A Different Kind of Deadly (10 page)

And then someone
clapped.

That cheer turned into a sound as
mighty as a thunderstorm. The seats shook with a furor of
excitement. I felt my heart hammer wildly in my chest, unable to
believe my eyes.

"Spectacular, isn't she?"

Leo and I turned around. Our host remained as
calm as always, but there was something different about him now...
palpably sinister.

"It's practically cheating," he continued. "A
Doll can blaze right through the roster. Unless... well, you'll see
shortly."

The announcer came forward once
the cheering ceased.

His expression was slightly
concerned as he read the next name off his list.

"
Thanks to the generous contributions by Lord Koronos, the
Lady Galatea's next match is the Lord's Steward!
"

The crowd didn't know how to take this. Apart
from some enthusiastic shouts, a number of them looked at the
viewing box, where this Lord Koronos smiled like a fat cat with a
feather sticking out of his mouth.

The gate rattled open. Out stepped a man. He
was neither scraggly, nor was he muscular. His physique was lean,
and appeared like sculpted marble. The wide sleeves exposed his
shoulders. My breath caught in my throat.

By the look on Diana's face, she was just as
shocked as everyone else.

"Marvin... is that?" Leo started to
ask.

But a hand clasped my shoulder. I
glanced back. Once-human fingers were now blazing red, and ended in
claws. That sweet smell suddenly faded to something burnt and
smoky...

"This is my Doll, Marvin,
Son of Thanos. He's been...
dying
to meet you," Lord Koronos
laughed.

The Doll stopped and looked at the
viewing box. His arm moved so fast that I didn't see what was in
it. All I knew was that a moment later I saw a scratch appear on
Diana's cheek.

Oh.

He threw a stiletto at me.

Leo rushed to find gauze strips in his supply
pouch, but I was too distracted by the burning hatred in the Doll's
dark eyes.

I know them.

Lord Koronos offered a deep, throaty chuckle,
becoming less human by the second. A forked and rough tongue licked
at the blood spilling from the cut on my face.

"
What an expression
," he cooed.
"
For a reunion between old
friends.
"

I finally had a face to attach to the name. I
didn't know how, or why, but in my heart I knew.

Will was back, and his eyes
spelled murder.

14: A Compromising
Situation

Diana studied
her newest opponent, a Doll she'd never seen
before. But, considering his owner, she wasn't terribly
surprised.

"
Lord
Koronos?" she spat, her eyes
trailing to the viewing box. There was a reason she told Marvin to
stay at the Dead Man's Tale; he could hide, but he couldn't blend
to save his own life -something that was now in very real
danger.

Koronos had only revealed some of his true
form. Diana traced the outline of a menacing hand, and the horns on
either side of his head curling in the mockery of a
crown.

"
What are you waiting for, dead boy?
"
His voice, no louder than it would be in polite conversation,
echoed in everyone's ears as though he'd screamed at the top of his
lungs. "
It's impolite to leave a Lady
waiting.
"

The Doll grudgingly turned to his
opponent.

Diana charged at him.

He didn't move or make a defensive
stance. This Doll waited until she was within striking distance,
reached for her outstretched fist, and threw her into the arena
wall.

Diana felt her glass eyes rolling wildly in
the back of her head, jarred by the sudden blow. The male Doll
closed the distance in an instant; she barely dodged his
strike.

Diana took a moment to see that his arm was
now half-burrowed in the blackened dirt. He tore it out as easily
as though he was cutting through butter.

She looked for a weakness to exploit, but he
was built with spare joints; finer springs, and he knew how to use
them.

"Damn Koronos," she swore.

He had made her obsolete.

"Is Marvin your Contractor?" the Doll
asked.

Diana paused. She saw no reason to lie to him
in their present circumstance.

"He is. Why does it matter?"

"It matters," said the Doll,
"because he killed me. Over, and over, and
over,
again..." His voice sank into
a dangerous growl. "He tore my soul to shreds!"

Marvin?

Her Marvin?

She thought about her cowardly Contractor, how
he couldn't even bring himself to kill a frog. Diana squinted at
this Doll, but found that she couldn't dismiss his
claims.

"What's your name?"

"Will, Lady Galatea." There was grudging
respect in the manner he addressed her. "Now forgive me, but I'll
have to kill you if I want to complete my revenge."

Diana's eyes widened as he lunged. She grabbed
his arm, flipping over his head.

"What sort of revenge are you
after?"

"One where he suffers as much as
possible."

"In that case, let me tell you something." She
wished she didn't have to reveal this card, but Diana was smart
enough to realize she couldn't win this fight without serious
intervention. "If you kill me, Marvin dies as well."

Will stopped readying his next attack. He
stared at Diana for a long minute, debating whether or not he could
believe her. Finally, the Doll raised his head at Koronos, frowning
deeply.

"Koronos has a lot of nerve."

"He's a demon; what do you expect?" Diana
scoffed.

Will narrowed his eyes, stepping into the
middle of the fighting ground.

"I forfeit this fight!" he announced, earning
outraged screams from the crowd. Diana used this time to glare at
her stupid Contractor, who had enough sense left in him to avert
his gaze in shame.

Koronos smiled, for he knew that the only way
to get Marvin back was for her to see him. Diana balled her hands
into fists, trembling at her sides with rage.

Maybe this was a good thing after
all.

She'd finally get the opportunity to put
Koronos where he belongs.

Hell.

15: A Devil's
Deal

Koronos backed away
to allow Leo to tend to the cut on my cheek. It
was blistering.

It led me to believe that his
tongue was poisonous, or at least corrosive. I felt Leo's fingers
shaking as he muttered words to stop the scabbing. It made me
realize just how big of a blunder I'd made; magic was only to be
used in special circumstances. The saliva of Lord Koronos was
necrotizing my flesh.

"Do forgive me for this turn of events,
Marvin," Koronos said, back to a human sounding voice. "I was
willing to go to extremes to make Lady Galatea's
acquaintance."

"Well you've made it!"

I spun around, swallowing my tongue in the
process. Diana's normally impassive face simmered with fury. If
looks could kill, Koronos would've been dead a dozen times
over.

"How
dare
you?" She stomped over to him;
I watched the floor crack beneath her angry steps. "Liar! Cheat!
Murderer!"

More shocking than the speed of
the swing she took at Koronos was how easily he caught her wrist
-yawning at this expected play.

Diana's pink eyes rimmed with crimson,
outraged.

"Come, Lady Galatea; as much as I adore these
compliments, I'm afraid I can't take all the credit. After all..."
His eyes turned into slits, as green and glowing as the acid pools
in the Moor of Souls. "It's your doing that led to my game with
Inval."

Whatever significance that sentence held, it
was profound. From rage to guilt, Diana looked inward. For a
moment, I thought she was ready to crumble on herself.

"It was a mistake," she whispered. "I told him
not to concern himself."

"Oh?" Koronos arched his brow, flicking his
serpentine eyes in my direction. "It would seem there is a pattern,
then. Come to think of it, Marvin bears quite the strong semblance
to our departed friend."

"He was no friend of yours!" Diana
shrieked.

"Semantics, dear Lady." Koronos paused,
looking through the arch leading to the viewing box. "And Will,
I'll not have you harming my guests. Vendettas are to be settled on
your own time."

The raggedy Doll shivered with repressed
blood-lust, shooting me such an evil look that I would've pissed
myself had I anything to drink earlier.

He was vaguely familiar

I can admit that now. His
strawberry blonde hair reminded me of the light that came from the
attic in Nethermount.

We played there, once. The
fleeting image of me messing with his sun-drenched hair came to
mind. We were children, and friends.

And I killed him.

Leo grabbed me by the arm; one look at him
told me that he was the only one sane enough to be truly
frightened. I offered him a reassuring nudge, but the truth was
that I had no idea how any of us were going to get out of this in
one piece.

"Have a seat, Lady Galatea," Koronos
suggested. "It would seem that the boys are confused by all this.
Don't tell me that you've been keeping this story to yourself all
these years?"

"It was mine to keep," she objected, and
remained standing in defiance. Leo and I decided that we weren't as
brave, so we sat back down. I made certain to sit as far away from
Will as possible.

Koronos swept his purple vestments before him
like a fan, smiling in his terrifyingly perfect way.

"My Lady... this is a tale too good not to
tell; it may be yours to keep, but as I've also played a part, it
is mine to share." We shrank as he looked at us. "If Lady Galatea
is your Doll, you must know that Inval had left to the East to find
a cure for her... condition, yes?"

According to Diana, she had a weak
constitution, and contracted a fatal illness. I couldn't imagine
her being anything other than strong and stubborn, but I nodded
because I had no other choice.

Koronos paced as he told us his side of
events.

"She was his protégé, you see.
Bright, impudent; smitten with her master."

I glanced at Diana to see that her eyes were
faced towards the floor.