The Darkness Beyond Ch. 09

"So what are you going to do when Coran gets here?" he asked. "Rape me?"

Lizanne cocked her head in a dismissive gesture.

"That won't be necessary... not any more." She gestured to the glass pyramid spinning behind her. "I can draw your essence directly to me now, when you die. It takes a lot of power, but it's better than that messy business."

"You raped all the others," he growled.

"Technically, you and that girl did." She laughed as she watched his expression change. He remembered discussing this with Hannah, wondering why Meraja had recognized him during his dream.

"I called your specter," she explained. "Yours, and hers. It was Coran's idea, actually, though I can take credit for the execution."

"That would only be possible if we were dead."

Cian's mouth was dry. He'd known about the calling of a specter, he had even been a witness to Meraja doing it once, to torture a college girl she had had her fun with. It involved conjuring the spirit of a dead person, then making this person corporeal again for several hours, ready to do the bidding of the one who had called it.

"As it turns out, being in another dimension is enough grounds for it to work." Lizanne ran her hand through his hair. "I must admit I was irritated at first about the rogue portal, stealing two essences from under my nose. But it all worked out to my advantage, see? I was able to get to the others this way, using the two of you as temporary vessels. I simply possessed the both of you and took the essence with me."

She let go of his hair and stepped back again. "I must admit that it was fun, being the girl. She has such a sweet, young body. I was counting on K'meer's lust taking over once I drugged him, and Adrian's as well." She giggled. "He was still young, but that did not stop him with her. You might have liked to watch them, actually. So rough, dirty..." Her voice trailed off.

"Ah, to be so young again."

Cian clenched both fists behind his back now, desperate not to let his emotions show. He had never found it so difficult before. He was shaking with suppressed rage, wanting nothing more than to kill Adrian for touching Hannah, almost wishing the boy wasn't already dead. Lizanne did not notice, however. She was standing with her back to him now, staring out of the window into the white fog.

"Speaking of the girl," she finally said, "tell me what happened to her. Did you leave her in the Lost City?"

Cian clenched his teeth. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it does." Lizanne did not turn to look at him. "If you left her there, Briar's essence is likely lost to me. I know you did not kill her, I would have the essence by now if that was the case." She nodded towards the pyramid once more. "If you brought her back with you, tell me where she is. I may even let you live for a few more days while I send Coran to kill her."

The shot that rang out made Cian jump. He saw Lizanne stumble towards the window, saw the telltale red spot that spread rapidly around the entry wound on her back. Hannah had shot Lizanne through the heart, spot on. He turned to face her, faintly relieved that his legs worked again.

She was standing by the stairs, gun still raised with trembling hands. Cian opened his mouth to say something, anything that would calm her. That it was over. Before he could decide on what exactly she needed to hear at this moment though, he saw all the blood drain from her face.

The next moment, she screamed as her body was flung through the air, hitting the opposite wall with quite the speed and finally falling to the floor, limp.