The Key of Astrea

Possession

The air quality improved as they traveled farther from the workshop. It felt like returning to daylight after a long night. Soon, Jenny, Adriana, and Kensei reached the base of the stairwell, and in a burst of energy, they raced to the top, eager to be the first to escape the dungeon-like engineering level. As they reached the top, they rounded the corner and stopped short.

Sadi stood in the hallway with her arms crossed over her chest. Aindriu and a gray-uniformed recruit Jenny didn't know stood next to her. Sadi's eyes focused on the device in Jenny's hands.

"Is that the Locator?" Sadi looked up at Jenny's face, and her eyes widened. "You're taking it to Mazu, aren't you?" She reached for the Locator. "Hand it over. I'll take it to her."

"No." Jenny jerked the device away. "Lin asked me to deliver it."

Sadi's eyes narrowed. "Why you?"

As Jenny read Sadi's face, she grew terrified. "Because I asked to help."

"You seem to be in the middle of everything," Sadi snarled at Jenny. "I'll give you one last warning, Tripper. Hand it over, or else."

"No." Jenny clutched the brass device to her chest.

Sadi glared at her, and a faint pressure built up in Jenny's skull. Dread chilled her body when she recognized a familiar itching on her tongue. Jenny scraped her tongue against her teeth to relieve the itch, but it only made it worse.

"You were here earlier, weren't you?" Sadi smirked. "No need to answer. I recognized your pain. How did you hide?" Sadi looked at Adriana. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"I-I—" Adriana stammered.

"Leave her alone," Jenny said. "It was me."

"Run!" Kensei yelled.

Jenny hugged the Locator to her chest and ran away from Sadi. She needed to get away and reach Mazu. She would tell Lin about Sadi's behavior. With any luck, her rival would be disqualified from the contest.

They made it halfway around the curve when Sadi's voice rang out behind them. "Pain, pain, come to stay, Little Sadi wants to play."

Jenny whimpered as her tongue exploded with pain. A searing heat cooked it like meat on a grill. Her heart slammed in her chest like a jackhammer, every pulse a flare of pain. Her tongue felt like pulp in her mouth, and she collapsed to the floor from the mind-numbing pain. She hardly noticed the Locator ramming into her breast, or her chin hitting the hard laminate.

"Pain is in the mind," Sadi said, "and your mind is under my control."

"Please, please, no," Adriana begged. Tears poured down her cheeks and dripped onto the white, polished floor.

"I heard that you're both sisters, and Gypsies." Sadi stood over Jenny's prone form. "You know, it used to be legal to kill your kind. Why don't we reenact some history?"

"Don't do this, Sadi," Kensei pleaded. "It's not worth it. You'll be kicked out."

"Only if somebody finds out." A rictus grin split Sadi's face. "I promise I won't leave a mark."

Pain spread over Jenny's body, wrapping her arms and legs in sticky, scalding tar. It reminded her of her worst sunburn, times a hundred. She pictured her flesh crisping and burning.

Sadi looked down at Jenny with passionless eyes. "You don't belong here. Death and pain have followed you. First you stumble over Trey's body, then you're at the heart of the Acacia City raid. With you three out of the way, the Selkans will have a better chance at survival." Slowly, she reached down and pulled the Locator from Jenny's shivering hands. "And I'll be sure to win the Riftkey."