“WHAT THE HELL was that?” Daniel asked this time, yelling at the Man in Black. I sat up on the grass, still shaky from my panic attack. We were inside the wards.
“Apparently my coat and my Acolyte are forming some type of bond.”
“What does that mean?”
The Man in Black looked down. His voice was sharp, a scalpel cutting through a clenched jaw. “You forget yourself, minion.”
Daniel thrust out his chest, his hands knotted tightly into fists. “You have to stop hurting her.”
“I have to what?” The Man in Black’s voice burned hot. “Kneel before me.”
Daniel’s spine straightened with a jerk. I couldn’t see his face—he stood between me and the Man in Black—but every muscle in his back quivered against his shirt. Narrowing his black eyes, the Dark God continued to stare at Daniel. Coldness seeped around Daniel’s body, brushing over me. My breath curled in white wisps of condensation as the temperature plummeted. My mouth went sour with the taste of dark magick. Daniel took the brunt of it, the focus of Nyarlathotep’s attention.
I wanted to grab Daniel and scream at him to stop, just stop, before the Man in Black hurt him. I wanted to cheer him on. I wanted to give him my strength.
I wanted to kiss him for trying to protect me.
The magick rolled off the Man in Black, heavy and oppressive. Bricks stacked on a sheet of glass.
The Man in Black’s hand, his red right hand, slipped out of his coat raw and glistening against the inky fabric.
The glass shattered into a million pieces.
Daniel’s knees bent, slamming into the ground at the feet of the Midnight Man. His head dropped to his chest. “I am here to serve you, Master. My place is at your feet.” The words came out in a strangled whisper.
“Forget again, and I will have you flayed, salted, and hung in my bedchambers for my entertainment.”
“Yes … Master.”
The Man in Black stepped around Daniel. I scrambled to my feet so he wouldn’t loom over me. My knees were still weak, but I dragged myself up. I didn’t want him standing over me while I sat on the ground. Horror lay heavy in my stomach.
What are we dealing with?
“Your mind is your own again. Good. We need to seek the elder god who is here.”
I shook my head. “I’m not up for another teleporting act.”
Daniel stood. He caught my eye and shook his head. I took it as a sign to let go of what had happened to him. I didn’t know what else to do about it, so I did.
For now.
“Ashtoreth’s gift will not be necessary to take us there.” The Man in Black’s head tilted slightly. “Now pick up the firebrand and follow me.”
I picked up the burnt stick as he turned and began walking through the empty lobby. Daniel moved beside me. As one we followed the chaos god and his trailing, tattered coat.
I had a very bad feeling in my stomach.