Chapter 28
Those freaky waters.
As soon as I saw Raymond down, I ran for him, forgetting about the pattern of the shadow markers for the spikes on the floor.
And of course, I took all of two steps before I messed up.
I heard the spike shoot up towards me and turned to see Raymond’s shadow reach out to protect me, but it failed.
As the spike ripped through the shadow, I flinched, preparing for it to cut through me.
But it didn’t—because a body appeared in front of me. Phasing in and out of shadow was Cufio, the end of the spike, dripping in poison, tearing into his stomach.
“No!” I reached for him, but my hand went right through his body. “What? How? Oh, my God!”
I moved around him in a circle as I tried to figure out what to do. Cufio stood there, shimmering in and out of shadows, looking at me with wide eyes. His mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear whatever he tried to tell me.
“Get to Raymond. I got him.” Olian was there. The orange demon, her protector, stood behind her, watching her back.
“I can't just leave him.”
“And you also can’t help him, but Raymond can fix this,” Olian said. “As long as he stays half in the shadows, he can slow the effects of the poison. But he won’t be able to keep this up for too long. You need to get to Raymond. Now!”
Something in her voice, vulnerable desperation, kick-started me.
I ran straight for Raymond, this time paying close attention to the markings on the ground.
Just before I made it to him, I heard a loud metallic snap and turned back to see a cage closing around Olian and Cufio with the orange demon stuck outside.
Keep going!
My inner voice screamed at me. There was nothing I could do for them. I needed Raymond.
I reached him and fell to my knees at his side. With a grunt, Metice held the beast who hit Raymond against the wall, its claws scrabbling uselessly against the stone. He’d grown again and looked even bigger than before.
“What do I do?” I frantically touched Raymond’s bloody face. His breathing was shallow, and his pulse felt weak beneath my fingers when I felt for it. “There has to be a way. There has to.”
I felt a soft tingle around my neck and, through my teary eyes, I looked down to see the scarf I’d tied around my neck glowing. The trim around the edge shined, and as I blinked away the tears, I looked closer to see the threads moving.
That’s why she’d given it to me!
Instinct kicked in. It twirled in my stomach and screamed little alerts in my mind. Touch it! Think of her! Go to her! Take him with you!
Never one to ignore that inner voice, I looked around at the chaos—bodies dropping left and right, Olian and Cufio still trapped, her orange guy trying his best to free them. It felt wrong to leave, but everything in me said it was the only way.
I took the scarf from my neck and pulled Raymond’s limp hand into my right one. With my left, I wrapped the scarf around our laced fingers and thought of the cave with the pool of water and the woman with the pink eyes.
“Please, take us to Likosa,” I whispered.
The surrounding room turned to fuzz, static like the connection to Jackie. I held on to Raymond, and though I wanted to close my eyes, I couldn’t. I watched as the battle faded to nothing, and then, with a loud popping sound, we were in the cave.
Likosa stood in front of us, looking down at Raymond’s body. “Well, I expected you to come back here, but not in such a dire state.” She pointed at Raymond. “He doesn’t look good at all.”
“Can you help him?” I asked frantically. “Please tell me you can do something!”
“No, I can’t,” she spoke, and something moved across her shoulder. I thought it was a shadow at first, but it wasn’t. It was familiar, a little snake-like body with pink flowering.
“Kaa?” I stood. “Why do you have her?”
“She stowed away in your bag. I’m surprised you didn’t notice.” She patted Kaa’s head with her fingertip. “Found her way to me.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t really care what you believe.” She sighed.
“I—” I dropped my eyes to Raymond. “What am I supposed to do? Why am I here if you can’t help him?”
“I said I can’t help him, but you can.” She sucked her teeth. “Why haven’t you?”
“Well, if I knew how, don’t you think I would have by now?”
“Maybe you don’t like him as much as I thought,” she said. “You did bristle when I suggested marriage.”
“Look, he is hurt, and the others are in danger.” I pointed at Raymond’s body. “Cufio has been poisoned. There isn’t time for this.”
“I’m so tired of you all coming here and rushing me to help.” She faked an exaggerated yawn. “It’s like none of you have any manners.”
“I’ll apologize after everyone survives.” I rolled my neck. “They all said you know what’s coming, which means you knew we would be here needing your help. Please, you gave me the scarf. It brought me to you like you wanted. Tell me how to fix this.”
“Well…” She kneeled, dropping her hand to the ground, and Kaa slithered down her arm. I watched as my pet stretched before planting herself into the soil. There wasn’t time to question it. “Since you said please, I’ll happily help. “
“Thank you.” I glanced at Kaa, but again, I didn’t question what she did. “What do I have to do?”
“The answer should be obvious, but I have to ask: why aren't you using your abilities?” She moved toward me and reached her hand out to touch my chin. “Hmm, interesting.”
“What are you talking about?” I shied away from her touch.
“In the battle, you fought, yes, but you fought like a human. Why is that?” She scanned my face, took a step back, and looked my body over.
“It’s safer that way,” I said. “Besides, I’m not on Earth. My powers won’t work here.”
“Safe? You're fighting demons, honey. Someone's gonna have to die. They're not gonna hold back.” She walked around me, continuing to look me over. “But that’s not it, is it? Your power should work no matter where you are. You should be able to bond with whatever is natural there. No. You’re blocked.”
“Blocked?” I found her face again.
“Yes.” She sucked her teeth. “I thought in all this time, you would have figured it out, but even Kaa looks depleted. You’ll never survive like this.”
“Can you help me?” I looked at Kaa, who swayed her head as if agreeing with Likosa’s comment.
Likosa nodded slowly, her lips curving up into a grin. “For a cost.”
“I know.” I looked down at Raymond. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
“I love it when they say that!” She clapped excitedly. “Undress.”
“The water?” I looked over her shoulder at the pool.
“You know it.” She grinned, and behind her, the waters moved with more rapid waves.
As I quickly undressed, Likosa explained what would happen.
“What I did before, it unlocked your abilities, showing you the way, but you haven't fully embraced them like I thought you had. So, we're going to have to push the envelope.”
I didn't question it. I knew exactly what was coming, and I knew there was no time to get into a debate about things. Raymond was hurt, the others in trouble. Cufio was poisoned, and Natalie at any point could die.
As soon as I stepped into the water, it rushed at me. Like a hand wrapped around my waist, it pulled me to the center of the pool and lifted me. I looked down at Likosa, whose lips moved rapidly as the water worked. She stepped forward, putting only her feet in the water.
The encasing wave reached higher on my body until only my head was free.
Then, a moment later, it covered my head as well.
I couldn’t breathe, but I didn’t need to.
It was an odd sensation, but it didn’t last long.
Humming, pulsing, energy moving through the water twisted and turned my body like it was investigating me. Then, everything stopped.
I dropped my eyes, hoping to find Likosa, but instead, I saw something far more alarming.
Through the water, shooting at me like spears, were long stretches of brown and green.
I squinted and realized they were roots from beneath the water.
They reached me quickly and arrested my arms and legs.
I struggled against the hold, but it made no difference.
“Accept it,” I heard Likosa’s voice in my mind. “Do not fight this. Embrace your power.”
I tried to take a deep breath but realized part of my body no longer functioned. So instead, I went to my happy place. In my mind, I stood in my garden, naked, toes digging into the soil. I imagined my lungs full of fresh air and the plants reaching toward me, embracing me as they always did.
With that image in my head, my body relaxed, and I opened my eyes just in time to see the vines, long, snake-like, and covered in pink petals.
In the center of them was Kaa. Her eyes bore into mine as she stopped in front of my face.
She smiled at me, and instinctively, I nodded at her, giving her permission to do whatever she needed.
The vines that surrounded her face moved over to me, replacing the roots that held me in place.
They snaked around my body from my toes to my neck and then fused with me.
I cried at the feeling of light searing, like getting a full body tattoo all at once.
I looked down to see my flesh covered in vines with pink flowers.
Kaa’s face still hung in front of me. When I looked back at her, she swayed and then moved forward as if to kiss me. But instead of a cute little kiss, she jumped down my throat. Literally. And it burned like hell!
I screamed out in pain as I felt her moving beneath my flesh, but there was something else. I felt full. Not in the I just ate my favorite meal and needed a nap kind of way, but in the I’ve always felt like something was missing and now I don’t kind of way.
The water swirled around me quickly before it halted and lowered to allow me to breathe again.
I gasped as Likosa stood there, no longer whispering her spell.
“Excellent! I—” she started but then abruptly ended whatever she was about to say.