Ten
Pica set me down and called out to her server, and in the next moment my arms were seized behind my back. I fought the urge to break free of the hold because there wasn’t anywhere for me to escape to, yet. I would only waste my energy, and the enchanted room was already draining whatever power I had left.
“Wait,” I pleaded as the dagger appeared in her hand again and the look on her face grew several degrees more psychotic. “I got angry, Pica, I’m sorry. I lashed out. You can understand, can’t you? This room is sucking my energy, and how would I escape anyway? I can’t travel through pockets like everyone else. I have no way of disappearing.”
“But you would, if you could,” she countered. “You love me, Willy. Deep down, I know you do … but it can’t get out, all that love. You’re too …” She waved the dagger, indicating nothing in particular. “You need me to unburden you of all these urges to run away, to make things simpler for you. My other daughter was taken away from me, and my Rau was taken away from me, butyou… I can keep forever. All I need to do is pierce your lovely heart with this lovely dagger. It’ssucha lovely dagger. You won’t even bleed—how special is that? Crowe made it just for you. It’s different to all his other creations. Isn’t that lovely?”
I started to struggle against the server’s hold then.Crowe had been plotting against me with Pica?
“How is it different?” I gritted out, surprised at the iron grip of the server.Were they all this damn strong?
“You won’t even bleed,” she repeated, a beatific smile lighting her features. “It is as simple as falling asleep. The naughty, rebellious parts of you will disappear, butyou—your body—will remain. Staviti has promised that this is the way. This is how we can be a family—finally, he is giving me the daughter I always wanted.”
I tried to quickly wrap my head around what she was saying. The dagger only needed to be used on me and “activated,” probably, just like the chains. The chains that were still secured to Rau’s wrist …
“Staviti has lied to you,” I told her, ceasing in my struggles against the server again. “There is another way you can have your family. I’ll make a deal with you, Pica. Will you listen to me?”
“What is the deal?” she asked, laughter falling out of her for no apparent reason.
“I’ll give you back Rau,” I told her.
The laughter stopped immediately, and her eyes sharpened, some of the mania clearing as she focussed on me. “What did you say?”
“I said I’ll give you back Rau,” I repeated. “But I need Abil’s sons to make this work.”
“How…,” she demanded, her voice trembling. “How is that possible?”
“Whatever Staviti has told you about me, it isn’t true. Iama Creator. Thatismy power. I know where Rau’s body is. I can bring him back to life. I can give him back to you.”
She seemed to think about it for a moment, but then she shook her head, her hair fanning out to the side, her mouth turning down sharply.
“No,” she decided. “I won’t give you up, Willy, not even for my Rau.”
“I’m not asking you to give me up.” I paused, needing to work my temper back under control again, to keep my tone soft and comforting. “I will return here for you. All I’m asking is for the chance to say goodbye to Abil’s sons. You can decide whether to kill me or not later: that’s up to you. But before you lock me away in here forever, I want to say goodbye. That’s all I ask. That’s all I want in return.”
“Very well. DJ, fetch Abil’s sons.”
As soon as my arms were released, I stumbled forward. The sudden momentum surprised me—I hadn’t realised that I had still been struggling against the hold. Pica’s server had made it seem so effortless, but my arms now tingled with the sudden return of blood flow. No wonder everyone had thought the wraiths would bring about the end of the worlds. The servers werestrong. Or maybe I was just really weak from being stuck in the energy-sucking room.
Pica yanked me against her as I stumbled, and I thought she was going to pick me up again until she turned me around and the knife appeared at my throat. The woman was smarter than she looked.
“Everyone stay still!” she shouted as soon as DJ returned, popping in and out of view five times until each of the Abcurses stood on the other side of the room.
Yael, brought in first, had begun to stride toward me, but he froze, his arms flying out to keep the others at bay. They were very silent, their eyes trained on the dagger that rested against my neck.
“Are you hurt at all?” Coen finally asked, his voice clipped. I could imagine that it wouldn’t be easy for them to hold themselves back from fighting in this particular scenario.
“I’m fine,” I promised. “But the room is drawing from my energy in order to keep me here.
Their eyes all flared—Coen and Rome switching their attention to Pica for a micro-click before focussing on me again. Yael seemed to be grinding his teeth, whereas Siret and Aros looked as though they were running a thousand different scenarios through their minds, trying to figure out which would be their best course of action. Luckily for them, I was taking point on this one.
“I’ve made a deal with Pica,” I told them, keeping my voice calm and even. “We’re going to take her to Rau’s body so that I can return him to her—”
“Bring back …Rau,” Rome repeated, the words ringing with both anger and disbelief. “And what are you getting in return?” he prompted, and I realised that the anger in his voice was so much more. He was furious. Again, his eyes flicked to Pica, and I could almostfeelhow badly he wanted to do her harm.
“In return, she is allowing me to say goodbye to you all,” I answered.
They all tensed, their fists clenching. I could hear breath hissing out from between teeth, and a rough bout of swearing escaping from Rome.
