You don’t need guns when you have talons,screeched a third.
[urgent dandelion yellow]
Maybe he hasn’t frozen you because he can’t,hissed a monster.You have some resistance to their powers, remember?
It was true. Once before, Carter had been able to move when a wizard-scientist had frozen everyone else in place. It probably had something to do with having so many creatures crammed into him, when the others had only one. But it wasn’t as if he was completely immune to wizard-scientist powers. It had only been that one time, and that one power.
COWARD!
The monster’s voice was so loud that he jumped.
“Are you even listening?” Balin demanded. “What did I just say?”
“You called Natalie a guttersnipe,” Carter said.
“No!” Balin glared at him. “You missed the last five minutes, you careless fool. You, maiden, tell him what I was saying.”
“He was telling us about the glorious future we’d have when the wizard-scientists ruled.” Fen’s lips twitched slightly; like Natalie, she clearly found the situation a bit funny as well as frightening. “It was… er… glorious!”
That seemed to satisfy Balin. He nodded, his beard bobbing. “Join me, Carter Howe, and that glory will be yours. I know what happened to you in the laboratory. That was most ill-advised, but not irrevocable. I can fix it.”
The monsters began to scream and jabber and growl inside his head. Carter couldn’t understand a word they were saying. They were an incoherent, raging mob, screeching so loudly that he felt like his head would explode.
And then, in an instant, they fell silent. Carter opened his eyes, which he realized had been squeezed shut. He was on his knees, clutching at his head. Fen was kneeling beside him, urgently calling his name.
“I’m all right,” he said, letting his hands drop.
She took a long look at him, then fixed a truly murderous glare on Balin. “Do that again, and I’ll wring your beardy little neck.”
“Fen! Don’t provoke him.” But Carter was touched by her protectiveness. She’d believed that Balin had done something to hurt him, and she’d threatened Balin in return.
“I didn’t do that,” Balin said. “Eunice did.”
“Then I’ll wring her neck,” snarled Fen. Her hands clenched on air.
Eunice smirked at them both. Carter waited, his pulse thundering in his ears, for her to reveal that she hadn’t inflicted pain on him, but had removed it by silencing his inner monsters. How in world would he explain that to Fen and the Defenders? Maybe he could claim he had no idea what they were talking about…?
“I can silence, and I can kill,” said Eunice. “I could do it right now. But I won’t. I’m going to do something else instead.”
Balin explained, “Eunice went through a similar process to that of your sad, damaged associates, but hers was much more successful. She retained her natural gargoyle powers over stone, but also gained others. One was control over others’ inner animals.”
Carter eyed the woman. She looked so… ordinary. Other than her costume, he wouldn’t have given her a second glance. At a Renaissance Fair or a fantasy convention, she’d have blended into the crowd. But if Balin was telling the truth, she had the most terrifying power he’d ever heard of. Just the thought of someone else controlling his inner animal made his skin crawl. It was as if she could reach into his very soul and force it to do her bidding.
But if she could really kill his monsters…
Carter hated himself for being tempted. The wizard-scientists were evil. They were murderers. They ruined people’s lives. And they had an absolutely dreadful fashion sense.
But hewastempted.
Balin interrupted his thoughts. “I shall not make the mistakes of my colleagues. I will not push you to choose immediately, and force you into a foolish, impulsive decision. Instead, I will give you some time to decide. When we meet again, you will make your final and irrevocable decision.”
“I’ve taken control of your inner animals already.” Eunice gave him a hard, fierce smile, showing a lot of very white teeth. “Until you make up your mind, you’ll slowly transform into a monster.”
“What?” Carter blurted out.
That’s impossible,he told himself.It’s a mind game. Don’t fall for it.
Eunice’s toothy grin widened. “It’s reversible. But only by me. Don’t wait too long!”
