Page 54 of Too Cursed To Kiss
The crippling fear hadn’t lessened, but I was getting used to it. Like walking through a haunted house, knowing something is about to jump out at you but also knowing where the exit is. Except here there was no exit, and the things jumping out hadn’t jumped yet. I also still didn’t know whether dying was a possible outcome when they did. You get the idea.
Wald set me down, but I didn’t let go of his jacket, and I kept my eyes closed. That was of course before the raspy voice poked me like a dagger.
“Ah, you brought a peace offering. She’s lovely, and I will enjoy her. Set her over by the Ficus, and I’ll sample her later. Now why are you here?”
Every word killed parts of me. My eyes snapped open and turned to face the sparsely furnished room. It was modern and with some taste. A dome above us glowed with a reddish cast. There were two doors on one wall behind the short man, and a wall of bookcases holding some seriously ancient books.
I straightened to my full almost six feet of Amazonian outrage and jutted my chin out at the shorter man who must be Devlyn. “Hey there, FYI, I’m not a piece of art, or an offering, or your play-toy.”
Devlyn’s gaze locked on me. His messy brown hair drooped over his forehead, and dark circles under his deep-set eyes gave his frightening pallor even more impact. Bolstered by the insult, I let go of Wald’s jacket and crossed my arms in challenge.
On one side of the square pit room, was a long staircase dug into the rock, which Wald must have carried me down.Behind me, a highly disturbing painting covered the wall: A scene of screaming souls rising from a pit of mutilated bodies while a cloaked open-mouthed man stood at the edge with power or spells swirling around him. Beside the painting was a Ficus in a black metal pot.
Devlyn didn’t move. “Are you quite done?” His voice seemed much closer than the distance between us.
“Done? I haven’t begun. Who the fuck do you think you are?”
He pretty much ignored me and turned his attention to Wald. “Oooo, I do like the spunky ones, good choice, dear brother. Now why did you come?”
“You know why,” Wald seethed. I hadn’t really seen him mad before. Not this kind of mad, an abyss of hatred rolling off him. It made me wonder exactly what Devlyn had done to him, and why he’d repressed it, because it was leaking out in his clenched jaw and fisted hands.
The terror of the pit had receded since my feet had hit the ground. Maybe anger fights fear. I was certainly hating Devlyn more than fearing him. I probably should have considered that before I took a step forward.
“I don’t like being ignored,” I said about the same moment Britannia strutted through the door with a hand on her hip, like the room was her own personal runway. She was wearing the exact same outfit I was, and it looked ten times better on her.
“You snake-biting cow,” I seethed, lunging for her.
A wave of air hit me. That’s the best I can describe it. An undulating nothingness surrounded me like an invisible bubble. The air sucked out of my lungs, and the room blurred. I clawed at my throat as I was thrown to the floor near the Ficus.
“Stay there,” Devlyn ordered with a sweep of his hand.
Air surged into my lungs, and I coughed, sucking in ragged breaths. I lay there for a few seconds before jumping up. Devlyn was back to exchanging barbs with Wald, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I raced across. Well, I tried to. I hit an invisible wall in about two wide steps at a full run, landing hard on my ass with my back to the painting.
Britannia laughed, well, I assumed. I knew exactly how she’d have sounded if I could have heard her.
I got up, smarting as I paced in front of the unsettling painting. The thing was old, like hundreds of years old. The painted wizard was almost as tall as me, which made the pit of dead people life-sized too, and guess where I was in the orientation?
Wald turned toward me, his jaw locked and his lips tight. He strode in determined steps to where I paced in my invisible cage, and then he turned back to Devlyn.
A breeze ruffled my hair and then a burning started in my throat. I clawed my neck, choking for lack of air as my feet rooted to the floor like I was a goddamn plant.
Wald grabbed me and yelled, “Devlyn!”
The edges of my world went gray as I struggled for the breath I couldn’t take. Devlyn twisted his lips as if he were considering opposing Wald. “Fine but bring me something tasty to replace her when you come back.” He waved a hand, saying something unintelligible. The burning stopped as if it had never begun. I bent over, hands on thighs sucking in deep breaths.
When I looked up, Devlyn had left, but Britannia was locked in a staring match with Wald.
I lunged at her, and Wald caught the back of my jacket and began to drag me toward the stairs. Britannia stuck her tongue out at me, then whirled and disappeared through the other door.
“Let the hell go of me. Don’t we need to get the album?” I asked, shaking Wald off. Well, actually he let me go. It had been established I wasn’t winning in a knock-down fight. I walked across the room and grabbed the door handle of the door Britannia had disappeared behind. Flying through the air, I screamed mid flight, my hand on fire. Wald knelt at my side, nestled my hand in his, and licked from my palm to the tips of my fingers. The burning stopped—on my hand. The licking hadothereffects which had no place in this godforsaken pit.
Wald was getting experienced at saving my butt, but I liked to save my own butt. Up until now, I’d also been pretty convinced I was good at it. The learning curve was like sucking green lemons.
He grinned. “If you’re done finding trouble, we have some shopping to do.”
I examined my now not-burning hand and looked up at him. “Fuck off. There was no way I could know your asshole of a brother had booby-trapped the place and… shopping? You’re going to let Britannia walk away without getting the album? She fucking killed Agatha.”
He grimaced. “We’ve made an arrangement. I’ll deal with Britannia after we get what we want.” Anger rolled off him, and I took a step back.
