collision

chapter 23; tartaros

"Oh no."

Jacob's voice is like a muffled white nose ringing in Troye's ears. The kind of sticky, thick air surrounding them has him feeling faint and confused, and he rubs the back of his head with a grimace.

Angie is completely vanished from the scene, Adam's book is lying beside him, and Jacob is up on his feet, looking frantically around.

"No," he keeps repeating. "No, no, no, nononononono—"

He turns back to Troye again, watching the fairy with complete, undisguised terror, and Troye stomach turns violently at seeing Jacob, Jacob, this distressed.

"Where are we?" he mumbles, even though he already has an idea.

"You can't be here," Jacob just breathes erratically, ignoring Troye's question. "You can't be here, shit."

Despite Troye still being visibly weak and dazed, Jacob takes him by the forearm and pulls him up from the ground. He keeps Troye closely tucked to his side as he starts walking with hurried steps, and Troye doesn't quite know what to do except stumble along to wherever they're going, droopy gaze following the dark wall on their left that whooshes by with every surge forward Jacob takes. It's hauntingly dented and dripping with a viscidity, like it's crying from all the painful memories it holds, and Troye feels like it whispers to him, pleading for him to go back, to disappear and to save himself.

Tartaros. He knows it's Tartaros. It's evident in the dreadful humidity of the air, it's evident in the rush of Jacob's steps knowing their exact way around the place—it's evident in Jacob's fear. His jagged breathing and his desperate attempt at shielding Troye from all the thing capable of hurting him here.

Troye knows they're in Tartaros and he knows he should probably be scared, too, but his head is too muffled and hazy to feel anything but confusion.

Jacob finally stops when they reach a marble temple, the smooth stone tinted slightly from red shadows fleeing across its walls. They make something anxious stir in Troye's belly when Jacob tugs him inside, not stopping until they're finally in a secluded, closed off area behind a solid door.

Troye sits down on a silky smooth bed, trying to get his head to clear up.

"Tro," Jacob crouches down so that they're at the same level, his eyes scanning Troye's face rapidly. "We're in Tartaros, which means you're going to have to be really, really careful. As in, you're going to have to stay right here, while I look for a way for us to get out of here as quickly as possible. Can you do that?" Troye frowns.

"I don't—I don't want to stay here. I don't want to be alone."

Jacob looks like someone's twisting a knife in his stomach, and he shakes his head.

"You can't come with me. If the wrong creature sees you, they'll—you can't come with me."

"But." Troye shakes his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. "But you made it sound like I'd be okay here. Back in Grimm, you said—"

"You won't be okay here."

"But I thought this place wouldn't be dangerous if I was here with you."

"That's because I lied, Troye." Jacob's voice is too harsh and blunt, and Troye flinches. "I wanted to leave Grimm and I said what needed to be said to convince you. You shine too bright, Troye. Your presence is too innocent. The lost souls will sense that, and there's no way they won't want to destroy it."

Jacob isn't soft, now. He's all stress and lips bitten raw and bloodshot eyes, and Troye hates it. He doesn't know how he ever handled Jacob like this.