“No sudden movements now.” The old man crowed, looking overly pleased with himself.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat, eyes darting to the figures surrounding the man as he pressed the tip of the spear against my cheek. A tall man stood a few feet behind him, a grey scarf covering the lower half of his face. The woman I’d heard earlier was still out of view, likely hovering over my hammer on the opposite side of the hole. The other male voice and the girl id heard whimpering were both still unaccounted for.

  “Oh, lass. Did’ya really think we couldna see you?” he barked out a laugh. “Now, why not do us a favor and climb on up here? Slowly.”

  My mouth went dry. I felt like an idiot. How long were they pretending not to see me…and why would they want me to climb up? It would be easiest to kill me right now while I was helpless.

  The spear jabbed further into my cheek as I glanced downward.

  “Nothin for ye down there, lass.” he warned, “come on up, and let’s work this out.”

  Work this out?

  “Is there any chance they let me live?”

  “Not if they want to cash in on the bounty.” Belial answered, solemnly as two portraits popped into view, each of them featuring several skulls along the border that I assumed meant nothing good. “That one with the spear is Godrick, you’re stronger than him, but he’s fast. His dexterity is almost 30. The one behind him is his brother, Godwin. His perception is 47, he likely has augments in his eyes.”

  As he said that I noticed a shine in the man’s pupils. “So that’s how they found me. Why haven’t they killed me yet?”

  “They’re supposed to collect your heart while you’re still alive.”

  “What the—why does she want my heart?” I asked.

  “I think it’s meant to be poetic or something, I don’t know. I told you she was tacky.”

  “My animal.” I shouted up at the men, “you’ll let me release him?”

  “Course we will.” Godrick said, grinning as he pressed a hand against the hardened leather plating on his chest.

  “He won’t, the bounty includes Waffle.”

  I knew that already, I’d only asked to stall for time, but the answer still pissed me off. I tightened my grip around the roots I clung to, rage churning in my gut.

  “If it makes you feel any better, she asked for Waffle to be delivered to her unharmed.”

  Oddly that did make me feel better, but only because of how ridiculous it was. Stealing Waffle was probably meant to be some kind of payback for stealing her husband. I choked out a laugh, drawing a strange look from Godrick, who still held the spear to my face.

  “Something funny?” He asked, tracing the spear up from my cheek to my temple.

  “No. I'm coming up.” I called, straining to meet the old man’s eyes with one side of my face still pressed against the dirt wall.

  As a show of compliance, I lifted a hand towards the root above me, signaling I meant to climb up. Godrick nodded once and pulled his spear back enough to let me move my head.

  “I'm going to drop and run for the tunnels.” I told Belial, hoping he’d object with a better plan.

  He didn’t. I swallowed hard, doubt creeping in as I let go of the root. My stomach floated into my throat as I dropped. Halfway down, my body jerked to a stop, every tendon in my shoulder screaming. A ragged howl burst out of my throat, echoing between the walls as my eyes finally registered the spear pinning me against the dirt wall. Half-spear. The other half still rested in the old man’s grip as he leered down at me, a length of metal chain rattling between both ends.

  “Be-lial,” I choked, praying he could do something.

  “It sliced your lung, I’m healing it.”

  The shaft was slick with blood. My hand slipped, unable to find purchase as I grasped at it, desperate to dislodge it from beneath my collar bone.

  I didn’t have a chance. Before I could tear it free, Godrick twisted the spear’s shaft and the chain snapped taut. Pain detonated in my shoulder like a hundred fishhooks had bloomed there, each barb biting deeper into tendons as I peeled away from the wall. My scream collapsed into a breathless wheeze as the chain reeled me up, inching me towards my killers, all four of them now plainly in view. My eyes flitted between them as they crowded the hole above.

  “It hurts…I can’t think.”

  “I’ll try to filter out the pain.” Belial said. My body went numb, as if he’d doused my agony in water, cooling the feeling into a dull tug. He stopped me as I wrapped both hands around the shaft, about to rip it out. “You can’t, the more you pull the deeper it grows. It’s already cutting through your arteries.”

  “Can’t you heal the damage once I rip it out?”

  “No, you’d die before I could, there’s too many important organs nearby.”

  I stared up at the sick, smiling faces huddled over the hole, maybe ten feet above me now.

  “I’d rather make them work for it.” I muttered, wrapping my hand around the shaft.

  “Hold on, I have an idea. Pretend to be asleep.”

  “What?” Despite the direness of my situation, I almost laughed. “There’s no way that would—”

  “That spearhead is pumping a neurotoxin into you, one that I’m neutralizing. You should be unconscious.”

  That explained why they were taking their time reeling me in, why risk bringing me close while I was awake.

  “How does that help?”

  “Because you can catch them off guard.”

  “That’s your plan?”

  “Just do it. I’ll listen for a good time to strike.”

  I cursed inwardly, knowing it wouldn’t work even as I closed my eyes and let my body go limp. There were four of them, and Godrick was faster than I was. Still, I guessed it was better than suicide if Waffle survived either way. What did that bitch want with him? I tried not to think about it, tears welling behind my eyelids as I felt him still fast asleep at my side.

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  The barbs in my shoulder tugged faintly, followed by an almost imperceptible shift. Now that they thought the neurotoxin was working, they were reeling faster.

  “Wait, Neurotoxin? When I tell you, can you stop--stopping it or whatever?”

  “Why would I—”

  “My pauldrons.” Night air washed over my skin, followed by the rustle of feet. Any second, I’d feel their hands on me.

  “Oh…are you sure? They have a pretty long disclaimer—”

  “Do it now.” I interrupted, feeling both ends of the spear clank together before my body was hoisted upright.

  “Not yet. Don’t worry, they’ll want to lay you down before they remove your heart,” Belial tried to assure me.

  I didn’t bother pointing out how deranged that sounded as my body drifted through the air. My arms swaying as the lipless man lofted me away from the hole. If not for him numbing my senses, I would be in excruciating pain. Instead, I felt strangely peaceful for someone dangling at the end of a spear.

  “You sure she’s out?” Came the woman’s voice from earlier.

  I kept my body slack as she prodded my ribs, listening as she shuffled back uneasily, waiting for Belial’s signal to strike.

  Some vague notion tiptoed through my mind, breaking my concentration. A whisper of wordless intent, asking—pleading for help. At first, I thought it was Belial. It reminded me of when he used his feelings to speak to me, only it was different. Was it that girl? Is this how she felt me? I had no time to dwell on it; too panicked at what the man wielding the spear said next.

  “I’m sure, this nerve agent could knock out anything. Get the animal.”

  Hands fumbled around the pocket, followed by an anxious huff from Waffle that cut deeper into me than the spear had. His paws scratched at my dress as they pulled him away.

  “Shut that thing up.” Another voice said, as Waffle began to squeak.

  I could hear the panic and confusion in his chirps. The need to act burned in my chest, screaming at me to stop them—to do anything other than lie still. This was a mistake. What if they hurt him?

  “Put restraints on her. She has to be conscious while we do this or we don’t get paid.”

  “Belial, do it now!” I shouted in my mind. Something cold clamped onto one of my wrists. I was out of time.

  “Aine if I stop suppressing the toxin and the pauldrons don’t activate—”

  “NOW!”

  Under my pauldrons, I felt dozens of tiny pricks all along both shoulders. Needles, burrowing into my skin, flooding me with warmth. Every fiber of my body felt like it was on fire. I shuddered as an explosion of adrenaline surged, eyes snapping open to a startled Godrick, who still held the spear with both hands.

  Dangling with my feet inches off the ground, I clenched the shaft of the spear and I pulled myself forward, unphased by the cold steel sliding through my wound. Godrick’s lurched forward from the force, his half-lipped mouth gaping as I glided towards him. With one arm I swiped downwards, catching his still-open jaw and tearing it from his face.

  The woman screamed and stumbled backwards, tripping over my hammer with a disoriented Waffle squirming in her hands. Godrick let go of the spear, eyes wide as he reached for his face.

  My heart thundered, the beating so fast it seemed to meld into a single, steady thrum. Belial was shouting in a panic, his words drowned out by an unending scream. Not a scream—a roar. It blared, unrelenting, rattling the air. It took me a moment to realize it was me that was screaming. Movement caught the corner of my eye and I spun around, still skewered by the spear. I felt it catch on something behind me as a turned just in time for a blade to cleave into my side. It’d been an axe. My hand wrapped around its haft, preventing the man from driving it any deeper.

  He tugged frantically, pacing backwards as I moved to close the distance. He finally gave up, releasing the axe and turning to run. I wanted to chase him, to peel the limbs from his body, to feed the rage tingling at the back of my mind. Something jolted me back to my senses and I let him go, realizing there were bigger threats.

  My vision was a haze of red as I spun, ignoring the two weapons still lodged in my flesh. They didn’t hurt. Nothing could hurt me. Another jolt ran through my mind. Doubt? Panic? Why should I panic? I felt incredible, unstoppable. I stared at my clenched fists, feeling like they could shatter a mountain. I was the mountain. The jolt came again and I heard Belial’s voice.

  “AINE. The brother—Godwin!”

  I looked up just as Godwin stood, anger burning in his eyes. He’d been crouched over his brother, who was gurgling on the ground, his throat slit. Had I done that?

  He swung the crossbow over his shoulder, aiming for my head. Someone was laughing, howling, uncontrollably. I realized it was me as a bolt whizzed past my head. The ground shook from an explosion behind me, large enough to make me stumble forward. Godwin stared in disbelief. Even through his scarf I could see the shock and grief on his face, half twisted by rage. He fired again, his bolt sailing wide. How was he missing so badly?

  He stared at the cross bow then back toward me, slamming another bolt in and drawing it back. This was my chance. I had to act before one of those struck me. I only managed three steps before collapsing to my knees, feeling as if something had kicked me in the chest. My lungs refused to fill with air.

  “You’re having a heart attack!” Belial shouted as I gasped, clutching the fabric over my sternum.

  “Can—” I started to choke out loud, unable to form the words. “—you fix it?”

  “I’M TRYING,” He panicked.

  My head swung back, my chest convulsing--jerking outwards as if my heart were trying to leap from my chest. I shuddered again, tremors rattling through me from whatever Belial was doing as I looked to Godwin. I could tell he was trying to focus. He exhaled as he squeezed the trigger. I closed my eyes, expecting to feel a bolt slam between them. Instead, he missed again, the resulting explosion felling a tree somewhere in the distance.

  Enraged, he threw the crossbow aside, unsheathing a dagger and charging—directly into the hole in front of him. A muffled flop sounded from somewhere in the hole just as air spilled back into my lungs. What just happened?

  “I fixed your heart—”

  “Not that.” I swallowed, still clutching my chest as my heart steadied.

  Godwin’s eyes were good. Good enough to spot me in the dark. It made no sense…until I saw her, the girl from earlier. She was standing now, arms tied behind her, long black hair running from beneath the bag over her head. “Did she do that somehow?”

  She turned her head and nodded in that direction. I stared, confused for a moment until I followed her gaze to the woman who’d taken Waffle. He squirmed in one arm, the other trembling as she held a small, curved blade to his throat.

  “Don’t—” I choked, fingers numb as I reached towards them.

  She was almost twenty feet away. Panic pushed me to my feet, only to collapse again, resting on one knee as I noticed the axe still buried in my side. I slid the axe head out with a groan, turning my attention to the rod in my shoulder. Somehow, Belial had already stopped the bleeding.

  “Stay back!” She screamed, pacing backwards as I stood, the spear clattering on the ground behind me after I’d finished pushing it through. She must’ve realized I was too weak to stand, because fear turned to greed in her eyes. “Put the cuff on your other hand!”

  I held out my forearms, giving them a puzzled look as I noticed the one manacle clasped around my wrist. The other dangled open below it.

  “Please—” I started, my voice cracking. “Let him go, and you can take me.”

  Her brow wrinkled and I could tell she was considering it for a moment before finally shaking her head. “I think I’ll have you both, and that creepy bitch over there.”

  The woman nodded to the black-haired girl, who I had to admit, looked extremely unnerving, though I wasn’t sure why. She was still just…standing there, the simple white dress she wore making her look like some kind of spirit. Beneath the moonlight, the parts of her skin I could see were pale, almost glowing a watery jade.

  “She does have a kind of…horror movie quality.” Belial agreed.

  “The cuffs, now!” She woman snarled.

  Waffle screeched, drawing my attention back to her. She pressed the knife hard against his neck. My breath caught at seeing his legs flutter, his tiny eyes bulging as he kicked wildly beneath her forearm.

  “Okay, I’ll do it, please don’t hurt him!” I shouted, showing her my hands.

  I fumbled with the second cuff, trying to force the manacle closed, glancing up to make sure she hadn’t pushed the knife any deeper. Despite Waffle’s attempts to squirm free, she was unnaturally still. Her jaw stuck open the way it had been when she threatened me, as if someone had turned her to stone.

  I blinked, no longer fussing with the cuffs as her entire body began to shake, white foam bubbling from her mouth.

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  Part of me expected her to snap out of it and threaten me again. When she didn’t, I gave the black-haired girl a tentative look.

  “Are you doing that?” I grew even more puzzled when she shook her head and gestured back towards the woman holding Waffle.

  The woman was shaking more violently. Her eyes rolled back into her skull right before she toppled over, hitting the ground like a statue. Dust puffed out from where she landed and I leapt up, rushing towards them as Waffle let out a panicked squeak.

  “I’m here,” I breathed, falling to the woman’s side, feeling weak as I pried her arm away from Waffle.

  Everything started to make sense the moment I noticed the row of little spikes piercing the woman’s sternum. Waffle’s collar had activated.

  I finally let myself breathe, seeing he was unharmed. He was on his back; the spikes still pinning him like an ornament to the woman’s chest. I snorted as he tried to right himself, paws swiping the air in frustration.

  Resisting the urge to tickle him in his moment of weakness, I tugged him free, holding him at arms-length to avoid the spikes. After a moment they began to shrink, morphing like liquid from needled points to their usual blunted shape. I took that as my queue that it was safe to pull him into a hug.

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