36. Finn
Thirty-Six
Finn
There was nothing here.
Regardless of the direction I turned, I saw nothing. Heard and smelled nothing. If I licked my hand, I didn’t feel my tongue on my skin or taste sweat and salt.
It was as if someone had stripped me of my senses, and set me adrift. I could move my legs and feet, but they didn’t meet solid ground. Was I walking? Floating? Standing still?
I had no idea. No concept of the passage of time beyond being able to count in my mind. The entire experience would become maddening if I existed in it for too long.
My toes met something, and my feet rested on solid ground. As a soft glow of light grew brighter in front of me, I winced until my eyes adjusted. When I dared look, when I was able to focus, I made out the shape of a woman.
Tania’s blond hair flowed in loose waves around her shoulders now, rather than being pulled into a messy bun. Instead of an apron, blouse, and trousers, she wore overalls with nothing underneath. She gave me a knowing smile I didn’t doubt had seduced thousands over the centuries.
“Fionn, Fionn, Fionn.” She clucked as she strolled toward me, hips swaying. “What are you doing to me?”
Excuse me? This was her realm. I should be grateful I wasn’t surrounded by my biggest fear or desire. That I wasn’t trapped in a fantasy or a nightmare of my mind’s own making. That didn’t make me any happier to be here. “What am I doing to you ? The test was supposed to be for the woman. Did you at least leave my companions alone?”
Zeke was still in her bakery, wasn’t he? With Davyn? I may not like the big bear, but he wouldn’t hurt Zeke unless Azzie was in trouble.
Was she? Fear gripped my heart. I needed to get back to Zeke.
Tania shook her head. As she moved, a hint of breast teased through the side of her outfit. The denim should be shapeless, but she made it look good.
From a purely intellectual perspective. She had to know this shape didn’t make her my ideal.
“You all paid the entrance fee,” she said. “The toll, if you will.”
The price she requested when Azzie asked what we owed for the meal. “Writing fears on little slips of paper feels a bit cliche, doesn’t it?” I’d rather deride her methods than admit I’d failed to consider we might be paying for something other than the meal.
For instance, entrance to each of our own tests. Which meant Zeke was in something like this too.
Fucking Lugh must’ve set this up. A way to eliminate the avatar’s competition. The cold pit in my gut grew icier. I’d saved Zeke when I met him, and I’d do it again and again. I couldn’t lose him. “This was only supposed to be for her.”
“Then you should have sent just her,” Tania said.
As if. It didn’t matter how hard Azzie worked to convince herself she was some sort of lone wolf who didn’t need anyone; she didn’t do anything without the people she trusted. “She doesn’t work that way.”
“As I noticed.” Tania’s outfit shimmered and blurred and now she was in jeans with a T-shirt. A leather jacket topped the look, and she wore matching holsters with knives at her hips. A lot like Azzie.
Still not my thing. “Great. You and Lugh had a deal, so how do I get out of here? Where’s the door?”
Tania’s laugh was musical and light. A kind of carefree Azzie wasn’t capable of. “Correct. He and I had a deal, not you and me. Besides, you broke the rules too, with your secret.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I could guess if I had to, but there was a long list of things I kept secret, and it was smarter to not start listing them without more information.
Her seductive expression vanished, and her clothes shifted again, her jeans growing looser, with more thin spots. Her shirt now said Disturbed across the front, and had several tiny scorch holes in the fabric, and runes woven with ancient art decorated arms of corded muscle. Her entire frame below the neck was more masculine in appearance now.
“You brought someone into my house you shouldn’t have.” Her voice was huskier too.
“The Berserker?” I knew that wasn’t who she meant, though I wasn’t sure why. “He goes where the woman goes, and I don’t have any control over that.”
Tania let out a throaty chuckle. “That must frustrate you to no end, but he’s not who I’m talking about.” Her eyes grew wide, and her mouth dropped open in exaggerated surprise. “You don’t know.”
She was talking about Zeke. Fuck . Tania may be playing on my fears, but I suspected this part was real. “What is he?”
“A god of knowledge who doesn’t know something. Ouch.”
“Tell me.” I reached for her, and my hand passed through the illusion without pause.
“I can’t,” she said. “I will give you a hint, though. He’s something that shouldn’t exist, and it’s changing the nature of my illusion. I couldn’t pull any of you out now, even if I wanted to.”
That was absolutely bullshit. “This is your realm. You have full control here.” I wouldn’t be sucked into the mind games that were a siren’s own personal torture chamber.
“The woman is something different too. Something Lugh didn’t tell you, but the man? He’s altered my spell. I was promised there were no more. He shouldn’t be. He can’t be, but he is.”
This was ridiculous. “Just fucking tell me.”
“And ruin the surprise?” She rested a palm on my cheek.
This was real. I grabbed her wrist, locking her in place. The contact would allow me to know what she knew, and I didn’t hesitate to reach deep and yank at the strands of knowledge inside her.
A wall of magic grew up in front of my attempts, and an invisible force shoved me away from her harder than any physical being should be able to. It felt as if I’d had an airplane dropped on me.
It took me a moment to shake away the pain and confusion. She was keeping me from gathering knowledge?
Tania’s sweet smile was back. “I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to. I’ve already said more than I should. Good luck, giant. Make it to the main room and you get out, but anyone not with you gets left behind.”
With that, she was gone.
Rage mingled with my growing fear. Where was Zeke? What was Zeke? I had to get to him.
If this was the siren’s realm, a lot of it was an illusion. I knew that. I needed to find Zeke and leave.
Anyone not with you gets left behind .
Which meant Azzie. Fuck, I needed to get her first. She had the ability to do things that would be helpful in here.
That meant telling her what I knew about her power, but I’d make that sacrifice to save Zeke.
The nothingness solidified into a hallway lined with doors. I grabbed the knob on the nearest one and pushed inside, to the sound of a gasp of pleasure.
Azzie . Did she and Zeke really stop to fuck in the middle of all of this? Ever since she’d come into our lives, she’d been nothing but a hassle and a pain in the ass. I stalked toward the growing sound of her happy moans, pushed through a bedroom door and stalled.
It was definitely Azzie, with Davyn hovering over her, his naked ass in the air, while he fucked her. Zeke was nowhere to be seen.