Below the Surface

Chapter Thirteen

Tessa wanted to throw up, the presence of evil around her was so strong. But she held onto a nerve of steel, knowing Marcus would sooner die than show ‘Sin Garu a hint of fear. If the River Prince could do it, then by God his affai could be as brave. And the hot-tempered redhead inside her refused to back down.

Besides, looking bored drove Michael Davis crazy. The stupid, egocentric Djinn. Staring at him as he glared at her, she superimposed this face, the pretty one, over the ugly, narcissistic, gnome-like mask she’d traded insults with for the past six months.

“You have no idea how much I itched wearing that short, ugly little costume of a man,” Davis said, his voice no longer nasal, but deep and commanding. He shot her an assessing leer.

Well, not everything about him had changed.

“Were it not for my lord ‘Sin Garu, I’d have fucked you ten ways from tomorrow and made you bleed, and bleed some more.” He chuckled, his words all the more disgusting coming from such a handsome mouth. She should have known better, but Tessa had a hard time putting his gorgeous looks together with such an obscene personality.

And speaking of obscene…she turned to note the notorious ‘Sin Garu staring at her unblinkingly from just a few feet away.

They occupied a cramped living room belonging to Davis, the inhuman Djinn capable of becoming anyone. She’d almost lost her last meal, that pitiful candy bar Jonas had given her earlier, when he changed into the old Davis right before her eyes in the car.

His skin had melted like wax, his bones crunching and breaking as if in the maw of a monster, and he’d reformed slowly and with a large amount of mess, as evidenced by the blood-soaked car seat. Uncaring in the slightest, once changed he’d escorted both her and the sorcerer to his mangy apartment in Freemont. Once inside, he’d changed back, bloodily, making her want to cringe.

“Why not let me taste the prize, my lord?” Davis asked ‘Sin Garu with surprising deference. “I promise to leave few scars, just enough to ensure her worthiness to the great and future king of Tanselm.”

She snorted, unable to resist. “Why don’t you just kiss his ass already and get it over with?”

Death surely stared at her through Michael Davis’ eyes, but his extreme irritation did a small part to soothe that piece of her needing to hurt him in any way possible. She’d disliked Davis from day one, and now she knew why.

‘Sin Garu laughed at Davis’ boiling rage. “Well, Michael, I’ll agree she’s a pleasure to look at, even for an awkward xiantope. Oh, I’m sorry, Tessa, how rude. Xiantope is what we call those of you from the primitive, non-magic worlds.”

He nodded at Davis. “She has a knack for reading people, ferreting their strengths and weaknesses. She had you pegged from the beginning.” The sorcerer smiled, showing too many teeth. “Well, she didn’t know what you were, but she knew enough of you to be wary, didn’t she?”

Davis clenched his jaw tight and took another step towards Tessa.

“She bothers you, doesn’t she?” ‘Sin Garu baited, but Davis only shrugged. “Oh, what the hell. You’ve earned it, and I daresay I’ll enjoy watching the two of you. Such unfettered beauty,” he muttered, his eyes dark with what Tessa could only describe as hunger.

The fear she’d successfully been suppressing bubbled to the surface when she read the sheer pleasure on Davis’ face.

“Strip, melea,” he sneered.

“Melea means whore,” ‘Sin Garu translated.

“Thanks for being so helpful,” she snapped, using every bit of anger in her to overcome the fear making her knees shake. Though she’d been obnoxious to both of them since they’d spirited her out of the lobby doors, neither had lifted a hand to touch or harm her, yet.

“If you wanted me to strip you, melea, all you had to do was ask,” Davis said and drew closer, his intent to hurt her plain on his face.

“Get back, you freak. I’ll do it.” She glared at him and slowly removed her hair pins. Stall, stall. Marcus, where the hell are you?

“Ah, such fire, such magnificent tresses,” ‘Sin Garu said with a sigh. “I like it better down.”

“Yeah.” Davis sneered. “That way when you’re on your knees sucking me off, I can manage your head with those sleek red reins.”

Apparently, his crudity excited the sorcerer, for a brilliant lust flared in ‘Sin Garu’s eyes, and the bulge between his thighs became prominently visible.

Great, Tessa thought, terrified and trying to hold it back. Rape by two evil creatures was certainly worse than by one. How the hell am I going to get out of this?

She didn’t have long to wait on her answer. The minute Davis lunged at her, the moment his hand touched her flesh, a film of water rushed from her shoulder to cover his hand and every pore of his body. He coughed and gagged, struggling to breathe as he fell to his knees. But the water would not relent. A thin sheet, it looked almost like a wrapping of cellophane in which Davis had become entangled, except that it moved and shimmered like an unearthly spa wrap.

She watched in horror as Davis choked to death on water that appeared from out of nowhere. Instinctively, she knew she had Marcus to thank for the show.

“Very impressive.” ‘Sin Garu nodded, pleased. “I hadn’t expected such dramatic fanfare, a simple protection spell would have sufficed. But Marcus outdid himself.”

Tessa stared at him, still coming to grips with the now-dead Djinn on the floor. Davis lay staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, his mouth bubbling into the thin film that had suffocated him to death.

“You knew something like this would happen?” She turned to ‘Sin Garu.

He shrugged. “Why not? I would have done the same in Marcus’ place. Apparently he’s claimed you.” He stared at her, his eyes seeming to glow for a brief moment. “And you’ve accepted him. Tsk, tsk. I’m disappointed in you, Tessa. I didn’t expect you to be so easy.”

She flushed and he grinned, a dark smile that sent shudders down her spine. He looked hungry, and despite his monstrous fangs and clear intent to hurt and no doubt kill her, his power was incredibly seductive. She shivered. How she could find anyone as horrible as ‘Sin Garu appealing was beyond her comprehension, and the longer she stared, the wider he smiled, as if he understood her dilemma.

“Have no worries, Tessa,” he said gently and stood, stretching out his long limbs. “I won’t hurt you, much.” He approached until he stood a hair’s breadth from her. Reaching out a long, pointed finger, he ran the nail parallel to her cheek, close but not touching.

He seemed pleased when she clenched her jaw and refused to glance away. “I’m really going to enjoy you, Tessa.” He sounded surprised. “But we have much to do before we can succumb to pleasure. First I need to see what you and the Storm Lords are really made of.”

Striving to overcome her fear, she focused her nervous energy on ‘Sin Garu, imagining shoving him hard against the wall and away from the door. She could feel energy pulsing around her, a conscious effort to use the telekinesis that dwelled within Marcus, but to her disappointment nothing happened.

‘Sin Garu, however, looked entirely too pleased. “Excellent. You’ve harnessed outside psychic abilities, just as I had suspected. But I wonder just how much elemental power you’ve absorbed from the Storm Lords.” He reached forward until his palm was a whisper away from touching her cheek, then stopped. “But not here. There’s not enough room.” He shook his head. His expression turned crafty and he pointed at the door. “Run, Tessa. Just to make it interesting, let’s see how fast and far you can go before I find you.”

She wasn’t about to waste the opportunity. Without a backward glance, she threw open the front door and vaulted out into…nothingness.

Marcus flashed back to the house with Aerolus, his heart beating so strenuously he prayed he’d live long enough to save Tessa from ‘Sin Garu.

“I really hate teleporting.” He glared at Aerolus, knowing he had no right to snap at his brother, but his anger kept him just this side of sane. “Cadmus,” he roared.

“I’m right here.” Cadmus appeared in the foyer sounding as annoyed and discomfited as Marcus felt. “Quit shouting, you’re only adding to my headache.”

“Cadmus,” Aerolus warned, apparently seeing what Cadmus was too dense to realise.

Striving hard to keep himself in control of his emotions lest he flood and destroy everything in his sight, Marcus stared directly into his brother’s brown eyes. “Where. Is. She?” he asked in measured tones.

Cadmus’ eyes widened. “Damn it, cut it out, you’re seriously spooking me.”

Everything around Marcus looked hazy, and eerily, distortingly blue. It was as if the world in which he stood existed, but was buffered by a wall of murky, pulsing water, a liquid world of life and death. He focused his will and his vision cleared, though he still felt as if he stood in water.

“Take me to her, brother,” he commanded Aerolus, conscious his voice sounded off, muffled.

“Control it, Marcus, until you know when to release it,” Aerolus said quietly. “You’re more powerful now than you’ve ever been, and you’re going to need it. Unfortunately, we can’t summon Arim or Darius. Don’t ask questions, there’s no time. I’ll explain it all later, after we’ve rescued Tessa. Both of you, take my hands.” Marcus and Cadmus grabbed him. “Whatever you do, Cadmus, let Marcus lead today.”

“No problem.” Cadmus stared at Marcus with both pride and awe. “Now that waterboy’s back in control, with any luck, he’ll kill the sorcerer and you and I can go home without any affai. Ow.” He glared at their joined hands, then at Aerolus. “What the hell was that for?”

“Focus on the now, Cadmus. Tessa’s life is in danger.”

Cadmus grimaced. “We all know that, Aerolus. But thanks again for pointing that out. Don’t worry, Marcus,” he said seriously. “One way or the other, your affai will leave in one piece with you.”

Marcus nodded, aware Cadmus meant it—that he would sacrifice himself, if need be, to save Tessa and Marcus. “As long as Tessa is safe, that’s all that matters.” His eyes glinted as he stared at his siblings, the men he loved with an intensity that could never be described by mere words. “Be careful, and if I tell you to step back and let me handle the sorcerer, do it.”

Expecting Cadmus to argue, he was surprised when his brother merely nodded. “Well,” Marcus said with a deep breath, his voice sure even if a small part of him teetered on uncertainty, “let’s go.”

Would the pain never stop? Tessa clutched her aching head and glared at ‘Sin Garu, who looked none too pleased with her either.

“If you don’t engage the next one before it reaches that line, I’ll let it and its brethren have you. Really, Tessa, these sentiments of morality are aggravating in the extreme.” He pointed at her and murmured something, and Tessa’s skull felt as it would split in two. “Do as I command, unless you’d rather we retire early?” His expression turned thoughtful as he studied her body from top to bottom, his eyes coming to rest on her breasts.

Stifling an instinctive shudder, she said through clenched teeth, “Fine, I’ll do it. But you’d better pray I never get loose. The minute you turn your back you’re a dead man.”

As soon as the words left her mouth she knew her angry bravado had been a mistake. The sorcerer laughed, the first sincere chuckle she’d heard while in his presence. Then he neared her and leaned close. His breath was both sweet and repulsive, as if it contained whispers of corruption amidst promises of unimaginable desire.

“I’m grateful for the warning, melea,” he said softly and grabbed a hunk of her hair, gripping it in one enormously strong hand. Unlike the Djinn, ‘Sin Garu encountered no repercussions from touching her since arriving in this place, wherever this was. She, however, felt burned with cold where his fingers touched her scalp. “When I’m burrowed deep inside that delectable body, then we’ll see how much you really care.” He yanked her neck to the side and licked her just under her ear, making her whimper at the soul-numbing pain.

“What’s wrong, melea? Don’t you like my touch?” His grip on her hair tightened for a moment before he pushed her away. “Now meet the wraith and draw on its energies unless you want a true taste of my desire.”

Shivering in the gloomy, rock-walled chamber, she nodded just to get him away from her. Seeing her compliance, he stepped back and resumed his seat in a massive red chair that reminded her uneasily of a throne. Sibilant whispers sounded from the dark while flashes of movement surrounded her. Save for the single torch directly over her head, floating there courtesy of ‘Sin Garu, the rest of the large room lay in shadows and darkness.

The sorcerer raised one brow, awaiting her interaction with the approaching monstrosity. Angry with herself for being such a wuss, she nevertheless had no desire to step anywhere near the sorcerer. She’d take her chances with the wraith. While she could stand ‘Sin Garu’s threats and even the migraine-like headaches his experiments and spells produced, touching him had been a like a window into her own version of hell.

The wraith approached, commanding her attention, its bald head unsteady on its papery-thin neck. It looked unnervingly like a skeleton with too many vertebrae. Like the others she’d been forced to encounter, this wraith also had yellow and black mottled skin, large white eyes without pupils or irises, and a mouth of sharp, black, shark-like teeth.

“I’m going to digest you for the next three days,” it hissed softly and began weaving in front of her, a riveting dance of intricate steps that transfixed her as it scuttled closer. Dangerously closer. Before it could do any damage, however, she drew on the memory of Marcus, the talisman she’d been warding thus far in her trip to Twilight Hell. To this point it had worked. The love she felt for him overwhelmed all other feeling, leaving her able to defend and defeat her attackers, with the exception of ‘Sin Garu.

Not wanting to dwell on his obvious threat and praying for Storm Lord intervention before the sorcerer turned his personal attention on her again, she focused on the ravenous wraith before her, opening herself to absorb its energy.

At once her fascination with its dance stopped and a fierce need to kill overtook her. Like falling into a vat of oil, the sensation of contamination oozed over her every pore. She felt a hunger fiercer than the other creatures she’d been forced to combat, and the need to contain that hunger increased the power she squeezed inside.

“No, no, no,” the sorcerer said with disgust. “I want you to let it all out. Or as you pitiful xiantopes would say, stop fucking around.” His arctic blue glare promised retribution if she failed to comply.

It was a wraith, after all, she told herself. Should she fail, it would, as it promised, devour her. Still, the idea of taking a life felt wrong. She knew it was necessary, but the thought of destroying a living being left her feeling decidedly tainted, as if by killing others, even in self-defence, she had somehow crossed to the dark side.

With more a groan than growl, she let go of her inhibitions and proceeded to destroy the creature intent on her annihilation. She directed a wealth of the wraith’s energy immediately back on itself, using its own hunger to ravage its strength until it fell to its hands and knees.

Wielding telekinesis as if born to the task, she mentally pummeled the wraith across the stone floor and against the walls, unable to stem the dark energy seething within her, begging for release. A high-pitched squeal sounded as she threw the wraith over ‘Sin Garu’s throne. It must have hit someone, or something, that loitered in the chamber.

Unfortunately, the bloodied wraith, now her weapon, continued to pound at the creatures that peeked between the shadows, the wraith’s destructive energies causing her to use it as such. Inhuman shrieks and screams abounded in the dark, mixing with the sorcerer’s sinister laughter. Tessa felt like a prisoner in a madhouse.

When the wraith was no more than a lump of bloody pulp, like the other wraiths she’d unwillingly decimated, she released it at ‘Sin Garu’s feet. And similar to the other casualties, this body was soon ripped apart and devoured by hazy, spider-like creatures that appeared out of nowhere.

Soon only a stain remained where the wraith had lain, and the reality of her battles settled heavily upon her. The confusing feelings of both triumph and disgust, excitement and weariness, warred for supremacy, making Tessa exhausted all at once. She wavered on her feet, and not surprisingly, her strength left her as suddenly as it had come. Stumbling, she fell hard on her knees, gasping at the pain.

“Not again.” ‘Sin Garu snorted with disgust. “For months you refused to succumb to a Storm Lord, ignoring both his obvious sexuality and magical allure. Your tenacity against Marcus showed an inner strength I’ve yet to see here.”

He grimaced, his beautiful features pinched, yet in no way ugly. “How can you wield such power against the wraiths and be so weak afterward, when you have the potential to be so much greater?” He seemed to be talking as much to himself as to her, and she had to focus on his face to keep it from blurring.

Squatting down to meet her at eye level, he put a hand under her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “Tessa?” he said softly, making her wish she had the energy to worry about what he wanted now.

“What?” she rasped, praying he would soon tire of his games, simultaneously longing for and dreading Marcus’ arrival. She loved him, wanted him near, but didn’t want him in danger. Not at the hands of this merciless devil who wanted nothing more than to make Marcus suffer.

‘Sin Garu reached for her hands and slowly brought her to her feet. It was agony to stand, her mind splintering at the effort to hold herself apart from him when she needed so much to lean on someone. As before, where he touched her she felt bone-numbing cold, but as miserable as she was, the small pain was more an afterthought.

“Tessa,” he began, staring deep into her eyes with an intensity that alarmed her. “I fear I’ve gone about this entirely wrong.” He broke contact to walk around her, eying her from different angles. She refused to follow him, knowing to do so would have her crumbling to the grungy floor.

He smiled and inwardly she flinched. “You’re an intelligent woman, and much more aggressive than the Prince of Fire’s affai. Perhaps if I explain a few things, you’ll understand why I appear to be in the wrong, when in fact, I and my people are the injured party here.”

She blinked in astonishment. Did he seriously think she would listen to anything he said with an open mind after torturing her for what felt like days?

“Sit.” He motioned to a chair that suddenly appeared at her back and nudged at her knees. Dropping into it, she waited, trying like hell to regain her strength.

“You know only what the Storm Lords have told you, and in my error I treated you like one of them, even knowing you should not be held accountable for your ignorance.”

Oh, gee, thanks for being so noble. Does that mean you’re not going to rape and kill me now? She bit her lip, wanting to light into him but for once refusing to give in to her temper.

“The Storm Lords are but one facet of Tanselm’s history. The true believers, the ones who made Tanselm what it is today, a world of magic and promise, are the Dark Lords.”

“Dark Lords?”

He nodded, seeming to appear thoughtful. But the conniving glint lurking in his gaze gave him away. What did he hope to accomplish by telling her any of this? According to Marcus and his brothers, most humans from a world with ‘no magic’ weren’t worthy of the great ‘Sin Garu’s time. Just her luck he found her interesting.

“The Dark Lords were my people, and we once ruled Tanselm. Warriors, sorcerers, healers and academics. People like the Light Bringers, people like you, even. Our scholars, in fact, are still mentioned in the Light Bringer texts as men and women of great renown.”

She blinked, not having expected ‘Sin Garu to sound so matter-of-fact, as if he were reciting a passage from a history text. The minute he’d said Dark Lords, she’d imagined a legion of wraiths and worse tearing up Tanselm.

“And the wraiths?”

“Unfortunate souls trapped in the tug of war between the Dark and the Light. They were once as you and I, but encountered a dreaded curse, and today they are only as wraith.”

“The Netharat.”

He scowled. “What the Storm Lords call those diseased with madness. I control them through spells and thought, because I thought I might find a place for them in our world. But the Storm Lords call them foul beings and evil creatures, because of the way they feed and their preference for the dark.

“They cannot help that they need flesh and blood to survive. The curse brought them to this. But they were innocent bystanders in a battle that should only have affected the lords of Dark and Storm.” Icy rage resounded through his voice, and despite her belief ‘Sin Garu was trying to manipulate her, she could feel the real rage in him at what he said.

He raised his hands, in frustration, then supplication as he startled her with a simple apology. “I do not ask you to believe me. I’ve treated you so wrong, done to you what the Storm Lords have done to the Netharat.” He lowered his gaze, his lips flat. “I cannot express to you how sorry I am that my hatred brought me to this.”

Oddly enough, she was starting to feel a smidgen of compassion for him. There were two sides to every story, so perhaps there was more to Marcus’ tale than he and his brothers had shared with her. ‘Sin Garu seemed so sincere, and that scared the shit out of her.

He just put you through hours of torture killing those he supposedly pities, her conscious shouted. But a strange inability to differentiate truth from lie settled over her like a fog, clouding her sense of judgement.

Was the sorcerer using some sort of spell to make her indecisive? But if he could do that, why not just make her believe him and not Marcus?

“All of this must seem ridiculous in light of the way I’ve treated you. But had you come to me first, without the influence of the River Prince,” he said with disdain, “you might be fighting with me instead of against me. Darkness is not evil, light is not necessarily always good.” He paused, his white face gleaming under a sudden shimmering of light above him.

“The illumination is uncomfortable for me, but not because I am evil, but because of the way I’m made.” His eyes grew shuttered as he watched her. “You have probably been told the Netharat, like me, are evil. Wraiths, Shadren, even the Djinn, I suppose.”

Shadren? Great, another evil faction she hadn’t yet met?

“While Michael Davis was certainly unbalanced, not all Djinn are bad. The Djinn are a handsome race, intelligent, and unfortunately for them, more comfortable in the dark than in the light.”

He waved his hands and incanted under his breath, and suddenly she and he stood once again in Michael Davis’ stark living room. Davis’ body was nowhere in sight, but his house stank of death and decay.

“Here we see the Djinn for what he was, an individual wanting to help me even the score against the Storm Lords. Yet all Djinn are not evil,” he ended quietly.

The front door banged open so suddenly Tessa shrieked in surprise. Expecting Marcus, she stared wide-eyed as Jonas charged through.

His eyes alight with fear and what looked like anger, he stared at her and ‘Sin Garu together before closing the door behind him.

“Tessa, come here to me,” he said calmly, not questioning the stranger behind her, or her presence in Davis’ home.

“You see,” ‘Sin Garu said softly as he moved to stand at her back. “Some Djinn are simply good men who care.”