Return of the Hunters (The DeathSpeaker Codex Book 4) (22 page)

Acting on pure instinct, I seized the glow inside me and channeled it into my head, with all the clamoring souls. And they started streaming out effortlessly. Almost like I’d drilled a hole in my skull for them to escape.

A terrible roaring screech erupted from the direction of the fight. Reun and the Duchenes flew back all at once, like a bomb had gone off in the center of them, and a completely blood-drenched Legba charged at me from across the square.

But something was wrong. Bits of him were falling off…and skittering away.

His run slowed to a shambling stagger. The closer he got, the more horrifying he looked. Every inch of his skin bubbled and writhed beneath the surface, stretching into impossible shapes and distorting him into something utterly inhuman.

He took one last step that brought him within five feet of me. “
DeathSpeaker
,” he said in a voice like a buzzing hive of hornets. “
You cannot destroy me. I AM.
”

A vast ripple moved through him like an earthquake, loosening his skin and breaking him apart completely—into a giant, squirming pile of bugs.

C
HAPTER 39

I
stared in horror at the heap of bugs, watching it shrink steadily as they crawled, wriggled, squirmed and skittered in every direction.

They were all centipedes. Some of them were those nasty three-foot horrors, and a few were even bigger. Tons of smaller ones, countless writhing black worms with far too many bristling legs, all tangled together and crawling blindly over one another as they trundled off.

The others had picked themselves up and were moving slowly across the square, their expression reflecting the same horrified disgust I felt. For a few minutes, Congo Square seemed to be paved with a living carpet of centipedes.

At last the heap dissipated. And where Legba had stood was the biggest, nastiest bug of them all.

The thing was fish-belly white, gleaming sickly, and at least eight feet long. It was impossible to tell the real size of it, because it was coiled like a rattler. The head lifting from the center of the coil sported grotesquely oversized pincher mandibles and huge, milk-blue filmed eyes. Blind eyes.

It rose up slowly until it towered over me. A strident chittering sound split the air.

All the scattering centipedes abruptly changed direction and began to slither back to the host.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” I groaned.

He was reforming. Again.

Reun and the Duchenes ran the rest of the way, crushing some of the bugs in their wake. But it didn’t seem to slow things down—if anything, the centipedes slithered faster, hundreds of legs propelling them toward Papa Bug to be absorbed into the growing, mutating monstrosity. The more bugs it sucked in, the bigger it got.

We gathered in a tight group, and started backing away slowly.

“What the hell are we supposed to do?” I shouted in sheer frustration. “This thing won’t die. And my spark’s just about gone.”

“Mine as well,” Reun said.

Denei frowned sharply. “We all ’bout tapped out. Maybe somebody ought to set that thing on fire.”

The creature loomed large now, slithering toward us with wicked intent. It reached the center of the smudged chalk summoning circle and let out a bubbling shriek, almost like it was hurt. Its forward momentum slowed, but it didn’t stop.

Reun drew himself straight and walked forward calmly, staring the monster straight in its blind eyes. “There is still power here, in this circle,” he said. “You can feel it burning you.”

I recognized that hypnotic tone. The same one he’d used against me in the subway.

And it was working.

The Legba-thing screamed. There was a hissing sound, and smoke curled from its corpse-white flesh. It lunged at Reun, but he sidestepped casually out of range. “You cannot leave this circle,” he said. “You are trapped here, and you will burn as you break apart.”

More hissing, more smoke. More unearthly screams. A handful of foot-long centipedes squirmed loose from the main body and crawled away, bursting into flames mid-skitter. The thing got a little smaller as it lost bugs. But not much.

Reun backed up a step, shaking with effort. “I cannot hold it for long,” he said. “Somehow, we must destroy it.”

We can’t.

I thought it, but I refrained from saying it aloud. Because I had an idea.

Maybe we didn’t
have
to kill it.

“Reun,” I said as I walked into the circle. “Do you remember where the Mists are now?”

He stared at me. His eyes registered confusion—and then understanding. “Aye.”

I nodded. “Do it.”

When Reun moved back and raised a hand to open the Veil, the Legba-creature let out a bubbling cry of triumph. It was free of the mind control. I was trying to decide what spell to throw at it when Zoba flew past me and tackled the beast.

His strained grunt said
I’ll hold it. Do your thing.

I glanced at Reun and saw the shimmering rip in the air beside him. Thick green smoke churned a silent storm at the center of it. Breathing hard, Reun went down to one knee and held a shaking hand out. The shimmer pulsed and faded. “Gideon…I’ve not enough power to hold it open,” he said. “You must stabilize the portal. Keep the Veil parted.”

Jagged panic struck me as I moved toward him. I didn’t know how to do that. I tried to remember what he said before, something about channeling the flame through my hand.

The flame of my spark.

There wasn’t much left, but I called on it and pushed it through my outstretched arm, into the rip inches away. “Throw that bastard in!” I called.

A series of thuds and scrapes sounded as Zoba dragged the wriggling monstrosity over. He let out a fierce growl, and drove a fist into the giant bug’s nightmare of a face. The crack of the impact was louder than thunder.

What was left of Legba flew into the green fog.

A violent shudder wracked my entire body. “Okay,” I gasped. “How do I close this thing?”

“Gideon,
watch out!
”

Reun’s shout barely registered before I saw the thick tendrils of emerald smoke pouring through the portal to wrap around my arm.

The whole world vanished in a blink.

C
HAPTER 40

I
was livid. All that effort, and I still ended up dead. Sucked right into the Mists. I was nowhere, surrounded by drifting green fog that was somehow solid enough to support me sitting in the middle of it. If I was alive, this would be impossible.

But I didn’t
feel
dead.

Okay, maybe I had no idea how being dead was supposed to feel. But I figured I wouldn’t have this much anger in me, and I wouldn’t be completely banged up and exhausted. Or still breathing.

“
Well met, DeathSpeaker.
”

That was a Fae greeting—and it wasn’t in my head. It came from all around me, like the Mists were speaking.

It was the same voice I’d heard calling me in Arcadia.

“Hello?” I said tentatively. “Who are you?”

“
I am Kelwyyn.
”

Holy shit. The previous DeathSpeaker. “Er, didn’t you die?” I said. “Damn. That means I’m probably dead, too.”

“
I am not dead. I am…transformed.
”

I frowned. “Into what?”

The fog in front of me started thickening, shaping itself into something vaguely human. The form gained definition and color. Soon, it was a Fae. He wore no glamour, and was dressed in black and silver. Tunic, breeches, boots, cape. Pale lavender skin, pointed ears, long triple-jointed fingers with claws instead of nails. His eyes matched his clothing—black, ringed with silver—and dark brown hair lay in a long braid over his right shoulder that reached his waist.

Kelwyyn smiled. “I believe I have become the Mists,” he said. “Of course, I cannot be certain of this, as there’s no one else here to explain it.”

“Jesus Christ,” I said. “All this time, you’ve been…alive? Well, sort of?”

“Aye. I know not why, but here I have remained, while all others perished.”

The thought left me cold. “So people have died in the Mists, then.”

“They have.” His features grew somber. “I can do nothing for them,” he said. “Though I’ve some control over this…entity, it is not complete. The Mists continue to drift, always.”

“And you’re stuck here,” I said. “Couldn’t someone in Arcadia magic you out, though? I mean, there has to be a spell for that.”

Kelwyyn shook his head. “You are the only living being I’ve been able to communicate with. And even if there was such a spell…I’ve my doubts any Arcadian would want me released, after what I’ve done.”

“Hey, what you did was justified.” Fresh anger filled me as I recalled Nyantha’s story. “I’m really sorry about your daughter.”

“Thank you.”

I started to get up, but then I remembered I was sitting on fog. “Um. If I stand, will I fall through this stuff?” I said.

He laughed softly. “I believe you are safe. Otherwise, I’d not have brought you to this place,” he said. “It seems the DeathSpeaker alone is immune to the effects of the Mists.”

“Right.” I wasn’t exactly convinced. But I put my hands down and pushed, and they didn’t sink into the smoke. After a disconcerting few minutes, I managed to gain my footing. I was okay if I didn’t look down. “So I’m immune to this stuff?” I said.

“Aye…to an extent.” Kelwyyn glanced up at the endless green fog. “As I mentioned, there is no one to explain how it all works. But I believe if you were to remain here too long, you would be incorporated into the Mists, as I have been.”

I definitely didn’t want to be incorporated. “How long is too long?” I said.

“I’ve no idea. That is why I must do this quickly.”

“Er. Do what?”

“Give you the Word.”

Before I could say
what word
, he pressed a palm to my forehead.

A blinding red flash went off behind my eyes. It felt like he’d driven a heated spike straight through my skull, into the center of my head. I didn’t have time to scream before he removed his hand, and the pain came away with it.

Except for a dull, pounding ache deep in my skull, like there was a pebble embedded in my brain.

“What did you do to me?” I gasped.

“I am sorry. The pain will fade, in time,” he said. “That was the only way—the Word is too dangerous to speak aloud when there is no intended target.”

Jesus. Now I knew what word he was talking about.

The one that could rip a soul from a living body and instantly destroy it.

I couldn’t hold back a shudder. “Why did you give me that?” I said. “I can’t…”

A frown creased his features. “You need not use it, and perhaps you’ll find that it will never be necessary. I would thank the gods if that came to be,” he said. “But I have sensed a great evil in the world, gathering strength. Far more powerful than the one I defeated centuries ago. And this evil…it does not know it yet, but it is seeking you, DeathSpeaker.”

Every inch of my skin broke out in gooseflesh. “Seeking me for what?”

“To destroy all of Creation.”

Okay, that was too much to even consider. “Are you sure about that?” I said.

“Unfortunately, I’m quite certain,” Kelwyyn said. “Perhaps this evil will never rise to power. There are always events that cannot be seen. But if it does…you will have the Word.” He gestured at my head. “And when the time comes, you will know how to use it.”

“Great,” I muttered. “Can’t wait.”

A smile played on his lips. “I like you very much, DeathSpeaker. You are…refreshing.”

“Thanks. I think.”

“And now I must return you to your world.” Kelwyyn stepped back and started to fade, unraveling at the edges. Reverting to the Mists. “
You hold the key to salvation,
” he said, his voice echoing all around me. “
Guard it well, and remain true to yourself. You are stronger than you know.
”

Green fog billowed thickly, pressing in from all sides. Blinding me.