21. The Assignment
The Assignment
Movement tapped into his reflexive defense instinct, even with his eyes closed, even with his mind only half-conscious.
He jerked, another of those protective instincts, and one he couldn’t control.
Lately, he couldn’t even dial it down.
Yesterday had helped.
He struggled to think about it, to let his mind go there in any true sense, but he knew he was better since then. Ironically, it had been her that made the break-in at the Sanctum Occulus so effortless. It had been her that brought his magic back under control.
The thought made that sick feeling in his chest worse.
He listened, head cocked where it lay on the stone.
Sirena had already been down to visit.
It was unlikely she’d come back again so soon.
She came down right after the mission had been completed, insisting on being the one to escort him and “the cur” down to the underground cell.
Her cheeks had been flushed. Her hair had changed color from midnight blue to a dark red.
Her fingers sparked with magic as she watched Rolf lock him back to the wall.
Her eyes lit up in that way that told him he would be in for a rough night.
But she’d left hours ago.
He could feel the passage of time. He’d always had an uncanny awareness of that, even when he didn’t want to know.
His father certainly wouldn’t come down here, not at this time of night.
He would be upstairs, no doubt, celebrating with one of the younger hangers-on, if not a revolving door of them, or several at a time.
Caelum grimaced at the thought. He twisted his body most of the way to his back.
Fuck it. Whoever was there, there was no point in being ready. He couldn’t feel them, not with the collar activated. Even if he could, it wouldn’t help, and it wouldn’t stop them from doing whatever it was they wanted with him.
He completely forgotten about the kid.
Maybe he’d wanted to forget.
“Your magic is… strange,” a voice said tentatively.
Caelum tensed, his eyes flashing open. He didn’t move otherwise, and kept his gaze focused on the ceiling, his shoulders and abdomen taut.
“You’re obviously upset about something,” the same voice continued. “It gets really chaotic when you’re agitated. Like a kind of red and blue storm over your head. I’ve never seen anything like it. Not even here, I mean. In your world.”
The last sentence sounded almost nervous.
Bones finally turned his head.
He stared at the boy sitting cross-legged near him, only a few feet away from the wall where Bones was chained. He could reach out, touch his bare foot, if he wanted.
How the fuck had he gotten so close without him realizing?
Caelum got lost looking at the delicate features of the young mage’s face.
He could see her in it, but not. The features there more echoed with hers somehow, present in tiny details which somehow didn’t add up to him looking like her, not exactly.
He had black hair, a deeper black than hers, like his never saw sunlight.
He had paler skin, blue eyes instead of green, a different forehead and chin, a fuller mouth, a rounder face.
But something of her still lived there, in the sharpness of the corners of his mouth. The high cheekbones. The sharp jaw. Something in the hands, too, the way they wrapped around his knees where he sat. The boy’s hands were already bigger, though, and longer-fingered.
And he was skinny, like he’d recently grown a foot without gaining a pound.
Caelum had known what he looked like, of course, but he’d only seen him up close once before the last twelve hours. Also, that first time, the boy had been smaller, younger, and asleep. He was still of that age where every year that passed meant absurdly dramatic changes.
“Arcturus,” Caelum muttered. He rubbed his face with his hand, and tried to stop staring at that familiar-but-not-familiar face. “What are you doing? Why are you awake?”
The boy let out a half-humorous grunt, and that was familiar.
“You know who I am?”
Caelum scowled. “Of course I know who you fucking are. You should sleep.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Well, you should try,” Caelum countered.
“Why are you chained to the wall?” the boy asked. “Aren’t you the one who kidnapped me? I saw you blowing up walls at my school. That was you, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
The kid flinched, but not in fear. From his wide-eyed expression, he was more surprised that Caelum had been honest.
As he continued to stare, Caelum could almost see him thinking.
Something about the sheer transparency of his face was heartbreaking.
“Why are you chained to the wall?” the kid asked, his voice subdued. He swallowed, staring at Caelum’s face, as if wanting to ask something but not sure how. “I saw what that woman did to you. Is that why? Are you still in pain? I could tell it hurt.”
Caelum exhaled, closing his eyes.
Fuck every harpy and monster under the sun-baked earth, how had he become a babysitter, on top of everything else?
He could feel himself avoiding looking at the kid, avoiding staring into his eyes.
He could feel himself avoiding the fact that they’d likely put him in here for a very specific set of reasons.
They wanted him to grow attached. They wanted him to feel responsibility for the kid.
They also wanted to remind him he was responsible.
His father would want him to remember he’d done this.
They’d never let him forget, because she’d never forget it. He’d taken her kid brother out of the Sanctum Occulus, and put him directly in harm’s way.
He’d endangered his life. He’d likely be responsible for his death.
Other realities began to filter into his mind, now that he could think clearly.
In all likelihood, Malefic told Sirena to take Caelum and the kid to the dungeon together and then put on a show to terrify the kid.
Malefic would want that: terrify him, traumatize him, fuck with his head.
He’d want to fuck with both of their heads, by forcing Caelum to think about what the kid had seen.
He’d want Caelum to understand exactly what the situation was now, and the price he’d pay for any whisper of defiance.
There was nothing he could tell the kid to explain.
He wouldn’t have tried, even if he had the words.
“You’re thinking again,” Arcturus remarked.
He motioned vaguely with a hand around Caelum’s face.
“I can see it. You’re thinking about something that’s upsetting you.
” He paused, his eyes sharp as he seemed to be staring at something just out of Caelum’s range of sight.
“What is it?” he asked. “What are you thinking about like that? Is it the woman?”
Caelum exhaled.
He reached up without thinking, and fingered the cold, metal collar around his neck.
After another few seconds of silence, he realized he wasn’t going to sleep.
Clearly, lying on his back and feigning sleep wasn’t going to work with this kid. These fucking Obeah were irritating. They could see too much.
He pulled himself up to a seated position, and leaned against the wall.
Closing his eyes, he fought to think about what he could say, if there was anything he could do to reassure the kid that wouldn’t be a full-blown lie.
“I know your sister,” he said finally.
He immediately regretted saying it.
“You do?” the kid asked eagerly. “How? Are you friends? You and Leda?”
“No,” he said.
Caelum cracked his lids at the silence this produced, and saw the kid staring at him, his mouth pursed, his eyes holding a warier look.
The kid was protective of his sister.
That probably wouldn’t bode well for him here, either.
Before he’d really thought through his reaction, Caelum scowled.
“You’ve got to learn to hide your feelings better than not at all,” he growled.
He went back to closing his eyes when he saw the kid flinch.
“You’ve got the advantage of being able to see things other Magicals can’t.
Ordinary Magicals can’t see you at all, or read your thoughts, or manipulate you through your magic, because of what you are. ”
He raised his head to glare at the kid, motioning towards his face with a hand.
“…And here you are, completely fucking wasting every element of that advantage by wearing every gods-damned thought and emotion on your face like a blaring sign.”
His scowl hardened when the kid blanched.
“Can’t you control your facial expressions at all?” Caelum barked, hating himself for how much like his father he sounded. “Don’t they teach you anything at that fucking school? Or is your entire defense supposed to be hiding underground like a rabbit?”
“You’re in pain.” The kid stared at him, like a light bulb had just gone off. “That’s why you’re being such a dick. Part of it, anyway. You’re scared, too.” He frowned. “What are you afraid of? Is it that woman who was down here? Because you’re really strong.”
The kid shivered, his lips twisted into a grimace.
“She was horrible,” he muttered. “I could see how much you hated it. It was all over your magic. Revulsion. Anger.” He shuddered again.
“That stuff she said to you was really gross. I mean, she’s pretty, but I wouldn’t want her touching me, either.
I’m not even sure what she was doing, other than––”
“You know,” Caelum snapped in annoyance, cutting him off.
“You can notice something about someone without telling them.” At the kid’s silence, he raised his voice.
“You know you’re not in a safe place, right?
You’d have to be a fucking moron not to know, and your sister assures me you’re not that, or anything close to that. ”
At the boy’s startled look, Caelum scowled.
“Why would you tell me you can see that?” he snapped. “If you did that to Sirena she’d likely cut off part of your face. Keep your fucking observations to yourself. All right? Just shut the fuck up about what you see. Don’t tell anyone that stuff. Ever.”
The kid paled even more.
He continued to stare at Caelum, though.
More annoying still, he didn’t look afraid, not of him, anyway.