Full Metal Magic: An Urban Fantasy Anthology Read online

  “Show me your hands,” Kiya ordered.

  I lifted my hands. “I came back to talk.”

  “You came back to kill the younglings.”

  “They shouldn’t be here.”

  “Neither should you.”

  The tip of the sword dug in deep enough to elicit a gasp from me. I needed my kidneys, what was left of them.

  “Five hundred years, Nameless One. They say you’re afraid to return.” She pressed herself against the back of my shoulder. “You should be.”

  Her words dripped with venom that hadn’t been there before. There was more to this than protecting the eggs. This was personal, and I had no clue why. “Put the sword down. Let’s talk. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You already did.”

  Had the roar of the waterfall gotten louder? The current tugged at my coat, dragging it to one side as the water clawed a few inches above my knees and carried on climbing.

  “You don’t remember,” she said, “but I do. I saw you weigh those souls. I believed you were a god of honor, that you punished the guilty and ushered the innocent into the afterlife. I watched you on the dais that day, with the power to weigh the life in your hands. You were Justice, and I believed.”

  I had a hunch where this was going, because it always went there. She knew about my crimes, knew exactly what I’d done. I wasn’t her hero; I was the villain. And denying it wouldn’t do me any good; it was all true. “I’m not a god.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re a nightmare.”

  A rumbling started deep in the tunnels.

  “Who was it?” I asked, turning my head to get a look at her over my shoulder. Scales shimmered across her cheek, highlighting the intensity of her scowl. Her slitted reptilian eyes cut deep into me. “Whose soul did I take?”

  The corners of her green lips turned down and trembled. “Did it mean so little?”

  I swallowed the taste of guilt, remembering the high, remembering how all those souls had filled me up and made me glorious with power. I’d slipped deeper and deeper into the trap of addiction, weighing soul after soul and lying. Damned, I’d tell the gods. They’re all damned. Lies, so many lies, and all so I could gorge on power.

  “Centuries, I waited,” Kiya hissed, “but you did not return.”

  I couldn’t return, but I doubted Kiya cared about the details. As far as she knew, I’d left the underworld with my tail between my legs, cursed into Osiris’s service. For the gravity of my crimes, it wasn’t justice. In her eyes, and in the eyes of all those I’d wronged, I’d gotten off with a slap on the wrist. They didn’t know the truth. And really, would it matter if they did? I was the liar, the thief, the monster.

  “When it was clear you were never coming back, I decided to come to you.”

  “If it’s any consolation, five hundred years is a long time. I’m not the same man.”

  She laughed a shrill animal sound at that. “Of course you are.”

  The rumbling grew louder, shuddering through the bricks beneath my boots.

  “I knew Sobek would help me. The others are too afraid of you, but not the River God. He ha—”

  A wall of water poured into the chamber with the force of a subway train. I had a breathless second to snatch at the air before the torrent picked me up and slammed me against the bricks. Pain cracked up my spine and exploded inside my skull, shattering my consciousness into a thousand pieces and burying it under the black.

  The smells of leaf mulch and wet grass clogged my nose, and the patter of rain stirred consciousness back into my throbbing head. I was alive, that much my aching body made clear.

  “Ah, it wakes.” The voice was male, gruff from little use, and came at me like an arrow shot from my past.

  I squinted in its direction and laid eyes on a god I’d last seen kicking and screaming down the Halls as the jackals dragged him away. Sobek sat at a jaunty angle on a tree stump, knees drawn up. A hacksaw rested across his naked, scaled thighs. A red and black brocade tailcoat hung from his narrow shoulders. The seams had peeled apart and much of the fabric hung in tatters. With its high collar and pirate cuffs, it looked like something a costume store had tossed in the trash. He’d found the coat in the sewers, probably the same place he’d found that rusted saw. I’d seen a few crazy-ass things in New York, but a crocodile god in tails was new.

  The smile on his narrow face looked like the one I must have worn as I watched him sink all the way into virsosurae—the only prison capable of holding him. Only, too many teeth filled his smile.

  He didn’t look ancient and didn’t act it either—at least he hadn’t when I knew him. Back then, he’d been a trickster, a keeper of chaos, and a player of games. Now, seeing him slide his green-eyed crocodilian gaze over me, I figured his motives were a little simpler. Just like Kiya had said, he’d suffered for centuries, locked away, while I’d spent my time cruising around the mortal world, seemingly without a care. I’d be pissed too.

  Revenge.

  Live long enough, and all your mistakes will come back to hunt you down. Trust me, I know.

  I wet my lips and scanned the forest clearing, looking for Kiya among the shadow-wrapped trees, but in the low light and with my head throbbing, I could be looking right at her without knowing it. How long had I been unconscious? No more than an hour? We had to be within city limits. The charcoal sky held an orange hue, but the heavy patter of rain drowned out any city noises.

  I tugged on my wrists, which were bound together behind my back. Had my hands been free, directing a spellword would’ve been the quick and effective way out—if Kiya had been my jailor. But my words would slide right off Sobek and probably lash back at me hard enough to knock me out. I had power, but not enough to compel a god. Not anymore.

  “You dragged Kiya into your vendetta against me?” I asked.

  Sobek barked a sharp, shallow laugh. “She came to me.” He stabbed a finger at his bare chest between the lapels of his fancy coat. Hopping off the stump, he swaggered across the uneven ground, hips and shoulders swaying like the crocodile he was inside. “Five centuries, Soul Eater.” He said my name with a throaty hiss. “I blunted my claws scratching the name of my enemy into the walls of my little stone cell.”

  No points for guessing whose name that was. I shifted and managed to heave myself into a sitting position. Rotten leaves stuck to my clothes and water soaked into my pants, gnawing at my bones. Marshland. With a stroke of luck, this was Ridgewood and Shu would ride in on a white steed to save my ass. Any second now. Right on cue … or not.

  “What name did you use?” I asked, looking up at the god bearing down on me. “I have a few.”

  He crouched to my eye level and peered into my gaze, knowing if he looked too long I’d see his soul and know exactly what he was made of. We’d been down this road before.

  Flicking my eyes away, I said, “Don’t do this.”

  He draped his arms over his knees. The hacksaw dangled from his grip, its rusted teeth lined up like those in his crocodile smile.

  “Nameless One, they call you. The cursed thief. The liar. And here, in this world, it’s Ace Dante, isn’t it? Cute.”

  He’d been watching me and waiting down in the sewers, building his nests, slotting whatever plan he’d concocted together.

  “What are you doing here, Sobek?”

  “Having some fun. What else?”

  His idea of fun had been creating a flood to sweep away a year’s worth of crops, or dragging children to their deaths below the surface of his domain, or sinking a few cargo boats to pass the time. That was before I’d revealed his rotten soul to the gods, and thanks to me, he’d had five hundred years of imprisonment to concoct a new idea of fun. He’d have a riot in the Hudson.

  “The people in this city made of lights and noise, they don’t know”—he clicked his tongue, added a dramatic pause, then performed an equally dramatic hand gesture—“what you are.”

  “What I am is wet and hungry.”

  He sw
ept a hand toward the tree line. “They don’t know there’s a beast among them. A creature made of all the wrongs, made of sand and dark magic, who would devour them all if he believed he could get away with it.”

  “I’m not like I was.”

  “We shall see.” He clapped his hands together, the crack sounding like gunfire as it hurtled through the dark.

  “Whatever you think you’re doing here, don’t. Take Kiya and those younglings and go home. I won’t warn you again.”

  He chuckled, insanity leaking from the bubbling sound, and took a few backward steps. “You didn’t warn me when you told them all what I’d done. You didn’t warn me when the jackals came. And don’t lie and say you were doing the right thing. I know lies. You are no hero, Soul Eater. You wanted me out of the way.” He paced through the mulch, back and forth, back and forth, his bare feet kicking up leaves. “Well, Sobek got you. Sobek got you good. Sobek told them what you really are, and they got you. THEY GOT YOU TOO!”

  If there was anything I hated more than gods, it was gods who were batshit crazy. Sobek had never been the pillar of sanity, and five hundred years spent in isolation hadn’t helped. I couldn’t reason with the insane, which meant my only option was Shu and Plan B—if she made it in time.

  I could break the twine binding my wrists if I leveraged it at the right angle. I shifted, got my knees under me, and staggered to my feet. Sobek’s pacing halted and the god looked me up and down, a tight snarl pulling at his top lip.

  “You ate her brother’s soul,” he said, “and you don’t care, do you?”

  A painful jolt struck my heart, sudden and vicious. Did he mean Khuy? “No, I—”

  “Did his soul taste sweet? Did you enjoy devouring your friend?” Sobek’s green eyes glowed with malice. “I see that you did. Sobek knows you. Sobek knew the real you the moment you turned on him. Hiding in plain sight, you were. Before then, I hadn’t thought you worthy Ammit, of the Great Devourer. I didn’t understand how a god so great as her could take you in. But I let your differences blind me. I see you now, Soul Eater. I see your soul, and it is a black, hungry thing. You look at me—at us—and you see sustenance.”

  “That’s not true.” But it was, and the hammering in my chest, the panic in my head, proved it.

  “Liar!” he bellowed, and that single word sailed into the rain-soaked night. “Your lies,” he hissed, “do they taste like acid on your tongue?”

  “Enough!” I snapped the twine and rolled my shoulders. “Go home—”

  “Go home, go home.” He laughed and spread his arms wide. “An abandoned place inside the beating heart of this human city. A … what is it they call it?” He clicked his fingers. “A nature reserve? I like this home, and I will show them what you are, Soul Eater. I will make them believe there’s a monster among them. They’ll see … they’ll see good.”

  My fingers itched to wrap around his throat. “What did you do?”

  “The younglings, they are so feisty … and so many. Do you think that was the only nest I stole? Oh no, no, no … there is a labyrinth beneath the city, and I will let the young out to play.”

  “How many?” My heart hammered harder.

  “Hundreds … hundreds and hundreds and hundreds.” Sharp teeth clicked behind his wicked smile. “She has so many. She will not miss them, the mother.”

  Dread sank in my gut, turning it to stone. Had they all hatched? Were they working their way through the sewers, about to give New Yorkers a wake up call? Oh, hey. The Egyptian gods? They’re real, and here’re some rabid, magically enhanced Nile crocodiles to prove it. Have a nice day.

  “Sobek, gods-be-damned, stop this now.”

  He threw his head back and laughed, insanity warping the sound and turning it into a high-pitched howl.

  I reached for my dagger, but my fingers grasped air. Kiya must have taken it. Spellwords wouldn’t work. I needed to stall him until Shu got here. What else did I have over a god?

  “A bargain?” I flung the offer at him.

  He turned one reptilian eye on me, suddenly interested. “Bargain?”

  “A deal. You always liked a deal, Sobek.”

  “Mm …” The sound rattled in his throat. “And what is it you can offer me, Soul Eater? I am free. What more do I need but the sky above my head and the earth beneath my feet?”

  Think fast. “Do you have my dagger?”

  Right on cue, Kiya peeled from the trees, the camouflaged skin of her arm rippling where she embraced Shu against her chest, and in her hand, she held my dagger, its tip pressed against Shu’s neck. Fury blazed in my business partner’s eyes, but not fear. She could stop this at any second. I lifted a hand, palm out, and tried to convey a “don’t do anything rash” look to Shu. We were still on the right side of control, though barely.

  “You killed my brother,” Kiya snarled. “You swallowed his soul.”

  Shadows moved across the forest floor, rustling between the bushes and through the reeds. Low and deadly rumbles sounded in the dark. At least I knew where the younglings were.

  “I didn’t know,” I replied, looking Kiya in the eye. It was true. I never would have taken my friend’s soul had I been in my right mind, but the hunger, the desire to devour—I’d lost my mind to it. “His death, my sins, it’s between us. Leave this city out of our grievances.” I swung my gaze back to Sobek. “A deal, right? Call back the younglings, all of them. Send them home. Then take up my blade and kill me. I won’t fight you.”

  Sobek’s broad grin twitched like a living thing. “Now, now, Mister Ace Dante. You cannot trick a trickster. We are all liars here. Besides, I do not want you dead. I want you punished!”

  “No deals!” Kiya snapped. “I’ll kill your woman.”

  I almost laughed. Shu was no woman, nor was she mine, but now was not the time to enlighten our crowd. Shu would do it for them soon enough.

  I let my smile out to play, the soul eater smile, the crooked one, and gave my wet coat a flick to dislodge the mud and leaves. “I’ve crawled through sewers, swallowed things I’d prefer not to think about, and what little honor I have left has been dragged through the mud. So you all want to play dirty?” All eyes were on me. The crocs’, Kiya’s, Shu’s, and Sobek’s. I kept my gaze on Sobek and held my hand out to the side, toward Shu and Kiya. “I can do dirty.”

  Sobek’s slippery smile grew, and I knew that look. Just like old times.

  “Cukkomd!” Command. I threw the word at Kiya, freezing her solid. The compulsion pulled between Kiya and me, instantly sinking in and binding her to my control.

  Sobek’s nostrils flared in indignation.

  “Throw me the blade,” I commanded Kiya. “Attack Sobek.” I pushed the compulsion deeper, burying it inside her soul. I couldn’t command her to kill a god—that can’t be done—but I could keep him busy.

  Kiya’s eyes glazed over. She flung the dagger at me, shoved Shu forward, and lunged for Sobek. At the same time, the undergrowth erupted in a boiling mass of reptiles.

  I snatched the dagger out of the air and yelled at Shu, “Deal with them!”

  She was already on it, hands out, crackles of energy dancing between her fingertips, a spell spilling from her lips.

  I bolted for Sobek as Kiya swept a low punch at his middle. He backhanded her aside as if he were swatting a fly. She posed no real threat to him, but she did buy me time. I tackled him, throwing my entire weight into him, and slammed him against the nearest tree hard enough that the trunk cracked. He let out a strangled cry and punched the butt of the hacksaw into my cheek. Something inside my face cracked, flooding the right side of my face with splintered needles of pain, but I didn’t have time to hesitate. I slammed my free palm under his chin and jolted his jaw shut. I didn’t want the god throwing spellwords around.

  Warm, slippery blood poured over my hand wrapped around the dagger handle. I’d punched the blade deep into Sobek’s side. I had him pinned, but it would take more than a dagger to stop a god. I didn’t have the power
I’d once reveled in, but all the gods feared a part of me—the very reason they shied away from me.

  “Listen up, Lizardman,” I growled.

  He whipped his head to the side, trying to yank his jaw free. I pinched my fingers into his cheeks and gripped his face tighter, then peered into his eyes. He couldn’t look away and wouldn’t. As my gaze sank deeper, he wanted me to see into his rotten core. If I got a taste of a soul as black as his, it would drag me down with it. Before, I’d seen his soul and shied away, preferring to reveal his sins than deal with them myself, but now I had a city of eight million innocent people—eight million souls—to protect. It may not make up for the sins of my past, but it would sure go a long way toward lifting the guilt.

  Laughter bubbled up the god’s throat. He didn’t think I’d do it. The old me wouldn’t have. I’d stolen the light, the innocent, those who should have been granted an eternity in the afterlife. Only the lightest, the sweetest, the most innocent would do. But the old me was gone.

  I twisted the blade and watched pain pinch his eyes. “I’ve never taken a god’s soul,” I murmured. The truth was: I wasn’t sure if I could, but with Plan B fallen by the wayside and countless hungry crocodiles bearing down on me, I was running out of options fast.

  The pain in his eyes hardened, turning into fear.

  “That’s right. Even the gods fear the soul eaters.” My gaze drilled deeper, hunting that raging, swirling nightmare at his center. The deeper I dug, the more the edges of his soul shied away. I reached and it recoiled, slipping around my grasp, but I’d have it. A little further and the god’s tattered soul would be mine.

  “Not … a … hero.” Sobek squeezed the words through his teeth.

  “People change. Sometimes, monsters do too.” I sank the hooks into his lashing soul and got hold of its oily mass. The dark slithered and shuddered, but it was weak. Five hundred years spent stewing in his own madness had beaten Sobek’s soul into submission. All I had to do was take.