Chapter 9: Lucas - Bound to Ruin

MONUMENT PARK, PROTECTED LAND, DELORNIA

The circle dumps me out on a slate platform surrounded by thick fog. I turn slowly, my threads retracting.

I step off the platform, and the crunching of the frozen grass echoes in the thick fog. Awareness prickles painfully along my skin and my gut twists. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something off about this place. It could be all the clashing magic from the weavers fighting, but I’m not taking any chances. My fingers ripple, and my threads line the bottom of my boots. Now I make no noise on the grass and leave behind no prints as I make my way towards the center of the park, where Antonia’s statue would be. Where Tori said she would be.

The moment I find her, I am going to convince Jinx to kidnap her with me so we can finally leave this doomed city. Tori is going to hate it and want to stay and salvage our shop, but it’s time to start afresh elsewhere. Maybe somewhere warm and far away from any Order settlements.

The grass disappears beneath my feet and a circular slab takes its place. I pause, an odd sensation crawling up my spine to linger on the back of my neck. Where Tor can use her senses to identify magic, I need my rings to do it. My rings glitter in the darkness, and I suck in breath. Dark magic.

Oh shit, this is potent stuff.

Finally, Antonia’s white marble statue comes into view. Her finger points threateningly at the city, but there is something different about her. There’s a dripping from the eyes that is more localized than pooling water from the fog.

I wave my hand back and forth. The fog swirls, the darkness forced back by my brightening rings. A ripple quivers over the statue. An illusion?

My threads lash out, piercing deep into the magic’s web and tearing through it. The illusion falls away in long strips, like a picture being ripped apart. I don’t understand what I’m seeing at first, the shock stealing all thought as my jaw drops.

The love of my life’s face, encased in white stone, is stretched in a scream of agony, her wide eyes pouring a dark liquid that drips down her warped chest as if someone has ripped her heart out. But where her heart is supposed to be lies Jinx, curled in a tight ball around Tori’s exposed rib bones to keep her safe.

I suck in a breath. “Tor.”

Astoria’s stone pupils move, and I choke on air when our gazes meet. She’s alive. A bellow of grief-stricken agony builds in my chest, but I choke it down. The iron will and cold detachment that served me so well when indentured to the Amur Guild are hard to draw upon, but I have no choice. I can’t fall apart now. I need to break her free.

My throat works rhythmically, and I whisper roughly, “Hold on, Tor.”

My threads wind around and around the statue, delicately probing until the curse’s web lights up before me. There’s some sort of tether hooked into her heart, like a fishing line. My threads inspect it delicately, fearful of tripping an alarm and alerting whoever did this to Tori. The tether pulses almost like… a heart? No. My threads probe a little firmer.

The pulses remind me of a throat gulping, but I can’t quite figure out what it is drawing from her. It doesn’t matter. Someone is using this tether to feed upon my sweet Torment.

I sway as blinding-hot rage floods me as Tori stares at me in anguish.

The tether can lead me to whoever cast this horror upon her. Then I can drag him back and force him on his knees before my beloved to receive her vengeance.

The breath I try to take fights me, but finally I suck in enough air to force my anger down. I need to be logical. Finding who is at fault is not important right now. I need to get Tori free.

My fingers ripple as I lock in. It’s the most complex weave I’ve ever seen. So many different twists and turns with several traps to suck me into the stone as well. It’s going to take me hours, if not days. I work on mapping out the web, then begin to tease out one thread at a time. The first one drops and dissolves.

I let out a breath. One down. About ten thousand to go. One by one, threads fall. Sweat trickles down my temple and itches terribly, but I don’t let go. I’m so close to getting this one section free. Tori shifts within the stone as if to help me break her out, and I nearly laugh. She’s getting less locked in by the second, and her awareness is slowly peeling from the cursed stone. Pride floods me. She’s so strong even while half alive and encased in stone. At least the curse is keeping her from bleeding out.

Jinx’s stone eyes snap open and I jolt, my threads retreating slightly from the shock. Her blue eyes contract into unnerving thin slits, and she darts her gaze over my shoulder before the marble seals over her again.

The wind shifts and the world slows as my senses light up in a crackle of electricity. I throw my body back, my threads retracting as they try to slide free of the web. But it’s too late. Magic rips through them like a blade, and my rings scream. My mouth stretches open and arms spasm as flashes of agony shoot up my nerves.

My cap flies off my head as I hit the ground in a slump, eyes too wide and chest pumping too shallowly.

A lighthearted masculine laugh echoes between the stone statues of the monument. No matter how hard I try, I cannot pinpoint the direction it’s coming from, as if the source is flickering around in a random order. My spasming hands curl into stiff fists, and I bite back a groan as I drag myself up to my elbows. The swirling fog is too thick to make anything out, and I manage to sit upright without fainting.

Never in my thirteen years of being fused with my rings have I ever had their threads cut like that. They’ve been ripped through in battle, yes, but that’s a risk and discomfort I’m prepared for. This slice is different, and I can’t quite pinpoint why. Whatever it was, it’s not an experience I’m eager to repeat.

A disembodied voice echoes around me. “And here I thought I was going to have to hunt you down. I should’ve known you’d come crawling after her.”

My rings pulse with warning, and I ignore the lingering throb of pain in my arms. I stand back up and sweep up my flat cap, smacking it against my thigh to get any dirt off. The voice is familiar, but a name isn’t coming to mind.

Spider-silk-thin threads slither out of my rings to hunt the man down. I slide on my cap with a smirk. “What can I say? All the Magistrate couldn’t keep me from such an irresistible woman.” My heart clenches. Hold on, Torment.

“Yes, she always had that effect on the weak-minded. Like a black widow in a web. By the time they realize what she really is, it’s far too late.”

I laugh and turn slowly on my heel. “You seem to know her very well.”

“I know her better than anyone in this world. Her mind. Her soul.” Cruelty curls his words, “Her secrets.”

My jaw clenches before I smooth it out with a cocky smile. “You sure about that?”

My right middle finger’s ring pulses. Gotcha.

I ball my fist and rip my arm back. The silk turns to a crackling rope and wraps around the leg of the man who is leaning against the Transformation Domain’s statue. He hits the ground, and I pull with all my strength. I make it three feet before he stops and my rope is severed, but this time I’m ready. That ring goes dark as the magic shuts off, stopping the current from reaching me again. Then all ten rings light up like suns as I square off against my hidden opponent.

He’s still hiding in the fog, but I can sense him now. My ring marked him, and there’s nowhere he can hide where I can’t clock him. I crack my threads at him like a whip. He’s strong, hitting them away again and again, but I’m fast. I rope him again and attempt to reel him in.

He grinds down into the stone flooring, his strength matching mine. My teeth grit as I groan, but I don’t let go. He slices my threads, but I release and re-rope him over and over. The stone drags under the man’s heels as he digs in to keep me from bringing him forward.

Then suddenly he lets go and launches towards me from the force of my pull. I gasp, falling back, and the fog billows. Eyes flaring, I twist in time to dodge the worst of the attack. Pain explodes across half my face when his magic slices through my cheek in a spray of blood. I’m knocked off balance and land on my injured knee. Searing heat erupts through my leg when the impact threatens my patch job. I throw out a hand to keep from going down.

I lift my head, and the hidden man collides with me, the fog blasting back with the force. A hand wraps around my throat, and I’m airborne in one heart-stopping moment. Then my back slams into the ground, my skull cracking against the unforgiving stone. My vision flashes, and my breath knocks free from my chest. The warmth of my rings flashes an icy cold as I fight my aching lungs to suck in air.

The late morning summer sun is shockingly hot after the freezing mist, and I struggle to adjust to the glaring light. At first, all I can see is a hazy shadow. Then his outline sharpens. I blink, and a shockingly handsome man smiles down at me. His curling blond hair gleams ethereally in the sun. But his eyes steal my attention. They’re as black as pits with glowing green irises.

I recoil, and his hand tightens on my neck. My mouth stretches open as I fight to breathe. I’ve barely recovered from his attack, and now he’s throttling me. The pressure isn’t enough to fully choke me, but it has me writhing in a panic-induced haze. Instinct kicks in, my rings flaring and veins swelling with a glowing gold. I snatch at his forearm and slam my fist into his elbow to break his hold, but it’s no use. It’s like hitting one of the stone statues, even with my threads enhancing my strength.

His thumb runs up and down my neck affectionately like he’s not nearly crushing my windpipe. The thrum of magic vibrates along his skin. He must be channeling his magic through his veins as well, helping him counter my attempt to break his hold.

I wheeze in breath and croak out, “Who—Wha⁠—”

The man tilts his head. “Don’t recognize me? It hasn’t been that long, Lucas. Days, even. But it was rather dark in the estate, and you are just a human.”

“Alas—ACK.” Alasdair’s name cuts off when he tightens his hold to fully cut off my air. Oh fuck, I’m going to pass out. Black spots are forming in my periphery, my veins no longer glowing as the threads dim. An echoing scream builds in the far recesses of my mind. A sobbing, familiar scream.

Alasdair turns towards the statue of Antonia. “Isn’t it beautiful? And you tried to poke holes in it. Naughty, naughty, human.”

He loosens his hold, and I take a massive breath, my rings flaring bright for a counterattack, but I’m yanked hard by the neck again. Alasdair lifts me off the ground a few inches only to slam me back down in a punishing crash. The second impact is so much worse. My brain rattles in my skull, the world going dark and spinning. My stomach twists with a wave of nausea, and I go limp like a doll, eyes hooded and my hand releasing Alasdair’s arm to flop to my side.

Alasdair shifts his position from beside me to kneeling over me in a straddle. He keeps his hold on my sore neck tight and restrictive as he speaks. “Lucas, Lucas, Lucas… Your fight is endearing, but I’ve got plans for you. Such delicious, agonizing plans.”

He chuckles darkly, green eyes glowing nearly white. “Now, let’s hear you scream for my dear sister.”

Alasdair’s free hand shreds my shirt open with an effortless curl of his fingers. Razor-thin slices bloom over my chest from the careless surge of his magic. My fist curls, threads pulsing in my right arm as I ready to throw a punch that will crush the fucker’s jaw.

Alasdair clicks his tongue affectionately and places his palm over the center of my chest. He dispels the illusion Tori placed there to reveal the scar that spans from my shoulder to my hip.

My fist is halfway to his smug face when pain erupts. My back arches, my mouth spreading wide. My brain throbs, my heart pounds. My vision goes red and distant screaming echoes in my mind. It’s growing louder and louder until words begin to make sense over thrumming agony that consumes my existence.

Stop, Ali! Stop! Please. Let him go!

Tori. She’s sobbing, the heart-wrenching sounds echoing all around, and my heart pulses with a new pain. I need to help her. My teeth snap together and I groan, my nails biting my palms as I clench my hands.

The red in my vision flashes with views of the park. My rings flutter, my threads trying to take shape. Black eyes with glowing green rings and a cruel, distorted smile replace the red. A sick, wet ripping and burning agony robs me of my consciousness. My rings go dark as I fall into a memory I never wanted to live again.

Dimitar’s office is that same, blood red. He’s behind his large, dark mahogany desk. His teeth are bare, his body vibrating. The last of my payment for my debts sits before him, and my answer to his offer hangs in the air between us.

No one says no to Dimitar. I knew that, and yet I thought I was different. I should’ve known this would happen. He might’ve mentored me, made me feel special to him, but there is no love in his cold heart.

He’s growing larger, the twisted token burned into his sternum glowing dark green through his shirt. Sweat blooms down my spine as the shadows lengthen. The terror of that moment is so real, so visceral, that a sob convulses my physical body as I watch the Guild leader morph into the monstrous abomination that hides behind the prim, human man.

The screaming. It’s back. Not from the memory, but elsewhere. The office I’m standing in flickers black as a voice vibrates down me. “Lucas! LUCAS!”

“Tor.” My memory whispers, and the vision tips.

The shadowy, monstrous horror that is warping Dimitar’s human body dissolves, and I fall back into my physical body. I’m not sure if it’s a better alternative. My scar from where Dimitar’s claws nearly ripped me in half burns. It’s tearing me apart inch by inch, my skin stretching and popping open. Blood pours down my exposed chest in alarming waves.

The pain. It’s too much. It tries to suck me under again. Shadows wrap around my mind, trying to bring me back to that horrible memory. But I can’t. Tori is calling me. She needs me.

Monument Park takes form in between flashes of horror. Alasdair looks away from me, his chest pumping as he beholds Astoria’s statue. His hand is no longer on my neck and instead swirls in a fine black mist that billows around him. He breathes it in with a wet, clicking sound.

I seize the window of opportunity. My threads coil under me, and I launch myself through the air away from him. Threads erupt from my rings to weave an orb around me. I slam into the ground and burrow deep into the earth, my threads acting like digging claws. The darkness swallows me, and I go down, down, down into the safety of darkness.

My chest heaves, but I need to slow my breathing fast. I only have so much air. My teeth clack when I snap my jaw shut and attempt to force myself to breathe through my nose. But it’s useless. My breath explodes out of my mouth and I collapse in the soft glow of my rings’ magic.

My stomach twists, and pain pricks in the back of my throat. Tori is up there. She was screaming for me, and I left her. That monster was feeding on her, and I took advantage of it to get free. I need to go back. I need to free her. But how? Getting caught will just give that monster more ammunition against her.

My mind races, and I send my threads out to scour the surrounding earth for anything that could help. There’s nothing but bones, partially rotted cursed bodies, and dirt all around. Nothing can help me. I’m trapped underground with no plan, no backup, and no Tori.

Cold sweat slicks me, and my chest struggles to intake air. I’m going to be buried alive. I’m going to die. I’m going to fail Tori. My heart… my heart…

My gold threads fade away and darkness swallows me whole. A great weight crushes me, and I sink down deeper and deeper…

The darkness changes, the weight lifting. I’m floating, the pain of existence drifting away. A light ahead flickers, calling to me. I glide closer, the light growing until it begins to take form. A body. I reach for it, my bare fingers splayed. Warmth floods me. Tori. She’s lying on the soft, dark ground, her coppery hair fanned around her. Her skin glows like the face of the moon.

But there’s something wrong. Her body is twisted oddly, her chest ripped open to reveal her pumping heart and inflating lungs. Her cloudy green eyes land on me, and tears slide down my face. I stretch towards her. Tor…

My hand is stopped short by something invisible. Some sort of wall. I run my hands over it, trying to find a weakness, searching for an opening. My fingers curl around an edge. I reach my arm through the hole, stretching as much as I can. Tor!

She chokes on blood, and red rivulets pour from her eyes. Her fingers tremble but, slowly, she extends her hand to me. Her lips move, the sound of her voice delayed as if she’s eons away from me. Lucas…

With an agonized cry, she stretches her arm out, and our hands clasp. I pull, dragging her out inch by inch until she comes to an abrupt stop with only her head and one shoulder free.

Then I see it. The same tether I sensed before. It’s hooked around her ribs, keeping Tori where she is.

A shadow ripples from Tori’s chest. Like a snake, it slithers up her body to our joined hands. I gasp when it curls around my wrist, following the length of my arm. Then it’s gone, and two massive clawed paws land on either side of me.

A growl warps the space, my body rippling as if I’m made of water. Jaws appear from the darkness and stretch open above me. Teeth close around us, but the canines don’t puncture us, and the creature adds its tremendous strength to my efforts in pulling Astoria out of her invisible prison. My rings pulse in time with Tori’s exposed heart, and I claw along her body until I grip the slimy tether. I rip at it with all my strength, my rings growing brighter and brighter as I do.

The line frays with a bone-rattling screech, sludge burning from my hands in sickening tendrils of smoke. The hook releases with a hiss, the line withdrawing back into the hole. It’s like a cobra, coiled and weaving its wide head. It sways, as if waiting for a moment to sink into her once again, and I tighten around Tor, curling my body over hers protectively inside the jaws of the creature that seems to be helping.

The massive paws push off the wall, and we float away.

Tori shifts in my hold. I loosen my grip just enough to gaze down at her. Without the tether hooked into her, the milky white film over Tori’s green eyes fades, the light of her irises finally burning through. Her body convulses as she drags a finger through her bloody tears. With a steady hand, she draws an ancient rune on my exposed chest over my beating heart. The symbol pulses, sinking in until the image throbs within my skull.

The creature releases us from its jaws, and Tori strokes my face with the same aching tenderness after we made love last night. I love you, Lucas.

Pain tightens my chest as panic surges. You are not dying! My yell echoes in the darkness, taunting me.

Please, Lucas. Run…

Tori struggles to breathe, her eyes closing. Jinx’s familiar voice warps in my mind. I will keep her safe, but you have to go back.

I shake my head furiously. I won’t leave her!

You don’t have a choice.

Then something powerful collides with my heart, the force of it tearing Tori from my arms as I’m hurled away into the darkness.

My heart pulses, and I heave a mighty gasp as I return to consciousness. Dirt sucks into my lungs, and I wetly hack and choke. A low groan oozes out of me. The weight of the ground is near-crushing. I can’t bring my hand up to rub at my sore chest. Was that a dream?

My rings warm, and threads slither up my body to take the burden of the ground’s weight. I heave a sigh that turns into a cough. I spit to clear my mouth and only succeed in making mud that then smears across my face.

A quick check with my threads confirms that Alasdair hasn’t found me yet. Maybe there is still a god out there looking out for me. Or maybe it’s just Jinx. Bet she would love to be a god.

Unfortunately, I can’t stay here buried alive. The lack of air is already becoming a problem. A quick scan of myself confirms what I already know. I’m too injured and depleted to keep facing Alasdair.

I swallow and curl my hands into fists. My heart screams, and I buckle under the weight of its pain. I can’t free Tori. Not yet. I severely underestimated Alasdair, a mistake I won’t make again. I need time to puzzle out what he is, how he returned from being half dead, so I know how to fight him. I’ve never faced a weaver who can cut my threads like that, and I’ve never seen such fucked-up eyes. And his power… I know Heirs to Archweavers are powerful, but this seems beyond that. He defeated both Tori and Jinx.

Astoria’s curse must have done something to him, something different and new. I can’t win against him. I need help.

Tears burn my eyes, and I squeeze them closed. I hate leaving Tor like this. My beautiful, wild, Torment. But I have no choice if I want to save her. Running is my best chance at succeeding.

My voice is a small, broken tremble as I whisper to the darkness, “I’ll save you, Torment. I swear. I’ll be back. Just… hold on.”

My eyes snap open. Okay. Let’s do this.

My rings glow as bright as suns, and my threads launch me through the earth at an angle, clawing their way to the surface in a blurring speed. I pour more and more of my energy into the effort. My fingers burn, my rings too hot for my mortal flesh. Blisters inflate, and I grit my teeth. Every last brain cell screams at me to pull back, to make it stop, but I can’t. It’s this or I’ll die underground.

I’d rather destroy myself trying to get Tori help than hiding from her monster.

The fresh air hits me and I gulp down breaths, but my stomach drops. I was going too fast and I am airborne. I launch like a firecracker for everyone in the world to see. Here flies Lucas, the biggest fucking idiot in the world.

I twist, head on a swivel, until my eyes meet Alasdair’s. He gapes at me before coming to his senses. He bellows. Magic erupts towards me in a crackle of black lightning. My threads weave into a shield, blood coating my hands. It’s like I stuck them into a forge, and I shout in pain.

But it works. Alasdair’s attack collides with it, and the force of the impact sends me spinning.

I crash into the surrounding trees and groan for the hundredth time today. Fuck me sideways, I am never doing that again. I drag myself up and nearly crumple back down. My knee’s binding has dissolved, but I can’t stop now. I’m almost to the transportation platform.

A singsong voice echoes through the forest. “Lucas! Come out, come out wherever you are. There’s still so much fun to be had.”

My heart pounds. His laugh, so happy and carefree, will haunt me for the rest of my life. I nearly miss Dimitar. Nearly.

My hands and feet slide along the leaves. I grab the tree and haul my aching body to standing. I’m pouring blood and don’t have the time to try to patch myself up. I need to reserve the last of my magic for the circle.

My first few steps are wobbly, and pain lances up my legs like needles. I grab anything I can to keep upright. I limp faster, crashing into a tree. Spots are forming in my vision, and I bite my tongue hard to keep from screaming in pain.

Then the raised slate platform appears before me, and I collapse onto it. My hands are shaking too hard to chalk anything. I’m an idiot. I should’ve marked it before I left. Cold grips me as sweat slicks my body. My threads slither out and line the engravings. I fumble for my notebook. My hands are coated in blood. My rings glow muted from it. It smears over the pages. Fuck, what did it look like?

“There you are.” Alasdair hums pleasantly.

My eyes land on him. His voice is eerily like Tori’s, and bile rises in my throat. But a rune drawn over my heart returns to me, the symbol clear as day. Tori’s whispered plea fills my senses. “Run…”

I gasp. and my threads twist in the spot I’m supposed to chalk.

I cough, “Travel.” And pray to any gods who are listening that this works. I’ve never used my threads without chalk to complete the circle before.

Alasdair laughs as magic surrounds me. “You all make this too easy.”

Then I’m gone.