grew still. Shit. Could I save him? Was he testing me? Seemed too risky, especially considering how little I knew about human anatomy. Then again, I didn’t need to know avian anatomy to turn into a crow or to grow wings out of my back. I put my hands on his head. When Camazotz had healed my broken wing, it had felt like a soothing, warm energy. I tried to picture my own genetic makeup, only with Darryl’s features. This was tricky. I didn’t want to change him into a copy of me. God, could I even do that?

He sputtered, taking one last wheezing breath. I was out of time. I grabbed the same energy I used for my own transformations, pulling it out of me and pushing it into Darryl. Silently, I chanted for his brain and lungs and throat to heal, to be good as new. Like a thick fog, the healing energy poured out of me, and his chest moved up and down, once, twice, his heart kicked up its beat from non-existent to steady. I kept at it, connecting with his body on a cellular level until he was whole again.

He opened his eyes, and I sat back on my heels. I had done it. I had saved his no-good life.

“H-h-h-Freya?”

“No, Darryl, my name isn’t Freya. Whoever she is or was, I am not her.”

“What happened?”

“You passed out.”

I stood and held out my hand. He took it, and I hauled him to his feet. He felt around his neck, but there were no wounds, no bruises, no evidence of his near-death experience.

He looked at me, still dazed. Camazotz had retreated, sitting in the shadows cast by the fire. He was so still, blending into the darkness at the edge of the room.

“Look, Darryl. Why are you doing this? My friend is here legitimately. Why are you going to all this trouble?”

“Listen, Freya…”

“Morrigan.” It took everything to hold down my frustration. Even now, after almost dying, he was pushing.

“Morgan. I have no idea why you’re here. If you’re fucking him or what. But you need to leave as soon as you can. I can give you a ride. But as soon as I’m back home, I’m doing everything I can to get him kicked out.” He took a step back, and I lost my train of thought. I had changed him, and now we were connected. That tug between my Monster and me, it was there, only much milder, between Darryl and me. This was why he hadn’t wanted to save him. I looked over at Camazotz, horrified.

You could have warned me.

Would it have made a difference? He wouldn’t look at me.