The World Beyond the Mirror - 11. Pet

“Wake up, Erin,” Clyde said, tapping my shoulder.

I started to open my eyes, but he quickly covered them, making me laugh. “Do you really think that even if I had some eye-related magic, it’d be stopped by a blindfold?”

“Not really,” he said. “But there’s no harm in being safe. I’ve seen wonderful things done with magic, I’ve seen strange things, and I’ve seen terrible things, but I’ve never seen anything I could explain or predict.”

I shrugged. “How about if I promise not to use any of my hypothetical eye magic on you?” I asked sarcastically.

“Promise not to use any magic on anyone until I’ve handed you over, and it’s a deal, although I’m still going to blindfold you when we walk through the city.”

“Why?” I asked, disappointed.

He snorted. “I checked your eyes when you wouldn’t wake up, don’t waste your time.”

“Wait, what?” I asked, confused.

“I saw your eyes,” he said. “There’s no sneaking those through the city.”

“What about my eyes?”

He paused. “You’re not playing stupid, are you?”

I shook my head. “I honestly want to know; what’s wrong with my eyes?”

“They’re pink,” he told me. “It was a pinkish blue, not a color you’d ever see on a human.”

What? I thought, confused. Even if they were like Nate’s, why would they be pink? After a second it clicked.

“You saw them while I was sleeping?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I covered my eyes and opened one of yours as a joke, to get you to wake up, but it was like you were in a coma or something, so I felt safe enough to check.”

“I promise not to use any magic on you. What color are they now?”

I did my best to feel calm and collected, hoping to fool him, and he took his hand off my eyes.

I looked at him for the first time, and I was surprised by what I saw. He was similar to what I’d imagined, tall and muscular, but he didn’t have the beard I’d expected, and he was probably only twenty-two or so. He was clean-shaven, and his hair was in a dark brown ponytail. His face was ruggedly handsome, not my type – in other words he’s not Nate, I thought wryly – but good looking. The last thing that I noticed were his brown eyes staring into mine, searching for any hint of the pink that had shown when I’d been having fun with Nate.

“…umm, they’re blue,” he said, confused and a little embarrassed. “I guess they did say it was just your friend who had the weird eyes.”

That made me think of Nate again, and I smiled when I remembered what we’d been doing, half happy that it had been happening and half pissed that it had ended.

“What was that?” Clyde demanded, staring into my eyes again.

“What was what?” I asked, putting on my best confused face and forcing myself to stay calm and collected to keep my emotions matching the remaining natural color in my eyes.

“Your eyes… flashed,” he said, trying to find a way to describe it.

I sighed, giving him an impatient and slightly annoyed look. “Don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid?”

“No.” He answered seriously. “Not at all. When dangerous people tell me someone is dangerous, I listen.”

“Don’t you think I’d have left already, if I was gonna break a promise, or have killed you in your sleep like your wife said?”

“You heard that, did you?” he asked, embarrassed. “Don’t be offended, she’s a good woman, just nervous, and rightfully. I like to think that I know you well enough to confidently say you wouldn’t do that, but I get the impression that not even your friend can tell what you’re gonna do from one moment to the next.”

I snorted, unable to contain my laughter. “I think he’d like you,” I told Clyde.

“You’re not distracting me that easily,” he said, earning a confused look from me. “No human ears could pick up what we were saying from here. Either you broke your promise and left the room, which I doubt, or you have better hearing than you should.”

I shrugged. “I don’t think my hearing is any better than average, but I didn’t leave the room.”

He looked at me for a minute, considering me. “I get the feeling you’re a good liar,” he said finally. “I don’t think I could see past it if you were trying to outwit me, so I’ll save myself the time and trust that you’ll keep your promise and behave until I’m not responsible for you anymore.”

I smiled. “Thanks,” I said. “but for the record, I don’t like lying. I don’t do it much.”

“I noticed you didn’t say you haven’t lied to me,” he laughed.

“That’s what I’d say either way; I didn’t see the point in wasting my breath.”

“Oh,” he said, embarrassed again. “This is why I decided to trust you.”

I laughed, trying to think of a way to keep the conversation going so that Nate could hopefully find us, but he seemed to realize at the same time as I did, so he grabbed the rope to tie me up again.

Damn.

I held my hands out in front of me, letting him tie them, but he just raised an eyebrow.

“I’m trusting you, not stupid,” he told me, and I laughed and put them behind my back.

“You can’t blame me for trying,” I said.

“Not as long as you can’t blame me for not letting you get away with it.”

I nodded, smiling wryly, and he put my blindfold on and led me to the front door.

“Goodbye Sarah, we’re leaving!” he called.

I heard his wife come bustling over, and Clyde let out a faint ‘oomph’ as she hugged him tightly. “Be careful,” she told him. “Don’t trust them in the slightest, just give them what they want, get your money, and get out of there. If they get cranky, remember that the money might give us a good month, maybe two if we stretch it, but without you we don’t have any time at all. Leave it if you need to, just come home safe.”

I heard him kiss her. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll be back with some vegetables.”

“Oh no you won’t,” she said. “We both know you’ve got no taste, either I make a list or you don’t go.”

He laughed at her teasing. “Fine, I’ll try not to spend anything,” he told her, amused.

“Good,” she teased, and kissed him.

I’d been waiting patiently, perfectly happy to be delayed, so I jumped when her finger landed on my chest.

“And you!” she said, poking my chest to emphasize each word. “I don’t know who you are, I don’t know where you’re from, but my husband seems to like you, and that’s enough for me. You stay safe, and come visit when they let you go, OK? I promise the food will be better next time.”

I laughed, a little flattered. “It was good this time,” I assured her. “I’ll make sure to come back, though,” I promised.

I don’t know what they’ll think when I drag Nate along, I considered.

“Do you mind if I bring a… friend?” I asked, unsure about calling Nate that. He wasn’t my boyfriend, as much as I wanted him to be; I’d gotten distracted last night and never asked him. He definitely wasn’t just a friend, either, though.

“He’s that dangerous?” Clyde asked, amazed. “He’ll get you both away from these people?”

“He damn well better,” I muttered, and he snorted.

“Sure, we’d love to meet him, as long as you don’t bring all the guards down on our heads,” Sarah told me.

I laughed, nodding. “We’ll try not to,” I assured them.

“Good,” Sarah said, patting my shoulder. “Now go and come back safely, both of you.”

We nodded, and Clyde led me out and into the streets.

“I like her,” I told him, smiling a little, and he chuckled.

“So do I,” he agreed. “You really will come back though, right?”

“I promised, didn’t I?”

“I guess I’ll just have to trust, then,” he joked.

I snorted, and we kept walking. After a while, he stopped.

“Here we are… I think.”

“You think?” I asked.

“The big black doorway with the silver thorns,” he said. “It’s how they described it, but I don’t know how many of those are in the city. There’s a lot of decorative doors, and more than one are the same.”

“It’s a big city, right?” I asked.

“If you’re trying to delay then your friend must be close,” he said, and knocked on the door. “I want in and out before he gets here. Something tells me I’d wish I was the blindfolded one if I was here when he arrived.”

I shrugged, honestly not knowing what to expect. Nate was so gentle with me, but I’d never seen him even let anyone else so much as see him, so I had no way to know how he would act towards other people.

“I guess this is goodbye,” Clyde said, patting my shoulder. “See you soon, and good luck!”

I nodded. “Good luck to you too,” I said. “Let’s hope they give you lots of money; I’d hate to feel cheap.”

He laughed, but our banter was interrupted by the door opening, and I could somehow feel the difference when Clyde went from standing still to frozen in place.

“Who the fuck are you.” A deep voice asked after a moment, not even phrasing it as a question.

“Um, I’m here about the two people that were being looked for?” he said nervously.

I heard the door open wider, and Clyde led me inside, even his footsteps sounding daunted.

________

“These two are here about our problem,” the deep voice told someone else as we came to a stop.

“Let them in,” said another voice, and Clyde gasped.

“Governor!” he exclaimed. “It’s an honor to meet you, I never thought…”

He trailed off for some reason, and I looked curiously over at him.

“What do you have to tell me?” The governor’s oily yet imperative voice asked, his tone suggesting that he’d silenced Clyde with a glare.

“Umm, I didn’t know that when the people were in the bar, they were working for you,” Clyde said, obviously too flustered to talk straight.

“They weren’t, but when I heard who they were hunting…” he trailed off. “Tell me why you’re here. What information are you trying to sell?”

“It’s not really information, but I figured since you were trying to catch him…” Clyde lifted the rope tied to my hands to indicate me. “This is the person you were calling his toy.”

All motion in the house stopped, and I could feel every set of eyes on me.

“What?” the governor demanded, shocked. “You fucking kidnapped him?!”

“I assumed you wanted him to come to you!” Clyde protested, getting worried.

“You fucking idiot!” Someone else yelled. “You’ve just brought the fucking Shadow down on our heads!”

“The Shadow?” Clyde asked, confused.

“The Wolf Cub, the Shadow, whatever you want to call him!”

I could tell Clyde was scared now. “That’s your friend?” he hissed at me.

I shrugged, not having any idea what was going on, and the governor calmed everyone down.

“Let’s make sure it’s actually him before we panic,” he said. “But just in case; you two, put the city in lockdown and prepare for the Shadow’s arrival. I want everything done the way we planned.”

“But we don’t have nearly enough men!”

“You do it with what we have, or you die wishing you had!” the governor shouted, before taking a deep breath and stalking over to me.

“You,” he said, obviously indicating someone I couldn’t see. “Just in case. You and you, hold him.”

After a second, I felt cold metal snap around my throat, and I touched it in surprise, realizing it was a collar. The rope around my wrists was obviously taken from Clyde, because I was jerked to my knees by it, and held there tightly while the rope coming from the collar held my head. I looked around, bewildered, and the governor grabbed the blindfold and tore it off, staring into my eyes. I did my best to stay calm and keep my eyes blue, but Clyde was obviously worried.

“Do you really have to put a collar on him…?” he asked, terrified to speak up but not wanting to have been responsible for this.

“It’ll absorb any magic he tries to use, just in case,” the governor said absently, his dark eyes glittering as they stared into mine. “A gift from our friends here.”

This time I could see where he gestured, and I looked over at four large guys who were gathered in a circle and whispering furiously.

“They tell me it’s been able to subdue others like… him.”

I remembered what Clyde had said about my hearing being too good and tried to listen in to the four men, but I couldn’t catch more than snippets.

“-need reinforcements-” one hissed.

“If it’s really him…”

“-never going to survive this!”

“-just supposed to find-”

“-the Master-”

“-can’t kill-”

I tilted my head, aggravated that they were all talking over each other, and leaned slightly towards them.

“Don’t eavesdrop, it’s bad manners.”

A hand collided with my cheek, throwing me back, and I blinked hard and ran my tongue over my teeth, making sure they were all OK. They were, but they’d also cut into my cheek, and I could taste my own blood. I glared up at the governor, but he was turned to Clyde, furious.

“You? Even after what you’ve done, you defy me even further?” he asked, outraged. “If you’d actually managed to interfere, or even touch me, I’d have taken your hand!”

Clyde recoiled, obviously shocked to see the governor he’d respected like this.

“But-” he protested weakly, but I cut him off.

“Did you just lecture me on manners?” I asked the governor, trying to take his attention off Clyde. “That’s kinda insulting, coming from a prick like you.”

I stared at Clyde before the governor could turn to me, looking between him and the door pointedly. People had always told me my eyes were piercing, and I tried to use that to make him listen.

It seemed to work, because he backed up a few steps, heading towards the door, but he hesitated again when he saw the rage on the governor’s face, obviously not wanting to leave me with him.

“Go!” I mouthed silently, and turned to see the governor glaring at me, and following my gaze to Clyde suspiciously.

“You’re trying to protect him?” he asked, his eyes narrowing. “He didn’t really capture you,” he guessed. “Bastard!” he cursed, whipping out his sword and stabbing it entirely through Clyde’s stomach before I could even react. “You’re trying to overthrow me?” He hissed, twisting the sword cruelly, and Clyde screamed, the look of shock on his face being replaced by one of horror.

“No!” I yelled, leaping to my feet. Before I could get more than a few feet, the collar jerked at my neck, pulling me back so hard I felt my feet leaving the ground. I felt a moment of instinctual panic at falling onto my back and not being able to use my arms, but the falling sensation halted when I hit something hard. The something grunted, and I realized it was the man who’d been at the door. Slamming my elbow into him without turning, I made another dash for Clyde, but this time the man wasn’t so gentle. He jerked the rope to the side, knocking me over, and continued to turn, spinning me around by the collar on my neck. I clawed at the metal, tears forming in my eyes as I tried and failed to breathe, but he just spun faster, making my body lift off the ground. He let go of the rope with a bloodthirsty roar, and I felt myself fly through the air for a moment before I smashed against the stone wall, a sickening crunch coming from my right arm. The ground hit me before the pain did, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. I would have screamed if I’d had any air in me, but all that came out was a pained gasp.

I’d barely had time to even catch my breath before the man loomed over me, his feet just above my head and a sadistic grin on his face.

“Governor,” he called, not looking away from me. “He’s not just the Shadow’s pet. He’s one of them.”

I let my head fall to the side, bringing the governor and Clyde into my view, and I was surprised to see that only seconds had passed. It had felt like an eternity of pain, but seeing the bloody sword protruding from Clyde’s back made me forget it. I looked back up at the giant of a man as he reached down to pick up the rope again, and I rolled back, blinded by pain, sadness, and anger, and smashed my foot into his face. Nate had taught me the difference between a kick to push away and a kick to break bones, and I made this a kick to destroy his face. My foot smashed into his nose, ramming it up through his skull, and he didn’t even have time to scream before he died.

I rolled sideways onto one knee and fought to my feet, my mind almost shutting down in shock as I stumbled towards the governor, my only thought the desire to kill. He pulled his sword out of Clyde as I neared him, lifting the dripping red point to Clyde’s Adam’s apple, and I ran faster, trying to smash into him before he could do it. He glanced over at me, hearing my charge, and then nonchalantly thrust the sword deep into Clyde’s neck, holding my eyes the whole time. I felt myself stumble in shock, and he pulled the sword free cleanly, wiping it on Clyde’s shirt before putting a hand on his chest and pushing him backwards. Clyde didn’t even catch himself, instead just staring at the hole in his neck until he hit the ground. I looked back to the governor, horrified, just in time to see the flash of metal and feel an explosion of pain from the side of my head.

When I blinked my eyes open again, a few seconds later, I tried to stand from the position on the floor I’d found myself in, but the governor’s boot crashed into my side before stepping over me and checking up on his bodyguard. I forced myself to my knees, hobbling over to Clyde, and he looked up at me, not understanding. I struggled briefly with the ropes tying my wrists together, but I had to grit my teeth to keep from screaming when the pain of my arm came crashing back down on me.

When I looked back at Clyde again, it hit me for the first time; he was going to die. Me distracting the governor had made him miss Clyde’s throat, but he still had a hole through his neck and one through his stomach. Grief filled me, and I tipped forward, my forehead resting on Clyde’s chest as tears filled my eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” I half-sobbed, the anguish threatening to spill out over the walls I’d built to keep it in. I couldn’t help feeling that it was my fault, that everyone I liked would die, and I choked up, thinking about his wife waiting for him. At that, all my walls broke down, and I sobbed, squeezing my eyes shut as all my grief and guilt flowed throughout my entire body. Pain added to the whirlwind of emotions as the collar on my neck burned my skin, and before I even knew what was happening, the emotions poured out of me. The skin my collar was touching felt numb, and I finally realized that the collar was cold, not hot. It felt like someone had dumped liquid nitrogen down my spine, and I arched my back in pain, my emotions returning to normal and leaving me feeling a little drained.

Before I could respond to – or even really consider – anything that had happened, a foot rammed into my side, throwing me away from Clyde’s body, and I landed on my stomach. I felt all my anger at the governor for killing Clyde come back with a vengeance, and I rolled over, barely even noticing the pain as my broken arm hit the ground, and got to my feet.

“Stay down!” The man who’d kicked me commanded, coming towards me. I roared with hatred, but he didn’t even falter, obviously seeing no threat in someone who was tied up. When he was close enough, I spun and smashed my heel into his waist in the first move Nate had taught me. Without my hands, I couldn’t get enough momentum to really do anything, but it caught him mid-step and he stumbled when his leg wasn’t where he thought it was, bringing him out of my path towards the governor. I glared back up towards him, ready to run at him and tear him limb from limb, but the four whisperers were surrounding me.

“Red eyes,” one said, his voice deadly focused. “He’s ours.”

“He’s in my city, inside my house,” the governor said. “Knock him out if you want, but he’s my prize.”

Not one of them even flickered their eyes away from me. “We don’t answer to you, rat,” one said. “He has the eyes; he has to die.”

“He could be the only thing keeping us alive,” the governor said disdainfully. “Think before you speak to your betters like that. Your master wouldn’t protest if I had you killed for that insolence.”

“It doesn’t matter, he needs to die!” the man growled. “We can’t just let him live, the Master would kill us.”

“If you kill him now, your master will be the last thing you need to worry about. Knock him out or step aside.”

Even with all this time to think, I hadn’t been able to figure out how to get out of this. They weren’t giving me any opportunities to attack, and even if they were I’d never be able to fend off four. Trying anything that I hadn’t practiced with Nate would just be wasting my time; I’d seen how hard it was to get it right already. The only thing I could imagine would be helpful was the tenth step, but I needed my hands to use it properly, so it wasn’t feasible either.

“Get out of my way. You’re all useless; I don’t know how your master puts up with you.” The governor brushed past them, walking closer to me. He stayed just out of my reach, sheathing his sword and crossing his arms. “So.” He said disdainfully. “You’re angry at me? You think you can hurt me just because I killed your friend?”

I didn’t let him finish, instead trying to stomp diagonally on his shin.

“Don’t make me laugh,” he said, stepping out of the way and grabbing my injured arm. I stifled another scream as he pulled on it, swinging me in a circle before throwing his weight downwards so I smashed into the floor, unable to stop myself with my hands. “You think your master will save you? Just because we’re unprepared?”

He kicked me to emphasize each question.

“Last time I met him, I walked away with his blood on my sword,” he hissed. “The Shadow’s not so incorporeal after all. Maybe I’ll give you time to ask him about it, before I kill him.”

“Fuck you,” I spat out, gasping for breath after his last kick to my stomach.

“Oh, but I’ll leave you alive,” he taunted. “You’ll make a good pet, once I break you. How does that sound, a lifetime of servitude without being able to use your magic?” He kicked me again. “Don’t forget that’s a human lifetime, not one of yours. I won’t let you outlive me.”

“You can’t keep him as a pet,” one of the four men said, bristling. “As soon as we don’t need him as a hostage, we’re killing him.”

The governor turned calmly to the man. “Disrespect me one more time and I’ll kill you. I’ve ignored a lot so far, because I see no reason to offend your master when we have the same desires, but if you so much as presume to have an opinion on anything I tell you from now on, you won’t leave this room alive.”

“The Master would kill you,” the man said, looking uneasy.

“My city is impregnable. He couldn’t even set foot on our door if I didn’t allow him to.”

The men looked seriously shaken now, obviously not liking their master’s infallibility questioned, and the governor turned back to me as if the matter was closed.

“Come, Pet,” he said, pulling me up by the leash. “It’s time to check the preparations.”

I lurched sideways, trying to slam him over, but he grabbed my broken arm and twisted viciously.

“You,” he said impatiently, pointing to the man I’d gotten past on my way to him. “Come over here and tie his feet.” He grabbed his sword, avoiding my attempt to stomp on his foot, and cut the long trailing end of the rope on my hands off. The man he’d ordered approached nervously, limping slightly from where I’d kicked him, and he barely dodged when I tried to stomp his knee backwards.

“Down, Pet,” the govorner said sternly, kicking my legs out from under me and slamming me onto my stomach. I felt his foot pressing down on my back, and when I tried to kick the man in the face he leaned forward, grinding my bad arm against the stone floor mercilessly. I could do nothing as my legs were tied, far enough apart that I could walk yet close enough together that I couldn’t kick, but when he pulled me to my feet I ignored the choking sensation and body checked him. He grabbed my arm again, squeezing it tightly to make his point.

“Don’t test me, Pet,” he hissed. “I don’t care that you aren’t used to obeying a human. I’m your master now, and my word is law.”

“Fuck you,” I said, and tried to spit in his face. The back of his hand smashed into my cheek before I could hit him with it, knocking me to the ground, and I lay still for a moment, trying to compose myself while my head tried to outdo the ringing of Notre Dame.

“You’re not to speak to your betters like that anymore,” he instructed me. “As soon as that collar closed around your neck, everyone became your better. If I hear more like that, I’ll have to beat you. You wouldn’t like that,” he advised, starting to stand. “You,” he said, pointing to the man who’d tied my legs, “get that body out of my house before it starts to stink. I don’t care if it’s still alive right now, just leave it on the street to bleed out; we can blame it on the Shadow once we’re done with him.” He turned back to me, looking down on me. “And you,” he said menacingly. “Don’t even think about killing any more of my men. Do you even know how much I’ll have to pay someone to replace him?”

“It won’t be long ‘till I kill you,” I spat, my rage-filled mind searching for a suitable name for him. “Cunt.”

Even that didn’t do him justice, and I didn’t like to say it, but I needed to show him that I wouldn’t be broken.

He just laughed. “What, does that mean something offensive in your world? Oh, don’t be surprised that I know where you’re from; I know everything about you. We have been preparing for your arrival, even if we’re not fully ready yet. I’ve been planning to keep you as a pet from the start, but I’ve made preparations for if I have to give you up, too,” he taunted. “Don’t cross me. I know you’re afraid of fire, and if you don’t work out as a pet, your demise will be… toasty, to say the least.”

I froze, my animal rage evaporating as that sank in, and I couldn’t help a slight shiver of fear as I imagined it.

“I see that made an impression, finally,” he said triumphantly. “Now come, I’ll familiarize you with the rules as we walk. If you break them, you’ll regret it.”

“Fuck you,” I coughed again, not allowing my resistance to lapse.

He hadn’t been kidding about the beating.

That's the end of the quick update streak, but the spinoff is now out! Here it is!