37. Davyn
Thirty-Seven
Davyn
My bear roared in my head, wanting, needing to fight. To protect. The siren drugged us. I'd been standing. Ready to fight.
Now I was in an empty room as basic as a room could be. Four plaster walls with a ceiling that matched, and a wooden floor. No windows.
The one door opened, and Tania walked through.
Destroy.
Not before I had answers.
Now .
The beast inside wanted vengeance and Azzie back, and I wouldn't be able to silence that part of me for long.
"Please don't," Tania said as I moved to lunge.
The words stalled my brain, but I pushed the fog aside quickly.
"She asked for this." Tania stopped a few meters away.
Azzie . "Where is she?"
"Being tested, as she wished."
I could ask questions and then hunt, as much as I wanted to attack now. "The others?"
"They're also in a similar situation."
What did that mean? We were all in the test? "They didn't ask for this. I didn't."
Tania looked similar to the woman who served us in the bakery, but the circles of exhaustion under her eyes were obvious, and her cheer was gone. This wasn't a being here to seduce or cloud the mind.
She is. Destroy .
"You're not being tested." Instead of weaving a spell of security, this being was simply existing. "Only they are. There were agreements in place before Azrael reached out."
“Tell me what that means. Agreements with who?” I couldn't do calm. I charged her, and she faded enough for me to pass through.
"None of us asked to be born into this, and Azrael made her decision." Tania's voice was distinct, though the rest of her was no longer corporeal. My anger surged, and I charged her again.
To no effect.
We'd all written something down. Was that the test? I hated how fucking predictable these things were. "So she's facing her biggest fear?" I hated to pause long enough to think through a strategy, but running back and forth at a being I couldn't touch would only wear me out. "We all are?"
"You don't need my magic to live what you fear the most. You face it every day." She sounded calm. Almost tired.
That made me even madder. The only thing I feared was losing my family again. Losing her . Not the potential god, but the companion I'd gotten to know. Azzie’s ferocity. Her kindness and determination.
I stalked in a circle around Tania, studying her. She would know where I was even if she couldn’t see me, but could I distract her?
"When I vanish, you'll be free to roam." She stood still, back to me.
I rushed, and passed through her again, stopping myself short before I ran into a wall.
"They're all trying to get to the exit." She continued as if nothing had happened. "You need to find them, because you all brought something in I couldn't have accounted for, and can't stop."
"What is it?" My curiosity wasn't enough to calm me, but it did make me pause.
She shook her head. "I can't say."
"Can't or won't?" I wouldn’t play word-nuance-soup with her.
"Can't."
The answer caught me off-guard. I could stand here and ponder what kind of thing we could have with us that a siren wouldn't account for, but it wouldn't get me anywhere.
Instead, I shot out a hand and gripped her by the throat. Satisfaction rippled through me when I made contact, and I let a hungry smile out at her shock. "If anything happens to Azzie, I'll tear you limb from limb." My voice was as much growl as words. "I'll find your sisters, and treat them to the same fate, and I'll make sure you survive long enough to see your world crumble. If you take her from me, I'll return the favor in volumes you cannot fathom."
Tania faded again, and my fist closed around nothing. "I know," she said. "Godspeed, Berserker."
She was gone, and so was the room. I stood in a wild clearing behind a Victorian style farmhouse.
Before my surroundings finished coming into view, I was sprinting toward the back door.
The entire time I'd know Azzie, I'd only seen her show fear a few times. Whatever her greatest one was, I wouldn't let it consume her. I wouldn't lose my family again.