13. Scythe

Chapter 13

Scythe

I visit Marduk in the motel he's staying at in town. Ernie, one of the Forklift Twins, takes me in the black Jeep I got him on his second year anniversary working for me. As I sit in the passenger seat, I keep my breaths slow and measured.

In the time between my tasting of Aurelia's blood and now, the two apparitions that follow me have spawned until they became a group of malevolent beings. Their collective chanting voices fill my ears on a near constant basis and it takes an unreasonable amount of concentration to carry a normal conversation.

Any beast who swore themselves to me did so by offering me their blood. It was the most complete form of submission—to have a taste of their life force and thus for me and my shark to have complete control over them. They would never be able to conceal themselves nor any falsehood from me.

But taking Aurelia's blood had been a pleasurable mistake. It had been a catalyst for my land psychosis and I had a bad feeling that it won't simply fade away. I am forced to turn cold, shut off my emotions and let my animus lead in order to focus.

When we arrive at the motel, I find Marduk pacing in his room, his scent wild and impatient.

"You have been excruciatingly mum on any details, shark-friend," he states flatly.

I take one of the plush seats by the small dining table. "For her protection, you understand, of course."

Marduk turns on his heel away from me to pour us drinks, an aura of red and black pulsing around his frame. This is the first time Marduk has ever been irritated with me and I must tread carefully.

"There is a slight complication."

"Yes, I know him," Marduk says, stoppering the whiskey. "I've not threatened him yet either. Very unlike me."

It really is.

Marduk turns back around, his eyes sparkling. "See? I'm already changed by being so close to her. I am not even in her presence and I feel as if I am born again."

If I were a different beast, born under different circumstances, his words might have made me smile.

"We need it confirmed by Yeti."

"Then lead me to him."

"That's the other complication," I say. "He's currently locked up. The new administration supports the Old Way."

Marduk makes a noise of contempt. "As do I, however, there are aspects of the Old Way that should be left behind. Someone needs to explain this to him."

I take a measured breath, exhaling slowly as I recall my last conversation with the new deputy headmaster. If he were any other order, his days would be numbered. The considerable power in his blood complicates things.

" Scythe, " Marduk places heavy emphasis on my name. "The longer that phoenix is in your school, the longer she is in danger."

"Which ‘she'?"

" Your she. The Lady Boneweaver." He swirls his glass around. "Does she know about?—"

"Not yet. There is the pressing matter of her coming out."

He nods slowly, contemplating this. "She is but a debutante, in a dark, dark world. She could never wear a dress of white. It would have to be black."

I'd always imagined her in dark blue to match her eyes when fierce. Like the deep sea before a storm, but even that colour isn't quite right for the impact I desire. "There is the other matter of Sabrina Panthera."

Marduk's face turns grave, and I know he's thinking about Titus Clawson and his role in Sabrina's kidnap. "It may get messy."

"It's always messy," I muse. "In one way or another."

"There is a foul essence in the air, shark-friend," Marduk says, staring out the window to the street below. "And I do not like what it will bring."

Fear stirs in my arteries and it takes me all of a second to realise it's not my own. I know my blood connection to Aurelia is going to allow me to feel certain things, but this level of panic is unexpected.

And then it's my own anger, a whip of icy wind lashing strong enough to make me jump to my feet.

Marduk goes still, before also rising to his feet as Xander's droll voice stalks into my brain, followed by a nervous request for communication from Raquel, my new broadcaster. I listen to what they both have to say, feeling my blood pressure rise with each passing second.

I take a deep breath to steady myself and thank the Wild Goddess that Savage is not here right now.

Marduk waits for me, keenly searching my face. "I long for a connection such as this," he murmurs. "What ails your pack?"

Swirling my whiskey glass, I consider my options. Of the two of us, Savage is the shit-stirrer. In the past few years, I've been the problem solver. But before that, I'd done my fair share of shit stirring too.