The Veil (65 page)

Lawbringers.

One of them was carrying an electronic unit that emitted a sound like a Geiger counter. “It’s okay,” he said. “The potency has gone. We’re safe.” He and the others whipped off their gasmasks and I was shocked to see the face of Lawbringer Parlow. “They’re on their way now.” He pointed around the room. “Grab one each and lets get them out, quickly.”

I tried to strain against the effect of whatever had rendered my body immobile. If I could have reached the energy reserves inside me, I knew I could have easily broken free of the mental binds, but whatever neurochemical agent they had used on us had dampened my brain’s connection to my body. I couldn’t switch it on.

Lawbringer Parlow’s face appeared above mine, and his eyebrows rose when he saw I was awake. “Alex. Or rather, Alexander Eden,” he said in an apologetic tone. “I’m really sorry to do this to you and your friends, you seem like good people. But after I realised who you were, I couldn’t just let you leave this city with Jack. If you only knew how much you were worth to the Umbra, you would understand. My friends and I can retire from the job with everything we’ve ever wanted.”

“Bastard!”
I shouted, but only a strangled sound came from my throat. Lawbringer Parlow gave a sympathetic smile and then started to slide his arms underneath my back.

The was a smash as the door to the room burst open and I saw a flash of silver before a bullet cracked into the forehead of the Lawbringer trying to pick up Delagio. The man’s legs buckled beneath him and he folded to the floor.

Two of the other Lawbringers reached for their guns.

Boom! Boom!

Their hands were still moving towards their holsters when their heads snapped back and they collapsed like ragdolls. Lawbringer Parlow turned around and spoke diplomatically, his voice full of panic. “You can’t do this. You’ll be sentenced to death!”

I saw his fingers twitching towards a concealed knife at his back and I tried to scream out a warning, but nothing intelligible came out. The Lawbringer grabbed it and motioned to flick it at the figure standing on the threshold.

“Jack, no!”

Boom!

Lawbringer Parlow was dead before his hand even got close to throwing the knife. He fell backwards onto me, sliding over my legs and the edge of the cot, before finally hitting the floor, where blue blood spilled out of the massive exit wound at the back of his skull.

“My name is Zero, you piece of shit.”

Zero stepped across the threshold, followed by several of his men, all dressed in black hooded, leather dusters. The commotion had woken up the other Guardians and they were staring around in panic.

“Get Grediya in here.”

There was some shouting at the doorway, and then a female Elf with black hair braided into cornrows and carrying a worn satchel over one shoulder rushed into the room.

“What did those arseholes dose ‘em with?” demanded Zero.

The Elf rushed to the side of Hollie, whipping a small torch the size of a pen lid from her side and prizing the Guardian’s eyelids as wide as they could go. She pressed her face close to Hollie’s as she peered into them by torchlight.

“I’ve just killed four Lawbringers, do you think you could hurry the bloody hell up?”

“Sure, I can rush. Then we can give them the wrong antidote and kill them,” snapped Grediya over her shoulder.

Zero raised his hands up. “Fine.” He turned to one his men. “Get the others to prepare the ships. We’re leaving now.”

“But the storm?”

“It’s at its tail end. Plus we don’t have much of a choice. Half of Concavious will have heard that. We’re about to have the whole city on our backs.”

“Yes, Zero,” said the man and then rushed from the room.

“It’s a gas form of Amabalysin plant poisoning,” Grediya said as she opened her satchel and took out a leather pouch, which she dumped down on the bed. “The toxins suppress motor cortex and temporal lobe function in most humanoid species.” She flipped open the pouch to reveal several vials of multi-coloured substances and syringes. “It’s temporary, but this will help clear it from their systems much quicker. Grediya snatched out a red vial and dipped a needle inside, drawing it to a third full. “Do the rest!” she ordered, holding up the syringe and checking for air bubbles. “Same amount as this, directly into the neck!” She knelt down in front of Hollie and pushed her head to the side before sticking the needle into her neck. The Guardian gave a muffled sound that evolved into a scream.

Zero signalled two of his men and they all ran towards the pouch, taking it in turns to fill the syringes from the vial. Once Zero had filled his, he placed the syringe between his teeth and stamped over to me, using his one hand to shove my head to the side. He snatched the syringe from his mouth and jabbed what felt like liquid fire into my neck. While I was still reeling from the absolute agony of the flames that rushed through my body – igniting my mind in flashing sparks that made me see red spots and taste ginger of all things – the old Chosen hoisted me onto his shoulder.

“Get their stuff,” he ordered. “We’re off,
now!”

I was draped over Zero’s shoulder as he jumped onto the cot and swung a leg over the windowsill, hopping onto the rickety staircase that ran down the side of the Jackalope and Hart. From my position, I could see a sea of Lawbringers converging on the pub from all directions of the city, armed and ready for a fight.

I tried my voice again and found that it had already starting to work. “They’re coming,” I croaked.

“I know.”

“Why did you kill those Lawbringers? Why risk your life and livelihood just to help us?”

Zero didn’t even hesitate to answer.

“I already told you kid, I work for you now.”

39

Gabriella

With Physicker Agorias dead and Lilith absent from the colosseum, it seemed there were no torturers available to hand. The Pitguards beat me as they dragged me back to my cell, but it was done almost half-heartedly, as if they were unsure of how to deal with the situation. When they dumped me back into the dark prison and reattached the adamantine chains, they did so in silence, and then left the cell without doing anything else to me. I was glad to see that the torch next to Grey’s severed head had gone out. But that didn’t stop me from sensing his presence, didn’t stop me feeling his blank eyes staring at me, accusing me of my failure to stop Lilith.

That monster, Agorias was just the first. I am going to make them all pay for what they did to you. I promise.

“Gabriella, is that you?” whispered Peter.

I wiped the blood from my beaten face with the back of my hand and then pressed as close to the crack in the wall as the shackles would allow.

“It’s me,” I replied and heard Peter sigh with relief. “Thank you for what you did. If you hadn’t created that distraction…then I don’t know what he would have done to me.”

“You’re welcome. I couldn’t bear the thought of that sick creature hurting the woman my son loves.”

“Then you’ll be glad to know I killed Physicker Agorias.”

“Good. I hope the bastard suffered.”

“I made sure of it.”

There was a pause and then Peter said, “If you managed to kill the Physicker, then you could have tried to escape. You had the lock pick.”

“I’m not leaving this place without you or my teammate Troy. We’re escaping together, it’s as simple as that.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, the emotion evident in his voice. “That you stayed when you could have gone means more to me than you will know. In return all I can promise you is that we will escape tomorrow during the event, or we will die trying. Either way, this will be the last night either of us spends within these walls. Are you ready for that?”

The thought of my life ending in the awful colosseum, away from Alex and my friends made me feel sick to my core, but it was better than having my sprit slowly destroyed through years of systematic torture and mental manipulation. I’d only been in the colosseum a short time, but already the things I had been forced to do had broken me in ways that I would never be able to piece back together. I knew that every time I fell asleep, the faces of the innocents I had been forced to murder would be there, waiting.
I can’t bear to stay in this place another minute.

“I’m ready.”

*

Just as I had expected, my tormented dreams forced me to repeat my horrific actions in the arena. Except at the very moment I stabbed the knife down into each of the prisoners, their faces shifted and became Alex’s. A tortured scream ripped from my lungs as my soulmate choked and stared at me with betrayed confusion. Each time I tried to stop myself, but I couldn’t prevent my own hand from sinking the blade deep into their hearts. And each time there was nothing I could do but watch as the person I loved died by my own hand. When the light had gone out of his eyes five times over, the dream shifted and I was back at the beginning, thrusting the blade down all over again. Around me the blurred faces of the spectators laughed and jeered at my misery, and standing in the centre of all the mockery was Lilith.   

I woke up screaming, and my screams became sobs as I remembered where I was and what had happened to Grey. Peter couldn’t console me, because he was having nightmares of his very own.

The time before the Spectacle Event passed as a blur. The Pitguards removed me from my cell, but instead of beating me as usual, they treated me with care, walking slowly at my side and ensuring I didn’t fall – which wasn’t an issue as the fever had finally subsided and I was close to getting my full strength back. I couldn’t tell if the guards were being gentle with me due to a newfound respect because of what I’d done to the Physicker, or because they were wary of harming me before the Spectacle Event. Either way I was glad of the respite.

First the Pitguards took me back to Physicker Agorias’ workroom. As soon as I stepped over the threshold, my breath seized in my lungs and I started to sweat with fear. The guards sat me down on the stony operating table, where the evil creature had found great pleasure in taking me apart, piece-by-piece. I half-expected to see his twisted face and hunched body appear at the doorway. But the psychopath was gone, and in his stead I was worked on by a silent Pitguard who cleaned my already-healing wounds, injected me with more boosters and wrapped the worst of Lilith’s sword slices and the Myaline Salt burns with waterproof surgical gauze, whilst the other Pitguards stood at the edges of the room with their rifles trained on me.

Once my wounds were tended to, I was ushered back into the catacombs, moving further away from the exit into the seemingly infinite depths of the Abyss. After what felt like an age we reached a small wooden door set between two cells. One of the Pitguards unlocked it to reveal a tiny stone room containing a single wooden table and chair, and lit by a flaming torch locked behind adamantine bars. Sitting in the middle of the table was a plate filled with different types of meat, and a large jug of water. My mouth started to salivate as soon as I saw them.

“Eat,” a Pitguard said and closed the door.

I ran to the table and grabbed the jug. My instincts took over and I drained half its contents in one go, unable to stop myself as my parched mouth pulled the refreshingly cool water down my throat. I could feel my stomach swell and I retched a few times, as my body struggled to deal with the sudden barrage of water. I let out a gasp as I lowered the jug from my lips, setting it back on the table with a trembling hand. Sinking down onto the chair I picked up the first slab of charred meat, tearing into it with my teeth. It was burned and had no flavouring whatsoever, but to my starved body it was the tastiest thing I had ever eaten. I barely bothered to chew, swallowing mouthfuls at a time, and in less than a minute I had cleared the entire plate. I finished the rest of the water and then placed my head in my hands on the table, closing my eyes and feeling the last bit of missing energy return to me. My Chosen senses kicked into high alert and for the first time since I had arrived at the Abyss, I felt strong and alive again.

They don’t realise it, but they just gave me exactly what I need to help me escape.

Not long afterwards I was collected and taken even further through the catacombs to a large room, split in half by an archway. The section we entered first was covered in grimy grey tiles and had a shower plate the size of a car wheel descending from the flat ceiling. Sitting on a bench at the side of the room was a soft towel and a selection of liquids in glass bottles. As the Pitguards ushered me into the room, I glanced through the archway and saw a wooden chair sitting in front of a mirror, and a withered, naked Succubus waiting with a makeup brush in her hand.

“What is all this?” I asked.

“Quiet, Taken. Just clean yourself up and then go through to the next room,” ordered one of the four Pitguards, moving towards the door we’d entered from. “There is an All Seeing Eye here,” he said, pointing at a winking lens high up in the corner with a nauseating smirk. “We can see
everything
you do, so don’t try anything, or you won’t make it out alive.”

They walked out and closed the door behind them; a moment later I heard the bolt latch. I stared around, searching for some way they could be tricking me. Finding none, I stripped off the bloodstained, bastardised uniform, covering myself with my arms as I padded over cold tiles to a button on the wall. I hesitated, my fingers poised over it. A part of me wondered if
this
was the trick. That I would press it and a deadly gas would be released instead of water.
I did kill Physicker Agorias.

“Everyone worries about the button,” said the Succubus from the other room. “But I can assure you its safe, dear. They can’t afford to kill anyone, not today. Use some of the fragrances to clean yourself with if you like. They are all quite lovely. ”

“Um, thanks,” I called back.

Here goes,
I thought as I pressed the button. True to the Succubus’ word, all that poured onto me was a stream of hot water. I grabbed a random bottle from the bench and then rushed over to the shower and stepped inside. At first I was cautious, knowing that the camera system could see me at my most exposed, but as soon as the hot water touched me, I stopped caring. I raised my head and let the water hit my face, washing away the misery. When most of the blood and grime had been removed from my skin, I opened the bottle – which had a pink liquid inside – and the powerful scent of Quinberry hit my nose. I washed myself with it, feeling the harsh sting as the soapy liquid reacted with my un-gauzed cuts, especially on the Umbra patches that the dead bastard had carved open with his little scalpel. 

After a while the water switched off automatically and I was left dripping in the middle of the tiled room. I rushed over to the bench and grabbed the towel, wrapping it tightly around my body. Then I walked to the adjacent section, standing awkwardly underneath the archway.  Beyond the mirror and chair, I noticed that the area also had a table full of makeup and jewelry, as well as a long shelf lined with faceless mannequin heads, all wearing different wigs.

The Succubus looked like she had gone months without draining any energy, and it was horrible to see how much she was regressing, her naked body lined with wrinkles and loose skin that hung from her bones like old elastic. She was busy sorting through the makeup. I cleared my throat and she turned, wearing a showbiz smile on her leathery face.

“Don’t be shy my dear, come sit down,” she said.

I walked over to the chair and sat down on it. My cut and bruised reflection stared back at me from the mirror. Whilst I might have felt more like myself, the wounds coupled with my shaved head and hemorrhaged eye, meant I still didn’t
look
anything like myself.
At least…not the self I remember.
The Succubus walked behind me and placed her hands on my shoulders, making me flinch.

“It’s okay,” she soothed. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Good,” I replied. “Because if you do, I’ll hurt you a lot more.”

“There’s no need for hostility.” She leaned towards the table and picked up a wooden box of makeup and a brush. “I’m not your enemy,” she whispered before standing back up.

The Succubus ran her leathery fingers over the top of my head, letting her fingers ride along the healing blemishes of Physicker Agorias’ razor. She gave a sigh. “Brutes must always destroy beauty, such is their way.” A small smile appeared on her face, and I saw a glimmer of the former elegance that had once been hers. “Let’s see what we can do to remedy that shall we?”

The Succubus stylist went to work – her wrinkled face close to mine as she deftly applied a base layer of foundation. Afterwards she added concealer, which had the effect of hiding all the cuts and bruises that littered my face. Then she used a tiny amount of blush on my cheeks, followed by mascara and eyeliner.

“Why are they doing all of this to me?” I asked.

The Succubus was finishing off applying a deep red lipstick with her finger. “Our great leader appreciates attractiveness. He would be very unhappy for anyone to look anything other than their best when they are presented to him for battle.” She stepped away and admired her handiwork.

“Magnificent!”

The stylist moved so that I could see. I caught my reflection and drew in a sharp breath.
I looked amazing.
The Succubus had no doubt made up countless prisoners before a Spectacle Event, and it showed. Not only had she hidden all of the cuts and bruises, but she had also enhanced my facial features and exchanged my stressed pallor for radiance.
This is how I looked when Alex and I went to the ball together.
Tears started to spill down my cheeks.

“Oh no don’t cry, dear,” the Stylist soothed, grabbing a soft cloth from the table. “You’ll ruin everything I’ve just done.” As she held the cloth to my eyes, she let her other hand linger on my cheek, in an expression of genuine compassion.

“What’s your name?” I asked when I had managed to compose myself.

“Leyala,” she replied.

“That’s a beautiful name,” I said.

The Succubus smiled. “Thank you. What’s your name?”

“Gabriella.”

“That’s a beautiful name too.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Leyala, do you like being here?” I asked as she put the cloth back down and checked over my face.

“Of course I do!” she said with a huge smile. “I love serving the Umbra cause.” I could see in her eyes that she was lying. She let her gaze flick up to another All Seeing Eye I hadn’t noticed in the corner. Then she moved over to the mannequin heads with the speed of the infirm, her back hunched over like a crooked finger.
She won’t live much longer if she doesn’t feed.

The Succubus scanned her eyes across the selections and chose one that was almost identical in length and colour to my original hair. “This is perfect,” she said with a smile, carrying the mannequin head over to me. “What do you think?”