“Sure, great. Do your worst. At least then I won’t have to listen to you anymore.”
Even as he spoke, Thaddeus was fighting the worm of dread that lay coiled in his belly. Asking Malachi to do his worst was doing much more than asking for death. It was asking for pain without measure. He was so tired of it all, though. From the very first interactions with this wretched House to now. Let it all end. And if he could provoke him enough, maybe Malachi would lose control enough to do just that.
“No, I won’t.” Malachi had pure glee written all over his face. “What? Did you think your girlfriend was the only one capable of reading your thoughts? You have no idea the things I can do.”
Thaddeus didn’t answer. The worm was turning into a snake, writhing in his stomach, hissing. Sweat, which he thought long dried up, sprang out on his brow.
Malachi laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you this time. I have what I came for. You wished to stop me from breaking the Greenweald, for reasons that I will never understand. I tell you that will never happen. I have friends now, friends who are of like mind. They see the injustices of the worlds and are taking steps to fix them.”
“Leave me out of it, you maniac.”
“No, I’m afraid I can’t do that. See, my friends’ methods work best from within. That’s how they change things and how I will change this place. But I have a secret…one that I’ll tell you since it will never leave here.”
Malachi made a show of looking around, then turned back to Thaddeus with an exaggerated whisper.
“I’m going to take their worlds too! When I have the Greenweald and the lands outside of it, I’ll use the same means as my friends, and take what they have as well.”
“So, you’re not only mad, you’re a traitorous bastard as well.”
Malachi laughed. “And you’re a fool. I see things that others don’t. Things that they think are hidden from me. My friends think to use me and this House to take what is ours. They will be sorely disappointed.”
Thaddeus had nothing to say. For all his scheming, Malachi didn’t sound mad. He was sadistic and bitter, he was angry and spiteful, but he wasn’t crazy. And he was insanely strong in magic.
Again, he dug deep, reaching for a flame. One sheet of hot, white fire that could burn Malachi to ash, ending all of this.
A bolt of pain spiked through his head, then a sudden scream from the other.
“Ah, ah, little fly,” Malachi said. “Not yet.”
He laughed again and turned to leave the room.
“Oh, before I go, allow me to introduce you to someone. I don’t have his name…or at least I think it’s a him, it’s hard to tell. Anyway, I think you two will get along famously. And pay attention, Thaddeus. This one is the future. Or at least, your future.”
He opened the door and a short, stocky figure entered. Thaddeus stared, unsure of what it was he was seeing.
The man, if it was a man, wore bright yellow clothes that almost seemed to glow in the dim light of the dungeon cell. But his face was indistinct, almost like it was missing, or…no, not missing. Covered by a featureless white mask, with no holes for the eyes, or mouth, or nose. Yet somehow, Thaddeus felt that it could see him hanging in his chains perfectly.
“Play nice, you two,” Malachi said, sticking the torch into a holder on the wall and slipping out. “But not too nice.”
He shut the door with a boom. In the sudden silence, the figure in the bright yellow outfit moved toward Thaddeus.
Chapter 47
“Everything as it should be?” Shireen asked Jeremiah.
It was early yet, the day after she quarantined those infected by the visit to Glittering Birch. So far, there was no sign of it anywhere else, for which she was grateful. No sign, that was, until Jeremiah turned to her.
“Sure, why wouldn’t it be?” There were stains on the front of his armor where something had dripped on it and he was unshaven. His eyes regarded her with an obvious challenge.
“Oh, no,” she whispered. “Not you too.”
“Me too what?”
“I need you inside the barracks. Now.”
“Hah. No, that’s not going to be happening. It’s too nice a day out.”
“Now, soldier. Move.”
Instead, he laughed and pushed past her, heading deeper into the Towering Oaks compound. Shireen shook her head, drew her sword, and stepped up behind him. Jeremiah was busy unbuckling his chest piece and never heard her coming. Reversing her grip, she brought the pommel of her sword down hard, directly on the back of his head.
Dangerous move, that, and not one she made lightly. But she couldn’t allow him to spread whatever this was further. Even now, who knew how many had been in contact with the others before she had them locked away.
And now she needed to drag Jeremiah to the barracks and get him inside by herself. She couldn’t risk anyone else coming near.
So far, she felt fine. She didn’t see any difference in her attitude or her habits. She still rose early, dressed in her uniform and armor, made sure it was neat and polished and did her duty. Perhaps whatever was going on was passing her by.
Grabbing the unconscious man under his arms, she lifted and began dragging him to the scouts’ barracks. Others started to approach, either to help or out of simple curiosity, but she warned them away. By the time she got to the tree and up the steps, she was sweating
