in.”
A bigger crash resounds, and the window shatters in a hailstorm of glass as a woman homunculus barrels in. Her eyes are crazed, completely white with the feeding urge. The girl’s scent, now full and robust, is driving them literally insane. I’ve never seen anything like it. The homunculus lunges, but I slam her against the wall, pinning her there. She gnashes her teeth over my shoulder and growls in an inhuman voice. Then she starts laughing like a banshee at the girl.
“There you are, pet! Come a little closer!”
I twist the homunuclus’ head around, the vertebrae cracking. But it doesn’t kill her. She just laughs louder, her head hanging backwards.
“Coward!” She spits at me. “She’s right there, the best - the sweetest - and you haven’t claimed her. You haven’t even tasted her blood! You’re a fucking coward , a disgrace!”
I snarl and dislodge a dagger from my arm holster, flipping it into my hand and driving it deep into the woman’s forehead. Her scream is cut off as she explodes in a cloud of dust. I brush it off my suit and turn to the girl.
“They’re here for you,” I say.
Mia’s face is now completely white. Avalanche growls low in her throat and the sick heat under my skin rises - a sure sign more homunculi are advancing. I grab the girl’s soft hand, ignoring how small and fragile it feels in my own.
“Come. We have to get to my lab. I can defend us there. Avalanche, take point.”
Avalanche barks and races ahead of us. The weight of the four daggers in my arm holsters reassures me. I can take out four homunculi, but I can feel at least twenty outside. Perhaps more. I pull the girl along but she fights in the other direction. She breaks free and with great effort pulls the dagger that was meant for her from the wall, and comes back to me.
“I’m n-not going without a weapon,” She manages. My chest swells with a strange pride.
“Smart girl. Stay close to me, and do as I say.”
“Gladly. At least until the stabby-murder bits are over.”
We follow Avalanche, her white tail like a banner and her nose sharper than any radar. She leads us away from the main hall and into my library. The girl’s eyes go wide at the colossal shelves and Turkish carpet.
“This is -” She stands on her tiptoes to read the spines of a few books. “These are first edition Shakespeare! Shouldn’t these be in a museum or something? Oh god, that’s first-edition Emily Dickinson!”
“Imminent death is hardly the time to be ogling my book collection, don’t you think?” I make my way to the massive, copper-set globe by the window, though I’m secretly pleased she recognizes them. I rotate it so that Hawaii is forty degrees south and ten degrees east, then turn to her. “Come here. I need your Azoth.”
She tears herself away from the books only when Avalanche, who’s keeping guard at the door, barks hard and fast. The sounds of glass breaking downstairs is more ominous then anything. My skin crawls like there’s lava beneath it.
“Come to me,” I make my voice steely. “Now.”
The girl hurries over, offering her wrists. “Slice ‘em if you have to. But if people start pitying me because the scars look like I tried to kill myself, I’m blaming you.”
“Don’t ever try to kill yourself,” I snap. “You’re far too valuable as an Azoth.”
She rolls her eyes. “Gee, thanks for the concern.”
I take her hand and put it on the globe. I’d normally drip one of the many vials of Azoth I have in my jacket onto the globe, but this girl’s mere physical touch will do. The globe radiates light, reacting to her blood instantly. Behind us a bookshelf rumbles to the side, revealing a set of stairs retreating down into darkness.
“So,” The girl says slowly, eyeing the hidden staircase with hardly-disguised mirth. “I gather you’re a fan of Batman.”
I’m about to ask her if she ever stops being snarky when I hear a beastly chuckle from the hall, and
A bigger crash resounds, and the window shatters in a hailstorm of glass as a woman homunculus barrels in. Her eyes are crazed, completely white with the feeding urge. The girl’s scent, now full and robust, is driving them literally insane. I’ve never seen anything like it. The homunculus lunges, but I slam her against the wall, pinning her there. She gnashes her teeth over my shoulder and growls in an inhuman voice. Then she starts laughing like a banshee at the girl.
“There you are, pet! Come a little closer!”
I twist the homunuclus’ head around, the vertebrae cracking. But it doesn’t kill her. She just laughs louder, her head hanging backwards.
“Coward!” She spits at me. “She’s right there, the best - the sweetest - and you haven’t claimed her. You haven’t even tasted her blood! You’re a fucking coward , a disgrace!”
I snarl and dislodge a dagger from my arm holster, flipping it into my hand and driving it deep into the woman’s forehead. Her scream is cut off as she explodes in a cloud of dust. I brush it off my suit and turn to the girl.
“They’re here for you,” I say.
Mia’s face is now completely white. Avalanche growls low in her throat and the sick heat under my skin rises - a sure sign more homunculi are advancing. I grab the girl’s soft hand, ignoring how small and fragile it feels in my own.
“Come. We have to get to my lab. I can defend us there. Avalanche, take point.”
Avalanche barks and races ahead of us. The weight of the four daggers in my arm holsters reassures me. I can take out four homunculi, but I can feel at least twenty outside. Perhaps more. I pull the girl along but she fights in the other direction. She breaks free and with great effort pulls the dagger that was meant for her from the wall, and comes back to me.
“I’m n-not going without a weapon,” She manages. My chest swells with a strange pride.
“Smart girl. Stay close to me, and do as I say.”
“Gladly. At least until the stabby-murder bits are over.”
We follow Avalanche, her white tail like a banner and her nose sharper than any radar. She leads us away from the main hall and into my library. The girl’s eyes go wide at the colossal shelves and Turkish carpet.
“This is -” She stands on her tiptoes to read the spines of a few books. “These are first edition Shakespeare! Shouldn’t these be in a museum or something? Oh god, that’s first-edition Emily Dickinson!”
“Imminent death is hardly the time to be ogling my book collection, don’t you think?” I make my way to the massive, copper-set globe by the window, though I’m secretly pleased she recognizes them. I rotate it so that Hawaii is forty degrees south and ten degrees east, then turn to her. “Come here. I need your Azoth.”
She tears herself away from the books only when Avalanche, who’s keeping guard at the door, barks hard and fast. The sounds of glass breaking downstairs is more ominous then anything. My skin crawls like there’s lava beneath it.
“Come to me,” I make my voice steely. “Now.”
The girl hurries over, offering her wrists. “Slice ‘em if you have to. But if people start pitying me because the scars look like I tried to kill myself, I’m blaming you.”
“Don’t ever try to kill yourself,” I snap. “You’re far too valuable as an Azoth.”
She rolls her eyes. “Gee, thanks for the concern.”
I take her hand and put it on the globe. I’d normally drip one of the many vials of Azoth I have in my jacket onto the globe, but this girl’s mere physical touch will do. The globe radiates light, reacting to her blood instantly. Behind us a bookshelf rumbles to the side, revealing a set of stairs retreating down into darkness.
“So,” The girl says slowly, eyeing the hidden staircase with hardly-disguised mirth. “I gather you’re a fan of Batman.”
I’m about to ask her if she ever stops being snarky when I hear a beastly chuckle from the hall, and
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