Pickup Styx (23 page)

The pain in my stomach radiated out in veins of fire through the rest of my body. My vision went black around the edges.

“You’re doing better than I expected, little witch.” Simon’s voice morphed into Minos’s. “But I don’t make a habit of letting people go.”

“You cheated,” I panted, struggling to breathe though the blood bubbling up into my lungs.

“There is no cheating when you make the game.”

I gritted my teeth, my fingers inching toward on the smoldering coals on the edge of the sinkhole. “Why did you make me do the road if you were never going to allow me to win?”

“I didn’t think you could do it, and I knew you had the human soul with you. Through him I could monitor everything you did and adjust the obstacles as needed, but the two of you”—he gestured from Corbin to me—“managed better than I thought possible. You figured out how to use magic faster than most.”

I ignored the searing pain as I clasped a coal in my fingers and jammed it against my wound to stop the bleeding.

“What are you doing?” Minos knocked the coal out of my hand.

“What happened to Simon?”

“Oh, he’s been here the whole time but trapped inside. I’m trying to figure out how to punish him for his betrayal.” He smiled. “Should he burn?” Simon’s arm burst into flame, but his face never lost the grotesque smile.

“Stop,” I said, pushing myself up.

“Should he bleed?” He cut Simon from ribcage to groin, letting his intestines spill out and sizzle on the ground.

“Leave him alone!”

“Why?”

I could barely look at him.

“Because he only came because of me.”

“You’re very good at killing boys, little witch. Want to make a new deal?”

“Leave him.”

“What will you give me if I do?”

I swallowed, my mind racing for something I could offer him to save Simon. Then it hit me. Simple and elegant. “I won’t complete the trail if you stop hurting him.”

Minos narrowed his eyes. Then the flames snuffed out. “Deal.” He offered me the burnt limb to shake.

My fingers barely touched it and it crumbled into ash. I glared at him. “But you have to let Simon pass through. He has already worked off his sins.”

He hummed a few notes then agreed. “Where do you wish to go, little witch? There are so many places you fit in here. You have been naughty, haven’t you?”

I pointed across the gorge toward Corbin. “Over there.”

“Why?”

“You know, been there, done that with the rest.” I wheezed. Not moving was taking its toll on me.

He stared at me unblinking, and I stared back just as still. “Very well.”

A frail, rickety bridge appeared behind me and he nodded for me to cross. “Little witch, if you complete the road after you swore not to, I’ll make sure you get my full attention and you still won’t get to leave.”

I kept walking, though the bridge shuddered beneath me. When I made it to Corbin, Simon and the bridge disappeared.

“You have to finish the trail,” Corbin whispered. “If you do, he can’t renege on his promise. No matter what he says.”

I moved toward the next river. This one ran fast and strong. It was thick and red with a strong smell of copper—blood. I tried a spell, but nothing happened at all. Minos had found a way to block my magic completely. Corbin dipped the toe of his shoe in the river and nothing happened. He pulled it back up and it dripped with blood, but otherwise the shoe looked fine.

“I could toss you again,” he said.

I shook my head. I had no doubt Minos had accounted for that method as well, even if I couldn’t see it. The other side of the river was bright and sunny, desert for as far as I could see.

“How do you want to cross?”

I glanced at my watch. We had less than two hours. “We wade.”

He nodded. I went in first. The blood was hot as it pushed against me. My feet slid on the ground as I fought for traction. The farther in, the stronger the current. Midway across, one foot slipped and I lost traction completely. I struggled to get back on my feet, but the river was already washing me downstream. A strong hand clamped down on my wrist and pulled me up, sputtering and drenched in blood. I wiped the blood from my face and looked at Corbin. We didn’t say anything to one another for a long moment. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking or feeling, but I knew whatever it was he was struggling with it. He pulled me along with him until we made it to the other side.

Stumbling up the bank, I noticed my clothing had changed. I was wearing what I’d had on when I killed Jaron, but my side still ached. I lifted my shirt to see angry, burned skin around the stab wound. Why hadn’t it healed when the burns had?

Beyond us, sand dunes stretched on forever, silent and still. Corbin and I were utterly alone— still holding hands.

“I thought you couldn’t touch me,” I said.

He glanced at our interlaced fingers. Something close to wonder quickly followed by a scowl crossed his features before he let me go. “This way.” He trudged off in front of me, and I scrambled to keep up with him.

I stayed on guard, waiting for something, anything, to come after us, but there was nothing. “Do you see anything?” I asked.

Corbin nodded.

I frowned and looked again.
I
didn’t see anyone.

“What do you see?”

“Those I have taken.”

We walked and walked as the sun beat down on us, but we didn’t burst into flames or sizzle if we stopped. I couldn’t see the trail, but I trusted that Corbin knew what he was doing. He seemed so sure of himself. As we crested the next dune, a brown wall of sand and wind barreled towards us. Corbin yanked me close to him and covered me with his body as the sand and wind tore at us.

We were covered in dirt and buried in sand up to our knees by the time the storm finished, but we dug ourselves out and kept moving. Ahead there was a city I hadn’t seen before. I nudged Corbin and pointed. He nodded, though the muscles in his neck looked strained. Just outside of the city gates, I finally saw other people. Jaron stood bloody and scarred, staring at me with lifeless eyes. The few soldiers I had slain in battles were behind him. Jaron cradled something in his arms, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I kept moving forward. My heart hurt for those lives taken by my hands, but I was sure of the fact that I’d only done what I had to do.

Inside the walls, the city bustled with life. There was a lively market with exotic food at every turn. The people, however, ignored me as if I weren’t there. I didn’t understand the place. The spicy smells made my stomach rumble, and my throat felt dry and cracked. People surrounded a fountain, drinking greedily. I licked my lips.

“Don’t drink or eat anything,” Corbin said.

“I know.” I did know, but the sights and smells were so tempting I almost didn’t care. We kept moving until we came to a crossroad. Corbin looked one way then the other, frowning. Finally, he beckoned me to follow him.

“Selene?” Cheney’s voice called as I passed an alley. I stopped.

He isn’t real
, I told myself, but I had to look anyway. I went back a couple steps and there he was, wearing the half smile I loved so much.

“You did it, Selene. You won. We can finally be together.” He held out his arms to me.

My heart squeezed. I took a few steps toward him, and he shimmered for a moment before looking solid again. My feet stalled.

“In here. I have everything waiting,” he said.

I took another smaller step, and his image blinked in and out again. Not Cheney. My next step was backward. This time the image disappeared and was replaced by a large red beast at least five times as tall as me. Not good.

I ran, passing Corbin.

“What—” He glanced behind us before he joined my run. “We’re almost there. Couldn’t you just do what I said for once? Instead you had to go find mamu.”

The heavy steps of the beast thundered behind us. Corbin took my hand and pulled me into another alley then another and another until I was so turned around I had no idea where we were when we finally came to a stop.

We stood in a large courtyard filled with statues of people. I didn’t recognize any of them, and they all wore different styles of clothing. Corbin weaved in and out of the statues while I caught my breath.

“This is what happens here. Either you are devoured by a mamu or you turn to stone,” he said conversationally. He sounded strange though.

“Why do you turn to stone?”

“They’re conscious statues though,” he said as if I hadn’t spoken. “They can see you and hear you, but they can’t talk or scream or weep. They will sit here until they atone for all the lives they took.” He stopped in front of a woman who looked like she could have been friends with Marie Antoinette. “There’s a loophole though.” His eyes finally met mine.

“Oh?” I said with no idea where he was going with this.

He nodded. “I wasn’t sure you’d be strong enough to make it this far when I agreed to come, but I had to try.” He looked back at her. “I had to.”

I backed away. “What exactly do you want, Corbin?”

“My life back,” he whispered, lunging for me.

I darted out of his way, bumping into a statue. It fell, shattering on the ground.

“Careful, pet. These are people you’re destroying.” Corbin made another grab at me that I barely avoided.

I pushed another statue at him, hoping to slow him down enough to work out a plan. Elves were quick, but not as fast or as strong as vampires.

He caught the statue and righted it. “You’re making this far more difficult than it needs to be.” He slowed, holding his hands up as if surrendering. “You already agreed not to finish the road. You’re stuck down here no matter what now. Please help me free her.”

I had only agreed to not finishing the road. I never said a word about staying. Minos should have thought through his terms a little better. Once I had the Pole of Charon, I was on the first train home, and if I could wield even a tenth of its power, no one could stop me. “Who is she?”

“My maker.” He looked back longingly at her.

“How do you know she’s even alive in there?”

“When she turned me, her essence seeped into me. I can feel her pain and she can feel mine. It is with me constantly.” He gave me a tortured look. “It has to end.”

Everything in me paused as I stared at him. “You can feel her suffering?” He nodded. “Like you can feel mine?”

Corbin’s head tilted to the side. “Yes.”

I blinked slowly, letting the information sink in. “Did you turn me into a vampire?”

“Nearly, but you aren’t a vampire. This wouldn’t work with a vampire. I needed a witch.”

“That’s why I can’t feel your suffering because I am still a witch?”

“Yes.”

Despite the fact my one ally had turned on me, relief filled me. I was still a half-elf. “How do you break this curse?” I nodded to the statues.

“With your blood. If I bathe her in your life force, she will rise up and you will take her place.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

He faked one direction and then came at me from the other, capturing me. “I have to try. You understand, right?” He brushed a hair from my face and kissed my cheek. “I really do like you, Selene, but I can’t keep living like this. I need to be released.”

“But I have your essence now. Won’t you just be replacing one with the other? You will still suffer.”

He paused as if considering it. “No. She is my maker. It is a different bond. I’ll make it fast. I promise.”

“That’s comforting.” I stopped struggling because it was no use. I took a deep breath and jabbed my thumb into the wound where Simon had stabbed me. Corbin jerked, his grip loosening. I ran—but his foot slammed into my back, crashing me into another statue. My head whacked into the stone and my ears rang. Corbin lifted me off the ground with one hand.

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” he muttered as he carried me to the woman.

He laid me on the ground, carefully rested her beside me, then knelt over me with a knife in his hand. “I’m sorry, pet. I told you what my sin is. I betray everyone. Though, had there been any other way. . .”

I stared at him, waiting, but nothing happened. Corbin’s hand shook above me but didn’t come any closer. His face twisted, and a war carried on behind his eyes.

“Do it, my love. Bring me back.” A beautiful woman in a cream and blue satin dress appeared behind him. Her powder pink lips moved close to his ear. “We can be together again.”

Corbin looked at her, his eyes filling with tears. “I missed you.”

She smiled, looking angelic. “You don’t have to miss me anymore.”

He glanced at me and then back to her. “I can’t feel you.”

She waved her hand. “Kill the witch and you will.”

The knife lowered toward my chest.

“Corbin, she isn’t real. She isn’t here. What if you can’t feel her because she is already gone? You don’t want to do this.”

His hand trembled.

“Why else would you see her now? They are trying to tempt you, trap you here. Fight back.”

He looked down at me with pity. “But this is why I came with you.”

The woman’s lips curled in a pretty smile. “You’re almost there, my love. The witch means nothing to you.”

“This isn’t why you came. You may have told yourself that, but you came because we are friends. Corbin, look at me. You know what I’m saying is true.”

“We aren’t friends, Selene.” Corbin smiled slightly. “Despite both of our best efforts, I think I love you.” He stabbed the image of the woman, shattering the mirage, revealing the red giant. A loud roar shook the buildings surrounding us. Corbin stood up, releasing me. “That way”—he pointed—“and don’t stop until you get to Styx.”

I took off, leaving him to deal with the giant. I ran as fast I could, never once looking behind me to see if anything had followed. The city became darker and more sparsely populated as I ran, but I didn’t slow. I had to get to Styx. Each step I took became harder and pain began shooting through me. I took another step, and my leg gave out beneath me. All of the injuries I’d suffered along the way came back. All around me, kindred spirits limped and crawled their way toward Styx, miserable expressions on their faces. They knew where they were going. This was the last stop before Hell.