Endless Knight(67)

They were the ones who’d tortured Clotile, Jack’s sister. I swallowed. Had she experienced their contraptions? Oh, God, that poor girl. Jack must never find out about this!

“Those two hunger for pain.” Death rose, staring me down. “Do you really think they’ll bow out of a game so rife with it?” With that, he strode away, his boots echoing through the corridor.

28


“What the hell was that?” I demanded. A hair-raising roar had just tolled over the entire compound.

After exploring the kitchen, the media room, and, yes, the pool after breakfast, Lark and I had just started touring the humongous barn, filled to the rafters with her free-roaming menagerie. Prey and predators milled together, obeying her command to ignore the food chain and play nice.

At the roar, Lark had ducked behind a stock-still lioness. Even Cyclops hunched down, his frizzy fur quivering. Seeming oblivious, a Komodo dragon waddled past, flicking its tongue.

“Tell me what’s going on!”


Under her breath, Lark said, “Ogen. He’s pissed about something.”


“But he sounds a thousand times worse than he did before, even in battle.”


She shrugged. “Look, we can take the grand tour another time. He’s having a fit.”


“Does he have them often?”


“There are a ton of dates that are sacred to him, annual Sabbats. And not like cool Wicca Sabbats either. These are dark. I try to keep track of them, but I haven’t been with him for a full year to chart them all. Bottom line: sometimes he hankers for the occasional . . . offering.”


“Will he hurt me?” I asked.

“Death ordered him not to hurt anyone.”


“Does Ogen follow orders?”


In a low voice, Lark said, “There’s a reason the Devil’s horns keep changing lengths. Whenever Ogen disobeys him, Death lops off an inch. Once there’s no more left to cut, Ogen gets beheaded. That’s their deal.”


How sick. “Why did Ogen agree to a deal like that?”


“Death had him at sword point. Told Ogen he’d spare his life for a time—on a couple of conditions, of course.”


I heard those towering gate doors groan open, then slam shut.

With a relieved exhalation, Lark straightened her cap and stood. “He’s off the grounds.”


“Why would you stay in a place like this—with him? Wait a second, I know what’s going on here. Death is holding these animals hostage, coercing you to work for him.”


“He’s not like that, at least not to me. We hooked up because my dad managed this menagerie for him. At least Dad had before he went on a surprise acquisition run and bit it in the Flash.”


“So if Death isn’t pulling the strings, then screwing us over is all on you?”


“I never said he didn’t pull the strings. He does, often.” When a peacock strutted over to her, Lark skimmed her fingers over the edge of its tail fan. “For the record, after I met you guys, I told him I couldn’t go forward with the plan if you were all going to die.”


This was surprising, soothing a bit of my hatred toward her. “Let me guess—he assured you that we’d be fine?”


She lifted her chin. “If you think back, I was the one who got Death to spare you in the beginning. And then to save you from drowning.”


“I wouldn’t have needed help if you hadn’t betrayed us in the first place! I can’t believe I took up for you against Selena. Unlike me and Finn, she had your number from the start!” As my voice scaled higher, more creatures eased over to Lark, surrounding her protectively.

“You’re not going to make me feel guilty about what I did.”


“Finn was falling for you, but now he knows what you did.” The second girl to hide her true nature from him. “You broke him, Lark. There isn’t a whole lot of light left in the world, but he was a bright spot. He may have survived, but you still doused him.”


A hint of some emotion flitted across her face, then gone. “A small price to pay for the life I have here. Each night I watch a new movie, while my wolves doze in front of a roaring fire. At any time, I can shuffle down to the kitchen, make a grilled cheese, and have fresh milk with it. There are no cannibals or Baggers to dine on me, no militia to rape me, no slavers, no plague.” She jerked her chin toward Ogen’s guardhouse. “The Devil you know, baby.”


“You didn’t just say that? I hate you.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You mention a lot of pros to living here. What about the cons? You have no free will and no future. Death will kill you eventually.”


“Well, then, I’m not wasting another minute arguing with you. I’m tired of you making me feel bad.” Baring her little fangs, she marched up until we were almost toe to toe. “For better or worse, we’re roomies now. So you’ll just have to check your baggage at the damn door.”


“Or what?” I closed the remaining distance between us to stare her down—challenging, since we were about the same height. “What can you do to me? That’s right, not a—ow.” Pain flared in my leg. When I shot a glance down, I spied two puncture marks in my slacks and a cobra slithering away. “Ugh, disgusting!” I sidestepped with a shudder. “You made it bite me? Hate to tell you this, but I’m immune to poison, and likely venom too—ow.” Another one got my other leg. “Damn it, Lark!”