Chaos Bound (27 page)

Crowhurst was untied and dragged out the front door, blood trickling from his hairline, his head loose on his shoulders.

‘Where are you taking him?’ Waves of pain had started to radiate from my shoulder, making it hard to think.

Lander’s eyes gleamed. ‘A nice new kennel.’

‘Going to stash him with your other pet griorwolves?’

‘The last one escaped. You might have heard about it.’ Lander tapped a finger on his chin in a mocking gesture. ‘But of course you’d remember. You were the one who murdered him.’

‘After you tortured him until he was insane,’ I spat.

‘Not so insane he couldn’t find his way through the forest and back to the boss’s house.’

‘Where are you keeping them? Somewhere in the city?’

‘If you’re a good girl, you’ll find out soon enough.’

‘He was being injected with rapture, wasn’t he? Why?’

Lander sat down in the seat Crowhurst had vacated and pulled a switchblade from inside his jacket. ‘Ivor Grogan is a talented alchemist. A man like him isn’t going to settle for experimenting on a bunch of mice.’ A long blade snapped out, and I flinched as he waved it under my nose. ‘A great visionary like him? He’ll take the chances he needs to, in order to get results. Ivor Grogan is going places, and I intend to go with him.’

The blade sliced through the front of my shirt. Lander grabbed the opening and ripped it, exposing my very sensible, very Outland sports bra. Lander frowned at it. ‘What is that hideous thing?’

I glared at him, but said nothing. My bravado levels felt pretty darn low at this point. This wasn’t the first time I'd been tied to a chair and threatened, but I was more unnerved than I cared to admit. Lander ripped my shirt more, pulling it down further. I winced as he trailed a finger around the shot wound in my shoulder, then along the top of my breasts, trailing a line of blood.

‘You know something, Lora? You seem like a girl who doesn’t know how to relax,’ he said.

‘A shot of whiskey usually does the job,’ I said, my teeth clenched.

Someone chuckled behind me, obviously enjoying the show. Lander closed the switchblade and pocketed it, reappearing with a small Outland syringe.

‘Have you ever tasted rapture, Lora?’ He pulled the sheath off the needle.

‘Not my choice of poison.’ My eyes were locked on that needle. I tried to keep calm, tried to relax, tried to remind myself that panic would not serve me. ‘What’s the Silver Dragon?’

‘A place you can’t afford, little girl. Your griorwolf friend is going to get front row seats soon enough.’

‘A captive griorwolf and a betting slip.’ My voice gave out, so I swallowed a few times and tried again. ‘Sounds like a rather illegal sporting event.’

‘Monsters fighting monsters. It could hardly be called a crime.’

‘Full-bloods aren’t monsters.’

Lander leant close enough for me to feel his sour breath on my face, but not close enough that I could head-butt him. ‘They are, once we’re done with them. Rapture effects full-bloods different to humans. Something you’ll get to see soon enough.’ His voice turned sickly sweet. ‘Sometimes, the boss experiments. He mixes the rapture with other chemicals, before injecting the griorwolves, just to see what will happen. Once, a griorwolf was injected with a combination of rapture and the blood of a craftuser. It mutated the griorwolf when it transformed into the beast, growing a third arm from its chest. Can you believe that?’

I didn’t answer. Lander smirked at me, then put the syringe between his teeth and moved my ruined shirt around so he had access to my inner left elbow. A primitive survival drive kicked in and I pulled at my restraints, breath tearing from my throat in ragged gasps. My shoulder howled in agony.

Lander took the syringe from his mouth. ‘Rapture will make you see things. Things that you couldn’t believe. You get to fly to the sky with this sweet sunshine running through your veins. The ecstasy… Well, you just have to experience it to believe it.’

The needle pinched my skin and I felt a cold rush in my arm. Then Lander withdrew, sheathing the needle and pocketing it. ‘I'm going to do things to you, Lora Blackgoat,’ he murmured, eyes hooded. ‘Things that you never thought possible, and you’re going to love every minute of it.’

A salty soap flavour flooded my mouth. Sweat popped out on my brow and the pain in my shoulder receded to a distant ache. My breathing became measured, my heart slowing to a drowsy beat. Something moved against my wrists, and I wiggled my hands finding them free of their bonds. My shoulders slumped, and my head drooped forward. Time slowed to a sluggish crawl. My skin tingled and numbness swept through my limbs before retreating, leaving a floating sensation in its wake.

‘Look at me, Lora.’

I blinked a few times, my thoughts heavy. With an effort, I lifted my chin and Lander’s face filled my vision. As I watched, his mouth wriggled like a caterpillar. I bit back a gasp as the mouth suddenly shifted and slid around his face, like a boat that had escaped its mooring.

‘How do you feel, Lora?’

The words fell from Lander’s roaming lips, and they were like a heavy liquid filling my ears. I squinted at him, wishing his mouth would keep still. Was it being chased by something? I heard the rasp of a match strike, then a bright flame flew across my vision, shining with the brilliance of a sun, trailing champagne sparkles. I tried to snatch at the colours.

‘There’s a good girl. Let it wash over you.’

Lander’s mouth was on his forehead now, teeth glistening into that twisted smile I really, really hated. A man appeared beside him.

‘Do you want your knives?’ he asked Lander. As I watched, the man’s head shook, then began to shrink. I slapped a hand over my mouth, stifling a cry. I wanted to warn him, but was too afraid. What if his head kept shrinking? Where would it go? What if my head shrunk as well?

Something shifted at the edge of the room and I looked over. A green monkey stood in the corner, wearing a bowler hat and a polka-dot vest, a fat cigar between two slender fingers. He waved the cigar at me, trailing smoke. ‘He’s going to kill you.’

‘You think I don’t know that?’ I spoke slowly, the words hard to push past my numb lips.

The monkey raised his eyebrows, which was weird, because I didn’t know monkeys had eyebrows. He placed the cigar between his lips and puffed. ‘Well?’ he murmured. ‘What are you going to do about it?’

‘What do you mean?’

The man with the shrunken head moved behind me, laughing as he went. The monkey made an impatient motion. ‘Come on, Lora. Don’t you feel something familiar?’

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to focus, to swim past the numbness.

There
.

From inside the dark core of my mind, a helix of stars spiralled upwards. The threads of light uncoiled, filling me. A song played sweetly beneath my feet, and my ears vibrated with a chorus of gentle bells and chimes. The ley-lines. I could hear them singing. I could feel them dancing.

A force slammed into the side of my face, and my head rocked to the side, fireworks exploding in my mind. Opening my eyes with a gasp, I saw Lander watching me. His mouth had returned to its home, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it just simply walked off his face.

‘Closing your eyes is cheating,’ Lander said. ‘You keep your eyes open. I want you to see what I'm doing.’

My eyes slid to the monkey and he winked at me. ‘Why don’t you make
him
see.’

I winked back, barely feeling my stinging cheek. ‘I think I will.’

Lander frowned, his eyebrows suspiciously loose in their location. Then his big hands were on me, pulling at my clothes. I wished I had my sword. Really wished it. Looking down at the ground, I spied a nice, fat ley-line beneath my feet, swaying like rope in a river. I lifted a hand. Called for my sword. No salt. No casting agent. I didn’t need it. Power flooded me, light and easy. It smelt the blood on my shoulder, and ignited with it like napalm. There was a whistling sound, then the familiar grooves of my sword hilt smacked into my hand and my fingers wrapped tight. Lander paused, trying to figure out what was happening. I threw him some dimples. Always nice to give a condemned man a parting gift. I pressed my palm against Lander’s chest.

‘Move.’

Power surged and crackled across my skin, then Lander’s body shot backwards. He smashed into the far wall, collapsing on the ground in a shower of broken plaster.

I stood, feeling like I could fly if I wanted to. The man with the little head was making all sorts of squeaking sounds and fumbling with a flintlock. I swung my sword, testing my strength and trying not to be distracted by the whistle of steel. Another man stumbled into the room from outside. He came at me with a knife, and I spied frogs crawling over his body.

‘You’ve got something on you,’ I told him. He glanced down at himself and I attacked, my blade sliding through his chest in an easy killing blow. He slumped with a gurgle and the frogs all jumped off, bouncing for the door. I watched them go, then arms were wrapped tight around me, locking my arms by my side. I let go of my sword.

‘That’s it, princess.’ Lander’s whisper was a hot tickle in my ear. ‘I like a girl with a bit of fire.’ I didn’t offer any resistance. I didn’t need to. Ignoring Lander’s hold, I stared at the man with the shrunken head in front of me. ‘I can fix that for you.’ I clucked my tongue, before the right word came to me. ‘Bigger.’

The man opened his tiny mouth to say something, when his itty-bitty ears gave a quiver. He paused, then his forehead began to swell and his lips peeled back. His hands flailed. Eyes popped wide. His tongue curled out, filling his mouth. His swollen head wobbled, and strained flesh wavering on his neck, unable to keep balance.

‘Help me.’ His voice was a muffled plea for mercy.

‘I am,’ I told him gravely. Lander’s grip loosened and I stepped out of his hold.

A crunch of bone sounded, followed by a groan of flesh, then the head burst in an explosion of blood. Gore plastered the furniture and splattered my face. The headless body collapsed to the ground and I drew in a long breath, smelling fear and shit. Blood dripped from my chin and fragments of bone slid down my cheek.

Behind me, Lander’s voice was a squeal of fear. ‘What did you just do?’

I turned to see all of Lander’s features now wandered his face, as if they understood their fate and wanted to flee. The bandage over his cheek had shifted and the roughly stitched wound I'd given him was also trying get going while the going was good.

The green monkey in the corner was rolling around on his back, laughing. ‘Make him dance, Lora. You make him dance.’

‘Where is Nicola?’ I asked Lander.

‘I'm not telling you nothing.’ His voice trembled as he fumbled for his switchblade. ‘You think you can tussle with me? Bring it on, bitch. I'm supposed to bring you in alive. Can’t help it if accidents happen, though.’ He flicked the blade open. ‘I'm going to slice you up so bad, you’re gonna pray for the hellfires of The Pit to eat you up.’

‘Of course,’ I said. ‘But you’re going first.’ I pointed at him, blood dripping from my finger. ‘Burn.’

Lander’s wandering features gave a start and froze. His body twitched. His mouth opened and a tongue of fire licked out. The wound I'd given him had returned to his cheek and as I watched, the stitches ripped open in one violent tear. The fire crawled over Lander’s face, hungry, consuming with speed. His hair blazed bright and flames crackled down his body in a relentless wave. His skin blistered and blackened. The fire grew to a roar and the smell of singed meat filled the air. Lander dropped the switchblade, his blackened hands slapping his head, trying to put the fire out, but the flames only fired up brighter with the movement. I stepped aside as Ivor Grogan’s bodyguard rushed past me, a flailing human torch, screaming as he went.

After Lander passed out by the front door, I watched the flames die with him. Then I walked upstairs to fill Seth’s bathtub with water and stepped in. Sitting down, I hugged my knees to my chest and tried to breathe, nice and slow. The power I'd felt was gone now, but the memory of the rush was vivid in my mind and I craved more. But I knew a trap when I saw one. When I'd called for my sword and revelled in the feeling of power, the world around me had felt startling fragile. Instinct warned me that if I kept casting, the walls of my reality would turn thin. I didn’t want to think what would happen if I chose to shred them.

I must have dozed off at some point, because the next thing I knew, Seth was hoisting me out. The water was cold enough that my teeth were chattering. I sprawled on the tiles as he leaned over me, face twisted with worry. His mouth was moving and it took a long time to realise he was shouting.

‘What?’ I mumbled.

His voice suddenly came in loud and clear. ‘What happened?’

I couldn’t stop shivering and it was hard to piece together my memory. Seth helped me sit up, leaning me against the tub. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me.

‘Where’s Nicola?’ His voice was strained.

‘Taken. What time is it?’

‘Mid afternoon. You want to tell me who killed my men? Or why you’re sitting in a tub of cold water?’

‘I got shot.’

Seth whipped the towel away, his hands pushing aside my clothes. ‘Where? I can’t see it.’

‘Shoulder.’

Seth moved in close to check both shoulders. ‘I can’t see anything.’

I ran my fingers dreamily over the shoulder Lander had shot, finding nothing but smooth skin. I couldn’t even feel if the pistol’s lead ball was still in my flesh. A flash of recollection hit, of me drawing power from the ley-lines without any casting agent. Of that power filling, consuming, and healing me. The sensation was frighteningly similar to when I'd consumed the Apertor Elixir.

Exhaustion washed over me. ‘Crowhurst. They took Crowhurst.’ I blinked, trying to focus. ‘I need to go and get him.’

Seth wrapped the towel back around me. ‘You’re not in any shape to go anywhere right now.’

He got me on my feet and led me into the bedroom, sitting me down on his bed. I didn’t resist, weary beyond measure. I figured a hundred years of sleep would be just about right. But first, I had to rescue Crowhurst and Nicola, then feed Grogan his own beating heart. Then I could rest. I blew out a breath and realised Seth was trying to pull off my wet clothes.