Bound (18 page)

Alex rubbed his hand across his face. ‘It feels like it’s tearing me apart. I feel like I could burst into atoms at any moment.’

‘Yet you handled it and survived.’

‘What were they?’ Alex asked.

Silhouette’s face twisted in disgust. ‘More to the point, what was that thing at the top?’

Alex closed his eyes. ‘It felt old. Centuries old. It used to be a man, I’m sure, but it had merged with that shard somehow. That was its downfall. It was so convinced its magic was unbeatable. I had the one thing that could resist it.’

‘A piece of the same,’ Silhouette said.

‘Exactly. It was used to absolute control and adoration, constantly serviced by those weird fuckers. It must have found the stone and it turned into that thing over centuries. Could that happen to me?’

‘No way,’ Silhouette said. ‘You choose how to use it. That … thing was messed up. It had some freaky personality before, I expect. Those people it kept around were horrible, inbred things, all of them kept in a closed loop for fuck knows how long. Anyone who found them got put to sleep and hung up, I’m guessing. The skeletons, remember?’

Alex shivered, with more than the cold. ‘That could have been us.’

‘It would have been me. That thing’s magic overwhelmed me in an instant.’

Alex made a wry face, gesturing with the locket. ‘Thankfully this kept me going. It felt the other part of itself and pushed me on.’

‘And then there were two. One more piece to go.’

‘Then what?’ Alex asked.

‘That’s for you to figure out, Iron Balls.’

Silhouette shook Alex awake. He rose from sleep reluctantly, his mind swimming up through dreams like tar. She wore her own clothes again and handed him his. ‘They’re still damp and reek of diesel, but I got them dried out a bit in the engine bay during the trip back.’

He shook himself, throwing off blankets and dressing. ‘Sorry.’

‘What for?’

‘I seem to keep falling asleep and leaving you to sort things out.’

‘You saved our lives,’ Sil said with a laugh, ‘so I don’t mind driving the boat. You feel better?’

‘I do actually.’

The throb of the stone was stronger than ever. He laid a hand over it, through his jacket. The book in his pocket howled to be read.

‘You okay?’ Silhouette asked.

Alex pulled the book out, sat heavily on the bench. He hated the thing. It was like a cancerous tumour on the outside of his body. He didn’t even understand it properly. Some thread of some entity that played with him while it tried to kill him. He didn’t want to read it, to give it any more power over him than it already had. The fact that it was a book had become irrelevant. The thing inside was his enemy and he was reluctant to give it any voice. But its urgency caused a vortex in his mind. He opened it and read,
Universe layers and pools of unknown, the stone empowers. Great harmony, power of stars and oceans. More to extract, to uncover, reveal. Play on, with life, with death, with ecstasy.

He slammed it shut. ‘It hurts my fucking brain to read this!’

‘What does it say?’

‘It’s urging me on, that’s all.’

‘Sure,’ Silhouette said. ‘It could wreak incredible havoc with you, if you let it. You’re strong enough to resist. Get the power and use it to defeat whatever that really is.’

Alex threw the book away over his shoulder, knowing it wouldn’t be gone for long. ‘Who am I fucking kidding? A group of your people, the strongest of their kind, were only partially successful. What chance do I have?’

‘Don’t doubt yourself. That’s what it wants.’

‘Whatever. Are we back?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Come on then.’

They left the boat moored in the harbour and headed for the hotel. Silhouette assured Alex the fisherman would find it all in order. ‘I even tidied the dinghy away for him.’

Alex snorted. ‘You’re all heart.’

‘You should be ecstatic, you know.’

‘What do you mean?’

She stopped. ‘Can you feel your mood swings? You’re acting sour when you’ve just survived the weirdest place I’ve ever seen and gained a massive increase in strength. You should be bouncing off the walls.’

He stood still, unsure what to say. He felt bitter, absolutely miserable. He turned away, walking on. ‘I don’t actually want all this. I never did.’

‘So why did you follow Welby back in Sydney?’

There was that moment of choice again. ‘I had to leave town for a while.’

‘But you didn’t have to go with Welby.’

‘I was curious. I didn’t think we’d even get out of the country.’

‘But when you did get out of Australia, you still followed him. You got to London and you still followed him.’

Anger rose. ‘So what? I was fucking curious! I didn’t expect to get caught up in anything like this.’

‘Of course not.’

‘Welby said he could teach me more about myself. More about my vision.’

‘You might be caught up in something you don’t want, but you’re here because of something you did want. You can’t go around lamenting that things didn’t work out like you hoped. Life rarely does.’

‘This is different.’

Silhouette sneered. ‘It’s no different at all. Play the cards you’re dealt, Alex. That thing, whatever it is, is far from human. It’s beyond any of our understanding and it’s toying with you. You’re a conduit for its frustration, can’t you see that?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You just had a major success. Uthentia wants you dead, it wants your demise to be as spectacular as possible. We should have been caught by those mutants, strung up and fucking eaten or something. I
was
caught by them, but the stone saved
you
. You beat them. The book is pissed about it, so you’re feeling pissed.’

The aggravated emotions ran through every part of him, convoluted and confused, she was right about that. And the book was angry. ‘Maybe,’ he conceded.

‘Own your feelings, Alex. Don’t feel what it feels. Differentiate yourself. You’ve just gained enormous power. The more power you have, the more chance you have of beating it. Rejoice in that. Defy the evil bastard!’

A fire rose in his mind and groin. ‘I want to fuck you so hard.’

‘Just as well we’ve still got a room.’

They reached the hotel in minutes and almost ran up the stairs. Alex pulled at her jacket as they climbed, laughing as she batted at his hands. She was right. He should feel good about what he’d survived, and nothing celebrated success and survival like sex.

An image rose in his mind, the night before, blood in the alleyway, Silhouette’s snout buried deep in the wino’s body, her conversation with Joseph. Uthentia’s laughter bubbled through his mind.
Fuck you, stop trying to turn me against her!
But perhaps he should consider that. Could he trust her? The fire in him, his rage and frustration, swelled. He growled his anger at the book,
I’ll make those decisions, not you.
He pictured Silhouette naked, pictured her riding him, sweating and moaning, and his passion smothered his anger again.

‘You okay?’ she asked.

‘Oh yeah, get inside!’

They fumbled at the door, finally getting the key straight, and fell into the room. They threw their jackets to the floor and stiffened instantly, lust freezing solid in their veins.

‘Hello there,’ said a small, wiry man. He reclined in the old armchair, his dark trenchcoat lay around him like a cape. He had one foot resting on the opposite knee.

Silhouette dropped into a crouch, growling. Alex let the power of the stone flood through him, hardening his bones. Fucking or fighting, either or both were fine with him.

‘Now, now,’ the small man said. ‘Let’s not get all crazy.’

‘Who are you?’ Alex asked, deliberately keeping his voice calm, level. ‘How do you keep finding us?’ The shades around the strange, thin man were colours and shifts he didn’t recognise, shades that seemed truly alien. But he read the man’s calm confidence and iron resolve clearly. Whatever he was, he seemed to think his job was done and the rest would be easy.

‘You smell unique,’ the man said. ‘You’re not easy to track, but I’m something of an expert.’

‘Who are you?’

‘People call me the Subcontractor.’

Silhouette sidled around, putting a gap between herself and Alex. ‘And what exactly do you want?’ she asked.

‘Well, I’ve been given a task.’ He wriggled one hand at Alex. ‘You’ve got a couple of things there. Very interesting things.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘More powerful than they were before, even.’

‘That’s no concern of yours.’

‘Ah, but it is. I am to take those things from you for my client. Technically, my job is also to kill you both, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I know my client well. Give me what he requires and he won’t care about you any more, so I can let you live if you comply.’

Alex barked laughter. ‘You serious? You tiny little freak, I’m not giving you anything.’

‘Be careful, Alex,’ Silhouette said, not taking her eyes from the Subcontractor.

‘Careful?’

‘Whatever this is, it’s very dangerous.’

The Subcontractor grinned broadly, his mouth crammed with teeth. ‘You see, Alex, she shows respect. You, on the other hand, are very rude. I cannot abide rudeness.’

He moved so fast that Alex hit the wall on the far side of the room before he realised the fight was on. A wave of panic froze his limbs for a moment, adrenaline surging through his veins. He hadn’t seen a thing. He had been watching the man’s shades and they were alert, but there had been no indication of any movement. Silhouette slammed into the Subcontractor a millisecond before the thin creature’s teeth snapped shut on Alex’s throat.

Alex sucked air back into his lungs, aware of the book’s joy. It wanted him to fight and lose. ‘Fuck you!’ Alex yelled, to the book, the Subcontractor, the universe and everything in it.

He gathered the power of the Darak. The more he used the magic, the more expertly he could manipulate it. The Subcontractor rolled with Silhouette’s attack and the two of them fell. As Silhouette rolled underneath, Alex closed the distance and collected the Subcontractor’s head against one iron shin. The small man flipped up and over, crashing a tall lamp against the wall as he flew.

Silhouette gained her feet in an instant and they bore down on the Subcontractor. Magesign pulsed off the man and his human appearance dropped away like a discarded coat. Shining black chitinous armour covered him. Vaguely man-shaped, four limbed, but backward jointed, he crouched low. His face shone dark and featureless in the low light of the room, his mouth wide, row upon row of sharp, silica-like teeth. A long, forked tongue flickered out, tasting the air. His hands flexed, long, sharpened fingers writhing hungrily.

‘What the fuck are you?’ Alex breathed, moving cautiously.

Silhouette mirrored his movement, trying to take the other side. The Subcontractor shivered its head, several tiny eyes glistening under a ridge of chitin. Alex tried to read its shades, but they were all textures and colours he couldn’t understand. The creature sprang towards Silhouette. As Alex moved to go with it, it changed direction, kicking out at Sil and slamming into Alex with bone-crunching speed.

Silhouette cried out, flying over the bed to land in a heap on the floor. She writhed in pain as Alex tried to keep his breath, hammering blows across the creature’s slick, hard skull as its hands swiped, tearing the flesh of his arms and chest. Wherever it struck it drew blood and left stinging agony.

Alex’s vision crossed, his lungs burned, his knuckles bled along with everywhere the thing struck. An unfamiliar terror rose in his mind. It was stronger than him, and faster. It had shades he couldn’t decipher. He kicked out in desperation, forcing a space between them, and staggered away, trying to buy time.
Everyone has a weakness, Alex. Defend until you find it.

It was on him again, moving in unnatural patterns, exercising techniques he couldn’t predict. He blocked and dodged, diving across the room. He’d be damned if he’d die here and give the book any pleasure. The creature stayed with him, snatching and snapping. If it got a grip with those teeth, he’d be done for. He dropped low, spinning on one hand and one foot, sending a kick around into the side of its head. He was rewarded with a dull
thwack
and the thing stumbled sideways. Alex sprang in the opposite direction, watching it closely as it moved.

It turned on hard, spindly legs, the reversed knee compressing as it bunched up to spring again. Alex drew all the considerable power of the stone and used it for speed, diving away as the Subcontractor came at him. As it moved again, he saw his opportunity.

He rolled aside, fiery agony from a long claw arcing across the back of his shoulder as he moved. As the Subcontractor turned to spring, Alex reversed his own movement and leapt back underneath. The creature flew above him and Alex grabbed one thin leg and rolled. He twisted, using his body weight to slam the thing into the floor and locked one forearm against the knee joint. He cranked with all his might. The thing clashed its teeth as its knee disintegrated with a wet snap. It hissed a high scream of pain, its hands a blur of sharpened torture as Alex rolled clear.

It became harder to concentrate through the pain. Alex knew he was losing blood. This had to end. The Subcontractor staggered to its feet, balancing on one leg, the broken limb swinging useless beneath it.
When you gain any advantage, press the attack.

Alex gathered everything he had left and dived straight for it. The body was armoured, its weapons deadly, but its joints were thin. Alex drove one elbow up under its head, wrapped his legs around it and grabbed an arm. As the other arm raked fire down his back, he locked and wrenched the arm he held, separating the elbow. The creature howled. Alex kept his weight going forward as it fell, rolling with it, slamming another elbow into the side of its head.

Pain whined through his arm from the impact with the hard chitin of the Subcontractor’s skull. A stuttering hiss of laughter came from between those rows of sharp teeth as it twisted and turned over once more, rising to sit across Alex’s hips. It was surprisingly heavy, pinning Alex to the threadbare carpet. Its legs and arms clamped across his own, even its broken limbs effective in holding him down, tiny barbs hooking into the carpet, locking it in. Panic swelled through Alex’s mind,
I’m going to lose! I’m going to die.

He saw Silhouette facedown on the carpet, blood leaking from her mouth.
We’ve both lost.
He bucked his hips, trying to escape the thing mounted above him. He drew power from the stone and used it to give him strength, harden his body, anything to get out from beneath certain death, but his panic blurred his thoughts. The Subcontractor seemed glued to the ground, trapping Alex like a barbed-wire blanket. Waves of exultation pulsed from its shades as it raised one hand high, long fingers like hard black knives pointing at Alex’s eyes. ‘Hood will be pleased,’ it said, close to Alex’s ear, its voice harsh and muffled by its unnatural mouth. ‘Black Diamond gets the goods again!’

Alex rained blows upwards, crying out in desperation, pinned, trapped. Beaten. The Subcontractor hissed laughter again and drew its elbow higher. Alex stared at the shining sharp tips of its fingers, refusing to look away from death. He sucked in a last breath and screamed, ‘Fuck you!’ and the Subcontractor’s head exploded.

Alex’s ears rang with the sound of thunder as shudders went through him. The hard, plastic-like body of the creature collapsed limp over him, the remains of its head dripping bile-coloured viscosity and yellow, liquid brains over his face and chest. He scrambled from under it, pain and exhaustion threatening his consciousness. The hotel clerk stood in the doorway, her huge stomach and bosom wobbling with her shocked trembling, a shotgun hanging loose in her hands. ‘What in the high holy fuck is that?’ she said in a strained voice. Her eyes were wide and terrified, her face white as snow.