| |
Leajka
––––––––
I wake up to dim overhead lighting illuminating a stained ceiling and crumbling cement walls. No windows. The scent of decay suggests this is an abandoned building. I sense that I’m not alone.
Complicated instruments and beakers containing sinister liquids are on a nearby metal table.
I blink my eyes as pieces of the last hours return. I try to fit them together like a puzzle and fail.
Jurik sent me to retrieve her son.
I found Emeric in a warehouse and managed to get him back to campus.
Jurik somehow transformed into a mage named Glandias and is actually Emeric’s mother.
She sought to destroy him...and they both want to use me as a weapon—Emeric wanted my shadow for himself. Glandias’s plan is less clear.
Tyrren appeared and tried to help me.
Now, I’m here. Where is he?
The clock on the wall stopped at four p.m. at some other point in time. I have no idea how long I’ve been here or where here is.
My stomach rumbles with hunger.
I push to sitting atop an examination table.
My appetite vanishes. Nerves take their place.
The filthy tile floor has a drain in the middle. There isn’t anything in here that I could use as a weapon, but then again, according to what I’ve recently learned, I am a weapon. However, right now I feel weak, limp, and like the fire and iron that exist in me, prompting me to rise up and fight for my freedom have been depleted. I feel spent and exhausted and my mind filled with fluff.
A single, golden cuff with strange writing rings my wrist. Its polish stands in stark contrast to the decrepit room. Unlike regular handcuffs, there’s no keyhole. And unlike regular handcuffs, it seems to suppress magic because my attempt to blast it off does nothing.
Firing frost fae magic at Emeric was like a release of something so great, so vast, I feel invigorated even though whatever happened when Glandias reappeared has left me feeling like a wrung-out rag.
She emerges from the shadows. “Lea, you are a strong, clever girl. We got off to a rocky start. You had quite the ordeal yesterday. I regret to say that I had to break you.” She wears a self-satisfied smile.
“You’ll never break me,” I hiss.
She clucks her tongue. “I suppose you’re right. I won’t break you, but I will rend your shadow.”
“Only demons can take shadows.”
“Lucky for you, I’m part demon.” Her grin is wicked. “Mages can layer curses. For instance, my son was raised as a mage, turned into a vampire, and wanted to add fae shadow to the roster. I have to give him credit. He’s clever for having figured that out.”
My blood stills and I take note of the exit and shadowed, out of sight spaces. I must establish an escape route.
“If you’re wondering if anyone is coming to your rescue? Don’t count on it.”
“What did you do with Tyrren?”
“He’s being put to use.”
A shiver winds through me.
If it’s true and no one is coming, which wouldn’t be entirely surprising, I’ll rescue myself. I go deep into the center of my being, to the core of my inner ice and fire. Despite the cuff around my wrist, I’ll access my magic. I’ll get out of here and find Tyrren.
Glandias glides over to me. Her skin is pale and powdery, marred by green scars on her face, but her eyes are hard and dark. She gazes into mine and places her hands on my shoulders.
An unnatural jolt moves through my skin, muscle, and into bone. The energy feels like fingers poking and trying to find something, but I hold fast to the flame within and use it to fend off whatever it is she’s doing.
“I’m mage...and was gifted with fae and demon blood. I see you’re resisting me. The warded cuff prevents you from using your magic externally, but not internally. Interesting. Must’ve been how you defended yourself against Emeric.”
Very interesting. I assume since she’s not pure demon, the way to rend my shadow isn’t instinctual like it is for the scum I’m all too happy to slay. This buys me time.
“There’s much for me to learn about fae. Glad I have countless of your kind to use as test subjects.” She cackles.
I scowl.
She tilts her thin, bald head. “I’d argue that it’s all for the greater good.”
“Whose good? I don’t see anything positive happening by you creating an army of fae.”
“An army of shadow fae,” she corrects. “An undefeatable, immortal army. That’s where you come in. With your shadow, together with the others, backed by unseelie and vampire traits—I will rule the realms.”
“Like I told Emeric, I’m not immortal.”
“Once you’re shadow fae, there’s nothing that can destroy you.”
Inside, I burn as hot as the sun. My skin is as cold as the tundra. Meeting with Amelia, coming to terms with my nature, being unseelie fae and her telling me that I always have a choice gives me an idea. “Have you thought of the consequences of that, Glandias?” I ask.
“Death, destruction, untold power.” She levels me with her gaze. “Of course, I have.”
I lift my chin and meet her eyes. “Good.”
She flattens her lips as though not sure what to make of that comment. “With an undefeatable army, I too will be undefeatable.” She leans so close that I see every crevice in her pale face. “Emeric’s problem, Leith, and even Rikurd’s problem were that they thought too small.”
I only recognize Emeric’s name.
“My plans are much, much bigger. And the best part, no one will see what’s coming.”
No, she won’t see what’s coming.
She grips my arm. I jerk it away.
Just because I know what’s coming, I won’t make it easy. I dig even deeper, calling forth the light inside of me. Gathering as much of it as I can, I experience its warmth, radiance, and unique texture. I familiarize myself with the very best parts of me. I imprint them in my mind, my heart, and my entire being.
Glandias examines me and hovers her hands over me as though trying to find my shadow.
I summon thoughts of purring kittens, hot cocoa, driving on summer days with the windows down and loud music playing, dancing with Tyrren to the Beatles, reading, long showers, warm oatmeal on cold winter mornings...
There’s a tug toward everything I’ve lost and the pain I’ve experienced. My mother saying goodbye. The fae encounter when I was a child and their torment. The attack sophomore year. Being sent to reform school.
“Ah ha,” Glandias says as though she detects my shadow self. “You can’t hide from me, Leajka Vladikoff. The real you is worthless, shameful. Unseelie, unruly. A vile, horrible creature bent on mayhem, pain, ruin.” She practically coos the words.
Part of me wants to believe her. Part of me used to believe her. But I know the truth. The flames of my righteous anger are stronger. I give her a solid sneer.
I divert my attention back to the best parts of me, my life. The lessons learned, the ways I’ve grown, and the strength I’ve gained.
“There are plenty of fae to practice on. I usually let the demons do my dirty work, but you are a prize among the fae as part of the prophecy. With your history, you’re the one most inclined toward shadow work. Not cooperating strengthens my case, strengthens your shadow.” The skin above her eyes, where her eyebrows should be lifts as though she has an idea. “Emeric, my son, despite his shortcomings was on to something. Make you commit crimes, desensitize you...”
“Where is he?”
“Ash.” Her voice is just as dry.
“You killed your son?”
“Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to reach goals. However, there’s a distinction. I destroyed him, but the damage had already done when he requested to become a vampire and renounced his role as a mage. He broke the code, humiliating me.”
“I’d argue that you’ve broken the code, whatever it is.”
She snorts. “In many ways, he started this. I will end it. I’ll do what he could not. Soon we will return to the Southlands and I’ll take the throne. The Northlands and Westlands are in tumult. The Eastlands remain, but their stronghold cannot last forever.” Her smile is sinister. “But my glory as ruler of the realms will.”
“And then what? What will you do when you have all the power?” I ask. “Will it be enough?”
She tilts her head ponderously. “I daresay yes.”
I shake my head slowly because I know that isn’t true. “You will always be hollow, empty. No amount of power will fill you because power doesn’t give. It takes.”
“We’ll see about that. For now, I’ll expose your shadow and I will rend it. You’ll let me or else...” Glandias gets to her feet and wheels another exam table into view. A familiar figure rests on top. Tyrren. He’s as still as stone.
I fight the tingles that run up my spine.
“It isn’t only shadow fae that will be useful in this war. I’ve developed a serum to employ the vampires. There are many in this city and they’ll bend to my will, destroying the nats as you call them.”
She takes a needle from her work area and pricks Tyrren’s arm, driving the plunger down until the red, viscous substance disappears beneath his flesh. He twitches once and then begins to writhe in pain, absolute agony. His back arches. Straps attach him to the table, keeping his limbs from flailing, but sweat pours from his skin and his eyes roll wildly in their sockets.
“Stop.” I’m not bound and lunge at Glandias, but she blasts me back. I slide across the filthy floor.
“Your realm has useful tools and instruments. This is a trial formulation. I’m still perfecting it. When I have it right and when he’s been given enough, he won’t be able to fight his nature and choose not to bite people.”
She’s going to control the fae and the vampires? “You sicken me,” I say, “I’ll fight until my last breath.”
“Yes, under my orders.”
“I’ll never bend to your will.” A dark thought crowds my mind. Maybe death will be more peaceful than the existence we’ve known. The tension between the vampires and fae, the theft of shadows... No. I can’t think that way.
“I’m not offering you a choice,” Glandias says. “You’re a fiery one, Lea, which is exactly what I want. Anyway, I’ve never met a person who I can’t break.” Her lips turn up, but not in a smile. She lifts one of the needles.
I flinch, afraid she’s going to inject me, but she places it in my hand.
“Your turn. You can begin to bleed your friend Tyrren dry.” She laughs at her little joke.
I let the syringe fall, smashing to the floor.
“There is more where that came from. Let’s try again.” She gets another needle.
Glandias forces me to grip the cold metal in my fingers.
The room shifts slightly. For a moment, I think it’s dizziness. “What was that?” I ask, buying time.
Her gaze darts to the door.
The four walls in the room shake again.
“Go on, Lea. Give Tyrren a dose. Do it now with the knowledge that soon you’ll be doing it to him and others. I’m still working on obtaining your uncle. I look forward to unleashing him in the city.”
Every part of my body is screaming. On fire. Filled with hate.
“I see the revulsion in your eyes, but I trust that in time, you’ll come to understand that sometimes we have to do difficult things to reach our aims.”
“Yes, yes we do,” I say. I always have a choice. I take a deep breath and plunge the needle into my arm.
Her expression blanches.
I use the pain that sweeps through my veins to attack. Glandias is faster and stronger than I expect. She knocks me back. Her hand presses against my face, mashing my cheek into the nasty floor. I try to fight back, kicking and punching, but her hands grip my neck and tighten, choking me...
I suddenly feel an undertow, the pull of light from shadow. It’s like going too fast on a rollercoaster, the sinking feeling when you hit the bottom, and the thrill as you hurtle and loop, letting go, giving in to the wild freedom of it.
She’s rending my shadow. My shadow. It’s my choice whether or not I let her.
The room shakes again and plaster from the ceiling rains down on us.
Spots dot the edges of my vision. A suctioning feeling comes next, gripping, tugging, ripping me up.
“Give me your worst. I dare you.” I manage to say these last words as I let my shadow slip away.
