A Toiling Darkness (16 page)

I shook my head. “Time is of the essence. I
need to see him tonight.”

He nodded in nervous jerks before opening
the door. “I’ll have you wait in another room while I tell him of
your visit,” he said glancing around the room nervously. He made me
want to look around too. What was he so worried about other than
the fifty gazes that were now on him?

“Lead the way.” I followed him down.

The stairway was large and made of stone. It
was also wide and from the looks of the steps, other forms other
than human-like ones have made good use of these stairs. There were
dry, dark stains on the concrete walls, suggesting blood, and
looking down showed only darkness. Pitch black darkness. The good
kind.

The stairway was set up to test the
fighters. Only those brave enough could make it down into the
bottomless pit of the darkness. Most of the fighters wouldn’t know
how far down it would go and they wouldn’t be able to see anything.
Small ruins in an ancient language was etched in the wall to ensure
that they couldn’t use their powers to produce some kind of light
source. The ruins also messed with their minds, using their
imagination against them. For some, I’m sure there was no end, not
if they weren’t worthy.

Wouldn’t want the weak down there, diluting
the intensity of the matches. No cannon fodder allowed.

As we made our way down the stairs, the
small light from the top dimmed until eyesight became a useless
sense. Beings would have to rely on their touch and other senses to
make it to the bottom. The air smelled of death and decay, the
railing caked with dried blood and years of dirt, and only the
sounds of our footsteps and water dripping could be heard. At least
for other beings it was suppose to be that way. It definitely was
like that for Devon as he slowly made his way down in front of me.
He was already freaking out, and the test wasn’t even activated. It
was just really dark.

I could see clearly in the dark, maybe even
better than during the day. So when Devon stumbled a little and
nearly tumbled to the bottom of the stairs, I giggled. That scared
him even more and he looked back, scrunching up his pudgy face to
make me out. Eventually he gave up trying to see me and turned back
around to continue—this time keeping a death grip on the railing. I
wanted to tell him he was lucky the spells weren’t activated yet.
He wouldn’t make it three steps.

When we made it to the bottom, he felt
around until he found a knob and turned it, opening up into a
brightly lit room. I blinked, my eyes readjusting to the light.

This room was filled with the clients who
were going to bet on the fighters. They talked with each other,
laughing or scowling, depending on if they were the butt of the
joke or not. The air was filled with all the different powers, some
of them felt calming, others explosive and a couple of them
elusive, as if hiding what they were capable of. Voices lowered
when they noticed my presence. I recognized most of them from
rumors and personal experience. His clientele was really
impressive; they were all powerful in their own way.

They were all dressed in formal wear, the
men in perfectly fitted tuxedos that probably cost more than all my
custom made dresses and some of my dresses were expensive, pushing
a thousand dollars for at least one of them. The women were in all
styles of cocktail dresses ranging from long-sleeved to no sleeve
and full length to almost showing off their ass. These beings were
definitely the rich and powerful. They probably came through
another entrance that didn’t involve testing their flimsy
resolves.

I kept my mouth shut, head up, and strolled
behind Devon. He led me to another door that opened into a small
room. As soon as the door started to close, the voices rose up and
some nervous laughter broke out. Funny how I was the one out of
place with my simple dress and sandals and yet I made them
nervous.

“Wait here.” He pointed to a small couch
before quickly slipping out of the room.

The room was small, similar to a doctor’s
waiting room, filled with sterile colors, chairs, and a table with
all the latest issues of popular magazines on top. I ignored the
magazines and stretched out on the couch.

I told myself I wasn’t ever going to come
back down here—such a damn liar. Who was I fooling other than
myself? Kay had been so sure I would come, even after I returned
his invitation. He only sent it back. The man knew me to well. He
knew I would find my way here.

If it weren’t necessary, I wouldn’t be here.
I would have been busy gracing another city with my presence for a
couple of weeks while the tournament went underway. This tournament
attracted beings from all over the world, to either fight or make
bets. Just in that room, I spotted beings I’ve pissed off hundred
of years ago and beings are incredible at holding grudges. Half of
those I pissed off could probably raise a slauve thinking this kind
of event would attract me and so giving them an opportunity for
revenge. The invitations were sent out months ago, plenty of time
for someone to rally up and create a slauve. It would also explain
why Kalen was so inexperienced about everything.

This was just the beginning of the
tournament too. Not even the beginning. The fighters were upstairs,
introducing themselves to their opponents and trying to find each
other’s weaknesses. The clients were down here, also collecting
information, trading and buying what they knew to others.

Tonight, the clients will go into the arena
and settle down in their seat, and then one by one, the teams will
come down, testing themselves with the staircase before introducing
themselves to the clients and showing off their talents. The next
week will be them training and sparring against each other before
the tournament really began. During training some accidents may or
may not happen and by the start of the tournament the numbers will
mysteriously have dwindled down to only the absolute powerful.

I picked a hell of a night to talk to
Kay.

Not even ten minutes later, Devon came back,
not looking happy at all. I stopped banging my head against the
couch and stared at him.

“Lord Kay will see you tonight, but he wants
you to watch the showcase before you talk.”

“Of course he would,” I replied. The pompous
ass—he would drag this out.

“He will let you sit with him in his private
room,” Devon said it as the lord just graced me with his
attentions, calling me to his quarters. I snorted, but still
followed the loc.

Kay’s private room was like walking into a
suite. It was large and roomy with large comfortable chairs. A full
bar with a not-quite human bartender was tucked into the corner,
and a long table ran along a wall, filled with fruits, cheese, and
other delectable snacks I had no name for. Modern day foods still
escaped me. A large TV hung up above a large one-way mirror and was
zoomed in on the arena to better see the fights.

The mirror looked over the entire arena.
Rows of chairs leveled down to an arena filled with sand and lit up
with spotlights. The lighting on the upper levels of the stadium
was dark, getting brighter as it got closer to the arena. At the
bottom of the spectator’s section, it flattened out to a floor with
tables next to the railing for the really rich and special clients.
The fighter’s arena dropped down like a pit. The pit was large,
about half the size of a football field. A massive screen was
suspended above it to give the spectators a closer view of what was
going on. Otherwise, they would need binoculars if they didn’t have
excellent eyesight.

To think Kay was able to hide this place
under a city. He was the strongest magic user on this side of the
states for a reason. I was impressed the first time, and still am
now.

“Enjoying yourself?” Kay asked from behind.
His words were a tickle across the back of my neck.

I whirled around, surprised by his presence.
He stood leaning in the doorway looking almost like a man out of a
porn video. Leather pants hugged his legs and an off white shirt
stretched over his chest. Kay may not have grown into his full body
shape, but he wasn’t scrawny either. If he ever did grow into his
body, he would be drop-dead runway gorgeous. His light hair was
spiked up with gel and he played with the sunglasses in his hands.
The normal swirls of silver in his skin seemed brighter and denser.
The magic around him was drawn tight around him, acting as both
armor and as a weapon. He was being especially defensive tonight.
Why?

“I would rather not be here,” I replied. No,
I’d rather be anywhere but here. Maybe over in New Rheems. Some of
the buildings there had a great view of the harbor and city.

The impending storm was now underway and
could be felt through the ground, a slight rumbling from the
thundering. There were no windows since we were deep underground
but the tight energy in the air told me the storm was picking
up.

“I thought this place would call to
you.”

“Greed has never interested me.”

He stared at me, his eyes twinkling, and his
smile widened. “No. No…it never did.” Bastard was remembering our
time together. If I had to choose a moment I didn’t like the most,
being with him was high on the list. Not the highest, no, that spot
was reserved for when I first came into existence, but it was
close.

“Thirsty?” he asked. I nodded.

He snapped his fingers and the bartender
came over with a tray. The bartender was pale with flaming red hair
and green eyes that stayed down casted. He knew his place and it
was below his lord. The man put coasters down on a small table
between two chairs that overlooked the entire stadium and then
placed drinks on them. By the smell, one was tea with a whole lot
of honey and the other looked like some kind of kind of opaque blue
martini.

“Tea?” I asked, trying to hide my surprise.
I shouldn’t be surprised, Kay made it his business to always know
about me.

“It really has always been your favorite,
even when I first met you.”

I nodded and took a tentative sip. It was
good, not as good as Baron’s, but still good.

“Why do you want me to watch the showcase?”
I asked.

“For the pleasure of your company?” He stood
at the window now, sipping his martini and watched as the
spectators began to fill in the seats.

I snorted. “Doubt it. What do you want?” I
pushed further. It was the strain in his shoulders, in the way he
stood and kept his eyes out in the crowd, searching for something
that may or may not be there. There was a dangerous level of
uncertainty in him and Kay made it his job to always be certain
about everything. He was “flipping out” as they say. “Why don’t you
go out and visit with your clients? Go be the social butterfly
you’re so well known for. I’m sure some of them are too important
to ignore.”

He glared at me, slamming his martini on the
table and breaking the glass. He swore and stood stiffly while the
bartender cleaned up the mess. The temperature in the room went up
a couple degrees and I swear the silver on his skin slithered.

“Out,” he barked and the bartender jumped
before scurrying out the door when he finished cleaning up the
broken glass. If I knew how, I would feel pity for the guy.

Kay paced around as the room turned into a
sauna of nervous heat.

“Why are you hiding in here tonight?” I
asked again. He stopped and glared at me before flopping down on
the chair and stretching out his legs.

“Did my seer send you back here?” He ignored
my question.

“Yeah, she’s a lovely woman.”

He smirked. “I know.” Well, any doubt I had
about their relationship vanished with that smirk.

I sat in the leather chair and got
comfortable. The chair was so large that my feet didn’t even reach
the floor. My knees didn’t even reach the end of the chair. I
tucked my legs under me and fixed my dress so I didn’t flash my
underwear to anyone. Lord Kay settled down next to me and we sat in
silence, watching as the event started. The first group came out
and started showing off, trying to impress everyone with their
killer talents. People cheered or booed, depending on which teams
they were placing their bets on.

“These events really attract the big fish,
don’t they?” Kay asked.

“I guess.”

“It attracted you, and you didn’t even want
to be here.”

“I’m not here for the event, I’m here to
talk to you about something urgent.”

“The slauve’s master?”

I nodded.

“You still came here tonight of all nights.
You could have came here tomorrow if you wanted. Instead you put
urgency in finding someone who really wants you dead.”

“I didn’t say the slauve was after me.”

“But it’s so easy to see that you’re the
target. You’ve been quiet, in the background, these last couple
hundred years. Then all of a sudden you’re proactive again,
searching for answers that can’t be found. You’re easy to figure
out,” Kay said. Not once did he look at me, his eyes were fixed on
the audience. He wasn’t even paying attention to the fighters.

A different group was up, each one tall and
bulky. A group of mountains relying on their strength. They weren’t
going to last because there were very little rules to this
tournament and any that did exist are only to protect the
spectators or make the matches interesting.

Death, cheating, magic, power…all of it
allowed. Mind control, manipulation, raising the dead, all allowed
as long as they kept it to the arena.

Kay was right—a whole lot of strong beings
were here, all packed into one area. Security was extra tight, any
fights not taking place in the arena was unacceptable and Kay had
the juice to ensure it, including the availability of some highly
trained guards.

“Who are you scared of?” I asked.