He staggered back a step, as if I had accomplished something impossible by besting him with logic, using his own arrogance as proof.
“He’s still there, isn’t he?” I said, holding the relief back so he couldn’t see it. “And if I know anything about my friend, he’s pushing like hell against the restraints you’ve put him under. Can you hear him? Can you hear him screaming in your head, trying to break free?”
I pushed harder.
“Riley,” I spoke his name softly at first before getting more urgent. “Riley, if you can hear me, push. Push harder. He’s notas strong as you think. He’s weak. Just another tool under a master’s foot!”
He growled and shrugged his shoulders, like the words I was saying made him uncomfortable. So, I drove it deeper, hunting for more.
“Riley, we’ve gone through this shitshow together, you and me. Let’s not end it now. Not here. Not this way.” The words seemed to break through as he began to shake violently. It started in his hands and then through his body until he was nearly convulsing. His arms moved almost painfully until his fists found themselves curled in his hair. He tugged at it, ripping strands from the roots as if he was trying to rip Riley’s voice out. Then his convulsions stopped, and his hands dropped. His hair was sticking out at all angles, making him look even more wild than when I first saw him in the cell.
His head snapped up, and for the first time since that bridge, I saw Riley looking back at me, just a glimpse, just a hint, but it was him.
“Alex, I’m… here…”he whispered desperately.
And then he was gone.
I cried out as he was at the door in an instant, screaming, his demonic roar rattling the metal far harder than his fists ever could. I stepped back instinctively, cautious now of pushing him too far as his chest heaved, breath coming fast while he fought for control. Then his hand slid through his hair in one sharp motion, and he grinned.
“A clever little mortal,” he tutted. “I see you called my bluff. Fine. Your friend is still in here.” He rolled his head in a circular motion, holding my gaze as he did. “He’s a strong one, isn’t he? This military hero of yours. He’s locked away, and he will remain that way until I have no further use for him.”
“So, what you’re saying is that you need him right now,” I said, trying to look calm though my heart hammered against my chest.
His eyes narrowed as he stopped the strange head movements. Yet he had no response. No argument.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” I continued, the hope in my voice easy to hear. “You’re a prisoner just as much as he is. Stuck in that cage, trapped in a mortal body because there is no other vessel for you to move into,” I said, shaking my head as I started to piece it together. Started to see that he didn’t have quite as much power as he was trying to portray.
“You need a host, and right now you only have one… considering I was able to break through to Riley and give him hope, the longer you stay in it, the weaker you’ll become. Because he’s fighting back now, isn’t he? He’s fighting hard.”
He gritted his teeth and sneered at me, but didn’t say anything. In fact, his eyes just scanned the walls, and suddenly another thought hit me.
“And I just bet that the spell they cast to keep you locked in there isn’t helping either, is it?” Another sneer was my only answer, telling me I had guessed right yet again. It was like all the puzzle pieces were raining down around me, and one by one, I was now able to fit them into place. I was starting to understand how this all worked. Which meant I might actually figure out a way to save Riley.
His face told me all I needed to know because every time his expression twisted with rage, it was even more proof that I was on the right track. That he was just as much a prisoner as Riley was, and that gave me more hope than I had felt in days. Hope that built inside me so strong I had to push the tears away before they formed. Hope that immediately created an idea.
“It seems you and I have something in common,” I told him, making him scoff.
“There is nothing I have in common with a useless mortal,” he gritted out as if insulted by my comment.
“Well, that’s not entirely true now, is it?” I mocked. “Considering you’re stuck in the body of one.”
He snarled, but I shrugged my shoulders, unaffected by his furious display.
“Which means there is something we both want.”
“I only want to see you suffer once more by my hands!” he roared, but this time I didn’t even flinch, having already expected it.
“Perhaps, but I’m guessing that right now you want out of that body even more,” I said, and for a moment, he took pause, telling me that he was at least intrigued enough to let me continue without any more threats. “And the spell on this cell is preventing that.”
“And you want the boy released from my grasp, I suppose?” he asked, making me shake my head, telling him he was wrong.
As now, it was time to win.
It was time for my bluff as I told him,
“No, right now…”
“…I want information.”
