35. Jasper
Chapter thirty-five
Jasper
T he false king just called us all sacrifices, and yet everyone is smiling.
What the fuck have I gotten us into? How long do I wait to act? Clearly, we’re all in danger here, but I need an opportune moment to strike, and Reina needs to be ready.
“In just a few moments we will toast the dark goddess Ashai and ask for her power. When the moons join and the eclipse begins, we will be able to reach her in the ninth hell!”
The lords and ladies clap delicately as they hold their drinks.
“Ten seconds,” Reina says as she claps.
I catch the subtle glow of her magic beneath her skin in her off-hand.
Nine, eight, seven…
The dreadful bastard goes on, but I don’t hear a word. I breathe deep and feel the pistol tucked away inside my arm. I’ll shift as soon as she fires and follow her attack with my own.
Four, three, two…
Reina shifts her stance, bracing for a powerful blast.
“Drink, my sacrifices, and let your souls become fuel for my power!”
She raises her hand, palm open toward Vansen. I shift, ripping my suit jacket as I free my pistol. A narrow beam of Reina’s power spears toward the altar and ricochets off a runic shield. Her magic shoots up to the ceiling, slamming into the magus crystal with a crack . The strings of power sliding into the armors around the room gutter and die.
“No!” Vansen shouts and runs a blade down his arm in a rough stroke, spilling his blood across the altar.
I take aim and fire my pistol. The shot slips through the golden shield and a thick, red spray covers the wall behind him. He groans in pain, staggering back as his eyes lock on me.
He smiles, putting his hand over his stomach where my shot pierced. “Ashai, rend my enemies—”
I fire again. The shot rips through Vansen’s forehead and detonates the back of his skull. The evil man crumples to the ground. His blade clatters beside him and his blood splashes across a runic circle. The foundation of the palace shudders, and the golden light around the room goes out, plunging us into darkness.
“I did it,” I whisper, slack-jawed as my eyes glaze in the low light.
The lords and ladies scream and scramble about in the black. There’s another loud crack above us and I look up to see the massive crystal fracturing. Red light spills through from the sky above as shards come crashing down. A spear of crystal pierces through a lord, and the woman next to him doubles over, vomiting gold and black.
“We need to go!” Reina yells, snapping me out of my stupor.
I turn, holding her hand tight as I move for the door we came from. It’s blocked by the two golden suits, inert and unmovable. Lords and ladies pull on the massive things, but they don’t budge. Perhaps my octopus could move them, but I’d be sacrificing a lot of energy. There’s still much to be done, and the way back might not be the way we need to go.
More of the humans wretch up the black and gold drink, holding their stomachs and wailing like children. I cut through the crowd to the door and pull on the heavy monstrosity blocking it.
“Maybe I could melt it,” Reina offers.
I step back, but the other humans rush in, pushing and shoving to escape.
“Move out of the way!” Reina yells.
Someone shoves past her and she trips forward. I catch her and pull her from the chaos.
“The door on the other side,” I say, looking beyond the madness toward the archway sprayed in crimson.
Reina nods, pushing her hair back and wiping a sheen of sweat from her forehead.
I haul her up and we run across the room, dodging fallen shards and humans vomiting. Suddenly, the sun’s light goes dim and everyone turns to look up at the hole made by the missing crystal. It’s too soon for the eclipse; there’s still nearly a half hour to go. Dark smoke appears over the opening and whirls down like a hurricane.
“Ah, there you are, vessel ,” the storm howls and my blood runs cold.
A cacophony of screams fills the space as the darkness swells around us. I push Reina back, holding her behind me on instinct. But we’re separated from the pack and easy to pick out. My mind reels as the darkness coalesces at the center of the room, taking an ephemeral shape.
The queen.
I lift my pistol and pull the trigger. The shot disappears into the dark mist of the queen and she grins. I fire again, but the barrels are empty. Fuck.
She tuts at me, and then her gaze shifts to Reina. “Come home, now, and I’ll spare them.”
She lifts her hand and Reina does the same. For one fraction of a second I think maybe Reina will go with her, but then blue power erupts from her palm. The magic smashes into the queen’s chest and she roars in pain as she staggers back.
“Death, then!” the queen screams and her dark magic swells through the room.
Reina darts in front of me, projecting a hot sphere of her magic around us. The black bombards her shield, smashing into it like a tsunami. The few humans still alive shriek, creating a hum of fear and agony throughout the room.
I look behind me to the door. It’s so near, but I know running won’t save us. The queen will give chase. I drop to a knee and reload my pistol.
The cries of the dying turn monstrous as the dark coagulates around the fallen, and the falling. I look up from my barrels to see the blackness taking shape, a huge, four-armed creature made of bodies and crystal shards.
I can’t shoot my way out of this, and my role becomes clear.
Octopus it is.
I’ll get five, maybe six minutes before I pass out. Hopefully, Reina only needs one.
I breathe deep and let the shift overtake my body, flipping my skin inside out. My body contorts and I roll over Reina, stifling her fiery shield. I push off the ground and wrap two tentacles around the monster’s top arms. I pull myself in and get two more around the bottom arms, but they’re sharp. My rubbery skin is too thin to withstand the cutting bite of her crystalline armor.
“Jasper!” Reina screams from below me somewhere and I spare a glance to see her lining up for a shot.
I drop low on the monster’s body and crawl behind it. The thing is much slower than me, which is my only saving grace against its sharp limbs. I pull back on the monster’s top two arms and let the others free. I know the queen won’t try to kill Reina; she needs her.
It’s me she wants dead.
Reina fires her magic with a war cry. A blue bolt slaps against the crystals on the monster’s chest and shatters them. The queen shrieks in anger, thrashing to get free from me.
“Stop fighting! I’ll spare him!” she roars in the many voices of the dead that make up her body.
“Liar!” Reina screams, dodging a sweeping arm and blasting the offending limb with heat.
The singe of flesh burns my eyes, so I wince them shut and focus on what I can feel. My three hearts thunder, begging for the oxygen that I slowly pull through my skin. I grapple the queen’s lower arms under control and begin to pull. I’ll rip this vile body apart if I have to.
Suddenly, the queen contorts, and the arms I was retaining are now squeezing me. I slip out of her upper arms only for one of my tentacles to get caught between two crystal shards. I release my ink sac across the monstrosity’s face, aiming to blind her.
She grabs me by the pinched tentacle and laughs. “Scared, boy?”
Then she pulls. The second she gets me off her, I’ll be dead, so I seal my suckers against her vile body and hold tight. I open my sharp beak and bite into the monstrosity’s shoulder. The queen doesn’t react beyond pulling harder.
This thing isn’t a human; it doesn’t work like one either. I don’t know if there are muscles I can damage, or bones I can break, but I have to keep trying. I bite down deeper and use my suckers near my mouth to rip pieces of her off. The foul meat slops to the floor with a squelch at her feet, but she keeps pulling.
I go in for another bite when something sharp pierces the soft flesh next to my beak. I rear back in a flinch, and that’s all the queen needs. She tears me off in one massive tug and slams me to the ground. I open my eyes and find the metal suit behind me.
The queen picks me up and slams me down again, more of her sharp shards puncturing my leathery limbs. I curl my tentacle around the metal knight and wield it like a hammer, smashing it against the queen’s top arm.
The crystals sing from the hit, breaking apart into smaller pieces. Human bodies emerge from the mass, grabbing the shards like javelins. I hit her again, splattering one of the once-humans against her arm, but the other stabs me with their spear.
A blue beam strikes the behemoth from behind. It staggers forward with a guttural groan, bracing one hand against the wall.
“Enough play,” she snarls, and black tendrils of power slide down her arms.
It’s frigid, like the waters of the north, and sends a painful sickness through me. My suckers malfunction, my system overloading from agony. The room spins and I realize she’s lifted me from the ground.
“No!” Reina screams and suddenly I’m flying.
The palace zooms out around me and the pain of the queen’s magic releases its hold on my mind.
She threw me through the fucking ceiling.
I don’t have any flighted creature shifts, and I’m running low on magic as it is. I need to get back to Reina. I need to heal.
But first, I need to survive this fall.
The palace grows in my vision again, but I’m off target from the opening. I’m too far to the right. I’m going to hit the ramparts.
Fucking hells.
I spread my tentacles wide and flex to slow my descent. The wind whips my many cuts, stinging like all hells. I slap down against the side of the palace, and the pain reaches a new height, nauseating me. I reach with everything I’ve got to hold on, but the hit makes me bounce. My suckers rip away from the rough building and I roll over the ramparts.
The agony is overwhelming. I think I black out. When I come to, I’m rolling down the side of the cliff. I slap the walls on my way down, begging for purchase that I’m not getting. The cliff edge slices into my suckers, rending them useless. I would scream if I could, but all the pain is trapped inside me, echoing over and over, demanding attention. But I can give it none.
Reina needs me.
My mate needs me.
It doesn’t matter how much I’m needed, or what I want. The wall gives me no hold. I hit the water with a disorienting slap that makes my new cuts burn like I’m covered in acid. I try to right myself, but several of my tentacles refuse to answer my command. I blink my eyes open and take a deep inhale of the salty sea.
I have enough energy to heal, but everything is screaming for my attention. My octopus form will regenerate on its own over time, so I return to my selkie form. The water twists around me, and I send out a magic pulse, seeking any threats before I spend the time to heal.
My heart stops when my magic returns with a horrifying message.
Something enormous is coming up from below.
And it has teeth.