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by Jaymin Eve
“Fuck the gods,” I muttered, just to make sure that my power of speech had returned.
It had. Check that off. I was also still in possession of every single one of my limbs, which I considered a feat, seeing as I had just jumped into the Sacred Sand Arena to face-off against Coen Abcurse, pain-master of Blesswood.
“Fuck the gods,” I said again, a little louder this time. Just double-checking. “Fuck the fucking gods!” I screamed. I had no excuse for that one. It just felt good.
“We get it,” a familiar voice noted dryly. “You’re a little angry.”
“Emmy?” I blinked at my best friend as she came into view, walking down the stone corridor toward me. “Am I in a dweller dungeon?”
“No.” She reached me, pulling me into a fierce hug. “You’re below the arena. Atti was attending this sun-cycle and he came and got me when they called you onto the sands. He said you might need some clothes.”
“Are the gods still here?” I asked as she set me back, running her eyes over me critically before handing me a bundle of cloth.
I looked both ways down the hallway before struggling out of the ruined dress and pulling on the clothes that she had brought for me. A pair of shorts and a shirt; they were the plain sort of clothing that I’d run around in back at the village. She must have found them in my backpack. The sols didn’t wear these sorts of clothes—especially not the shorts—but the village dwellers often had to overcompensate for the heat and the lack of cooling methods with sparse clothing.
“I have no idea. They rarely ever show themselves anyway. What the hell have you done, Willa? Why the hell have they singled you out? Do they know that you snuck into Topia?” She lowered her voice for that last part, eyes darting around as if she expected some of the robed bullsen-balls to just pop into existence down here.
“I …” I opened my mouth, closing it again. I have no idea. “Maybe this was Rau. He seemed to be really angry at the Abcurses, and they told him that I was Coen’s plaything. That Coen was fond of me, or something weird like that. So maybe this had nothing to do with me … maybe this was a punishment for Coen.”
Emmy’s frown deepened, her eyes sparking with warring concern and anger. If I didn’t know her for the goody-sol-lover that she was, I would have thought that she was actually pissed at Coen, and the others, for bringing me into the middle of a god-battle.
“They got called up there,” she said gently. Her voice almost resigned. “All five of them.”
“To the god-box?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m going up there,” I announced, striding past her.
“And how did I know that you would say that?” She set off after me, able to keep pace with me far too easily for my fragile ego.
“Because you’re secretly a rebel, and your mind works just like mine?”
She snorted, which I took for a no. “I’m glad you’re okay, Will. I was terrified. I thought that Coen would kill you. I feel like your bad luck has gotten so much worse since we arrived here.”
“Nah.” I shook my head, peering up a few different stone staircases, trying to figure out which was the way back up. “We’re friends now, even if they won’t admit it. And I’ve only stabbed one person since we came here. One! I mean … yeah … it was a god. But still. Coen wouldn’t kill me.”
“I came to the closet early this morning to check up on you, but you weren’t in there. I assumed you told them everything.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice. Five let me sleep in his room.”
“Five?”
“Siret. Trickery. The one who’s always kind of smirking.”
“Five as in Dorm Number Five?”
I finally found the right staircase—with no help from Emmy—and grabbed her hand to drag her after me, which was a nice reversal of sisterly roles. “You’re so smart. Why can’t all people be as smart as you?”
“Most people are.”
“Does that make me dumb?” I asked, faking an offended tone.
“It makes you special,” she teased, squeezing my hand and taking the lead, because I was definitely floundering all of a sudden. So many hallways. Barely any light. Plus, my legs were sore, so I kept trying to avoid stairs. Which was stupid, because we needed to go up.
Eventually, the pain in my chest began to lighten, and my body seemed to naturally turn in the direction of the Abcurses, intent on delivering me straight to them. They would have loved that. I needed to make sure they never found out. I had planned on reaching the room and planting myself outside, sticking my ear to a wall or notching the door open just enough to hear things clearly. I had hoped that both the gods and the Abcurses would decide to utilise their apparently private moment to spill all of their secrets, and that those secrets wouldn’t be harmful to me in any way, shape, or form.
Willa Knight’s involvement in all of this is just a random accident. Yeah, that’s what they were going to say. Wait, no. Who is Willa Knight? That was better. They wouldn’t even know my name. That dweller we made you fight? You’re crazy. That sign was supposed to say Willis Ninny. Silly Abcurses.
I was so happy about what I was expecting to hear, that I barely even noticed the door in front of me opening. I stopped when I caught sight of Aros, who exited the room followed by Yael, Siret, Coen, and then Rome. They all lined up, facing me, and Rome shut the door firmly behind him, not admitting any more people into the hallway.
“Oh hey.” I scuffed my shoe against the carpet. “Fancy seeing you guys here. You all done with the secret meeting?”
“We heard you,” Yael announced, flicking his eyes to Emmy for a moment, before returning them to me. Oh, right. They heard my thoughts. Oh shit. Why didn’t I think of that?
“You’re still doing it,” Aros added, walking over to me, grabbing me by the hips and swinging me over his shoulder. “Bye, dweller.”
He strode past Emmy, and the guys started to follow. I pulled my head up, giving Emmy a hopeless look. She waved me away, obviously aware that I couldn’t physically separate myself from them, even if I had wanted to, but there was still a kind of despair written all over her face as she watched me being carried away. I thought about what I would have done in her position, and cringed a little bit. I would have been kicking some sol ass. Attempting. I would have been attempting to kick some sol ass. Maybe she was thinking that this was out of her hands now, that I was out of her hands now. That she couldn’t protect me anymore. Maybe in time, she would be thanking the Abcurses. Probably around the same time as the Abcurses started begging her to take me back under her wing. I was a pain-in-the-ass to look after, and Emmy had big things ahead of her. She had a glamourous dweller career, and an honourable future.
I didn’t have any of that.
I had … well … shit. I was probably going to be a Jeffrey, but I didn’t want to dwell on that. Not right now. Not when Aros’s hand was splayed over the back of my thigh, because if there was anyone who had the power to distract you from unpleasant thoughts, it was the golden, seduction-gifted sol.
“I can walk,” I told him, tapping on his back.
He pulled me back, but his arm tightened across my back before my feet could hit the ground. “Sure you can,” he muttered, his golden eyes falling over my face. “You okay?”
“Sure I am.” I grinned. “I got to fight Pain-Master-One, and I’m pretty sure I almost won. I totally almost won.”
“Not even close.” He laughed. “But I’d give you a participation award, minus a few points for the ball-shot. That was a little unfair, don’t you think?”
“Nah.” I looped my arms around Aros’s neck, cuddling closer and notching my chin against his shoulder.
I really wanted to wrap my legs around him again, but I supposed I had learnt at least half of a lesson last time. I didn’t think they realised how awkward it was for me to just hang like that, with my legs dangling. The others were still walking behind Aros, so I was able to cast my eyes over them now. None of them looked hurt. Or
happy. Or angry. Or any emotion really.
“Why did they call you up to the god-box?” I finally asked, my eyes coming to a rest on Coen. I figured he owed me more than the others, on account of making me pass out and everything.
“They didn’t,” Coen grunted. “We called ourselves up.”
“Oh. What for?”
“To find out why the hell they made me fight a dweller.”
“And?”
“Do all dwellers ask this many questions?” Rome muttered.
“And?” I pressed.
“And it was Rau,” Yael answered, sounding bored. “Trying to mess with Coen. Nothing serious. Nothing to worry about.”
“Except that every sol at the academy is going to hate you now,” Siret added.
“Why?” I groaned. It wasn’t actually a question. More like a lament. Why did this shit have to happen to me?
“You can stop asking questions now,” Rome grumbled. “My head hurts and I feel like breaking something.”
“A little questioning never hurt anybody,” I protested half-heartedly. I didn’t actually want to fight with Rome, but there was a stubborn switch inside my mind that seemed to be stuck in the on position.
“Seduction,” Rome snapped. “Do something about her.”
“You could just ask me nicely!” I demanded, as Aros secured his arm more tightly around my back, his free hand coming to rest on my thigh again.
He manoeuvred my leg, drawing it around his waist, allowing me to wrap my legs around him properly. I was a little bit distracted. Especially when his hand gripped my ass to hold me up. Especially when a rush of feeling flooded through me that was far too strong to be anything but magic. I tightened my whole body around him, my head falling into his neck, my teeth sinking into his skin. I was mostly just trying not to whimper or anything pathetic or girly like that, but I suppose I also wanted a little bit of revenge. He stumbled, and then stopped walking, a light groan sounding in my ear.
“Did she just bite you?” Rome’s face was suddenly right in front of mine, his fingers threading into my hair and lifting my head from Aros’s neck.
“Yes,” Aros gritted out.
“She’s like a wild animal,” Rome muttered, his glittering eyes locked onto mine. “Every single time you poke her, she fights back.”
“She can hear you,” I said.
“Give her to me,” Rome demanded. Since he was still staring at me so intensely, I actually thought that he was talking to me.
“Fuck off, Strength,” Aros growled, moving forward so that Rome was forced to release me, my hair tangling in his fingers and forming a brief bridge between us, before it fell over my eyes.
I quickly pushed it off, and by then, Rome was already back in my face. He reached over Aros, hooking his hands beneath my arms and hauling me up and over Aros, who spun around, looking pissed.
“Whoa!” I tossed my arms up as my feet hit the ground, trying to separate the two of them. “I get that all the arena fighting probably has your adrenaline pumping, and you’re itching to get into another fight right now, but if you—” My pitiful pacification attempts died off as the breath was literally crushed right from my chest.
Aros had advanced on Rome, and the both of them seemed to have forgotten that a dweller stood right between them. Someone grabbed my shirt, wrenching me free and ripping the material in the process. That someone had been Yael. He shook his head at me, put a finger to my lips, and started dragging me away. Siret and Coen were busy trying to wrench Aros and Rome apart.
When we were clear of the others, I expected Yael to stop walking. Maybe to give me a lecture, too. But his pace only increased.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my breath surprisingly steady as I tried to keep up. Huh, that was weird.
“That wasn’t normal,” Yael muttered thoughtfully, causing me to look up at him in surprise. “Rome and Aros,” he clarified, reading the question in my eyes. “They don’t normally fight like that. Or … well, ever, really. Something is going on. That looked like chaos at work. Rau is still messing with you. I need to know why.”
Good news, then.
He chuckled, some of the tension easing from his stunning face. “Don’t worry, Willa. I won’t let anything happen to you. We liked you before, because you’re so abnormal it’s actually somehow funny … but now? After seeing you take on Coen like that? Well yeah, now we’re keeping you. It’s final.”
Warmth bubbled inside my chest, happiness almost exploding out of my body, but I quickly smothered it. “I’m not a toy.” I figured he needed reminding. “You can’t just keep me to play with whenever you want.”
“We can if you don’t run away.”
Why the hell would I run away?
“Exactly, Willa-toy.”
“Now you’re just being mean,” I accused, a frown on my face.
He grinned, casting a sideways look at me. “I’d make it up to you, but I don’t want to start fighting with my brothers just yet. Maybe later.”
What a dick.
“Now you’re just being mean.” He laughed.
Fourteen
Yael led me back into the main part of Blesswood and up to the dining area. It was time for breakfast and I realised that I was starving. Fighting a sol and being knocked unconscious does that to a girl. As we walked the long hall toward the double doors, I turned my head to look back a few times. No other Abcurses were in sight.
“Rome and Aros … are they okay?” I asked. “They’re not going to actually beat each other up, right?”
Somehow, I thought Yael would know. I was relieved that he didn’t seem to be concerned, but it was hard to read him; it always had been. He kept his emotions tightly bound, unless of course he was being competitive and losing or something.
“They’ll be fine, they just needed a little distance from you.”
I snorted. “Nice. That’s just what every girl likes to hear.”
Yael slowed his walk and faced me fully, his eyes glinting in the well-lit hall. “You’re coming into a group of gifted beings, Willa, not your average friendship. One girl and five men? You’re going to have to get used to that dynamic causing some problems. Especially while we’re all riding the wave of whatever curse Rau hit you with.”
Five! Holy crap. He was right, that was a hell of a lot of guys to have in my life, and yet, I almost couldn’t imagine them not being there. Like they had always been a part of me and the sun-cycles before were nothing more than a dream.
“If my soul is split five ways, how come I only have to be with one of you and not all of you?” I had thought this earlier, but there never seemed to be enough time to voice every question that crossed my mind.
Yael’s face went blank, very carefully blank. I knew then that he had an idea of why that was, but he wasn’t going to tell me about it. Instead, he turned and pushed back the double doors to the dining hall. Up until now, we hadn’t seen that many other Blesswood students. Most of them had long-ago left the Sacred Sand arena. Of course, they had left the arena to come to the dining hall. A hall I was now standing in the doorway of with a thousand glares shooting in my direction.
Yael strolled in like he didn’t have a care in the world, heading for their usual table, which was always empty and waiting for them. “Come on, Willa-toy, it’s time for us to eat. I’m starving.”
I backed up and out of the room. No way in hell was I walking in there. Even though Yael was hard-core as all hell, he could not take on a thousand sols if they decided to tear me limb from limb. I liked my limbs right where they were.
The double doors closed in front of my face and the pace of my breathing began to speed up: in and out, in and out; the air shuddering past my lips. I couldn’t do this. The gods were going to mess everything up and there was a high possibility that someone was going to get hurt. What if it wasn’t just me? What if Emmy or one of the Abcurses were caught in the crossfire?
The ache in my chest was present again. Yael wasn’t close enough
to me now and my stupid broken soul was letting me know. Plus, I was still backing up. Fear had my feet moving before the reasonable side of my brain could catch up. Of course, there was one problem … backing up meant that I wasn’t looking where I was going. Thin, graceful arms wrapped around my middle and before I could call for help, a ball of material was shoved in my mouth and a heavy cloth dropped over my eyes. Darkness shrouded most of my senses as I fought against whoever held me.
They were far too strong for my struggling, and more than one set of hands grabbed me as they moved away. I heard shouts, more than a few actually, but a stern and familiar voice shut them down quickly.
Elowin.
Holy crap. The dweller-relations committee had just kidnapped me. No need to worry about the rest of Blesswood. This was the moment I was turned into bullsen fodder.
Yael! I screamed for him through our mental link. He was the closest, with the best chance of reaching me. My concentration felt a little shaky though, probably because the pain in my chest was threatening to tear me apart. After a few more hurried steps, the fine tendrils of light which had been seeping through the woven material of the bag over my head lessened, and we were now descending. The air was cooler, the light almost non-existent.
I’d stopped struggling a little, hoping that they would ease up on their tight grip. So far, though, Elowin and her hench-dudes were staying diligent. If anything, their grips were getting tighter, which was more discomfort to add to my pain.
“Hurry,” Elowin’s cold voice echoed around, sounding creepy as hell. From the muted echo of their footsteps, I guessed that they were leading me down into an area of stone. “The distraction will only work for so long before they realise it isn’t actually the dweller.”
What distraction? I tried to scream out again, but the gag was wedged in my mouth crazy good, and my chest was also trying to splinter into a million pieces, which made doing anything difficult. Tears ran down my cheeks, soaking into the fabric surrounding my head. I knew that I needed to stop crying before my mouth filled with liquid and I suffocated, but the pain was so intense that my tears continued to fall without any hope of stopping them.