“This is between you and me, Silas,” Nox pleaded. “Do whatever you want to me. I won’t even fight. Just leave her alone.”
“Don’t say that. It’s more fun if you fight.” Silas took another step closer, the burning glow of the cigar only inches from Nox’s face. “And your girlfriend isn’t getting off that easy, kid. She helped those hybrids kill my great-grandfather, and now she has a debt to pay.”
Nox shrank away from the cigar. “I’ll pay it. Whatever she owes—whatever you want—I’ll pay it.”
Silas took a long pull on the cigar, turning it between his fingers. “Don’t worry. I’ve got plenty of beds in the labs and enough payback to go around.” His expression darkened. “Do you think I’ve forgotten what you cost me? I’m taking every ounce of it out of her blood.”
It’s my fault. He hurt Ridley because of me.
“At least tell me what you did to her,” Nox said, looking at Silas.
“Scientific improvements. Her body is having a hard time adjusting to the influx of new power. Give it some time, and maybe she’ll snap out of it.” Silas laughed. “Or maybe not.”
Nox’s thoughts were spinning.
Influx of new power? What kind of power? And where did Silas get it? He’s bluffing. He has to be….
“Oh,” Silas said as if he’d remembered something important. “And I think you mean what I am doing to her. Because I’m not done yet, kid.”
“Listen to me, Rat Man,” Nox said, angrier than he’d ever been in his entire life. “You’re done. You just don’t know it yet.”
Without warning, Silas thrust the burning end of his cigar into Nox’s neck, like a knife.
Nox could smell his flesh searing, but he barely felt the pain.
He was too busy listening to the screams of the girl he loved.
CHAPTER 16: RIDLEY
Silent Lucidity
Someone was talking to her from outside the bars of her cell.
Ridley pretended to listen, which was sort of like playing a game, even though it wasn’t a very fun one. Still, it was the only game she could play in this box of a room.
It was the Rat Man. Talking. He sounded concerned. His voice moved up and down, like he was playing an instrument. Some of the sounds were loud and urgent, others were soft and comforting. It was funny because his mouth never stopped moving, and when she forgot he was talking, he looked like a sad little fish.
Not a rat.
But that was the tricky thing about rats. They almost never wanted you to see what they really were.
She tried to listen. It took her a long time to realize he was speaking to her, but it was still impossible to care.
“Nox,” she repeated to him. “That’s your name.”
“That’s right,” Rat Man said.
“And you don’t want to rip my throat out?” She leaned toward him, pulling on a bit of his long, dark fur.
He stared, opening and closing his mouth like he was talking.
“Link?”
He opened and closed his mouth again, and she tried to make out the words. But her mind kept drifting, and she only caught bits and pieces.
Did he say Lincoln?
Lincoln was the name of an American president. Why was Rat Man talking about a president? She leaned closer, resting her forehead against the steel.
Rat Man had a nice smell. Leather and sweat and sweetness. She resisted the urge to lick his face. She didn’t want to let him get that close to her, because of his sharp teeth.
Ridley reached out her hand. “Do you mind if I pet you?”
His mouth opened again. She took that as a yes and moved her hand up and down the long brown fur on his head. He felt like a soft baby seal. She let her hand trail down to his face, where his cheek was warm and soft.
That was when she felt it—a burst of heat.
But it was the strangest sort of heat she’d ever felt. She couldn’t tell if it was hot or cold, but either way, the heat made the hairs on her hand stand on end—burning and freezing to the same touch.
A chaotic tangle of feelings surged through her, stretching from the top of her head to the bottoms of her toes. She felt as if she were unfolding, doubling in size. Finally inhabiting the full space of her body.
“What was that?” she breathed.
Ridley reached out again, and the moment she touched his skin, she felt the electric shock of his power meeting hers. She craved it. She was starving for it.
Rat Man had the only thing she needed. More fire. More of the cold, cold burn. She would’ve told him if she could have found the words.
Instead, she drew herself into him, until her hands were wrapped around his head and her lips were pressed up against his jaw. She wanted to drink him in.
She moved her lips to his neck.
Who was the bone rat now?
Rat Man only stared.
No.
Not Rat Man.
She had to pay attention now.
She could tell this was important.
She could tell everything was about to change.
She closed her eyes and counted.
Three.
Two.
One.
When I open my eyes, I’ll push my way through the haze. I’ll make myself listen to the words. No more lullabies.
Time to grow up.
Time to listen to Auntie Sarafine.
Put away the bone rats.
Take your place.
You are a thing of power, Ridley Duchannes.
It’s time to use it.
So she did.
And with the full force of the power exploding through her, Ridley drew this Nox to her lips and drank him in, until the universe spun around her and all the voices in her head finally stopped talking and listened.
CHAPTER 17: LINK
Wanted Dead or Alive
Link only needed to say one word—one name, actually—to break down his plan for John and Liv. It was a little harder to explain to Floyd, Necro, Sam, Magnolia Blue, and the Cataclyst in question.
Liv stared at him for a moment, speechless. “Have you completely lost your mind?”
John rubbed his temples. “I think it’s pretty obvious he has.”
“Where are we gonna find a better card reader?” Link asked. “Think about it. She’ll know if we can trust Angelique or not.”
“Does someone want to tell us who this Amma person is?” Necro asked.
Liv, John, and Link exchanged glances. Every time they heard that name, the pain of losing her returned.
Liv sighed. “She was a gifted Seer, born from a long line of Seers that went back generations. Her powers were legendary.”
“Almost as legendary as her pie,” Link added.
“Then what’s the problem?” Necro asked. “She sounds perfect. I’ll channel her, and we can get her to read the Cataclyst’s cards.”
Yeah, right, Link thought. It won’t be that easy.
He tried again. “She’s not like other people. You can’t just pick up the phone and expect her to get on the line.”
“Why not? I’m a Necromancer. My whole life is one giant phone call to the Otherworld.”
It was pretty clear to him that Necro, Floyd, and Sampson didn’t understand exactly what they were dealing with here. The idea of bringing the orneriest old lady he’d ever met back from the grave—and shoving her inside the body of a blue-haired Dark Caster—was scarier than walking through a swamp full of gators, carrying raw chicken. Not that Amma would’ve let him do anything that crazy.
She had raised Ethan, and Link had known her since he and Ethan became friends in kindergarten. Even though she couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds soaking wet, she was the only woman who scared Link more than his mom.
Now I just have to explain that without lookin’ like a punk.
“We used to stay out of her way if she was doin’ a crossword puzzle,” he said. “She’s not the kinda lady who’s gonna be happy about bein’ disturbed in
the Otherworld.”