9. Chace #2
Aoes cracked a grin then crossed under the intended barricade, demonstrating how low we needed to drop and proving no transformation would take place. Aldine, not to be outdone by those younger than himself—as well as refusing to let his charges take an untested risk—went next.
I offered Raven passage before myself because, despite our tendency to clash, I was not a total dick. I could afford this small show of chivalry.
Raven crossed to the far side without issue. She popped up beyond the creature-creating barrier and wiped the dirt from her hands and knees.
My turn.
I lowered to the ground with my palms already sweating. Perspiration dappled my brow, and visions of the creature on the bridge dominated my thoughts as I crawled along the trench, the shimmer of sorcery lingering in the air above me.
My breath quickened, became labored.
Flying monster.
The thought birthed from a recollection belonging to a much younger version of myself. Images of the creature taking form on the bridge above morphed into the memory of one caged in my father’s laboratory while a video of its creation played on a loop.
My stomach twisted, and I hastened my progress.
It’s fine, I told myself. Just a newly uncovered memory. I’ve got this.
My focus flickered to my fellow reapers. They exchanged whispers and pointed between the citadel wall ahead and the underside of the bridge above. Neither paid me any regard.
Relief washed over me. Almost clear of the barrier magic, I sighed and shifted forward.
“Need help?” Aoes leaned forward, his hand outstretched.
“I’m good.”
“Are you, though?” Something hard slammed across my back, knocking me flat against the ground, pushing my face into the dirt, and shoving muck into my mouth.
“What the―”
“Have we met?” Aoes asked, his voice hushed. “I feel like we’ve met in the past.”
I cleared my mouth with a strong spit. “Not possible. I’ve never been here before.”
I jerked my shoulders against the weight laid over my back.
Aoes leaned forward, pressing his weight into me and driving me deeper into the ground. “Let’s say I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care what you believe. This is my first time to step foot in this wretched place.” I bucked, only using a fraction of my strength. I could easily best Aoes if I didn’t need to worry about the transformative magic lingering over my head. “Now, get off me.”
Aoes lowered his face to mine. “First, I need you to tell me why you’re really here.”
“Dude.” I shifted onto my side, shoving against the less-than-friendly guide and the added burden pressing across my body. “We’re here for the job. To collect and nothing more. Now move.”
The fact that Aoes might know, or had known, Ubel and therefore recognized the resemblance between us held clear possibility.
Probably thinks I’m my dad.
“What’s taking so long?”
At Raven’s question, Aoes jumped back, allowing me enough room to extricate myself from the trench. Raven and Aldine approached, their attention now on the situation between me and Aoes.
“Well?” Raven dropped her hands on her hips.
“This thing fell.” Aoes lifted the weight off me―the pole serving as a marker―and tossed it aside. “He got tangled, and I was helping him get free.”
As if.
Aldine stepped forward. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I grumbled and pulled myself clear of the magical barrier.
Jumping to my feet, I tossed Aoes a burning glare, and mouthed, “Best watch yourself.”
Boiling acid pounded through my veins as I brushed the dirt from my attire and marched straight for the citadel wall. I maintained a path that kept me directly beneath the bridge, safe from being spotted by the guard above.
Aldine jogged to catch up and reached out as if to slow my progress, but I pushed his hand away.
“I told you I’m fine,” I said, my voice clipped.
He backed away.
With me now in the lead, our group climbed the short slope before us. Several feet ahead, an abandoned boat, giving way to the harsh touch of time and the elements, sat deteriorating against a stone support. The vessel’s wood siding looked dry and prickled with splinters.
“In the mood for a boat ride?” Aoes bumped my shoulder and strode past with long strides.
Hissing, I twitched away from the contact, but Aoes either didn’t notice or pretended not to.
“The boat and the path were once used to smuggle goods into the citadel,” he said.
I snorted. Aoes’s story was starting to take form.
“Oh, and…” he continued. “Best to let me lead since I’m the one who knows where we’re going.”
“You’re oh so helpful,” I muttered.
Raven tossed me a scowl. If words had accompanied her glower, they would have likely told me to shut up—probably in a less kind way.
Aoes ignored me. “The route comes in handy. Helped me get to you all without Fen becoming wise to our actions.”
“Who else knows about this little passage of yours?” Aldine asked.
“As far as I know, no one,” Aoes replied. “And there’s a fair chance this secret will someday die with me.”
Because a secret such as this is too good to share. I ground my teeth and stared daggers at the center of Aoes’s back. What’s your angle?
“Should I ever die,” he added at a mumble.
My nose flared. He knows. Of course, how could he not?
Aoes knew something beyond wrong governed here, and yet he stayed. Would immortality in the absence of reapers keep him in such a place?
Although, if true, and he knew what we were, he wouldn’t likely help us get inside the citadel walls.
Raven glanced over her shoulder at me, and based on her raised eyebrow, Aoes’s comment hadn’t been lost on her either.
Where the bridge met the citadel’s outer limit, the stone wall lining the dried moat, we climbed onto a higher ledge running along the border. Aoes dragged his fingers across the rocky surface of the wall. Midway beneath the width of the bridge, his hand slipped out of sight, into deep shadow.