"Sisters?" I wheezed, considering I might give it my soul if it would give me a pain amulet. God, I hurt all over, inside and out. I sat back on my heels out of its reach. Newt had an eerie grace, its outfit giving no hint to gender. There was a necklace of black gold about its neck—again, the design neither masculine nor feminine. My gaze dropped to its bare feet, hovering above the rubble. They were narrow and slim, somewhat ugly. Masculine? "Are you a boy or a girl?" I finally asked, not sure.
Newt's brow furrowed. "It makes a difference?"
Muscles trembling, I pulled my hand to my mouth and sucked at a spot where the rock had pinched me. It did to me. "Don't get me wrong, but why are you just sitting there?"
The demon smiled, making me think the reason couldn't be good. "There are a few side bets as to whether you will learn how to use the lines before sunset. I'm here so no one cheats."
A stab of adrenaline cleared my head. "What happens when the sun goes down?"
"Anyone can have you."
A rock slid from a nearby pile, and I pushed into motion. "But you don't want me."
It shook its head, drifting back. "Maybe if you told me why Al took the other witch instead of you, I might. I…don't remember."
Newt's voice sounded worried, making me wonder. Too much ever-after in the brainpan perhaps? I didn't have time to deal with a crazy demon, no matter how powerful it was. "Read the papers. I'm busy," I said, pulling myself forward.
I jerked when a boulder the size of a car fell two feet in front of me. The ground shook and bits of rock chips stung my face. I stared at it, then Newt, who was smiling as it adjusted its grip on its staff to look pleasant and innocuous. My head hurt. Okay, maybe I had a little time. "Ah, Lee can kindle demon magic," I said, not seeing any reason to tell it I could too.
Newt's black eyes widened. "Already?" it said, then its face clouded, not angry with me, but at itself. I waited for it to move the rock. It didn't. Taking a deep breath, I started to go around Newt, as it seemed the demon had forgotten I was there. The sense of danger flowing from the slight figure was growing, building on itself to tighten my gut and make my skin crawl. I was getting the distinct impression that I was still alive because a very powerful demon was curious, nothing more.
Hoping Newt would forget about me, I inched myself forward, trying to ignore the pain in my ankle. I slipped, sucking in my breath as the flat of my arm hit a rock, sending a shiver of pain up it. The boulder was right in front of me, and gathering myself, I wedged my knees under me. My ankle was burning agony as I gained my feet and held the rock for balance.
There was a brush of air, and Newt was beside me. "Do you want to live forever?"
The question sent a shiver through me. Damn it, Newt was becoming more interested, not less. "No," I whispered. Hand outstretched, I limped from the rock.
"I didn't either, until I tried it." The redwood staff clunked to the ground as Newt moved to keep even with me, black eyes eerily more alive than anyone else's I'd ever seen. My skin crawled. Something was wrong with Newt—really wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it until I realized that the minute I took my attention from Newt, I forgot what the demon looked like. Apart from those eyes.
"I know something Algaliarept doesn't," Newt said. "I remember now. You like secrets. You're good at keeping them, too. I know all about you; you're afraid of yourself."
I gritted my jaw as my ankle gave a twinge as I slipped on a rock. The line was just ahead. I could feel it. The sun had sunk below the horizon, halfway gone. It took seven minutes to sink once it touched the earth. Three and a half minutes. I could hear a gathering of breath from the lesser demons. God, help me find a way out of this.
"You should be afraid of you," Newt said. "Want to know why?"
I pulled my head up. Newt was bored out of his or her mind and looking for amusement. I didn't want to be interesting. "No," I whispered, becoming more frightened.
An evil smile crossed Newt, emotions shifting faster than a vampire hyped up on Brimstone. "I think I will tell Algaliarept a joke. And when he's done ripping that witch apart for what he lost, I'll trade for that mark you owe him and make it mine."
I started to shake, unable to stop my hands from trembling. "You can't do that."
"I can. I might." Newt twirled the staff idly, hitting a rock so it ricocheted into the dark. There was a catlike yelp of pain and a scattering of sliding rock. "And then I'll have two," the demon said to itself, "because you won't be able to figure out how to travel the lines and will have to buy a trip out of here. From me."
There was a cry of outrage from the watchers behind the rocks, quickly squelched.
Horrified, I came to a jerky stop, feeling the line right ahead of me.
"You want to survive," Newt intoned, its voice dropping in pitch. "You'll do anything for it. Anything."
"No," I whispered, terrified because Newt was right. "I saw Lee do it. I can do it too."
Black eyes glinting, Newt set the butt of its staff down. "You won't figure it out. You won't believe; not yet. You have to make a deal…with me."
Frightened, I wavered on my feet, and with the next step, I stumbled into the line, feeling as if it was a stream, warm and generous, filling me up. Almost panting, I teetered, seeing the eyes around me narrow with greed and anger. I hurt. I had to get out of there. The power of the line hummed through me, peaceful and comforting. There's no place like home.
Newt's expression went mocking, its pupil-black eyes spiteful. "You can't do it."
"I can," I said, my vision darkening as I almost passed out. From the deepest shadows glittered green eyes. Close. Very close. The power of the line hummed through me. There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home, I thought desperately, pulling energy into me, spindling it in my head. I had traveled the lines with Lee. I had seen how he had done it. All it took was him thinking about where he wanted to be. I wanted to be home. Why wasn't it working?
My knees shook as the first dark shape came out to stand with an unreal thinness, slow and hesitant. Newt looked at it, then turned slowly to me, one eyebrow raised. "One favor, and I'll send you back."
Oh God. Not another one. "Leave me alone!" I shouted, the rough edges of a rock scraping my fingers as I flung it at an approaching form and almost fell over. A gasp sounding like a sob came from me as I caught my balance. The lesser demon ducked, then straightened. Three more pairs of eyes glowed behind it.
I jumped as Newt suddenly was before me. The light was gone. Black eyes slammed into me, delving into my soul and clenching until fear squeezed out to bubble up. "You can't do it. No time to learn," Newt said, and I shuddered. Here was power, raw and swirling. Newt's soul was so black it was almost unseen. I could feel its aura press against me, starting to slip into mine with the force of Newt's will. It could take me over if it wanted. I was nothing. My will was nothing.
"Owe me or die in this squalid pile of broken promises," Newt said. "But I can't send you through the lines with a thin tie called home. Home won't do it. Think on Ivy. You love her more than that damn church," it said, its honesty more cutting than any physical pain.
Crying out in angry, high voices, the shadows bunched and lunged.
"Ivy!" I shouted, accepting the bargain and willing myself to her: the smell of her sweat when we sparred, the taste of her Brimstone cookies, the sound of her steps, and the rise of her eyebrows when she was trying not to laugh.
I recoiled as Newt's black presence was suddenly in my head. How many mistakes can one life survive? echoed crystallinelike in my mind, but whose thought it was I didn't know.