Flawless//Broken (16 page)

“Zhen’s special. Sort of. She comes from a rich old Chinese family, the kind related to royalty, you know?”

“Why is she blind?”

“Her dad,” Lake frowns. “Was an alchemist. The Chinese got real good at it, you know. They practiced it before Nicholas Flamel reintroduced it, but it was kept all hush-hush between families. Zhen’s dad sacrificed his daughter’s eyes to make himself chancellor.”

Slow horror creeps over me. Lake smiles bitterly.

“It worked, of course. But he got assassinated three days later. Her eyes were worth becoming chancellor, but not for more than three days.”

I’m quiet. Lake’s voice gets bright.

“Lots of good came out of it, though - Zhen became a celebrated alchemist in her own right. She moved to America to start a new life, and controls pretty much all of Chinatown now, alongside the drug lords and black market weapons guys. She keeps them from doing anything too evil on her turf.”

“You said she’s a good alchemist, right?”

“Oh, the strongest alchemist in Chinatown for sure.”

“Who’s the strongest in the city, then?”

“Darius,” He says, without missing a beat.

“The state?” I try.

“Darius.”

“The…country?”

“Darius,” Lake smirks. “The strongest alchemist in the world is also Darius, in case you were wondering. The Sage Council wants you to believe it’s one of them, or all of them, but don’t let them fool you. The idiot Archdukes of the Mutus will tell you the same thing. But it is - and always will be - Darius.”

Lake’s smirk fades quickly when we near a haunted house attraction on a pier.

“Alright, princess. This is it.”

“We don’t have time to go in a haunted house!” I snap. “Ellie is -”

“It’s the shortcut. C’mon.”

I follow him warily, confusion clouding my mind. He nods at the ticket booth, where a wizened old man with a shock of gray hair nods back, his smile showing off his gold tooth. Lake leads me inside, the darkness swallowing us up. A fog machine coughs out acrid smoke, and a cheesy halloween-sounds CD plays from tinny hidden speakers.

“How the hell is this a shortcut?” I hiss, stepping around an animatronic witch that leaps out at me and cackles. Lake brushes fake spider web out of his hair.

“There,” He points. A bright red glow comes from a room at the end of the hall. We walk in, and I almost jump out of my skin - four hooded figures stand around a demonic-looking circle on the ground, etched with symbols and letters. It glows red, lit from behind by LED lights.

Lake grabs my hand and pulls me into the circle.

“Don’t move,” He says, then looks to the figures. “
Bicallis
!”

The figures raise their arms in tandem, hoods shifting, and it’s then I realize they’re not people - they’re animatronic robots, with no facial features. I cling to Lake as the red circle beneath us glows brighter, then turns blue all at once. I look up, the sound of the ocean much closer now, the cheesy scare CD totally gone. It’s lighter in here all of a sudden, and the fake plastic tombstones and cobwebs are gone. Smooth rock floors and walls surround us. Lake takes my hand and pulls me towards a rusted door. Seagulls call, and I can feel the salt spray on my face. The ocean is right in front of us. I look back - a tiny stone bunker embedded in the rocks of a pier is where we came from, the rusted door shut tight now. Lake smiles at me.

“Not so bad, right?”

“What the hell just happened?” I squint and look around - there isn’t a sign of the haunted house as far as I can see. We’re in a totally different place.

“Old portals,” Lake starts picking over the rocks, moving towards a steel staircase that leads up to the pier. “Built by the ancient Reapers. Only half-souls can use them.” He laughs at the shocked look on my face. “We had to get the edge on the Mutus somehow.”

“How did you know it was there?”

“We can sense ‘em,” He mutters. “Kinda like…like hearing a noise that bugs you, so you follow it to see what it is.” Lake glances around. “I’m gonna do reconnaissance. You stay here, stay out of sight.”

I nod, and watch his body grow small under his coat again. He darts off, paws kicking up sand until he’s nothing more than a ginger dot in the distance. I sit in the sand and hug my knees, trying not to think of what the Mutus are doing to Ellie. They wouldn’t hurt her, if it’s me they want. She’s in deep shit because of me. I’ve hurt her, just by being my friend she’s getting terrified and confused and god knows what else. The guilt waits with dark jaws to swallow me whole, but I fight it and gasp for air.

Not again.

I won’t let someone get hurt because of me ever again.

My scar throbs, and I stroke a flat stone to take my mind off it. It feels like forever until Lake comes back, rubbing his head on my legs and purring. He burrows under his jacket, transforming back to his human body. He pulls his pants on and shoots me a grin, though I look away quickly to give him privacy.

“She’s fine. They took her into warehouse 5D, just down the block. They’re treating her alright, apparently.”

Relief floods me, and then confusion. “Why? I thought they were supposed to be ruthless cultists?”

“I dunno. It’s weird for them to not at least beat her up. But we have to get her out before they move her. There’s at least twenty of their guys there, not counting their Munkie pets. In total? Probably forty or so. And I’m good, but I can’t fight off forty. I have to sneak in, and I can do that, as long as there’s just slightly less of them paying attention. There’s only one thing that will hold their attention long enough for me to get her out.”

His emerald eyes lock on me. My gut twists again, but it hurts less this time. My response is instant.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

***

I’ve never been more afraid in my life.

That’s a lie. Of course I have. The night Dad broke the bottle on my head I was much more afraid. But I wasn’t scared. You learn real quick when you live in constant fear that there’s different shades to it - scared, afraid and terrified. Scared is a tense anxiety, a gnawing in your gut you can’t get rid of. Afraid is stronger, when you know something bad is going to happen but can’t do anything to stop it. Terrified is something else entirely - deep and primal, a shark in dark water, a thousand feet between you and the ground as you stand on a suspended steel beam. Terrified is paralysis, numbness, feeling like your brain is floating out of your head; a total body lockdown.

Right now, I’m just afraid.

Afraid they’ll hurt Ellie. Afraid the plan will go south. Afraid Lake won’t rescue her. Afraid they’ll get me and feed me to their homunculus, or worse - keep me a prisoner for my Azoth.

Isn’t that what you’re going to be anyway?
A whisper in the back of my mind hisses. I shake it out and face down the warehouse’s double steel doors. I pretend to sneak up to them, knowing fully well they have cameras trained on the entrance. Lake is waiting for them to move, split up, and then he’ll take them down one by one.

I keep expecting the front doors to open, but when I feel the hand over my mouth I realize I should’ve known better. Cults have to be sneaky. Three men come up behind the one who has me, all dressed in casual jeans and shirts, sunglasses and rings. They look like your average tourist. You’d never guess they were part of the Mutus, but I’m quickly learning nothing looks as it should in the world of alchemy.

“Be quiet,” The man with his hand over my mouth hisses. “Or we will kill you.”

You won’t, I say in my head. At least, not right now. But with the fingers over my mouth I can’t say anything. They steer me towards a side door I totally missed when I first saw the place. The inside is dim and musty, huge shipping containers crowding the floor and turning it into a maze of rust and sawdust. The door screeches shut behind me, and only then does the man lift his hand from my mouth. I instantly whirl around and get a good look at their faces - for future reference. If I have a future at all.

“What, no creepy robes? I’m disappointed,” I sigh. “Do you guys at least have weird tattoos? A skull, maybe? Maybe an
‘I Love My Homunculus’
across a heart on your shoulder?”

“Shut up,” One of them snarls. “And keep walking.”

“You could at least ask politely.” I trudge down the first block of containers, trying my best to look downtrodden. Men and women prowl on top of the containers, keeping watch over everything that goes on, but when I pass a hungry look gleams in their eyes. Homunculus. One of them jumps down and starts to sniff at me, my clothes, my hair, but one of my captors shoves him off.

“She’s for the Archduke only.”

The homunculus sneers at me, wiping away a very noticeable bit of drool from his lips, but retreats. I shudder and keep my eyes forward. I’m a hunk of steak that just landed in a cage of hungry dogs.

My captors direct me to the center of the huge warehouse, where a velvet couch and a expensive looking-carpet are set up. A side table holds a pot of hot chocolate and scones. On the couch sits an older man with smooth, slicked-back white hair. His face is old and wrinkled, but his eyes are as sharp and blue as a shark.

“Ms. Redfield,” He smiles, putting his book down. “How nice of you to join us. Please, have a seat.”

“I’ll stand, thanks.”

His smile widens. “You won’t.”

My legs suddenly give out beneath me, yanking me onto my butt on a nearby metal chair. I yelp in pain, my hips throbbing. The man laughs, low and soft.

“Much better.”

“How did you -”

“It’s come to my attention you’re new to the wonders of alchemy,” The man pours himself some cocoa and sips it thoughtfully, watching me all the while. “So I’ll forgive your naivety just this once.”

I open my mouth to say something, but my lips are sealed tight. I try to force them open, my blood rushing hot as I start to panic. This isn’t alchemy. Darius never did anything like this. This is something else - something horrible and total.

I’m not afraid anymore.

I’m terrified.

The man grins patiently. “I am Oliver Rothschild, Archduke of the Deep One’s most sacred family. And you, Ms. Redfield, are our bride. It’s so kind of you to join us at last.”

***

“My apologies,” Oliver sighs. “Am I moving too fast? We’ve just met, after all. You must be confused about some things.”

I’m quiet. He smiles.

“Come now. Don’t hide your feelings. Aren’t you confused about some things?” My head nods all on its own, like an invisible hand is forcing it up and down. The clamp on my lips lifts.

“Fuck you,” I spit. “Let my friend go.”

Oliver freezes, eyes growing colder than a frosted river. But it only lasts a second. He plasters on a bright smile, and leans towards me.

“My son is much like you. Willful. Disrespectful. But I taught him manners, just as I’ll teach you.”

My very ribs are trembling, but I can’t back down, not now. If I do, I’ll get Ellie and Lake killed.

“I know you, Mia,” Oliver presses. “Our eyes and ears are everywhere. The Idaho police department was very forthcoming with your record when I bribed them. They may not know, but I know what you did to your father.”

It’s my turn to go completely still. A wave of fire rushes through my veins, scorching me from the inside out.

“How many others know?” He asks. His expression is pleasant, almost kind. “Not very many, I’m willing to wager. And definitely not this Ellie girl. You wouldn’t tell her, would you? You wouldn’t tell anyone. How could you? They’d think you were a monster. They’d never speak to you again. Your own
father
, Mia.”

A toxic lump forms in my throat, choking out my ability to breathe properly. My memory flashes with blood, crickets singing, the trailer park’s muddy ground trying to swallow me, Dad’s voice screaming -

I squeeze my eyes shut.

“Your mother abandoned you. You’re all alone in this world,” Oliver leans in further, touching my knee. “But we’re here. Many of our members are just like you - orphans in this world. We are a family. We look after each other, ensure that we all have the means to live well and happily. We belong to each other. You belong with us.”

I try to recoil from his hand, but my legs won’t move. He’s keeping them there with his weird alchemy, somehow.

“I don’t want a family,” I grit out. “I want to be free.”

“And do you think the Sage Council will give you that freedom?” Oliver sighs. “They want to cage you, put a leash of money on you, and assign an alchemist to abuse you. There are stories, child. Many of our family are Azoth like yourself, who fled a cruel and brutal alchemist master. We offered them shelter, escape from a system that’s abused them for hundreds of years.”

My stomach sinks. He leans in, eyes ablaze with blue fire.

“The Sage Council is not your friend. Darius Montclaire is not your friend. They are enforcers, part and parcel of a wicked evil that has held control over alchemy for far too long.”

My mind flashes with the image of Darius’ beautiful, despair-ridden face as he sacrificed Amelie’s ring to protect me.

“You’re wrong,” I say, my voice suddenly strong. Oliver pulls away, and it’s my turn to lean in. “I don’t know about the Sage Council, but you’re wrong about Darius. He’s not evil, and he’s not wicked. And he might not be my friend, but he’s better than people like you who took my friend from me. He’s better than you. He’s better than you could ever be.”

Something in Oliver’s face cracks down the middle, and hot rage spills out.

“You ignorant little bitch!” He snarls. He throws his hand up and my body goes flying. I’m suddenly weightless, like a feather falling in a gentle wind. Except it’s not gentle - I’m forced side-to-side, rocked by an invisible hand twenty feet in the air. My bones creak, my neck cracks eerily with the force of every shake. The matson containers and the homunculus below look so small, the high roof beams closer than ever. One wrong shake and I’m nothing more than brainsauce on a steel rafter.

“Father!” I hear a distant shout. “Father, not the bride! Put her down before you anger the Deep One!”